Chapter 25 - The Greeks and Demigoddess (Patreon)

"Fate is a flickly thing... it could be an absolute unbreakable chain that binds the weaker beings, yet at the same time, nothing is set in stone, and every single choice leads to even more possibilities that may seem to be endless and infinite."

- King Yhwach Adnyeus on the Fate

***

When Yhwach opened his eyes the next time, he felt the piercing, strong light shoot into his eyes, which wasn't really the nicest way to experience directly after waking up. Especially after he slept for three days straight, as he was notified by [Ultimate Skill Hastur the Lord of the Unspeakable Lore].

<The Host has been unconscious for three days.>

<The Host has consumed a huge amount of the pure Divine Essence.>

<The Host's physical body has undergone a transformation and has been strengthened considerably.>

<Divine Rank has been increased.>

<The Host's Divine Rank has reached Divine Rank 7.>

<The Host has reached the Lesser God Rank.>

The [Ultimate Skill Hastur the Lord of the Unspeakable Lore] immediately swarmed Yhwach with notifications after he had woken up from being unconscious. He heard the voice of the [Ultimate Skill Hastur the Lord of the Unspeakable Lore] in his ears, as he felt considerably stronger than before.

Much more stronger.

Though it was logical, because he reached the higher Divine Ranks while at the same time, his body was also much stronger, in the physical aspect. 

'Right now... I am most probably in the Camp Half-Blood and they must have fed me with tons of Ambrosia and Nectar.'

Yhwach, though, because he only had those two things aside from the Golden Apples from the Hesperides, would achieve a similar effect.

The Garden of the Hesperides is Hera's garden in the west, where there is a single tree on which Golden Apples grow. It is guarded by Ladon, a hundred-headed dragon, and one of the beings that were closest to the Heavenly Dragon in the modern world.

He looked around as he noticed that Valiana was lying on the couch that was near his bed, most probably, she was sleeping here for the entire time and refusing to leave for even a second.

Yhwach knew that she was blaming herself for being weak... it was clearly written over her face because he could see a single tear escaping her eyes as she immediately threw herself around his neck.

"You didn't see anything..."

Her voice promised murder if he ever told someone about this, but she was clearly very worried, and he was very upset that he was making her worried. He knew that it was his mistake to dismiss the possibility of Hades going all out on this for many reasons, and he had to admit that they were very logical reasons.

Even when he used the [The Almighty], the chances of Hades doing something like this were extremely, extremely low, and despite that, they happened. He didn't take them that much seriously, and that one...

Asterion.

It was something that he didn't really anticipate or predict, even using the [The Almighty].

He wasn't really that pleased by the outcome of the ambush by Hades's Grim Reapers and Monsters. Nevertheless, nothing really happened as he hugged Valiana back, who calmed down considerably. 

"Thank you for looking after me."

Yhwach said to his girlfriend, even though she didn't like the term itself that much.

"So, you were really staying with me for the entire time? Somebody is growing soft..."

He muttered something in silence, but still loud enough for Valiana to hear, as she hit him in his ribs with considerable force for him to properly feel the hit. 

"One more word, and I will hit you harder."

Even though she was pretending to be angry, Valiana was very happy that he was all right and healthy. She was worrying about his well-being for the entire time, and he was unconscious, so when he woke up seemingly healthy, Valiana was very happy at the outcome.

"Why didn't Karna and Arjuna arrive? Didn't you try to summon them?"

The Devil Dragoness asked as they ended their hugging, much to their dismay, even though she tried to downplay it as much as possible.

"Ts... when we entered the area of the Half-Blood Hill and the monsters started appearing, I sensed that there was something wrong. Even [The Almighty] was blank about it, which meant that most probably someone very, very powerful was observing, and any summoning attempt wouldn't have ended very well for us."

Yhwach answered, because when he realized that there was something odd, the first thing that he wanted to do was to send a signal to Arjuna and Karna, because having two beings of the Ultimate-Class that would participate in the battle would be only good.

Yet if he felt that [The Almighty] was blank about something, it meant that he was directing the effects of [The Almighty] at someone who was above the Lower Dimensional Lifeform category of beings. 

He didn't need to be a genius to see what was happening.

Hades was observing what was happening.

Personally, at that.

During the fight, he decided to trust his instincts and didn't summon any help, because the last thing was for someone on the level of Hades to personally intervene in their squabbles and fights.

"So, what was happening during the time that I was out?"

Yhwach asked as he sat on the bed next to Valiana. 

"Nothing of significance, though I can see that most of the people here are rather spooked by the fact that God from different Pantheons while some are rather distressed by the fact that such powerful beings appeared near the Camp."

He didn't respond to that, as most of these things were something that he had already predicted. Especially the last part was something that was probably pretty troubling for most of the residents.

The majority of the Demigods were pitifully weak.

At most, they could reach as Middle-Class, though some managed to reach High-Class if they were lucky when they managed to tap more into their Divine Heritage. Much of it could be attributed to certain restrictions from the Gods, as the Gods wanted to keep the Demigods contained. 

Even though the Demigods were just Demigods, under the right circumstances, they could access their Divine Heritage fully and even have a shot at ascending to the Godhood.

"Where is Bikou?"

He asked as he couldn't sense the Monkey Yokai in the vicinity.

"He is somewhere in the forests... this place is deeply saturated with Nature, he is using the time to meditate and practise his Chi."

Bikou was something akin to a Chinese cultivator, yet at the same time, he wasn't. The Path of Buddhahood was situated in the middle, as the entire concept of cultivation was derived from the Buddhas and their Buddhist Path.

They would practise the "Energy Gathering Concept" of cultivation, because their primary source of Energy, yet they would seek the Enlightenment to ascend as Buddha, where they would sublime their existence, understanding, and Chi to elevate their Lifeform Level into the higher realm.

"Let him be. Care to show me around?"

Yhwach asked as both of them stood up and went on a tour through Camp Half-Blood.

Just as they exited the hospital or whatever the place was, as it technically wasn't a real hospital, Yhwach noticed Valiana's expression twitching several times when she saw a person who was waiting for them in front of the building.

It was a young woman, around their age, with slightly tanned skin and a slender, athletic body. She has long, honey-blond hair set in perfect princess curls, like Cinderella. She was actually very pretty, and she was giving off the vibe of a nice person.

"Are you here again to bother me, Owl Head?"

Judging on Valiana's tone, girl's aura, and the fact that she was a Demigod, Yhwach quickly deduced that she must be the daughter of Athena. And one that was pretty persistent about learning the new things...

"I just came to check on the patient, but it seems that it's not important. I am Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena."

The girl introduced herself as Valiana, rolling her eyes at that.

"Yhwach, Son of Shiva the God of Destruction and Thashamal the Seraphim of Doom and Damnation."

Yhwach introduced himself as he could imagine that the wheels in the girl's head started working as she was already figuring everything out. He wasn't really surprised that it took her some time, as the Greek Demigods were rather ignorant, yet, she did indeed show reactions to the names of his parents.

Now, even though Yhwach had [Divine Authority of the Golden Grace] and [Divine Authority of Destruction], he didn't have any position within the Hindu Pantheon, and when he said that Shiva was God of Destruction, it wasn't just about his Divine Authority.

It was also a title at the same time that Shiva was the official and recognized God of Destruction of the Hindu Pantheon.

"So the other Pantheons are real? Also, if your mother is Seraphim, does it mean that Heaven and the Bible are also real?"

Despite his supernatural senses, he barely registered that she was already in front of him, clearly disregarding the concept of personal space, and fired one question after another as her eyes were shining with curiosity.

Not that he cared, but at the same time, Yhwach found that he had found a kindred spirit in the pursuit of knowledge.

Like her mother, Annabeth was an intellectual genius, wise and very witty. Her eyes look calculating, like she is analyzing whoever she is looking at during a first meeting. He could clearly see it, because he was the same person. 

"Yes and yes. The other Pantheons exist, but they don't interact too much with each other, at least not on Earth. And yes, my mother is Seraphim, a 1st-Generational one that was personally created by Yahweh, the God of the Bible, the strongest God in the Draconic Deus."

Yhwach explained while omitting the fact that Yahweh has perished or at least his physical body and much of his soul have perished during the Great War of the Supernatural. The last one was a closely guarded secret, and he wasn't really interested in going around and divulging the secrets of the Biblical Pantheon.

Though Yhwach knew that a good number of people for sure were aware of the fact that Yahweh was dead, nobody was going around and spreading the news. The reason behind that was rather simple...

In the end, everyone was rather satisfied with the status quo that existed on Earth. Not to mention, if it really got out that Yahweh was long dead, it would mean a Second Great War of the Supernatural, as every Pantheon and faction would want to destroy Heaven. 

Thoígh Yhwach knew that it was impossible for them to breach the Celestial Gates of Heaven, not to mention, the Angels were being much stronger in Heaven compared to the time when they were in other places.

That was due to the passive strengthening that they were receiving from Heaven itself, nd coupled with the fact that Heaven was the strongest and most powerful Divine Realm in the Draconic Deus, it was impossible.

Yet what would be entirely possible was the extermination of Church and Christianity and other Abrahamic Religions all over the world, together with the culling of the Fallen Angels and, arguably, even the Devils, if some heavy hitters joined the fray.

But what they could do was to surround and lay siege on the Heaven to the point where the Angels wouldn't be able to leave the Heavens, while they would completely root out the influence of the Heavens on Earth.

Something like that was completely doable, and it could be rather easily done at that.

"I heard from Valiana that you have been in charge of the camp to look after me and my recuperation. For that I thank you very much and I would gladly give you something as a reward."

Valiana told him that when he was brought to Camp Half-Blood, it was Annabeth who was mainly taking care of him and checking up on his condition for most of the time. That was also the reason why they were not in...

Much good mood right now, because Annabeth, ever-curious she was, was constantly bothering Valaiana about the information and asked all kinds of questions. Or when Albion was available, she would be bugging the White Dragon Emperor.

For Valiana the daugther of Athena was pain in ass, buecase she was cosntnly asking something and wanted to know everything. Though deep inside, she was also annoyed for different sorts of reasons.

"There is no need to give me anything... but I wouldn't mind if you could talk more about the wider Supernatural World."

As he partially expected, she wasn't interested in any kind of reward, which was something that he in fact admired. Not many would be able to refuse the possibility of receiving monetary or other material rewards from him.

Yet she chose to forsake that in favour of knowledge.

When he heard that, he looked at her in an entirely new light, because he was admiring her a bit for such a decision. In the Supernatural World, even God-Kings and Faction Leaders would speak to him on equal ground due to his parental lineage, especially his father.

Everyone wanted to be on good terms with one, if not the most powerful God on Earth, who was still active and actively meddling in all matters. And just as she wanted, Yhwach started answering all of the questions that she had about the Supernatural World and its wider perspective.

Seeing this made Valiana pretty much jealous, because she knew that her boyfriend had this sort of scientific / research side, and she wasn't any kind of genius in academics. She was a genius in fighting and combat, but books and other boring stuff weren't her domain.

[You are being jealous of her.]

In her mind, Valiana heard Ablion's voice as the young woman grimaced greatly, hearing that... it really hurt his pride, because well...

As the descendant of Lucifer, the Sin of Pride was very strong in her, as it was in the entire Lucifer Lineage, while at the same time, she was also part dragon, and dragons were immensely prideful creatures.

'Shut up, Ablion! I am not jealous of some flimy Demigod with almost no power!'

Valiana literally screamed in her mind as she spoke telepathically with the White Dragon Emperor of Supremancy. Valiana scoffed as she saw Yhwach and Annabeth merrily talk about various topics, and something was indeed different about the sight.

If one said that dragons didn't really like it when someone was taking what was theirs, it would be an understatement of millennia. Yet, at the same time, Valiana knew that despite the fact that they were in a relationship of some sort, that didn't stop the women who were attempting to secede her chosen mate.

It was beyond irritating.

Back home, the Asuran women and even some more bold Devas that were looking beyond the racial norms, were openly attempting to secure Yhwach when they had the opportunity to do so.

What was more annoying about this entire situation was the fact that Valiana was fearing that Annabeth was her Achilles' Heel. Even though she had to admit that, the daughter of Athena was very beautiful, with her long blonde hair, blue eyes, and slightly tanned skin.

One could even mistake her for a daughter of some Goddess of Love and Beauty, because even Valiana felt that she was really above the standards. And then, there was the greatest source of fear.

Intellect.

Valiana could talk with Yhwach about fighting, training, martial arts, and combat... even usage of Magic if she really willed it, but at the same time, she was aware that having any sort of intellectual conversation was nigh impossible for her. 

On the contrary, the daughter of Athena, who was right now looking like a kid on Christmas Eve, could do so. She was highly intelligent, and she was able to figure out a lot of things, even from the half-assed answers that Valiana was giving her after she annoyed her too much.

[You should calm down, girl... what you are feeling right now is the combination of the manifestation of the Sin of Pride and a dragon's possessiveness towards their property. Even though you don't need to actively realize that, sicne you became a dragon, your Draconic Instincts are already thinking about your mate as your own and nobody else's. The first thing that you need to do right now is to calm down and get your emotions under control.]

Albion said to his host, as this wasn't the first time he was teaching some hatchling how to behave and control their emotions. Yeah, from his perspective, Valiana was a small juvenile dragon because she was barely seventeen years old.

During the first five years of their lives, the Dragons were hatchlings as they barely hatched from their eggs, yet even at this stage, they already had considerable power. Especially their Magic and Dragon Breath started manifesting in the first five years of their lives and growing stronger.

From their sixth year to their hundredth year, they were considered young dragons and were typically allowed to wander in the vicinity of the nest. During this stage of their life, they were already comparable to the Middle-Class beings, easily, and once they crossed the threshold of Adulthood, they were instantly on the Level 3 High-Class. 

Dragon Adulthood was from the 100th year to one thousand years in age. Their power could range from the High-Class to the Ultimate-Class easily, and the strongest of the adult dragons would be more than enough to eat Minor Gods for breakfast.

Once the dragons cross the 1,000th year of their lives, they would become the Ancient Dragons, and all of the Ancient Dragons were at the Level 5 High-Ultoamte Class up to the Level 6, where they could match even Major Gods of various Pantheons.

The strongest of the Ancient Dragons were given the titles of Dragon Kings, because their strength had crossed the boundary of Level 7. Dragons Kings could match High Gods, Super Devisl and similar beings, often they were even stronger and more powerful than them.

Albion was many thousands of years old, according to the dragon aging system; he was the Great Wyrm, though he was ancient even when compared to the rest of the Great Wyrms in this world.

He even became Heavenly Dragon, which isn't something that a dragon could achieve just by aging. Like the other beings that wanted to become the Cosmic Lifeforms, the Dragons needed to condense their own Law.

Like Albion created his own Law of Supremacy, his rival Ddraig created the Law of Domination, Tiamat created the Law of Chaos Karma, and Crom Cruach created the Law of Crescent Darkness.

***

For the past half an hour, Annabeth was giving a tour to Yhwach, who had woken up, as he noticed that Valiana was missing, most probably because she found the entire thing boring, and she also spent the past three days here.

Conscious, he must add.

"And that's why the United States is the boiling pot of future problems if something happens. You practically have representation of most Pantheons and Factions in the world, ranging from Heaven and ending with the Vampire Families."

Yhwach stated as he was talking with the Demigodess of Athena for the past half an hour about a plethora of topics. He had to give it to her, because she was very smart, smarter than anyone of her age was or should be.

Which was also troublesome because he needed to be extra careful about what he told her, because she was very witty and had a much sharper mind. Yhwach wasn't always paying attention to every signal word that he spoke, though that was something that was common to most of the people.

It was impossible to constantly pay attention to every single word that was spoken, and he realized that it was rather a steep mistake. After some time, when he wasn't paying attention, and once he even slipped, Annabeth was now really convinced that there was something wrong with the Biblical Pantheon that wasn't making sense.

It was a bigger plot hole than in a fiction story by a third-rate author.

If the Heaven, or rahter in this case, the Biblical Pantheon was so strong that it managed to push the worshippers of the other Pantheons on Earth almost to the brink of extinction during the Middle Ages, why didn't it take over the entire world?

The three major Abrahamic Religions were extremely populous and powerful throughout history, and even now, so it wasn't making much sense to her. It took him some effort to lead her away from this particular conversation, because... 

Well, that was really something that he couldn't say out of loud. 

Not to mention, Yhwach was really suspecting that Yahweh had left some methods for his eventual return and resurrection. 

The last thing he wanted was to get on his bad list...

He could imagine that once the news was out, everyone would be doing everything in their power to attack the Biblical Pantheon, but most specifically Heaven, the Church, and the Abrahamic Religions overall.

Even though most of the Pantheons and factions in the world didn't have a good relationship with the Devils due to the Evil Pieces or the Grigori as they were... overall just too annoying, they were not the main thorn in the side of the Gods.

While the Devils stole a few souls here and there, that wasn't a big problem compared to the elephant in the room. 

Faith and worshipers that the Abrahamic Religions were taking from the other Pantheons. 

That was irreconcilable hatred between Heaven and the other Pantheons. And it was also the reason why the pact with Heaven, and even by extension with Grigori, was never an option for many Gods in various Pantheons. 

Even in his own, there was almost unanimous consensus on this topic.

War.

"Well, what do we have here? The sleeping princess has woken up... finally. You can take that annoying monkey and Devil Dragon girl and leave. This place is already bothersome more than enough as it is, no need to mix other Pantheons and factions into the mess."

The man who spoke had a chubby face, a red nose, and curly hair so black, that it looked purple or purplish. He had watery, blue, bloodshot eyes from drinking, which made it clear that the man was a total drunkard. In his clothing, the man wore a tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt and purple running shoes.

"Dionysus..."

Yhwach muttered as he knew the identity of the God at first glance. 

Dionysus, the Greek God of the grape harvest, wine, orchards, fertility, madness, parties, religious ecstasy, and theater. 

Often called the "twice-born" because of the circumstances around his birth. His mother was a mortal woman named Semele, daughter of Cadmus, king of Thebes, and his father was Zeus. This makes him the only Olympian to have a mortal parent, and according to some traditions, the only one to have been born a Demigod.

Dionysus also helped the Gods during the First Gigantomachy alongside his half-brother, Hercules, as a God could only defeat the Giants with a Demigod fighting alongside them. 

He was also the God of Madness, and despite the look of a homeless drunkard, Yhwach could see the power inside the God of Wine. 

'Divine Rank 18... near peak Level 7 High God, but his Divine Power is extremely potent... It's on par with Poseidon. Not to mention, he is only a step away from increasing his Divine Rank to 19.'

Even though Yhwach had seen Poseidon only once, and even that was from a distance, he knew that even his Divine Power was only a tad more powerful than that of Dionysus.

This was a rather interesting development because he wasn't expecting Dionysus to be this kind of strong. He knew that the Twelve Olympians were all Level 7 High Gods, but most of them were at either the Divine Rank 16 or a few at Divine Rank 17.

"Dionysus... it seems that you are rather grumpy from your current predicament."

After chasing after an off-limits dryad twice, being off limits as his father had his eyes on the nymph, Zeus punished him by putting him in charge of Camp Half-Blood for 100 years.

During this time, he is not allowed to drink wine or grow grapes for wine, which is the toughest punishment for the God of Wine. And at the same time, Yhwach could see that Zeus used his Authority of God-King to inflict the punishment, or it wouldn't last even a few days.

So instead, he drinks several liters of Diet Coke, even though he does use his powers on other plants, such as strawberries, which helps with the camp's expenses, as their cover name is Delphi Strawberry Service. 

"Ts... well, at least you are better than the monkey. You play?"

Dionysus motioned to the cards that were on the table as Yhwach nodded and sat down next to the God of Wine. Maybe because Yhwach was the sole God in the Camp Half-Blood, Dionysus felt more comfortable playing with him; most of the time, the Gods mingled together.

"Well then, welcome to Camp Half-Blood. The place where these brats learn how to fight and survive against the monsters, and also cause tons of unnecessary problems. Ideally during your stay, you won't cause any more problems and leave as fast as you came."

Yhwach couldn't really say that he encountered a ruder God than Dionysus, but at the same time, he found his attitude very refreshing. Which was also the reason why he enjoyed talking to the people that were this rude... they were geniue and without much pretense. 

Everyone was pretending one way or another.

"So, what exactly has brought you here and created all this mess? Your two companions were surprisingly silent about this one, aside from the fact that Poseidon has paid you."

Dionysus asked as he started mixing the cards.

"I guess because my father ordered it? You know very well if Zeus and Poseidon start fighting in the open?"

The God of Wine nodded as he distributed the cards to himself, Annabeth, and Yhwach as the skies rumbled in the backround. In the end, this place was still under the sight of Zeus, so the God-King of the Greek Pantheon could hear when someone was mentioning him.

"It seems that your paranoid old man is not happy with my statements."

Yhwach said as he gazed up at the sky with a mischievous glint.

"Indra."

He said as suddenly, even more powerful thunderbolts started appearing in the skies, silencing the ones that belonged to Zeus. 

"What just happened?"

The daughter of Athena asked as she noticed that the thunderbolts were different compared to the previous ones that were cast by Zeus when the skies rumbled, and she also knew that Indra was the name of one of the most prominent Gods in the Hindu Pantheon.

"The princeling here just called a stronger God than my ol' dad in his domain. Compared to Indra's mastery over the Divine Authorities of Sky, Lightning, and Thunder, daddy dearest is just a small spark on the side of a road."

Dionysus explained to Annabeth as Indra's thunderbolts boomed one more in acknowledgment, as Indra was one of the proudest Gods out there, and he liked being praised and worshipped.

Though the comparison with Zeus wasn't something that was that pleasant, because Zeus was one of the Gods, who didn't attain high mastery over his Divine Authority, but instead solely depended on the Faith to rise through the Divine Ranks.

Yet this was cause for most of the Gods of the Greek Pantheon.

"So, where is the sea boy?"

Yhwach asked as they started playing cards after some time.

"He woke up just yesterday... it seemed that when Bikou took them from the Minotaur Primogenitor, they were too ambushed by a few minotaurs and he managed to kill one... rather impressive for an unawakened Demigod."

Hearing what Annabeth said made Yhwach tilt his brows.

"Well then, that's a good thing, at least he now knows that everything and everyone wants to kill him."

The Son of Shiva said as he then used [The Almighty] to peek into the future to see the outcome of the game, and fortunately, Dionysus noticed anything like that.

"Say Dionysus... when I was fighting against Orcus, I felt the aura of Longinus... and not just any but the one that belongs to the True Longinus. Care to say why someone like that could be going after the son of Poseidon?"

Yhwach asked because when he was fighting against Orcus, he felt several signatures that belonged to the Sacred Gear Users. All of them were pure humans, in terms of their Magic, they were at the solid Level 3, but if they had Longinus, well...

That would be unknown.

Now that he thought about it, Yhwach made a mental note to get his hands on the True Longinus.

He felt that it would go very well together with the Melabranche to create his own Ultra-Divine Tool.

The Melabranche was too Demonic in nature; he needed something that would counterbalance the Melabranche, and there was nothing better than the True Longinus.

Not to mention, the True Longinus had remnants of Yhweh's will that could be used to destroy the consciousness of the Melabranche, and in the confrontation, the remnant of the will would be too destroyed.

Two flies with one hit.

"I don't know... though we managed to register their presence some time ago, as they have been observing the entrances to the Camp Half-Blood for a few days."