Foolish Brother Odin

Chapter 360 Royal Power
Bader's mind went blank.

He truly hadn't expected that the Wind God's Sword, which was supposed to be a mascot, would refuse to be used by him.

what is this?
Was his title as Sumerian god-king illegitimate?
Badr was stunned for a moment.

Towns was also taken aback. Enlil, who had clearly become a sword spirit, had lost his memories and rationality, leaving only pure instincts. Towns never thought that Enlil would refuse to serve because Baldr was too weak.

There's a saying that goes, "As long as I'm not embarrassed, it's others who are embarrassed."

This applies to the realm of gods as well.

Towns reacted in a second.

He swiftly suppressed the sword spirit Enlil with his divine sense: "[You're not serving Baldr; you're just a background character in Baldr's hands. If a real battle breaks out, you can help him if you want; otherwise, get back to my side.]"

The sword spirit immediately buzzed with joy.

The communication between the master and the sword spirit was completed instantly, while Baldr was completely unaware of it.

Towns began performing the new version with a serious expression:

"My son Badr!"

“Your subject is here!” Badr immediately responded respectfully.

"You have been selfless and devoted to public service, mediating conflicts among the people and educating the world. I have witnessed your achievements. The same is true for the world of Jinlunga." Downs paused here, "Before you are promoted to God-King—you must remember..."

"Your subject will heed the teachings of Father God!"

"First came the world of Jinlunga, then the gods of Aesir. The Aesir are the agents who manage the world of Jinlunga, not its masters! I govern all the smaller worlds on behalf of Jinlunga, and you are merely a manager of one world! After your advancement, you must guard against arrogance and impetuosity, and prioritize the well-being of the world above all else. Royal power is both an honor and a duty."

After hearing this, Baderton was no longer embarrassed.

"Father God, I understand!"

If Baldr were to truly become the ruler of a realm, then failing to control the divine sword representing Sumer would undoubtedly be an extremely shameful matter, potentially escalating into a scandal.

However, Towns said he was merely an agent of the world, and Badr was just a manager of one realm, so Badr didn't feel much pressure.

One is the master, the other is the employee.

Can this be the same?

Many gods were taken aback when they heard Downs's words, as they had always considered themselves the rulers of the world.

If anyone else had been humble, they might have been seen as cowardly by this group of arrogant and fierce soldiers.

Towns, however, disagrees.

The number of worlds and pantheons destroyed by his hand has already reached double digits, and the number of mortals who perished because of him is in the tens of millions.

Any words spoken by this [Destroyer of All Realms], who stands atop mountains of corpses and seas of blood, are absolutely correct in the eyes of the God of Aesir.

Strength and wisdom are justice!
Downs looked around, and not a single god dared to meet his sharp and fatalistic gaze. They all bowed, showing their humility toward the God-Emperor.

As the God-Emperor demonstrated his authority, he also unwittingly overshadowed the newly born God-King's power.

Only the wisest gods would realize that Downs had pulled off a scheme of "royal mandate"!
Towns can grant authority to a particular son, and he can also revoke it at will.

Digging deeper, people naturally draw parallels to Odin's rebellion during Ragnarok. In a sense, it was precisely because the kingship was too independent that it led to tendencies toward independence and rebellion.

With this precedent, even if the gods wanted to do something, they wouldn't find a way to say it.

Here, after Downs handed the Sword of Sumer to Baldr, his imposing figure once again disappeared into the rainbow light.

Towns had to leave early, otherwise, Baldr, that well-behaved boy, would likely be at a loss for what to do under his watchful eye. There was no other way; Baldr got along with almost every deity.

To put it nicely, this is called being shrewd and adept at social maneuvering; to put it bluntly, it's just being a people-pleaser.

He cared too much about the reactions of each deity, trying to save face and please their feelings, which made it easy for him to lose himself.

With Towns on the court, Bader can't possibly feel comfortable.

On the contrary, once Towns left, Baderton immediately exuded an aura of power, displaying the demeanor of a god-king.

Badr first had his divine messenger read aloud the dozen or so new policies he had enacted after becoming god-king, which were essentially nothing more than the same old policies of benevolence. Such new decrees would naturally easily gain the approval of the Sumerian gods.

The gods immediately applauded enthusiastically and showered the gods with praise.

Immediately afterwards, all the gods presented Baldr with their congratulatory gifts.

Only then did the gods realize just how ruthless the strategist behind Baldr—an unnamed god of trickery—was.

Loki leaked the news in advance, saying that Thor, as the eldest brother, would give a certain gift, and Loki would give a different gift in return.

This is actually a direct message to the gods that the best magical items must be given to Baldr as a congratulatory gift.

Top-tier treasures don't just appear out of thin air.

Especially for the main god, gifts cannot be too meager, otherwise you will offend the pure-blooded Aesir gods and the giants.

Of course, Badr doesn't just accept gifts; for gifts that are valuable enough, Badr will reciprocate with something of equal value.

On the surface, Badr was impeccably proper.

In reality, this restricts the ability for only him to receive the highest-tier magical treasures.

These kinds of rare items are extremely hard to come by. It's also impossible to get dwarves to forge so many top-tier magical artifacts all at once.

Surely the other divine descendants wouldn't give Baldr's return gift to the other god-kings?

This meant that Badr would outshine his other siblings who had been granted titles in terms of presenting gifts.

Frigga's plan was correct; when other princes and princesses were promoted, their gifts truly couldn't compare to those of her Baldr.

Little did he know that Frigga's extravagant and ostentatious behavior disgusted Towns.

"As expected, Frigga is indeed fond of vanity and luxury. I was right not to make Baldr the crown prince." Downs muttered to himself in the Silver Palace, where there was no other deity.

No one dared to respond.

Even Brunhilde, who was standing to the side, was extremely embarrassed.

Times have changed, and now the pure-blooded Asgardians are no longer a necessary fighting force for Towns. As long as they are within a reasonable range, Towns will not interfere with them.

The world is so big that there's always room to keep some mascots.

Over the next few months, six new kings took turns completing their coronation ceremonies, signifying the completion of the basic framework for a new round of integration in the world of Jinlunga.

Although Downs wasn't entirely satisfied with the system—many things are decided by one's own position—he could only reform the existing system to a certain extent, provided that he could gather the power of all the gods to the maximum extent possible.

The pace of reform should not be too large, otherwise it may significantly weaken internal forces.

With Towns' military strength, a civil war is impossible.

When pressured too much, those guys just give up!
(End of this chapter)