The city was still abuzz.Ever since the temple had been restored and turned into Reyna's (the Heavenly Sword Demon King's) stronghold, it had drawn more and more attention from every corner of the land.
But amidst the change and the chaos, there were those who merely watched in silence.They were the ones who had been recording since time immemorial—the Bards and the Archivists of the Great Library.
They entered the temple quietly.
These were not wandering strangers.
Bards sang the stories of the world into eternity.Archivists collected every scrap of knowledge, storing it for the future.
They examined the temple's interior in silence—until their eyes found Arknan.
They approached him without hesitation.
"We've come to share wisdom."
Arknan regarded them carefully.His instincts told him these were no mere scholars.
"And you are…?"
One of them replied in a low voice,
"We are the Recorders.The ones who preserve the truths of the past and prepare for what must come."
Arknan immediately understood—what they carried was not ordinary history.
He led them straight to Lee Dohyeon and Reyna.Whatever they came to say, they all needed to hear it.
Their conversation began simply, but cut straight to the point.
"Why did you claim this temple?"
Reyna's expression was unreadable.
"Because we needed it.This place holds power. It offers protection."
But the archivist shook his head slightly.
"Is that all?"
Reyna's gaze sharpened.They already knew more than they let on.
The archivist continued.
"Do you know about the sealed Titan?"
Silence.
Both Reyna and Dohyeon froze.Of course they knew—the Titan's seal was weakening.But the fact that these strangers knew it as well… was startling.
Even Arknan's eyes widened.
"How… how do you know that?"
The archivist's tone remained calm.
"Records remember everything.We read them. We study them. And we preserve them."
Then he asked a question that landed like a blade on the table.
"By taking this temple… are you saying you intend to become a god?"
Reyna understood the implication immediately.
From the moment she took this place, she had felt it—a subtle shift in the flow of power beneath her skin.
She didn't hesitate.
"Yes.I want to become a god."
The archivists exchanged glances, as if they had expected exactly this.
And then—
The air trembled.
From the shadows behind them, a figure emerged—a man cloaked in black.
"Then your words… will be delivered to the gods."
Dohyeon and Reyna turned to face him.
He was a Recorder—but not just any recorder.
His writings were not chronicles.They were truth.
Whatever he wrote became part of the world's fabric—and carried straight to the gods.
He unfurled a roll of parchment, lifted a quill,and began to write.
Scratch—
Each stroke glowed faintly,as if the words themselves were alive.
"The gods… will watch your choice."
The space around them rippled as invisible pressure filled the room.
Arknan's jaw tightened.
"He isn't writing a story.He's writing reality."
Dohyeon felt a weight in his chest.
"What are the gods, really?Were they always gods from the beginning?"
The archivist smiled faintly.
"The gods are creators… but they are also beings who feed on worship."
Reyna tilted her head, intrigued.
"They feed on worship?"
The archivist continued evenly.
"Yes. The gods created the world, but they are not complete.Their strength comes from their creations.The more they are worshiped, the stronger they grow.
But if their followers dwindle… their power fades.Some gods have vanished entirely."
Arknan murmured gravely,
"…Then the gods' thrones are not eternal."
The archivist nodded.
"Exactly. The age of the gods has not ended,but their hold on this world is weakening."
Reyna folded her arms, thinking it through.
"So if I take this temple…and if people offer their faith to me—
…then I'm already walking the path to becoming a god."
The archivist answered softly,
"Perhaps.But if you walk that path… you will no longer remain 'merely human.'
And the gods will not leave you alone."
Reyna smiled faintly—an edge of challenge in her expression.
"Good. I wouldn't have it any other way."
The Recorder's quill stopped.
He wrote a final line,and the letters glowed, lifting from the parchment—then dissolved into the air.
"The gods now know your choice."
A shiver swept through the temple.
Unseen eyes turned toward Reyna.
An icy pressure filled the air,as if a dozen unseen presences had all turned their heads at once.
Lee Dohyeon's hand instinctively tightened around his sword.
He could feel it.
The gods' game had begun.
**
Chapter : Erebos and the Gods' Response
The gods could feel it—the Titan's seal was weakening.
Plans were made.Countermeasures discussed.But then, an unexpected disruption shattered their carefully woven threads:
Lee Dohyeon.Reyna.
The two of them had not been in the gods' visions.Their actions were not written in any prophecy.Their very presence unraveled schemes that had stood for centuries,and for the first time in eons, the future grew… hazy.
Erebos watched silently.
He had seen all futures.The reign of the gods, stretching on as if eternal.And far beyond it, the era when mortals rose to replace the gods—to become gods themselves.
But he had no intention of letting that future arrive.
For ages, Erebos had cut down any mortal who dared reach for divinity.If need be, he would burn entire possibilities to ash just to keep the gods' order intact.
Yet this time was different.
Because of these two variables—Lee Dohyeon and Reyna—the tapestry of fate itself was fraying.The future blurred.The threads of destiny became too tangled to read.
Erebos hated uncertainty more than he hated destruction.
If all futures burned, at least he could see the smoke.But this fog—the inability to see—was intolerable.
He looked over the shifting balance and came to a quiet conclusion:
"There is no reason I cannot use them."
He would.If using the gods themselves as pawns was necessary, so be it.And if some had to be sacrificed to maintain order,Erebos would not hesitate.
But the other gods did not need to know this.Not yet.
Elsewhere, the divine council roiled.
"The Titan's seal is failing.""Erebos, what are we to do?"
Erebos remained silent.
Patience was thinning among the gods.Finally, the God of War slammed his hand on the council table and stood.
"We can't just sit here!""I will drag the Titan out myself and crush him!""And those mortals who seized Amalthia's temple—I'll burn them where they stand!"
The temple shook with his fury.The God of War's wrath spilled into the room like wildfire.
But then—
"Stop."
A soft, resonant voice filled the chamber.
The storm of anger stilled.Every god turned.
There stood Amalthia, goddess of love and birth.
Her face carried no anger, no hatred—only a calm, radiant smile.
"Amalthia, you don't need to step into this!" the God of War snapped,his voice a blade of frustration.
"Your temple was stolen! They defile your sacred ground and dare to raise a new order!"
Amalthia merely shook her head, untroubled.
"I already know."
Her voice was gentle, but steady.
"Yes, they took the temple.But within those walls, something else has taken root."
She saw it clearly—not forced worship, not hollow rituals,but belief born of choice.
"I will allow them."
The God of War's fists clenched so tight his knuckles turned white.
"You're too forgiving, Amalthia."
But she only smiled again.
Through it all, Erebos watched.
He listened to their anger, their fear, their futile debates.And in the silence of his own mind, he decided:
"In the end, it will be I who preserves the order."
If the Titan returned, the age of the gods might end.
But Erebos had no intention of letting that happen.
His order was the gods' order.His world was the gods' world.
Not humanity's.
From his shadowed vantage, he watched Lee Dohyeon and Reyna.
How far would they go within the gods' order?
And if—no, when—they reached for godhood themselves…
Erebos knew.
The day would come when he would intervene.
**
Chapter : The Gods' Intervention and the Birth of a New Stronghold
The city was growing louder by the day.Under Reyna—the Heavenly Sword Demon King—a new power was forming,and the former temple of Amalthia had become more than a sanctuary.
It was now the beating heart of a new order.
People gave it a new name: Æthernion.What had once been Amalthia's sacred domainwas transforming into a fortress that heralded an entirely new age.
But not all were pleased.
Far beyond the city, the emissaries of the gods stirred.
A cold, foreboding aura spread from the outskirts.The first to appear were the holy knights—but these were no ordinary paladins or wandering templars.
They bore the seal of Arrekar, God of War.
Their armor gleamed with etched divine sigils,their eyes burned with fanatical certainty.
They stopped before Æthernion's gates.
At their head stood a single man,his voice like steel drawn from a scabbard as he declared:
"This ground has become the land of those who reject the gods' blessing!You have defiled the temple and spat on the will of the heavens!Those who oppose the gods must be eradicated!"
His name was Erion Carseus—the most powerful vessel Arrekar had ever chosen.
He raised his Sacred Spear high,and divine light radiated from him, spilling across the city like a storm.
It was not a threat.It was a warning from the heavens.
The weight of their presence rippled through the streets.
Whispers turned to fear.
"The gods' envoy has come himself?""Does this mean Lady Reyna truly defies the divine order?""Have we been following the wrong path all this time?"
But at the temple gates, Lee Dohyeon and Reyna stood unmoved.
Dohyeon's voice was low, almost resigned.
"So… the gods finally intervene directly."
Bard Arknan gave a bitter smile.
"Of course they wouldn't just watch forever.But I didn't expect them to act this quickly."
Reyna's gaze cut toward Erion.When she spoke, her words rang like a blade being unsheathed.
"You dare threaten my stronghold?"
Erion's eyes burned with divine fury.
"If you seek to become a god, then you will face divine judgment."
The Sacred Spear rose again.
The sky split.Holy radiance flooded the air like a tidal wave.
"The god of war grants his blessing—battle is sanctioned."
Behind him, the holy knights drew their swords in unison,and the city trembled as the flames of war began to lick its edges.
Panic broke out among the people.
"The gods' envoy declares war?""Was this really Reyna's intention?""If this is what the gods call 'judgment'… then what are they?"
The sight of a divine servant wielding violence shook their faith.For the first time, the seeds of doubt took root.
The belief the gods feared most began to sprout:
"The gods exist… but they may not exist for us."
Dohyeon saw it—the shift in the crowd's eyes—and whispered to himself.
"Finally. The cracks begin to show."
The unshakable creed of 'The gods are absolute' was beginning to fracture.
But someone else was watching.
The ground trembled.A different power stirred.From deep below, something ancient was waking.
Arknan's eyes widened.
"This energy… it's the Titan."
His voice trembled with disbelief.
"The moment we fight the gods…the Titan uses that opening to move."
And then—from distant ruins where the Titan's seals had frayed,stones collapsed.
From beneath the shattered ground,inhuman shapes began to emerge.
"The Titan's heralds… they've awakened."
The war was no longer just gods against mortals.
The sealed ones were rising, too.
Yet Reyna's focus did not waver.Her gaze stayed locked on Erion.
She raised her blade.
"I'm not here to 'become' a god.I'm not here to 'defy' the gods."
Her voice was sharp as winter steel.
"I simply fight in my own way."
Her sword lifted.
The gates of Æthernion swung wide.Her followers surged forward.
Thus began the opening clash—not just a war of men and gods,but a war where Titans, gods, and mortals would all be drawn into the storm.
And at the center of it all stood a place that was no longer the Temple of Amalthia—
but Æthernion.
A stronghold with a new name,and the place where the very order of gods and men would be rewritten.