In the City of Starlight, at the highest point of a grand palace, there is a crystal ice stone.
Upon it sits a weeping woman.
She possesses hair as long as the Milky Way, dazzling and shimmering, but what surprises Rody is not this. Instead, it's her hair color, which, like his own, is black. The woman sits atop the crystal ice stone, her slender legs clearly visible, restrained by a long, crystalline chain similar to the divine chain on Rody, but more translucent and sparkling.
The woman looks at Rody, her gaze filled with the deepest dependency and longing for a loved one.
Her eyes, like the Milky Way, are brimming with icy tears. On closer observation, her eyes are strikingly similar to Rody's, both of a deep, night-like color.
"You've come, after thousands of years. My tears have nearly run dry, my heart almost lost to despair, and you, you've finally arrived…" The black-haired, black-eyed woman extends her delicate hand towards Rody. Below her, the suspended crystal ice stone emits a dazzling halo, seemingly trying to hinder her movement. The Starlight Butterfly Girl, who brought Rody here, now flies slowly under the influence of the light, but she persists, bringing Rody before the crystal ice stone, then kneeling at the woman's feet, covering her face in tears.
"I, I am actually a human!" Rody, had it not been for the woman's hair and eyes mirroring his own, would have earlier concluded that they had mistaken him for someone else.
"Child of the Night, you have reincarnated dozens of times, even cast far from this world by the God of Fate. I was in despair, but unexpectedly, you returned. Although your memories were deeply sealed with each reincarnation, doesn’t your heart feel the joy of reunion? If you truly are a human, wouldn't you feel fear and awe upon seeing me, the Star Goddess?" The black-haired, black-eyed woman, upon hearing this, breaks into a smile through her tears. She extends her hand to Rody, saying, "Come, if you are a human, if you are not the Child of Black Hair, then you couldn’t have passed through the halo sealing me... Child of the Night, come, sit by my side!"
"This?" Rody feels a strong resistance from the halo, but it does not stop him.
Step by step, he moves through the layers of light with some difficulty.
The black-haired, black-eyed Star Goddess watches, laughing and crying. As the Starlight Butterfly Girl who flew in with him sees Rody moving through the halo, they all embrace each other in tears.
The halo bursts into a blinding brilliance, pushing all the Starlight Butterfly Girls with an invisible force, far outside the palace.
But Rody, gritting his teeth, endures. Finally, after the last great push, he feels a sense of relief. Stepping forward, he enters the halo, floating in mid-air, hovering in front of the black-haired, black-eyed Star Goddess.
"Now you must understand, right? You are now human, this is your reincarnated human body, but your true identity is the son of the Goddess of the Night, the representative of the profound night and tranquil sky, the 'Child of the Night', the father god of Xing Qing and Xing Guang, one of the two great God Kings of the ancient divine realm, and also the future husband of me, the Star Goddess." The black-haired, black-eyed Star Goddess, opens her arms, embracing Rody tightly, her tears falling like pearls onto Rody's shoulders.
“What exactly is going on?” Rody had never heard of Pluto, the deity he fabricated to impersonate.
“Sit down, and let me explain it to you slowly.” The Star Goddess, with joy, kissed Rody's forehead. Her face blossomed into a smile like that of a little girl. She held Rody tightly in her arms, not willing to let go for even a second, as if she feared Rody would vanish like a wisp of smoke the moment she released him.
The Starlight Butterfly Girls saluted in unison and then quietly floated away. The Star Goddess then began to recount the past to Rody.
“Ten thousand years ago, the last of the ancient gods went to the Dreamy Divine Realm, leaving the Divine Realm without a ruler. The new generation of gods decided to elect a new God King. You, as Pluto, and Tai Hua, the God of Light, were evenly matched. After a grueling battle of ten thousand years and countless smaller fights without a decisive winner, the gods of the Divine Realm eventually supported either you or Tai Hua based on their own wishes. Thus, the Divine Realm came to have two God Kings,” the Star Goddess slowly explained. “For tens of thousands of years, everyone coexisted peacefully. However, fifty thousand years ago, a human strong enough broke through their ancient seal and stepped into the realm of the gods, entering the Divine Realm.”
“So, a divine war broke out?” Rody had heard something similar from the old men in the ruins of the Divine Domain.
“Yes, at that time, you thought it was a good thing and were very supportive of it. But Tai Hua and his followers strongly opposed it, believing that the entry of new powerful beings into the Divine Realm would disrupt the balance. They were especially against the entry of human beings. Thus, the great war among the gods, which had been dormant for tens of thousands of years, reignited.” The Star Goddess nodded gracefully, continuing, “The gods who supported you were mostly benevolent and peace-loving, respecting you but opposed to war. The newly joined human gods were still very weak and needed your protection. In that situation, to protect the God of Earth, you made your first concession, ceding one-third of your divine territory in exchange for the cessation of the divine war.”
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“This is undoubtedly feeding a tiger to prolong its life, how long can it last!” Rody deeply sighed for his past self, even as a God King, being too naïve.
“No, you were smart and great,” the Star Goddess kissed Rody's fingers, proudly saying, “You certainly knew this was impractical, but according to the divine revelation given to you by the God of Ancient Wisdom, there was a prophecy: A divided divine realm would give birth to a beautiful Star Goddess in the dazzling starry sky. If you could marry her, the divided divine realm would be reunited. For my sake, you chose a temporary retreat. Had it not been for the betrayal of the traitor of darkness, who let the gods seal me here first and delayed my birth by fifty thousand years, you would have unified the Heavenly Divine Realm long ago!”
“Darkness? The Dark Demon God?” Rody was surprised, realizing that the Dark Demon God was once his subordinate.
“Yes, that traitor. During your duel with Tai Hua, he betrayed you, and along with the War God and other gods who favored war and bloodshed, purged your loyal subordinates and the Earth God who supported you. Even now, he continues to suppress human beings,” the Star Goddess said with hatred.
“Wait, how do you know all this? Didn’t you say you were born fifty thousand years later?” Rody grew even more curious.
“My love, what’s so strange about that? Although I had not yet been born, my divine spirit and divine nature already existed. Moreover, every hundred years, the God of Memory would send messengers to check on me. So, I am very clear about everything that has happened in the Divine Realm,” the Star Goddess smiled. “My love, do you have any more questions?”
“Ah, you know, I am now a human!” Rody gestured to his own body and said, “I’m so weak, any deity could overpower me with just a flick of their finger. How could they let me continue to exist? I mean, why haven't they killed me?”
“I think there are several reasons!” The Star Goddess said with a smile, “One of them is that there are many laws above the Divine Realm, some set by the ancient gods and even the primordial gods as eternal laws. For example, murdering a God King will result in the stripping of divinity. You are a God King, and no deity dares to secretly murder you unconditionally. If they do, they would be stripped of their divinity by the laws set by the ancient and primordial gods, and you, at most, would just be reincarnated again. They certainly wouldn’t be so foolish. The only thing you need to worry about is their challenge… They have the right to challenge you when you, as a human, rise back to the divine level. If they defeat you, then they can take your throne as the God King.”
“What? The throne of the God King, sweat, the throne of the God King still belongs to me?” Rody was dumbfounded upon hearing this. He had not acted as a God King for fifty thousand years, and yet he was still one?
“My love, of course, what’s yours is always yours, and nobody can take it away! In the Divine Realm, a few of the Earth Gods have grown up and have been maintaining your divine realm. Also, your most loyal divine generals have always been defending your divine realm. Although only one-third of the divine realm remains, over tens of thousands of years, no other gods have been able to invade even a bit of it.”
“What about Tai Hua, the God King of Light? What is he doing?” Rody asked after a slight pause.
“He must be feeling very lonely practicing by himself without you as his opponent. The God of Light, Tai Hua, seems to have the intention to go to the Dreamy Divine Realm, but with his power alone, it might take another hundred thousand years to reach there. Without an equal opponent, his progress is very minimal. Moreover, the other gods are also coveting his throne as the God King. The days of Tai Hua as the God King may not be any better than yours,” the Star Goddess said, making Rody suddenly realize that being a God King was indeed a tough job.
“…” Rody was still organizing his thoughts, but he was soon startled again by the words of the Star Goddess.
“My love, the Divine Realm is a place that is not easy to leave once you go there. Without conditions, no deity can leave. I have always been reluctant to go there, waiting to ascend with you.” The Star Goddess, kissing Rody's cheek excitedly, said, “I am very grateful for the restrictions of the gods, allowing me to meet you here. This must be the arrangement of fate by the Mother Goddess of the Night. I know, the omnipotent her knew about today long ago. I praise my mother; she is truly great!”
“You, you are also a daughter of the Goddess of the Night?” Rody’s heart grew more fearful as he thought about it. Goodness, if that were true, wouldn’t she be his sister?
“My love, the birth of divine sons and daughters by deities is not the same as in humans. The Mother Goddess gave birth to you, her only son, who possesses her wisdom, divine power, and authority. I am her youngest daughter, created by her supreme divine consciousness. I possess her beauty, divine will, and hope. Our union will be more suitable than yours with your divine consort, the Goddess of Dawn, and will enhance your divine power even more!”
“So, are you saying that you were not born of the Goddess of the Night, but created by her supreme divine consciousness?” Rody finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Deities don’t necessarily need to carry a child for ten months like humans to give birth to divine sons and daughters!" The Star Goddess covered her mouth with a giggle and said, “If I wish, I can breathe out and give birth to a daughter for you. Look, Xing Qing and Xing Guang, they are daughters born from my divine power when I longed for you! Each of them looks almost exactly like me and possesses the divine power I bestowed upon them. Especially Xing Qing, she will become the new Queen of Pluto in the Demon Abyss after I leave, managing our entire garden. This is our garden, where we can vacation if we can leave the Divine Realm one day.” Rody felt dizzy hearing the Star Goddess's words, now understanding how he already had a bunch of daughters without being married.
"This garden is a bit dark... Ah, I'm feeling a bit dizzy thinking about this." Rody wondered how he would explain this to his mother when he got home.
Would he have to tell his mother that he is not her son, but a divine son created by the supreme divine consciousness of the Goddess of the Night, named Pluto, and the former God King of the Divine Realm? If that were true, he guessed his mother would cry to death!
But if he didn't want to acknowledge the Star Goddess, it seemed a bit regretful.
The Star Goddess had waited for him for thousands of years in this dark Demon Abyss, creating over a hundred daughters out of her longing for him. If he refused to recognize her, it would likely leave the Star Goddess heartbroken and in despair. Moreover, deep in his heart, seeing the Star Goddess indeed stirred feelings of affection and warmth, as if she was inherently his kin.
Rody felt a natural affinity for the black-haired, black-eyed Star Goddess.
No one else was like him, only she, with black hair and black eyes, looked almost exactly like him...
“Don't you like it?” The Star Goddess, observing Rody's expression, cautiously asked, “Is it because I didn’t ask you and gave birth to so many daughters for you, you're unhappy?”
“No, it's not that.” If the Star Goddess were human, Rody would definitely have given her a slap, but since the Star Goddess created daughters with her divine consciousness and not in the way humans do, Rody could only shake his head. He looked at the Star Goddess and curiously asked, “Why create so many with your divine consciousness? Over a hundred, I'm going to faint!”
“I was bored!” The Star Goddess hugged Rody and coquettishly said, “When I missed you so much, I would create an avatar with my divine consciousness and then give her life, commemorating my longing. So, over time, there are over a hundred of them. The Underworld Butterflies too, are made by me casually when I think of you. If you don’t like them, I can recombine them... Their bodies and thoughts are exactly the same, all manifestations of light, star power, and longing. If you think there are too many to handle, let them combine into just Xing Qing.”
“Is there another way for deities to have children?” Rody glanced at the Star Goddess and asked again.
“Yes.” The Star Goddess suddenly blushed, even her slender neck turning red. She lowered her swan-like neck, shyly saying, “That requires your mischief. For a goddess to conceive a divine child, it’s a big deal. My son would be the successor to the God King after you enter the Dreamy Divine Realm. You, you need to think carefully! I think the Goddess of Dawn, she might not agree…”
“Must it be a son?” Rody was curious.
“No, it’s up to your wishes. It could also be a daughter. Do you prefer daughters?” The Star Goddess joyfully hugged Rody’s neck, asking affectionately.