Chapter 613 - 613: You Work, I Retire—Everybody Wins

'I used my divine power to open the door, and then they left without me?'

The longer Ankh stood in the middle of the teleportation array thinking about it, the more annoyed he became.

At last, he stomped hard on the stone beneath his feet.

Pitch-black Death Divine Power erupted from his body. A heartbeat later, a dense vortex of divine energy had already wrapped around his fist as he drew it back, clearly preparing to smash the entire formation apart.

If this so-called inheritance trial intended to lock him outside, then Ankh was more than happy to find out just how durable it really was.

"Please wait."

A soft feminine voice flowed through the cavern like a quiet stream.

Ankh stopped and turned.

The complicated divine forces permeating the chamber were beginning to gather together, gradually outlining two humanoid figures.

A moment later, two remarkably similar beings composed of divine light stood before him.

The man wore a long black robe that looked old but carefully preserved. His eyes were an unusual silver-gray, and his expression was calm to the point of ambiguity. A faint, unreadable smile lingered in his gaze, leaving the bizarre impression that he could just as easily have been a righteous wandering hero as a demon capable of bringing ruin to the world.

The woman closely resembled him.

Divine radiance partially obscured her features, but Ankh could still make out silver-gray hair cascading all the way to her waist.

A deep violet dress wrapped around an elegant figure. She lowered her eyes with a gentle smile, looking at first glance like a perfectly refined noblewoman.

Yet her narrowed eyes were more like thin blades beneath moonlight—beautiful, cold, and carrying a distinctly ruthless edge.

"Yuluye. Falutbeth."

The intertwined divine powers surrounding the two made their identities obvious.

Ankh wasn't particularly surprised that the gods themselves could appear before him.

What surprised him was their appearance.

Gods were not naturally divided by sex.

When Makarov first found Ankh, his appearance had been perfectly androgynous. Zous and Sorda were much the same even now, possessing flawless forms that could not truly be described as either male or female.

Only after prolonged exposure to the Divine Power of Emotion in the mortal world did gods gradually begin expressing clear gendered appearances.

And these two very obviously had.

Which meant…

'So they didn't remain neutral after all?'

Yuluye seemed to read the question directly from Ankh's face.

"After leaving the Divine Realm, Falutbeth and I continued traveling together."

He smiled mildly.

"Over time, this simply happened naturally."

Ankh raised an eyebrow.

Then understanding dawned.

"Oh. Got it."

Falutbeth sighed.

"I have the unpleasant feeling you just imagined something ridiculous."

Ankh looked between the two with open amusement.

"No need to explain. If two gods went out of their way to develop opposite sexes, there aren't exactly many reasons for it."

"...You really have changed."

Yuluye fell speechless for a moment.

The supreme figure preserved in his ancient memories had not behaved remotely like this.

He hurriedly changed the subject.

Ankh did the same.

"Forget that. I want to know where you sent my companions."

His brows drew together.

"Why did everyone else get teleported while I was left standing here?"

Falutbeth casually brushed back her waterfall of silver-gray hair.

"If you wanted our divine inheritance, we could simply give it to you in person."

She smiled.

"Why would we make you jump through all those hoops?"

Yuluye lowered his gaze toward the bracelet on Ankh's wrist—the Divine Crystals in which he had been gathering the powers and inheritances of numerous gods.

His expression became complicated.

"Vilty. Sorda. Atush. Kronos. Chronos. Frimoh. Laius. Yusalk…"

He slowly counted the names.

"You've already gathered this many divine powers."

Ankh rubbed one of the crystals thoughtfully.

"When you list them out like that…"

He paused.

"Still doesn't sound like that many."

Yuluye stared at him in silence.

Then he shook his head.

Without another word, he reached toward Ankh's wrist.

A new stream of divine power flowed from his fingertips and entered the bracelet.

Beside him, Falutbeth extended her own hand.

Black and white divine radiance intertwined like threads before sinking into another crystal.

Almost immediately, Ankh sensed their gifts entering his body.

The Divine Power of Good and Evil.

And the Divine Power of Sin and Merit—which could equally be understood as Sin and Virtue.

Two complicated, opposing authorities entered him together.

His existing powers of Life and Death reacted at once.

Even his divine body began undergoing subtle changes.

No human would have been capable of perceiving the transformation.

But to the two gods standing before him, every detail was perfectly clear.

Falutbeth watched closely and sighed in admiration.

"Using Life Divine Power as the core of the divine body, absorbing countless laws until they gather into a completely unbound divine vessel that no law can violate…"

Her eyes moved toward the divine energy circulating within him.

"And then using Death Divine Power as the core of your authority, continuously merging every other divine power until they transform into a single unique force…"

She smiled faintly.

"What an ambitious path."

"Indeed."

Yuluye nodded.

The two of them seemed to understand the path Ankh was taking even better than Anke had.

Ankh studied the two new powers inside himself.

Then he looked up incredulously.

"That's it?"

"You're really just giving me your divine inheritances?"

Neither Yuluye nor Falutbeth had rejected the influence of Emotion like Zous had.

They were far more human in both thought and expression.

Falutbeth blinked, her silver-gray eyes gleaming mischievously.

"Your memories really are incomplete."

"This is something we already owed you."

Ankh paused.

"Owed me?"

The word favor coming from a god felt strangely unnatural.

Yuluye smiled with the warmth of an absurdly charming human gentleman.

"It happened a very long time ago."

"It concerned your conflict with Zous."

That was enough.

Ankh immediately understood what kind of debt they meant.

These two had willingly accepted the influence of Emotion and clearly no longer belonged to Zous's side.

Back then, when the gods split over whether Ankhseram should be preserved or destroyed, Yuluye and Falutbeth must have eventually joined the faction protecting him.

Some agreement had evidently been made during that conflict.

Yuluye glanced again at Ankh's bracelet.

"You have very few old friends left."

His tone became gentler.

"Sooner or later, you'll have to consider how you intend to obtain divine power from the gods who sided with Zous."

"I know."

Ankh nodded.

"It'll happen eventually."

Then he pointed down toward the teleportation array beneath them.

"So what about the inheritance trial?"

Falutbeth answered before Yuluye could.

"Of course it continues."

She planted her hands on her hips.

The refined noblewoman from moments ago vanished, replaced by a gleeful little witch.

"It's been ages since this many humans came here hoping to inherit divine power."

Her lips curved upward.

"Obviously we have to properly play with—"

She corrected herself smoothly.

"—test them."

Yuluye nodded as though there were absolutely nothing suspicious about her wording.

"A suitable inheritor is difficult to find."

"You may watch with us if you wish."

For gods who had grown close to humanity, this was another road toward genuine freedom.

Ankh had chosen one method: forge a perfect divine body capable of existing independently of the laws.

But there was another.

Create a perfect divine inheritor.

Once an inheritor reached sufficient compatibility and completeness, the original deity could finally free themselves from the binding obligations of their authority without suffering any loss.

The responsibility simply passed to the successor.

A divine inheritor who reached that stage effectively became the god's representative.

Or, to put it less elegantly—

they took over the god's job maintaining the laws of heaven and earth.

The original god, meanwhile, retained their strength while simultaneously entering a bizarre state of being both employed and retired.

They could walk away with all the benefits they had accumulated over countless ages, enjoying what amounted to an eternal pension and paid leave.

The inheritor benefited just as much.

Protected directly by the corresponding law, they could cross the boundary separating mortals and gods and become virtually invincible within the human world.

And unless the first-generation deity chose to reveal the truth, nobody would even know the difference.

They would simply be recognized as the legitimate—

second-generation god.

Ankh understood the arrangement.

One person worked.

The other retired.

Both generations got exactly what they wanted.

Now that was what you called a win-win.

Two generations of gods—

both with wonderfully bright futures ahead of them.