GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

Soon, Stelios's laughter began to wane. He has been trying to fuse with the body for a while now but he has been experiencing some difficulties. There is a barrier of divine Will on Helios's body. Stelios sensed it carefully and determined what it is immediately.

"Wait a minute. This is a Stigmata. Where did you get a Stigmata?" He asked in shock.

The Stigmata on Helios's body is preventing him from starting the fusion process. Where could Helios have gotten one? Which god will dare to inscribe runes on the body of another demigod? The most important question of all is when did Helios get the Stigmata? Helios was just in the camp right under his nose before he was given away.

'No problem then. I'll just erode it myself.' He thought to himself.

Then he set about to try to remove the divine will within the Stigmata. It will take time but he has nothing to worry about. The only thing that Helios can do is give up the breakthrough and risk his soul shattering from the rebound. If Helios does that, then he will die and that wouldn't affect him anymore. The only outcome for Helios is death or waiting patiently and becoming the sun god after his body has been stolen from him.

But things didn't go as he thought. The importance of the question about the time Helios got the Stigmata changed when he sensed the resistance of the divine will within the Stigmata. The divine will is strong enough to resist his attempts with impunity. He couldn't move the divine will at all.

The most important question became which God gave Helios the Stigmata. Which God has a divine will strong enough to resist him? Only one answer came to his mind.

"Wait a minute. Are you working with the Celestial Supreme?" He asked in trepidation.

It was then that Helios spoke. "Everything has been set. Thanks for coming."

Stelios felt an ominous feeling of dread. He could tell that something bad is about to happen. He was wondering what could be going on when he heard Helios speak again.

"I'll tell you something so that you can die peacefully."

He also paused for suspense. Then he said, "I am not your son."

Stelios was perplexed. He had just said the same thing to Helios. So Stelios was more concerned about what Helios said about everything being set.

He couldn't ask what it meant though. An immense force began to act on Stelios. It feels like a mountain is pressing down on him. Helios's soul began to resist and it pushed Stelios into the trap that has been prepared for him. All the Stigmata on Helios's body activated and pushed Stelios too.

Two things happened at once. The soul pressed down on Stelios and the body pushed him back. Stelios was being pushed back into the Stigmata that he came. That's the only way out for him and that's also when Stelios knew that things have gone terribly and horribly wrong.

"What are you?" He screamed in panic as he resisted.

Helios's soul seemed indomitable and the divine will within Helios's Stigmata is also too strong to be resisted. He can't get past Helios's soul nor can he get past his body. The only way for him is the Stigmata that he inscribed on Helios's body. Except that Stigmata isn't the one he inscribed anymore. While he was trying to erode the divine will in the Stigmata on Helios's body and failing at it, the tree father was also trying to erode his divine will within that Stigmata and succeeded at it. The changes that were then made to the Stigmata are terribly bad for Stelios.

"Please let me go. I'm ready to pay any price." Stelios pleaded in desperation.

He is desperate. He has nowhere to go except that remodeled Stigmata. There's no way entering it will be good for his health. So he pleaded and begged. But no one listened to him. He is trapped truly and thoroughly.

Stelios was pushed into the Stigmata which then began to activate. He appeared within a void of enclosed space that seemed to suck out everything with him. The law fragments used to make the Stigmata turned into green crystal vines empowered by the divine will of tree father and dug into his body like leeches. The green vines bored into his very being, anchored themselves very well, and then turned golden as they siphoned the Sun god's power.

"No, this can't happen to me. No! No! No!" He screamed vehemently.

Stelios understood the purpose of the Stigmata immediately. The original Stigmata forms a connection with the sun god which he can use to supply Helios with divine power. The other function of the Stigmata is encoded in the divine will and will only activate when Helios is about to become a transcendent. The tree father enhanced the Stigmata and turned it into an engine for creating divine power by using the sun god as fuel.

That's just what Stelios can tell now. There could be more to the Stigmata but he knows for sure that he will become a prisoner in this Stigmata for the rest of his life unless he is released. If he were a spectator and not the one that is about to be turned into fuel, he would have marveled at the intricacy of the Stigmata. It is a state of the art creation.

The Divine Power Engine Stigmata is innovative and well done. It has a space within it that is looped upon itself so escape is impossible. Then there are the lockdown and energy-siphoning mechanisms. The energy siphoning mechanisms in particular have been modeled to have a very high capacity so that he can't overload the system by pumping too much power into it.

There is also the encryption used to prevent him from deciphering the Stigmata. It is a better alternative to using divine will to prevent tampering. If Stelios's had this, he probably be in the direction situation he currently is in.