A Lion God of Truth said with audible relief, "I'm grateful His Majesty descended into the Dark Forest when he first arrived, and not near the Royal Beast Court. If it had been us instead of the Light Empire…"
He didn't finish. He didn't need to. The Gods from every major native empire present shared the sentiment exactly. No one said it was false modesty, because it wasn't. Even the Elf Empire, nominally the strongest native empire in the central area, was not an opponent of the Great Aetherium. No empire-level force was.
One God of Truth, a human carrying Light element Divine Power fluctuations, said flatly: "The Great Aetherium only dares to be this arrogant because the Divine War is coming. Without that timing, they wouldn't be attacking the central region."
A few Gods turned toward him. Someone recognized the alignment and asked, "You're from the Light Empire?"
"Formerly. I've joined the Nine Rings Tower."
The exchange ended there. His former empire was collapsing in real time beneath his feet.
The Gods of Faith across the way heard all of it and said nothing, until they smiled. The Gods of Truth stated reasons for not helping the Light Empire like "taking into account the overall situation" and "preparing for the Divine War".
Although they were technically accurate, they were still obviously incomplete. They were afraid of the Great Aetherium and everyone present knew it. The Gods of Faith didn't bother pointing it out. They simply watched, and felt comfortable doing so, because the Great Aetherium technically belonged to the same faction as them.
If the Great Aetherium dismantled the central area's native empires and removed the Truth Faction's influence from those territories, their Faith Faction would eventually be able to reestablish itself there. The Great Aetherium winning was not a bad outcome for them.
Then someone pointed.
"That figure… I've seen her before. Wait! Isn't that the Aurora Goddess Amelie? Didn't she fall during the Ancient Era's Divine War."
The Gods looked. A beautiful figure, moving between void and reality in flashes, disappearing before she could be fully observed. Most Gods of Truth didn't know her. The Gods of Faith who had fought in the Ancient Era did.
The Aurora Goddess had been the most famous Goddesses of the Nature Pantheon after Elunara herself. The one who had stayed behind to hold off the Demon Monarchs while the others evacuated. Her Divine Body had been destroyed, leaving only a wisp of her soul.
And yet, she was here. A late-stage Supreme Goddess, stronger than what she had been in the Ancient Era. Before the spectators could process this fully, she entered an Astral City at the Nivara battlefield and didn't emerge.
"The Great Aetherium resurrected her. Like Maddox before her." The conclusion spread quickly, "Only the Great Aetherium can resurrect a Supreme Goddess like her. She's their Goddess now. That makes seven Supreme Gods in the Great Aetherium."
The God of truth who had spoken against the Great Aetherium disappeared from the gathering without a word. Several others drifted away. The Gods of Faith above the clouds laughed, not unkindly, just with the satisfaction of people who had picked the right side and were watching events confirm it.
…
Below, the battle was reaching its final stage.
The Light Empire's defensive line was collapsing in sections. The flying troops, that had been the Castle Faction's biggest single-front casualty, a trillion-scale force used as living artillery bait, absorbing round after round of cannon fire to keep them busy. They have done their job.
Although millions died per bombardment round, the Castle Lords ordering them forward didn't flinch. The entire battlefield force could be wiped out and replaced within two days of recruitment. The math was brutal and entirely in the Castle Faction's favor.
Military fortresses fell one after another. Defensive positions were overrun. The supernaturals of the Light Empire fought with the particular ferocity of people who understood they were losing and had chosen not to stop. Eyes red and no thought of retreat, the concept of surrender was apparently no longer accessible to them. They killed everything in reach.
But it wasn't enough. The empire's defensive line was retreating. The core area was opening up ahead. The fall of the Light Empire was no longer a question of whether, only when.
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