Theodore's head instantly snapped towards Lawrence, eyes turned round at the sudden revelation. "Dad?"

Lawrence turned to face his son, pursing his lips as if he'd just remembered something that he shouldn't have ever forgotten. "I—I really thought your mother was dead!"

The woman's hand went up to her lips as she laughed. "You can't blame Lawrence for this, Theo. I did say I sealed his memories away."

"Why?" Theodore looked at the goddess, expecting her to answer him immediately, though instead she just stared at him in silence, as if contemplating whether she should speak or not.

But after seeing that he was getting impatient by the slight bend of his eyebrows, the woman decided not to hold on to her secrets any longer.

"Let me introduce myself first then," She smiled before standing up, giving both the men a graceful curtsy. "I'm Apophis, Serpent God of All that is outside Order, it's a pleasure to officially meet you, Theodore."

At this point, Theodore had abandoned all of his knowledge about mythological gods and creatures; he was barely even surprised that Apophis was also a woman.

'Wait.'

Theodore frowned at Apophis. "Are you…Are you the god that reincarnated me?"

There was a moment of silence as the goddess stared at him with a hint of awe in her golden eyes, but then she laughed. "Wow! I can't believe you would actually see through my tricks! I even told you that I was a male god!"

"...Then what the hell is the System?"

"Oh? That?"

[It's me all along!]

Theodore flinched at the sudden voice that rang inside his head, it sounded exactly like the System; his voice, but the cheerful and happy tone were Apophis', it felt weird hearing 'himself' speak in that way.

"Wait wait…Slow down a bit…" Lawrence spoke up as he put his hands out in front of him in a 'stop' gesture, he still seemed to be processing everything at the moment. "So you're saying, I…With a goddess?"

Apophis smiled. "Lawrence, you are the sweetest mortal I've ever met, I simply couldn't help myself~"

"Then why did you leave us?" Theodore interjected, staring at the goddess dully, although she was able to see the slight hint of frustration in his eyes.

Apophis looked down gloomily. "Oh I wish I could've stayed…But if I did, none of you would be standing in front of me right now."

"Then explain to us." Theodore's brows thinned into a straight line. He'd been living alone with his father ever since he could remember, he saw how hard Lawrence had to work daily so that they wouldn't fall to poverty, it was angering for him to know that what his father had told him about his mother was all a fake and that they could've lived a little more freely if they'd had those extra hands in the past.

"Of course, but first let us sit down, you can eat anything you want on the table" Apophis nodded understandingly before she gestured towards the chairs, urging the two men to sit down.

Once everyone was seated and ready, Apophis began to speak.

"The person that'd attacked the Lake of Rage and the Forest Trolls' territory was Ra, my archnemesis."

'...That explains the divine fire.' Theodore thought to himself.

"...Hear me out first," Apophis took a deep breath, as if she was afraid to explain the next part of the whole story. "I was an evil god in the past, and Ra, being a God of Order, had every right to try and keep me from destroying everything in my path. I was a god that only had chaos and death on my mind."

"However," Apophis shook her head. "I'm not like that anymore, I've finally found my true purpose in this world, and that is to balance out Order. I've learned this from a good friend of mine, he's actually with you at this moment, Theodore."

[...I did not want to interrupt, apologizes for not greeting you earlier.] Ouroboros' voice suddenly rang out.

"It's fine," Apophis waved with a soft smile before continuing to speak. "Anyhow…Even though I've come to my senses and stopped purposely trying to stir mayhem, Ra did not think that I've changed, in fact, his desire to get rid of me only grew stronger."

"..." Theodore had many questions that he wanted to ask, although he kept down his impulses to blurt them all out and waited for the goddess to finish speaking.

"I simply want to live quietly among the race that I've once tried to destroy. I've managed to shake Ra off of my trail for a few hundred years, but that was until he…forced me to reveal myself."

"Forced you?"

Apophis frowned as she bit her lips, her fist clenched tight in anger when the memories returned to her mind. "Ra found out about you, and so he used a lot of his divine power to bring resting beasts to the mortal world."

'...Gate Creatures.'

"Why? Wouldn't just coming down to get rid of me easier?" Theodore frowned, from his perspective, it didn't make a lot of sense, if Ra was such a powerful god then why not just make things easier for himself?

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"That's because he's a strong deity, descending onto earth directly would simply end up destroying everything. Gods enjoy and live off of mortal beliefs, as long as someone remembers them, they'll live, and as long as they're worshiped by a mass, they'll grow stronger."

"So Ra orchestrated everything? Even my death?" Theodore gulped, hands moving towards one of the tea cups resting on a plate, he pulled it closer to himself before taking a sip, hoping that the flavor would calm him down even if it's only slightly. He wasn't just feeling shocked by all of this, but angry as well, he'd read about the Egyptian gods and he never thought someone as supposedly as righteous as Ra could do something like this.

"Yes," Apophis nodded. "He used Gabriel Griffins' unique mind and abilities to create something that allows a forceful possession of a mortal coil. Usually there needs to be a certain amount of faith in a person for the god to take over their body, although Ra's requirements are extremely high due to his status, that's why his only option was to perform a forced possession."

"...That is a lot of information to take in." Lawrence spoke up this time as he snapped a cookie in half before eating it, while he was still taken aback by revealed mysteries, the sweet tastes seemed to have helped him steady himself for whatever was next.

"I know, but all of this will lead to something important, so please bear with me for now." Apophis pursed her lips before continuing. "...Anyhow, since the scales of balance had tilted in one direction, Ouroboros had to aid me in pushing it back the other way. I used a lot of my own power to bestow the humans with abilities so they could defend themselves against the monsters, however I simply did not expect Ra to use that against me."

"All of this over a misunderstanding?"

"It's not a misunderstanding, dear." Apophis smiled bittersweetly at Theodore. "He truly wanted me dead, that god is not the same as what he used to be, and I'm afraid that he'd already strayed from the original path of only wanting to kill me."

"...What does that mean?"

"Well," Apophis tilted her head. "Ra has seen the potential in the current situation of the mortal world, and he wants to monopolize it to his advantage…He'll most likely try to gather more strength using human faith, that way he'll not only grow stronger, but he'll also be able to use 'summoning' as a way to directly descend onto earth."

"Wouldn't that also anger the other gods?" Theodore frowned.

"While he's senile and blinded by power, Ra is not stupid, he'll most likely try and negotiate a deal with the heaven itself." Apophis sighed. "Being a 'good god', everyone will definitely listen to what he has to say, and if Ra gets what he wants, the mortal world will be turned into the gods' personal playground."

Theodore clenched his fist, frowning in frustration as he realized what the woman was implying. "...They'll be playing with the humans' life and death…All for the sake of power?"

Apophis could only shrug. "They're prideful beings, and power is the only thing that they could enjoy because of their endless lifespan, regular things simply aren't as enjoyable anymore once they'd experienced it a couple of times."

"So what do you want me to do?" Theodore stared expectedly at Apophis, who gave him a smile as if she expected him to say that.

"This is the important part, so listen well." She edged closer to the table before leaning forward, her expression and tone suddenly turned serious as she spoke.

"It's clear, but we need to stop Ra before he manages to convince the other gods to follow through with his plan," Apophis paused for a moment like she was letting what she'd just said sink in. "Both me and Ra have practically no divine power left from our large-scale influence, however because I have you, I can do something that Ra can't."

"...Like what, exactly?" Theodore was suddenly feeling nervous, while he was confident of his own strength, the thought of going up against a powerful god still sent chills down his spine.

And Apophis' next words didn't reassure him one bit and the soft yet sarcastic smile that she gave him only made it worse too.

"Apostle Inheritance."

.

.

.

Theodore distantly hoped that it didn't mean what he was thinking, it was a blind guess, but the name was somewhat obvious and the current situation only gave him more clues.

A god with little to no power left, like a dying, but powerful battery that needed to be charged.

Then what about transferring a god's power to another person with a full battery?

"...You'll kill me."

"Why would I do that? You're my son!" Apophis' smile persisted as she tilted her head playfully, her serious demeanor earlier was replaced entirely as if she wanted to tease him. "But seriously though, I've been giving my all so you could become strong enough to inherit my powers, so technically Ra is fighting two of me!"

"But you won't be fighting? You said you have nothing left."

"Oh yeah," Apophis acted dumb. "I forgot!"

"Apophis!"

"Ah!" The goddess shook her head with a slight frown as she stared at Theodore. "That's 'mother' to you, son."

Before Theodore could answer, Lawrence's laughter cut their conversation short for the time being. "Ariel—I mean Apophis, you're still the same as I can remember…"

"Ariel is fine too, Lawrence, that name sounds more feminine than Apophis anyway." The goddess giggled with the back of her hand pressed against her lips. "Oh I chose that name on a whim when I introduced myself…that poster was just right next to me and I was panicking!"

"Mother." Theodore stared coldly at Apophis, he didn't have any particular expression on his face, but judging by the tone of his voice, he was certainly very annoyed. "Explain what this…Apostle Inheritance is, I don't want to agree to something that'll pose a risk to myself."

"Oh, there's no risk at all," Apophis turned towards him while waving her hand around. "I've specifically prepared everything just so it's a hundred percent safe, that's why I've gone around asking a bunch of powerful 'evil' deities to help me with this!"

[I was always willing to help.] Ouroboros spoke up in a proud tone.

[All of this for the sake of 'our' revenge!] Asclepius shouted inside Theodore's mind.

"...There's one more thing."

"Hm?" Apophis tilted her head curiously.

"...You…You annoyed me on purpose didn't you?"

"What do you—"

"When I ask about something," Theodore cuts her off. "You annoyingly give me the 'Ah I can't answer this cus you're too weak' bullsh*t."

Apophis held in her laughter, which just answered his questions on its own. "I…Ha! I'm sorry, while it was sort of funny, I'm actually limited to what I can say because of the skill. I just give them to you at the basic level so it wouldn't waste too much of my already-low powers."

"...That doesn't make sense."

"Think of the System as something like the Oracle, it speaks great knowledge to you but it comes out cryptic and hard to understand." Apophis explained.

"Still doesn't make sense—"

"Anyway! If I were to sit here and tell you the nitty gritty then the human world might've already been destroyed by the time I finished!" Apophis cut Theodore off before he could say anything else. "Now then, should we start with the inheriting process?"

.

.

.

"How did it go on your end, my faithful worshippers?" Ra slightly crooked his head as he stared down at a kneeling soldier, he was currently sitting inside Gabriel Griffin's office back at the empty business building, deciding that he was going to turn the place into his base of operation from now on.

The soldier soon spoke, slightly pushing his head down even further. "We've managed to heavily injure a lot of the forest trolls, however two of the Apostle's close aides were there to prevent any deaths, but there is currently doubt spreading all over the village because of the Apostle's lack of presence during our attack."

Ra hummed in acknowledgement, nodding as he leaned back against the office chair. "Those trolls barely made up a portion of the Apostle's temple, it wouldn't cause him much trouble…"

"...We greatly apologize for failing to get rid of them altogether."

"It's fine." Ra waved his hand to the side, shaking his head as he gave a smile to the soldier, trying to look friendly despite his cold gaze. "What about the other request?"

"...My apologies," The soldier pursed his lips nervously as he kept his head down to hide the fear creeping up his expression. "The gods have not yet sent a reply."

Ra frowned as his hands tightened into two fists resting on the armrests. "...That's unfortunate, but we can only be patient in this situation. In the meantime, I would like all of you to prepare for battle once again, by now Apophis would've already noticed what's going on."

"As you wish, my king." The soldier stood up and gave Ra a bow before swiftly making his way out of the room, his movements stiff with anxiousness.

Ra was frustrated, he leaned forward and rested his chin on his interlocked hands, still hearing a slight frown on his face. "Damn those gods…I might simply deal with the consequences later if they still choose to ignore me."

He was in a rush all because of a sudden fear that rose inside of him after his encounter with the Apostle. He'd just scratched at the surface of 'that' power and he knew in an instant that it was something that no mere mortal should ever mess with.

And neither should gods.

It was a truly terrifying strength, something that should even be considered a taboo among the heavens; a monster rivaling the divine themselves.

'What a wicked goddess you are, Apophis…To bring such a creation into this world…' Ra gritted his teeth in anger, distantly hoping that the frustration would push down the fear that was starting to surface within his mind.

It was the reason why Ra felt the need to quickly end everything at this moment, or else he feared that once the Apostle finds him, he will not ever get a second chance again.

'I need to get rid of them both…'

Ra turned in his chair until he was facing the large glass plane behind him, covered by a curtain. He parted the cloth away from the window and looked down onto the streets; onto the humans below walking pass by, ignorant of all that's happening behind their backs.

'...Human faith…Is essential for a god's growth.'

Ra's lips slightly curled up into a smile, the thought of getting his plans into action managed to calm him down ever so slightly.

'Yes…I still have something that you do not, Apostle.'