Chapter 591: The Only Option
Su Ren’s death brought an awkward pause to the battle, as everyone cancelled their ongoing skills for just a moment to reorganize and recalibrate.
The gods who remained standing did not speak. They merely watched the particles of Su Ren’s divine essence dissolve into the fabric of the Pavilion as a reminder of the irreversible truth that had just taken place.
A god had died.
Not by the hands of the Timeless Assassin.
Not in a sealed plane.
But here. Now. In full view of his peers.
*Slam*
Helmuth withdrew his axe, placing it over his shoulders with a heavy slam, as he stretched his neck and grinned a bloody smile.
Beside him, Mauriss floated sideways with a half-smile, twirling lazily in the air, like a man who already knew what card the others were holding.
While Kaelith, as always, stood still at the center, his expression unreadable, as he finally broke the stalemate.
"Do you wish to keep fighting?" he asked, voice calm, level, and impossibly heavy.
"It’s four versus four now. The choice is yours." he offered, as he pointed the origin dagger towards the rest.
"BAHAHAHA—"
Mauriss burst into laughter, wild and breathless, as though the words themselves were a punchline he’d been waiting centuries to hear.
"Oh, I already know what they’re going to choose, Kaelith," he said through gritted teeth, his voice slicing through the stillness like a blade made of mockery.
"They know it too. They just haven’t admitted it yet."
He teased, however, despite his insinuation, Lu Han stepped forward bravely, his jaw clenched, his gaze locked on Kaelith.
"Never," he said flatly, as he pointed towards the Eternal Sovereign.
"We can never trust you anymore, you father-killing snake." Lu Han continued, his tone sharpening.
"You were an untrustworthy person back when we first met you... and you are an untrustworthy person even now." Lu Han said, voice rising now, as his fury broke through the formality.
"I agree," Mu Shen pitched in, fists tight at his side.
"Me too," Yu Kiro joined, his rising mana indicating that he was ready to fight to the end.
However, Ru Vassa looked hesitant.
"I’m telling you, Ru," Lu Han continued, turning now to the only member amongst them who looked unsure, "if we back away from the challenge today, we might as well throw away the ’Great’ in Great Clans, because we will be the Universal Government’s servants for an eternity to come."
He claimed, as he finally displayed the pride of Divinity that each and every one of them shared.
But unfortunately for him, Ru Vassa did not seem to echo his anger.
Her fingers tightened around her wrist as she scanned the battlefield, studying the bloodless expressions of Kaelith, Helmuth, and Mauriss.
The Origin Dagger still flickered faintly in Kaelith’s hand, and the shine of its edge unsettled her in a way she couldn’t rationalize.
They couldn’t win. Not like this.
Not when the battlefield had already shifted from strength to inevitability.
And so, she took a deep breath.
"What guarantee do we have," she said slowly, measured and cold, "that if we return to the negotiation table, you won’t kill another one of us next?"
Her eyes narrowed. "Because, as Lu pointed out... we don’t trust you anymore."
She asked, as the silence between them stretched.
"Mauriss...." Kaelith prompted, as Mauriss gave a long, exaggerated sigh, before rolling his eyes with theatrical flair.
"Oh please," he said. "It’s not like you trusted us 2,200 years ago either. Darling."
He floated down until his feet almost touched the broken floor.
"We’ll do what we always do."
His grin widened.
"A soul contract."
The words hung in the air like smoke.
"A renewal of terms for 2,000 more years of... partnership ."
He said it sweetly.
But to all four of them, it sounded like he meant to say ’slavery’.
"Kaelith, Helmuth and I are still willing to make some concessions. You’ve served us well in the past.... Faithfully. Relentlessly."
He smiled like a merchant about to sell a stolen heirloom.
"And as an added bonus, we’ll even let you discuss amongst yourselves how you’d like to loot and plunder the Su Clan’s lands. Divide them within yourselves as you wish. Consider it your reward."
*CLAP*
He clapped his hands once.
"All you have to do is decide within the next five minutes," he said casually, stretching his arms behind his head.
"Because if there’s one thing Helmuth’s not good at..."
"...it’s patience."
Helmuth let out a low, guttural chuckle as he agreed to Mauriss’s words, the sound vibrating through the Pavilion’s pillars like a storm gathering behind shut doors, as the offer to re-negotiate and distribute the Su Family lands amongst themselves, made the Four Gods hesitant to attack.
Sweat rolled quietly down temples. Mana flared behind tightened expressions. Each of them calculating, second-guessing, and struggling to answer the only question that mattered:
Do they submit? Or do they fight to the end?
Until Ru Vassa folding made the choice easier for the others.
"Very well then, I am prepared to sign the Soul Contract." She said, as her decision to fold, put the other three at an overwhelming disadvantage.
"What about the rest of you?" Kaelith pressed, as it was Yu Kiro who surrendered to practicality next.
"As long as the re-negotiations are reasonable....." He muttered, as he lowered his weapons as well, leaving only Lu Han and Mu Shen to resist.
"Give it up man.... We can’t do it alone." Mu Shen said eventually, as in the end, all four of them lowered their weapons, giving Mauriss a reason to smile with satisfaction.
"What did I tell you eh? Kaelith? The Great Gods had already made their choice. They just didn’t wanna admit it back then, but like good boys and girls, they have now...." Mauriss teased, as his words caused the four gods to feel their pride twist bitterly in their chests like a blade slowly being turned.
None of them spoke.
None of them looked at each other.
Because to look was to confirm the shame.
To acknowledge that they had folded, not in a position of strength, but in staggered surrender, one after the other, until defiance became nothing but a distant dream.
Kaelith nodded once.
The Origin Dagger disappeared from his hand.
"Then let us begin," he said.
And with those four words, history bent.
The summit no longer felt like a hostile discussion, or even a negotiation.
It felt like a dictation, a one-sided narration, where the victors spoke in calm, measured tones, listing out the terms of surrender as if they were doing the defeated a favor.
They offered concessions the way emperors flicked crumbs to starving dogs.... deliberate, generous in appearance, but calculated to humiliate.
And the defeated gods accepted them.
Not as warriors seeking balance.
Not as rulers defending legacy.
But as beggars accepting spare change on a cold street corner, with their heads bowed, pride swallowed, and forced smile that barely hid the tremble beneath.
Soon, with the help of Mauriss’s magic, the pavilion lights shifted subtly, illuminating the soul contract that had formed without command, and was now waiting to be signed into a binding agreement.
Ru Vassa stepped forward first, her eyes heavy.
Yu Kiro followed with gritted teeth.
Mu Shen dragged his feet.
And Lu Han... simply stood there for a moment longer, staring at the place where Su Ren had vanished, before moving without a word, a thousand emotions clashing inside his chest.