Human Pantheon, Divine Kingdom.
Within a dim meditation chamber, the God of Nobility was deep in thought.
Ever since being put in solitary confinement by the Lord of Glory, He had discovered that He seemed to have fallen somewhat in love with this practice of shutting Himself away to contemplate. In a dark room, completely cut off from all outside news, quietly pondering life, pondering the future, refining and perfecting His various plans, and enjoying tranquility and peace.
If He had been a resident of some island nation on Earth, He might have praised it: "This is the beauty of Zen."
He was not worried about the situation outside. Though He was meditating behind closed doors, His holy spirits and high-ranking divine envoys could handle the prayers of the faithful and the Church's affairs. Such matters had never required the attention of a dignified great god; even many intermediate gods would not handle them personally.
After all, gods had absolute control over their holy spirits and divine envoys. He was not at all worried that they would betray Him.
As for those holy spirits He could not truly control... He had long since marginalized those fellows and would not give them any opportunity to touch power.
Especially this time, when the utterly inconspicuous God of Trickery had come to Him and requested that He send some powerful individuals on a dangerous mission, He had directly dispatched those fellows.
Even trash had its uses; rotten wood could still be used as firewood.
Thinking of this, the God of Nobility could not help but smile faintly.
His Divine Kingdom was finally completely clean. A cause for celebration indeed!
Suddenly, His heart stirred, and an incomparably intense sense of danger surged up within Him. It came without warning, as fierce as raging waves