Stelios received a lot of benefits for returning the body of the demigod but he never did return the head. Back then, when he was asked about the head of the demigod, Stelios had said that he destroyed it.
Now he is betting the head of a demigod of the sky god. What are the odds that it belongs to another demigod? Practically none. The sky god has a lot of kids but not many of them have winded up on the doorstep of the sun god and left their heads behind for safekeeping.
Staniel groaned when he saw the head that the sun god displayed for his item.
"He clearly didn't put much effort into his excuse for having it. If he had said that he found it on the roadside, it would have been a better excuse than it showing up on his doorstep."
This time he shared his misgivings out loud with his siblings around him.
"How many of us will die this time if a divine war breaks out?"
"That nasty fellow. He could have just gone after a lesser god or a god of cooking. Now he is still troubling us in his death."
"A divine war is good. Things have been boring lately."
They began chatting enthusiastically about the ensuing conflict. This is not the first time that war has been declared and some of them are looking forward to it. The reality of divine war became a lot more real when the grand god of the sky and tempest manifested as an avatar and descended from the sky into the midst of the gods. He didn't create sand storms or winds or thunder. His actions were silent, calm but brooding.
He nodded at the sun god, "Stelios."
The sun god nodded back, "Harkam."
The
Harkam the sky god took a look around the party and spoke. "Nice party. It is not great, but it is nice."
Stelios replied, "It was better before you arrived."
Harkam glared at him, "I knew that I would enjoy this but now I know that I will enjoy it even better. I want to be here to see your face when another of your demigod gets smashed to bits by one from my lineage. Then I want to see the regret for this stunt that you just pulled."
Stelios glared back, "It wouldn't compare to how you looked when I killed that stupid showboater. What was his name again? I think it was asshead."
"It was Pitran and you know it," Harkam yelled at him.
Staniel almost cursed where he is sitting among the demigods, "Why did you have to bring up his name? Now we are fighting for sure."
It is one thing to have a nameless head. People can ignore it. But to name it is to draw purpose to that head. Now the head can't be ignored, and neither can they pretend not to know who the head belongs to in the future.
Every god and divine lord can see that it is the calm before the storm that they are experiencing but no one stepped forth to stop it. Even when the two opposing gods calmly began betting with more important things of actual value, no one went forward to stop them. What fun is there in that? Eternal life can be boring without some action here and there. What's the worst that will happen? Some mortals and demigods will die because of a divine war. Their death will be worth it.
Helios and Tyke got into the stage after their preparations. They have pulled off their robes and are only wearing a cloth tied around their waists. Tyke stood 18 meters tall. If not for the boosts that Helios is experiencing which put him at 15m, he would be way too short compared to his opponent.
Their bodies have been bared, showing the tattoos they have. People could see the various tattoos that Tyke has. They were in awe of the intricate workmanship of his runes. A Stigmata is a beautiful piece of art. It is the will of God enforced with not only divine power but the Order of the world.
Helios on the other hand made people scratch their heads in confusion. Either there are no tattoos on his body or he has invisible ones. The stigmata that Stelios is marking on his body aren't completed yet so it isn't showing on his body.
A god spoke his thoughts out loud, "Either he doesn't have any runes or he has one in his crotch that we can see."
As a god, this entity has eliminated the invisible tattoos theory because no tattoo can be invisible under the true sight of a god.
A lot of them were confused. It was the sky god that found the answer first. He came to the simplest answer pretty quickly no matter how unreasonable it may seem.
He screamed and pointed at Stelios. "You tricked me. He doesn't have any runes."
The simplest answer is probably the right answer. If there's someone very good at arriving at the simplest answer it is the sky god. Complicated answers might be beyond his reach, but the simple ones are his forte. It may be a little too late now though.
Stelios clapped grandly, "Congratulations Harkam. Ever the quick thinker." He said with a voice dripping with sarcasm.
Harkam turned away from Stelios and focused on the fight. 'It's okay. Tyke is 50 years old. That shrimp of a boy is only 20 years old. There's no way Tyke will lose."
Tyke is also confused after checking out his opponent. So he asked Helios, "Why don't you have a rune?"
Helios replied. "What does having a Rune matter? We can't use it anyway."
"You're going down," Tyke growled as they circled each other.
They prowled and stalked each other like predators rearing to engage in a fight for dominance. Such fights are usually violent and deserve a serious atmosphere but one of the predators doesn't think so.
"This is so good. There's even banter. I think I'm supposed to say, 'It is you that will be going down."
Helios' cheery voice ruined the solemn atmosphere.