Chapter 247: The All-Father’s Invitation

Later that day, Aiden stood beside Rin in the guild’s balcony, as a blue portal opened before them once again.

“Where are we going now?” Rin asked, glancing up at him.

“Thamoryn’s office,” Aiden replied. “There’s something that needs to happen.”

Rin didn’t fully understand but said nothing more.

They stepped through the portal together, and when they emerged on the other side, they found themselves standing in Thamoryn’s office within the Arcane Spire.

The room was lined with shelves filled with books and scrolls. There was a large desk at the center, and behind it was Thamoryn sitting on a seat.

Aiden and his sudden entrances weren’t new to her anymore.

The moment Rin saw her, her entire body got agitated.

Aiden said, “Hey Rin, easy…”

Thamoryn opened her mouth to speak but stopped abruptly.

In that moment, they all felt it…

A suppressive presence that descended upon the room like a crushing weight pressing down on their shoulders.

It was overwhelming, suffocating, and unmistakably divine.

Aiden’s eyes widened slightly. He immediately knew what this was.

A god. No—multiple gods.

His gaze snapped toward the ceiling, as if he could see through it to whatever was hovering above Dragon-hold.

Rin and Thamoryn were affected more. As for Aiden, he simply acknowledged their presence.

Aiden turned his head toward Rin and spoke quickly:

“I’m going to trust you enough not to do anything rash.”

Rin looked at him, confused and still struggling under the weight of the divine presence.

Before she could respond, Aiden had vanished.

He reappeared instantly above Dragonhold, floating in midair as his eyes locked onto three figures hovering high above the city.

The one at the center, Jorus, was tall and broad-shouldered, with long dark hair that fell past his shoulders and glowing eyes.

Flanking him on either side were two younger gods, both bearing a resemblance to him, although one had a scar on his face.

Aiden rose to meet them, floating forward until he stood face to face with the trio, and then he spoke.

“At least Va chose to keep it down when he showed up.”

Jorus stared down at Aiden, with a calm and composed expression, but that was only pretense. Aiden’s Malice Perception passive picked it up instantly.

[Malice Detected: The god bears heavy animosity towards You]

Jorus then spoke. “I am Jorus, The Fourth. Vessel Of The Black Dragon, You have been invited to Eden, by the Chief Of Gods, Adam.”

Aiden wasn’t disturbed by the Malice Perception. If anything, he had expected it. Gods like these did not appear without reason, and vengeance for Lucina and Herxes seemed the most likely motive.

“Invited?, Oh c’mon. Is that what you call summoning me to Eden just to have me outnumbered?”

One of Jorus’s sons, the one on the left, did not appreciate the tone and quickly said to aiden.

“You speak to an Archon, you will show some respect dragon vessel”

Aiden’s gaze shifted toward him lazily.

“I’m speaking to someone who showed up uninvited above my city. So forgive me if I’m not in the mood for formalities.”

The younger god was about to react further, but Jorus raised one hand, silencing him without a word.

Then he turned his attention back to Aiden.

“This is only an invitation,” Jorus said. “You are free to decline if you wish, and if that turns out to be the case then we shall take our leave.”

Aiden said nothing but stare at them for a moment.

There was only one opportunity this situation truly offered him.

The Holy Grail.

And, perhaps, a chance to speak with Adam about it. That was assuming this did not turn into exactly what he suspected it might.

Aiden let the silence stretch for another few seconds before finally speaking again.

“Alright,” he said. “I’ll come.”

Jorus inclined his head slightly in acknowledgment.

“Good.”

Aiden raised one hand, and in an instant, a time variant materialized beside him in midair.

The variant crossed its arms and hovered silently.

Aiden spoke to the variant, using the Quiet Tongue spell to ensure his words went no farther than the space immediately around it.

Jorus’s gaze narrowed toward the variant briefly. Then thought to himself, “I can sense almost no difference between he and this fake of his”

The Variant disappeared in an instant, and the real Aiden shifted his focus back to Jorus. “Alright, I accept this invitation. Shall we proceed?”

Jorus nodded and said, “follow me”

He lifted his gaze to the sky and rose upward, flying higher and higher as his sons followed behind him.

Aiden followed without hesitation. The four of them accelerated rapidly, leaving the planet behind and slipping into open space.

Only then did Jorus speak again.

“Rhyos. Let us through.”

Then the space above them distorted a bit, and a massive gateway began forming in the sky.

The gateway expanded until it was large enough to encompass all of them. And in the next instant, all four figures flew right into it.

Aiden’s vision went white for a split second.

When it cleared again, he found himself standing in Rhyos’ temple.

Rhyos stood off to the side, with his head bowed down respectfully as the Archon and his sons walked past him.

Aiden who was the last person to walk past Rhyos stared at the god for a moment longer, before moving past him.

When they had all walked past the temple, the rest of the city unfolded before Aiden.

And what he saw, made him pause.

The City of Gods stretched out in every direction, impossibly vast and beautiful.

It was built in massive concentric tiers that rose higher and higher toward the heavens. The city floated among the clouds, suspended in open sky with stars and faint cosmic currents drifting above it.

But what struck Aiden most wasn’t the beauty of it, it was the mana. The sheer amount of mana saturating this place was staggering.

It flowed through the air and was so concentrated beyond anything he’d ever felt before.

And then there were the presences.

Several hundreds to thousands of them clustered together in various parts of the city.

This place was an entire civilization of gods.

Jorus and his sons had already moved ahead,

and Aiden took one more look around, he continued behind them.

And then another figure appeared before him. A goddess descended gracefully.

Thera had brown skin, curly hair, and golden-amber eyes that were utterly captivating. She wore elegant black and gold armor.

“I’ll take it from here,” she said to Jorus. He simply grunted and walked past her without another word. Both of his sons inclined their heads respectfully in greeting.

“Greetings, Aunt Thera,” they said, then followed their father.

Thera smiled and replied, “Greetings, boys.”

Then she turned to Aiden, “I am Thera, the Fifth. Welcome to Eden, Dragon Vessel” she said warmly.

Aiden nodded. He couldn’t sense any sort of hostility from this one.

Thera continued, “I’ve been asked to serve as your guide while you’re here—or your ward, if you prefer.”

Aiden replied casually, “Alright, give it to me straight, Thera. Is this all some ruse to get me to lower my guard before you all come at me? Because if it is, it’s not a very convincing act.”

Thera chuckled, covering her mouth with her hand. “Oh, please. It’s nothing like that.” She added teasingly, “Although I must say, Dragon Vessel, you’ve been a very bad dragon.”

Aiden smirked. “Oh, you don’t say.”

Thera smiled. “Come,” she said gently. “My sister Umgadi is waiting.”

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