Hebe's violent extraction of Helios's godhood in the presence of the entire pantheon sent a wave of visceral terror through the hall. Several minor deities instinctively clutched their own chests, fearful that their essences might also be ripped out with such ruthless efficiency.
"You! You wretch! How dare you steal my brother's godhood!" Seeing Helios's agonizing convulsions, Eos, the Goddess of Dawn, screamed in a blind rage. Her eyes turned bloodshot as she lunged forward to tear Hebe away.
"Enough!"
The King and Queen of Gods spoke in unison. Their majestic gazes fixed upon Eos with chilling indifference as the vast, ocean-like pressure of the Major Gods crashed down upon her.
The sheer stupidity of the Goddess of Dawn had exhausted the patience of the two highest rulers of Olympus. Did she truly believe that any deity other than the King of Gods could seize a godhood without facing immediate judgment from the cosmic laws? Had Hebe's intent been theft, the laws of the universe would have obliterated her where she stood. The fact that she remained unscathed was proof enough that her actions were sanctioned by necessity.
Eos had repeatedly disrupted the assembly, offending Zeus's sovereignty, and by insulting the Queen's most cherished child, she had earned Hera's wrath. A first-tier deity like Eos could not withstand the combined pressure of two Major Gods; she coughed up a spray of rosy divine blood and collapsed unconscious upon the floor.
Silence fell over the hall, heavy as lead. Even Selene, the Goddess of the Full Moon, who had intended to protest alongside her sister, froze in fear. She could only bite her lip, tending to her fallen sister while keeping her eyes fixed on Hebe, watching her every move.
Hebe stared at the godhood in her hand. It held a lethal temptation; after all, the growth and continuation of life were inextricably linked to the sun. The brilliance, vitality, and life-force it represented triggered a primal urge in Hebe to consume it. However, she knew that if she did, Zeus himself would strike her down before the laws of the world could even intervene.
Truly a masterpiece...
This was the source of all light in the world, a jewel of such magnificence that it exceeded human imagination. Hebe let out a soft sigh, suppressing her rising desires, and focused her gaze on the object. Under the scrutiny of the Goddess, thick, ink-like black spots began to manifest upon the golden surface of the Sun Godhood.
A wave of sinister, suffocating, and dark energy radiated from it—the Karmic Corruption.
Hebe gestured with her free hand. Responding to its master's will, the Scepter of Life erupted in gold-green brilliance, transforming back into a small, elegant golden chalice. Within the chalice was a liquid that shimmered like crushed gold. The sound of ethereal hymns echoed from the vessel, and within the golden nectar, images of the new humans praying with peaceful devotion flickered in and out of view.
A dreamlike power permeated the temple. The gods watched with wide, greedy eyes, intoxicated by the aura.
Power of Faith!
And not just raw faith, but liquefied essence so dense it had turned to nectar!
Ever since the gods had begun spreading their word in the mortal realm, they knew Hebe's following was vast, but they had never imagined it was so profound that it could manifest as liquid. Their eyes flashed with envy. If they could consume such a concentrated draft, their divine power would skyrocket.
In that moment, the gods' gazes toward the fallen Helios grew even more hostile. A criminal deity? Is he worthy of such pure, dense faith? They had entirely forgotten that even if Helios did not receive it, this faith belonged to Hebe, not them.
The golden-haired goddess tilted the chalice, pouring the golden river of faith over the Sun Godhood. The malignant curse born of the wrongfully dead could only be dissolved by the songs of praise from those who lived.
Under the continuous rinse of the golden nectar, the dimmed brilliance of the Sun Godhood was restored, glowing with its original, solar majesty. The godhood pulsed with a sudden, frantic rhythm, and as if it could no longer wait, it transformed into a streak of light and dove headlong into the chalice in Hebe's hand.
A godhood was the manifestation of a deity's power; tempered by its owner's emotions for eons, it possessed a rudimentary consciousness. The Sun Godhood had been tormented by the corruption; once Hebe offered the faith to drive it away, the godhood felt a rush of liberation. Deciding that being "rinsed" was too slow, it opted to simply take a bath in the golden nectar to scrub itself clean.
Hebe's violet eyes flashed with surprise, followed by a hidden flicker of amusement. Even better...
After an indeterminate time, as the gods waited in tense silence, the chalice vibrated. A blinding golden glare erupted, flooding the hall with a vast, searing solar power that forced the assembly to shield their eyes.
The Sun Godhood had emerged, its corruption purged and its glory restored. It lingered for a moment, venting its power, before diving back into Helios's chest. The wound Hebe had carved healed instantly. Helios's brow twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes.
"Ugh..."
Helios's gaze was filled with a lingering terror. While his godhood had been suppressed, his consciousness had been trapped in a void of total silence and lightless dark—a sensory deprivation chamber that was an endless torture even for a god. Those few days in the darkness had brought him to the brink of a mental collapse.
Like a drowning traveler finally breaking the surface, he gasped for air. He looked at the beauty of the divine mountain and listened to the sounds of the hall; even the murmurs of the gods sounded like celestial music to his ears.
"Helios," Zeus's voice thundered from above, weighted with the pressure of the King's will. "You lent the Golden Sun Chariot to a mortal, resulting in a global cataclysm. Do you plead guilty?"
Before Helios could even celebrate his return to life, the weight of the King's judgment crushed his spirit. Zeus's power was much like his office: majestic, formidable, and volatile. In the past, Helios might have relied on his status as a Major God to resist, but the trauma of the void had left him hollow. Under Zeus's suppression, the Sun God's knees buckled, and he fell to one knee.
His face twisted with shame. Since he had first seized the solar authority, he had never knelt before Zeus.
"Phaethon! Zeus, what have you done with Phaethon!" Helios cried out, remembering the last thing he saw before the void: his son struck down by lightning.
Despite his flaws, Helios was a rare and doting father among the Greek gods. The thought of his son's death cut him to the core.
"Phaethon?" Zeus sneered. Sparks of electricity danced in his palm as a semi-transparent golden soul appeared. It was the boy, his eyes closed and his face etched with pain. Every inch of the soul was stained with a writhing black miasma that caused the boy to convulse in agony with every pulse.
"Phaethon!" Helios reached out in despair, his voice hoarse. "Great King, I implore you... return his soul to me."
"Return it?" Zeus laughed, mocking Helios's ignorance. "He is the architect of this tragedy, a sinner beyond measure. And look at him, Helios—his soul is cursed by the world. What could you do for him? Watch your son die a second time? Watch him fade into absolute nonexistence?"
Helios fell into a long, heavy silence. Finally, he raised his head and stared at Zeus, his voice a ragged whisper. "What do you want?"
"You know exactly what I want, Helios," Zeus said, his sky-blue eyes narrowing.
"Never!" Helios's face hardened. To ask him to surrender the Sun Sovereignty was an unthinkable demand.
"Hmph." Zeus had expected this. With the wisdom of Metis at his disposal, he knew a single threat wouldn't suffice. "Apollo."
"Yes, Great Father." The handsome Son of Light stepped forward, holding the ancient Delphic Oracle. He infused it with divine power, and a primordial, vast aura emanated from the tablet.
"Helios has acted with negligence, leading to a global disaster. The Earth Mother is incensed. She has decreed that he be stripped of his status and cast into Tartarus for all eternity!"
"No! You cannot!" Selene cried out in horror.
Tartarus was the living body of the Primordial God of the Abyss. It was a place where light and sound died, and where the prisoners' essences were slowly drained until they faded away. Their parents—Hyperion and Theia—were already imprisoned there after the war. No one understood the terror of that prison better than the solar siblings.
"Brother!" Selene ignored her unconscious sister and rushed to plead for Helios. This was Gaia's oracle; the Mother of All Gods was the spokesperson for the Primordials on the mountain. Her word was final.
Helios realized he was in a checkmate. Today, the solar throne would change hands.
"Zeus," Helios said, his eyes flashing with a desperate, sharp resolve. "I will surrender the Sun Sovereignty, provided you grant my conditions. Otherwise... I will self-destruct my Godhood immediately. Apollo may be destined for the sun, but without my Godhood as a foundation, it will take him centuries to forge his own. Can the humans of the earth survive a century without a sun?"
Zeus's expression remained unreadable. After a moment, he said, "Speak."
"First: Purify Phaethon's soul in the same manner you cleansed my Godhood. Place him among the stars and grant him immortality." Helios had seen the effect of Hebe's faith; if it worked for him, it would work for his son.
Zeus looked at Hebe. After seeing her give a subtle nod, he agreed. "Granted."
"Second: My crime is mine alone. My sisters shall retain their authority and their offices."
"Granted." For now, Zeus thought.
"Third: Pardon my status as a criminal. I will not be cast into Tartarus." Helios's voice trembled at the thought of the abyss.
"Your crime cannot be fully pardoned," Zeus stated, his eyes flashing with lightning. "But I will spare you the abyss. You shall be exiled to the Isle of Rhodes, where you will remain for eternity, never to leave. That is my final offer, Helios."
If Helios pushed further, Zeus was prepared to strike him down regardless of the cost to the humans. Hebe and Prometheus could always make more.
Helios finally lowered his proud head.
The transition of power was swift. Helios stripped himself of the Sun Godhood. Phaethon's soul was purified by Hebe and cast into the heavens by Zeus, becoming the constellation Eridanus.
And Apollo was crowned as the new Sun God. With the Sun Godhood in his possession, his power broke through to the Middle-rank Major God level—the undisputed winner of the day.
The assembly dispersed, celebrating the new era. Hebe returned to her temple and closed the doors of her inner sanctum. A light, knowing smile played on her lips. The golden chalice manifested in her hand, the liquid faith shimmering like a golden river.
And at the very bottom of that golden river, submerged and suppressed, lay a strange, anomalous obsidian-gold godhood—the purified essence of the corruption she had extracted.