Now that I reached Tier 12, and I could be considered as above the average Tier 12, especially with all those boons and other stuff and trump cards I held, for a moment, I had an impulse to go and fight with the Hivemind invading the Astral Boundary Universe.
But in the end, that would be a stupid thing to do... because in the end, I didn't really care about the Astral Boundary Universe and what would happen to it, not to mention, with its continuous destruction, I can use it against Mercurius.
The Tarot Cards were pretty nifty objects.
They were sentient and functioned on the same principle as Hivemind, though with the exception that they were collective consciousness and didn't have a leader or anything like that. It was rather a hard thing to do, to communicate with them.
To achieve that, one would need a very profound understanding of the souls, which I don't have, but what I have were riches, and through them, I was able to buy some artifacts from Okhwang, who allowed me to do so.
In truth, Okhwang was aware of the side effects of the Tarot Cards from the start. However, he didn't care... what for his True Body was already around Tier 12, and he would very soon reach Tier 13.
He would achieve something that Mercurius strived for countless Eras to vain each time.
With the foundation of the Jade Clan and Celestial Court of the Ancient Dao Universe, it would be an easy thing to resolve.
As a fellow schemer, I had to applaud his plan.
But Mercurius, at the same time, was constrained by his own nature, which didn't allow him to intervene directly, and he could remain as only an observer till he reached Tier 13 entirely.
"It would be best to wait, don't you think so, Tarot?"
I asked the Tarot, which was a manifestation of the collective consciousness of all 22 Major Arcana Tarot Cards, which in fact were Sefirah Artifacts.
'Indeed... old fox is a crafty one, though as long as you reach Tier 13 and use that method, then you can essentially take the main control from the old fox and even kill him. Of course, all under the premise that you will me restore itself completely.'
Sounded the voice of Tarot in my head as I nodded rather begrudgingly, but it was still a good deal. Tarot Cards were severely damaged, and most of their functions, including the Tarot's consciousness, were always sleeping.
In his own words, that was what happened when a Tier 13 who was fused with Sefirah was killed.
Now, after countless Eras, Mercurius found the Tarot cards and made a deal with them, though he tricked the Tarot in the end and never found the resources needed for it to restore completely.
Though I could understand why... if the Tarot restored itself completely, there was the possibility of more than 98% that it would leave Mercurius, and for Mercurious, Tarot Cards were a too precious treasure to be lost that way.
***
Divine Star Region, Some time later.
The situation in the Divine Star Region was dire, mainly after the last offensive carried out by the Bug Tribes, and now almost 80% of the Divine Star Region has fallen under the control of the Void Insect Swarm and become a land where the Hivemind ruled supreme.
Currently, in the Divine Coalition of the Myriad God Emperors, only three of them remained alive; the rest were killed, devoured, or eaten alive by the endless swarms of Bugs of the Void Insect Swarm, which turned its sight at the Astral Boundary Universe.
The remaining four Myriad God Emperors were having a meeting over their grave situation because they were already at death's door. Their territories were taken from them, and right now, each of them currently had control only over their home planes.
Of the previous seven seats, right now, only three of them are occupied.
"Where is Ijun?"
Asked a blond-haired man clad in armor, reminiscing that of Holy Paladins while giving of aura of Holiness and Light around him.
"Indeed, this is a disturbing situation Fedarr."
Answered another Myriad God Emperor to Myriad God Emperor Fedarr.
Fedarr was the God of Light, Justice, and other similar things. He was the oldest Myriad God Emperor of the original 7 and also the strongest one. Thus due to that reason, in the situation of crisis, he was often serving as some kind of unofficial leader.
"We can only hope that he is still alive and not dead, Thovion."
Stated Fedarr to Myriad God Emperor Thovion, the God of Dusk. He was the most reclusive Myriad God Emperor and the one who was rarely showing himself in public and usually just kept hidden somewhere.
"His Divine Kingdom and Plane are currently under the attack of several Tier 11 Void Insects."
Stated in a grave voice, a single Myriad God Empress, Easis, the Goddess of Destiny, as she calculated the Destiny of the Ijun, even though it cost the majority of her Divine Power.
At the same time, the remaining two Myriad God Emperors were immediately alarmed.
"We need to send there Avatars to help immediately... if more of us fall, then the situation will become even worse... but why attack Ijun's territory as the first one among us?"
It was no common secret that the Ijun was strongest against the Void Insects due to him being a God of the Underworld, who controlled inexhaustible numbers of Undead and Ghost and other similar lifeforms.
Attacking him directly wasn't a good strategy, and Void Insects would never make such an irrational move because they were far smarter than most of them together.
Each Hivemind had computing power much bigger than anything technological civilizations could build; thus, each and every decision of the Hivemind was based on a rational foundation and empirical pieces of evidence.
Myriad God Emperors, while could leave their home planes for a prolonged amount of time, they still preferred the usage of their Avatars because once those were destroyed, they could be almost effortlessly rebuilt with Divine Power.