Chapter 187: As Planned

Chapter 187: Chapter 187: As Planned

By the end of the day, the situation at Camp Half-Blood had begun to stabilize much faster than anyone would have expected. Hestia, as expected, had grown attached to the new demigods almost instantly. What had originally started as simply making sure everyone had a place to sleep and something warm to eat had gradually turned into something much closer to giving them a real home. The Goddess of the Hearth had personally taken it upon herself to make sure none of the children felt like strangers within the camp, and by the time night fell, most of them already seemed considerably more relaxed.

Hiccup, Astrid, and Soren hadn’t taken long to adapt either. The three Norse demigods had spent much of the day exploring the camp and getting to know some of the others. Hiccup, especially, had practically glued himself to the Hephaestus Cabin after discovering everything Leo and his siblings were capable of building. Overall, none of the new demigods seemed to regret accepting Damon’s offer.

Far away from Camp Half-Blood, however, the man responsible for bringing them there was occupied with something completely different.

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Olympus.

Inside one of the private rooms of his temple, Damon sat before a table covered with documents and pages filled with notes written by Azazel and his associates.

The redhead slowly scanned through the information. Ever since he had obtained the data from the leader of Grigori, he had wanted to sit down and study the workings of Sacred Gears in greater detail. Up until now, he had understood the basics, but if he truly intended to find a way to implement something similar among the demigods, then he needed to understand exactly what Elohim had created and, more importantly, which parts of that system he could actually use.

The original idea was fairly simple. Sacred Gears had been created by the Biblical God as part of a system capable of producing miracles within the human world. Not all of them were particularly impressive, but that didn’t make them useless. In fact, according to Azazel’s own notes, a large number of humans who had left their names etched into history had most likely been Sacred Gear possessors.

That was precisely what interested Damon. He didn’t need to turn every demigod at Camp Half-Blood into the wielder of a Longinus capable of killing gods. In fact, that would probably be one of the stupidest ideas he could possibly have. A normal Sacred Gear would be more than enough.

That said, Damon had not been prepared at all for the sheer variety of Sacred Gears that existed. Some could increase the user’s physical strength, alter basic states, generate weapons, heal injuries, create matter, manipulate elements, or even produce independent creatures. It was simply absurd. Of course, not all of them were anywhere near as insane as the Longinus. Twice Critical, for example, simply had the ability to temporarily double certain physical capabilities.

In simple terms, it wasn’t an ability capable of upsetting the balance of the supernatural world on its own, but Damon could easily imagine what something like that could do in the hands of a demigod who already possessed strength, speed, and endurance far beyond that of a normal human. If the right user developed it far enough, they could practically become a second coming of Heracles by Greek standards.

What interested Damon the most, however, were the Recovery-type Sacred Gears, and his eyes eventually stopped on one in particular.

Twilight Healing.

A Sacred Gear capable of healing injuries almost instantly. Azazel had even left a note mentioning a nun named Asia Argento as one of its known wielders.

"Interesting..." Damon murmured as he continued examining the information.

A demigod with an ability like that would be invaluable. Even for gods, healing injuries required a certain amount of effort and power, while this Sacred Gear essentially allowed someone to heal without needing to give anything in return. Damon had to admit that even someone like him could find such an ability extremely useful. Having someone capable of healing wounds that way could completely change the outcome of a battle regardless of the power level of the people involved.

Damon continued reading until he came across another name: Yuuto Kiba. A Fallen Angel experiment who possessed a Sacred Gear capable of creating swords with different attributes. The redhead narrowed his eyes slightly. "So Azazel really knew a lot more about what Kokabiel was doing than he wanted to admit."

It wasn’t exactly surprising. At this point, Damon doubted that many important things happened within Grigori without Azazel eventually finding out about them sooner or later, so he pushed those thoughts aside and continued.

State Change, Recovery, Creation, Defense and Counter, Attribute, Time-Space, Barrier and Sealing, Independent Avatar, Sealed and Contract. There were more categories than he had initially expected. Most of them contained extremely specific abilities, but that wasn’t a problem for what he had in mind.

If he managed to reproduce the principle behind the system, there was no reason he had to give every demigod the exact same ability. A son of Ares didn’t necessarily need the same kind of Sacred Gear as a daughter of Athena. A demigod specialized in direct combat could benefit far more from a State Change or Attribute-type Sacred Gear, while a child of Demeter better suited for support could make use of a Recovery or Barrier-type ability. There was even a possibility that, depending on the demigod’s divine heritage, certain Sacred Gear abilities could develop into something even stronger.

Damon began lightly tapping one finger against the table as he thought. That was far more interesting than simply copying Elohim’s system. But before he started imagining all the possibilities, he needed to solve the fundamental problem: Sacred Gears were directly connected to the human soul.

According to Azazel’s notes, only humans and human hybrids were naturally born with them. Even when a human was reincarnated as a Devil or Angel, they retained their Sacred Gear because they had originally been born with one. There were exceptional cases of beings with divine blood being born with one, such as a half-god Valkyrie named Reginleif, but those cases were extremely rare.

Damon narrowed his eyes as he read that. At the very least, it confirmed that divinity did not make possessing a Sacred Gear impossible. It simply made it extremely rare, and Damon had little doubt that this was probably Elohim’s doing.

He couldn’t say for certain that this had truly been Elohim’s intention, but it made sense. Creating a system capable of producing humans with supernatural abilities was one thing. Allowing other pantheons to easily integrate those abilities into their own bloodlines was something completely different. Damon probably would have taken a similar precaution if he had been in his place.

He continued reading and discovered that Grigori had even developed methods for extracting Sacred Gears from their original owners and transferring them to other beings, although the earlier procedures could result in the original owner’s death. Damon frowned slightly as he let out a thoughtful hum.

Stealing Sacred Gears would certainly make things easier, but it would also be completely inefficient. He had no intention of traveling around the world searching for humans with Sacred Gears, ripping them out, and then installing them one by one into his demigods. Even ignoring all the other problems with that idea, he would still need to intervene personally every single time and, in the long run, it would probably create far more problems with other deities than it was worth.

That was why creating something capable of functioning on its own was essential. A system capable of recognizing a suitable individual, integrating itself with their soul, and developing alongside them without requiring Damon’s constant involvement.

Not only that. He would also have to be extremely careful when deciding who received one.

It wasn’t that Damon automatically distrusted the demigods, but his experiences throughout his life, especially during his time in the Elemental Nations, had taught him firsthand just how common betrayal could be. Having someone resentful toward you was one thing. Giving that person enough power to do almost anything they wanted with that resentment was something else entirely.

And Damon certainly had no desire to end up with enemy demigods capable of becoming God Slayers.

The redhead leaned back in his seat as, for a moment, he imagined someone like Luke ending up as some kind of second Orochimaru with a Sacred Gear constantly evolving at his disposal.

Damon slowly shook his head..... He definitely needed a way to remove the Sacred Gear if it ever became necessary. Perhaps something similar to his own authority as King of the Greeks, which allowed him to strip the domains from gods under his authority.

Damon rested both arms on the table as a small smile began to appear on his face. Yeah, that would probably save him a lot of headaches in the future.

With that in mind, the redhead came to the conclusion that all he really needed to do was copy the principle that made Sacred Gears function and then completely adapt it to his own needs. In fact, he had no desire to create something exactly like Elohim’s system. In his eyes, it was far too open and far too permissive.

He preferred something over which he could maintain much more direct control, where he would be the one deciding who could receive one and who could not, in a way fairly similar to how divine domains worked. That would not only allow him to maintain control over the system, but also ensure that those chosen were people he could genuinely trust.

And so, while in the eyes of the demigods he would essentially be granting them a divine blessing capable of greatly increasing their power, at the same time he would be strengthening their loyalty toward both him and the Greek Pantheon.

Damon remained completely silent for a few seconds as the small smile on his face slowly began to grow.

"Heh..."

A low laugh escaped his throat.

"Hehehe..."

Damon raised one hand to his face as his smile widened even further until he finally leaned back in his seat and burst into laughter in a way that would have made anyone think he had just abandoned whatever tiny shred of morality he still had left.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Its perfect....

Not only would he strengthen the demigods, but he would also have a direct way to control who received those abilities and who was allowed to keep them. The more he thought about it, the fewer problems he could find with the plan.

Knock, knock.

The laughter stopped dead..... Damon slowly lowered his hand from his face before turning his gaze toward the door, his expression returning to normal almost instantly.

"Come in."

The door opened and Medusa appeared on the other side. Ever since Grayfia had begun teaching her how things worked within the temple, the purple-haired woman had adapted surprisingly quickly to her new responsibilities. She still had plenty to learn, but for now she was performing her role far better than Damon had initially expected.

"Lord Damon," Medusa began with a small bow of her head. "Lady Hera has come to see you."

Damon raised an eyebrow. "Hera?" He glanced briefly toward one of the windows, confirming that it was already nighttime. "What the hell does she want at this hour?"

Medusa remained silent, clearly having no answer to that. Damon let out a small sigh before making a gesture with one hand. "Let her in, Medusa."

"Yes, Lord Damon." The purple-haired woman bowed her head again before stepping away from the entrance. Only a few seconds later, Hera appeared behind her and entered the room with her usual elegance. Medusa closed the door behind the Goddess of Marriage, leaving the two of them alone.

Hera looked around the room before finally settling her eyes on Damon. "Am I interrupting something?"

"I was just looking over a few things."

Hera’s gaze dropped toward the large number of documents covering the table. "I can see that."

"Sacred Gears," Damon explained calmly. "I’m trying to better understand how the system works and see if I can use any of it to improve the lives of the demigods, you know." The god snapped his fingers once, and every document on the table vanished at the same time, leaving the surface completely clear.

Hera smiled warmly. "You really are a good person, Damon. Always looking for ways to help the demigods." Her expression softened a little more before she added, "I still regret how I treated Zeus’s children for so long."

Damon dismissed her words with a small wave of his hand. "Ah, don’t say that, dear. I’m simply fulfilling my responsibilities as king." A small smile appeared on his face as he rested one arm against the back of his chair. "Now tell me, what brings you here this late?"

A faint reddish hue began spreading across Hera’s cheeks. The Queen of the Gods briefly looked away before answering.

"I... just wanted to spend some time with you."

The small smile on Damon’s face slowly returned as he immediately understood what she meant. "Ah." His eyes remained on her for a few seconds before his expression grew somewhat warmer. "Of course. I’d never say no to that."

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