Chapter 417 - Red Herrings

Rod? Wasn't he the God of the Gods? The creator? Fredek was confused as he glanced at the heavily injured king. If it really was the creator, then why did he want to destroy his own beloved son?

As if reading the question in his eyes, Gin shook his head. "He is not dying. My brother… my brother is to be reborn…"

Huh?

No matter how many times Fredek repeated those words in his head, he still couldn't understand. Even with high intelligence as he had, there were still some things he couldn't comprehend. This was one of them. Still, there were some things that needed to be focused on first. He looked outside the tent where Kresnik was still battling with the Lady. 

"Lord Stribog… Lady Yuuka and Lord Kresnik…"

His voice trailed off as he was worried. Even if he knew that what happened to the king was related to his wife, he was still uneasy seeing the Lady and Princess Alinea's husband fight. 

"Don't worry. Kresnik is just keeping her busy. He won't harm her," Gin said but his brows furrowed. "At least until her daughter comes."

"Daughter?" Fredek had a bad feeling but he couldn't ask, afraid to hear the answer he had in his heart was correct. 

It was too cruel even to think about after all. 

Silence hung between them for a several seconds before Gin spoke again. 

"Fredek, what do you know of what happened?" Gin asked him softly without removing his diligent eyes from his sleeping twin. "What do you think is the entire story?"

The General pursed his lips as he thought of the answer. As Alistair's right-hand man, of course, he knew everything. However, right at this moment, he felt what he knew didn't amount to much or nothing at all. He was confused. Yet, he answered with the things he did know— or thought he knew. 

When and what started it all? 

"Czernobog committed treason against heaven and was banished to the mortal plane. But he didn't stop wreaking havoc. He came up with a powerful army to raze the lands. Perun led an army of deities to destroy the Black God and his minions and sealed him in the Dark Valley. But Perun's seal weakens every half a century enabling the minions lower that level S to go out and cause chaos on the surface. Because of this, you and the rest of the deities stayed in Ged to pass on your bloodline so that heroes may rise from them to defeat the Black Army every fifty years. This was the beginning of the kingdoms in Ged." 

This was of course what was written in Ged's history. Even the common people who went to school could answer this easily. Fredek still mentioned it anyway as the Lord Stribog was not a Returner to Ancestry in Ged. However, the story after that was not written in books. 

"A thousand years ago, during the Immortal War, Perun's jealous ex-wife, Fanya secretly descended and entered the lair. She collaborated with Czernobog. To what extent, I have no idea, but she helped the Black God bring out a piece of his soul out into the surface. She was caught after and was sentenced to death. But the whereabouts of the soul was unknown until centuries after. It had attached itself into a human. The human child is Shitara, Perun's wife." 

Fredek looked at Gin, gauging his reactions to his recitation but he didn't give any. In fact, he even inclined his head urging him to continue. To what purpose, he didn't know. But he continued anyway. 

"The spawn transferred to the lady's child when she gave birth— Alencica, the harbinger of catastrophe."

At he mentioned this, Fredek felt conflicted. All along they knew that it was Alinea who was the Harbinger of Catastrophe. But why was the one who was acting like the Goddess of Destruction her mother instead? Also, if it were the case…

It didn't make sense. It didn't add up as well. Only those with the blood of deities flowing within their veins could become the Harbinger of Catastrophe. If Czernobog's soul latched onto an ordinary human, it would remain dormant and pass on to the person's children until it mixed with deity blood. It was why they were so sure it was Alencica. 

And those with deity blood couldn't be Blank Souls. Only humans could, and the king told him that Maki Yuuka was a blank soul and had no recollection of her past life. These rules were established by Rod so it was impossible to overturn. The only reason he could think of why this happened was…

No! Fredek was horrified. 

"Why are you so quiet Fredek?"Gin asked in a mocking tone followed by a weak self-derisive laugh. "I take it you already found the answer?"

"That's right. From the beginning, everything we know is nothing but a bunch of red herrings!"

For the very first time, the all-smiling deity looked angry and frustrated in front of other people. His hands balled into fists on his ŀȧp; his golden gaze was fierce as he looked at his brother's face. 

"All these sufferings— all the tragedies…" 

His body trembled as he obviously suppressed his dėsɨrė to vent and to cry. Fredek understood how the Wind God felt. So much had happened during the millennia since the initial rebellion— lives sacrificed, death and rebirth of the souls, and the long time suffering and longing of everyone involved. 

Fredek realized that even if Perun was very intelligent, Czernobog could easily compare notes with him in schemes despite his lack of power. And this time… 

This time, Rod was involved. It was as if the King of Heaven was betrayed by his own household. 

"What will happen to His Majesty?"Fredek asked. 

If Perun was not dying then what was happening to him? 

"He's been tainted with miasma. My brother would enter the cycle of reincarnation not as a Returner to Ancestry but as a partial blank soul."

"Partial blank soul?" Fredek had never heard the word before. It was always a blank soul or not. 

Gin nodded. "The King of Heaven's rebirth is special. He may remember his past, but not one of us— neither mortals nor deities are allowed to aid him."