They chose to ignore Stelios' outburst and give the Celestial Supreme a suggestion about why exchanging Helios for 7 demigods is a good idea. The sight infuriated Stelios further.
"Are you being stupid right now? We will not consider such an idiotic idea. How have you sunk so low as to use a demigod to trade like a good and to ants nonetheless?" Stelios shouted at the god that dared to make such a statement.
"We use demigods for entertainment all the time. They are tools to be used for our pleasure. This is not so different from their purpose."
Stelios's voice rose higher with his anger. "He is my tool. He is mine to use as I wish not yours. I will decide what I want to use him for."
The other gods began to voice their opinions on the matter. Some agreed with Stelios. He did them a favor by allowing Helios to get involved in the first place. Asking for the life of his demigods is asking for too much and disrespecting him. Some disagreed with Stelios. 1 to 7 is a good exchange anyhow they look about it. Helios is not worth 7 demigods. He is just 1 demigod.
Both sides became heated. It all happened so fast. The temple became rowdy quickly and some gods were already getting ready to fight. It seems a repeat of the Colossus incident will happen again but this time it will occur very quickly.
The gods are currently divided because of the world war so they just raring to get at each other. It's like the timer of an explosion started close to the end instead of at the beginning. The explosion will go off without taking much time.
"Silence." The Celestial Supreme ordered.
Everyone became silent immediately.
"I make the decisions here." He informed them as the weight of his order pressed on them and enforced the silence.
They all bowed to him. He left them in that state for a while before he became appeased.
Then he gave his verdict. "I will allow the exchange."
Stelios tried to speak but he couldn't. So he directed his anger somewhere else. His divine power flared in his divine kingdom and empowered the sun shining on Zargoth plane.
The Celestial Supreme ignored his tantrum and instructed his priest to not get involved. The other priests got the go-ahead from their gods and restrained Helios. The god of order allowed this because it will reduce the casualty that will be experienced when he busts into the ant colony with a colossus.
He doesn't know what the god or the ants are thinking for making this deal but he wants to see it anyway. He knows he might be falling into the trap of the enemy but the consequence is the life of a single demigod, and a single life is certainly worth it to pacify 7 gods. What does the life of a single demigod even matter? It is also the demigod of the sun god. It's not like the sun god needs a demigod. He has hundreds of divine lords already so he won't miss one demigod.
No matter what the enemy wants to do with the demigod, the fallout from the sacrifice of a single demigod will be small and will reduce the resulting chaos. It will also prove that he didn't start this charade to reduce the number of demigods.
The deal is in his favor but what made him decide that he must go ahead with the deal is the way that Stelios shouted and raved in his presence. Such a thing doesn't happen in the past but the gods now seem to think it is allowed because he has been withdrawn these recent years. So he has to put his foot down and remind them who is the boss around here.
Stelios suddenly thinks his demigod is his to do as he wishes. He seems to have forgotten that it was the Celestial Supreme that forced him to allow Helios to participate in the heroic quest in the first place when he sensed the ant queen's attempt at becoming a demigod. He needs to be reminded that the Celestial Supreme was willing to sacrifice Helios for entertainment back then and is still willing to sacrifice Helios for the good of the plane.
The exchange was made and the demigod of the sun was taken away. The Celestial Supreme nodded his head in satisfaction. The gods were talking quietly amongst themselves. Harkam was smiling from ear to ear. He is happy about getting his demigod 120 years ago now he is very happy that Stelios is screwed over. It is not his victory or a big one either, but it feels good to see his rival lose out.
Silence returned to the temple when the Celestial Supreme began speaking again.
"Stelios, I will try to save your demigod but nothing is certain. These things happen. Bad, unfortunate, and unforeseen things suddenly happen for no apparent reason and there's nothing we can do about them. We just have to move on and ..."
He was still talking when Stelios exclaimed. "Oh crap. I have to go."
He sensed something really urgent that needs his attention. It is not something that can be put off or delayed.
"I have not declared this meeting over. You cannot..." The Celestial Supreme started to deny him the permission to leave.
Stelios didn't listen. His avatar winked out of existence leaving the Celestial Supreme fuming. It is this sort of disrespect that he doesn't like and he must put an end to it. He composed himself after a while and continued his speech.
"It is understandable that the god of the sun is distraught about his son. I will forgive him because he has been dutiful for his many years of service as the sun god without any problems. He always follows the proper protocol but it seems he really loves his son. I will forgive his transgression just this once."
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel