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Divine politics often took many forms, and it was a battle waged on countless battlefields, though less often with martial ability than one might think. More often than not, the battlefield was some sort of social gathering, although the gathering was often disguised as something more innocuous. For example, a small tournament between the younger generations was the perfect excuse for the elder generations to gather and play their games and conduct their battles of power while the young ones battled in the normal meaning of the word. And usually, the battles of power were more important. The most common gatherings were for some sort of search for pleasure and excess. Immortals had a lot of time on their hands, so it wasn’t unusual for them to seek out all sorts of hedonistic pursuits. Some more ascetic divines and immortals didn’t partake of course, but most did to varying degrees. These hedonistic gatherings could be anything, from showing off the most excessive clothing and food, created from fantastic materials normally impossible to acquire, to more carnal pleasures, though the latter was much less common since many of the Houses didn’t want to mix bloodlines.

It had been a while since Marius had seen the Divine Planes in such a weird state. The best word to describe the mood was impatient. Immortality had a way of affecting everyone’s sense of time. When there were no obvious time pressures, many things got pushed off and even the more productive people tended to take their time with things, and few people were in a rush. Even deadly plots usually took years or decades to develop and execute at the short end. The only exceptions were usually the scourges and when wars between Houses flared up. Even then, things usually built up for a long time before erupting in frantic activity for a brief moment. And it seemed the entire Divine Planes were now in one of those brief moments. Except it wasn’t brief.

Now everyone seemed to be in a rush, and it felt odd even if he knew many of the causes. Too many things were happening at the same time, and not everyone could adjust their ingrained sense for how long things should take to act in time, which caused rushing that went nowhere, and a weird mix of frantic and sedate reactions to the new issues. It made the mood odd and even innocuous actions could elicit unexpected and sometimes overblown responses. There was no longer time or patience for the old cloak and dagger games, although new ones had taken their place.

The Expansion had been a major factor. New worlds in the Divine Planes always were hotly contested, but unlike the lesser planes, the Divine Planes took decades if not centuries to settle such things. Things were usually not resolved with armies and fleets but with politics and power plays. Or by someone powerful enough interfering, though that happened quite rarely. This time the Host had taken over the governance of the new worlds due to having to fight the scourges for the worlds, and the worlds would be handed to new owners once the hostilities settled and the politicking resulted in winners and losers. With the House Titannica holding such an obvious grasp on the Host, they’d likely be among the first to benefit. Such were the benefits of risking your life in the Host, so the others didn’t really begrudge the Titans this advantage, as long as they didn’t take things too far.

The aggression by the scourges was another factor and a really important one, but it was also the most mundane. A problem they were used to, even if the current issue was outside the standard scope. The gods and the Host, mostly the Host, had struggled against the scourges for longer than any of them had been alive. Longer than any of their histories went. So, a renewed aggression by their enemies was a cause for concern, but it was also nothing new. The threat was also relatively contained for now, thanks to the new allies they’d managed to make. There had been losses, but not as much as there could’ve been.

A third important factor came from the arrival of the Outsiders. These new arrivals had thrown a spanner in the works, and they were far from weak. Marcus had even heard rumors of multiple rank 14 beings, although those seemed unlikely to stand up to scrutiny. Still, these Outsiders had been mixed into the political games, and were being used as mercenaries by multiple factions. It might have been politically inconvenient to strike at your enemy directly, but hiring a complete stranger? That was much more palatable. Some of the minor Houses had even fallen as a result, and many more had suffered losses. Still not enough to cause an upheaval by itself.

The most important factor was the incoming abdication of the Heavenly Emperor. That alone was enough to cause a stir, as was the presence of Princess Ynnead finally being found. Speaking of, information of the princess had recently arrived, giving new life to the idea that the girl might somehow be the rebirth of the Sacred Lady. That information had certainly been enough to stir things up, even though the theory had already been dismissed once. Marius wasn’t sure where this information had come from, so he had no way to judge its veracity for now. There were many that wanted to see the return of the Sacred Lady, and there were even more that feared the same. Even Marius' master and his master's closest allies seemed affected, though they seemed both fearful and hopeful. The fact that the rebirth of the Sacred Lady happened in a person that also was the princess complicated things further. Debates raged day and night about what should be done. Except nothing could be done for now. The princess was protected by the one Outsider that they knew for certain had reached the dreaded rank 14. And the Host had even made a deal with that Outsider, a deal they didn’t want to break.

As if that wasn’t enough, something had happened in just the last few hours, and whatever it was had really stirred the hornet’s nest. To his shame, Marius had no idea what that something was. He’d tried asking around, but even his closest allies had refused to divulge anything. To him, it wasn’t that they didn’t want to tell him, but that they couldn’t for some reason. There were only a few things that could cause an information block like that, and the most likely cause was the Heavenly Emperor issuing a decree. But why did it seem like some even relatively low-ranking people were informed of the decree, while many of the True Gods had not been? Whatever the cause, it had caused the Divine Planes to gloss over the matters concerning the princess, which suited Marius and his allies just fine. The trouble was, it seemed as if this new information somehow rendered everything else inconsequential. And Marius didn’t know what that information was! It was infuriating!

The odd thing was that there had also been more than the usual number of people dying for various reasons. And the ones dying seemed to belong to the more gifted portion of the Divine Planes. What could've caused all these supposed geniuses to suddenly be in danger? There was a palpable sense of impending civil war in the air. Marius had assumed there would be hostilities with the abdication, but the emperor was still in place, and this seemed to be…more.

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“…the fuck?” Envy asked eloquently as suddenly all four of them were presented with the same thing. A plaque of seemingly black marble had appeared in front of each of them, and the plaque was filled with filigreed golden text.

“It’s a decree from the Heavenly Emperor. And not a standard decree either.” Karna explained. She’d seen such decrees before, albeit rarely. So had Envy, even if she had been caught by surprise.

Usually, the words of the Heavenly Emperor were equal to law. However, not all of the emperor’s decrees carried the same weight. Words that he or any of the previous emperors and empresses spoke in passing were recorded and abided by, but there usually weren’t dire consequences to disobeying them. These kinds of words were equal to the orders of any normal ruler. If the emperor wanted to go further, he could issue a formal decree, and these decrees carried the full weight of his office. They were usually short-term orders that guided the direction of the Divine Planes. You could go against it, but you were risking a lot if you did. Karna had gotten the name Ynnead via such a decree.

The final type of decree was the kind they were all now seeing. These kinds of decrees were equal to the emperor supposedly interpreting the will of heavens and the formation that controlled the universe, and they were the sort of thing that carried weight even after countless generations. These kinds of decrees were quite literally written in stone and would be in effect until countered by another similar decree, and they also carried the implicit threat that anyone going against the decree would face the might of the Host and perhaps more importantly the personal guard of the emperor. Anyone fighting against such decrees would become an instant pariah to all the gods, as even their power was tied to obeying the decrees. These kinds of decrees were rare though, as even the most foolish emperors over the countless eons knew not to abuse them. They were not for the emperor’s personal benefit, and it was speculated that he couldn’t even issue them unless allowed by the grand formation. And these kinds of decrees could extend to all the other planes as well, as they were now witnessing.

“To all those not living their first lives. Hear and obey. You have all been called here for a singular purpose. You have been gathered to find someone worthy. A successor. You will fight, you will scheme, you will plot, you will form alliances, and you will use any means necessary to rise above others. Others of your kind. One will stand victorious, and once no one rises to challenge them for a sufficient period of time, one of the blood will allow that person the opportunity to be judged by Him. If you are judged unworthy, your soul will be scattered and destroyed, never to recover. However, if you are judged worthy, you will rise above Everyone and Everything. You will stand as the next one to make all the rules and to control all creation. Nothing will be impossible for you, and everything will be within your reach. You shall have the position until you choose to relinquish it, at which point another will be chosen. If you so choose. This too is something you can change. The best and the strongest have gathered here, and a victor will be chosen. There is no time limit, and the struggle will continue until one has been judged worthy.”

“That’s…both incredibly exact and incredibly vague at the same time.” Hope voiced her impressions.

“It seems rather clear to me.” Karna shrugged. Sure, there were some spots that were a bit vague, but they were vague on purpose.

“Ok smarty-pants. What’s it talking about?” Envy turned towards her. “What’s this ruler thing it mentions?”

“This is all speculation on my part, mind you, but I have a theory that I’ve been building for a while now. Have you ever wondered who makes all these infuriating rules we all have to follow? Like the one that says reincarnators can’t talk about their nature to others? Yeah, well, it looks like whoever it is will be retiring. And another will have to take their place. Or His place in this case, as it appears.” Karna summarized.

Hope frowned a bit in deep thought. “You’re basing this on the formation, aren’t you?”

“To an extent. I mean, the entire universe is built to both create and channel power up the planes. And I suspect much of that power is drawn from other universes. That’s why it’s so difficult to travel to and from this place. Or one of the reasons. While the inhabitants benefit from all this power, most of it’s going somewhere. It’s not to the Heavenly Emperor, that’s for sure, even if he is powerful. It’s long been speculated that the emperor is just the keeper and the mouthpiece for something greater. So maybe all that power is going to a someone instead of somewhere? You could do a lot with that kind of power and with enough time. Maybe modifying the rules of the multiverse is on the list.” Karna was purely speculating here, but her speculations were based on the things she’d figured out during all her lives, so they were unlikely to be completely baseless.

“What’s this about ‘one of the blood’?” Valor shifted focus on the vaguest term.

"I'm guessing that's referring to the bloodline of the emperor. The emperor has always had to come from the same bloodline, and there must be a reason why such rule is enforced." Karna guessed. She'd theorized many reasons before, though she'd never arrived at this particular answer.

“So, essentially you or your family?” Valor guessed. "Maybe it's the family line of this being that we're supposed to be the successors of?"

“I’m assuming. I might be entirely mistaken though.” She shrugged. Terms like ‘one of the blood’ didn’t really give you a lot to go on. For all they knew, it could be referring to a bloodline of pink fluffy unicorns instead.

“Be that as it may, things are about to get interesting. The emperor just declared a grand free for all between all reincarnators. That can’t end well.” Hope was both excited and horrified at the idea.

“Well, we all knew we were being gathered here for one reason or another. I guess we just found out why. I was getting kind of tired of not knowing. Knowing and acting accordingly is much preferable, even if the level of danger for us has just increased." Envy had never been afraid of bloodshed. "Though, if this successor really does get to set the rules, there are certain people I'd really prefer not to win. Pride and Greed being the obvious ones. The fuckers would wipe us out of existence on pure principle."

“On some level, this is good for us.” Valor suddenly stated, confusing Envy and Hope.

“How do you figure?” Envy pressed.

Karna was the one to answer. “Well, first of all, the decree didn’t say the winner had to kill all the competitors. Just go unchallenged for a time. That means rounding up powerful allies suddenly became a viable option. And, oh hey! Look who we have here! Three Virtues and two Sins. I’d say we all qualify. On the other hand, it means that all the most powerful reincarnators are now focused on each other and jockeying for position. They’ll have less time to be concerned with still growing ones like us. And with every reincarnator focused on this, and likely forcing their non-reincarnator allies to aid them, something like a princess and her allies causing a stir is suddenly much less interesting. We’ve been given the perfect opportunity.”