After dealing with all that, Green questioned Balti carefully and finally learned some of the details.
But Balti did not know what had happened either. Why had the Fire God suddenly died?
One thing was certain: the Fire God's Divine Office had not gone dormant. A few hours later, someone else had taken it up and tried to contact Balti, intending to claim the former Fire God's legacy.
Unfortunately for him, Balti had already changed sides. Apollo had inherited the Fire God's Divine Office, but not the secret means the former Fire God had used to control his subordinates.
Ordinarily, it would be like a pride of lions on the grassland. Once an old, weakened male was defeated, the new lion king would take over the lionesses as a matter of course.
The Fire God's subordinates were much the same. Once they confirmed that the Fire God had fallen and his Divine Office had been taken, most would choose to serve the new Fire God.
After all, defeating the previous Fire God was proof enough of the new one's strength.
So after killing the Fire God, Apollo had not rushed to take over his army. He had first taken time to stabilize his own level.
He had not expected that this cautious approach would let Green beat him to it, winning over Balti and several hundred thousand troops of the Fire God Army.
That was nearly half the strength the former Fire God had built up.
Apollo noticed, but paid it little mind. He was caught up in the joy of regaining his power.
It felt too good. For so many years, he had lived under a cloud of frustration, bearing the weight of his lost divine status and the agony of betrayal.
Now, at last, he was a Deity