Deception of Primal Greek Gods - Fire

【Beginning】

Khaos: ‘When will this journey of vagabondage come to an end?’
Khaos: ‘Gods can still search for a habitat to kill time, but what about the soldiers?’

　　Frustration clouded the soldiers’ faces. Years of vagabondage had whittled away at them. The utopia they once dreamt of had been washed away by the torrent of time and numerous failures. It wasn’t that Khaos didn’t understand. Khaos sighed wearily, worried about the soldiers’ low spirit. Phanes, who was standing nearby, knew clearly about Khaos’ issue. She approached Khaos and said:

Phanes: Relax, master Khaos, I, Phanes, have already come up with a systematic plan to sort out this issue.

　　With the resources he had, Phanes chose a satellite as his new target and kept it a secret from Khaos. Although the satellite was not on the task list, Phanes thought it was suitable for his plan in terms of its shape and environment. Therefore, he took the resources he had gathered from the other planets and entered the satellite’s orbit…

【Before Battles】

Phanes: This planet is empty and covered with craters. It couldn’t be more perfect!
Phanes: Infuse it with heat, fill in some ores, make it a lake here and set up a military camp there…

【After Battles】

Phanes: Making a planet is easier than I imagined. Although my planet is not exactly a utopian, it’s enough as an intermediate station.

【End】
　　After consuming a large number of resources, Phanes finally transformed a small satellite into a base for soldier traning. There were water and military camps on the planet, with a capacity of over 10 million soldiers. It could not only be used for military exercises, but also as a camp for armies to rest.

Phanes: This is the first planet I’ve made. I will name it “Planet No.1”.
Phanes: Soldiers will live here temporarily. It might help raise their spirit.

　　In order to avoid disciplinary problems, Phanes chose a general with high prestige to manage the planet’s resource distribution, accomodation, time issues. Known as a strong opponent to dark powers, the general had a good mastery of thunder.

Phanes: Gather all the soldiers to Planet No.1. I will invite master Khaos to visit the planet.
Phanes: Do your best. Don’t disappoint me.
Zeus: Copy that.

　　As was expected, when soldiers arrived at Planet No.1, all of them were touched—they finally had a planet they could live in! Although it was a little shabby, it was also peaceful, reminding the soldiers of the utopia they once pictured. When Zeus announced it was Phanes who built the planet for them, all the soldiers praised Phanes, but it made Khaos unhappy.

Phanes: Master Khaos, I believe Planet No.1 will definitely inspire the soldiers’ spirit. We’ve solved the problem temporarily.
Khaos: Alright…

【Beginning】

Khaos: Phanes, how was the inspection?
Phanes: I’ve inspected 5 planets, but four of them had extreme environments and numerous disasters.
Phanes: Only the planet that is closest to us had both sea and land, and its environment can be accepted.
Phanes: My recording says that ores and oceans took half of the planet’s surface respectively.
Phanes: Its high rainfall nurtured different types of creatures including fish, algae and shells, but I haven’t found any terrestrial animals yet.
Khaos: Any highly intelligent creatures?
Phanes: Not that I am aware of. It looks like a planet that can be manipulated easily. It might be an ideal site for us to settle down.
Khaos: Phanes, who do you think is the best candidate for further exploration?
Phanes: Both Pontos and Gaia are exploring somewhere else, and Aether is on Planet No.1…

　　While Khaos and Phanes were busy finding a suitable explorer, Erebus suddenly dashed in and started to talk to Khaos. Turned out that a group of meteorites accidentally crashed on Planet No.1, almost destroying it. Fortunately, Erebus had used his power to save the five hundred thousand soldiers on the planet. Erebus also pointed out that he made the prompt action in time thanks to Aether’s instruction.
　　Upon hearing this, Khaos happily ordered Aether to be Erebus’ teacher. Khaos didn’t decide the explorer, but he didn’t know that Phanes already had a candidate in mind…

【Before Battles】

Phanes: Erebus, I heard about what you did in Planet No.1. You did a good job, and I think you are the right person to explore the new planet!
Erebus: But my father didn’t ask me to do so.
Phanes: Master Khaos was busy finding a suitable candidate! Isn’t it the right time for you to show off ? Let’s keep it a secret and surprise him!

【End】
　　Erebus took the task and kept it secret from Khaos. Phanes thought Erebus would complete the task successfully, but Erebus brought back a black brick and claimed that the planet was not an ideal habitat, so he took all the resources on the planet. Khaos blamed Erebus and questioned Phanes.

Khaos: Erebus, you and I are the only ones who knew about the planet. You instructed him to explore the planet, didn’t you?
Phanes: Master Khaos, I thought Erebus was the most suitable explorer, so I…
Khaos: You don’t know Erebus.
Khaos: He is impetuous and reckless. You shouldn’t have given him the task!
Phanes: ……
Khaos: It is not the first time you have arrogantly acted on your own. I will have no mercy next time!

　　A chill ran down Phanes’ spine upon hearing Khaos’ remark. Although Phanes spared no effort to make up for it, Aether had taken Phanes’ place as Khaos’ right hand man. The situation did not ease until the Gods arrived at the Realm under stars’ instruction.

【Beginning】
　　After arriving at the realm, Phanes explored the realm of Humans first. He exercised “the miracle” in front of Humans by suppressing the volcanic eruption and melting the iced river, which perfectly manifested the power of fire element. He was soon well known in the realm. A lot of his “followers” gathered, built a pilgrimage site near the iced river and called it “Holylight City.”

Phanes: I just used a little power and the Humans now worship me faithfully. Huh, so they are the so-called highly intelligent creatures?
Phanes: Especially the bishop, all he knew was how to make fire and people worship him. Unbelievable…

　　Flying in the midair, Phanes looked down at the peaceful Holylight City. As he planned to return to the realm of Gods and report to Khaos, Phanes noticed a statue standing in the middle of the city. There was an eagle in the statue’s left hand. The statue was Phanes. At that moment, a different thought crossed Phanes’ mind: all these people worshiped him as the major God of Holylight City. Was it fair to him if he gave it back to Khaos?
　　Trumpets echoed around the Holylight City. Followers crowded to the statue, and listened to the bishop’ s announcement.

Bishop: I now announce, in the name of the fire God, all followers must be single forever and devote themselves wholly to the fire God…
Bishop: ...To stay innocent forever, you cannot give your emotions or your bodies to anything other than the fire god.
Bishop: In addition, everyone should sacrifice a cart of crops for the fire God.

【End】
　　In Phanes’ eyes, the followers were like puppets that were totally under the bishop’s manipulation. He thought it was so interesting that he didn’t stop it. Instead, Phanes was curious to know what other crazy and ludicrous things the followers would do to please the “fire God”. Sometimes he deliberately lit up the whole city with fireworks or created springs in winter.
　　The more miracles he created, the more sincere his followers became. The bishop even set a rule that no one was allowed to drink hot water because drinking hot water showed disrespect for the fire God.

Phanes: ‘These should have been your followers.’
Phanes: ‘But Humans are pragmatic. They worship Gods that give them warmth.’

　　Phanes looked up at the sky, laughing happily. He devoted all he had to Holylight City. However, he didn't notice Khaos, up in the realm of Gods, was watching him intently...

【Beginning】

Khaos: Phanes, you did a good job and you can now retire.
Phanes: What? Master Khaos, what happened…
Khaos: With all the miracles you manifested, you’ve given the gods a good reputation with your miracles.
Khaos: However, Humans are different from Gods. If too many miracles are exercised, Human would want more.
Khaos: To connect with Human frequently is not what I expected.
Phanes: But it’s definitely not enough to have only one Holylight City.
Phanes: I am going to build another one in the south to expand the Gods’ influence.
Khaos: It’s not necessary. Let’s think twice before we act.
Phanes: But we need to find someone to manage Holylight City…
Phanes: I think Zeus would be the ideal candidate since he did a good job on Planet No.1.

　　Looking in Phanes’ eyes, Khaos knew that he was up to something more. However, Zeus was an excellent candidate and Khaos could easily control him, so Khaos took Phanes’ advice.

【After Battles】

Khaos: Alright. But after Zeus takes charge of Holylight City, you have to stay in the realm of Gods and help me with the development.

【End】
　　On that same day, Phanes handed over Holylight City to Zeus and taught him how to manifest miracles in appropriate times.

Phanes: Get as many followers as you can! Our status will only be consolidated with strengthened faith.
Zeus: I will do my best!

　　After Zeus took over Holylight City, he did a good job in both strengthening people’s faith and exerting miracles. A few years later, the fire God statue was reconstructed into a God with a cape and glaring eyes. From then on, followers remembered the name “Zeus”, but “fire God” and “Phanes” soon became tales of the past…