Maisara stared at Fortia’s letter.

If it came from Allasaria, from Elassa, if it came from anyone but Fortia, she would have ripped it up and kept up the defence against Arascus’ new vehicles. But it came from Fortia. She knew what she was doing.

Maisara sighed and got around to planning an orderly retreat.

“You made a Divine?” Kassandora asked. “You actually made a Divine?” Fer leaned back on her seat, closed her eyes and dropped her chin as she started to think, those two ears on the top of her head shot down as her brows furrowed and she started to think.

Elassa wiped tears from her eyes. “Please don’t… I’m…” She blew her nose. “I only told you because I know you won’t…” She stammered out. “I think… please don’t kill her.” She shook her head and collapsed back down on the table, dark hair spreading out over the wood. Fer quirked a smile as she looked to Kassandora.

“That was less impressive than I thought it’d be.” She said. Kassandora gave no reaction, she assumed Fer would have seen the flood of possibilities that had just cracked its dam, but maybe Fer didn’t see it. But this? A mortal being made into a Divine? The precedent it set… It was amazing. If Gods and Goddesses could be manufactured at will, then… Well, then there was nothing on Arda that would stop them.

“Wh…” Elassa trailed off as she looked at the Goddess of Beasthood. Fer’s smile revealed her fangs.

“I thought I’d see drama between you two. This.” She shrugged. “What am I supposed to say about it?” That wasn’t the way the conversation should be steered, Kassandora turned it back on track.

“How did you do it?” She may have been asking what the weather was like, but she didn’t want to show off her excitement.

Elassa shook her head. “It was Anassa, it was her own work. I merely gave her what she needed.” She spread her arms out. “I don’t know how.”

“What did she need?” Kassandora asked. Elassa finally got to wiping her tears. Her pulled up her dress and blew her nose, and sat up. And blue eyes met scarlet.

“I cannot tell you.” She said. Kassandora leaned back with a smile.

“Cannot or will not?” She asked, arms crossed. And Elassa’s tone dropped, her eyes hardened. She finally looked like the Goddess she was supposed to be.

“Kassandora, you are one of the simplest people I know.” Elassa said. “I actually do not know how to create an army of Divines for you, not that I’d do it in the first place.” Kassandora sighed, the first comment, she would just ignore. Frankly, she thought she was simple too. Her finger idly tapped out a code for Fer. The Goddess of Beasthood leaned over and smelled Elassa.

“She’s telling the truth.” Kassandora sighed and stood up. This interrogation hadn’t been a waste of time, it had given Kassandora an idea her pessimistic mind would have never considered. How was she supposed to know anyway? They had ran tests in the past precisely because Divinity, as omnipresent and omnipotent as it was, was still a mystery. Divines took decades to incarnate if their demesne was powerful enough, less for inventions, but inventions were never that strong. The Weapons were a mere exception compared to the rest.

Elassa may not know, but Anassa? Anassa was her dear sister. Temperamental, arrogant, pretentious, but her dear sister still. Frankly, Kassandora had a right to that knowledge within her sister’s mind. “Thank you for the honesty.” Kassandora said. “Fer, you’re on Elassa duty.”

“What are you doing?” Fer asked from the side, her eyes trailing after Kassandora.

“I’m going to indulge my demesne before the war’s done.” Kassandora stepped out of the room as she listened to Fer sigh. She managed to get down two flights of stairs.

“She’s always like that.” Fer said as she turned to Elassa. The Goddess of Magic leaned away from Fer as the Goddess of Beasthood came closer. “Why did you pick Ana?” Elassa blinked in confusion. She had expected torture. She had expected her secrets to be beaten out of her. She had expected them to question her on how to breach magical barriers and how to best lay siege to Olympiada. Or Arcadia for that matter.

“Why?” Elassa asked and Fer smiled.

“I’m not hungry right now, I’m not going to eat you. Why did you pick her?”

“She…” Elassa’s mind went back to Worldbreaking. When she found Anassa. When she sensed potential. The excitement at that endless growth within a human. And then awe as Anassa maintained that growth. And then fear when power was the only growth Anassa achieved. “I… I’ve never seen anyone like her back then. Even now. She broke every rule, every tradition we had written down.”

Elassa put her hands on the table. “And these aren’t just customs for the sake of custom. They’re learned lessons, you cast a spell wrong, you burn out or you scar yourself or you die. I’ve seen it before, I’ve seen it after. But on her…” Elassa shook her head. “It was almost like she was wanting to break them. She aimed for them specifically. I told her catalysts were needed for magic, she swore never to use a gemstone. I told her spells had to be spoken at the start. She began casting silently. I told her patience was the key. She rushed ahead at every step.”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Elassa stared at Fer’s smile, at those warm golden eyes, at the Goddess’ rosy cheeks. And she heard the woman’s tone, so full of pride Elassa had to go back to Anassa’s ascension to know such a feeling. “That does sound like my Ana.”

Arascus saw Kassandora quickly prancing down the stairs he was walking up and humming a tune to herself. Well, she was happy today. Although she would be, the war had been won. Kirinyaa had been saved from the White Pantheon, that didn’t matter too much, but now came Kassandora’s favourite part: the final clean-up. “Oh!” Kassandora said, her eyes widening. She stopped and saluted. Arascus merely waved her down. “When did you get here?”

“Ten minutes ago.” Arascus said. “I’ve talked with Iniri, she’s filled me on the situation.” He took Kassandora’s hand and turned around. He wasn’t going to meet Elassa, the Goddess of Magic could wait. With Fer looking over, Elassa would go nowhere and now there were more important things to do. But first, Kassandora deserved the praise he knew she would never ask for. “Good job.”

“Thank you.” Arascus loved that shy tone.

“Really, I mean it.” Arascus continued as he started taking the stairs two steps at a time. Iniri had made the stairs for Divines, but he was twice the size of Iniri. Fer would probably do the same, but at least the corridor hollowed out within the tree was large enough for him not to have bend his head. “Do you think Fortia would have done it? Or anyone else? You stalled the entire White Pantheon, practically singlehandedly.” He saw Kassandora’s cheeks go as red as her hair.

“I had others.”

“Ingredients make a meal but a chef puts it all together.” He took another step and turned left. To the first balcony. Kassandora was looking at her black boots, her uniform cut in odd places, the black coat around her was missing the fabric that fell down to her legs, severed when she donned her armour. “You should get changed.”

“Thank you.” Kassandora said quietly, she coughed, brushed the sides of her shirt smooth with her palms. “I was planning to.”

“Planning to, eventually?” Arascus asked.

“Eventually.” Kassandora confirmed with a smug tone. She took a step back from the balcony out of the tree. It was just a simple branch without any railings. Arascus did not even know why Iniri made it, but it provided a good view over CR and the jungle to the north. The immediate area was burned to ash, the red-yellow mountains in the distance were scarred black and Arascus thought there was less of them than before. Definitely less. “Now though, there’s a war to finish.”

Arascus caught her hand and pulled her back to the balcony before she managed to slither away. “There isn’t, the war is over. Maisara has already started a retreat. Zerus and Sceo have gone missing, the western flank is pulling away. The central push will stop most likely when those two have made some distance.”

Kassandora spoke up, but Arascus already knew her heart wasn’t in it. It never was when she spoke in that teacherly-voice. “Armies take as many casualties on a retreat as they do on an advance. Now’s the time when we can strike.”

“It’s not.” Arascus shut her down. He loved them all but each of the Goddesses he had adopted would destroy themselves if given total autonomy. Some, like Fer, didn’t need reasons. Others, like Kass, needed it laid out plain and simple. “Chasing them down wouldn’t be the end of the world, but they’d have no armies left.”

“Isn’t that the point?” Kassandora asked.

“And then what?” Arascus said. “A destruction of the White Pantheon leaves us where?” He looked out over the great ashen land. Trucks and men were digging through it. Iniri was on the ground, growing winding trees that spread out and bent down to make runways. Kassandora had to think for a moment before she answered.

“Global conquest.” Kassandora said and Arascus nodded.

“We would win that too.” Arascus said. “And then?” Kassandora nodded.

“We wouldn’t be able to hold it together.” She said. Kassie was fast like that, and the only time she pretended things were different was through a pessimist’s eyes.

“Not unless we had every single one of us serving as enforcers.” Arascus said. “And that’s further down the line anyway, we would be made heroes of Kirinyaa, but what influence do heroes have? There’s already a bill being drafted against us, it’s called A Country of Mortals Act.” He sighed. “Speaks for itself, doesn’t it? It limits us to having to make all discussions public.”

“We were never ones for rules.” Kassandora said quietly.

“No, but it only takes one and then it’s out the bag.” Arascus said. “Anassa would have to be removed from the public sphere, but how would you remove the Goddess responsible for the sorcerers that defended this country?” Kassandora sighed and Arascus smiled sadly to himself. Anassa had been a headache back in the Great War too, but then Anassa’s terrible reputation could be contained to only the immediate area she was stationed in. Now with the internet.

“So what should I do?” Kassandora asked.

“We let them go.” Arascus said. “This is my war now, the crusade for public opinion. And that is a marathon we have to be slow and steady in.” Arascus put his arm around her. “Recall Olephia from her post bring her back here.” He looked over the landscape. “I’ll prepare the base with Iniri. We’re going to have KTV and EIE here tomorrow, it’s organized already. Helenna will come back.”

“And then?”

“It’s the end of Kirinyaa.” Arascus said as he squeezed Kassandora close to her. She leaned her head against his chest. “Do you want a break?” The God of Pride already knew she wouldn’t, but it was better to ask anyone.

“We take a break when we’ve won.” Kassandora said and Arascus nodded sadly. That was one part he never liked about Kassie. Frankly, he doubted she even knew what the word break meant.

“Two plans.” Arascus said. “To you only, don’t tell the others.” He thought for a moment. “Fer can know too, she’s competent enough to know.”

“And the plans?” Kassandora said. She pulled away and Arascus looked down at her. There it was, the burn in her eyes, the lips curling upwards. Mention of a break gave her nothing but mention of more work lit a fire in her stomach.

“One, the easier one. Make a unit, Iliyal. I want him in Epa when Wissel’s coalition declares independence from the Pantheon.”

“Why?” Kassandora asked.

“He’s there to make sure Epa starts losing.” Kassandora nodded.

“Easy.”

“When there’s a breakthrough, we will send our army as Epa. When they lift our flag, it’s not going to be conquerors, it will be liberators.” Kassandora nodded.

“And the second?”

“I will prime Kirinyaa. This one, work on first, I can’t tell you the time, but it has to go immediately. And it has to be the most bloodless plan you can make. One bullet fired is one bullet too much.”

“What is it?” Kassandora asked.

“The Legions will march on Nanbasa.”