Chapter 164: Ch 164 : The path for the cursed God
The task of moving a world the size of millions of stars was, as Sunny was quickly discovering, easier said than done.
The portal alone would cost a trillion faith points, a sum he did not currently possess. He looked at his faith reserves, a number that would have made any other God in the multiverse weep with envy, and sighed.
"Only a few hundred billion left," he murmured to the quiet of his God space. "I’m practically broke."
A few hours ago, he had held more than hundred trillion, a fortune so vast it felt infinite.
But the cost of his actions in the realm of advancement was immense.
"But it was well spent," he consoled himself. Every point had been an used to save his creations from Floro.
He could have created a thousand more demigods with that faith, but he had chosen to save the ones he already had. He was a creator, an emperor, not a heartless profiteer.
"Besides," he added, a confident smirk returning to his face, "with 5.5 billion customers in the Pantheon, this ’poverty’ of mine is only temporary."
He was about to close his eyes and return to the arduous but necessary task of comprehending the Law of Manifestation, but a single thought stopped him. A loose thread. A problem he had yet to solve. ’I forgot about that poor guy.’
He wasn’t thinking of a mortal or a demigod. He was thinking of Asura, the God with the cursed, SS-Grade talent.
"It’s not too late to help, I suppose," he mused. With a simple command to Thea, a portal shimmered into existence, and Asura was summoned to his God space.
Within seconds, a figure walked through the shimmering gateway. Asura, the God of the planet Kshara, stepped into Sunny’s realm and immediately bowed his head. "Greetings, Emperor Cosmos."
Sunny nodded. "Greetings, Asura. How are you finding life in the new universe?"
"It is peaceful, my Emperor," Asura replied, a genuine relief in his voice. "For the first time in centuries, my world has not suffered a demon invasion. My people are safe and are living well."
"That’s good to hear," Sunny said. He got straight to the point. "I asked you to come here because I wanted to talk to you about your talent."
The color drained from Asura’s face. He froze, his mind a whirlwind of pure, absolute terror.
The secret he had guarded his entire life as a God, the cursed core of his being that is forcing him to profit from sin, had been laid bare. "My... my talent?" he stammered.
"Don’t scream like that," Sunny said calmly. "I have known about your talent since the moment you joined the Pantheon." He saw the panic in Asura’s eyes and softened his tone. "And I believe I have a solution for you. A way for you to use your power without your lifeforms needing to commit a single evil act."
"Really?" Asura gasped, his panic momentarily replaced by disbelief. "Is that even possible? Wait... how did you know about my talent in the first place?"
"Yes, it is possible," Sunny chuckled. "As for how I know... let’s just call that a confidential matter between an emperor and his subject." He leaned forward. "Now, do you want to hear the solution or not?"
Asura immediately forgot his second question, his entire being focused on the impossible hope Sunny was offering. "Yes! Please, tell me!"
"You know of my demigod, Cerberus?" Sunny asked patiently.
"Yes, the Guardian of the Netherworld," Asura nodded.
"And you know of his duty to punish the wicked?"
"Yes."
"Then how about this," Sunny proposed, his voice laying out a path of brilliant, unorthodox logic. "We have your lifeforms become apostles of Cerberus. Their sacred duty will be to serve as the wardens of Hell, to punish the souls of the truly evil by torturing them day and night. The act of torture is, by its very nature, an ’evil’ deed. It will fuel your talent, providing you with an immense amount of faith. But it will be an evil committed in the name of absolute justice."
This analysis, a perfect loophole in the cosmic law of Asura’s talent, had been formulated by Thea. She had found a way to turn his curse into a blessing.
"Will... will this truly work?" Asura asked, his voice trembling. If it did, the path to becoming one of the top Gods in the Pantheon was now wide open for him.
"If it doesn’t," Sunny said with a laugh, "then... good luck with your future." He saw the flicker of fear in Asura’s eyes and quickly added, "I’m kidding. It will surely work. In fact, it has been working all along, but you never looked at it clearly enough. That sudden influx of faith you felt when your lifeforms killed and tortured the invading demons? Where do you think that came from?"
The realization hit Asura like a bolt of lightning. It was true. He had always dismissed it as a faith generated by the happiness of the lifeforms, never daring to connect it to his cursed talent.
He looked at Sunny, his eyes welling with tears of gratitude. He had been shown a path out of his moral prison. He bowed low once again.
"Now, you can return," Sunny said. "I will send Cerberus to your world to select the first apostles. In the meantime, focus on clearing out the demons near your portal in the Realm of Advancement. Let your people unleash their righteous fury."
Asura nodded, his heart light for the first time in centuries, and walked back through the portal.
"Now, I can finally comprehend in peace," Sunny said, closing his eyes.
In the dark, oppressive meeting hall of Ashgar, the mood was grim.
"How can that be possible?!" Ichor roared, slamming his corrosive hand on the bone table.
"It just happened," Maledictus said, her voice cold with fury. "They are more formidable than we thought. Not only did they take the Pill of Life, but they also killed four of our demigod lieutenants."
"You seem to be forgetting," Beelzebub added, his voice a low growl, "two of those demigods were on the verge of ascending to the God realm themselves."
"The Blood Fiend and the Vanishing Fiend," Deimos mused, his expression unreadable. "We cannot blame anyone but their own weakness."
"I think they are ganging up on our demigods," Malakai, the Lord of Despair, whispered. "We should increase our numbers in the Realm of Advancement."
"Increase them?" Deimos chuckled, a dry, humorless sound. "Why increase them, when we can send all of them? They are not doing anything here anyway."
He rose from his throne, his voice a low, terrifying command that echoed through the obsidian hall, a declaration of total war.
"All demon demigods, heed my command. Go to the Realm of Advancement. And feast on the flesh of every living thing you find."