GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

The entrance of the faith of the hidden god into open society didn't come with the normal unpleasant reaction expected towards a new church. The world war and the Celestial Supreme's lax attitude to the chaos in the mortal realm allowed the cult of life to fester within the society of giants of order. His hands-off approach these past few years let the cult grow stronger under his nose without him realizing it.

A lot of giants of Order bear grudges and resentment against gods. The gods have been using them for their games and entertainment for ages. The numerous divine wars have led to a lot of bloodshed. The recent world war did a lot of damage to the prestige of gods just as it damaged the resources of the mortal realm.

Normally, the giants of Order will have to suck it up since there's nothing they can do about it but now they have an alternative that is promising peace and safety. So the Cult of the tree father was able to prosper under the nose of the gods. Now that the church of order has been weakened and its forces scattered all over the plane, they have nothing to fear about coming out anymore.

It is the church of order that wipes out any unorthodox churches or cults in the mortal realm, but they can't do that now. The other churches are too weak from the years of war to bother with them when they came out. Besides, there is the issue of demons attacking their churches to deal with. No one can stop the rise of the church of life now.

Back in the Divine Plane

No matter how shocked, regretful, angry, or how bitter the Celestial Supreme is, it doesn't change the fact that his son is no more and the demons are still invading. What's worse is that he was betrayed by someone who he thought to be very close to his heart.

"How could you do this to me?" He wailed in his divine plane. "How I loved you and showered you with my love, attention, and protection. And yet, you break my heart so mercilessly."

He is distraught beyond compare. He sat on his throne without care. Despair radiated out of him in waves upon waves. He knew to expect a betrayal, he didn't expect it to be so painful. His heart is all but shattered into pieces.

"Why would you need another protector? Tell me, why?" He asked out loud but he received no answer.

It is okay anyway. He already knows why the plane decided to get a protector. He thought he was enough and that he was all that the Zargoth plane needed but he was wrong. He felt it when the will of all life woke up from its sleep. He doesn't know what it talked with Helios about but he knows what Helios has become after the conversation.

He held his head in his hands and lamented. "I have been betrayed. Does that mean I will fall soon?"

He felt betrayed because he truly cares for the plane in the way someone would care for something they own. He believed that the Zargoth plane is his and he guarded it jealously. He has been doing everything to protect it only for the will of the plane to desert his love and attention for some mana. Imagine that, for some mana.

The prophecy from the god of fate is that he will fall due to a betrayal. He thought the betrayal will come from the gods. It seems he was wrong. A lot of betrayals have been going on recently so he better watches his back. Helios betrayed his race and the plane while the will of the plane betrayed him.

Here he is trying to defend the plane while the will of the plane is cozying up with the one that granted demons access to the mortal plane. And he has to defend the plane while making sure that he doesn't fall. It is almost too much for a god to take. Unfortunately for him, that is not the end of his word.

Things didn't end with the high-rank demon that entered the mortal realm. The demon nobles entered the divine plane with the demon lord and a large army too. They came with numbers that indicate their intense preparation for this invasion.

He watched large portals opening up in Armageddon and spewing forth horde upon horde of demons with bitterness.

"I will show them hell." He promised his enemies.

A giant ball of squirming flesh scanned the array of demons looking for her target totally unaware of the enemy that she has created even before entering the divine plane. Aeternus should be at Armageddon already waiting for her to nab him since he came first. She will use her troops to hold back the gods while she focuses on capturing him.

That's her plan in a nutshell. She has no delusion that she can successfully invade this plane. She might come back after she gets the lord of chaos and becomes a demon king. But for now, her mission is a simple snatch and run.

"Where is that bastard?"

But no amount of searching on her part can locate Aeternus. She has the demon nobles searching for her too but no one can find him. A short demon with a dark cloud perpetually hanging around it should be very obvious on the battlefield. If they can't find him then she can execute the first step of her plan. How is she to snatch something she can't find?

"Didn't he come to this plane? I was sure he came here."

She doesn't think that Aeternus returned to the abyss immediately after coming here. The only way to return is to activate the return function of the abyss altar and open a return portal but it is going to be more difficult to do since he isn't in the demon realm anymore. It is going to take time.

No matter how powerful Aeternus is, it should take a full day of constant effort to open a return portal back to the abyss. Even her needs that much. That means Aeternus is not in the plane at all. He must have fooled her about which plane he is going to.