Chapter 23 - New Life in God of War

If someone familiar with Alfheim were to see it at this moment, they would be shocked. The once barren desert was now teeming with life. Where there had once been a palace with a luminous Well of Souls, an even larger and more dazzling palace now stood. A few miles to its left, there was an identical palace, but instead of pure white, it gave the impression that a giant bucket of the purest black ink had been poured over it.

Between the two stood a grand, silver-gray palace, as if representing the balance between forces... which, in truth, it did.

Exactly seven years had passed since Hyperion became emperor, and the changes he made were magnificent.

He taught the elves how to manage the Well of Souls, making them the guardians of life and death. Now, the elves and the races the emperor wished to preserve would only remain dead by their own choice.

The elves filtered the souls of those who should be cleansed and resurrected those they did not wish to remain dead. They were also responsible for distributing souls to their respective realms, meaning that if they desired, life could cease to be born, as all beings would be soulless. This was why the elves who managed the wells were the most loyal and impartial.

The elves at the well also learned a bit about fate magic from Hyperion. Those responsible for the luminous well determined how virtuous souls were and guided them to a good birth and destiny. Meanwhile, those at the dark well ensured that the more malevolent a soul was, the more it would suffer in its next life.

Hyperion also trained the elven soldiers. Though balancing their energies made them stronger, it was not by much, so he trained them further. In the end, an average soldier had the strength of Baldur, while elite soldiers were close to Thor’s power. If the other realms knew, they would tremble.

He also created the Well of Resurrection, where 10,000 souls would receive bodies each day. Hyperion limited this because 10,000 resurrections per day equaled half the energy produced daily by the two wells. This way, the well would not be overburdened and still had room to grow. Of course, Hyperion could use his own energy for infinite resurrections or use another method to achieve the same without depleting his energy or the well’s. But he chose this approach to maintain some balance… not that everything he had done so far hadn’t already shattered balance. But Hyperion was like that—he did things however he wanted.

Furthermore, the population of the Nine Realms was not very large. In these seven years, 25.55 million elves had been resurrected, and soon, the number of souls needing resurrection would run out—just a few more months. And that was the number of elves who had died over hundreds or even thousands of years.

Vanaheim, Freya’s realm, was not much different in terms of souls awaiting resurrection, though they had suffered greater losses due to nearly being exterminated by the Aesir.

As for the giants, they were a strong race but few in number, so even with their extermination, their total was not as high as the Vanir, who numbered in the millions.

For now, only the elves had been resurrected. When he ruled Vanaheim, he would revive the Vanir, and last would be the Jötnar when he reached Jötunheim.

At this moment, Hyperion sat on a throne, surrounded by three other thrones where his wives were seated.

In fact, these thrones were somewhat amusing. Since they were even in number, there was no center seat, so they decided to sit randomly each day—including Hyperion, who often sat at the edges.

If you thought, "This isn't right. He isn’t taking his rule seriously," or if you said, "It’s a disgrace! Why doesn’t he have a throne of his own and make his women stand and serve him?" then Hyperion would say:

To the first thought: Fuck you. I didn’t reincarnate just to follow conventions I don’t care about.

To the second: Fuck you too, and your abusive, loveless relationship, you psychopath.

Well, Hyperion cherished his wives deeply and would never put them below him in anything… except in bed… but even in that regard, they were on top sometimes… well, that last part wasn’t important.

Back to the present—before Hyperion stood many elves. But unlike the past, these elves looked like the beautiful elves from fantasy tales… and it had nothing to do with Hyperion tweaking the soul sources a little to achieve this. No, no, don’t accuse him of such a crime—it was pure coincidence. Pure coincidence…

Cough Cough

Well, Hyperion had to admit it was quite pleasant to see so many beautiful people gathered together… especially the women. Cough cough.

After mentally patting himself on the back, Hyperion looked over the hall.

Everyone in the hall had once been kings of dark and light elves, as well as librarians of their time, all resurrected later. Fortunately, after seeing the changes in Alfheim… and getting beaten by an average soldier, they had devoted all their loyalty and hearts to Hyperion.

Hyperion could also see a bit of people’s destinies, so if he detected a traitor, a little mental tweak here and there, and everything was resolved. At least, that’s what he thought. But the elves, especially those who had balanced their energies, were more loyal and just than one could imagine.

Well, Hyperion was happy about that.

Raising his hand, he silenced all the conversations in the hall.

“Well, today marks seven years since we took the throne, and these seven years have been very fun. But we also need to govern Vanaheim and probably Jötunheim. In total, ruling for 21 years is my limit. So, as you all know, we have long been preparing to return to adventuring. Each of you already has your designated roles and knows how to perform them flawlessly. In fact, for the past five months, my wives and I have done nothing but enjoy nature, if you know what I mean.”

Hyperion spoke seriously, but the corners of all the elves’ mouths twitched. Their faces were filled with helplessness toward their emperor. His wives, however, had amused smiles.

The truth was, ruling was very easy and fun… when you had a Time Chamber, wives, and immense power.

Whenever there was too much work, he would simply use some of his power to create something that made the task a thousand times easier. And whenever he was bored, all he had to do was take his wives and spend quality time in the Time Chamber—watching anime, movies, reading books, and studying his wives’ anatomy.

Happy, happy.

But he had already done what he wanted in Alfheim, so he no longer wished to remain ruling. Of course, he was still the emperor, but if everything functioned smoothly without him, then he didn’t need to be there.