The Greek God seemed surprised at the First One's declaration that they'd be scouts. Danna was confused at first, but if everyone else struggled with the corruption then it made sense if both she and Gi were more resilient. Then Danna noticed that the Greek God wore the same type of bracelet that the First One had brought to block that same corruption.

Just where was the First One planning on sending them?

"Plutus, take a seat," the First One said. Every time she spoke it was a command that there could be no argument with. Frankly, she was a lot like the Father in that way, but she came across as much less of an asshole than he did. What did that say about Gi's Father that the goddess that literally created monsters was nicer than he was?

"Of course," Plutus said and then sat directly beside Danna. "Ah, is it spring already? I've found such a sweet flower ripe for the plucking or should I compare you to a summer d-"

Before Danna could put the man in his place, the First One pinned him with her glare. A giant dog's head appeared from behind her with dark glowing eyes. When she next spoke, her voice had changed to a deep gravely one as though the dog head behind her chewed rocks as it spoke. "These are mine. You will not harass them, try to fornicate with them, or otherwise make them uncomfortable with your presence."

The dog head disappeared and Plutus collapsed forward as though he'd actually been restrained. He tried to keep his jovial smile, but the undercurrent of fear was impossible to hide. "Of course, First One. I would never seek to offend you or your guests."

He scurried off to another seat. None of the other gods seemed plussed by the interaction and the First One didn't say anything else about it. Instead, she tapped the broken marble pillar that served as her projector.

The scene which had showed the vast multiverse and their tiny presence within it zoomed in until it centered on the edge of the gods controlled territory with several universes that were caked in the influence of the Old Gods.

"I have an ability that allows me to see. Its application is quite broad and its use was how I turned from prophet to Queen to Empress in my original life. What I've seen about our current situation is a means of stopping us from continuing to tread water, and an actual way to push the Old Gods back.

"There is an object or perhaps an entity deep into the Old Gods territory. It is a piece of chaos that is amazingly stable and structured. Its makeup allows one to channel Order through the object to affect the world with Chaos. I call it the Great Filter."

"An excellent name," Plutus cut in. It wasn't and the First One ignored his attempts to get back in her good graces.

"With this Filter, I could channel my power in a way that would actually impact the Old Gods. I couldn't defeat them, but our goal of turning them away wouldn't be a mere dream at that point. The problem is that we have to find the Filter first."

Gi sighed before speaking. "Let me guess. You've narrowed it down to deep within the Old Gods' influence where the bracelets barely help so you need people that have some innate protections to serve as scouts so you can find the Filter."

The First One gave a small smile. "The mortal can not see Truth, but can speak it."

"What happens if we say no?" Danna asked.

"Millenia of torture until your mind is so broken the only thought you'll be able to hold onto is getting the Filter for me. The memories of that torture will impact your sense of self for the rest of time, leaving you shriveled, disfigured, and only able to obey me." The dog head had appeared with that last word, its glowing red eyes freezing her in place. When the dog disappeared, Danna felt her body unfreeze and she was quick to correct herself.

"Sorry, I was planning on helping. I just wanted to know our options."

"There are no options. Now you know. The only one able to go that deep into the Old Gods' territory is me. Without your help, we may not make it in time."

Solemnity fell on the other gods assembled. Even the irreverent Plutus didn't have so much as a quip. Danna wanted to make sure she fully understood.

"I know the corruption is bad, but what happens if we don't push the Old Gods away?"

The First One tapped the marble column and the image that she'd shown earlier of the unrestrained chaos destroying planets returned. "If you're lucky, your followers will all be killed in the chaos and you'll die the final death. If you're not lucky, the corruption will change you and you'll become another chaos spawn with the power of a god."

Her thoughts turned back to the tentacled giant that she'd seen earlier. That spawn had been powerful. Could it be that it had once been a god like her? Was that her fate if she failed or fell? Turning into a grotesque horror?

She shivered. "How do we get started?"

"First, we need to understand how powerful your defense is." The First One flung out her hand and a portal appeared beside the marble column. Looking inside, Danna could see a vast desert. The First One gestured for both her and Gi to enter.

With a pained expression, Noctua spoke for the first time. "Don't you think they should be allowed to rest some first?"

The First One didn't even turn to look at him. "No."

Gi got up and walked over to the portal so Danna stepped beside him. Gi reached out his paw and Danna took it in her hand. A force from behind them shoved them into the portal and the two stumbled out onto the sands. Danna immediately opened her awareness to check for any chaos spawn, but it seemed clear.

There was nothing but sand in any direction.

The First One stepped through and the portal winked closed behind her. "For corruption, we use a system of categorization similar to the one that I made for the twinned worlds that Gi is from. "G" is the weakest and "S" is the most powerful."

Danna squeezed Gi's hand. "How much corruption is in the forest by the camp?"

"F. This area is E. Now both of you move apart from each other."

The amount of corruption around the camp had only been F? That amount had been enough to instantly incapacitate both Siht and Noctua. A monster and god more powerful than both of them respectively. Traveling to the First One was starting to feel more and more dangerous, maybe she should have just continued running after all.

"Now remove the bracelets."

Danna's hand shook a little bit. What would happen if they weren't strong enough? Would they feel pain like Noctua or would they just instantly become corrupted? The First One didn't seem eager to wait so Danna slipped the bracelet off and felt... nothing.

"Good start. Put the bracelets back on and follow me."

She waved her hand and another portal opened. This one to a frozen peak that was impossibly dotted with thousands and thousands of mushrooms. Gi grabbed her hand again and the two walked through before stepping away to repeat the process.

Neither of them felt anything in the D world other than cold so First One spun up another portal and took them to a C world. This one was a swamp that smelled terrible, but the First One had taken them to a blessedly solid piece of ground. Danna and Gi moved apart again and took off their bracelets.

"Anything?" Both of them shook their heads.

"Excellent. This is the spot where the bracelets can't keep out all of the corruption. Most of the gods in the army would not be able to fight in a C world long. Only those who were ascended or had some other genesis that started as a human could stay."

The First One opened another portal and all of them walked through. They were in another forest. This one looked almost exactly like the one that Gi had been in in the Child Stage with the exception that the trees were sized up to a similar height as the mutant palm trees near the camp.

It was hard to say what type of trees these were though. They had elements of pine needles in conjunction with leaves making them look like some strange lumbering monster.

"This is a B World. Here is where I start to hear whispers even through the bracelet."

Neither of them felt anything. They moved out from the portal and separated like they had every other time, but then it happened. Whispers started to claw at Danna's mind. Things she barely even understood, but that tried to lure her with promises of power and change.

Without thinking, she reached back out for Gi's hand and the whispers stopped.

"What are you doing?" The First One demanded.

"It-," Danna licked her lips. "When Gi and I stopped holding hands, the whispers started in my mind. They were manageable on my own, but..."

"Mortal, did you feel the same." Gi nodded. "Interesting. Some benefit from being both god and believer? Or perhaps something unique occurring due to your Soul Mate status?" She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. We have one more world to test and we'll need to be quick or I might lose myself."

She opened a portal into another forest. In this one, shadows seemed to cling to every tree trunk and it was hard to tell exactly how far the trees travelled upward. The little light that was there didn't seem to come from above, but was a diffuse light that just seemed to... exist.

The First One gestured for them to go through first. Gi squeezed Danna's hand tight and the two of them walked into the portal. Danna flinched expecting an onslaught of corruption, but again, she felt nothing other than a growing sense of unease.

The First One followed them through the portal and the goddess's normally emotionless face had turned into a grimace. If not for that expression, Danna might have thought she was unaffected at all though.

"What are you feeling?"

"Nothing," Danna said. At the same time, Gi said, "Unease."

Danna examined her emotional state and Gi was right. That unease she felt wasn't her own, not completely. The only reason she could even tell was that it was slowly growing. Every second they spent in here, it seemed to affect her more and more.

"Yes, a growing sense of unease."

"Amazing." The First One opened a portal to take them back to the previous B world. Their group quickly went through and then the First One would have them walk a short distance away and create a new portal to the world that was a grade below that.

This continued until they finally arrived back into the E grade corruption desert and then popped back into the camp. The other gods were still waiting when they returned.

Plutus, the most vocal of the gods, stood as they returned. "How was it? Do they have potential?"

"They were less affected by an A Grade corruption than even I am. With their help, we will be able to find the Great Filter." There was some clatter even among the death and destruction gods as they started to discuss exactly what this would mean for them. The First One ignored them. "I need to go center myself. Plutus, I need you to outfit them with your best work."

Plutus gave a very modern looking salute. "It shall be as though Hephaestus made them himself!"