My Two Status Windows-Chapter 217

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 217: Sealing Stone (1)

"The Sealing Stones are overflowing."

I sent all the sealing stones to the 'me' who was staying at home and checked them from here.

Four sealing stones tainted pitch black.

Unlike Ares and Athena's blue sealing stones, not even the faintest soul energy could be felt from these.

"Athena. Don't you have something to say?"

Now that she's been sealed, I figured she’d stop the whole act from earlier...

But that was my mistake.

[Are you trying to intimidate a prisoner? I will not yield.]

"No, there's no need for that anymore, you're sealed..."

[I don’t know what you're talking about, Soul God. Rather than destroy me, you maliciously turned me into a sealing stone… Do you intend to torture me? Torture, on the goddess of war? How laughable.]

"Hey... hmm."

I was about to say something, but held back.

There must be a reason she's still acting like this, even after coming to Earth.

Is Earth also connected to Zeus’s power?

Is she in a situation where she has to keep pretending?

[But just you wait. My father will come to help me. Earth is a place under his influence. There is no part of the solar system untouched by my father’s power.]

"The solar system, huh…"

Even though Earth has become my divine realm, Zeus’s influence still lingers.

I guess that makes sense, considering the lightning storm over Greece.

In that case...

"I need to go to Kevrian."

I summoned the other me who was watching the sky over Greece back home.

"I can do the soul calibration from home, right?"

"Yeah. I’m counting on you."

As expected of my other self—he immediately understands.

For now, I’ll leave the monitoring of Zeus's thunderstorm to a lower-tier clone and entrust important tasks to this other body.

After switching roles, I departed for the planet Kevrian.

With all the sealing stones in hand.

"Kevrian… it’s been a while."

I rose from Elprian’s hideout.

No sign of Elprian.

I spread soul energy through the surroundings, and it felt just like the old days.

[To bring me to another planet… You're desperate to escape my father’s domain. But his power continues. One day, he will come to rescue me!]

Athena, still faithfully acting as Zeus’s servant even after the world has changed.

At this point, it's hard to tell if she’s pretending or being serious...

But still—did Zeus’s power really extend all the way to Kevrian?

Even for a creator, is it possible to reach into another planetary system?

It seemed a bit much, so I stared intently at Athena’s sealing stone.

"Hmm. Doesn’t seem like it..."

Connected to Zeus’s power?

It just looks like a sealing stone.

Clatter. Clatter.

Hoping to notice something, I checked the other blackened sealing stones one by one.

But no clear clue presented itself.

Just how far does the Creator’s power actually reach?

Grumbling internally, I clutched several of the sealing stones in my left hand.

That’s when I noticed it—a faint thread.

So fine it would’ve gone unnoticed unless I was deliberately analyzing it.

Could this be… connected to Zeus?

"Soul energy emission."

I released soul energy and touched it.

Whir. Whir.

It passed through the black thread without any resistance.

Even after several attempts, there wasn’t even a slight reaction.

[Hehehe. Soul God. Such meaningless efforts. Do you think you can sever my father’s power? With your strength, even blocking it should be impossible.]

Athena chiming in as if for me to hear.

Blocking it, huh…

"Aegis. Soul Barrier."

I summoned Aegis’s shield and layered soul barriers.

The black thread didn’t disappear with the soul barrier alone.

But once I brought Aegis’s shield to bear, the thread’s connection was finally blocked.

[Futile. All of it is futile...]

Athena kept yapping beside me.

In contrast, Ares—who was criticizing Athena just moments ago—had gone completely quiet.

What, did he get scared?

Zzzzt.

The persistent black thread sparked slightly where it met the shield, then vanished.

Hmm... Is Zeus’s power finally gone?

Maybe I don’t need to block it anymore.

[No! To sever my father’s power—with my Aegis, no less! But it seems your strength is waning and you’re trying to recall the shield. As expected, you cannot overcome my father’s might. Soul God, you are truly a weak man.]

So even if the thread is gone, she wants me to keep blocking it?

Ugh, but why does everything she says irritate me so much?

It’s not like she’s cursing me out or bringing up my parents or anything, but whenever Athena provokes me, it just feels filthy.

How long had I been maintaining the barrier?

Then, something began to change in the blackened sealing stones.

"Huh… The color’s coming back?"

The once entirely pitch-black sealing stones began to regain a bit of their blue hue.

Maybe about 5% out of 100%—still, it was a notable improvement from being totally black.

Athena’s tone completely shifted.

[Please forgive my earlier rudeness, Soul God.]

Gone was the taunting tone—now she spoke softly, with a feminine gentleness.

[Thank you for trusting me and understanding my true intentions.]

[Athena. What in the world are you up to?]

[Quiet, Ares. How about you shut up for once.]

Athena snapped at Ares, who immediately fell silent.

The once-gentle voice turned sharp in an instant.

This woman… how many masks does she wear?

[You…!]

[You don’t even understand. You went on about paths to victory, acting like you could win, and in the end, you led countless Olympian gods to their deaths according to Zeus’s will. Those who became Black Thunder can never be revived. They’re just fuel for Zeus now.]

[Ugh...]

[And then, unable to even send word back to Olympus, you vanished after losing to the Soul God… The remaining gods, despairing, gave up everything and chose to become Zeus’s fodder. You stirred up war and made it easy for Zeus to recover his strength. Some god of war you are.]

Athena lashed out at Ares with venom in her voice.

[You’re the traitor who cooperated with the Soul God behind the scenes! If you’d helped us back then—!]

[If I’d helped? And then what? Would anything have changed? Against the Soul God? Hah. Think back to when you fought him. Would my involvement have changed anything?]

I recalled the battle with Ares.

When Zeus’s power was behind him, Ares slaughtered my clones.

But once that power was gone, he was helpless.

And Zeus hadn’t seemed eager to intervene directly...

Even if Athena had joined, they both probably would’ve ended up as sealing stones anyway.

[Oh Soul God, please save the gods who have been completely consumed by darkness. If you don’t save them, calamities will continue to strike Earth.]

The four black sealing stones gathered together.

Are they the ones bringing disaster to Earth?

“If we break them, won’t the calamities stop?”

[If you break them, their power and authority will be entirely absorbed by Zeus. The disasters would only worsen.]

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

“Hm… Right. So Dionysus and Aphrodite must be among them too, huh?”

[Correct. Hephaestus and Demeter are also included.]

Hephaestus and Demeter.

The god of blacksmiths and the goddess of the earth.

“What kind of disasters would they bring?”

[I don’t know the details... but Hephaestus is also the god of fire. Disasters related to fire must have occurred.]

Fire.

A natural element that helped humanity become self-reliant and eventually build civilization.

Even now, fire remains just as essential to human life as it was in the past.

If that turns into a disaster...

If it becomes harmful like alcohol, then just lighting a fire at home might knock people out.

What about electricity from power plants, or heating systems that warm the floors?

No one knows how far the disaster would spread, but if fire becomes an enemy to humanity...

That would be incomparable to things like alcohol or sex.

“What about Demeter?”

[She governs the earth. Likely related to food.]

Food, huh.

Eating is fundamental to survival.

You can live without alcohol, and people can restrain themselves from sexual activity... but you can’t live without eating.

Even if we could somehow resist Hephaestus’s authority, once food is affected, it's game over.

Just the issue with alcohol caused worldwide chaos—if food becomes a problem...

That’s terrifying.

“If the sealing stones turn completely blue like you, can we save them?”

[Yes.]

“But the recovery is slow.”

Although the blue light was gradually returning, it had slowed significantly around the 10% mark.

[That’s because Kevrian is part of the ‘Broken World’ managed by Zeus and touched by Chaos. Recovery won’t be easy. You’ll need to go to a world completely untouched by him. One that Zeus hasn’t even perceived.]

“Hm. Of all the worlds I’ve been to, I can’t really think of one that’s free from Zeus’s influence.”

Maybe the realm of chaos used during the auction?

But considering how the link between Zeus and chaos suddenly appeared, that place also feels risky.

If I’m not careful, I might be walking right into the tiger’s jaws.

“I’ll have to look into it.”

[Yes. For now, let’s continue watching the recovery process.]

As Athena’s gentle voice faded, a silence fell over the group.

Trying to shield the sealing stones with the Soul Barrier to aid recovery...

Then Ares, who had been silent, spoke up.

[But Athena, why did you betray our father?]

[I don’t particularly want to talk with you.]

[Father cherished you the most out of all his children. I actually thought he’d abandon everyone else but still keep you.]

“Yeah, I’m curious too. Why did you reach out to me? Zeus did say that even Olympus wasn’t necessary in the end... but I want to know the deeper reason.”

After a brief pause, Athena spoke again in her soft voice.

[Everything I told the Soul God is the whole truth. Zeus wanted to discard the burden of Olympus and recreate the universe alone.]

“How did you find that out?”

[Lady Hera told me.]

[My mother...? Don’t lie. She wouldn’t have told you without telling me first...!]

[She must not have trusted you.]

[Grgh...!]

Ares fell silent, unable to respond.

“Hera makes an appearance, huh? Where is she now?”

[Hera was eaten by Zeus.]

[What...?]

Zeus... ate her?

[Soul God, everything Zeus planned had been proceeding smoothly. Failing to acquire you was a painful mistake, but he succeeded in subduing Odin and securing a loan from the SP Exchange. However... the final execution was lacking.]

“You mean the system penalty?”

Despite being EX-rank, Zeus couldn’t act freely.

That was because of the system penalty.

[Penalty enforced on the ‘Incomplete Creator’ Zeus.]

[Zeus’s SP acquisition rate is drastically reduced.]

[This effect remains until Zeus becomes a ‘Complete Creator.’]

That’s what let me hold out until I became a god.

Because he couldn’t strike Earth with his full divine power.

[The SP reduction completely derailed his plans. Zeus thought he could achieve everything with his own strength, but at the EX-rank, even the basic SP consumption is on another level.]

“Hm... was it really that bad?”

[Yes. All his plans were ruined. SP drained from him just by breathing. It began as a system penalty, but the root of the issue was his ‘incompleteness’...]

Right.

They called him an incomplete creator.

[He wanted to become complete. Even just a little more. Hera was the optimal ‘food’ for that.]

[Wait. So... Mother...? Just for that reason? I can’t believe it. I refuse to believe it.]

[Soul God. Could you spare some SP? Just a little. If you give me some, I might be able to break the seal.]

Athena suddenly made a request.

Giving SP isn’t a big deal...

But "just a little" is the tricky part.

How much is a little, really?

I’ve been throwing around so much SP lately I’ve completely lost the feel for it.

“How much is considered little?”

[...Just 100 million, please.]

“Alright.”

After transferring 100 million SP, Athena’s sealing stone began to glow.

And then it projected an image—like a beam from a projector.

A goddess appeared on the screen.

Even among the famously beautiful goddesses of Olympus, she stood out as exceptionally stunning.

Unlike the slender and elegant styles of Artemis or Athena, this red-haired goddess radiated voluptuous, sultry charm.

A goddess exuding mature allure in full force.

Personally, she hit my taste dead-on.

That goddess... no way...

[Mother!]

Hera.

Yeah.

That’s Hera.

Wow.

Zeus...

He had a wife like that, and he still cheated that much?

And in the end, he ate her?

Damn.

What a piece of shit.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]