Ikenga caught himself before he spoke further, realizing he was straying toward a dangerous path. To suggest a fundamental shift in Maul's doctrine now would be to tamper with the very foundation of his divinity, a reckless move for any ascended god. A god's nature was not a coat to be tailored for comfort; it was the bone and marrow of their power.
Besides, as Ikenga looked at his son, he realized Maul's "unpopularity" was actually a strategic blessing.
The current powerhouses of this world were rarely oriented toward pure, direct combat. Ikenga looked inward with a grim honesty; despite his victories, his own divinity was not built for a brawl.
It wasn't that he was weak; his victories over the sixth-tier mages had been absolute. But those battles had taught him a lesson about the nature of divinity, It was a Clash of Concepts. At their level, combat was no longer about who can punch a mountain into dust; it's about whose "Definition of Reality" is more absolute.
