A fragment of law submerged into Aergia's consciousness first, followed by a second, and then a third.
They did not conflict with Drowsiness; on the contrary, with every part that merged into it, the structure of the godhead of Drowsiness became more complex and complete.
Aergia gradually understood that drowsiness was never an endpoint—it was merely a part of a process.
What was truly missing had never been just the feeling of being "drowsy."
For a living being to go from wakefulness to deep slumber, their consciousness first needed to gradually detach from close focus on the outside world; their vigilance needed to drop bit by bit; their thinking needed to shift from active to sluggish; and drowsiness needed to continually accumulate until the force maintaining wakefulness truly let go.
It was not a single moment, but a path, a process.
In the past, Hypnos had controlled only the endpoint of that path. His authority had been powerful enough that he needed no path; no matter how many links were missing in between, he could make living creatures reach sleep directly.
Yet now, this path that had never existed before was slowly taking shape within Aergia. As the final cluster of peripheral rules near the sleep core merged into her, the once-hazy godhead of Drowsiness suddenly vibrated violently.
The light rapidly gathered inward, every scattered concept rearranging itself.
Wandering consciousness, decaying vigilance, slowing thoughts, deepening sleepiness, stupor...
Until it truly crossed the threshold of sleep, the godhead that originally represented only a single state was now carrying an entire process.
Aergia could feel that the concept of "Drowsiness" could no longer fully describe it.
Deep within the core of the godhead, a new meaning slowly surfaced.
It was not sleep; it did not seize any core authority from Hypnos.
What it held, from beginning to end, was only the stretch of the journey before sleep arrived.
Allowing a waking creature to gradually set down the power that maintained wakefulness, easing their resistance, and then delivering them into the presence of sleep.
Aergia opened her eyes as a light core—far more complete than the previous godhead of Drowsiness—floated quietly above her palm.
Silver-purple, amber, and hazy ash-white twined together, all colors appearing as though veiled behind a thin mist suspended between waking and sleep.
Every poppy in the temple gently drooped its corolla at that exact moment. For the very first time, the wings behind Hypnos's back unconsciously unfurled for a brief instant.
“Sleep Induction.”
Aergia whispered softly, and as her voice fell, the godhead stabilized completely.
At the same time, Hypnos clearly felt an unprecedented shift occur within the sleep domain under his command. It was not an expansion, nor had a new core authority appeared out of thin air; rather, it was completeness.
The fault line that once plunged directly from wakefulness into sleep was now bridged by a natural path.
For the first time, sleep possessed a true "entrance."
That godhead of Sleep Induction did not linger long. Having grown out of the Drowsiness Aergia had created and having integrated all the peripheral rules within her godhead system, it met almost zero rejection from the laws before naturally fusing into her body.
In the next instant, Aergia's divine power began to rise, far more violently this time than when Drowsiness had condensed.
It was as if the core of her godhead had suddenly been widened, and her divine power, which had previously flowed slowly, rapidly filled her divine body.
The power was not violent, yet wave after wave pushed her status of Third-Rank Divine Power steadily upward.
Aergia quietly felt the changes until the very last void within her was filled with divine power, and the continually surging energy finally came to a stop.
Peak Third-Rank Divine Power.
Only a single true status barrier remained before Second-Rank Divine Power. Aergia slowly let out a breath.
'Hypnagogos.'
This divine name emerged from the deepest depths of the laws, like a bubble rising beneath the surface of the water, floating silently yet irrepressibly to the surface of Aergia's consciousness.
It was not a bestowed name, nor a title given to her by any chief god, much less an old remnant dug up from inherited memories.
It was an imprint carved into the core of her godhead by law itself—the official signature of the concept she had condensed within the great river of laws.
Now, she was Aergia Hypnagogos.
She was the inner demon of the lazy; behind every thought of “just lie down a bit longer,” her whisper lingered.
She was the guide into sleep—for in every moment when eyes finally closed, her figure was present.
The sleep domain regained its tranquility. Hypnos looked at the young deity before him who had just reached peak Third-Rank Divine Power and nodded in satisfaction.
“Not bad. Peak Third-Rank Divine Power. You finally have some ability to protect yourself.”
As the ruler of the sleep domain, he could have completely taken Aergia's concept of Sleep Induction for himself. But Aergia held a unique status, and he had to admit that her intelligence had impressed him.
Of course, the most fundamental reason was that although the birth of the Sleep Induction concept perfected the process of sleep and expanded its scope and power, it also meant that his workload had increased.
In the past, causing living beings to sink into slumber required at most a bit extra effort and a little more divine power; even gods would close their eyes and fall fast asleep.
Now, with the concept of Sleep Induction, living beings would first feel exhaustion and drowsiness before naturally drifting into sleep.
Though it saved effort, there were far more chores involved!
He was the offspring conceived solely by Nyx, the great Primordial Goddess of the Night, and the ruler of the sleep domain with divine power vast as the ocean. Compared to expending effort, he was far more terrified of taking on tedious tasks!
Since the concept and godhead of Sleep Induction had been organized by Aergia, the corresponding duties naturally fell to her.
“Your Highness, how do I apply Sleep Induction to the entire world?”
Hypnos opened one eye and looked at Aergia for a moment, likely pondering how to explain to this recently born minor deity something that was almost instinctual for him.
“I am sleep itself. I exist within the dreams of every living being, and sleep spreads across the entire world of Chaos at my will. As long as a living creature needs to enter slumber, my authority will manifest there.”
To this world, he was the personification of the rule of sleep itself. Thus, he could simply lie within the temple and send his authority to every corner of the world with every breath he took.
Aergia, however, was different. Although Sleep Induction was now a concept recognized by the world, it had only just been born, and her own status and divine power were far from enough to sustain such a massive projection of authority.
“Before, I bore the distant consumption of Drowsiness on your behalf,” Hypnos said sluggishly. “Testing it for you a few times was fine, but I can't fulfill your duties for you every night from now on.”
“You had best go down to the earth and carry out your duties properly.”
“...”
Aergia got the point loud and clear. Strip away all the talk, and he was simply calling her too weak right now.
“I understand, Your Highness.”
She accepted it quite calmly. Although she did not yet have a completely clear idea of how to execute her divine portfolio of Sleep Induction, the thought that she could finally set foot on the earth as a true deity still brought a touch of novelty to her heart.
In her past life of over twenty years, she had ultimately been just an ordinary person—at most better than most at studying, conducting experiments, writing papers, and working herself to the bone.
Now that she had finally crossed into a new world and transformed into a genuine deity, if she didn't even cast a proper divine spell a few times, it would feel like a wasted trip.
“Although your divine power is barely passable now, you were born not long ago after all.” Hypnos looked Aergia up and down. “The world of Chaos is far from peaceful enough to let a deity with Third-Rank Divine Power run around freely.”
Aergia, however, recalled Uranus. Last time, she had only dared to briefly step onto the earth because Hypnos's divine power had cloaked her presence. If she were to go out on her own now, she would never dare count on the God of the Sky continuously failing to notice her.
Hypnos pondered for a moment and quickly reached a decision.
“How about this: tomorrow my brother Thanatos happens to be going down to the earth to harvest souls. Go with him. His divine power will conceal your presence, and once you reach the earth, don't run around recklessly.”
“Thanatos?”
That name was not unfamiliar to Aergia—Thanatos, the God of Death, a name virtually inseparable from Hypnos in future mythology.
Twin deities birthed solely by Nyx, the Goddess of the Night, the two brothers ruled over sleep and death respectively. Their authorities appeared independent, yet were closely linked.
Sleep could be called the shallowest death.
Death, too, could be called an eternal slumber.
Aergia fell into deep thought...
Hypnos clearly had no idea that in just a few breaths, his subordinate deity had already drifted off into wild speculation. He merely closed his eyes again, his voice trailing lower and lower.
“I'll tell Thanatos to help you find a flying beast with divine bloodline on the earth, making it easier for you to spread the divine power of Sleep Induction across the land.”
Otherwise, with Aergia's meager divine power, by the time she finished traveling across the land, the Goddess of Day would probably already be on duty.
The corner of Aergia's mouth twitched slightly.
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
This boss was actually pretty reliable, even knowing how to be considerate of his employees.
“Also, be quiet around Thanatos. My brother's temper isn't very good.”
Hypnos's tone grew unusually serious.
Aergia fell silent for a moment. Even Hypnos, who was usually too lazy to comment on anyone, had gone out of his way to warn her about a bad temper.
She suddenly had a rather bad feeling about her journey tomorrow.
Rate on N.U.
