Chapter 291: Ch 291 : One down Three left

While Sunny sat on his throne, basking in the glow of his newfound wealth and the endless potential of his sixteen souls, a very different situation was unfolding in the shadowed corners of his city.The Eastern District: The Great Market.

The air here smelled of luxury, exotic items from billions of worlds and the demigods screaming about the potential of their worlds to gather investment.

It was a cacophony of commerce. Billions of beings; Gods and Demigods moved through the wide streets like a river of power.

Floating in the air, invisible to the naked eye and shielded from the omnipresent Thea by a sphere of absolute darkness, was Kairos and his three subordinates.

They were huddled together inside the Pearl of Calamity’s Dark domain, their backs pressed against each other. They looked less like assassins and more like frightened rats trapped in a maze.

"Kairos..." one of the subordinates whispered, his voice trembling as he looked down at a passing patrol of Seraphim guards.

"What are we doing? The plan was to assassinate Cosmos. But look at this place. We are hiding in the darkness while they walk like kings."

The subordinate, a God named Vorr, wiped sweat from his forehead.

The other two Gods nodded grimly. The initial arrogance they had felt upon entering the city of Gods had evaporated, replaced by a crushing dread.

Kairos glared at them, though his own hands were shaking slightly. He gripped the black pearl until his knuckles turned white.

"We adapt," Kairos hissed. "We cannot strike blindly. Right now, we will observe and learn. If we are caught, we die instantly. So, our new objective is to survive and build a revolution. We will find the dissatisfied Gods. We will find the cracks in Cosmos’s armor and form an army of believers who want to overthrow this tyrant."

"Dissatisfied Gods?" Vorr let out a choked laugh. He pointed a shaking finger through the translucent wall of the sphere toward a nearby store

"Listen to them, Kairos! Just listen!"

Kairos focused his senses towards the shop below. Two Gods were chatting over cups of tea.

"...so I told the Demon General, ’Go ahead, kill me,’" one God boasted, laughing. "And he did! Tore my head right off!"

"Ouch," his companion chuckled. "Did it hurt?"

"It didn’t because he was in my illusion. But even if it wasn’t an illusion, I would have revived ten seconds later. The look on the Demon’s face when I stood back up? Priceless. I executed him right there. Thank the Emperor for the Nine Lives perk. It really takes the stress out of combat."

Kairos felt his blood turn to ice.

Nine Lives.

"Did you hear that?" Vorr whispered, his eyes wide with horror. "They treat death like a joke. How are we supposed to sow discord among people who are literally unkillable?"

Another subordinate, Kael, chimed in, his voice thick with despair. "And the benefits... I overheard a merchant earlier. He said that with the removal of limiters, mortals are reaching S-Grade naturally. Infinite Demigods are being mass-produced due to Cosmos’s manifestation.... This isn’t a kingdom, Kairos. It’s a factory that produces demigod at whim."

"And don’t forget the Four Bodies," the third subordinate added, clutching his head. "I have heard Cosmos has split his soul. Even if we miraculously kill the one on the throne, three more will hunt us down. We are fighting a hydra."

Kairos remained silent. The weight of the information was crushing him.

In the last hour alone, they had gathered enough intelligence to terrify a Demon Lord.

They had used the darkness of the pearl to cover each of them in a distinct sphere and find information from different parts of the city of Gods.

And now they were back together to share their findings with each other.

He began to write their findings on a piece of paper.

-> Talent Resonance: Mortals born with multiple high-grade affinities, like magic affinity, Time Affinity, sound affinity and many more.

-> Economic Prosperity: Even the lowest Demigod had more wealth than Kairos did back in Solara. He had heard that just now Cosmos has given a billion faith to each of his Demigods.

-> No limits : The lifeforms can easily upgrade their talents to SS-Grade, likely a deed of Adam.

-> Fanatical Loyalty: There was no resentment. There was only adoration for the Emperor who gave them everything.

"We can’t win," Kael whispered. He looked at Kairos with pleading eyes. "Kairos... let’s just go back. Let’s leave..."

It was the thought they were all having. Flee, Survive and Never look back at this nightmare.

But as soon as the words left Kael’s lips, the temperature inside the sphere dropped to absolute zero.

FZZZT.

The protective darkness of the Pearl of Calamity began to disappear gradually.

"Wait! Wait!" Kairos screamed, his heart hammering against his ribs. He waved his hands frantically at the pearl. "He was joking! He didn’t mean it! Master Lom, please!"

He knew exactly what was happening. Lom had heard Kael’s words and he was scaring them.

He knew If the darkness vanished, they would be revealed. And within seconds, six billion Gods would turn their gaze upward and incinerate them.

"Oh, Kairos..."

A voice oozed from the Pearl. This time their was no projection only the deep, angry and amused voice.

"I gave you a chance to live earlier. I gave you a tool that defies the laws of the multiverse. And yet... your subordinates seem tired of living. To think of retreat? To think of going against my orders?"

The darkness continued to fade.

"Please!" Kairos fell to his knees in the nothingness, clutching the Pearl. "Forgive us one time! We have gathered intel! We can’t fight Cosmos, but we can be your eyes! We can find his weakness!"

He turned his head, his eyes burning with fury, and glared at Kael. He gestured violently for the subordinate to kneel.

Kael, realizing his mistake, dropped to the floor of the sphere, trembling so hard his teeth chattered.

"Oh Great Demon God Lom!" Kael sobbed. "Please! It was a slip of the tongue! I am loyal! I would never-"

"Kairos is right about one thing," Lom interrupted, his voice thoughtful. The disappearance of the darkness paused.

"The information you gathered is... disturbing. I never expected the Pantheon of Cosmos to be this robust. Sowing discord here would be like trying to drown a fish."

Lom’s voice shifted. The thoughtfulness vanished, replaced by a sadistic hunger.

"So, I agree. You are useless as assassins. But you might make decent spies. However..."

A red eye opened on the surface of the black pearl, staring directly at Kael.

"For information gathering, I do not need four of you. Three is plenty. And the Pearl... the Pearl is hungry. Maintaining this domain requires energy."

"Kairos," Lom commanded softly. "You can all decide to die together right now when I drop the shield... or you can feed the Pearl."

The implication was brutal and absolute.

Kairos didn’t hesitate. He didn’t look at Kael with pity. He looked at him with the dead eyes of a survivor.

"You..." Kairos whispered, drawing a dagger made of crystallized sand. "You should have chosen your words carefully."

"Kairos, no! Wait! We are broth-"

SHING.

The movement was a blur. Kairos lunged, his dagger slashing through Kael’s throat before the God could finish his plea.

Divine blood sprayed into the air, but it didn’t hit the floor.

The Pearl of Calamity pulsed. The shadows inside the sphere swirled like a vortex. The blood was sucked into the artifact instantly.

Kael’s body slumped. Before it could even hit the ground, the darkness wrapped around it like a shroud. There was a sickening crunching sound, like bones being ground to dust, and then... silence.

The body was gone. Erased.

"Good," Lom purred. "Very good."

The darkness of the sphere surged back to full strength. The domain stabilized.

"Continue your task," Lom ordered. "Find me everything. The source of his wealth and strength. The weakness of his talents. And do it fast, Kairos."

"The Pearl needs nourishment to function. If you don’t find valuable intel quickly... you will have to find more food for it. I wonder who will be next?"

The presence withdrew. The red eye closed.

Kairos remained kneeling, breathing heavily. The dagger in his hand was clean; the Pearl had drunk every drop.

The two remaining subordinates were huddled in the corner, staring at Kairos with terror. They were trapped between the hammer of Cosmos and the anvil of Lom.

"Stand up," Kairos said, his voice flat and emotionless.

He stood up and stored his weapon back. He didn’t look at the spot where Kael had died.

"We have work to do. We are going to map this city. We are going to find every secret this Emperor is hiding."

He turned to the trembling gods, his eyes gleaming with a desperate cunning.

"Cosmos thinks he is untouchable. But everyone has a blind spot. We will find it and sell it to Lom, and then buy our freedom. That is the only way we can survive."

Kairos looked down at the bustling market one last time.

’Hah... Cosmos,’ he thought bitterly. ’You should have killed me back in Solara when you had the chance. Now, I am the parasite in your city. And I will not stop until I rot you from the inside out.’

He steered the sphere deeper into the city, disappearing into the dark space above the City of Gods.