System: Daily login!!, jackpot on the first day!!!-Chapter 498 - The Null Pantheon

"...Hubby~ can you hear me?"

A voice echoed inside Taufik’s mind.

It wasn’t the familiar, mechanical tone of The System.

This voice was different.

Warm. Gentle. Playful... And intimately familiar.

Taufik smiled faintly as he heard it.

"Oh~ my dear Lady Death," he replied calmly. "Is that you?"

"Hmph. Are you expecting someone else?"

"Is that jealousy I’m hearing?" Taufik chuckled, the smile reaching his eyes. "Ahaha~ I’m joking. But honestly... it took you long enough to reach me. Did something go wrong?"

"Took me long enough?" Death scoffed lightly. "I tried to reach you almost every day while you were wandering the universe. You just never noticed, darling. And no, everything here is fine. Just the same as always"

"Huh? Really?" Taufik raised an eyebrow. "Wait... then was that presence I kept feeling... you?"

"Who else could it be?"

"So it really was you," Taufik laughed softly. "I thought it was Fate watching me. That’s why I never stayed too long in any one universe. Turns out, it was just you all along"

He exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I feel a little stupid now. Not being able to tell who was watching me, yet always feeling those eyes. Sorry for ignoring you, dear"

"Hmph~ you worry too much," Death replied. "Fate hasn’t made any significant movement since that little ’accident’ in Hell. Thanks to you, things have been... quieter. Life has improved"

Her tone shifted, just slightly.

"But now that you’re back," she continued, "I doubt he’ll stay still for long. Sooner or later, he will move. Be careful"

Taufik chuckled.

"An Embodiment of Death talking about life," he said amusedly. "That’s ironic. But thanks. I’ll keep it in mind"

He paused.

"So," he added lightly, "what can I do for you, my lady?"

"Hm~" Death hummed softly. "Come visit me. It’s been peaceful lately, but... It’s still lonely"

"I will," Taufik answered without hesitation. "Just not yet. There are things I need to take care of first. Once that’s done, I’ll come see you in your Realm"

"...Why not just descend to Earth?" he added. "You could meet me here"

"That would be a terrible idea," Death replied, a trace of sadness seeping into her voice. "Even with Mana flourishing again, Earth still cannot endure my full presence. If I were to descend completely, something catastrophic would happen"

She continued quietly.

"That’s why we Concept Embodiments can only share our Concepts, never fully manifest. Only a few suitable individuals can bear fragments of us," A brief pause. "Like Erelythe," she said softly. "Your son, Aksara’s lover"

Taufik’s expression turned thoughtful.

"So if Earth were to grow stronger... truly mature as a world. A new World..."

"...Then one day," Death finished, "I could ascend there properly. Without destruction"

"Develop Earth, huh..." Taufik murmured.

His voice dropped, quieter now.

"Without my partner(the System) I can’t do it as efficiently as before. But..." A faint smile returned. "I’ll see what I can do. Just wait for me, my lady"

"Hm~" Death’s voice softened. "I will wait. Even if it takes eternity"

"Ugh, that’s heavy," Taufik groaned dramatically, clutching his chest.

She laughed.

"You already said the word. You can’t take it back. Remember... It’s your responsibility. You’re the one who made me this way"

"Hm~ yeah," Taufik replied quietly. "I know"

"Oh," Death added suddenly, her tone shifting. "By the way, while you were wandering the Multiverse... I met Askara"

Taufik’s eyes opened.

"...Met him?"

"Well," she corrected lightly, "Something bad happened to him, so I need to summon him to my Realm. That might be the more accurate phrasing"

Taufik straightened slightly.

"Huh? What happened to him?"

And that was how Taufik spent his morning, standing on the balcony, bathed in sunlight, speaking with Death herself...

Until the sound of movement behind him signaled that his wives were beginning to wake.

--------

- Afternoon.

Taufik stood ready to depart.

He wore a simple white shirt and dark trousers, unadorned and plain by any noble standard. There was no crown, no mantle, no insignia that marked him as a royal. And yet, the quiet authority he carried clung to him like an unseen presence, making him seem less like a man preparing to leave his room and more like a ruler walking among mortals in disguise.

The only thing that truly stood out was the katana resting at his waist.

Its sheath was dark and unassuming, but the blade within felt awake.

"Where are you going, dear?" Jenn asked.

Taufik made one last adjustment to his sleeves before turning toward his wives, who were seated casually on the bed. Dressed in simple clothes, they looked nothing like queens of a great kingdom, just women enjoying a rare, quiet afternoon together.

"Meeting old friends," he replied calmly. "And reprimanding a few newcomers who’ve been acting carelessly"

Gaia tilted her head slightly. "Are you going to see Zeus, honey?"

"Yeah"

She hesitated, then added gently, "Don’t be too harsh on them"

Taufik chuckled under his breath as he stepped closer.

"I’ll try. Now, give me a kiss before I go." He leaned in, placing a kiss on each of them in turn, brief, familiar, unhurried.

There was no urgency in his movements, only certainty.

Gaia smiled, though a faint trace of worry lingered in her eyes, not for Taufik, but toward Zeus and the other Gods in Sanctum Aeterna.

"Just remember," she said softly, "they’re... sensitive when it comes to pride"

Taufik’s lips curved upward.

"Pride is exactly why I’m going"

Anugerah sighed and rose from the bed, stepping closer to him. Without a word, she reached up and straightened his collar herself, her fingers lingering longer than necessary.

"You always say that," she muttered. "At least come back before nightfall. The children will notice if you’re gone too long"

"I’ll be back," Taufik replied easily. "The Sanctum Aeterna isn’t that far"

That earned him a look.

"You say that like it’s a neighbor’s house," Rani said dryly.

Taufik only smiled in response.

After the final kiss, he stepped back. The air around him shifted, not violently, not dramatically, but with the quiet inevitability of something ancient preparing to move.

The katana at his waist let out a faint, almost inaudible hum.

"Behave yourselves," Kaela added, half-serious, half-amused. "And don’t start another... incident"

Taufik paused at the balcony doors and glanced back over his shoulder.

"No promises"

He stepped forward.

The world folded.

--------

- At Sanctum Aeterna.

After Taufik’s final warning... A warning that had ended the existence of several Outer Gods as effortlessly as one might erase words from a page, The Sanctum Aeterna changed.

Once, it had been a place occupied only by the Known Gods.

Pantheons bound by history, belief, and shared responsibility.

A gathering of deities who, despite rivalry and pride, understood the necessity of order.

But during Taufik’s absence, the world did not remain still.

New Outer Gods emerged.

Beings born not of faith or myth, but of collision, between concepts, broken realities, and unchecked ambition.

None of them joined the Sanctum Aeterna.

They knew. They had heard... And they had not forgotten what happened on the day Taufik erased several Outer Gods as if they had never existed.

Fear kept most of them away.

Still... not all.

A small number of Outer Gods, those whose nature leaned toward restraint, adaptation, or coexistence, chose to submit themselves to the Sanctum Aeterna. They accepted its rules. Its limits. Its order.

In the years of Taufik’s absence, several pantheons also joined the assembly.

The Polynesian Gods, bearing the authority of sea and sky.

The Mesopotamian Pantheon, ancient and severe, is older than many remembered civilizations.

And the Chinese Mythology, formally recognized as The Celestial Court, whose hierarchy rivaled even Olympus in structure and discipline.

Yet for every god who joined, others refused.

Those who remained outside the Sanctum, those who rejected oversight, alignment, or restraint, came to be known as: The Null Pantheon.

They had no unified throne.

No single doctrine.

No shared allegiance.

They were everywhere... and nowhere.

Their presence could be felt, yet they were almost impossible to trace.

They did not rule openly. They did not declare war.... They simply existed outside the system, outside responsibility, outside consequence.

And this was why Zeus could do nothing.

Not because he allowed it.

But because he couldn’t.

Though Taufik had never named Zeus as the leader of the gods, he had acknowledged him as the one holding the slightly highest authority among the Known Gods. Not through supremacy, but through influence.

And influence meant blame.

The existence of the Null Pantheon would, inevitably, be traced back to Olympus... To him.

And Zeus knew this better than anyone.

That was why today, within the halls of the Sanctum Aeterna, a meeting was underway.

Not because of the Null Pantheon. But because... The one who owned the Earth had returned.

And no matter what Zeus said... No matter how he justified it... The responsibility would fall on him.

And soon... On everyone else.

....

...

..

.

# A/N: "The Known Gods is the one we all know, a god from Mythology, mostly had an appearance like a human, and the Outer Gods are... Outer Gods? The point is, they are unfamiliar with the creatures known as Humans; they know the existence of Humans, but only just know, nothing more than that, so their appearance is still abstract, sometimes just a silhouette, shadow, blob, or other form, like a combination of several creatures.