Only God

"Laren, Utus, and Hiris..."

Wine God Sibos surveyed the three divine beings,

"What exactly are you doing? What in the world is going on?"

Wine God Sibos tried to maintain the calm that a divine being should have, not to lose composure in front of the others, but in truth, His heart was already agitated and uneasy.

In this situation, Laren and Utus seemed to stand on the opposite side of Him, as if, just as Laiendos had said, they had shamefully betrayed Them.

"Don't you understand yet?

Sibos, you've already lost.

I will not tolerate you toying with my race, no matter under what pretext."

Hiris stepped forward, gesturing to Laren and Utus with a turn of his body,

"And Them, Laren and Utus, no longer walk your path.

Under the guidance of the Father, They have already parted ways with you."

The guidance of the Father, parting ways…

Those keywords fell on the ears of the Gods, and in an instant, their faces turned pale, their fingers trembling uncontrollably, while in the Celestial Kingdom's banquet hall, the crisp sound of shattering wine cups could be heard one after another, and the divine beings who had not followed, touching their ears, could hardly believe what they were hearing.

Even Laiendos, He who presides over victory, His Sword of Victory trembling continuously in His hand.

"What… What are you saying? Have you all gone mad with drink?!"

Sibos's voice trembled lightly.

The Wine God had reassured other divine beings time and again, repeatedly clarifying that the betrayal was a groundless accusation, but now, Hiris had told Them that Laren and Utus were no longer part of Them.

Sibos turned His gaze toward Utus, feeling an intense hostility almost immediately. Panic set into His heart, which made Him shift His gaze to Laren.

"Tell me, Laren, is this true?"

Sibos's voice was nearly pleading.

At this moment, Wine God was like a wife betrayed by her husband, a wife who had thought her husband to be hard-working and faithful, when suddenly, one day, someone tells her that her husband has found a new love: "You should no longer disturb your husband's happiness."

Facing Sibos's gaze, Laren took a deep breath, then slowly said:

"Sibos, and all of you, I have repented."

The voice of the Dream God sounded the death knell of failure, everyone watching incredulously, the Dream God who was once vindictive and despised the Path created by the Divine, now, like a True Believer, said He had repented.

"What are you talking about, Laren, what are you talking about?"

Laiendos, pale as a sheet, continued:

"What, what repentance?!"

Sibos also came to a realization, hastily saying:

"You've gone mad with wine, you must have gone mad, it has to be because I have given you too much fine wine, that's why you've lost your senses.

What repentance, how can you speak like a mortal, what is there to repent for, we haven't done anything wrong at all.

Just as you've said before, it's all the mortals' own doing, they chose war, they could not suppress their greed, they themselves set their cities ablaze!"

Sibos poured out many words in one breath, still unable to accept the reality before Him.

A congregation of divine beings nodded in agreement, all trying to bring Laren back.

They could accept losing Utus, but losing Laren, the lynchpin, meant all their scheming would be in vain.

And not long ago, They were the closest to success among the three factions, laughing at the other factions on top of the banquet, dreaming of a future filled with honor.

"Sibos, I was wrong before."

Laren quietly uttered a sentence that dashed the gods' hopes to the ground.

At this moment, all the divine beings took a sharp intake of breath, "I was wrong before." These words, coming from Laren's mouth, the one burdened with a deep hatred for the Divine Creation Path, now admitting His own mistake, if even Laren thought He was wrong, what did that make the rest of us?

Sibos's face was ashen,

"What do you mean... What do you mean?"

Hiris opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but Laren raised his hand, cutting him off:

"I should tell it myself."

Immediately afterward, Laren took a deep breath and began in a tone of repentance:

"I was wrong, and I have repented.

I wanted to seal the Creator's Path just because of my son, Shangla'er..."

From Xilan willingly being killed by the three Gods to his several journeys in the empty room, from the struggles and confusion in Boro's death to the final vision of the future, Laren narrated it all.

The tone of the Dream God grew increasingly repentant, and the Divine, too, grew more and more desperate; despite hearing the whole process, they still didn't understand why Laren didn't choose to kill Xilan in the end, and instead decided to part ways with them.

Facing the puzzled Gods, Laren sighed and said:

"You haven't experienced it personally, so you cannot empathize with me.

You don't understand what we have gained."

After hearing Laren's account, Wine God Sibos's heart went completely cold; They finally understood that Laren had truly betrayed them and wouldn't participate in their conspiracy anymore.

"No, no, it shouldn't be like this."

Sibos felt an indescribable humiliation.

Then, the Wine God turned around and faced the Gods, exploding with:

"Oh Divine, what a great disgrace.

We once drank fine wine together and made oaths, yet those two shameless wretches have betrayed us and even declared that we have all sinned."

Stirred by Sibos, the Divine began to recover from their shock, anger rising in their hearts, now looking righteously indignant at the three Gods.

Laiendos also stepped forward, lifting the Sword of Victory in his hand and said in a lowered voice:

"Laren, Utus, I don't understand why you have betrayed.

Yet, here I stand with my Sword of Victory, against you.

Even mortals understand it as a symbol of triumph,

so whatever you plan to do, victory shall be ours."

In the tone of the God of Victory, there was a hint of persuasion, hoping Laren and Utus would turn back, return to their side of the Divine.

However, the three Gods were clearly unimpressed by the words of Laiendos.

Utus regarded him with a cold stare, clenching in his hand the long-brewing storm.

The Dream God shook his head and told Laiendos that their life to come was one of atonement, until death would descend swiftly in the nearly eternal passage of time.

And the ever-honest God of Mountains and Craftsmanship sneered:

"Your Sword of Victory?

Laiendos,

I am the one who forged your Sword of Victory! I know it far better than you do!"

The Divine Artifacts of the Celestial Kingdom were almost all made by Hiris's hand, and due to his extraordinary skill, no one in the world could match him.

Then, the artisan, as if he had been harboring his anger for a long time, mercilessly mocked the other Gods:

"Pray, have some self-respect, stop wallowing in self-pity, and let go of illusions; you might as well go back to your banquets and wine, don't think to write any poetry with this conflagration, your sins are already too great, lest Endora's fate befalls you too, this is my final piece of advice. If you won't accept it, just curse me all you want, but do not use the Divine Artifacts I forged while you curse my character."

The colors of the Gods' faces changed from pale to flushed, none of them had expected the always amiable Hiris to utter such cutting remarks; they were immediately embarrassed, for they all possessed Divine Artifacts made by Hiris.

At this point, Wine God Sibos laughed bitterly out of anger, about to say something when Utus stood up.

"Enough has been said,

If you wish for mortals to witness a battle among the Divine, then continue to stay here."

If not, then roll back to your feasts, sing your poetry, write your songs!"

As a Fifth Rank Divine, his words carried great weight; everyone felt the intense fury in his voice, and the Gods had to weigh whether they should really go to war.