It took the two brothers a long moment of silence and several minutes to digest what Yog wanted. Her words still rang like madness in their heads.

Turning Gojo into an Overgod was a bold move. Why he specifically, they didn’t know, but Arad could guess how they would use him to attack Nyar.

Make it seem that the current Overgod is about to fall, fabricate the weakness, and make it look real. But at the same time, make it hard to reach, make it so Nyar needs to take a risk and pull his real body to attack.

Then, when Nyar sticks his neck out, Gojo would sneak attack him from the side, either ending the war or damaging him enough to put him back to sleep for several hundred thousand years.

If that plan works, the universe would have a much-needed period of peace to rest and regroup. The gods could empower their arms, set up defenses, and even train new soldiers.

Arad can understand how appealing that is. But he isn’t a fool, and he knows that Gojo won’t be able to just use the Overgod’s power for a short while, then give it back. That power must come at a cost, and if it’ll harm his brother, then he’ll take his wives and everyone he cares about into his stomach to protect them, then burn the god’s pantheon down.

As time passed, Arad and Gojo found themselves climbing the stairs to the second floor. Neither of them could actively go against Yog, so Gojo decided to wait for now and see how things would play out in the future.

Arad couldn’t remember the dragon’s name, but that silver dragon that mastered time magic. He had once asked him if he is a hero or a villain, if he is the evil people should fight, or the one they should cheer for.

Arad now had an answer to that question. He is neither; he is just an arrogant, selfish, and petty dragon. He’ll hold grudges for life, he’ll act good, play the hero as long as he needs to.

He might not be able to fight back now if Gojo got harmed, but if he waited a while longer, until he is an Elder dragon, then things would be different.

He looked at Yog for a second, then sighed. She looked tiny, harmless, and kickable, but he knew she could flip an entire world on its head with a single flick of her wrist.

Yog wasn’t oblivious to his thoughts. The fates had warned her many times. The timelines in which Arad destroys the universe are many, and in one, just two hundred years in the future, he massacred all of the gods and restarted the world, seemingly after they finally won the war against the abominations.

As everyone was happy and celebrating, Arad ripped Amaterasu’s head off by destroying all the suns he had stored inside his stomach, and Kali shattered the gate of forbidden knowledge, causing it to start swallowing the universe. The reason was that Eris had perished in the war fifty years ago, dying in a magnificent supernova.

In another timeline, just two years in the future, Arad switched sides and joined the abominations, then took everyone inside his stomach and went to start a new universe, leaving everyone here to die. Because Doma ended up getting killed by the fates.

Even earlier, there was a timeline where Death tested her luck and cut Arad down for touching her scythe, which ended with him awakening early and going on a rampage.

Arad wasn’t the god’s ally or friend; he was the one person in this entire universe that they must play around with. Yog was going to do her best to learn the rules and play around them, to make sure he never turns into the villain.

But for now, Arad and Gojo had to rest. Their bodies were already approaching their limit from staying out in the cold for too long.

Their first priority now was to get out of this world. So they were directed to the rooms above on the second floor.

Upon clearing the stairs and looking into the second floor, the two found it to look as mundane as any normal house would be. Creaking Wooden floor, thin walls that can’t block any sound, and a window at the end of the hallway, blowing frigid air in.

In fact, they could still hear the three goddesses talking on the first floor. Sadly, their conversation wasn’t related to what happened today. Yog seemed interested in learning if the balance between Death and Life is still maintained perfectly, which the two confirmed.

They said they work on it each week. With Gracie dying and Death giving birth to her, whatever that nonsense meant.

Arad and Gojo were a bit interested in learning how that would work. If gods must balance each other like that, doesn’t that mean that Eris and Lucy must one day do the same if they got the opposite portfolios? Would Mira, for example, need to be generous and greedy at the same time?

That was a topic for later, because the two didn’t have the energy to think too much now. Their brains were already racing with what Yog said.

Gracie had told them that they could stay here for as long as they wanted. Death would ensure that Entropy couldn’t get them. Her coming to kill them or do something bad was unlikely in normal circumstances, but with Yog bugging her out, she might just crash.

Just how Stillness was known for her calm demeanor and cold blood, Entropy was known for being a hot-blooded crash-out.

This worked for Arad and Gojo better than they ever expected. They could get some decent clothes, sleep in warm rooms, and get a better chance of surviving this frozen landscape.

Of course, that sense of security lasted only as long as until Yog told them they should go out and hunt for themselves, because even if Death protected them, she was always busy with her job. They’re only getting a house here.

Arad slipped into his room first and looked around. They had brought a massive bed that fits him, a large closet, a chair, a desk, and some chests to store things in.

Sadly, no weapons. He hoped to get a sword and some armor, but it seems he can only rely on his magic. Which was fine as long as they don’t face any stupidly powerful monster.

Sitting on his bed, he sighed and looked at the ceiling. Closing his eyes, he could sense what everyone else was doing outside.

Eris was fighting something powerful in hell, but she’ll be fine; Amaterasu herself was there with her. Albeit from what he could sense, she wasn’t getting any help and powering through the horrors alone with the vampires and angels.

Yuwaku seems to be with Agnar and the rest. Their mission to find Gojo’s lost jewel was progressing well. They even tracked the devils’ activity to a hell gate in the middle of a nearby forest.

Plum, on the other hand, was in a lot of pain, thankfully self-inflicted, as she pulled too much power through her roots. He was certain that while doing all of that now might feel agonizing to her, after a few more tries, she would get used to it. But he couldn’t help but get a distressing feeling whenever he sensed what she was fighting.

All in all, Arad sighed as he felt useless, just sitting here and unable to help. He wanted to be there, to burn all of those twisted monsters in hell, help Yuwaku, and wipe whatever forced Plum to use her powers like that.