Chapter 1041: Angels Not So Angelic.
Chapter 1041: Angels Not So Angelic.
"Aren't we going to do anything in this situation?" She asked.
"Hmm..." The old man stroked his white beard as he pondered. A few seconds later, he asked:
"Before answering that question, tell me, my General. What do you think of our position in the world scene?"
Ariel remained silent for a few seconds while she thought about the words of the Heavenly Father. The old man continued sipping his tea, patiently waiting for his daughter's response.
"Our position is as neutral as possible in the world scene. We have no problems with the other Factions. Our greatest enemy, the Demons, are no longer a problem due to the new Demon King... Neutral and with plenty of time to develop, that's how I would describe our current situation."
Hearing Ariel's explanation, the Heavenly Father nodded softly, sipping his tea again. He took his time, enjoying the comforting sensation the tea provided for a few seconds, then he replied.
"A valid point of view, but not entirely correct."
"...Oh." Ariel replied in a tone of neutral voice. Though she tried to hide it, a hint of disappointment was still apparent in her voice. The Heavenly Father didn't miss this small detail, even though he didn't comment on it.
"The reason you failed in your assessment is that you were trying to see the current world scene from a completely neutral point of view."
"And not from The Emperor's point of view."
"... The Emperor..." Ariel swallowed hard, the intentions behind her father's words now fully understood by her.
"Exactly, my daughter. The Emperor." The Heavenly Father nodded as he turned to gaze at his daughter with a solemn look, one that carried a seriousness only seen when he discussed important matters.
"The strongest and most influential creature of this millennium."
"When looking at the world scene, you must see it from the point of view of a conqueror... You must see it from The Emperor's point of view."
"What will the Emperor do next? What are his thoughts regarding the Supernatural Beings of today? What are his next moves?"
"Such thoughts must always be on our minds. We are no longer the great wave that moves this lake; that role has been completely taken over by The Emperor."
"An Emperor who clearly doesn't care about any Being of Power in today's world scene." Even though he was 'isolated' in his personal Paradise, The Heavenly Father was always watching the Mortal World and the recent news.
Therefore, he clearly knew of the most 'visible' moves the Emperor had made.
The act of attacking and killing in the territory of the Hindu Pantheon only proved to him that The Emperor was not afraid of retaliation. His subordinate might have stated that they'd done what they did to preserve the Emperor's honor, but The Heavenly Father himself knew those words were nonsense.
The subordinates of that man did not move without his permission. Victor Elderblood was a man like him, a man who held complete authority over his Pantheon, a Pantheon full of Gods completely loyal to him and who would fully exercise his Will if he so desired.
"From The Emperor's point of view, we are not a threat to him; we also have nothing he wants." The Heavenly Father drank his tea again.
"Father seems to have absolute certainty about what he is talking about... It's as if you understand that man." Ariel was not someone who questioned her father, but due to her position and the provocations her father made with her, she often found herself questioning her Creator's actions.
As her Creator supported this action and did not punish her for it, it was quite clear that he wanted her to form these critical thoughts for herself. After all, if he didn't, he wouldn't be questioning her now about her 'point of view,' knowing that if her father ordered something, she must do it regardless of her will.
"In a way, I understand him. Victor Elderblood is not a difficult man to understand." The Heavenly Father nodded while displaying a small smile.
"His character may be obscured by his mysticism and Power for the ignorant masses, but those ancient like me understand him very well."
"He is a Family man, a Leader, and a Conqueror." The Heavenly Father thought about the interactions he'd had with Victor and couldn't help but evaluate him as such. In a way, he held many values that he himself cherished, values that were reflected in his own Religion.
The Heavenly Father had taken some time to read the rules and the 'Bible' of The Blood God's Religion, and despite there being themes he didn't really support much, like Martial Honor and Assassination, most of the other ideas conveyed were similar to his own. Thinking this way, the Heavenly Father saw Victor as someone like him, but instead of being a Creator and Craftsman, Victor was a Being focused on Battle and Conquest.
Victor was truly his polar opposite, not in the sense that he was 'evil' or anything like that, but rather in their ideas.
Despite preaching about love and equality, he also spoke of effort and meritocracy.
Despite advocating for peace, he also spoke about martial honor and touted that assassination in certain circumstances was not a sin.
Reading this 'bible' was somewhat interesting for The Heavenly Father, after all, it spoke about concepts that, in a way, he disapproved of but could understand. After all, there was a reason he had Angels in his Pantheon.
Many Mortals believe his Angels to be messengers of peace, and in a way, they are not wrong, but they forget that the Angels are also his soldiers.
And as long as he gave the order, even the Angels would massacre Humans. After all, an Angel is only expelled from Heaven when it disobeys its Creator's orders.
"He will do anything to keep his Family as protected and powerful as possible, and consequently, this protection extends in ripples to his subordinates."
"A Family man... With a harem." Ariel's tone spoke volumes about how ridiculous this was. She wasn't judging the act of having a harem itself, but the fact that it was impossible for a person to maintain the same 'special' feeling for multiple Beings. Not even her father was like that.
Yes, The Heavenly Father loved everyone to some degree, but he clearly had his 'favorites'; his love was not equal.
"A rather common practice in our world. At least unlike other Gods who merely use their partners, only to later discard them, 'love' truly exists in his Family." He sipped his tea again and continued, "It's no wonder that the Goddess Aphrodite has progressed so much in her Divinity of Love since she met Victor."
"A God of Love and Family cannot progress in their Divinity if they don't understand this Concept intimately. The fact that Hestia, The Goddess of The Hearth, and Aphrodite, The Goddess of Love, have such high Divinities proves my point well."
"... Father is really suggesting that his love is 'equal' for everyone?" She couldn't help but ask incredulously.
"Equal it certainly is not; not even Victor can be like that. He clearly has his favorites, likely those who have impacted his life significantly in some way... But yes, his 'love' is very abnormal."
"He loves everyone so much that I wouldn't doubt his love is like a singularity."
"Completely oppressive, sucking in everything and everyone around him, like a Black Hole." He raised his finger, and a small black hole was created. "When caught in its event horizon, individuals only realize too late how deeply they've fallen."
The Heavenly Father closed his hand, extinguishing the black hole he had created.
"That's how Victor's love works."
"... Isn't that something horrible? How can 'love' be like that?" Ariel had never experienced love, but she was sure that a 'healthy love' wasn't like what her father described.
"Not exactly... Love is love, no matter how distorted or obsessive it might be." The Heavenly Father did not discriminate against the 'forms' of love. As long as the love was not harmful, abusive, or left scars on the Soul, everything was fine from his point of view.
"Victor will never intentionally harm his Wives or Family, but... Everyone else, those not related to him, are not provided the same privilege."
These words left Ariel in deep contemplation.
"Returning to the matter of the Emperor's intentions." The Heavenly Father drank the tea and sighed in relief. The tea was very delicious, after all, it was made with leaves from his personal Paradise.
"Victor's current position is uncontested, both in military, political, and economic Power; he has the greatest influence." Few could match a Dragon in the art of Creation, especially when said Dragon was proficient in Runes capable of distorting Reality.
As a Progenitor Dragon and a God of Creation, Victor had virtually infinite resources to make anything he desired.
'I was truly shocked when I felt his presence in the Concept of Creation. That man is a total monster. He not only has the Divinity of Destruction but also the Divinity of Creation.' The Heavenly Father could only sigh at the abnormality that was this Emperor.
"As the most influential and powerful Being, it's only a matter of time before he makes a move to bring everything under his direct command."
"... Not as equals, but as subordinates?" Ariel felt uncomfortable thinking about this.
"Yes." The Heavenly Father nodded. "I predict he will attack the second strongest... The Hindu Pantheon."
"When he completely dominates the strongest, he will move on to the weaker ones until eventually, he reaches our door."
"We will be the last to be conquered then..." Ariel narrowed her eyes. She didn't know whether to feel insulted or relieved by this development. Even though they didn't have many Gods, there was a reason why the Angels only lost in Power to the Hindu Pantheon in the past.
Angels, especially the Higher-Ranked Angels, were as strong as High-Ranking Gods. The Seven Virtues, as Angels with Concepts, were Beings closer to what was considered a God. After all, they wielded literal Concepts that only Gods could use.
In a way, they were more like Demigods; their Concepts weren't fully formed to be Gods in their own right, but they had enough control to wield the Concept like true Gods.
It was something complex to understand how it worked entirely, and only their father understood it completely. After all, it was their father who granted these Concepts to them, and as his Creations, only he understood everything completely.
"What should we do if the Dragon knocks on our door?"
"We surrender and ensure that we at least have the right to govern our own people… if possible."
"... What...?" Ariel was surprised by what she just heard from her father.
"You're just going to give up, just like that, Father?"
"Yes." The Heavenly Father nodded while drinking his tea, completely unconcerned.
Ariel just stared at him incredulously. She didn't know what to feel. Should she be angry at her Creator for giving up so easily? Or should she feel resigned about how he was treating everything so lightly?
Not accustomed to feeling such overwhelming emotions, she remained silent while trying to slowly digest her turbulent feelings.
While waiting for his daughter to process her emotions, The Heavenly Father continued sipping his tea, utterly unconcerned and at peace. He didn't seem like a man whose home was about to be invaded by a terrifying Dragon at any moment.
"Why do you seem completely unconcerned...?" It was tough for Ariel not to give her father any judgmental looks, even though she was judging him internally.
Amused by his daughter's reactions, he said, "Well, I have my daughter here who will marry the Emperor, right?"
It took Ariel a total of five minutes to digest her emotions until she had enough control to swallow them as if she were swallowing a bitter pill.
"Why do you seem completely unconcerned...?" It was tough for Ariel not to give her father any judgmental looks, even though she was judging him internally.
Amused by his daughter's reactions, he said, "Well, I have my daughter here who will marry the Emperor, right?"
Ariel blushed deeply when she heard what her father said.
"W-Wh-."
"Or are you going to say you don't want to?" The Heavenly Father opened his hand, and an image of Victor lying shirtless was seen, an image he had acquired through 'negotiations' he really didn't want to talk about.
Ariel's face blushed even more deeply. She looked at her father, then at the image, this action repeated several times until her eyes were completely focused on the image of Victor.
She took a deep breath, her Angel wings fluttering slightly. Just the photo of Victor was enough to completely throw off-balance the Highest-Ranking Angel of his army.
'This proves that his Charm is even more dangerous than I initially thought... And Aphrodite is his female version.' Even The Heavenly Father himself wasn't confident he could remain completely neutral in front of Aphrodite.
"I see that you are not entirely unfavorable of it... In that case, I will open negotiations between our two Factions."
When the image disappeared, Ariel took a moment to recover and process her father's words. She wanted to say something about it, but immediately her thoughts vanished and focused in a strange direction.
"... Why do you have that image of Victor?" Ariel asked suspiciously.
"...." The Heavenly Father exercised his right to remain silent. He couldn't admit that he had obtained that image to 'tempt' his Angel into marriage, right? After all, what kind of God would he be if he did that?
.....