The rest of the gathering proved very productive and Wepwawet learned quite a few things by the end of it, some of which he wished he hadn't.

The gods drank their fill of divine alcohol until some struggled to teleport back to their domain—Susanoo ended up stuck in a wall at one point, which forced Set to bring it down to get him out—and the pyramid slowly emptied itself.

"T'was an amazing party, Seti!" Lord Zeus congratulated Set once it was time for him and his daughter to leave. Both the Skyfather and his Egyptian friend managed to hold their liquor well. "Come to Olympus next time! I'll bring DJ Orpheus out of the Underworld for the occasion, you'll love it!"

"I'll bring Cleopatra!" Set boasted as he held on to his wife's shoulders in order to stand up straight. "You won't believe the things she can do with snakes!"

While Lord Zeus and Set exchanged pleasantries, Artemis leaned over to whisper in Wepwawet's ear. "I know that haunted look. Dad gave you the Demigod Swarm speech, didn't he?"

"It happened to you, too?" Wepwawet dared to ask.

"Why do you think I tell everyone I don't want a boyfriend?" she replied while rolling her eyes. "He tried to sell it to all of my siblings, and they won't shut up about making OP demigod units. They're still teasing me about that mortal hunter I befriended during my Earth tutorial, which was eons ago!"

Wepwawet wisely didn't mention that Lord Zeus all but tried to set them up. He bade her and her father goodbye with a promise to meet tomorrow for one last card trade before the Incursion. Lord Shiva and Ganesha followed soon after, with the latter hopping in place with a giddy look on his face.

"Someone looks happy," Wepwawet noted.

"Your father gave me some awesome advice to tame my civilization!" Ganesha all but swooned in anticipation. "I can't wait to try this karma insurance system to make them more moral… it's so cunning!"

I never considered Dad's cunning either, Wepwawet thought. He still struggled to believe the Allfather's words. I'll wait until everyone's gone to ask.

He wouldn't have to wait long. Allfather Odin was the last to depart. "It is time to take my leave," he told Set and Wepwawet before winking at the latter. "Good luck, young god. I'll follow your progress with great interest."

"Thank you, Allfather." Wepwawet cleared his throat. "If I may, can I ask you one last question?"

The Allfather raised his only eyebrow. "It is about the death of Champions, is it not?"

"H-how did you guess?"

"Because I can read minds." Allfather Odin smiled at Wepwawet's mortified face. "I'm messing with you, young god. I'm simply wise and sharp."

Oh, okay. That reassured Wepwawet, considering the doubts crossing his mind. "Some of my closest worshippers have been trying to process the concept of one's existence after death," he explained, with his conversation with Victoire sticking in his mind. "I'm not sure how I should broach the subject, considering my class hasn't built an afterlife yet."

The Allfather stroked his beard. "Champion quality mostly depends on the culture and the very simple answer you will provide to their big questions. Mortals do not want to think about the complexity of their reality. They crave easy solutions, and it is your duty to provide them in a way that will reinforce the values you seek to teach them and their loyalty. Since you lack the power to create a full afterlife yet, simply tell them they will reincarnate into better lives if they behave as you want them."

"But that won't be the case," Wepwawet replied. The advice bothered him. "Reincarnation is random without a proper afterlife assortment apparatus."

"That's the neat thing about mortals," Astarte said with a chuckle. "They cannot check, and they have to take our word for it."

Wepwawet winced. "You're saying I should lie to them?"

"I wouldn't say you should lie, just embellish the truth to provide them with some comfort," Astarte replied, which meant that yes, he should lie. "What sounds more comforting to mortals? That good actions are rewarded and evil ones punished, or that it is all random?"

"The former," Wepwawet conceded.

"Your mortals have to know there's something in it for them once they reach the big jail in the sky for taking the fall in your name," the Allfather said. "You can also say that those who reincarnate enough will eventually reach a godly paradise, so you'll have a good excuse when your class introduces an actual afterlife."

Wepwawet guessed it made some kind of sense, but the tactic left him uneasy nonetheless. To outright provide false comfort to his mortals until he gained the strength to turn the lie into truth, to ask them to throw their lives away under false pretenses felt… disrespectful.

Allfather Odin studied Wepwawet for a moment, his icy eye paler than ice. His smile faded away and his expression turned solemn all of a sudden.

"I offer one last piece of advice, young god," he finally said after a moment's consideration. "I always keep a throat-cutter like Loki around for the dirty work so that I can keep my hands clean and look like the reasonable option in contrast, but when war comes your fingers must be the first to close in on the enemy's throat. No god or mortal will respect a fink who asks of others what he is unwilling to do himself."

"Well said!" Set shouted. "A true god leads from the front!"

"Wise words," Allfather Odin confirmed with a nod. "You may not be able to experience death like your men, young Wepwawet, but you can certainly share their pain and struggle. That is the true source of loyalty; acts, not words."

"I… I shall keep that in mind, Allfather," Wepwawet replied humbly. The Lord of the Aesir then left with a smile in a storm of crows.

"The Allfather was messing with you, by the way," Astarte said. "He can read minds."

"And that's why nobody invites him to card nights!" Set shouted before putting his arm around his wife and pulling her closer. "Up for some afterparty fun upstairs?"

"Dad!" Wepwawet complained. "I didn't need to hear that!"

"Your father isn't wrong, it's time to go to bed," Astarte replied with an impish smile. "We wish you good luck on your big day tomorrow."

"Luck is for those who haven't prepared!" Set nodded with a rare display of paternal pride. "Worry not, my son, you'll crush that Whiro the same way you demolished that treacherous Beelzecuck! I can feel it in my bones!"

"Uh, yeah, but…" Wepwawet cleared his throat. "I, uh… I have a question about Aunt Isis, Dad."

"What's on your mind, my son?" Set asked, suddenly all ears. "If you want my advice on how to take revenge on her, I know all of her weaknesses!"

"Well, Aunt Isis said her spies heard you were planning to send assassins after Horus." Wepwawet mustered all of his courage. "Was it… was it true?"

"Of course not!" Set protested in anger. "Who do you take me for, my son?! When I want someone dead, I kill them myself!"

Wepwawet allowed himself a sigh of relief. Of course his father wouldn't be petty enough to do something like that–

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"No, what your big-brained dad did was lie to all of her spies about sending assassins after her son so she would overreact and dig her own grave!"

A tense silence followed as the words registered to both Set's wife and son. Astarte slightly pushed her husband back and asked, "Come again?"

"That was the genius part! I gave that self-righteous whore the rope to hang her son with and then waited for her to bind the noose!" Set grinned maniacally. "I thought she would simply make things a little harder for my son, so imagine my face when I heard her meddling allowed Beelzecuck to sabotage the System and put his entire class at risk! There's no way Grandpa Ra won't disown her bastard after this scandal!"

Oh my gods… he actually did it… Wepwawet couldn't believe his own ears, doubly so when all the implications began to weigh on him. Oh my gods, it's all my dad's fault!

"You tricked your sister into attacking your own son?!" Astarte asked, her voice shaking in outrage.

"I knew he would pull through!" Set protested. "He's my child, and he crushed her utterly! I've never been prouder of my boy!"

Such words would have inspired great pride in Wepwawet once, and he had longed to hear them… but tonight they only brought him great shame. "Dad, uh…" Wepwawet cleared his throat, mincing his words. "Your plot endangered Elphion by letting the Titans sabotage its System…"

"My plot?" Set snorted in disdain. "I'm not the one who put an easily hackable backdoor in our Systems and endangered a whole class of young gods, and I'm sure your cheating aunt set up dozens of those in the worlds she oversaw! It's about time consequences caught up to her!"

"But my mortals are paying the price for this dispute!"

"My son, have you forgotten my lessons?" Set sternly crossed his arms, his previous mirth gone. "Mortals are pieces on a board. That is literally all they are."

Wepwawet winced. His Father's entire essence sharpened all of a sudden like a blade waiting to taste blood, his eyes gleaming with an oppressive light.

"As much as we gods have a duty to guide mortal life, it is we who decide their value and future," Set declared icily, his tone colder than a desert night. "If we must sacrifice one pawn to win the game, or a world to save a universe, then that is our purview."

His carefree dad had left the building and been replaced with the Lord of the Desert, B&C master extraordinaire, who led his worlds to victory with an iron fist, no matter the ordeals or casualties.

It suddenly hit Wepwawet that his father was very much the kind of god Victoire feared he would become.

"Yes, Elphion's people will have a harder time than most and they'll need to suck it up, but you'll be put in charge of thousands of worlds once you take the Pesedjet throne," Set said dismissively. "Sacrificing a few billions for the prosperity of the trillions under much wiser leadership is a good deal. They'll thank us once we spare them from that pigeon's dismal kingship."

"But Dad–"

"But nothing!" His father shut him up with a glare. "You're a winner, my son. The throne is your destiny, and you will live up to it."

I'm not even sure I want the damn chair! The words formed on Wepwawet's lips, but wouldn't escape his mouth. His father's stormy glare had turned his jaw into an iron lock that wouldn't move an inch. I… I don't even know what I'm supposed to do!

His stepmother clenched her jaw and glared at Set. "You'll be sleeping alone tonight, husband."

"What?!" Set protested as his wife stormed off in anger and forced him to run away after her. "Come on, what did I say?!"

They continued to argue well into the pyramid, leaving Wepwawet alone with his silent rage.

First Titan Incursion coming in 1:05:38 hours.

The clock ticked closer to annihilation.

Wepwawet, Ganesha, Artemis, and Pele had gathered in their combined realms of Influence for the final preparations while their own Champions finished their own on Elphion. Wepwawet didn't tell them about what he had learned about his father, mostly because he was still processing the revelation himself, and he couldn't distract them from the fight with Whiro. They needed to focus entirely on the Titan Incursion to survive it.

I'm sick of it, Wepwawet thought as he tried his best to quell his rising frustration and failed. He was sick of his family's schemes, sick of his father running his life for him, sick of all these pointless politics interfering with his graduation! It would have been one thing if his father and aunt's feud had only screwed him over, but it endangered his friends and mortals on top of it! I can't stay quiet, not this time!

Wepwawet needed to confront his father and set boundaries, but that would be a battle for another time. He had to win today's war before he could think of starting another.

Thankfully, Pele held her end of the bargain and brought more intel on Whiro's likely strategy. The Titan had recently shifted his deck's usual focus from an 'undead apocalypse' to a 'disaster' theme, focusing on mass destruction Rituals and Animisms. She had managed to learn the effects of some of the cards Whiro had recently played, almost all of which were ranked from 8 to 10.

"Tsunami, Earthquake, Acid Rain…" Ganesha winced as he read the descriptions Pele forwarded him through the System. "Those are going to hurt if he can cast them."

"Nah, I have Miracles that can burn his mana points!" Pele replied with pride and a smirk. "Just sit back and enjoy the show!"

Wepwawet wished he had half of her easy confidence, though it felt entirely misplaced…

"Okay, Wepy, I can trade you my Ruin Excavation for your last Barricade Kit," Artemis said. "This will give you a recovery option, and Barricade Kit won't resist Whiro's Miracles anyway."

Ruin Excavation

Rank 4 Prophecy

After an Animism or Artifact is sent to the discard pile during a Board & Conquest Battle, add an Animism or Artifact from any player's discard pile to your hand.

"Thanks, Arty," Wepwawet replied more quietly than usual.

Artemis picked up on his unease. "Don't tell me you're scared!" she teased him with a grin on her face. "You beat me too many times to count, so you're not allowed to be scared!"

"I'm not scared, I'm tense!" Wepwawet protested. His friend's taunt worked him up, which was probably the goal. "I'm here to win!"

"We're here to win!" Pele corrected him with her hands on her hips. "Between your devious wolfish instincts and my firepower, there's no way we can lose!"

The plan was relatively simple: Pele would go on the offensive with her more aggressive Miracles while Wepwawet would use his own to support her. Considering Whiro's ability to draw strength from death, they would only send their most powerful Champions in the first wave and keep the weaker ones safe away at the back. They would adapt in real-time based on the state of the battlefield.

A System notification popped up once they crossed the one hour mark, right at the moment a powerful Influence was starting to spread from the dimensional rift.

Imminent Titan Incursion. Challengers, step forward to greet your opponent.

Whiro would soon make contact.

"We're up," Wepwawet said as he mustered up his courage. He couldn't falter, for Verglane's sake. "Group hug?"

"Group hug!" Ganesha replied. He immediately pulled in Artemis, Wepwawet, and even Pele, much to her surprise. "I'm betting on you both!"

"Don't you dare lose before we can team up, Wepy!" Artemis warned before glaring at Pele. "And I swear that if your incompetence gets him expelled, I'll grab your volcano and stick it–"

"Aha!" Pele freed herself from the hug and pointed at them. "I knew there was something going on between you! You're totally seeing each other–"

"Oh my gods, I can't take this anymore!" Wepwawet snapped as he immediately turned his Influence towards the rift. He would rather face the Titan than deal with Pantheon politics or relationships. The battle would help clear his mind. "To battle!"

"Wait!" he heard Pele call out to him. "Wait for me!"

Wepwawet and Pele broke away from their classmates, with their Influences connecting with the one radiating from the rift. Their essence shifted from a mental realm to a crimson interdimensional expanse; a passageway between Elphion and an alien universe of screeching chaos. Materializing an avatar there drained both Wepwawet and Pele, but they showed up nonetheless.

Whiro the Corpseater materialized to greet them.

Miss Athena had warned her students that since Titans had no interest in mortal life, they rarely bothered to emulate it. The likes of Apep the Destroyer or Kronos manifested as colossal serpents of darkness or all-consuming ogres of time, and from what Wepwawet had heard, Whiro was no exception.

The Titan coming out of the rift superficially resembled a mix between a bipedal gecko and a dinosaur, except his body was entirely made of thick black slime reeking of tar and disease. Noxious fumes capable of leaving worlds barren flowed out of Whiro's colossal maw over which four planet-sized eyes shone with a malevolent yellow glow. His tail snapped behind him like a whip, eager to lash at the nearest victim.

His presence is suffocating. Wepwawet could feel the pressure weighing down on his entire essence. A horrific stench of death and blood permeated his Influence, and the immense flow of mana coursing through the rift surpassed anything he had been allowed to wield on Elphion. This guy is nothing like Beelzebub…

Even Pele was briefly taken aback by the Titan's monstrous appearance, but quickly hid her unease behind a veil of bravado. "We meet at last, Whiro!" she shouted, her finger pointing at the monster. "In the name of the Nexus, I shall prove worthy of my Pantheon by defeating–"

"They will die."

The cold-blooded words rang across the rift, and took the wind out of Pele's sails. "Excuse you?"

"Your mortals," Whiro replied without raising his tone, his voice terribly deep and yet strangely soft like deep waters. "They will die, all of them. The sick and the healthy, the old and the young, the weak and the strong. Whiro will swallow their corpses, eat their children, and murder their souls."

Victory condition selected: Destroy the enemy's Idol.

"Whiro did not come here to fight, he came to kill." The Titan glared at his challengers with all the weight of his hatred and malice. "Now you play the game of death, and Whiro always wins it."

His slimy lips stretched to reveal rows upon rows of sharp, hungry fangs in a twisted reptilian parody of a smile.

"Put on a good show."

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