"Seiya, and you, Princess of the Bright God, you have finally arrived."
Facing her old enemy and the principal god, Stella was not flustered. On the contrary, she wore a rather elegant smile, a departure from her usual self.
"Zeus is gone, and the gods of Olympus have scattered like stray dogs. Within this God's Domain, the only one with the right and the power to inherit the throne of the God King is I, Stella."
She raised her chin slightly, her tone filled with a natural confidence.
"Of course, Seiya, and you, Athena, you both have the qualifications as well... It's just a pity that this divine mandate has already been claimed by me first."
This was something Stella had planned from the very beginning. Misfortune and good fortune go hand in hand. Although she had fallen into the clutches of the heretical God-Slaying Beast, it also allowed Stella to see a future where she could become the God King.
Seiya sighed.
"So, are you prepared to fulfill the duties of the God King? And how do you plan to repair the abyss and the sky?"
From a physical perspective, is there any difference between the God's Domain and a normal world? The answer is no. Without the interference of deities, the physical laws of both tend to be the same.
However, from a mystical perspective, the origin of the God's Domain has long been lost in the river of time. Perhaps only the Hall of Plutarch, a spatio-temporal singularity at the edge of the Netherworld, holds any records.
Therefore, many of the existing God's Domains are sandbox worlds created by the gods of various mythological systems—like individual, self-contained dioramas.
Creation, while rare, is not an impossible Authority. Seiya's Avalon, the Triune Athena's Ancient Night, and Zhuangzi's Village of Nothingness all possess the Authority of a World Concept. Some creator gods and earth mother goddesses even possess creation-related powers. If the power of an entire pantheon were gathered, it would be a certainty.
For example, in the Eastern mythological system, the story of King Wu's campaign against Zhou might still be unfolding. But if Tongtian Jiaozhu were to get desperate at the end and deploy the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation to reenact the creation with earth, fire, wind, and water, the reshaped world might jump to the story of the Journey to the West. This could then connect to Chen Xiang Rescuing His Mother, the Seven Fairies Descending to the Mortal World, and even the great demonic calamity of Wutian Buddha... The timeline here is not singular, but more like a canvas that is constantly being painted over and redrawn.
For an existence like a God King or a Heavenly Emperor, what is more important is maintaining the stability of this world to perpetuate their own great power.
"That's not something I need to think about. Didn't you shatter the sky and the abyss? I just want the power. I just want to be the God King!"
Stella puffed out her chest, proudly uttering such shameless words.
"She's a complete and utter bratty imp."
Seiya couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose.
Athena's expression didn't change much. Clearly, as an old rival, she was well aware of Stella's wretched nature.
Seeing their reactions, the smile on Stella's lips deepened. She had already calculated everything: seize the Divine Mandate of the God King first, and relying on her status as Seiya's subordinate goddess, she was certain he wouldn't actually kill her. In the end, he would have to clean up her mess.
Punishment? At most, it would be a few beatings. Exchanging a bit of physical pain for the throne of the God King was a deal that was simply too good to pass up!
And if the beatings became too unbearable... her eyes darted, a plan already formed in her mind—
"Then I'll just turn into Athena, strip off my clothes, and see if he still has the heart to strike me!"
But just then, a strong sense of crisis flooded her heart.
A light converged in Seiya's palm, and a short blade, flowing with a golden luster and having an illusory, unfixed form, appeared out of thin air. Merely gazing at it, Stella felt a tremor originating from her very life instinct, as if her entire existence would be completely disintegrated by its edge! Was this one of the Authorities he obtained after slaying Zeus?
"The events of the future arise from the causes of the past. O, Fate, reveal the connection of cause and effect."
Seiya intoned the words of power, and without hesitation, swung the dark gold short blade down through the air!
Stella's face was filled with horror.
"No way, you wouldn't really attack me... Seiya, Master, stop—!"
Her scream came to an abrupt halt, as she felt no pain at all.
The Authority fused with the god-slaying power—Hades, the Invisible Blade—manifested here.
And at the same time, the Authority of Karmic Retribution manifested alongside it.
Under the operation of the Authority, Seiya's vision underwent a world-shaking change. He could clearly see dozens of immensely tough threads of fate, emanating an ancient and boundless aura, descending from the void of the high heavens, deeply entangled and rooted within Stella's body—this was precisely the Greek God King's Divine Mandate that had been forcibly imposed upon her!
Seiya waved his hand with a whoosh, and the dozens of threads shimmered with light, making them visible to those who were not gods of fate.
Seiya, Stella, and Athena were all dumbfounded. Seiya extended the invisible blade towards Stella and swiped it forcefully sideways.
"Sever."
Snap. Snap. Snap.
Dozens of threads broke one after another. The Divine Mandate bestowed upon Stella had now been cut.
"Oink, oink!"
Stella, the one involved, let out a strange squeal like a sow, utterly flabbergasted, but…
One wondered if the threads of fate that had summoned the Divine Mandate of the God King should be praised.
The dozens of threads began to writhe like living tentacles, climbing onto Stella's body, attempting to entangle her from head to toe—
"Truly persistent," Seiya sighed.
"The fate that seeks a God King—it is an existence as heavy and resilient as the truth of the world. I fear it is as immortal and indestructible as the world's very foundation," Athena said.
Athena spoke while looking at the threads of fate above Stella's head. In reality, Seiya, having obtained the Authority of Causality, could hear a "certain sound" in his ears.
...Come, God-Slaying Pegasus. The final god to manifest in this world.
...O, Saint. The eternal Saint who fights in endless Holy Wars. Answer the call of your Saori.
...You who are a child of the Earth and the star-strewn vast Heavens, you are a descendant of the gods. Come. Come. Come, O eternal warrior.
"Is this an invocation to summon a God King?"
A calling from a distant shore. A fate that guides the God King to a world that is not here. His fighting spirit stirred by such a supreme existence, Seiya revealed a brilliant smile.
"If that's the case, I have a way too—come here."
Seiya beckoned to Stella. Not to her, but to the dozens of threads entwined around her. Using the Authorities of Karmic Retribution and the Invisible Blade, Seiya gave a clear command.
"You are now... mine."
All dozens of threads of fate wrapped themselves around Seiya. The Divine Mandate of Zeus, the Divine Mandate that had descended upon Stella, now transferred to Seiya.
Stella, stripped of her Divine Mandate, appeared incredibly composed. Seiya, for the moment, ignored the bratty imp goddess.
He felt the Divine Mandate bestowed by the world, and his perspective soared infinitely upwards—the dust of the ancient battlefield of Troy, the solemn oracle at the world's center in Delphi, the blood-soaked soil of the Phlegraean Fields where the Titans fought their final battle, the sacred spring on Mount Helicon where the Muses resided... the myriad islands of the Aegean Sea were all in his sight!
His vision finally pierced through everything, reaching the highest layer of the firmament, the supreme domain of pure light and ether, Aether!
And at this moment, the wounds of the world were clearly visible: where Mount Olympus connected to Aether, a huge, rule-distorted hole had been pierced by his own god-slaying golden arrow; and in the lowest depths of the Underworld, the abyss of Tartarus had crumbled and disintegrated under his Tenma Kofuku, turning into a chaotic ruin.
"Mending the sky and creating the land."
Seiya's expression was a little strange, because he possessed the two related divine instruments.
From his Avalon, he first took out that divine instrument, the Ame-no-Sakahoko.
Its legend was ancient and far-reaching: originating from the myths of the maritime peoples of southern China, it spread with the migrations of ancient peoples across the sea, reaching far-flung places like Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and eventually Polynesia and Micronesia, even being transmitted to Japan.
In the myths of these maritime peoples, the world began with an endless sea. The primordial creator god lowered an invisible "fishing line" and "fished" the first land out of the vast ocean—that was the birth of the earth, the epic of nation-building. Around 4000 to 3000 BC, brave seafarers in simple but sturdy boats sailed south into the Pacific, spreading the oceanic "world creation myth" in all directions.
Its variant in Japan is the story of Izanagi and Izanami standing on the floating primordial sea, inserting the Ame-no-Sakahoko into the chaos, and stirring vigorously, ultimately causing the Japanese archipelago to rise from the sea.
"Hmm, using a crochet hook as a fishhook and stirring with a stick are essentially the same thing," Seiya muttered to himself, as the Ame-no-Sakahoko in his hand grew with the wind, instantly transforming into a giant pillar that connected heaven and earth. One end pierced through the layers of the underworld, reaching the core of the shattered abyss of Tartarus. As Seiya waved his arm, the massive spear shaft churned violently in the chaos of the abyss! The originally collapsed, dead fragments of the abyss, under the mighty power of this creation tool, were re-stirred, smelted, and restored to a chaotic sea of primordial energy that could be freely shaped!
While Seiya reshaped the abyss with his will, he took out another item from Avalon—an unremarkable, gray, dusty stone.
In mystical terms, it is called Dragon's Remains or Angel's Remains. It is an object rarer than a divine instrument, something left behind only when a rare Heretic God returns to myth. It was first discovered in the Kunlun Mountains and, according to investigations, is a Sky-Mending Stone left behind when the earth mother goddess Nüwa voluntarily returned to myth.
But it was stolen a few months ago. That's right, this was also one of the spoils of war obtained after defeating the Godspeed Noble Scion.
Using the Ame-no-Sakahoko to trigger the Sky-Mending Stone as well, the dusty stone instantly radiated a five-colored brilliance, carrying Seiya's Cosmo and covering Aether at the supreme dome.
"Mending the sky and creating the land is complete. What's left is just some repetitive mechanical work. What kind of world do you plan to shape?"
Athena watched Seiya's profile, mesmerized.
"Following the original flow of time..." Seiya's gaze turned to the distance, the authority of the God King allowing him to see the threads of history.
"What should have come next is the cursed return of the Greek heroes—due to their atrocities in the Trojan War, the gods of Olympus sent down divine punishment, causing the Greek heroes to suffer many hardships on their way home, withering away completely. Or perhaps the Mycenaean civilization collapsing under a dark invasion, plunging Greece into the three-hundred-year-long Homeric Age…"
"I don't intend to serve as the God King in this world. The fate of humanity should be left for humans to choose for themselves," Seiya said.
"But this world needs a God King," Athena emphasized.
"Actually, I can do it! I can take the position of God King!" Stella raised her hand.
Seiya ignored her and instead turned his head, his gaze burning as he looked at Athena.
"Then what about you? Are you willing to sit on this throne?" he asked directly.
Athena was slightly taken aback, then revealed a complex and faint smile.
"Perhaps... a long time ago, I did have such a desire. But now, this fruit of victory belongs to you. The decision should be yours to make."
"That's a bit troublesome. I can't just pull Guinevere over, the mythological systems don't match," Seiya frowned.
"Right, there's also Lancelot. Her prototype is the queen of the Amazons."
"Look at me! I'm fine! I can have your children! We can give birth to a fourth-generation pantheon! Look at me!" Stella raised her hands high.
Athena looked at him with a smile.
"You're not in a hurry, are you? There's still a long time to wait, after all."
Was he in a hurry? Seiya didn't know. It was just that when he severed the God King's Divine Mandate, the lingering echo of the call from the other side still remained in his mind.
Vaguely, Seiya once again dreamed of the distant world of the Saints.
Perhaps due to the influence of the Karmic Retribution Authority, this dream was exceptionally clear, so clear that Seiya could see Saori's full appearance, as well as the shadow behind her.
When he woke up again, the first thing he felt was the weight and warmth on his chest. Ena Seishuin and Erica were on his left and right, sleeping soundly on him like two clingy kittens.
After learning that Ena Seishuin had already embraced Seiya, Erica had been grinding her teeth and constantly muttering things like, "That cheating Eastern woman... It was me, I was first, I was first in everything... whether it was kissing, hugging, or becoming his knight."
The result was that when Seiya was about to sleep that night, he saw Erica in a kimono, kneeling by his bed. If one were to ignore her typically Caucasian features, her demure appearance truly resembled that of a standard Yamato Nadeshiko.
"I can understand your sentiment," Seiya rubbed his temples, feeling a bit helpless, "but why... are you wearing Ena Seishuin's clothes?"
"Because if you're going to pursue excitement, you have to go all the way," Erica said with a seductive smile, then loosened her belt.
"Cyclone! Joker! Henshin!"
But the next morning, Ena Seishuin was furious when she discovered Erica coming out of Seiya's room. This also ignited a competitive spirit in Ena Seishuin's struggle against Erica.
The result was that for several months, neither was willing to yield to the other, and they both appeared in Seiya's room every night.
Seiya carefully moved Erica's long leg that was wrapped around his waist, then moved his face away from Ena Seishuin's chest. But in the end, he couldn't resist and took the cherry before his eyes into his mouth.
With a sigh, an hour later, the three of them reappeared at the dining table.
"The position of God King..." Seiya casually brought up the subsequent problem in the Trojan God's Domain.
"God King? Actually, being the Heavenly Empress sounds pretty good too," Erica's eyes lit up when she heard this.
"If possible, I'd also like to contribute my part for Seiya!"
Since she was a child, Erica had a clear path for herself: to follow in her ancestor's footsteps and become a Godslayer.
Later, even after being won over by Seiya's charisma, the essence of her as a highly ambitious woman did not change. She had originally intended to act as the will of Seiya, the seventh Godslayer, but was repeatedly frustrated. Now, hearing about his affairs in the Trojan God's Domain, she immediately thought of another very important position.
"That's right, Heavenly Empress doesn't sound bad either," Stella's eyes also lit up.
"What 'contribute a part'! Such high-sounding words! You clearly just want to be the Heavenly Empress! Stop dreaming!"
Ena Seishuin immediately switched to taunt mode against Erica, but in the next second, she nestled up to Seiya with incredible naturalness, her voice sickeningly sweet.
"Unlike me, Ena just wants to be by the Great Avatar of Nikko's side forever, to be your most loyal doggy."