Chapter 628: A Gauntlet

Caius braced himself for another wave of anger from Nyx but what came was a feeling of cold, quiet fury. It wasn’t as violent or explosive as her past instances of anger, but it felt all the more dangerous.

"~I must put an end to this. This has gone beyond Aether’s being a duplicitous fool. This puts us all in danger...~"

It was clear that by ’all’ Nyx was referring to herself and the other gods. The mortals didn’t count. Her presence also began to withdraw and Caius hurried to get her attention before she did.

’You can’t stop it.’

"~DON’T TELL ME WHAT I CAN OR CANNOT DO!~"

’No, I mean you literally can’t stop it. When Aether came to you all and you turned her away and left her to deal with Hell alone, you gave her the right to reassess the situation with Hell. Carrying that responsibility gave her the right to act as your representative. She signed the Accords in the name of all the gods. The terms bind you all. You can’t undo it even if you tried.’

In the original canon, while neither Nyx nor any other god got involved early enough to interfere with the Accords, once things eventually went awry, the gods realized what Aether had done and rallied to rectify the Accords. Alas, they found that they could not.

They had to stand by and do nothing but watch as the Demon Lord ascended from Hell to destroy the world of Aether’s champion, thus knocking down the first of many dominoes that would lead to the end of Divine Sovereignty.

"~There was a condition to the responsibility Aether was given and that was to not break the status quo.~"

’And technically, she hasn’t. That’s why she could make the Accords at all.’

"~A technicality? Really? You think Divine agreements can be voided on a technicality?~"

’Yes, they can.

Again, Aether doesn’t seem like the kind to be planning something like this. You all agreed to give her responsibility over the situation with Hell based on her feelings which you never expected were hiding something this big.

Nyx, you’ve known her better than anyone else, you’ve never been worked over by her charms and ’goodness’ and yet never considered she’d do this. Hell, it’s not even something you would ever have thought of even though it seems right up your alley...’

"~What’s your point?!~"

’As long as Aether never intended for her champion to lose or for the terms of the Accords to be voided in any way, she technically never betrayed the condition. Whatever results from the voiding of the Accords were not her intention and have no bearing on what she agreed to.

That technicality is why the Accords exist. She’s power-hungry, yes, but also cocky because she never intended to lose.’

"~Yeah, and how has that been working out for her?! Her champion almost died and I had to interfere and save her ridiculous plan! Twice!~"

Caius’s lips twitched because technically, that part wasn’t Aether’s fault. Yes, things were never going to work out as Aether hoped or planned but that was far into the future and it was Caius who sped the breakdown of the Accords due to him and his lovers acquiring Divine seeds and becoming godlings.

’I think it’s clear what you must do...’ Caius said slowly.

"~Yes. Knock some sense into Aether’s foolish head.~"

’Perhaps. But first, you must stop Hell from deliberately voiding the Accords as they have become tempted to do. If the Accords are voided, more than half and a quarter of the inhabitants of Hell will die. That would be a great loss but the gods will still be bound to years of inactivity so if they feel they have to, Hell could decide to make the sacrifice.

By the time the years of inactivity pass—’

"~Hell will have recovered from their losses.~"

’Yes. Also, the inhabitants of Hell who survive the voiding of the Accords will still be enough to destroy the world, starting a resurgence of Chaos that would strengthen them and make up for their lack of numbers.

At this time, even if they don’t want to do so just yet, Hell can afford to void the Accords but you can’t. You need to calm things down.’

"~You asked how the negotiations have been going? The answer is poorly. Aether’s lips are sealed. And so are Hell’s.~"

’Which is why I’ve now told you of the Accords. That’s your leverage.

The deaths Hell will suffer are randomized and they are not yet bold enough to make that sacrifice. So they can still be scared into sticking with the Accords.’

Caius could feel it from Nyx’s dark presence that she disliked how his words were starting to sound like he was giving commands. The problem was she couldn’t offer anything to the contrary. Maybe she could have told Caius she wouldn’t do any of what he suggested, but what was the alternative? It wasn’t just mortal worlds and lives at stake here, it was her Divine domain itself! She had to act!

Oh, how much Nyx wished to do nothing and let Aether’s plan blow up in her face. How much she wished to start a Divine war between herself and her sister after so long of them tolerating one another’s existence. But what good would that do?

Damn Aether for giving Nyx no other choice but to help fix her mess!

Damn it all!

Nyx didn’t speak those last three words but they rocked every aspect of Caius’s being along with her frustration. Even after she was gone, that feeling of frustration and those three words still rang in Caius’s head.

Half an hour after Nyx left and he was alone in his head again, Caius stayed cross-legged on the ground. He contemplated whether it had been wise to tell Nyx all that and decided not to dwell on it as the deed was already done.

Telling Nyx about the deal Aether had in place was upending canon greatly. But canon had already been altered so Caius couldn’t help but think, Fuck it!

As things were, Nyx had two options;

One, expose Aether to her fellow gods, causing pandemonium. Given they can’t execute Aether for her treachery, the other gods could only shun her and send her into exile for a couple of millennia. Even then, they’d still be bound by the Vera Accords.

Two, get Aether to cut her in on the Accords. Aether had done all this for a reason. With every one of Aurelius’s victories, she broke the deadlock between herself and the other gods all to eventually crown herself lord over them and Nyx could stand to get herself some of that.

The second option seemed the most likely one Nyx would choose. The first was very unlike her; as much as she disliked Aether, Nyx was the last person to advocate for doing the right thing which turning Aether in would be.

No, blackmailing her sister so she could gain something herself seemed more in line with Nyx’s nature, Caius thought.

Then again, Aether’s whole plan was proof that gods are not always held to their nature. That even when they posture as ’good’ and are always on the side of right, they could still be a dangerous schemer.

Still, Caius hoped Nyx would choose option 2. Option 1 seemed like it would speed up the voiding of the Accords and he simply wasn’t ready for that.

Caius wondered how much Nyx would learn from Aether. Would Aether reveal how she had ’tricked’ Hell within the Vera Accords?

Though it wasn’t specified in the Accords, Hell assumed Aether’s champion would be a random mortal devout. Talented sure. But bound by the limitations of the mortal world he was born into.

But Aether’s champion was far from ordinary;

Aurelius had been Aether’s right-hand man in his previous life. He learned his tricks from her. Only Aether surpassed him in his understanding of the power within Divine Light and the various other domains Aether had dominion over.

What Aurelius was and used to be wasn’t gone. It was within him, sealed within his subconscious. His very being was so purely belonging to Light that he didn’t even have a tiny affinity with Dark Magic. A complete oddity.

In the original canon, for a long time, Aurelius always prevailed in his challenges against the representatives of Hell, leaving Hell constantly puzzled at how an ordinary mortal could be so talented.

They began to cheat by increasing the strength of the representatives they sent and even when Aurelius couldn’t prevail alone, he got help from weaker but still talented companions.

Really, if things hadn’t gotten fucked in the original canon, Aurelius, with very little help, would have gotten right through the Gauntlet. And that was what it all was: a Gauntlet of challenges.

There was an end to the Gauntlet, of course. Aether had made sure to include an end to it all at a point where she believed she would have gained as much from the Accords as she possibly could.

In this new reality, however, Aether’s trick hadn’t yet gotten to be as useful.

’It all comes back to me, doesn’t it?’ Caius thought with a wry smile as he opened his eyes.

Athenodora’s face was right in front of his and she was smiling curiously.

"Glad you could rejoin us," she said,

"We’ve arrived."