Lord of Myths: I Can Summon and Fuse Divine Powers.-Chapter 69: The Ashura of Tyranny.

Epimetheus laughed sarcastically.

It was a curious way to see it.

However, he couldn’t deny his guilt either.

Though she was the most guilty.

Even though Epimetheus had always had the best intentions in the world, he couldn’t deny a great truth.

He almost annihilated that entire world.

He sinned through ignorance, he wasn’t aware of the consequences his actions would have.

He called himself Prometheus.

He wanted to be the hero who defied the gods to bring salvation to humanity.

But he only managed to make everything worse.

He didn’t know his failure would kill practically all the world’s inhabitants.

That’s why he accepted his exile when the time came.

After all, he had completed his mission, or so he thought.

"They’re the same... Ironic, right? I suppose I was a fool not to see it," the old man affirmed as he sighed. "Humans with gods’ powers will behave like gods."

A mocking smile resonated throughout the room.

As if the obviousness Epimetheus had just stated was so obvious and predictable that it caused amusement.

It was an indisputable truth.

Something that while she knew, Epimetheus had to have deduced.

After all, even the gods’ essence was corrupted upon arriving in the world of the tangible.

"I know, it’s incredibly funny! That boy I used, Zagreus, he suffered a lot from the Vanir’s treatment. He and all the ’xenos.’ Who would have said your students’ descendants would become what you sought to destroy," Caligo mocked maliciously.

Epimetheus simply fell silent, after all, he couldn’t say anything about it, what the Ashura of tyranny said was totally true.

"Tyrants... no matter the world or the era, there will always be tyrants," the man mumbled, with a serious and sorrowful tone.

Caligo nodded with a sarcastic smile on her face.

"Of course, as the archetype of tyranny I can confirm it, it’s in human nature to want power," the woman affirmed calmly. "Even if some manage to control those impulses, in the end they emerge, perhaps not in all their rulers, or even the heirs of those rulers, but in the end a rotten apple is always born... which usually contaminates more apples."

The woman affirmed.

She was right, history always repeated itself, and those with power weren’t always going to be good, and many times, they would end up destroying their people.

"But it doesn’t have to be that way... you know it," Epimetheus affirmed seriously.

He firmly believed in that idea, in an idea he couldn’t deny.

If power corrupted, you only had to end power.

It was very simple.

Though Caligo knew it was more complex.

"Here we go again, are you still with that stupid idea? Didn’t what you did with the gods teach you anything?" the woman responded sarcastically, looking at Epimetheus condescendingly.

It was curious, as the Ashura of tyranny, Caligo shouldn’t be bothered that a delusional man wanted to endanger the world.

However, she had already done it, she had already deceived him once, just as he ended up betraying her.

Perhaps that’s why, trying to manipulate him again for her purposes of destruction and chaos didn’t make sense.

For some reason, she didn’t want to see him go mad again.

Not again.

"And what was I supposed to do? They were tyrants! They treated humans like ants, destroyed families and ruined lives for fun! How was I supposed to react to that!!? Should I have accepted it and that’s it?" the man exclaimed with rage.

It was true, that’s how that world worked.

The gods arrived with the tower, and ruled the planet.

But they weren’t wise and kind rulers, earthly pleasures corrupted them and they became evil.

Little by little they became increasingly atrocious monsters, doing the most horrible and unimaginable things solely for amusement.

They were a danger, and Epimetheus knew it, that’s why he stopped them and destroyed the tower.

Without realizing that by doing so, he had condemned the world.

"I’m aware of that, but what are you going to do? Are you going to force them to be good? Are you going to create unbreakable laws so they don’t commit crimes or abuse their power? Are you going to try to eliminate evil or something like that?" the girl questioned sarcastically.

They were good questions.

Questions that could be summarized in one, a question that for centuries and eras many thinkers had asked.

How to end evil.

It was impossible to know.

Was it fair to sacrifice humanity’s freedom in exchange for avoiding atrocious changes?

No one could know.

However, for Epimetheus, that was different.

"No, it’s nothing like that," the old priest affirmed. "I simply must definitively end divine influence, that’s all."

The gods arrived on the planet with unreachable power.

Their words became orders people couldn’t disobey.

There was no possible resistance against that power.

If a god ordered a mother to kill her children, she would do it with tears in her eyes.

If a god decided to spend the night with a woman, she couldn’t refuse even having a partner.

Epimetheus realized the real problem was power.

Without it, humans could rebel and fight against the gods.

Scared gods would end up acting well to survive.

It was logical to him.

Especially for someone that power couldn’t affect.

"Pfft, you really are quite stupid. I’d understand if you were simply someone immune to Heka, and that resistance to divine power made you conclude the problem resides in heka itself," the girl commented with annoyance. "However, you come from a world where magic doesn’t exist, and where even so, atrocities still occur."

Epimetheus sighed.

It was true, whatever he did, there would always be evil people, there would always be victims, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t right.

"I know, I’m aware of it, but even so, common people have a chance to change things! We can unite against a tyranny and revolutionize it, we can punish the powerful if they commit crimes! At least there, there’s justice," Epimetheus affirmed with certainty.

But Caligo only shook her head.

She knew it wasn’t like that.

The powerful were like gods, regardless of the nature of the world they were in.

Whether through magic, or through power of influence or wealth, those with power would always be free, would always do what they wanted, and very rarely would receive justice.

If the gods were forced to be good, they would end up doing evil in secret.

What’s more, even if those truths came to light, with the correct manipulation and conditioning, the people would never rebel.

They would simply see it as something that happens, something inevitable, something they shouldn’t think about.

And in the end, the gods that rule the world would never receive justice for their acts.

However, Caligo also knew that no matter how much she tried to tell that to Epimetheus, he wouldn’t reconsider, he had to realize it himself.

"Do you really think annihilating all the Vanir will accomplish anything?" Caligo asked.

Epimetheus nodded with a sigh.

"It’s the only way..." he affirmed.

And to achieve it, he needed not only Caligo, he also needed Alioth, since only with his nature, could he defeat the modern gods.

"HAHAHAHA! HOW PATHETIC! First you try to save humanity from the gods, causing the world’s extinction, and now, you discover that your students’ descendants used the power you gave them to be as tyrannical as the gods you sought to destroy! You really are pitiful," Caligo affirmed.

Epimetheus had to receive those words, without saying too much about it, after all it was true.

"Yes, I’ll repair my mistakes. I’ll cleanse the world of Azoth and divine power, so finally everyone can be free," Epimetheus affirmed.

It was ironic.

The Devastra had been created to fight against the gods, but now, they had turned their bearers into replacements for those tyrants.

However, Epimetheus wasn’t going to worry about his mistakes, but find a way to solve them.

The world could be cleansed, Anansi had demonstrated it.

And without the Devastra, people would finally be free of tyrants.

Keter and Azoth were the problem.

They only had to be purged.

It would be a matter of time after carrying out his plan that the world would begin to repair itself.

"But, tell me, why are you pretending to be an old man?" the woman then insisted.

Epimetheus didn’t respond immediately.

He couldn’t admit it.

He couldn’t admit he had lost the only tool he had to face the gods.

The nihil.

His soul’s essence, the absolute absence of all esotericism.

Epimetheus had tried to create it with the perfect contraposition of keter and Azoth, but it hadn’t given results.

He needed a consciousness from another world.

A consciousness from Earth.

Epimetheus didn’t know why, but those who came from Earth like him had the ability to not only be immune to heka.

But also to create gods.

For some reason, stories and tales from other worlds could manifest in this one, something about which Epimetheus could only theorize.

However, that property was strictly necessary for his plan.

That’s why he needed Alioth, and that’s why he had laid out an entire plan to obtain his "essence."

"Won’t you answer me? Well, it’s the same... Because it seems we have a visitor," the Ashura of tyranny then said.

At that instant, Epimetheus also noticed it.

Anansi had arrived.

The most decisive battle was about to begin.