He pondered and did not directly answer her rhetorical question.
Suddenly, a glow flashed around him, and under Metis's slightly surprised gaze, his form rapidly changed—in an instant, another 'Metis' appeared on the throne.
She was almost identical to the Metis standing below, and even the wisdom and enigma in her eyes were vividly imitated.
The two 'Metis' stood opposite each other, making the same movement—slightly tilting their heads, with an inscrutable smile on their lips.
'Metis' (Hades) on the throne spoke, his voice taking on Metis's unique tone, with a hint of understanding the truth:
"Indeed..." He looked at the Metis below and said slowly, "You have become... Thalia has become 'Metis'."
The smile on Metis's (?) face froze slightly, then bloomed even brighter.
She neither denied nor admitted, but said in a tone akin to an aria:
"Oh... it's actually not easy to play tricks right in front of you."
This statement was equivalent to agreeing with Hades's guess.
Hades returned to his original form and shook his head. The helplessness in his violet eyes became even more pronounced, but deep within, a note of indulgence was hidden.
His two most important women—his wife and daughter—possessed a silent understanding and creativity in 'playing tricks on him'.
"You guys..." He finally just sighed and didn't continue.
Metis stepped forward with a smile, no longer entangled in the game of truth and falsehood. She gently leaned beside him, traced her fingertips over the obsidian ring on her ring finger, and whispered:
"It seems no matter what 'I' am, I cannot escape your eyes, my Hades."
Hades did not answer, simply reached out and intertwined his fingers with hers, the one wearing the ring.
Norse World, Vanaheimr.
The cross-border passage, which once required Hades to cooperate with the coordinates of 'Narcissus' using the authority of Hades, had now completely changed.
Relying on the wisdom of Mímisbrunnr within her, Athena was no longer limited to unstable teleportation points and set out to build a stable and controllable permanent portal for crossing.
After sleepless deliberations and countless minor adjustments, in a valley hidden by powerful magic in Vanaheimr, a huge portal with a soft silver-white radiance finally stood firm.
Within the door, there was no longer distorted and chaotic turbulence of the void, but a relatively calm space-time channel.
This meant that from this moment on, as long as their power did not exceed the upper limit of the passage, the gods of the Underworld—such as Thanatos, Hypnos, Catia, and even Hecate—could, with certain tokens or permissions, travel relatively freely between the two worlds!
Hades no longer needed to expend great effort to open the passage himself.
This was truly a major breakthrough.
Having accomplished this feat, Athena did not stop.
She returned to Hades through the newly built portal.
On one hand, she was moved by the increased power and independent posture that Hestia and Catia had gained after becoming virgin goddesses.
Although the path of power she had chosen was different, the state of purity, undisturbed by love, brought by the priesthood of 'virginity' seemed to allow her to focus more on exploring wisdom and strengthening power.
To perfect her own path, she applied to Catia.
Catia's cold gaze examined her for a moment, and after confirming that her desires were pure and conformed to the rules, she blessed her with the protection of the Maiden Goddess, using the authority of the Underworld.
The process was calm and uneventful; Athena felt an invisible barrier on herself, slight emotional fluctuations were completely smoothed out, and her divinity became more condensed.
On the other hand... she also had a small 'task'.
She found Hecate, immersed in research in her magical workshop, trying to come up with new gadgets to 'atone for her sins'.
"Hecate," Athena's voice was calm as always, but with a hint of unrefusable authority.
"I need materials for construction in Vanaheimr."
Hecate looked up and saw it was Athena. At first, she felt relieved, but upon hearing the word 'materials', she became wary again:
"What materials? I've been poor lately! The last time I was framed by Thalia..."
Athena directly handed her a list of many rare magical materials.
"They are used to build nodes that stabilize large spatial structures. These are... 'borrowed'."
She deliberately emphasized the word 'borrowed', but her eyes clearly showed that 'there is a high probability they will not be returned'.
Hecate looked at the list, and her face crumbled—these were her treasures!
But she looked at Athena's calm but clearly majestic eyes... In the end, she tearfully and reluctantly opened her treasury:
"Take them, take them... Don't forget to write an IOU..."
Athena unceremoniously took the materials, left a sentence: "I will explain your 'contribution' to my father," and turned to leave, leaving Hecate on the spot, anxiously counting her losses.
With the blessing of the Maiden Goddess and the precious materials 'borrowed' from Hecate, Athena once again passed through the portal and returned to Vanaheimr.
This time, her goals were even more ambitious.
She had observed Ásgarðr's magnificent Bifröst—the radiant passage connecting Ásgarðr to the other eight realms, a symbol of the power and might of the Æsir.
How could the Vanir, as beings rivaling Ásgarðr, not have their own inter-realm transport network?
Therefore, with the silent approval and even support of 'Narcissus' (the will of Hades and Metis), Athena began to construct a 'Rainbow Bridge' belonging to the Vanir, using her intellect, which combined the wisdom of the two worlds!
She used the materials 'borrowed' from Hecate as spatial anchors and energy diversion cores, combining the runes of the Norse world with the natural magic for which the Vanir gods were renowned.
She designed and began constructing a magical transport system centered in Vanaheimr, initially connecting important nodes in Álfheimr (the land of the elves) and parts of Miðgarðr (the human realm).
Although the network was initially less extensive than Ásgarðr's Bifröst, it was more sophisticated, consumed less energy, and was closely integrated with the natural environment, full of Vanir characteristics.
In the eyes of the Vanir, Athena's identity was the daughter of the God-King 'Narcissus', a princess/goddess with incredible wisdom and skills.
They saw her leading such a grand project, and their respect and trust in her grew daily.
She was not only the daughter of the God-King but also a star of hope for the strength and future of the Vanir!
Athena immersed herself in this complex creation, feeling the wisdom of the two worlds merge in her hands and materialize into a magnificent creation.
This feeling of shaping and building through one's own wisdom and power was far more satisfying than the intrigues on Olympus or the attempts to deal with Ares's problems.
Standing on the high platform of the under-construction Vanir 'Rainbow Bridge' hub, looking at the misty World Tree in the distance, her gray-blue eyes flashed with unprecedented light.
Power was not only about destruction, but also about creation and connection.
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