GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

That attack that Helios produced which tried to split the plane in half is enough for them to know that Helios is as powerful as a sovereign of law or a Celestial. They can't do anything to him. In fact, they are not safe from him. They can only hole up in their divine kingdoms like Stelios if they want to be safe. Only a Celestial can keep themselves safe from him.

The god of knowledge stood up and asked, "On behalf of all the grand gods, we will like to know if it is allowed for us to ascend and become Celestials."

There's something they can do but it is the trump card of the gods. They are not willing to use it yet and it isn't even certain that it will work on Helios. They would rather invest in something with more certainty. Something like ascending and becoming Celestials.

The god of knowledge has spoken to some gods and this issue is most pressing. He chose to stand up and state it because the Celestial Supreme said he is open to ideas. He wouldn't dream of asking for such a thing we're the situation not so dire.

The Celestial Supreme slammed his hand on his desk. "Never. It is not allowed."

Having other Celestials will strengthen him far more than killing and absorbing other Celestials. Celestials can only grow stronger by absorbing other Celestials but qualitative changes can only be achieved if they absorb a Celestial with a similar Authority or compatible domain. Not a lot of domains are compatible with Order. One of them is Justice, the imposition of rules and the enforcement of them.

The opposite domain is also very compatible. Like Day and night, light and darkness, power and weakness, strife and peace, Order and Fate. Absorbing an opposite domain helps to shore up the weakness of a domain. Fate which represents the randomness of the world, if combined with Order will lead to the possibility of total control.

But the celestial supreme can't absorb fate because he is weak to it. It is the problem that comes with trying to absorb your opposite domain. You have to overcome your weakness, face it, and triumph over it. Since he can't do that yet, having more celestials to empower him is a good thing but he will never have it.

Apart from his dislike for more threats to his power, the process of creating Celestials is too chaotic. Grand gods will turn against each other and kill one another for power. The divine plane will be thrown into utter Chaos. It is not a welcome prospect considering the shambles that the mortal realm is in right now.

The Zargoth plane will be compromised in both the divine and main plane which will make them a prime target for invasion if he allows the ascension of Celestials. He can't allow the Chaos and the vulnerability so he said no.

The god of knowledge didn't back down. "What if you cannot protect us?"

He raised his voice then. "Then you die because if you become a Celestial, I will kill you myself. As long as I live, there will never be another Celestial."

"But what about Stelios?" The goddess of power and might asked.

"What about him? I will get rid of him soon enough. I will not allow another Celestial to exist until I am dead." The Celestial Supreme promised.

They began arguing when they heard someone say something totally unrelated to the topic.

"What is the sun dwarf even doing?" Harkam asked nonchalantly. He is totally unconcerned with the turmoil going on around him.

He doesn't care about becoming a Celestial because he doesn't want to become a Celestial. He plans to become an origin god. He didn't go to great lengths for Tanya only to seal his fate as a Celestial god. What is he going to do for fun for all of eternity? Having a child will come with very serious repercussions when he is a Celestial. What if he is really fertile and doesn't need a demigod to conceive a child? Being a Celestial is a lot more trouble than it is worth to him.

Anyway, if he has to become a Celestial because he has to, then he won't bother with the Celestial Supreme. He isn't one to worry too much about consequences and future problems. A threat to his life that can only be resolved if he becomes a celestial means he has to become a celestial whether the celestial supreme likes it or not. He doesn't care about the Celestial Supreme's opinion about it.

There's no need to argue with anyone about that. He is going to do whatever he has to do to stay safe. So he is more focused on Helios than on the argument with the Celestial Supreme. That's why he noticed the odd thing that Helios is doing. It may be weird but it is more interesting than the argument that the gods are having.

Everyone turned their attention toward the screen. It showed Helios using the white blood of the son of the Celestial Supreme to draw lines on the ground. These white lines look like holographic constructs hovering in the air. They formed layers of concentric circles with intricate runes drawn in the space between each circle. Helios continued to work as they watched and it took hours before he finished drawing the elaborate circles. The largest circle at the edge spans 200 meters across

The god of knowledge exclaimed, "Fascinating work. This is a new kind of rune manipulation. He drew out the runes from the transcendent's body and soul and is using them as threads to weave a different tapestry. How did he come up with this?"

What he is seeing has successfully diverted his mind from the argument about whether it is allowed to become a celestial or not. He began scribbling down in another tome as he muttered.

"This is just genius. It's wonderful. I have never been so fascinated by rune-making since Stelios. Truly like father like son. Those two are too similar."