Chapter 175: Crisis

Akuma opened his eyes as the first rays of sunlight entered his chamber, illuminating the unfamiliar ceiling above him. For a few moments, he remained motionless, staring at the intricate patterns carved into the stone before finally rising from his bed, putting on his usual dark clothes, and walking toward the balcony.

Below him stretched a magnificent city built by the civilizations that had flourished under the pantheons’ influence.

Tall buildings stood beside flowing rivers, merchants filled the streets, and countless people went about their daily lives without the slightest awareness of the beings who watched over their world. Akuma observed them quietly, his expression unchanged, before turning away and beginning another ordinary day.

He had grown accustomed to this routine.

After spending what felt like an eternity in a world where nothing but emptiness surrounded him, having a place to live and people to interact with should have been more than enough.

He could walk through the city, observe , visit the other pantheons, and occasionally participate in discussions concerning their world.

Yet, despite all of this, Akuma could never shake the strange feeling lingering somewhere within him.

Something was missing. He simply could not understand what it was.

Even though he had already became a god.

He possessed power that ordinary beings could scarcely imagine, a divine authority that connected him to the very concept of being forsaken. There were countless things he could accomplish now that would have been impossible for his former self, and the world itself had become far more interesting than the empty place in which he had once been trapped.

So why did everything feel so meaningless?

By the time evening arrived, Akuma had already abandoned the question several times, only for it to return whenever his surroundings became quiet.

He eventually made his way toward the gathering hall, where the other pantheons had assembled around a long table filled with dishes prepared by their servants.

Laughter echoed throughout the room.

Odir was in the middle of a heated argument with Rize about the superiority of swords over other weapons, while Wias occasionally interrupted them with increasingly ridiculous suggestions for improving both.

Moleius sat nearby, calmly eating his meal as though the entire discussion had nothing to do with him, although the faint smile on his face suggested that he was enjoying the spectacle.

Across the table, Trias was speaking with Olium, their conversation occasionally interrupted by Pandi and Sebastian, who seemed determined to turn an ordinary discussion into a competition over who could tell the most outrageous story. Even the usually composed pantheons appeared more relaxed than usual.

"You’re both wrong!" Odir declared, slamming his palm against the table. "A sword is the ultimate weapon. It doesn’t matter how many strange tricks you invent if someone can cut you down before you finish using them."

"That is precisely why your arguments are so boring," Wias replied, shaking his head. "You insist that the simplest solution is always the best, yet you refuse to consider how much more effective a weapon could become with the proper modifications."

"Modifications?" Rize scoffed. "You’re talking about making a sword more complicated than it needs to be. If you need a hundred mechanisms to defeat someone, perhaps you should learn how to fight first."

The entire table burst into laughter, including several who had not even been paying attention to the original argument. Wias opened his mouth to protest, only for Odir to interrupt him with another remark, turning the discussion into an even louder exchange.

Akuma sat quietly among them, watching their expressions.

Trias smiled as she listened to the others, occasionally reaching for a dish and passing it to someone who could not reach it.

Moleius offered a few dry comments that made the surrounding pantheons laugh, while Ragnir leaned back in his chair with the confidence of someone who believed the entire gathering would be considerably duller without his presence.

For a moment, Akuma wondered whether he had ever seen them this happy before.

They were gods who had once stood at the center of conflicts, pursued their own ambitions, and struggled to establish their places within a world that continued to change around them.

Now, they could sit together without worrying about their next battle, sharing food and conversation as though they had always lived this way.

It was a peaceful scene.

Perhaps even a perfect one.

"Akuma, you’ve barely touched your food." Trias’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

He glanced down at his plate before looking back at her. "I’m not particularly hungry."

"That’s the third time you’ve said that this month," she replied, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Are you feeling unwell?"

"I’m a god. I don’t think I can get sick that easily."

"That isn’t what I meant."

Akuma paused, unable to find an immediate answer.

Trias studied him for a moment longer before her expression softened. "If something is bothering you, you can tell us. You don’t have to keep everything to yourself."

He almost laughed at the suggestion.

Tell them what, exactly?

That he felt empty despite possessing everything he had once wanted? That even while surrounded by people who treated him as one of their own, he sometimes felt as though he were watching their lives from somewhere far away?

There was nothing he could say that would make sense.

"I’m fine," he answered.

Trias did not look convinced, but she eventually returned to her conversation with Olium. Akuma watched her turn away, then shifted his gaze toward the rest of the table, where the laughter had already resumed.

They were all good people, in their own ways.

They had their flaws, their ambitions, and their disagreements, but they were capable of finding happiness in the smallest things. They could argue over weapons, exchange stories, and spend hours discussing matters that would have seemed insignificant to beings who had once struggled simply to survive.

And yet, something was missing.

Why am I like this?

The question came without warning, slipping into his mind with such familiarity that he almost failed to notice it.

’They’re all happy. They have their own lives, their own goals, and people they can rely on.’

’So why do I feel like I’m the only one who doesn’t belong here?’

He tightened his fingers around his cup, staring at the liquid inside as the sounds of the gathering gradually faded into the background.

’Something is wrong with me.’

The thought lingered, heavier than he expected.

’There’s a piece of me that’s been missing for a long time. I just don’t know what it is.’

His mind drifted backward, past the days he had spent wandering through the world, past the moment he had first begun to understand his divine authority, and toward a much older memory.

A time when he had wanted to become strong.

Back then, the desire had been simple. He wanted power because he believed that power would allow him to escape the circumstances that had confined him, to overcome the things that had once seemed impossible, and to become someone who could determine his own future.

He had pursued that desire with everything he possessed.

Then came the void.

An endless, forsaken world in which time lost its meaning and solitude became the only constant companion. Whatever had happened during those years, the memory of that emptiness had never truly left him, even after he finally escaped and obtained the status of a god.

He had endured it all, emerged from it, and reached a position that countless beings would have considered the pinnacle of existence.

But what had he actually gained?

Akuma stared at the table, listening to Odir’s laughter and Wias’s increasingly desperate attempts to defend his inventions. He had spent years longing to escape his loneliness, only to discover that even surrounded by others, he could still feel as though he were standing alone in the middle of an endless void.

’I became a god, and yet... Why does it feel like nothing ever happened?’

The gathering continued around him, completely unaware of the thoughts consuming his mind. Akuma eventually excused himself, claiming that he needed some fresh air, and left the hall before anyone could question him further.

The corridors were quiet as he walked.

He passed through the main entrance and stepped onto an isolated terrace overlooking the city, where the distant lights of countless homes illuminated the darkness.

The wind brushed against his face, carrying the faint sounds of the celebrations taking place below, but none of it brought him the comfort he had expected.

He leaned against the railing.

For a long time, he simply stood there, watching the distant streets and wondering whether there was something he could do to fill the emptiness inside him.

He had tried occupying himself with his duties, observing mortals, and spending time with the other pantheons, yet the feeling always returned whenever he was left alone with his thoughts.

Then a voice spoke behind him. "Are you dissatisfied with your current existence?"