Chapter 91: Nothing but Everything

"Yep, they definitely have wings," Nerez remarked as he looked out the window of the luxurious carriage.

"Your Exaltedness?" Cassian asked, not quite sure what Nerez meant.

"They're pegasi. Of course they have wings..." Dili pointed out, tilting her head.

"I see. So they don't just look like pegasi... they really are pegasi..."

"Your Exaltedness, is something wrong?" Cassian asked, adjusting his glasses.

"It's nothing," Nerez replied, reclining in the broad cushioned seat, upholstered in red and adorned with gold buttons. "It's just that when I got into the carriage, I thought it would fly. If they're going to pull it along just like ordinary horses... why not simply use ordinary horses?"

"Pegasi are far better suited to the altitude of Empyrean Peaks. It is a city above the clouds, after all," Cassian explained. "They can fly without any trouble, though."

"The view from the sky is wonderful. It's just that whenever an important god rides in one of these carriages, we try to take them along a route that lets them observe the daily lives of the city's inhabitants up close, in the hope that, if they intend to start a conflict that could endanger the world, they might think twice," Dili added with an innocent smile.

"Ahem... If you wish, however, we can fly the rest of the way," Cassian offered. "Is the matter you wish to discuss with His Eminence, Lord Aion, particularly pressing?"

"No... not that urgent..." Nerez replied, looking away as he tried to dodge the question.

"Suspicious..." Dili murmured, leaning closer to Nerez. "You aren't planning to start an open war with Lord Aion, are you? Your Exaltedness! I still want to live for thousands more years!"

"Dililei, you are being disrespectful," Cassian admonished her. "However, Lord Nereziel, given our position, we hope you will forgive us for having certain concerns... If you have any problem with the god of time, please come to us first."

"Cassian, Dili, I promise I'm not going there looking to start anything." Nerez tried to reassure them with an awkward smile. "It's only a small problem I need Aion's help to solve. If it gets out of hand, I promise I'll turn to you."

"If it's a problem that could get out of hand even for the god of death, that would mean the end of the world..." Dili declared dramatically, leaning forward and clutching her head with both hands.

"Dililei, mind your manners," Cassian reprimanded her again. "Your Exaltedness, we mediators are here to assist the gods. Please do not hesitate to turn to us whenever necessary."

"I'll keep that in mind, Cassian. Thank you." Nerez scratched his head, even more uncomfortable than before.

The truth was, Nerez could not rule out the possibility that the problem unfolding in Tirelia might end in catastrophe. Still, there was no point in alarming the mediators or drawing their attention to his secret vacation spot. Aion was probably the only one who could do anything about it.

***

At last, the carriage reached the summit of the peak that housed the three manors of the absolute gods and the Palace of Concord. It was the highest of the peaks that made up the city, and for that very reason, another of Empyrean Peaks' imposing structures rose at its summit: the Pantheon.

For some reason, my memories of my first world are much clearer than those of the other worlds I've lived in. So I can say with fair certainty that this is quite different from what I thought a pantheon was. This one is an actual building, after all... Though I almost feel vindicated, since I used to mix up pantheon and Parthenon all the time.

Each world's divine city had a pantheon, a temple dedicated to all the gods. Pantheons worked much like the reverse temples found within the gods' personal domains. As Cerys had explained to him long ago, ordinary temples sent faith, while reverse temples collected it and transformed it into spiritual energy, in this case for the whole city.

So this is where my taxes go...

"Besides serving as the pillar that sustains the city, the Pantheon also houses the entrance to the space known as the Void," Cassian explained as he stepped out of the carriage after Dili but before Nerez.

Apparently, it was customary for the most important passenger to step out last as a mark of respect from everyone else. Dili nearly threw herself at Nerez when he tried to climb out first, desperate to stop him.

In the end, the top of Dili's head caught Nerez in the pit of the stomach, which he felt was not particularly respectful. Still, he had no intention of complaining. Dili was already on the verge of tears after what had happened, and Cassian's exasperated expression made it clear that she had a lecture waiting for her later.

"The High Arbiter... already explained it at the palace, but to put it another way... the Void is something akin to the heart of Eryndea..." Dili managed between sobs.

Nerez could not help but sigh. The poor girl probably thought her days were numbered after ramming into him. Before leaving, the only thing Nerez could think of to reassure her was to give her a playful pat on the head, ruffling her hair even further and leaving her as red as a tomato.

"Your Exaltedness, do you need us to wait for you here?" Cassian asked, adjusting his glasses once more.

"That won't be necessary, High Arbiter. Thanks for the ride. I can make my own way back."

"Your Exaltedness... Lord Nereziel... please don't fight Lord Aion," Dili pleaded, her eyes still watery. "I really want to live to see another morning!"

"Dililei..." Cassian huffed in exasperation.

"Relax. If you somehow end up dying, I'll put in a good word for you in the underworld." Nerez laughed, giving a dismissive wave over his shoulder as he climbed the stairs leading to the temple's main entrance.

Cassian held his bow until the figure of the god of death disappeared from view.

"Mm... now that I think about it, becoming a reaper wouldn't be half bad. I'd be a lesser goddess revered by mortals... And I've heard the underworld is quite a picturesque place... If Empyrean Peaks explodes in the middle of a battle between absolute gods, becoming one might actually be possible... Agh!"

Dililei seemed to be considering the idea quite seriously, but her thoughts were interrupted when Cassian grabbed her by the collar of her uniform and pulled her back into the carriage.

***

Although Nereziel's temple in the empire was truly impressive, the Pantheon could easily rival it. Its halls and corridors were immense, and their ceilings rose so high that they vanished into the darkness. In addition to the lavish decorations and ornaments found throughout, it housed hundreds, if not thousands, of statues.

Whether on altars, between columns, or even in niches set into the walls, some divinity was worshiped in every corner of the Pantheon.

To his surprise, Nerez even found statues of Cerys and Erebion. What he found most curious, however, was that Erebion had never even visited Empyrean Peaks. That made it clear that the mediators were not the ones carving them. Perhaps some divine mechanism came into play whenever someone ascended.

Avelle isn't here, though. I'm convinced that, thanks to the visiare living in the Last Valley, by now her power rivals that of a regular god. Her absence probably has something to do with her being a local goddess... I don't see any lesser gods either... That means, just as I thought, Cerys already...

Nerez shook his head. He still could not be certain of anything. Nor did he have the energy to dwell on other matters; the problem he was dealing with already had him distracted enough, and his surroundings did little to help him focus.

That was especially true when it came to the statues. Although Nerez was used to seeing statues of himself in all sorts of places, from cemeteries to his colossal temple in Duskhaven, he was not remotely enthusiastic about the prospect of finding one there.

It was one thing for his image to be worshiped by millions of strangers who could not even be certain whether he truly existed. It was another entirely to find it in a city where he could interact normally with the inhabitants... or, well, almost normally.

He had thought that seeing his own statue would be easier to bear if a sizable number of Empyrean Peaks' inhabitants had statues there too, even if they were far from the majority. But nothing had prepared him for what he found.

There, in the Pantheon's main hall, stood three colossal statues. On the left was a statue of Lirien, the goddess of life, and on the right, one of Nerez himself.

He could only cover his face with both hands. The statue was even larger than the one in his temple in Duskhaven. Nerez had always considered kings and emperors who filled their realms with statues of themselves unbearably vain, and now look at him. Even combined, all the statues those rulers had ever commissioned would still fall short of the sheer size of his own.

"Come to think of it, if I remember correctly, that's Aion..." Nerez murmured to himself once he had lowered his hands. "It's amazing how memory works. Maybe divine memory has something to do with it? In any case, it's strange how you can remember a face you haven't seen in a thousand years, yet forget what you had for dinner yesterday."

Nerez was referring to the statue between Lirien's and his own. Aion had probably not been placed at the center to give him the most prominent position; rather, the arrangement made it look as though time separated life from death.

More important than the statues, however, was what lay above them. There was something resembling a vast window, yet it showed the night sky despite it being daytime in Empyrean Peaks. Nerez was certain that not enough time had passed since he entered the temple for night to have fallen.

Looking at it more closely, the night sky is far too clear. I can see every single star... But I don't recognize any of the constellations I've seen while traveling these past few days. Selene's moon isn't there either...

!!

At that moment, he felt his consciousness leave his body. It was an exceedingly strange sensation, as though he were drifting to sleep and beginning to levitate at the same time.

This is like... that time when I ascended...

As if someone had wanted to prove him right, once his mind cleared, Nerez found himself no longer in the Pantheon. The universe itself surrounded him. But it was no ordinary universe. It looked remarkably similar to what he had seen back then...

When he became the god of death.

"I'm not going to fall, am I?" he asked himself.

It was a reasonable concern. The universe truly was all around him, including above his head and, of course, beneath his feet.

Even so, he could feel solid ground underfoot, so he dared to take a step forward.

To his relief, he felt something solid beneath his foot when it came down.

"It's strange. I don't feel nearly as much vertigo as I normally would... Maybe it's because I can't really make out what's below me. All I can see is darkness and points of light..."

He continued walking while speaking to himself, though this time he was trying to calm himself rather than organize his thoughts, as he usually did.

The Void was a truly peculiar place. Nerez walked and walked, yet never felt as though he were moving forward. But to be fair, how far could anyone really get by walking through space?

Eventually, however, he began to understand that this was not an actual universe. Cassian had said something along those lines before they left the Palace of Concord, but only now could Nerez truly understand what he had meant.

"These aren't stars... They're fundamental laws... primary elements too... Everything that makes up existence is here in its pure state..."

...

After what felt like an eternity of walking, Nerez spotted a star in the distance that shone far brighter than the rest. It gave off a peculiar purple light.

As he drew closer, he realized that the star was not a fundamental law, a primary element, or any other kind of abstract concept, but a gigantic sphere in the middle of that universe.

When he reached it, Nerez placed a hand against its surface despite his better judgment. The surface soon gave way beneath his fingers; it felt like pushing through some kind of dense liquid.

"Looks like I've reached the end of this journey, so I have no choice but to go inside... If Aion isn't here, I'm going to organize a graffiti contest using the walls of his manor as a canvas... Something tells me he won't care all that much."

After that rather petty remark, Nerez held his breath and disappeared into the glowing purple sphere.