[The Goddess of Motherhood and Fertility requests permission to visit your kingdom.]
I was conflicted. Normally, this should have excited me. A god who was clearly weaker than me had just asked for permission to enter my dominion. Under ordinary circumstances, that would have been an opportunity, or at the very least a promising development.
But instead, I felt more uncertain than before.
Is she truly this careless, or am I missing something?
What if the Goddess of Motherhood and Fertility was scheming? What if the way she revealed her lack of strength, or how she backed down after I refused to punish the velmoryn, was nothing more than a carefully prepared trap?
The growing uncertainty, along with the sheer number of unanswered questions, was starting to get to me, so I forced myself to slow down and reconsider what her motives might actually be.
If she really was as careless as she appeared, then trying to imagine how I would act in her place would only mislead me. I valued caution. I rarely made moves I believed were riskier than they were safe. If I had been in her position, I would have never even approached Aurelion. I would have let him leave, the velmoryn included, and avoided the risk entirely.
But that comparison was pointless. This wasn’t me. This was Athena. The Goddess of Motherhood and Fertility.
Even the simple fact that her believers spoke English, that they called velmoryns dark elves, and most importantly, the name Athena, made me think she missed her previous life far more than I ever had.
It had been almost a year since I became a god, and not once had I seriously considered finding a way back. Let alone a way back, I hadn’t even wanted to bring anything from Earth into this world. Well, aside from a few details that were actually useful to my believers and me. Sanitation, for example, had obvious value.
But Athena… there was a good chance that even her name was the result of nostalgia tied to Earth. Perhaps it wasn’t her real name, but just the fact that she was willing to reveal some part of herself to her believers spoke of carelessness. It seemed she still hadn’t fully realized what kind of world she had ended up in. Otherwise, how could she justify the risk of coming to me, a god she believed to be the powerful God of Elves?
Wait, perhaps she values her believers a little too much? Maybe that’s why she revealed her name to them, and why she was willing to risk confronting my angel in the first place.
I paused.
I’m overthinking. Let’s just sum her up. What exactly is my impression of her? What kind of person do I think Athena is?
She was careless. That was my first impression of her, and also what troubled me the most. And that Authority - Motherhood and Fertility…
How the hell had she even obtained it?
Considering that her strength was weaker than mine, she had probably become a god after me. Or at least not much earlier than I had. Otherwise, she should’ve been stronger. Unless, she had made some serious mistakes in her carelessness…
What was the question the system asked me? Oh right - choose your race. It told me to choose a race, not a domain or an authority. So how did she manage to become a God of Motherhood and Fertility?
I could have rejected her request and not allowed her to visit my dominion, especially since I had no idea if other gods could use their powers there. But I needed information. Allies. And… I wanted to figure out whether there was a hidden way of obtaining authority.
I already knew two. Gaining control over the race of one’s believers and stealing it from other gods. But perhaps there was more. Perhaps Athena, unknowingly, would unlock a new path for me.
Convincing myself to let her visit my dominion, I turned my attention back to Lucas and the velmoryn who had been writhing in pain this entire time. Letting him suffer had been my way of punishing him for hurting Lucas. But the truth was, I was barely angry at him. At least, not anymore.
I stirred some of my divinity, allowing the crimson energy to surround him and mend the bones sticking out from his arms, along with internal damage.
I deliberately left some of the injuries untreated. Moving him to Eriavel would be safe only if he remained wounded.
For now, I would let Tekla and the rest of my believers deal with him. I believed I first needed to understand his personality before deciding how to extract the information I wanted and, ultimately, turn him into one of my believers. Otherwise, I would lose any chance of earning the loyalty of a very unique and talented velmoryn.
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Even though Gold Rank individuals were no longer rare in Eriavel, a large portion of them were those I had personally blessed. It was still extremely uncommon for a velmoryn to reach Gold Rank on their own at such a young age.
Satisfied with the velmoryn’s condition, I shifted my focus to Lucas. I returned his daggers to their sheaths and decided to reward him later.
But first, I needed to welcome the very first deity into my dominion. Well, I had technically hosted Pintre and V before, but the former could barely be considered a deity, and V was not a true body of the God of Merchants. That gave Athena the honor of being the first.
I quickly checked whether Mirion was in the tribe and placed the velmoryn beside him, giving brief instructions on who the man was and what he was supposed to do. I didn’t want him tortured or punished, but they still needed to be very careful with him.
Lucas, however, I moved to his own house. I had been genuinely impressed by the devotion he showed, and this was my way of acknowledging it.
Taking care of other matters in a careless, but still somewhat adequate way, I shifted my attention back to the notification window and willed Athena to be allowed entry.
My entire realm trembled as pink divine energy swirled into existence before the God of Velmoryn seated on the throne. I could feel Athena pouring more and more of her divinity into the small vortex of her divine energy, yet despite that, she struggled to even maintain what little she already had. My own divinity was stubbornly consuming it.
Blue windows flooded my vision.
[Warning: You’ve gained 1 Divinity Points!] [Warning: You’ve gained 1 Divinity Points!] [Warning: You’ve gained 1 Divinity Points!] [Warning: You’ve gained 1 Divinity Points!] …
Having absolutely no desire to stop my divinity from consuming hers, I happily accepted the involuntary gift. Only after counting ninety-six did Athena’s form finally materialize, and the swirling divinity come to a halt, though her entire frame was still covered in the same faint pink sheen.
To my surprise - and a bit of jealousy - she had a complete form.
Her golden hair, reflecting a soft pink light, was tied tightly at the back of her head, exposing a tall, slender neck. Her eyes were a stark green, freckles scattered across the bridge of her nose and upper cheeks. She wore a long white gown that did little to conceal her light caramel skin.
In that moment, I confirmed that I truly was detached from mortal desires. Otherwise, stopping myself from basking in her beauty would have been impossible.
“Welcome to my kingdom,” I said, making my manifestation spread its hands slightly in a hospitable gesture.
I avoided addressing her directly on purpose. I wanted to see what words she would choose without me setting the tone.
“Pleasure is all mine, Your Lordship,” she said. Contrary to my low, rough voice that vibrated through the entire realm, hers was soft and soothing, like being submerged in warm water. “I’ve never seen a dominion that is both oppressive and beautiful like Yours. I praise Your creativity.”
So she has seen quite a few dominions?
I was immediately alarmed. The weak and submissive image of Athena I had formed in my mind cracked.
Then I had an idea. Even if she was a deity, she was in my dominion now. Some restrictions should have been lifted.
Guidance.
For the very first time, I saw my Guidance work visually. My divinity surged toward Athena, violently crashing into her. The pink aura around her melted away almost instantly as my crimson energy scattered it.
[Successfully identified your target's status - your Radiance is far superior to theirs. Most information could not be collected due to the difference in Rank.][Name: ???? (Athena); Rank: Ascendant Sovereign; Radiance: Mixed; Skill: ????, Granting Progeny; Believers: 50000+; Angels: 0]
Her Rank is higher than mine, but her Radiance is the same as Aurelion’s.
Although her Rank seemed high at first, after seeing the number of believers she had, I wasn’t nearly as impressed. For someone with more than six times my believers, her progress was nothing to be proud of. Especially considering she didn’t even have an angel.
I wanted to confirm whether her skill - Granting Progeny - actually did what the name implied, but Guidance refused to provide further details. And I agreed that I was probably asking for too much.
“I haven’t come empty-handed,” Athena continued, smiling in a way that was almost mesmerizing. She had clearly failed to sense Guidance. Either that or her acting was nothing short of flawless. “After learning that Your Lordship is interested in those cruel…” She stopped abruptly, clearing her throat as if to dismiss what she had said. “After I learned that You are interested in those dark elves, I asked one of my fellow deities for help and managed to find an interesting specimen.”
Asked for help, and then looked for another velmoryn? Lucas was running for less than a few minutes…
The lie was obvious. But I chose to ignore it, though I made sure not to play along either. I didn’t want her thinking she had fooled me. Besides, I wasn’t impressed. I was connected to every single velmoryn. As long as they were part of my race, I could find them anywhere. Whatever information she was about to offer was, by definition, worthless to me.
“Gifts given freely often carry expectations,” I said.
“Oh, I would not dare,” Athena replied. “My request is not a price for my gift. It is merely a proposal - one I believe would benefit Your Lordship as well.”
She gasped softly, shaking her head as if realizing she had forgotten something.
“My apologies. I forgot to mention that the dark elf I found is a vampire… or as they prefer to call themselves, a sanguine.” She chuckled. “I hope that poor creature still interests You.”