“Beloved?”
“Beloved?!”
Vera and Anke were both stunned by the declaration from the woman who called herself a goddess.
“Anke is my Highness, my Lord—not my beloved!”
Vera immediately retorted.
“Really?”
Helaetis’s gaze shifted back and forth between Vera and Anke.
“Of course not!”
Vera affirmed firmly.
“What a pity.”
“…”
Vera fell silent. This woman was no less skilled than Anke at leaving others speechless.
“Vera, put your sword away for now. I think this lady genuinely means us no harm. If she wanted to hurt us, she would have done so by now.”
Anke urged Vera.
“You’re quite calm, little one.”
Helaetis cast an approving glance at Anke.
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Vera reluctantly sheathed her sword, partly due to Anke’s order, but also because she truly felt no hostility from this self-proclaimed goddess.
“Miss Hela, may I call you that?”
“If this were the old days, addressing a god’s name so presumptuously wouldn’t have ended well for you.
But those days are gone. Now, call me whatever suits you best.”
Helaetis gave Anke a playful smile.
“Then I’ll call you that, Miss Hela.”
With her permission, Anke continued.
“Mm.”
Helaetis acknowledged.
“Miss Hela, you claim to be the Goddess of Death and Night, Helaetis. Do you have any proof?
Or rather, can you prove you’re a real goddess and not a fraud?”
“You really want me to prove it? My domain is death, you know.”
Helaetis’s voice suddenly turned dark, and an icy, murderous aura erupted.
Anke was startled by her sudden change, jumping to his feet and knocking over his chair.
“Don’t. Touch. Him!”
Vera didn’t hesitate—she drew her sword and placed it against Helaetis’s slender neck.
Or rather, she attempted to strike, but was blocked by an overwhelming force.
“You’re quite fiery, aren’t you? You really care about him, little one.”
Helaetis looked at Vera.
“Because he is… my Highness.”
Vera gritted her teeth as she pushed harder.
Suddenly, Vera felt her hand go empty—the sword she had been gripping so tightly was gone.
“Hahaha~ Alright, I’ve had my fun. Thousands of years—I’ve been pent up so long, finally able to talk to someone again. My sisters must be dying of envy.”
Helaetis patted the scabbard at Vera’s waist.
Vera looked down. Her sword had somehow returned to its sheath.
“Human… Actually, forget it, I’ll just call you by name, Anke. Sorry about that, Anke. I haven’t spoken in so long, I couldn’t resist teasing you a little. I didn’t scare you too badly, did I?”
Helaetis clasped her hands together and apologized to Anke.
“Do gods always enjoy teasing people?”
Vera was displeased but had to suppress her frustration, knowing she was no match for this self-proclaimed goddess.
“Not sure—I do. Oh, by the way, Anke, do you still want me to prove I’m not a fraud?”
Helaetis winked at Anke, her deep black eyes reflecting his own face.
“No…”
Anke started to speak, but Helaetis cut him off.
“But even if you wanted proof, I don’t really have any. After all, my divine body is shattered into pieces. What stands before you is just a fragment of me.”
As she spoke, Helaetis’s body dramatically shattered like glass, then quickly reassembled.
“Your divine body shattered? Why?”
Anke asked.
“To defeat the enemies threatening this world, of course. I fought until my divine body broke apart.”
Helaetis smiled, but her tone carried a hint of sorrow.
“But since we’ve come this far, it’s time for the real matter! If fate has brought us together at this moment, it means this world is once again facing a crisis of annihilation!”
Helaetis’s tone turned serious.
“A crisis of annihilation?”
“Miss Helaetis—no, Lady Goddess of Death and Night—does this extinction crisis relate to the enemies you once fought?”
Vera asked.
After their brief exchange, Vera was certain that the other woman’s strength far surpassed her own and that she meant no harm to Anke or herself.
So she chose to believe and contemplate Helaetis’s words.
“Exactly, clever little one! This crisis is connected to the Demon Gods—the invaders from other worlds that we gods eliminated.”
Helaetis reached up and patted Vera’s long rose-colored hair, as if petting a child.
“Demon Gods—”
Anke fell into thought at the word.
In his mind, the music of the Masked Hero Train King played, along with a sharp train whistle and the classic entrance line—”Ore, Sanjou!”
“Though I find that masked hero in your head quite amusing, the Demon Gods I’m talking about aren’t the ones you’re imagining.”
While Anke was daydreaming, Helaetis’s voice and figure appeared in his mind, commenting on the Masked Hero Train King.
“Why are you showing up in my daydream, Goddess?!”
Anke complained.
“Because I’m a goddess. Isn’t that easy enough? Eheh~”
Helaetis made a cute expression.
“Stop spying on my thoughts!”
“Fine, fine. But don’t space out on me, Anke.”
Helaetis snapped her fingers and vanished from his mind.
Anke snapped back to reality.
“Then listen to me here, Anke.”
Helaetis waved at him as he came to.
“Lady Goddess, how can you be sure that when you awoke, the world is in crisis and the Demon Gods are about to revive?”
Vera pressed.
“Because after we gods sacrificed our divine bodies to destroy those Demon Gods, we sensed they might seek a chance to revive in the future. So we made a deal with Fate. Before falling into a long slumber to restore our shattered bodies, we split off fragments of ourselves, created thousands of Divine Stele housing our essence, and scattered them across the world.”
“When the Demon Gods seek to revive, Fate ensures these Divine Stele encounter those destined—our wills awaken from slumber to warn them of the Demon Gods’ impending revival and guide them to stop it!”
Helaetis answered, raising a hand toward the sky as her voice grew impassioned.
“Divine Stele, Lady Goddess—you mean the stone from that dragon’s stomach?”
Vera pointed at the stone on Anke’s table.
“Yes! The one you dug out of the dragon! We made sure the Stele carried a trace of divinity only powerful monsters could sense, so they’d find it, swallow it, or take it to their lairs—increasing the chances of discovery by those destined to find it. After all, if someone can’t even handle a monster, they’re no match for a Demon God.”
Helaetis confirmed.
“That’s a reasonable approach. But, Lady Goddess, since you said you’d guide us to stop the Demon Gods’ revival, what exactly should we do?”
Anke looked at Helaetis expectantly.
“Well… I haven’t quite figured that out yet.”
Helaetis paused, then delivered the most thunderous answer.
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