The first time he saw El, Alaric was indeed surprised by his state.
He had never seen such a deity before, his face constantly bore an expression of sorrow, as if he were some kind of Buddha-like figure.
Although, as a god, aside from oddities like Hephaestus, all deities possessed exceptionally beautiful appearances, when paired with such a mournful expression and tightly furrowed brows, it filled anyone who saw him with a sense of gloom.
After breaking into El's divine palace, this was the sight that greeted Alaric.
"As the king of gods of Canaan, why do you wear such an expression?"
Just as El sat alone upon the throne of the divine king, maintaining that sorrowful demeanor, a strange male voice sounded beside his ear.
"Who's speaking?!" El suddenly turned toward the source of the voice.
The male voice continued speaking as if to itself.
"Your palace is empty, no subordinates await your commands, no gods heed your orders. You are clearly a god-king, yet you must remain in this deserted divine palace. Why is that?"
Only then did El finally see the face of the visitor.
It was an exceptionally handsome young man, clad in a magnificent white mage robe, standing at his side. At his feet sat two cats, one black and one white.
Although El could tell at a glance that he was merely a mortal, this did not cause the god-king to lower his guard.
Because he had already perceived the extraordinary nature of this mortal.
Not to mention his bearing, just the heavenly garment he wore, embroidered between every stitch with mysteries concerning the essence of this world, and the two cats at his feet, both imbued with divinity, were not things an ordinary mortal could possess.
No, rather, such divine artifacts and sacred beasts were things even the Canaanite pantheon could not create.
"Mortal, you have trespassed into the divine palace of the king of gods of the Canaanite pantheon to seek an audience. What is your purpose?"
Though curious and wary of the visitor, the dignity of a god-king kept El composed.
"God-king?" Upon hearing this, the visitor almost laughed. "A god-king with no subordinates? A solitary god-king?
A god-king whose own queen has betrayed him? Just now, I passed by your son's divine palace, compared to this empty hall, his place is quite lively."
"…Has no one ever told you that you're very bad at speaking, mortal?"
El's already sorrowful expression grew even more troubled.
"Oh? Not before, but now there is someone," the man shrugged indifferently. "But for a situation like this, do you truly not care at all?"
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
El grew even more wary.
"I simply wish to tell you, if you are dissatisfied with your current situation and wish for revenge, I can help you."
"You come from the Heliopolitan pantheon?" El asked cautiously. "Or the Zoroastrian pantheon?"
"Neither." The man shook his head. "I represent only myself."
"I see… You come before me, claiming you can help me take revenge, and yet say you represent only yourself…" El revealed a mocking expression. "Do you think I would believe that? From your cats, I can already smell something… As for you, you are nothing more than a mortal."
"But an ordinary mortal wouldn't be able to help you take revenge." The man, Alaric, shook his head. "It seems you've mistaken me for the agent of some pantheon. In that case, if I want you to believe me, I'll have to show you some real ability."
As he spoke, his expression turned serious.
"It is the source of countless worlds, the nightmare of billions of planes!
The convergence of time and space, the nexus of infinite dreamlike dimensions!
, It is Alpha.
It is Omega.
It is the beginning of all that is uncountable.
It is the end of all that is endless!
It is, Reality Marble: Sea of Chaos!"
The once magnificent and grand divine palace completely vanished, replaced by vast, boundless distortion and chaos.
Time, space, every concept had completely disappeared here. Only endless storms of spacetime rippled throughout the surroundings.
El tried to sense his power, to mobilize the laws of the world with his divine authority, but he failed.
Everything around him felt utterly incompatible with him. No, rather, the very rules of this place were completely opposite to those of the normal world.
The laws of time and space, the laws of elements, everything was in utter chaos.
Even a near-omnipotent god like him could only use pure divine power to establish defenses, while the natural laws that once aided him had completely lost their effect.
"You… what kind of method is this?"
He had already assumed a fully defensive stance, a shield of divine power enveloping his entire body as he stared warily at Alaric.
"Relax, relax." Once again within the Sea of Chaos, Alaric felt as if he had returned home, a sense of ease like a fish in water arose naturally.
"I only wanted to prove to you that I possess the means to help you take revenge and reclaim everything. Now, do you believe me?"
"…Yes. You are indeed no ordinary mortal."
Dragged into an unfamiliar world by unknown means, his greatest strength as a god, the innate control over laws, had lost its effect, while the other party remained completely at ease.
Under such circumstances, he had no choice but to yield.
"Then… what exactly do you want from me?"
Maintaining his divine shield, the former god-king spoke words that were utterly lacking in dignity.
"It's not what I want from you, but what you want for yourself." Alaric reached down to stroke the cats entwined around his feet.
"I've already said, I'm just a mortal, representing no pantheon. I merely happen to be capable of helping you take revenge."
Understanding the concerns in the other party's heart, Alaric explained.
"Before, I didn't believe it. Now, I do." El's sorrowful expression eased slightly.
"A method that completely nullifies the power of gods, there's no way they could achieve something like this.
Otherwise, the Canaanite pantheon would have already been annexed by them."
Hearing this misunderstanding, Alaric couldn't help but laugh.
In truth, El's judgment was only partially correct, Alaric's Reality Marble could indeed strip gods of their control over laws.
But even without the ability to use the world's laws, gods still possessed their own divine power.
Although using this highest form of power directly as an attack was a great waste compared to manipulating laws, it was by no means impossible.
And if El were to do so, he would discover that this Sea of Chaos was merely a façade, something that could be shattered with just a bit of force.
After all, this time, he hadn't borrowed Hecate's divine power.
Unfortunately, from the very beginning, Alaric had established an image of unfathomable depth.
Himeju, Bastet, and the Heavenly Garment had already caused El to regard him highly, mistaking him for an important demigod born of some god-king within a certain pantheon, only someone of such status could possess the highest-grade divine beasts as pets and the finest divine artifacts as equipment.
And after Alaric unleashed his Reality Marble, El abandoned the notion that he was a demigod, instead imagining him as some mysterious independent existence.
Otherwise, how could someone unaffiliated with any pantheon possess such power and capability?
.
.
.
Guys, do leave some power stones and reviews.
✌patreon.com/bobthewriter✌
If you guys enjoy this story, you can support me on Patreon and get access to Advance Chapters, it really helps me to work on new chapters.