Chapter 71.1

Atop the holy mountain, a towering white temple stands sentinel over the land.

Its gleaming walls and lofty pillars are carved with the shapes of various gods, their serene faces gazing out over the world below.

The air is filled with a clear, cold fragrance that is both invigorating and calming.

Standing here, one feels as if they are floating on a cloud.

The temple is a place of peace and tranquility.

The only sound is the gentle rustle of the mountain breeze through the trees.

The silence is broken only by the occasional cry of a bird or the distant sound of a waterfall.

"This temple is older than I am," says Phae, the God of Light, as he runs his hand along one of the pillars.

On one side of the pillar, a goddess is carved with her head bowed in prayer. On the other side, a flying deer is depicted in the forest. The feathers on the deer's wings are so finely detailed that they seem to flutter in the breeze.

"Who built this temple first, you or Feisa?" Phae asks.

Thenis slaps his paw away. "I built it, of course. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Phae says. "I was just curious."

Thenis regards her brother for a moment, then shakes her head.

"Do not presume," Fae said, his eyes glinting with amusement as he glanced at Thenis.

He retracted his hands and walked to the edge of the temple, looking out. "Why have you chosen such a place? It is tall and cold, and who would have nothing to do and be willing to come here? You are truly... quite thoughtful."

Thenis gave him a blank look. "It is not big or small."

"Indeed," Fae said, pressing his feet to the edge of the temple ground.

"There is no wall, the wind is leaking from all sides, and I have drunk enough. Those who are as thin as branches like flower gods, come up here and they must use some power to fix themselves, or they must hug the pillars to prevent being blown away. How exciting."

Thenis's eyes narrowed. "Will you be bald if you do not speak a few words?"

Phae grinned. "I am a god of light, and I am not afraid of baldness."

Phae flicked his fingers, and the clouds piled up in front of him were partly pushed away, revealing a bit of the scene below the mountain.

He was surprised to see what lay there.

"What is this?!" he exclaimed, his voice echoing off the mountainside.

Thenis shrugged helplessly. "People," she said.

Phae looked down through the gaps in the clouds, and saw that the foot of the mountain was full of dark shapes. It was impossible to see them all at once, but he knew they were people.

They were all kneeling, and he could only see the tops of their heads. Their hair was of different colors, some as dark as Phae's own, and some as pale as platinum.

The sight of so many people kneeling at their feet was a little shocking.

But what was even more astonishing was that someone in the crowd with amazing eyesight could see a corner of the temple behind the clouds and the faint figure of the God of Light through the gap opened by Phae.

The man's voice was a trembling shriek that pierced the air like a knife. The crowd of kneeling people erupted into chaos, but only for a moment. Then, as if by some unspoken command, they all fell to their knees once more, bowing their heads in devout supplication to the God of Light.

"This is... a lot to take in," Phae said.

The God of Light, who was always shameless and skinless, trembled as he closed the cloud cover that had been pushed aside.

He turned to Thenis and said inexplicably, "I said... do you have to find a way to make them not be so polite?"

Thenis's eyes flashed with anger as she glanced at Fae. "You tremble sometimes too? That's not easy," she said, her voice laced with sarcasm.

But after she finished speaking, she straightened her face and said, "That's what I want to say. It's so different from what I originally expected."

"What?" Phae crossed his arms and simply leaned against the pillar.

"I created them with Feisa. I just thought it was a pity that no one shared such a beautiful place. I hoped that they could enjoy all this unrestrainedly, instead of always looking for miracles and kneeling before all possible gods or the places they passed by." Thenis looked at the clouds and did not move them away.

Instead, her eyes seemed to penetrate the milky white mist and fall gently and helplessly at the foot of the mountain.

Relax," said Phae, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "At least you love them, and they love you too. But the way they express it is a little... different. Perhaps we should go down and kneel before them ourselves?"

Thenis glared at him. "Don't be so flippant," she said. "I'm serious. I created this world with Faesa, and I never wanted it to be like this. I wanted people to be free, to live their lives without fear or obligation. But now, I see that they are bound to us, and I don't know how to change that."

Phae sighed. "I know," he said. "But it is too late to change things now. As long as we exist, they will always see us as gods, and they will always worship us. There is no way to make them ignore us."

Thenis fell silent for a moment, then smiled as if remembering something. "If one day we no longer exist, or become one of them, will they be completely free?" she asked.

She winked at Phae. "I had a predictive dream recently."

"Prophetic dream?" Fae guessed without even needing her to say more.

"Yes, you dreamed it too?" Thenis said. "Actually, I have had this dream many times. I dreamed that we leaped from the top of this holy mountain and fell into the crowd. When they saw me, instead of kneeling down, they smiled and said good morning."