Chapter 748: A New Quest, The Hidden Details of the Myth and a Clue Given at the Last Moment (1/2)

Day 155 - 1:09 AM - Royal Chamber, Sacred Tree Castle, Tamawo Ancestral Tribe, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu

The myths about the Ancient Visayan Gods were too vague. It was the truth that no one would be able to refute in the modern era. Most of these myths were nothing but passed down hearsays with almost no written or illustrated records. Because of this, the exact details of the events were buried in the past without anyone to remember.

In the first place, what could a mere human understand about the actual circumstances of the gods?

Some of the details could be true, but being passed on from one mouth to another would cause changes that would make it stray far from the truth.

Not to mention that the Spanish colonization of the Philippines in the past literally erased most of the culture left by the Ancient Filipinos.

***

After stating that Sky God Kaptan was dead, Magwayen relieved the details in her mind.

It all started during the rebellion of Licalibutan.

The myths said it simply.

The three grandchildren of Kaptan, Licalibutan, Liadlaw, and Libulan, tried to usurp the Sky God's position with the eldest leading the rebellion.

Nonetheless, it ended with the three being killed by the lightning smite of the angry Kaptan, and even the innocent Lisuga perished soon after.

It was too simple. Too simple to the point of being suspicious. It was as if it was told in a way that would favor the winner despite the odds.

A battle of Supreme Beings would not end in such a manner. Not to mention that despite having a body made of stone, Licalibutan was no beast. He was an intelligent being capable of thought.

Even with his arrogance, Licalibutan knew that he was not an opponent to his grandfather in a face-to-face battle. Even if his two brothers were with him, there was no way that they would win.

That was if they were to fight directly.

As the myth stated, the siblings did blow up the gates protecting the sky world, Kahilwayan. However, that was nothing but a way to lure the Sky God into an ambush.

They blew up the gates in a stealthy manner and pretended that someone else did it. It was not surprising since gods in that era had many enemies, and the contest was tight. At the time that the Sky God lowered his guard, the three lower gods made their move.

It turned into a bloody battle. A mysterious storm raged above Kanlaon and caused the volcano to erupt prematurely.

In the end, Kaptan killed his three grandsons with his lightning. But even so, Licalibutan's ambush successfully managed to fatally injure the Sky God. His [Source], the gathering of his magical energy, was broken by Licalibutan.

And to a god, a broken [Source] was irreparable. It was one of the causes of a god's death. Their [Source] weighed as much as their lives. As a Supreme Sky God, his broken [Source] pushed him to utter madness. It was the same rage that caused him to kill his remaining grandchild.

The unfortunate thing, all of it happened during Magwayen's absence. Everything could have been prevented if she was there. However, as a God of the Underworld, she had her duties to fulfill. She could not stay by their side all the time.

As Kaptan calmed down from his rage, the last thing he did was to use his remaining energy to envelop the bodies of his grandchildren, except Licalibutan, with everlasting light. And as said by the myths, the three formed the sun, the moon, and the stars.

Was it true? Did the three turn into those heavenly bodies? Yes. But not in this realm.

***

Inside the Ancestral Chamber, there was only silence.

The Supreme Sky God of Visayan Myths, Kaptan, was dead.

It was a piece of information that neither Mark nor the Eyes wanted to hear at this moment.

They needed Kaptan to at least remove his magical energy from the infected Sinogo. That way, Sinogo would be weakened enough for Mark to fight him. It was the only obstacle that blocked Mark from confronting the creature. Without Kaptan's magical energy, all that Sinogo would have left was his gigantic size and his infected army of mutated marine animals.

It could be difficult, but Mark was confident that he could kill Sinogo as long as the monster did not have that magical energy from Kaptan.

Now, that thought went all down the drain.

If Kaptan was dead, there was no way for them to remove his magical energy from Sinogo. In the end, he would become a threat in this country.

”So, we came to this place for nothing...”

Mark shrugged his shoulders with a sigh.

If it was possible, Bathala could likely suppress Sinogo even if his powers were severely weakened. However, the Eyes would not let that happen. Although Earth was in danger, its rules came first. A foreign god should not intervene with Earth's affairs. Furthermore, the Observer and the Eyes already made an exception and proposed a deal to the remaining gods. Their remaining powers were far more needed to deal with the incoming planetary debris that would hit Earth.

In any case, there was nothing they could do. Mark was extremely interested in the infected Sinogo. However, he would have no choice but to suppress his gamer tendencies.

Maybe in the future, they will find a way to deal with Sinogo even without Kaptan. No, Mark already had an idea. He had someone promised to meet in the future. It was likely that he will meet them soon.

”Unfortunately, we did waste our time.”

Nineteenth agreed with Mark. They thought that they would find a god that could help with Earth's current predicament. However, Magwayen had already left Earth, and Kaptan actually died.

It was in these situations that Nineteenth would feel frustrated. After all, she had no grasp on information about anything directly related to gods. They were foreign beings, after all. Not to mention that all gods were not tied to any string of fate.

If Nineteenth could use her book to find information about gods directly, they would not have a hard time, unlike what they were experiencing currently.

”You're also a goddess that ferried the dead, right?” Mark asked Magwayen. ”You're not able to do anything?”

At Mark's question, the goddess looked at Mark strangely.

”You... Know nothing, did you?” Magwayen asked Mark back. ”But it is not surprising. Even the people of the past knew nothing but assume things about us.”

Mark fell silent. Should he feel insulted? It was true, however.

”Foreign gods of death and underworld don't work the way you might be thinking.” Fourth spoke to Mark with a jeering look. ”They are not gods from this world. They had no grasp of this world's cycle of life and death. Besides, gods, no matter what realm, don't follow the normal reincarnation cycle. Even if a god died, one would not find their soul among the ferries sailing to the afterlife.”

”Then, if they had no grasp on our world's life and death cycle, where do they bring the souls their ferry?”