While waiting for the entity to arrive, Aurelion gathered Lucas’s scattered daggers and moved them into my dominion. Despite the apparent importance of the situation, my angel remained relaxed. Either he did not allow the tension to get to him, or he simply did not consider meeting a possible emissary of another god to be a particularly significant event.
For Aurelion, perhaps only battle - truly risking his life for his god - was something capable of making his blood race and his pulse quicken.
In the meantime, the entity and their mount descended toward the ground, though they made sure to keep a safe distance. That was good. It meant they were wary of Aurelion and recognized him as a threat. If they had been bold enough to land right beside him, I would have been far more concerned.
The lizard-like creature I had initially taken for a dragon turned out to be a subspecies instead. That made sense.
Caught up in the moment after seeing a massive flying reptile, I had assumed it was a dragon. But how could a dragon, the species that I knew for a fact had a god, lower itself enough to allow a human to ride it? Besides, the god of dragons could not also be a god of humans. That alone ruled it out.
Still, curiosity got the better of me, and I checked the beast using Guidance.
[Wyvern - A dragon subspecies that lacks the intelligence and power of their ancestors. In very rare cases, a wyvern can surpass a weaker dragon if its bloodline is exceptional.]
The fact that Guidance worked at all told me there was no God of Wyverns. From experience, I knew that inspecting creatures bound to another god was impossible. Aside from the system’s suspicious mention that some wyverns could rival dragons, the information was largely what I had expected.
As the rider jumped down, completely concealed beneath a robe, the wyvern shrieked at Aurelion. Tensing the small spikes on the back of its head and neck, it tried to intimidate my angel, who was as large as the beast itself. And that was with his wings closed.
Disliking the beast's reaction, Aurelion shifted his gaze from the cloaked figure to the wyvern, his scarlet eyes landing on the lizard.
It instantly stopped its antics and lowered its head.
Hehe, it has sharp instincts.
Not only was my ego stroked, but I felt genuinely proud of Aurelion. This was probably the first time one of my subordinates was overwhelmingly stronger than their opponent, rather than the other way around. And it felt really pleasant.
Noticing the shift in the wyvern’s demeanor, the cloaked figure reached out a hand, pale and far too slender to belong to a man, and gently brushed the side of the beast’s head.
“Don’t be scared. The goddess will protect us,” she said.
I froze.
She was speaking English.
My biggest concern had been the communication barrier. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to understand her tongue, and by extension, neither would Aurelion. Solving that wouldn't have been easy. How was I supposed to design a spell that would translate a language I didn't even know?
Even so, I had been willing to take the risk. An angel refusing to communicate would not necessarily appear hostile, as long as Aurelion did not kill anyone.
But now that I confirmed she was speaking English, I quickly relayed her words to Aurelion, letting him know that I understood her language.
“Lord, I understand their tongue,” he whispered back.
How?
Were angels born with their god’s knowledge? That didn’t make sense. If that were the case, Aurelion would know far more about me than he did. Yes, we shared a close connection, and at times he could sense my emotions, but knowledge was something else entirely. That had never been shared between us.
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After calming the beast, the woman turned toward Aurelion.
“Oh, warrior of the God,” she said, bowing slightly. “I am a humble servant of the Goddess of Motherhood and Fertility, Athena.”
Athena?
Even if my memories from Earth were a little blurry, I was still confident that Athena was the Goddess of War. I doubted the woman was lying to Aurelion, there was no reason for her to do so, but the goddess named Athena was simply too convenient, especially when I knew I wasn’t the only earthling who had become a deity.
After a moment of consideration, I decided the simplest explanation was the most likely one. Athena was a human who had chosen the name because she liked it. Perhaps she had been Greek in her previous life and wanted to bring a fragment of that culture with her into this world. Or maybe it was truly nothing but a coincidence. Either way, it wasn’t particularly important. Not until I had more information, at least.
“I am a son of my Lord,” Aurelion responded firmly. The feathers on his wings shifted, shivering for a brief moment.
Despite all the pride Aurelion put into his words, they must’ve meant next to nothing to the woman. He practically revealed nothing about me or himself. But the cloaked figure didn’t show displeasure as she continued.
“My Lady wishes to express goodwill and make it known that She has taken no offense,” the woman continued. “However, the dark elf you rescued has killed one of my sisters.”
The dark elf? Could it be that the humans don’t know about velmoryns?
If my guess was correct - that other gods were unable to use Guidance - then it made sense. There were barely five velmoryns outside my forest to begin with. Only a very few must have known about their existence.
What I didn’t understand, however, was why she had approached Aurelion so carefully.
“My Lady requests that the God of Elves punish him justly,” the woman added, “so that my sister may rest in peace.”
So that was it.
She thought I was the God of Elves. She must have heard legends about the Goddess’s power and assumed I was her. If I had believed I was dealing with one of the strongest gods in the world, I would have acted the same way. Honestly, I would have been relieved they simply rescued their subordinate and left.
From Athena’s perspective, a conflict with me would seem undesirable.
Even so, something about the request - and the fact that she had taken the initiative - didn’t sit right with me.
“Lord?” Aurelion asked. “How should I respond? Are you going to punish him?”
I hesitated.
Under normal circumstances, I would have promised them whatever they wanted to avoid conflict and then acted in whatever way suited me afterward. But this time, I felt the need to test whether what the caution Athena was showing was genuine.
I was still looking for allies against the Night God. If Athena turned out to be weak or easily pressured, she wouldn’t be much help in an actual fight. But, she could still be useful as a source of information. It was a risky move, but my initial plan was to pull Aurelion back into my realm the second I sensed danger - I could always do that.
“No father will slaughter their child, even if they have sinned,” I replied, trying to win some loyalty points with Aurelion while I was at it.
“My King…” he muttered, clenching his fists as his gaze became fierce. Far too fierce.
The wyvern reacted at once, letting out a shrill cry. This time it wasn’t trying to appear larger or threatening. Instead, it shrank back, its body trembling.
The woman took an instinctive step away as well.
“My Lord’s judgement can not be swayed!” Aurelion said, forcing the words into what he clearly believed was the most respectful phrasing he could manage. “His will is absolute!”
The woman clasped her hands in front of her chest. An amulet hung from her right hand. It was made of silver, featuring an intricate and delicate design of grape leaves engraved into the metal. At the bottom of the medallion hung a heart-shaped ruby.
I sensed divine energy around the stone. It was faint, pink in color.
It felt nothing like the divine presence surrounding the temple. That power had been overwhelming, authoritative, and absolute. This was the opposite. Timid. Gentle.
“My Lady understands,” the woman said. “She would not be willing to punish Her children either.”
She lowered her hands, though the divine energy around the amulet did not fade.
“Oh, great warrior,” she continued. “My Lady has a request for your Lord.”
She extended the amulet toward Aurelion. He accepted it without hesitation.
I didn’t even have time to stop him.
The divine energy around the ruby surged outward and wrapped around Aurelion’s form.
I immediately prepared to channel my power into the mortal world in case I failed to pull him into my realm. Penalties be damned. I would gladly pay any price if it would keep my angel alive.
But Athena’s divinity didn’t harm him.
It brushed against him harmlessly. More than that, I could feel it clearly.
He was enjoying it.
[The Goddess of Motherhood and Fertility requests permission to visit your kingdom.]