GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

Guntu could be considered as a vessel for destruction, a vessel that makes destruction sane. This sanity will make destruction act like a potent poison that will continue to replicate itself and spread. The only way to put him down is to overwhelm his tolerance for destruction. He isn't omnipotent after all, he still has a limit to what he can do. Overcoming his limit is a tall order because at his stage only world gods can one-shot him. As long as he absorbs destruction and propagates it he will be invincible and unstoppable. Once he reaches a certain level even world gods won't want him to go out of control or else the aftermath will be a catastrophic disaster. He received a communication request from the Sovereigns he left behind.

"They probably want to tell me to quit." He grumbled before accepting the request.

"Great ancestor we have good news." The joy in the voice of the Sovereign was evident.

"Even more good news, great. What is it?" He couldn't say no to more good news.

"The war summons has been approved by the racial council. You have succeeded. The era of the gods will end." Guntu could sense an infectious and fervent excitement from the speaker.

"Good news indeed." Guntu became happier enough to alleviate the little dissatisfaction he had towards the realm lord. When news about the battle he had today spread to the masses, his mission as a pioneer will be completed. He felt the inspiration start to flow. He felt proud to his very non-existent bones.

"I'm not saying what I have done can be compared to the sages, but I should at least be awarded the qualification to start a heroic family by the racial council."

Unfortunately, the person he is speaking to does not agree. "I don't think so, great ancestor. The sages led us through battle after battle to finally clinch victory against our arch nemesis, only then were we able to live in peace and develop to become the overlord of the plane. Future generations will always remember their sacrifice and bravery. You on the other hand trampled some gods. I wasn't there but I know it was easy."

Guntu's eyes twitched. That last statement was right. The worst part is that they won't be the wreckage of the battlefield for him to show off. Everything around him had become destruction energy and they had been wiped away by Mother High Heaven. So maybe he won't have as much renown as he initially thought. "Fine. You didn't have to be so frank "

"Anything for you, great ancestor."

"Goodbye," Guntu said before cutting off the connection.

"Belittling my battle achievement. Is this what the youth of today have become? I won't mind it as a hero in the making. I am bigger than that." He muttered to himself.

"Which direction should I take now?" He asked himself. He wanted to optimize his trip but he can't scan too far because of the suppression of his divine sense.

"She took my money but she didn't give me freedom." He grumbled inwardly this time. One snarky comment might be allowed, two is just asking for a beating.

If he were not suppressed so much, his divine sense will be able to spread to every nook of the plane. He grumbled some more about the unfair treatment of origin gods before choosing a random direction. He could check a map but there was no fun in that. So he resumed his journey to create what will be called by future historians the trail of destruction.

The divine plane. After the first battle.

Havok and panic reigned in the entire divine plane. The atmosphere that was serious, confident, and expectant had turned to despair. Above the divine city, d crumbling and falling apart into the void beyond the plain. An emergency war council had been called, which the celestial god used to placate the few gods that remained for the war effort. The mortals were not the only ones panicking. A lot of gods did more than panic, they also gave up. If their chances of victory in the main plane were slim in the first place, now it is just non-existent.

Ode looked down below as the divine city was thrown into disarray. The confidence and faith that the worshippers had in their gods were dwindling. He was able to convince the gods that attended the war council to rally their forces in order to renew faith in them. It was easy to accomplish because the ones that came were the ones that weren't willing to give up their power. The rest had either given up after that battle or they had died. Yes, they died. It was the most shocking thing that happened due to their fast battle. It wasn't the swift defeat, it was not the fact that the battle ended abruptly and that cloud of destruction just disappeared in a flash. No, it was the fact that gods that were supposed to be immortal died.

The fact that they were steamrolled by an origin god was not surprising. Origin gods were so strong that the lower realm refused to allow them to throw their weight around. All the plans, conjectures, and traps all came to nothing in the face of overwhelming power. That kind of power is something only he could be capable of, maybe not so well done, so he wasn't surprised that they lost so easily. He was just fearful because the Origin god did not use its domain.

The impact of that first battle is far-reaching. All their years of preparation had gone to waste. The defensive walls that they built at the border were gone. Their precious troops with high-level strength were gone. The weapon cities and other massive weapons of war were gone. All that time, money, and effort in procuring them disappeared just like that, in a short burst of destruction.

The gods had planned to shift the location of the siege to the main plane. They knew they were going to be wiped out if they were locked away in the divine plane. Only when they could properly defend themselves could they even consider the idea of a counterattack. That's why they walled off the borders of their territory. The concentration of the bulk of their resources to a single point turned out to be a bad idea, a very bad and costly idea. But that's just the surface cost of their defeat. It was only after the end of the battle that he realized the full extent of the damage they had incurred. All the gods that were involved in the battle in the form of avatars died. All of them, without any exception.

Gods are very difficult to kill because of the system of avatars. Their avatars can release as much strength as their main body can in the same situation, and the gods will remain unharmed even if they lost their avatar. They may weaken slightly but they wouldn't be in any danger of losing their lives. Their avatars are not strong in the main plane because their main bodies cannot produce strength on par with a transcendent because of planar suppression. That's why they bought the golems that will serve as their vessels. They would be able to release greater strength as if they were in the divine plane. They didn't invent the golems but acquired them from the ancient battlefield. It is one of the many benefits of interacting with other races from all over the realm of high heaven.

They had planned to use the mechanism of the golems to plug the hole in their high-level troops but alas, they were wrong. They thought that at most, they will lose money and troops if they lose the battle. They were very wrong. They lost their very lives. It was the first time they had experienced something like this, where the death of an avatar led to the death of the god.

Ode watched as many divine kingdoms crumbled and scattered. Their Godhood fell to the main plain like shooting stars.

What hurts him the most is the irreplaceable strength he has lost. Weapons can be bought and troops can be conscripted. But Each dead god is equal to at least 10 avatars lost forever. A truly painful loss.

The only silver lining from the mass death of the gods is that more gods will be created. Gods may die but their godhood will remain. Those free Godhood can be used to replace the deceased gods, they wouldn't be up to par with their predecessors but it will have to do. It's just that they may not have enough time to replenish the ranks of the gods with this method.

He had wanted to join the battle but there was no golem that could contain his power. So he stayed up here and watched the battle. What he saw made him thankful that he hadn't participated at all.