The boy shook his head and said, "You can't leave here until we are done. I can't come all this way for nothing. But I understand that it was rude of me not to lead with introductions. I just thought you were cool. It was my mistake."
Kelvin frowned as the boy introduced himself: "I am Hermes, messenger of the pantheon of Earth-2. I am the god of merchants, thieves, and travelers. I have been sent to deliver the ultimatum to the new candidate paragon of Earth-11."
"Don't be afraid, Kelvin. I am just here with a message for you. Besides, I am a god. If I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't know or be able to do anything about it. So your fear is useless."
Kelvin nodded, feeling overwhelmed. Despite the assurance that his fear was useless, he couldn't calm down or stop his heart from beating wildly.
Hermes continued, "The message is from the council of God Kings, which you might be able to join in the future or die like the previous paragons before you. I have given this message to the previous paragons. You will just be the latest and hopefully the last one I have to do this to."
Kelvin finally managed to ask a question. "What is the message?"
"Paragon of Earth-11, your future dominion has been disappointing so far. Your inability to choose a leader and create a pantheon for the past 73 years has created a lot of problems for the Yggdrasil civilization. Currently, you are our weakest link. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Thus, we seek to rectify this weakness."
"The council of God Kings has decided to give Earth-11 an ultimatum. You have until the year 2200 to create a pantheon and have a god king. If one is not created at that time, the council will convert all the demigods and possessors of the rings of immortality into pillars to force the creation of the pantheon."
Hermes smiled and said, "That is all. Any questions?"
Kelvin's mind was reeling with many questions. He didn't understand most of what was said, but he understood the core of the matter, which was that he had been given a deadline. Either he will die by the end of the deadline or be converted into some sort of pillar.
Hermes seemed to have understood that he was overwhelmed. He said encouragingly, "It is okay to feel out of your depth. You can go back and digest the message. If you have any questions, you can ask your partner. She knows about all of these and more."
That confused him a bit. He asked, "My partner? What partner?"
Hermes replied, "The Will of your planet. She calls herself Wrath of Icon."
Kelvin asked in surprise, "Wait a minute? Wrath isn't Icon?"
He had always suspected that Wrath was Icon or had something to do with Icon. He had also suspected a whole bunch of things about Wrath, such as that Wrath was after his soul or wanted to possess him just like the Patriarch did. He just didn't believe that all Wrath wanted from him was freedom.
These suspicions had been knawing at him for a long time, but there was no way to lay them to rest or confirm them. But it seems an opportunity had come for him to finally get some answers about the shadow spirit's true identity and motivations.
Hermes laughed. "What a silly question. Of course she is not Icon. She is sort of Icon's creation, though. But she is not Icon. She is the consciousness of your planet, given life, and will be your partner when you become the god king.
You have Icon to blame for that."
Kelvin was about to relax, but then he heard that Wrath was created by Icon. It made him wary again.
He asked, "Is Wrath dangerous?"
"No, she is not dangerous to you. As long as you fulfill your promise to her, then you have nothing to worry about."
Kelvin wasn't satisfied with that answer. He asked, "But why did you say I have Icon to blame for that?"
Hermes sighed and said, "It is a long story. You can ask her when you meet. This is something that you two should have ironed out the first time you met. But looking at you, I can see why she has withheld this information. You need to have the how, why, and where to go along with anything in order to have fun. You're boring."
Kelvin ignored the accusation about him being boring and focused on the important things. He nodded and said, "So you are sure Icon is dead and I have nothing to worry about."
Hermes shook his head in denial. "I didn't say that. Icon is still alive. All I said is that you have nothing to worry about from Wrath as long as you fulfill your promise. Icon doesn't have any control over her, and neither will you, even if you become the god king. That's why I said you have Icon to blame for that."
"Now do you have any questions related to the message I brought? I have places to be."
Kelvin thought about it and said, "What are the short-term and long-term implications of the ultimatum to me?"
Hermes nodded and replied, "For the short term, you won't have a choice for advancing to the next league or not. You will be forced to advance up the tower as soon as you can."
"For the long term, the ultimatum means that you have to become a demigod, unite all the rings, become a god, and create a pantheon in 15 years since we are currently in year 2185."
"If you don't do this in time, all of you demigods causing chaos instead of supporting your paragon, the weak paragon candidate and anyone else stopping him will all be cursed and enslaved to carry the sky of Earth-11."
Hermes waved his hands and said, "For other questions, ask your partner. I have done my job here. See you later, serious Kelvin. Don't die on me. I don't want to come to this place again."