Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

The infinite library, a record of everything across every possible timeline–Athenia wanders through its shelves again, hoping to find something about her past or the future but no matter the number of attempts the books were held so tight against each other, that they simply refused to budge even against the strength of a god.

'There must be a way I can read these…' Hoping once again that she could read at least one amongst the infinite, Athenia turned back and began heading towards her chambers. Only after a few steps, however, she heard the worried murmurs of a fairy and upon enquiring further, she found Cassiopeia lost between the shelves.

"What are you doing here?" Hearing the goddess's voice from behind her, the timid fairy jumped in the air before turning around with a hand to her chest.

As soon as her eyes laid on Athenia, however, that worried look in her eyes quickly disappeared. In its place came relief and thus with a sigh, she approached the goddess with a message from her own mistress.

"Mistress Elenaria sent me here to deliver a message for you but I couldn't find you so I came here to look!" Still a bit dazed by the whole ordeal, Cessiopea was beyond afraid. Quickly flying onto Athenia's shoulder, she held her shoulder tight and began to explain. "A few lesser gods tried to strike my mistress but they didn't stand a chance, however, now that everyone in the heavens knows that she aligns with you, she wants you to help her strike fear of retaliation in them."

"Retaliation?" Athenia mumbled, unsure what Elanaria meant by that exactly.

Taking a brief pause to catch her breath, Cassiopeia held tight on Athenia's shoulders as the goddess began making her way back to her throne yet again.

"The more competent gods, my goddess wants you to send a message to them, a brutal one–one that would make them fear our alliance," repeating her master's words, the fairy continued with yet another calming breath. "Your chosen, they've landed on one such god's territory, no? Mistress wants them to get rid of those heretics."

"Kill them? An Entire kingdom?"

"No, just the main city. Those who remain will worship you and my mistress instead…" Had it been any other nation, any other city, Athenia would've outright denied the request, but knowing just what kind of filth festered in the kingdom, she wasn't so inclined to keep its people alive in the first place.

'A god trying to mimic my father's powers but using cheap tricks and relying on horrors and keepers to do its job instead of doing it himself? I don't suppose anyone in this world would feel too bad if his city was erased, although…' Thinking further on the matter, she couldn't fathom why the council of god even allowed such a city to exist. Lantherem was killed for the mere fact that he was far more joyous than any of his peers, but the god of bane is allowed to use the powers of the demon lord and nothing happens to him? 'A fucking sham, that's what the council is. Arbitrary rules that only apply to those they deem unworthy or a transgressor and never to those in the inner circle.'

The longer she let her mind wander the angrier she got, but eventually, as she landed in her chambers she let the matter slip her mind and instead focused on the task instead.

"Can I talk to Elena directly for a minute?" Athenia asked while settling into her golden throne.

Nodding back at her, Cassiopea closed her eyes for a moment and the next time she opened them a beam of blue light bleed through her eyes, ears, and through her lips. Smiling, the goddess greeted the other, and although Elenaria grunted in anger for a spell, she decided not to complain but to take the topic forward.

"You have no clue how many lesser gods have been knocking on my doorsteps, but…" With a sigh, Elenaria continued. "We have more important matters to discuss."

"I'm supposed to kill the entire population of the bane god's city, is that correct?" Nodding back, Elenaria allowed Athenia to keep going. Leaning forward with her elbow on her knees, Athenia looked right into Elena's eyes. "And they won't come after you then, why?"

"I've killed every lesser god they sent my way with the many souls in my possession–" Just hearing that much, Athenia's eyes widened and she leaned back into her throne. "It took days collecting those stars again, but I doubt they'll try something as stupid again if we just get rid of one of the major gods."

Frowning with a hint of doubt, Athenia wasn't sure that she followed. Experience new tales on empire

"What do you mean? I doubt one city can be the doom of a god like that."

"His chosen haven't ventured outwards yet, he isn't well known on Atlaria and if we nub his faith in the bud then nobody would pray to him which would the–"

"Cause him to disappear…" The plan sounded far too simple for Athenia, thus she couldn't help but ask. "But how come he's a major god if he's only known in his own kingdom?"

To that, Elena had a long answer, and as she began to explain Athenia's hatred for that man grew even more. A once prosperous god of many kingdoms who'd lost his glory by trying to stretch too far, eventually leading a desperate attempt to remain as the prominent faith of his people, only to end up driving them away with his insane ideas.

The god of bane was once beloved for he kept sickness and rot far away from the devoted, but now with rot and horrors filling, even ruling his land, no wonder his influence shrunk as his attempts to mimic Murdok were just pathetic.

"He got most of his people killed in wars that they couldn't have won, so naturally their children grew weary of him, before eventually abandoning him for what they perceived to be better gods." As Elenaria concluded the story, Athenia had made up her mind. The capital city had to fall and the surrounding area blessed with hers and the bounty of her sister goddess, Elenaria.

"Still, what if the other gods try to attack you again?" Athenia asked, staying mindful of the consequences.

With a smirk on her face, Elenaria looked up into her eyes before saying in a whisper.

"Then they can have war, wasn't that inevitable ever since we joined sides?" Even though she had tried not to think about it, Athenia knew from the day that she'd shook hands with Elena, their joint efforts were to be the catalyst for the next holy war.

Staring right back into Elenaria's eyes, the goddess of life and death gulped in a moment of anxiety and then whispered back to her.

"W-we're gonna need an army…" Those words uttered by her reminded Athenia of what Raven had been thinking for a while.

'Did he know already that we'll need an army?' She wondered, however, the only one who could answer that question, was the unconscious soul of Nightsilver that had attached itself to Raven. Either way, a war was inevitable and thus it was time to gather an army of soldiers and prominent allies.