Global Gods : Skill-Resonance Awakened Chapter 368: Ch 368 : A Lead

In the Council Chamber of the Spire of Sins, the atmosphere was oppressive enough to stifle even a lesser god. Seven obsidian thrones sat in a circular arrangement, yet only one appeared to provide any true substance to the chamber's reality.

Deimos, the Lord of Discord, rested his chin upon a clenched fist, his gaze locked intensely on a shimmering projection representing the Demonic Realm.

"We must acknowledge our failure, Deimos," Maledictus rasped, her voice reminiscent of withered foliage scraping across a tombstone.

She gestured toward a vast accumulation of intelligence: scrolls composed of soul-ink and parchments crafted from flayed skin, all gathered by their desperate scouts.

"Locating Lom has transcended mere difficulty and entered the domain of the impossible. He isn't merely concealing himself; he has vanished beneath the shroud of the Pearl of Calamity. Unless he emerges within the demonic realm, attempting to track him is akin to searching for a solitary drop of ink in an endless black sea."

"Your assessment is accurate, Maledictus," Deimos replied. While his tone seemed as tranquil as a frozen pond, a tectonic rage was silently grinding his soul to powder beneath that exterior. "The Pearl possesses absolute power. Yet, Lom is driven by greed, and avarice always leaves an unmistakable trail. We have discovered a lead."

"A lead?" Phobos leaned forward, his twin hollow eyes flickering with sudden interest. The realization ignited like a spark among the seated lords.

"The disappearance of the High Guard," Deimos declared. With a flick of his fingers, the projection shifted; a roster of names began to drift through the air, each illuminated by a grim, crimson luminescence.

"Over these past few days, nearly two hundred high-tier Demon Gods—warriors who have stood for aeons—have simply vanished. Initially, I suspected them of desertion, cowards fleeing the encroaching shadow of war. However, upon auditing the registry, a distinct pattern emerged."

He gestured toward one name at the summit of the list: Marlok.

"Marlok," Maledictus whispered, adjusting her hood. "He was the first of the Vanguard to support the slaughter of the Gods during the old Era. His bloodlust operated as a law unto itself. He would never retreat from battle; he would charge toward it with laughter."

"Precisely," Deimos said, gritting his teeth. "These demons are no cowards. Their vanishing signatures are not the consequence of escape; they are the result of an Inward Migration."

"You all understand the hidden properties of the Pearl. Externally, it appears as a simple orb, but internally, it houses an Elastic Infinitude. It possesses the ability to expand or collapse its dimensions to suit the master's whim. Lom is executing a scheme I contemplated a million years ago."

The other lords grew deathly still. Even Beelzebub, whose perpetual hunger provided a background hum, ceased his murmurs.

"What?" he whispered, though the answer already soured in his stomach. "What is that vermin attempting?"

"The Pearl holds total domain over space," Deimos explained, his voice descending into an eerie, haunting register. "A million years ago, I realized the relic’s internal capacity was effectively infinite. I designed a strategy to migrate our entire demonic civilization—every soul, city, and drop of blood—into the Pearl of Calamity. My intent was to keep the Pearl on my person at all times."

"But why?" Ichor, the Lord of Blood, inquired, his brow furrowed in genuine bewilderment. "What benefit is gained by turning our race into a pocket-dimension colony?"

Deimos emitted a sharp, mirthless chuckle. "Ichor, your reasoning is constantly limited by your simplicity. Our prowess does not mirror the Light of the Gods. They oversee multiverses and cultivate Faith. Faith is a continuous flow; so long as mortals exist to pray, the Gods flourish. But us? We rely on Sin. We rely on the raw friction of the soul."

"To fuel my growth," Deimos continued, "two beings must engage in strife. Discord must be cultivated. However, the intensity of that power is governed by the Law of Proximity. The discord that erupts in the Capital strengthens me a hundredfold more than any war fought in a distant multiverse."

"The closer the Sin is to my essence, the more concentrated its potency. I desired the demons within the Pearl so that every heinous act—every deception, every scream—would occur within centimeters of my soul-core. We would have ascended to far greater power."

"Then why was it never executed?" Ichor asked, his eyes wide. "We had already triumphed in the war. The Gods had fallen. Why imprison the Pearl in the vault instead of attaining that level of divinity?"

Deimos’s expression wavered. For a passing moment, the Lord of Discord appeared profoundly diminished. "I was forcibly stopped."

This admission struck the Council like a physical blow.

"I cannot identify who or what intervened," Deimos whispered, pressing his hands to his forehead. "I only recall the crushing pressure. It was infinite. There were no spoken words, yet in that immense weight, the mandate was understood: The Pearl serves as a tool of balance, not a vessel for godhood. I was commanded to conceal it. I was so overwhelmed by terror that I sealed it within the Absolute Vault and never mentioned the scheme again. I allowed you all to believe the choice was born of grief for my fallen servant."

"I suspected as much," Ichor muttered, leaning back. "I knew you lacked the weakness of mind to abandon such a generational opportunity merely over a subordinate."

"So," Maledictus stated, steering the discourse back to the matter at hand, "you suspect Lom has abducted these missing Demon Gods to prevent us from harvesting the sin stored within the Pearl?"

"That is the only logical conclusion," Deimos replied. "He is constructing his own private Abyss inside that sphere. Since this provides our only lead, we must track the spatial instability that occurs whenever the Pearl consumes a subject."

"Deimos... I have one more inquiry," Maledictus said, her curiosity deepening into a frigid dread. "That entity... the one who halted your path a million years ago with that Infinite Pressure... why does it allow Lom to act with impunity? Why is the Balance being disregarded now?"

A thick, stifling silence blanketed the room. A minute ticked by, then another ten. The lords remained in the shadows, contemplating every potential outcome.