Harry Potter: BE a GOD

Murphy had anticipated Apollo's astonishment.

Apollo naturally couldn't know that Murphy didn't have any so-called priesthoods.

He wasn't a god at all.

His power was still magical, not having been tainted by faith to become "divine power." It merely seemed vast and somewhat similar to that of the gods due to having absorbed significant divine power from entities like the god Pan and the three-headed god.

In fact, Murphy believed that these gods, although they wielded divine power, knew nothing of its essence.

The more fundamental and numerous the priesthoods, the better the quality of the divine power—Murphy saw this as merely an aspect of the "pay-for-power effect" of magic.

The so-called priesthoods or faith are essentially a philosophical methodology and worldview that explain the universe.

The more refined and closer this methodology and worldview are to the actual laws of the material world and its phenomena, the greater the changes divine power can bring about in reality, and thus the stronger and higher quality it appears.

However, Murphy's magic contained no "philosophical concepts" or "worldly rules."

The "universe" unique to Murphy, as seen by Apollo, was not a "philosophical universe" or "mental universe" constructed from "priesthoods," "concepts," "imagery," or "laws," but rather a different form of "material reality" identical to the external real world.

This material reality was built on Murphy's precise perception of the microscopic world and his manipulation of magic.

Before his time travels, he had achieved atomic-level sensory perception through accessing tools like the electron tunneling microscope and other ultra-precise detection devices, along with microscopic magical control capabilities through ultra-precise magic probes. The quantum slash he used in his previous fight against the three-faced god was a manifestation of this level of control over magic.

Now, he was merely extending this control to the space around him.

Under this atomic-level magical control capability, the four fundamental forces could be twisted, and the most basic and foundational rules of the universe could be rewritten.

In a sense, this truly was a universe of his own.

Of course, even after this period of familiarization, rewriting the fundamental material reality remained exceedingly difficult, and he was only able to gradually figure out some tricks because he had a vast amount of divine power to squander freely.

However, at the moment, Murphy was not preparing for a battle with Apollo. Having intimidated his opponent, he then dispersed his control over his magic.

Apollo felt as if a mountain had been lifted off his head, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"I only want divine power," Murphy said. "Just share some of the divine power you currently possess with me. I have no use for your priesthoods."

For deities, divine power is just a consumable; as long as the priesthood and faith remain intact, divine power will continuously flow. Therefore, most gods do not particularly value divine power; if depleted, they just need some rest to naturally recover.

And even if other gods were to take someone else's divine power, it would only be a one-time thing that runs out once used, almost meaningless—only priesthoods are fundamental.

Thus, when Murphy mentioned wanting divine power, Apollo instinctively thought he was after his priesthoods. Once he understood, he was greatly relieved.

"So it was a misunderstanding," Apollo said openly. "But since it's just divine power, why should I be stingy?"

He raised his right hand, and a ball of light surged into his palm, forming a solid-like sphere of divine power, which he then tossed to Murphy.

"This is half of my divine power, consider it compensation."

Murphy gladly accepted.

The two then discussed some specifics. Apollo promised to cover for Murphy as much as possible among the gods, allowing him to act freely. Murphy, in return, vowed to keep Apollo's matters confidential and to do his best to spread the epic of the Nibelungen Ring, digging a deep pit for Wotan and the Norse pantheon he created.

After a satisfying exchange, Apollo left Murphy with a gift of a golden fleece before departing.

Murphy recognized it, even familiar with the residual magic upon it.

When asked about its origins, Apollo explained, "There was once a sheep god, defiant and often at odds with me. I've slain him several times; this is his divine body from a previous life, also somewhat miraculous. It can continuously produce gold. You'll find it useful in spreading legends among mortals."

Murphy pondered for a moment, understanding some things.

It was still before the Common Era; the Christian God had not yet appeared, and Pan was naturally still alive.

This fleece, similar to Pan's, likely belonged to Pan's previous identity: the Egyptian ram god Khnum.

Thinking back, Khnum was killed by Amon of Thebes.

And later, Amon merged with the Egyptian sun god Ra.

Murphy looked at Apollo with

 a nuanced expression.

This god might not be as young and rash as he seemed.

If Zeus could create an avatar in the North to leave a way out for himself, couldn't other gods do the same?

Or perhaps, had the old gods not done so already?

Apollo was so familiar with Zeus's strategies—could there be another reason?

...

After Apollo's departure, Murphy took the divine power and the Golden Fleece and left the tomb.

Walking casually along a tree-lined path, he contemplated his plan.

He had originally intended to use the Ring of the Nibelung as an experiment to test methods of guiding and controlling gods through legends.

Now, while the experiment was not yet fully deployed, it had mostly yielded the expected feedback.

Apollo's interest in the story of the Nibelung Ring had already demonstrated the influence legends could have on gods, even capable of altering their fate.

But Murphy felt it was still not enough; something was missing.

Even if he could use the Nibelung Ring to incite Ragnarok and reshuffle the Norse pantheon, those gods might not necessarily die. They might use the chaos to absorb other gods, switch identities, and reappear elsewhere under different guises, like Zeus's avatar or possibly even Pan or Apollo's origins.

In that case, his so-called "guidance" and "control" would merely stir up storms, serving as bridal clothes for the later gods, meaningless in breaking free from the overall control of deities.

He seemed to have walked into another dead end.

Known: As long as faith endures, gods do not die.

Also known: The so-called checks among gods only lead to a zero-sum game.

Question: How to weaken gods as a whole? How to suppress them?

Murphy looked up.

A breeze came, and the shadows of the trees fluttered, their rustling sounds like whispers, almost as if the myriad gods were mocking his futile efforts.

They said:

"This problem has no solution."

Yet Murphy kept walking, his mind still searching for a possibility he might have overlooked.

"Although legends can influence gods, gods have their own consciousness and won't follow a preset script. Therefore, they can use legends for their own purposes, which is a flaw in the legend-guidance route."

"However, this route isn't entirely without merit."

"The key is how to make the gods willingly participate in the script."

"The core issue is the information gap."

"Legends are transparent; all plots are already public. I have no information advantage over the gods, thus I can't control them using this."

"But what if I create an information gap?"

"Deception…"

Slowly, a new line of thought formed in Murphy's mind.

"Yes, deception."

"I need a different story, not to guide mortals this time, but to lead gods to believe something…"

"Having them fight each other is meaningless. What matters is restraint, is regulation, is blockade, is isolation…"

"They vie for priesthoods, yet disregard divine power…"

"But divine power is the foundation of influencing the real world…"

He felt as if he was touching an important node, an idea almost within reach.

However, at that moment, the sky suddenly darkened, the wind ceased, and the world turned monochrome as if all color had been stripped from the space, and the sunlight turned utterly cold. A chilling, deadly, and decayed sensation suddenly descended.

A man in a black robe appeared from a gust of chilly wind, a deep dark portal opening behind him, leading into an abyssal depth.

"Hades."

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