A coin shaped like a swan floated before the God of Velmoryn, spinning faster and faster until its form blurred into a perfect sphere. The sphere brightened as familiar pink divinity seeped into it, and then, with a soft burst, it vanished, Athena’s figure emerging in its place.
“I am honored that you chose to join forces with me,” she said after offering a small bow.
She wore a black gown, swans woven into it with golden thread. Unlike her previous attire, this one concealed more than it revealed, giving her a more composed, dignified presence.
“I have not. I summoned you for a different reason.”
Even when Athena’s warm smile faded, and her eyes widened, I didn’t bother explaining further.
Instead, I channeled my divinity to force a vision into her mind.
It wasn’t necessary. She would have accepted it willingly if I had simply told her. But I wanted to remind her who held authority here and what defying me would cost.
As my crimson energy surged toward her, Athena reacted instantly, channeling her own. A pink aura burst from her, far greater than the last time—she had clearly learned from her mistake and somehow managed to bring much more of her divinity into my realm.
For a brief moment, I got worried.
What if my superior Radiance alone wasn’t enough against overwhelming numbers? I had no doubt she possessed more Divinity Points than I did.
The clash of crimson and pink didn’t last long.
My restlessness quickly faded as my divinity began consuming hers. The more it advanced, the clearer the outcome became, and the more satisfied I was with my decision to intimidate her.
[Warning: You’ve gained 1 Divinity Point!][Warning: You’ve gained 1 Divinity Point!][Warning: You’ve gained 1 Divinity Point!]…
Hundreds of blue windows flooded my vision until nothing remained but my crimson energy, violently coiling around Athena.
“Your Lordship…” she pleaded, her face pale, her eyes wide with panic, as my divinity broke through her last defenses and invaded her.
The same satisfying sensation bloomed as I grasped her essence—her core. It was radiant, almost beautiful, with her emotions seeping from it.
I had failed to fully understand it before, and even now, the moment was too brief.
The instant I sensed her core and began to understand it, my divinity was pushed back and a new barrier formed.
Her essence is purer than my Radiance… how?!
Fear deepened on Athena’s face as the vision settled in her mind. Even after my divinity withdrew, it took her a long moment to recover.
“I…” she stammered. “I had no choice.”
So she already realized it’s me the Night God is preparing his army for…
“It is not the lack of choice I hold you responsible for,” I said calmly. “You asked for my help against your foe, yet you now gather forces alongside him.”
“No, I’m not,” Athena replied quickly, taking a step forward. “I didn’t announce recruitment in places beyond Noah’s reach. But I couldn’t defy him completely.”
I had been waiting for her thoughts to reach me, and once my dominion finally overwhelmed her, the first fragments began to drift into my mind.
“…if he decides I’m his enemy, he might force another contract, one with far worse conditions. No, he might even try to kill me. I have that artifact… no, he might hear me. I shouldn’t think about anything important, but how else am I supposed to answer him…”
“All I want…” she continued. “All I want is to stay neutral. To not stand between two gods stronger than me. I am grateful you didn’t force me to help you. I’ll be honest, I was angry at first. I felt betrayed when you forced that contract on me. But after thinking about it, I realized you were only securing your safety. Compared to that bastard… you are kind.”
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She likely thought that would please me, or at the very least flatter me.
It didn’t.
Was she being honest? Perhaps. But actions carried more weight than words.
“No, I am not kind,” I replied. “Nor do I try to appear so. But I am fair. When I limited the restrictions on your ability to reveal my secrets, I was fair to you. But how did you repay me?”
The God of Velmoryn tapped a finger against the throne, tilting slightly to the side.
“Shit… I’m in trouble… fuck you, Noah…”
Her thoughts slipped through, her wide eyes fixed on my manifestation.
“I thought we had an understanding,” I continued. “Until I learned you were building an army alongside your enemy… our enemy. At first, I decided you had no choice. I hoped you would come to me and explain—”
“I was going to, I swear!” Athena cut me off, her voice rising as my divinity began drifting toward her. “I… I just want to stay neutral. I swear, I’ll make sure my believers who join Noah’s army are weakened. Yes! I’ll curse them with weakness, with nausea! But I can’t disobey him, or else I’ll violate my contract and lose my Authority.”
As my divinity stopped advancing, the tension in her body eased slightly.
“It is not I who dragged you into this war,” I said. “But now that you are part of it, you cannot remain neutral. You have no choice but to take a side. Right here, right now.”
The color drained from Athena’s caramel skin. Apparently, even a god’s complexion could be affected by their emotions.
“He lied to me,” her fragmented thoughts reached me. “He said he would not start recruiting for two more months… shit, if I had known, I wouldn’t have come… no, nothing is lost yet. I’ve done nothing wrong. Please, God of Velmoryn, please believe me…”
I wasn’t certain I could trust her thoughts. Especially when I realized I couldn’t read her mind at all times. Only fragments reached me. Relying on them alone would be foolish.
“Please understand, I cannot fight against Noah. If I do, I will violate my contract. But I can provide information about him! Yes, I can do that much,” she said, retreating as my divinity advanced toward her once more. “WAIT! PLEASE!”
I had felt sympathy toward her at first. I had even considered using her to my advantage while being as fair to her as I could. But the more I spoke with her, the less trustworthy she seemed. My only reliable option was a divine contract, and that risked alerting the Pantheon.
I didn’t want that.
The last of my hesitation faded, and I took control of my divinity myself.
My entire realm trembled as a massive wave of crimson rose and surged toward Athena.
Her green eyes widened, reflecting the scarlet as she stumbled and fell, her hand raised as if she could stop it. Then, with the faintest flash of pink, an amulet appeared in her grasp, red divinity seeping from it like molten metal.
Seeing the artifact and knowing full well how powerful they were, I realized I needed to be more decisive. The wave of my divinity roared. Faster. Stronger.
The crimson engulfed her just as the amulet shattered, and blazing flames erupted from it, forming a sphere.
Whose divinity is this?!
Heat spread through my dominion as my scarlet, mist-like divinity clashed with that foreign red, dense and molten.
This time the blue windows didn’t appear.
But the red ones did.
[Warning: Destruction consumed 1 Divinity Point!][Warning: Destruction consumed 1 Divinity Point!][Warning: Destruction consumed 1 Divinity Point!]…
My initial confidence faltered under this unfamiliar power. I quickly realized that standing idle and relying on Destruction alone would cost me a lot.
For the first time since becoming a god, I moved to fight.
With both hands stretched forward, I grasped my divinity. It had been moving chaotically, scattering against the sphere. I steadied it, forcing it to flow around the barrier, trapping everything that was inside.
Only after shaping it into a perfect outer sphere—larger, enclosing the one inside—did I strike again.
The two divinities clashed again, but the difference became clear immediately. The blazing energy took exactly as much damage as I did—every bit of my energy erased an equal amount of the other.
That continued until I figured out how to maintain the flow and direct the attack at the same time.
Instead of relying on brute force, I shaped my energy into a lance and thrust it into the barrier. The blazing sphere held for a brief moment, maintaining its perfect form, until I finally broke through.
That was when the blue windows began to appear.
[Warning: You’ve gained 1 Divinity Point!][Warning: You’ve gained 1 Divinity Point!][Warning: You’ve gained 1 Divinity Point!]…
Finally!
I was angry enough to ignore the remaining fragments of that blazing divinity as they scattered, slowly being consumed by my realm. Instead, I directed my attack at Athena, sprawled on the dark floor, disbelief written across her face.
“He destroyed Bahenna’s spell…” the last of her thoughts reached me.
Just as my attack was about to reach her, a golden window appeared before me.
[The Goddess of Motherhood and Fertility Wishes to Form a Divine Contract!]