The villainous young master just wants to live a Buddhist-like life.

　However, according to the rules, the discussion is only held during the tea party, and the identification of the "Chosen One" will have to wait until after the tea party ends.

　This was a suggestion made by Hera, the "Queen of the Gods," to prevent a few gods from acting impulsively without thinking.

　Before the tea party ends, both the gods and the invited "chosen ones" can think it over again and decide whether to make the same choice.

　Therefore, Aphrodite did not immediately choose Janice as her "chosen one," but instead, with the joy of "mission accomplished," she devoted herself wholeheartedly to the upcoming tea party.

　—This time, it's a real tea party!

　While Aphrodite hosted her tea party with a group of handsome men and beautiful women, the other gods were busy conversing with their respective invitees at their respective venues. Although not the main event, the twelve gods had another purpose in holding this tea party.

　That is to choose suitable servants. God's servants are God's servants.

　There was no other way; they had nothing left and had to start everything from scratch, including finding servants.

　These servants will temporarily take care of their food and lodging until the robes' divine power is restored enough to create angels.

　Of course, the robes would also give the servants corresponding rewards.

　Although not as powerful as the "Chosen Ones," those servants still receive corresponding divine blessings, a blessing that most mortals would envy.

　Those gods who had expectations for the path of magic and were not in a hurry to select "chosen ones" were prioritizing the selection of servants during this period. And speaking of "servants," one cannot help but mention the "Zodiac Twelve Palaces" maid corps!

　In short, the maid troupe is really popular!

　"None of them chose me in the end."

　After taking her seat, Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom, chatted casually with Ergane.

　Ergani simply replied in a flat tone, "Probably because they think you would be hostile to me."

　A smile suddenly appeared on Athena's lips: "It's alright, I can just snatch it."

　Ergane sighed, "I told you it was impossible." Athena replied, "Why not? Is it beneath them to become subordinate deities of the Goddess of War and Wisdom? Even if they could ascend to godhood on their own, unless they were the first to become a Magic God, they still couldn't compare to me."

　Ergane said, "So, that's a matter for later." Athena said, "But after that, not just anyone can become my god."

　Ergani poured her a cup of tea.

　Athena took a sip of tea and immediately said, "It has to be lemon black tea." Ergane sighed and suddenly said, "Why don't you just go and snatch them away?"

　Athena laughed and said, "I knew you would say that. It's no big deal."

　However, despite this, Athena didn't actually take any action. Her targets were Alvitt and Claire. But not to make them "chosen ones," nor simply as an investment; she wanted "their future."

　Unlike most people who believe that "once the magic path is forged, the world will be at peace," Athena believes that the forging of the magic path is the beginning of chaos.

　Once the magical path is forged, the entire magical system will mature, and the gods attached to the magical rituals will naturally accelerate their revival.

　As more and more gods complete their resurrection, chaos is inevitable! On one hand...

　The gods who revive first certainly don't want the gods who haven't been revived to revive. On the other hand...

　The path of magic and divinity does indeed easily tempt people to greed, and those gods cannot interfere with the established divine path itself. But capturing a few magic gods and forcibly taking them as subordinate gods isn't unreasonable, is it?

　The reason why gods are gods is because they are not human and do not act according to human moral values.

　Gods like Polopus the Twelve, who clearly belong to the "order side," are actually quite rare.

　Even the Twelve Celestials wouldn't fight simply to maintain order. Once the magical path is forged, the warriors will obtain everything they desire, and naturally, there will be no reason for them to "work wholeheartedly."

　Don't delude yourself into thinking that the Twelve Celestials will become archmages, or even the guardians of humanity.

　That was impossible from the start.

　Humanity will ultimately need to protect itself. And the Archmage is destined to endure hardship, in accordance with Athena's "foresight."

　Magisters like Alvitt and Principal Arte are actually at their most valuable after becoming Magisters.

　If they don't have strong enough protection by then, that will be the most dangerous time for them.

　But ultimately, this was merely Athena's prediction of the future. Ergane's order for Sleeve to snatch Alvit and Claire wasn't for this reason.

　I just feel that it was a bad consequence caused by my own "concealment." So, if I could make amends even a little, that would be even better.

　After all, at least she's in the camp of the "Goddess of War and Wisdom".

　As for Athena's "foresight".

　Ergane also had her own "vision".

　"Humans need humans to protect them, and mages need strong enough protection. So all they need is for them or him to become the first mage god."

　Dark was unaware that such high expectations had been placed upon him.

　But as he looked around in boredom, he discovered Athena casually flattering Ergane.

　He then immediately realized that the girl who had asked him to comment on "The Sunflower of God" must be Athena in disguise.

　He turned and glanced at Apollo, the "god of light," who was singing and dancing among a group of artists, and increasingly felt that the twelve gods were not really reliable.

　"In the end, you still have to rely on yourself."

　Thinking this, Dark stood up from his seat and decided to first greet Athena and, incidentally, find out about Pao's attitude towards Ergane and the academy.

　……

　Just as mentioned earlier.

　This rooftop garden does not restrict the movement of those invited to the tea party.

　As long as they are willing to bear the consequences, invitees can cross the flower and grass fence at any time and enter the venue belonging to other gods.

　Therefore, after confirming that Apollo didn't care about this at all, Darke simply went around to the outside and entered the meeting place of the "Goddess of War and Wisdom".

　The venue was filled with his "acquaintances." After greeting them one by one, he approached Ergane and Athena, bowed, inquired, and successfully took his seat.

　Having received Athena's permission, Darke wisely refrained from mentioning "The Sunflowers of God".

　That kind of pointless test behavior does indeed seem like something an elderly person tens of thousands of years old would do.

　As a young man, he still respected the elderly and cared for the young to some extent. But as soon as he sat down, he heard Athena ask, "You seem troubled." Athena had golden hair, a dignified appearance, bright eyes, white teeth, and skin as smooth and white as ivory.

　As one of the most famous goddesses in the world, Athena has multiple identities and images in mythology.

　Chi has been described as the daughter of Zeus, also known as the "Lady of the Labyrinth," and was once a great ruler and a sublime queen.

　But at this time and in this place, she was just a young goddess who looked only slightly older than Ergan.

　Commonly known as "pretending to be young".

　However, a god is a god after all. Even if he pretends to be young, he is still a "god pretending to be young." Even if he speaks like a charlatan, he is still a "god in the form of a charlatan."

　Dark sighed softly and said, "I am troubled at all times." Although he could not sense the emotional fluctuations of Athena or Ergane, he could still capture the "atmosphere" in the air.

　It was an "atmosphere" where you could make all sorts of jokes.

　Like Apollo, Athena appears to be very "approachable".

　But in reality, the two are worlds apart. Apollo was "approachable" to all humans, while Athens only treated certain types of people equally.

　Fortunately, although he didn't know why, Dark felt that he was among that small group of "specific humans".

　"Want some divination?" Athena asked, narrowing her eyes with ill intent. Dark, equally narrowing his eyes, replied, "Sure, it's not impossible." Athena is the "Goddess of Wisdom," "Goddess of Art," "Goddess of Crafts," "Goddess of War," "Goddess of Agriculture," "Goddess of Navigation," "Goddess of Animal Husbandry"... in short, she possesses numerous divine titles and wields countless powers. But Dark had never heard of her being the "Goddess of Fate."

　However, in reality, many laws are interconnected. As a god whose primary function is "wisdom," it is not surprising that he might indeed hold some power over destiny.

　While he was pondering, Dark saw Athena very deftly take out a bunch of magic cards, which turned out to be a complete set of "Tarot" cards!

　Tarot decks are generally divided into two types. One type is a deck that is composed of a few tarot cards as its core, and the other type is a special deck that collects all twenty-two Major Arcana cards.

　The latter cannot be constructed without a deep understanding of Tarot cards. Of course, if you are simply using a Tarot deck as a divination tool, then any way you construct it will work.

　However, judging from Athena's appearance, she shouldn't be that superficial.

　Athena placed the "Tarot" deck on the table and said, "Without further ado, draw the cards."

　Dark almost thought that Robe was about to unleash a duel domain. "A few?" he asked.

　Athena glared at him and said, "A few questions, just a few cards." Dark thought for a moment, then drew three cards from the deck one by one.

　All three cards were face down on the table and were not turned over.

　……

　By this time, the people around had noticed what was happening and were quietly gathering around.

　It's quite rare to see the "Goddess of Wisdom" personally divining for the gods.

　Moreover, the one being divined was Darkdemon.

Chapter 1673 Darkdemon and Athena's Divination (2/3)

　Sarah Swati hid behind Professor Armstrong, peeking out with only half her face visible.

　"Silent Sage" Buckner Cyrus leaned on his cane, his back hunched, his gaze fixed on the three magic cards on the table.

　"The Sage of Reason," Gao Luogeng Doyle, stood alone in a corner, appearing quite aloof.

　Athena's camp consisted of only nine invitees, and she herself clearly had no interest in managing them, so she simply let them do as they pleased.

　These people were completely clueless about what to do, and now that something fun had finally come along, why wouldn't they watch it closely?

　Dak pressed his finger on the back of one of the tarot cards, and after some consideration, decided not to turn it over without permission.

　“Three cards, three questions,” Athena said. “Tell me the question you wish to ask.”

　Dak thought for a moment and said, "Love, studies, career." What he really wanted to say was "past, present, and future," but thankfully he corrected himself in time.

　But as soon as he finished speaking, Athena said, "Too ordinary, start over."

　After a long silence, Dak said again, "Humanity, Earth, and Heaven."

　Athena nodded with slight satisfaction, then slapped Dark's hand away from the tarot cards and began flipping the cards from left to right.

　Regardless of whether he actually studied tarot cards, this divination procedure was far too crude.

　However, since the robe represents the "goddess of wisdom," let's call it "The Great Way is Simple."

　As he flipped the cards, he said, "Humanity is the principle of humankind and the continuation of life."

　→【Lovers (reversed)】

　"The 'Lovers' symbolizes union, the union of love, and the continuation of life, but unfortunately it's reversed."

　Athena, with a smile, pushed the reversed "Lovers" card in front of Dark and said...

　In short, beware of temptation.

　Dac took the "Lovers" tarot card into his hand and remained silent. He was waiting for Athena to interpret it.

　However, Athena did not provide an in-depth explanation of this divination, but instead directly turned over the second tarot card.

　"The way of the earth is the law governing the operation of all things on earth." → [Lovers]

　"Oh, this time it's upright. It seems that if you want to make further progress in your study of the principles governing the workings of all things, you still need the help of teachers, partners, relatives, and friends. However, those who follow the Way receive much help, while those who stray from the Way receive little help; never lose sight of your true self."

　Athena once again presented the upright "Lovers" card to Darko, and then directly flipped over the third tarot card.

　"The Way of Heaven is the mystery of nature, the law of the world, which transcends humanity and ascends to the divine position."

　→【Tower】

　"The Tower" in the correct orientation...

　Athena stopped speaking abruptly, then looked up at Dark and pushed the "tower" in front of him.

　"These three tarot cards are for you."

　"Lover" reversed.

　The Lovers (upright). The Tower (upright).

　Three questions, three tarot cards.

　Dark did not refuse, and accepted the three tarot cards one by one, holding them in his hand.

　He looked at the tarot card, pondering its meaning carefully, and at a certain moment suddenly...

　Looking up, I realized that Athena was no longer there.

　"Where did Sleeve go?" Dark asked.

　Ergani rested her chin on her hand and looked at him: "They went to kidnap someone."

　"Take people? Who should we take?" Dark asked.