The moment Ikenga stepped back across the boundary and materialized within his own realm, an eager laughter rippled through the shared telepathic connection of the sibling gods.

"I cannot wait for the fruition of your plan, brother," Crepuscular’s voice echoed, dripping with cold amusement. "It has been far too long since we have truly been able to stretch out our limbs in this world."

Hearing his brother’s voice, a slow satisfied smile spread across Ikenga’s face.

This was the deepest, most carefully guarded layer of his entire design. The true objective wasn’t just resource manipulation, economic domination, or even the salvation of his nephew Tide. The Mage Towers were a catalyst designed to push the arrognat Paragons into a corner, forcing them to break the absolute cosmic rules that currently held the Origin Gods back from directly interfering in the mortal plane. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The immediate price for this scheme would be paid in blood. Countless mortal lives would be entirely obliterated by the cataclysmic campaigns the Paragons were about to launch. But those very actions, the desperate border-shattering atrocities committed by the mortal apexes would create the exact metaphysical paradox required. Their reckless deployment of power would fracture the world’s stability, providing the sole legal and cosmic justification Ikenga and his siblings needed to freely descend in their full, unmitigated glory.

At his core, Ikenga did this because he was petty. He still vividly remembered the arrogant faces of those specific Paragons who had dared to threaten his own child. It had irritated him to his very soul, at the same time was a reminder that the inhabitants of Nana had entirely forgotten how absolute the Origin Gods truly were.

The mortal rulers had tasted just a tiny fraction of cosmic power, and suddenly they possessed the audacity to threaten the architects of their reality. Because of the current restrictive laws of the world, the Origin Gods had been forced to sit back and do nothing. But this upcoming conflict would change everything. A total war spanning multiple Paragons was destined to become an existential threat to the planet itself.

A single Paragon acting unchecked was already a severe danger to the fabric of the world. Multiple Paragons clashing in a desperate, genocidal race for scarce materials was nothing short of an open invitation for divine intervention.

To the mortal eye, it would look like an apocalyptic tragedy. But to Ikenga, it was a perfectly rational action to permanently re-establish the absolute hierarchy this world was beginning to forget.

His gaze drifted back down toward the mortal plane, locking onto Ember’s figure. The sight served as a stark reminder of just how differently time flowed when one functioned as a divine being on a higher plane of reality. For Ikenga, it felt as though only a brief moment had passed since he was last with Ember before departing to hold his discussion with Tide.

Yet, down in the mortal realm, months had already slipped away. Ember was now out of the spirit realm, touring the lands under a human guise and using this stretch of time to quietly acquire the known local materials needed to eventually craft a tower.

As Ikenga observed the shifting world, he noted that Ember wasn’t the only one making these moves. Entire factions of godlings were already on the move across the continents. To avoid garnering early attention from the watchful eyes, they were all adopting the same strategy, concealing their natures and operating under the guise of ordinary humans.

This world truly was unfair. Just by virtue of their heritage and bloodline, an entire race was already pushing far ahead of the others on the curve, securing the foundations of the future before the common mortals even realized a race had begun. But rather than displeasing him, that cold reality only brought a satisfied smile to Ikenga’s lips.

Ikenga knew with absolute certainty that Ember would share the news of the materials among his people. He had intentionally chosen not to bind the boy with a divine oath of silence. Ikenga wanted to use this exact moment to gauge the true nature and competence of the godlings.

To the Origin Gods, the godlings held a specific status. They were meant to be the guardians of the mortal plane, the forefront fighters standing on the front lines if an external invasion were ever to take place. Out of all the entities in this world of theirs, the godlings were supposed to be the ones the Origin Gods could always trust to hold the line.

Hence, they still had to be tested. They needed to be drawn into the whirlpool of conflict once in a while, ensuring they remained sharp and capable, even when they planned on keeping their distance from mortal squabbles. As it stood, the godlings were among the calculated factions expected to take aggressive action in the upcoming resource war.

Now, possessing early knowledge about the locations of the components, they were undeniably ahead of the curve. Yet, this advantage was a double-edged sword, a test in itself. Ikenga wanted to see if the godlings were truly attentive to the subtle, shifting tides of this world.

Their actions regarding these known components would reveal their true nature, splitting their potential paths into two distinct choices.

The First Path being that the godlings would greedily secure and relocate all the necessary mines and bedrock to their own lands, consolidation absolute priority and control over the mage towers entirely in their hands.

The Second Path, would prove they are attentive enough to understand and respect their own limits, taking only what was needed to secure their current power and position, while patiently waiting for the major components to appear before attempting to build their towers.

Ikenga and his siblings watched closely, eager to see which choice the godlings would make. Whichever path they chose would ultimately define how they were viewed by the Origin Gods, and dictate exactly what actions would have to be taken when the time finally came.

These two choices, laid out silently by Ikenga, were already being deliberated by the rulers of the godlings. The temptation to uproot and move the mines directly into their own lands hung heavily in the air, a feat of geomancy that could actually be achieved by the Cursed Apeling Terra Clan.

But the rulers were also wise enough to know that not all that glitters is gold. They were acutely aware and was informed by Ember, that this knowledge regarding the mage towers would not stay secret forever, soon, it would become global.

If they chose to moved every single necessary mine to their territory, it would only take a sliver of insight from the human Paragons to expose their actions. The mere thought of that discovery brought a heavy, suffocating dread to the rulers. To steal everything would mean facing the combined, furious might of the human race’s top forces, an escalation that would spell nothing less than the absolute end of their race.

This meant, inevitably, that they would have to disappoint some of their own people as there simply would not be enough towers for everyone.

To prevent internal chaos, the rulers quietly agreed to keep this knowledge strictly hidden from the masses, especially from the Paragons within their own ranks. Months of silent observation following their initial meeting had finally given the leaders a clear picture of who was truly loyal to their cause. Those trusted few were quietly added to the list of future tower owners, while the others were marked to be systematically distanced from the central seats of power.

Yet, even as they resolved to limit their own consumption, the godlings could not shake their deeply ingrained pragmatism. This was too good an opportunity to pass up a chance to subtly bleed the human race of its potential strength. They would certainly take only what they needed to secure their position, plus enough extra to ensure the humans would be short by at least two towers.

With these decisions finalized, the leaders prepared to execute their plan under absolute secrecy. They ordered their personal agents, disguised perfectly as humans to deploy directly to the target mines and bedrocks.

Suddenly, the strategic value of the Terra Clan skyrocketed in the eyes of every godling ruler. As a group uniquely favored by the ear elements, their specialized geomancy was indispensable for a heist of this scale. Seizing the opportunity, each godling leader submitted an official request to Zephyr, asking for at least two Cursed Apeling Terra Clan members to be attached to their respective factions.

With the Terra Clan’s innate elemental mastery combined with Ember’s continuous progress, calculating the exact amount of material to harvest would be a precise science. More importantly, their expertise ensured they could extract the resources without leaving a single trace or magical signature behind that might tip off the humans to the tampering.

Among the rulers, Ethan was more than pleased with how the council had concluded the meeting. In truth, he had already been planning to hoard this information for his own selfish ends. Now, he could use the collective strategy as a back up in his play of power to solidify his throne as King and keep the arrogant Vampire Lords dancing effortlessly on the palms of his hands.