As dawn approached, Jonas and Elara prepared to depart, accompanied by the chosen priest, a wise and serene figure named Father Aelric. The journey back to their kingdom was filled with discussions on the integration of their respective detection methods, strategies for discreetly testing high-ranking officials, and plans for the joint task force.
Back on the eastern continent, Ikem had already returned from his journey to his brother’s realm. He could have stayed longer, but he had a kingdom to lead and protect.
At the moment, Ikem had put on his royal garb to look presentable to his cousins, the other demigods, as they were about to have an official meeting regarding the events on the Northern continent. What Ikem dreaded most was that his other cousins might have similar news or worse.
Snapping his fingers, his official throne appeared before him. He sat in it, looking at the seven huge floating mirrors. Almost as if they were sentient, the moment Ikem’s eyes fell on them, they began humming. Soon, clear images of his other cousins appeared on them.
Ikem wasn’t the only one prepared for the meeting; his other cousins were looking their best too. Ikem’s eyes were drawn to Ursula, who smiled at him and said, "You look great, my love."
Ikem’s smile widened as his eyes squinted. He smoothly answered back, "So do you, my lady."
Tide rolled his eyes. Among his other cousins, he was the only one tired of the two lovebirds always flirting with each other during official meetings. Of course, this wasn’t because watching them reminded him that he had no one.
Tide shook his head at the thought. "No, he had plenty of maidens waiting every night, so he had someone," he thought. But looking at Ikem and Ursula sending air kisses to each other, Tide’s eyes started twitching. "After all this while, you two lovebirds still haven’t gotten laid?"
Ursula was about to snap back at him when she noticed his new look, even though he tried hiding it under his royal garb. "What happened to you, Tide?" she asked with concern.
Tide sighed. He couldn’t hide this from them, so he sighed again. "The demon who has been pestering my sister and me all these years finally caught up with us." Bringing out his arm, which was wrapped in glowing healing seaweeds, he continued, "This was the result."
Ikem looked at Flowua, whose entire being was now radiating. Her previous tired and disturbed look was no longer there, so he asked, "Why isn’t Flowua in the same state as you, or maybe wounded?"
Flowua rolled her eyes at Ikem’s question. Before anyone could answer, she asked, "It seems our little cousin wants to see his big sister hurt. That saddens me." She pretended to hold her heart like she was hurt.
Ikem felt the impulse to stand up and shout, "I ain’t little no more!" But he held himself back, thinking, "I am grown now, so I won’t play her games."
Flowua seemed to notice this, and the other demigods had smirks at the edges of their mouths. From the very first time they met, Flowua had always been able to rile Ikem up by always calling him "little cousin." Others called Ikem and Maul that too, but when Flowua did it, for some reason, they couldn’t help but react. Even Maul at one point fell for her games, but now he no longer reacted to her words as he filtered them out. Only Ikem still reacted to her words.
Tide shook his head at his sister’s games before answering Ikem’s question. "The demon somehow was able to create lesser clones of itself, which attacked Flowua to keep her busy while the main body attacked me and my people."
"He was powerful, but not something I couldn’t deal with. It became a problem when..." Tide paused as he looked at Ikem.
"It became a problem when he could access the other world, and when the fight was nearing its end, he gained a power that was able to neutralize my most powerful weapon against him," Tide said as the other demigods frowned. Even Flowua, who already knew about it, looked serious.
Tide continued "An after review of the battle, made me entertain the possibility that the demon may have contacted our parents look alike that reside in that world. It was the only explanation I could come to after the demon became less affected by my weapons"
The air in the room thickened as the gravity of Tide’s words settled over the gathering. Each demigod felt the weight of the implications, understanding that this was not just an isolated incident but a potential threat to them all.
Ursula, her playful demeanor now replaced with a solemn expression, spoke up, "If this demon has indeed made contact with our parents’ counterparts, it could mean they’re gaining knowledge and power from a source we’ve barely begun to understand. We need to address this immediately."
Xerosis spoke up. "That is disturbing. We haven’t personally experienced it, but from Ikem’s description, it sounds horrible. They are already hard to deal with, and their ability to access the other world has raised their difficulty level."
Looking around, Xerosis asked, "Have you guys also met other demons that can access that world?"
The other demigods, including Ikem, shook their heads. Tide sighed as he started massaging his forehead. "I thought it was an understatement when Ikem said their life signature, scent, and even sound disappear completely once the other world is accessed. The only way is to guess where they would appear or attack from to be able to react to it."
Ikem and Maul looked at each other before Maul spoke up. "I have news on the demon on my side, and I can only beg for forgiveness for not informing you all of such important news."
The other demigods looked at Maul, who sighed before speaking up. "There was a war on my side between the demon and the humans there. Mother even made a short appearance at this war."
The end result was the demon is now an ascended god. The demigods fell silent at Maul’s news. A demon accessing another world and now a demon ascending to godhood was something they weren’t ready for.
An image flew out from Maul’s mirror. A picture of the starry sky appeared before the demigods, and Maul pointed at the small shining red star. "You all who have been paying attention to the night sky will probably have noticed the new red light in our sky. I recently learned from Ikem that it’s called a ’god’s throne.’"
Roth was looking at the red dot before asking, "Why didn’t you inform us of this earlier?"
Maul told them the exact same thing he had told Ikem before finally saying, "I also welcomed a new daughter to my home."
The female demigods all had a look that basically demanded Maul bring Lunara out immediately. Ikem coughed before pleading, "He can get her out after we have concluded our meeting."
The demigoddesses nodded before Maul gave Ikem a look that said, "Thanks."
"While his ascension seems to be a problem, he can’t do much to our world just like our parents who are not able to affect the outside world. The problem with his ascension is that it brought about a new troublesome faith that poses a danger to our world and the peace we have had for a long time," Maul said as he got quiet, anticipating a question.
"What does his divinity entail, and how is it a problem?" Ursula asked.
"He is known as the god of battle fury and madness." Maul noticed how the demigods frowned hearing the name, which in turn caused him to smile.
"Doesn’t sound that pleasing, I know. His divinity is self-explanatory from its name, and after a long discussion with Ikem, we deemed his divinity and church to be something bad for our world," Maul said.
"We all know from past experience that we are not able to put a stop to the expansion of something new, especially if it interests people," Maul sighed as he looked at Ikem.
Ikem took over, asking, "Does anyone else understand how Björn’s divinity is something bad for our world and people?"
Xerosis spoke up. "From Maul’s explanation and his people’s interest in this new religion, I can begin to see where this new expanding church would become a problem. Our world, on the surface level, has known peace for a long time. Even our battle with the demons is unknown to many mortals."
"It’s rare we hear of a mortal kingdom being in conflict with each other, not because they are such peaceful people but because most of these mortal kingdoms each have one of our parents as their main worship, and so, in fear of angering the gods or facing repercussions from a group like the Cult of Ikenga, peace became the only option for them."