Chapter 272

"Iemis-!" Shides shouted in surprise as he caught Iemis as he stumbled on his feet suddenly.

"Ah," Iemis exhaled as he began to cough up blood into the palm of his hand. It was impossible to hide the sight from Shides when he was so close. He could only witness the young god's face darkening at the sight as he helped Iemis remain stable on his feet.

Shides guided Iemis over to a tree near by and helped him down. He would have preferred to have Iemis rest in a proper bed. However the elder god did not want to be anywhere near others right now. Iemis was strictly avoiding contact with others as much as possible while he was dealing with everything involving Chynir. It was not the only reason for him to avoid the other gods.

"If the wrong god knew about your current condition right now-" Shides muttered his thoughts out loud and was interrupted.

"Invalid. That is why I wont go inside the heavenly palace. I will be alright if I keep to the forest." Iemis was not worried about his condition. In fact he was probably the one who knew his own condition the best.

Shides exhaled deeply as he leaned against the tree and gazed off towards the heavenly palace, "How far do you intend to go for that mortal, Iemis? At the rate you are going.. How far will you destroy yourself for the mortals at the stake of your own life?"

"Do you earnestly believe his soul is the only one I have guided in my lifetime, Shides? I have helped far more souls then you know." Iemis's own gaze seemed to be weighed down by something as his eyes stared straight up at Shides. There was no way for him to understand the long life that Iemis had lived. No god alive was older then Iemis because he had always been the eldest among them.

"What do you mean by that? The condition you are in right now could end up killing you, Iemis. I have never seen you like this before." Shides could not imagine Iemis helping a mortal to this extent in the past. The condition of the god was only getting worse as days passed. Every time he used his own mana to aid that mortal his condition worsened. "What have you done, Iemis?"

"Invalid. I have done nothing. Yet," Iemis seemed to hesitate before speaking further, "There is much I have done and much I regret."

He has a mind that can not be swayed once it has been set on something. That was something Shides knew about Iemis. It was one of the many reasons he was amazed by the eldest god. There was no other god who could have his loyalty as much as Iemis could. Iemis knew as well that no matter what he told to Shides that it would remain between them. Not even the god of loyalty and yet he held a strong loyalty to him.

In fact the reason he had become a god was over his music. The heavens had fallen in love with his music. That was the reason Iemis had given him the day he ascended to godhood. Iemis had personally been there for the moment of every original god's birth. In one way or another he was seen as their elder brother and at times even father figure.

Shides feigned a light laugh, "You always talk like that."

"Because it is true," Iemis wanted more then anything to be honest about everything. There were numerous things that he regretted in his long lifetime. The state of the world was probably one he blamed himself for more then the rest. Though nobody could truly understand the weight of that guilt that he held close to his heart. "You can not call it truly living unless you can earnestly say you've made mistakes that you regret in life. It is those mistakes that make us look back on our lives and want to live it better. It teaches us so that we can become better versions of ourselves and teach others not to make the same mistakes we once had."

Shides could only close his eyes and sigh heavily as he could not understand what Iemis was thinking, "I can not fathom the reason you must go so far for this one mortal."

"Invalid," Iemis did not look at things that simply, "I go this far because it is for myself."

"What do you mean?" Shides flinched at those words.

Shides did not have time to receive a reply from Iemis. He could feel a sudden surge of energy not too far from them. It would be difficult to move Iemis in his current condition. The look in Iemis's eyes showed signs that he had felt it as well.

Stepping away from Iemis he started to head in the direction it had come from, "Stay there. I will go check things out while you rest."

"He doesn't seem to be coming any closer. If you go in search of him now," Iemis understood Chynir's way of thinking quite well, "that is probably what he wants from you."

"If he runs into you right now it could put you at risk. Do you really think in your current state that he could deal with him, Iemis?" Shides felt very upset and couldn't hold himself back from scolding the elder god. No matter how much older he was there was still a limit to how much he could pretend to not be unwell in front of others. If Iemis was dragged into a fight it could cost him his life in this state. That was something Shides did not want to see.

Iemis did not have the strength to stand up. No, Perhaps he knew that he was capable of doing so. In fact he could push himself to chase after Shides if he wanted. It did not matter how weak he was. He was far from being a normal god like the others. Even if he was in a weakened state it did not mean he was incapable of protecting himself entirely. However he felt the need to maintain as much of his strength as he could. Making a hard decision he remained where he sat and watched the young god march towards what he felt was a trap.

Shides was not ignorant of the fact that he was being called into a trap. The young god was allowing himself to be lured in. Every step he took sent chills down his spine as he felt as if he was being watched from all around. Before long he could no longer sense Iemis from behind as he left the god far behind. It was like the presence of the god had completely vanished. All he could feel was overwhelming pressure from the other god, Chynir, that he was moving in the direction of.

It felt as if Chynir's pressure and blood lust would devour him whole. Purely a strength worthy of being known as the 2nd eldest god. He might have been a god as well however Shides did not have a power on par with such a god. No in his eyes Chynir was more of a devil.