Dual subordinate deity?
Aergia truly had not expected such an outcome.
Yet thinking about it carefully, this seemed even more advantageous for her than simply remaining in a single temple.
Her research in the domain of sleep would remain unaffected, her authority in the domain of death was now officially recognized, and she would not even need Hypnos's extra permission to accompany Thanatos on patrols across the earth in the future.
In fact, she now possessed an even broader scope of freedom than before.
Although her duties had increased, looking at it from another angle, it was equivalent to receiving the protection and favor of two ancient deities.
Not a big problem. At least both of her bosses were formidable and generous.
Where else could one find such a good company... ah, no, such good master deities?
Long live Goddess Nyx!
The corners of Aergia's mouth could not help but curl up slightly, though she quickly reined in her smile, resuming her respectful yet languid demeanor.
Having made these arrangements, the Goddess of the Night turned her gaze back onto Aergia.
“Aergia.”
The young goddess immediately stepped forward.
“Great Goddess of the Night.”
“Do you accept this arrangement?”
Taking advantage of the situation, Aergia naturally acquiesced, bowing her head slightly.
“I shall obey Your decree.”
“Very well.”
After that, Nyx looked toward Hypnos and Thanatos.
“And you two?”
Hypnos nodded slightly.
“Since it is Mother Goddess's arrangement, I naturally obey.”
Thanatos also knew when to quit while he was ahead.
“I understand, Mother Goddess.”
Nyx slowly nodded.
With this, the matter had formally reached a conclusion.
Just as the three deities were preparing to take their leave, Nyx seemed to suddenly remember something and spoke to Aergia.
“In the future, if you encounter difficult problems in your study of laws, you may also come to the Temple of Night.”
Aergia was slightly startled.
She had not expected this Primordial God to actively grant her such permission.
One had to understand that Nyx was an exalted Primordial God; the knowledge she held was by no means as simple as merely the night.
To receive guidance from this goddess, even just a tiny fraction, was an exceedingly rare opportunity for her current self.
Aergia did not know why Nyx's attitude toward her had changed so drastically.
Yet as the saying went, one with nothing to lose feared nothing; she was dirt poor right now, so even if this was a bait dangled by the other party, she could only grit her teeth and swallow it whole.
She immediately offered a respectful bow.
“Thank You for Your grace. The glory of the night shall be engraved in my heart.”
Nyx raised her hand gently.
“Go.”
As her words fell, the darkness that originally enveloped the surrounding temple slowly parted to both sides, quietly revealing a pathway leading to the outside world.
The three deities bowed to Nyx once more, then walked toward the outer regions of the Underworld along the path willingly yielded by the night.
After stepping out of the Temple of Night, Thanatos's previously calm expression immediately revealed a bit of a smile and impatience.
He turned his head and looked at Aergia.
“Since Mother Goddess has agreed, Aergia, you will continue to go with me to patrol the earth from now on.”
Before Aergia could answer, Hypnos leisurely chimed in from the side:
“Aergia still has her duties of Sleep Induction to fulfill. Death does not happen every moment, whereas sleep is the normal state of living beings.”
Thanatos instantly knitted his brows and refuted at once:
“Do you still not know that Sky Father's nature? His frequency of descending upon the earth has been getting higher and higher lately. Every time he causes a stir, quite a few living beings on the earth are caught in the crossfire. Death is hardly rare. Aergia should come with me to the earth. I will set aside time for her to exercise her authority over Sleep Induction!”
“...I do not care how you harvest life; regardless, half of Aergia's time belongs to me.”
“...”
The veins on Thanatos's temple seemed to throb once more.
Silently following behind the two, Aergia listened to the argument that seemed about to restart and suddenly felt that she might have still thought of things too simply.
Her status as a dual subordinate deity was certainly nice.
However...
Why did it feel like her workload was about to double as well?
She looked at Hypnos, then looked at Thanatos.
She suddenly felt a bit of regret. Should she have taken advantage of Nyx's good mood earlier to request an extra arrangement on the side?
For example... allowing herself at least a few days of proper rest once in a while?
However, she quickly abandoned this thought.
Oh well, at least for now, neither master deity bore her any ill intent.
Moreover, they were clearly already giving serious thought to how they ought to help her continue growing in their respective domains.
As long as she could continue becoming stronger, being a bit busy was fine. There would always be ways to gradually solve other matters.
Ah, the comprehension of her godhead was not even finished yet!
Aergia paid no more mind to the argument between the two master deities ahead, hurriedly refocusing her attention onto her own divine core...
Deep within the Temple of Night, Nyx remained seated in that profound darkness.
Nyx's eyes, embedded with a hundred million stars, lowered slightly as her mind continued to ponder the anomaly she had sensed from Aergia just now.
What Nyx cared about was not how many godheads Aergia had condensed in such a short time, but rather that when those newborn laws came into being, the world of Chaos had actually produced such an obvious response.
That response was extremely faint; even an ordinary master deity might not have been able to sense it.
Yet in Nyx's perception, it was clear to an almost unbelievable degree.
As those originally missing laws were completed, the law system of the entire world of Chaos actually underwent extremely subtle changes along with them.
To those deities born in later eras, the refinement of world laws might only signify gaining more power from them.
However, for Primordial Gods like them—who were born from the primordial chaos and whose divine authorities participated in constructing the very foundation of the world—the significance was far greater than that.
She was the Night.
Gaia was the Earth.
Erebus was the Darkness of the Underworld, while Tartarus was the Abyss.
Their origins had long been intimately intertwined with the foundation of the world of Chaos.
The more complete the world became, the richer the laws it could carry, and the primordial authority supporting it all would gain an even broader extension as a result.
If one day the world of Chaos could grow to a degree far more powerful than it was now, then as the foundation of the world, they would naturally reap unimaginable benefits as well.
Perhaps even...
The thought surfacing in her mind caused her to fall into a rare moment of daze.
In the immeasurably long ages that were nearly impossible to calculate, she had rarely considered how her divine authority could continue to grow.
As Night itself, the power she possessed was already immense enough that even Uranus, who ruled the sky, would not easily extend his will into the domain under her control.
Yet what if the constraint preventing them from continuing to grow was not their own authority, but rather that the entire world was not yet capable of carrying even greater power?
Then what Aergia was doing assumed a completely different significance.
Although each of the laws she refined was extremely subtle, they were making the world of Chaos increasingly complete.
So long as this growth could continue, there would come a day when these seemingly insignificant changes might accumulate into a metamorphosis that truly affected the world itself.
And when that time came...
Nyx suddenly smiled. The smile was extremely faint, bringing a rare touch of pleasure to her solemn and tranquil face.
She seemed to finally understand why destiny displayed such special changes on this child.
A deity who continuously refined the laws of the world—her growth itself could potentially become a major force driving the evolution of the world.
If so, how could the world remain forever unresponsive to her?
Nyx could not help but think of her elder sister, Gaia, once more.
This daughter, hidden by Gaia with all her might and almost the weakest among her many children, might one day become the key to helping her throw off the oppression of the sky.
Of course, this was still merely a possibility revealed by destiny. How the future would unfold was something no deity could truly be certain of yet.
Yet this mere possibility was already enough to pique Nyx's interest.
The Goddess of the Night slowly leaned back into her Divine Seat, the hundred million starlight points in Nyx's eyes shimmering gently as a long-absent sense of anticipation welled up within her for this uncertain future.
The darkness slowly closed in, and the entire Temple of Night returned to its original stillness once more.
Rate on N.U.
