Only God
Chapter 323 - 280: The Punishment of the Fire God

Chapter 323: Chapter 280: The Punishment of the Fire God

"Recognize oneself..."

That day, King Seleucus stood once again before the copper mirror.

In the blink of an eye, ten years had passed.

The Kingdom had expanded its vast territories, and within the sleeping chambers, countless beauties abounded...

As the people around him aged one by one, King Seleucus felt a sincere sense of bewilderment.

The reflection in the mirror no longer appeared as his own, but more like a stranger unrelated to himself.

Because...

The reflection in the mirror was simply too young, mismatched with a soul that had aged so much.

Over the years, King Seleucus had grown to harbor great doubts about his own eternal life.

The ceaseless flattery of the nobles and ministers had also made him numb.

In front of the mirror, King Seleucus pressed his head, confirming the person inside was himself.

He stared straight into the reflection, and the reflection stared back at him.

Suddenly, Seleucus seemed to hear...

Recognize oneself.

The words of his father, as if spoken from the reflection itself.

King Seleucus shuddered.

Not long after, attendants hurriedly stepped into the sleeping chamber. Normally, they would not disturb the King’s solitude, but today, a royal meeting awaited this eternally living monarch.

.........

King Seleucus sat upon the throne, his royal robe as unfading as he was.

He looked around at the assembly of ministers; they had all grown old, many with hair like frost, and their bodies under their wide robes shivered slightly from the cold.

With the sound of a bell, the ministers below the throne began to report on the various affairs within the Kingdom to the King.

King Seleucus sat, listening to the reports of each minister; some talked about trade with the Three-eyed Ape People, and others spoke of rebellious city-states and tribes on the border...

In the beginning, King Seleucus strived to maintain the requisite solemnity, seriously heeding every word, capturing every piece of information, but soon, he unconsciously lost his patience, his gaze becoming increasingly vacant. His mind wandered, frequently losing focus.

At last, when the discussion turned to the critically important issue of taxation in the Kingdom, he didn’t hear a single word.

Although his ears keenly picked up every sound, not a single voice reached his heart.

He couldn’t react.

Upon the throne, King Seleucus murmured to himself:

"Is my eternal life... really eternal?"

This subtle utterance was overheard by the ministers close to the King. Accustomed to preserving their own wellbeing, they said nothing and pretended as if nothing had happened.

Only, Seleucus’s third Prince, upon hearing this, suddenly raised his head.

Ever since the day of the ceremony, he had harbored doubts about his father’s eternal life.

Even though, over these past years, King Seleucus’s appearance had not changed at all, seemingly truly deathless.

Yet, a telepathic bond between father and son made him aware of the vicissitudes beneath his father’s unaging appearance.

"Father!

Are you truly immortal?!"

The third Prince couldn’t hold back anymore, he exclaimed in almost a shout,

"If you are immortal, why then do your eyes look so old?!"

King Seleucus stiffened abruptly.

For many years, no one had ever doubted his eternal life, and all he had heard were words of praise.

The third Prince’s interrogation struck like a bolt of lightning upon the aged soul, completely awakening him.

King Seleucus bowed his head, looking towards his eternally youthful body.

Slowly, in his eyes, wrinkles began to emerge on his flesh, one by one. He caressed his face and upon touching it, felt the recessed bones beneath. The originally vivid red hair on his head had also faded from its initial color.

King Seleucus had an epiphany.

He finally understood that he was never immortal like the Gods.

He was never eternal!

Panic slowly spilled over his face, replacing the solemn dignity it once held.

"Eternal life... is but an illusory dream..."

Now,

the dream had to end.

...............

In the Celestial Kingdom, the fierce flames of Fire God Ninur turned the entire Fire God Temple a glowing red.

His wise and insightful demigod eldest son had finally awakened from the illusion.

Anger set the plains of his heart ablaze with a wildfire.

"My son, you should not have awakened," Ninur muttered to himself, taking a step towards Libog.

Facing his own son, who recklessly pursued eternal life, the eternally irascible Fire God had lost all patience.

Seleucus’s obsession with eternal life had ultimately provoked the wrath of his father God.

Disaster descended from the heavens.

In an instant, the citizens of the Royal City of Libog looked up, and beneath their piercing screams, they saw a sea of fire engulf the sky, a divine retribution about to befall the Mortal World.

That earthbound King, confident in his divine blood, had forgotten his due humility and sought eternal life.

Fire God Ninur, driving a sky full of flames in his furious rage, sought to punish his eldest son, even if it meant defying the order of the Country of Divines.

The fire rain was imminent; it was like a downpour within the dark clouds, but the stark difference was that a downpour couldn’t destroy a Royal Capital, whereas Ninur’s fire rain could turn tens of thousands of lives to ash.

Despair spread throughout the Royal City, the innocent people milling about in chaos, unaware of why the Divine they served day and night had suddenly sent down a rain of fire.

"Fire God, are you punishing us?!"

That question echoed in the streets and alleys.

These mortals on Earth did not understand, they did not deserve the Fire God’s punishment; they were merely the cost of it.

Ninur sought to set ablaze the foundation that Seleucus had built with great effort, to make this son of the Fire God humble once more as a mortal.

The fire rain fell from heaven, the destruction close at hand...

However, among the panicked crowds on the barren streets of the Royal Capital, deprived of greenery, saplings sprouted from the ground, drawing upon nutrients from unknown origins and growing at an unnatural speed.

In an instant, colossal trees emerged, towering like massive barriers, shrouding the entire Royal Capital and catching the fire rain on their lush canopies.

Thousands of great trees bore the scorching flames, protecting the Royal City.

"Lipo..."

Trees couldn’t naturally grow out of nowhere; Ninur realized that behind the Royal Capital, which resembled a Secret Forest, was the meddling of the Forest God.

"Lipo, are you trying to stop me?!" Ninur angrily challenged.

He had always been at odds with Forest God Lipo, and the root cause lay in the fact that Libog was named so because its original settlers had established the Kingdom under the guidance of Forest God Lipo, yet Ninur’s eldest son, Seleucus, had become the Monarch of this great nation.

This bred enmity between the two Divines, however, as Lipo was but a Third Rank God, and Ninur a Fourth Rank, the former could never best the latter and had to remain silent over the years.

But today, facing the deluge of fire rain that threatened to burn down half of the Royal Capital, Lipo acted.

In the Secret Forest, atop the mightiest tree closest to the heavens, sat a woman astride a spirit deer, holding a branch,

"Ninur,

this is my kingdom."