The Guardian gods Chapter 897

Ikenga’s smile softened into a nod of approval, the oppressive weight in the room lifting just enough for Tide to breathe easily again. "Good. You have always been sharp, Tide. See to it that the leak is slow, natural, and utterly irresistible to someone looking for strength."

The elder god stood up, his towering figure now back to his previous laid back state.

"Get your merfolk involved," Ikenga added, casting a final look back toward the younger deity. "Let them build, let them face the pressure, and let them grow. When the storm finally breaks over the surface, I want them to be a civilization, this world can depend on or do without."

"It will be done," Tide replied, bowing his head respectfully.

With a faint shimmer in the air, Ikenga’s presence vanished from the realm of Tide as smoothly as he had arrived, leaving the young god alone with his gold, his merchants, and a new directive to execute.

Ikenga’s figure appeared in the infinite expanse of space, standing steady within the vacuum of the void as he looked down upon the world of Nana. A deep dark purple glow burned intensely within his eyes.

All around him, low whispers and venomous curses seemed to swirl, fighting to break free from his body, only to be forcefully held back by his will.

Suddenly, a pair of hands, cold yet comforting with warmth wrapped around him from behind. Mahu’s unmistakable presence enveloped him entirely, her tone heavy with deep concern. "Are you alright, Ikenga?"

With her touch, the purple glow in Ikenga’s eyes faded away slowly, and the dark whispers vanished back into nothingness. He breathed out, calming his disturbed mind as a slight, genuine smile returned to his face.

"I am alright, Mahu," he said softly, turning slightly within her embrace. "I merely let go of myself for a moment, realizing just how close our plan is to succeeding. I was simply so eager to finally get my hands on him."

Mahu said nothing, maintaining her hold on him as she shifted from behind to get a full look at his face. She had known this brother of hers for an eternity, and she knew better than anyone just how paramount control was to him.

But there were rare, precarious moments where that control slips. It always happen when the rigid, cosmic rules binding them as Origin Gods came into play, leaving him unable to act with the flexibility and directness he truly desired.

Mahu remembered a private conversation Nana had once held with her and Keles regarding Ikenga. Among all her children, Nana feared for Ikenga the most, terrified that he would be the first to break the sacred laws and join the Hegemons.

Mahu’s mind flashed to the agonizing pain endured by Nana, who was actively being punished by the Judges simply for trying to guide and influence the choices made by her own children. Because Mahu and Keles were the only two who possessed enough of Ikenga’s trust to influence his thoughts, Nana had left it entirely to them to keep a watchful eye on him.

They were to be his anchors, especially during dangerous moments like today, where his control threatened to slip away entirely.

"You scared our nephew Tide," Mahu said with a faint smile, finding herself drawing closer to him than she had allowed herself since his return.

Ikenga placed a steady hand on her waist. "It was never my intention. Besides, he won’t be scared so easily."

Unbeknownst to either Ikenga or Mahu, another figure briefly materialized in the void, masking her presence completely. It was Keles. She looked at the two of them and murmured softly to herself, "I was late."

She, too, had felt that sudden, dangerous spike in Ikenga’s emotion and the brief lapse in his control. She had rushed to be there for him, but it seemed she had arrived too late as she glanced at his figure now entangled with Mahu.

Keles gave them both one last, lingering look before her presence quietly retreated back into the shadows of the cosmos. Shortly after, the space became entirely empty as both Ikenga and Mahu vanished from the void as well.

Back in the spirit realm, Ember and the primates continued their steady progress within the spirit realm. It was during this focused labor that an event took place entirely unnoticed by Ember himself, a mysterious tome suddenly materialized right inside his forge.

Ember ignored its appearance completely, working on as if he didn’t even perceive it was there. To the primates, however, the tome was a very clear, undeniable existence that immediately drew their undivided attention.

They naturally attributed the sudden appearance of the text to Ember. This was not the first time a tome had magically manifested before them, in the past, each new book had been a blueprint for a advanced technological product, meticulously mapped out for them by Ember so they could lear from and replicate.

Initially, they assumed this new tome was just like the others they had received before. But as they gathered around and gazed upon the end-product design illustrated on the pages, their eyes widened. They instantly recognized just how strikingly similar the design was to the very object Ember was currently building.

The shock came and went unnaturally fast, as if a subtle fog had muddled their minds, forcing them to overlook the true weight of what stood right in front of them. It should have been obvious that their current societal and racial standing made it completely impossible for them to even comprehend, let alone build an object of such staggering complexity.

Even more baffling was Ember himself. He possessed absolute, clear insight into their true capabilities, yet he had seemingly handed them a treasure of this magnitude. Yet, despite the logical gaps, not a single question was raised to clear the fog.

A considerable amount of time passed before the tome suddenly went missing. Weirder still, the primates only panicked for a few brief hours, searching the forge and their homes half-heartedly before the loss was entirely forgotten. No one bothered to look for it again. The artifact of unimaginable value had arrived and vanished as if it meant absolutely nothing at all.

While this was taking place, Tide immediately went to work following his meeting with Ikenga. Sitting at the throne of his palace, he began to systematically dig through his vast archives of trade information. He pulled up detailed records of every noble house, lord, and local aristocrat who had ever crossed paths, traded, or clashed with his worshippers, searching for the target provided to him by his uncle.

It took a considerable amount of time, sitting deep within his realm and meticulously combing through the archives, until a specific name caught his eye "The Noble House of Sunward"

Located on the western continent, they were one of the most prominent and influential noble houses under the Sun Kingdom, which currently stood as the strongest sovereign power on that side of the world.

They were already a high-priority family for his merchant believers when it came to trade. However, their true strategic importance stemmed from a far more formidable fact, the House of Sunward was led by a Paragon, a figure representing the absolute epitome of mortal power in the world of Nana.

This very Paragon was the target, who caught his uncle’s sight. Because the grand plans of the Origin Gods were worldwide in scale, the pieces Tide had to move and account for had to be worldwide as well.

And as it turned out, the aristocrats of the western continent were among the most exhausting and annoying nobles Tide and his believers had ever been forced to deal with, driven by a relentless, suffocating curiosity about everything happening within their domain and how much they stand to gain from it. Now, they were going to get exactly what they were looking for.

The Paragon who led the House of Sunward held no particular interest in what Tide’s believers were doing. On one hand, this lack of suspicion was entirely due to the clever guise under which Tide’s followers operated.

To the outside world, they appeared simply as highly ambitious merchants armed with lucrative investment strategies and innovative trading ideas. It just so happened that the raw materials they required sat on noble-owned lands, meaning deals had to be struck so both parties could walk away satisfied and feeling accomplished. Because these operations were carried out under Tide’s title as the God of Treasury, the noble families operating under his influence understood a simple truth, dealing with these merchants meant there was always money to be made and treasure to be acquired.

For the most part, the Paragons easily overlooked these mundane commercial dealings. On the other hand, this blind spot was also a direct result of the current state of mortal leadership, which had drastically devolved since the ascension of the Paragons.

In this new era, one no longer required the traditional qualities of a good ruler or the strategic brains to govern. All that mattered now was raw power, how much devastating force an individual possessed to exert over others, forcing them into absolute obedience.