CH347

The moment he opened his eyes and found himself back in his bed he got out of it, speaking aloud in the hopes that the effect he wanted would activate properly for the various gods of the world to see.

“Allow all gods to see into my mind.”

Combining the rage he was feeling with his persistent migraine, Ben was in no mood to just let himself be robbed silently just because it was a group of so-called gods doing it. The very thought left him disgusted as he got dressed to leave, hearing as hundreds of notifications rang out in his mind from every watching deity being able to tell exactly what he was off to do.

…

…

“Deny all. I don’t give a shit about what any of you have to say on the matter,” He spat as he started stomping out, only for the single god he was willing to lend an ear to finally speak up.

<Ben, I know you’re angry->

“To put it mildly.”

“Also to put it mildly.”

“No.”

He’d specifically opened his thoughts up to any watching gods to make them see that the choices they made had consequences and that he wasn’t playing around. As soon as he got to the greenhouse he’d made he was going to be activating all of the defensive enchantments to destroy it and let the souls it contained move on rather than let himself be treated like that. A goal Myriad wished to stop.

He understood exactly why his apostle was so mad and if it was anything else he’d be less inclined to stop him. Whether those other gods truly believed that they needed to take what Ben had discovered for the good of the world or had simply gone too far and been blinded by greed at the thought of having such a handy tool, It didn’t matter. He just needed Ben not to go through with it. It was too useful to let it be destroyed. Even if the potions it made could only be used a single time that meant a single bit of quick and easy growth for millions of people, and every god knew the chances of them not working twice were incredibly slim.

With all of that in mind, he tried to get his apostle more agreeable the only way he knew how. Tempting him.

<Ben, right now you’ve shown every god here they can’t bring you up against your will and they don’t have any way of stopping you.>

“Good, hope they’re all sitting tight to see that actions have consequences.”

<What I’m getting at.> Myriad continued as Ben was making his way out of Sonya’s to his house down the street. <Is that you’re in an incredible position to negotiate whatever you want.>

That just briefly put a lull in his step.

“Whatever I want huh?” He muttered, feeling his wheels turning in a way that could only worry Myriad. It was the feeling of far more going on beneath the surface of Ben’s mind than was clear to see for any god watching, a feeling that none but he and Helori had come to recognize.

<Whatever you want. We could get you a far better price than what you’d originally been asking for. Every god who was against this knew you were being exceptionally reasonable as it was, you should ask for more.> He said, trying to guide Ben into picturing the wealth he could have, only for Ben to not give a demand first, instead asking a question.

“Was this another stupid vote? How many gods were actually on my side this time and how many against? More importantly, where did Anailia fall?”

“Cool, in that case, they all have until I reach the greenhouse to make up their minds on this. First off, we’re going with the original offer I put out but I’m going to be taking seven times the price of a lifeblood potion for every potion made instead of half of one. Look at me, aren’t I sweet, still going less than the ten times Helori suggested?” he said, continuing before Myriad could respond to his sarcasm. “In addition to that, I want the four soul crystals they’re getting to be entirely under Anailia’s management with all other gods to provide the resources she’d need to make things run smoothly, be it money or people since she’s going to need to bring in plenty of plant mages as well as people to harvest whatever fruit they end up growing.”

<Done.> Myriad said as all of the gods who’d stood neutral were dragged in to see what was happening, the desire to infight among them was squashed by the knowledge that Ben was going to destroy the soul crystals if he didn’t get his agreement.

“Second,” He continued, not caring at all for whatever the gods were going through at the moment. “If my remaining soul crystal or the soul it contains is either lost or destroyed, I’ll immediately get one of the ones I’m loaning out to you all, because let’s be clear, this is just a loan.”

<Done.> Myriad said again as the gods quickly rushed to figure out the logistics of ensuring nothing would happen to the crystal he would be keeping.

“Third. You all need to bring as many of your apostles, oracles, and head priests up for an audience as you can to swear you’ll honour this agreement in front of them all. I get bringing all three up is going to be an issue, but you each need to bring up at least one and in practice as many as you can. And you all need to be human-sized. None of that towering bullshit they were trying to pull for an intimidation factor.”

This time Ben didn’t get an immediate answer. None of them wanted to look like they were showing weakness to their core believers, but by then Ben had arrived at the front of his house and all of them could see he wasn’t calming down.

<Done.> Myriad said once they all accepted that he was really going to do it if they didn’t give in.

“Cool. And finally because fuck Eneth in particular, me and Thera both get his blessing and he’s going to bow and apologize for how he acted in front of everyone. Are we clear?”

Again there was silence. Ben could only imagine that the reptilian god was arguing against the idea with all he had but he didn’t care. Whether he got what he wanted or not, the gods would be feeling punished for the choice they’d made to think they could act like that and they all knew it as he finally reached the greenhouse, placing a hand on it to activate the defensive enchantments that would destroy the interior. Enchantments in place in case the souls of the gods and demons were able to alter the plants housing them to any extent, but had ended up seeming meaningless if not for now.

…So I guess I don’t need to grant permission if it’s beneficial? That’s interesting.

“Anailia, can you confirm that Thera received a blessing as well?”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

<I can.> The goddess said, a hint of smugness in her voice.

“Okay, good.”

<And that’s done.> Myriad sighed, happy that had all worked out as Ben lowered his hand from the greenhouse. <Can I bring you up here now?>

“Don’t bother,” Ben told him as he took a seat, leaning against the building he had been about to destroy and closed his eyes, forcing himself to walk the unfamiliar path he’d just been pulled up as his own intimidation tactic, while the gods watched in shock as he forced his mind into the realm without their aid getting him there.

When he arrived he immediately noticed two things. How much smaller the gods all were now, as well as how much the crowd had grown, not only being filled with the gods who originally hadn’t bothered to show up with their neutrality being their excuse, but also the swarm of believers bowed at their feet on the other side of him, none of them understanding why they’d been brought there but knowing it must have been important. None had ever been pulled to a gathering like that, being told to stop what they were doing and sit down for what seemed like an emergency as they all came to find themselves in the presence of more divinity than they’d ever had before, the feeling all but oppressing them and they kneeled in front of it.

None of that mattered to Ben though. Instead, he just tapped his foot and glared at the gods as he waited for them to fulfill their side of the bargain.

It was a god who hadn’t spoken before but had been undeniably on the side of those who had tried to take from him that spoke up, with Eneth off to the side being held by three other gods whispering in his ears to try and calm him down.

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