An endless expanse of white.
Without heaven or earth, they could not see the state of Olympus, nor know any changes in the outside world.
“You’re right. Given that the ‘contamination’ has already begun, even if I force my way in, it will only bring me more trouble. As someone who is not a complete god, there is only one way for me to contend with your power while in a state of ‘contamination’.”
Beside Shiomi stood a young girl quietly.
Chapter 85 You, the Emotion of the Chaotic Star (1)
Although she was a young girl, she exuded immense compassion.
It is the juvenile form that Tiamat, the mother of creation, manifested for some reason.
As for that reason—
"Is that so? Even if I can break through your mental defenses, after breaking through them, I will still come into contact with your sea of hearts... no, with the Goddess of Creation who is always connected to your spirit?"
Aphrodite frowned, her expression showing displeasure.
Despite being in the Sea of Hearts, Aphrodite, the man, and Tiamat, due to the spiritual interference of the Mecha God's true form, have become entangled, leading to this unique meeting situation.
Even if the mental release is immediately lifted, there is no way to escape quickly.
Time within the Sea of Spirit is stretched out infinitely. What may be a fleeting moment outside can feel like an eternity here.
After all, Aphrodite didn't have the power to manipulate time, but for Tiamat, it was as easy as snapping a finger.
“That’s why I said that what you called ‘short and weak’ is not wrong in a sense.” Shiomi stood quietly beside Tiamat with her hands behind her back. “For me, who has lost the initiative, there is no way I can shoot you down like I shot down Artemis and then protect the people around me.”
As he spoke, Tiamat smiled warmly and raised her hand, but because of her petite appearance, she couldn't touch Shiomi's head.
Understanding what her mother wanted to do, Shiomi slowly knelt on the ground and accepted Tiamat's caresses.
“Don’t feel ashamed. No matter how many years you’ve lived or how powerful you become, to me you’re still a child who needs to be cared for,” Tiamat said softly.
She slowly turned her gaze to Aphrodite, but then her smile vanished: "The goddess of beauty and love, yet she doesn't even know what love is. I shall judge that shallow behavior."
"Well……"
Instantly, Aphrodite felt an immense sense of oppression.
This was an experience she had never had before. After all, in the millions of years since she arrived on this planet, she had never tried to interfere with the spiritual realm of beings like Zeus, nor had she ever come into contact with the native gods of this planet.
Xi Jian Tianxi, however, dug a huge pit for Aphrodite, tempting her to forcibly interfere with and manipulate his mind, but without any preparation, she came into contact with the goddess of creation.
The feeling of oppression wasn't a negative emotion like fear, but simply a sense of powerlessness.
His body slumbers in the sea of imaginary numbers, interfering with the real world only through the spiritual realm. This immense presence is probably unmatched even by the great god Zeus.
Aphrodite wondered to herself.
In any case, she may never have the chance to compare again. When she returns from the sea of the mind to reality, the outcome of their battle will be revealed.
“Poor, pathetic mechanical goddess, love is not something that can be measured by value, much less a tool for domination.” Tiamat reached out to Aphrodite, cradling her in her palm.
"You gave birth to humankind, yet in the end, you were abandoned by your own children, the humans on earth, as if they were useless... Despite all this, do you still love humankind, O primordial mother goddess?" Aphrodite and Tiamat gazed at each other silently.
"No matter how excellent or useless humans are, I will love all humans equally, just as they love me. Even if one day I have to leave this planet, I will watch them depart with a smile." Tiamat's smile was both sorrowful and warm.
She has made up her mind to forever watch over the future of humanity, and to watch over this "special child" who is fighting and working hard for the future of humanity.
Therefore, lending him a little strength occasionally like this is a natural form of pampering in Tiamat's eyes.
"If this is the kind of love you approve of, then I really don't understand."
Aphrodite chuckled and vanished from the sea of consciousness.
“Aphrodite has left here, and it is time to say goodbye again, Mother.”
Shiomi, who had been silently waiting for the result, spoke softly at this moment.
“Of course, my child.” Tiamat turned around and looked at him with some pride. “It’s remarkable that you could think of using yourself as bait to entangle the goddess’s spirit.”
"I've caused Mother more trouble again." tide Jian shook her head.
“Don’t be so polite. Since you’re my child, it doesn’t matter how much trouble you encounter or how much help you need from your mother.” Tiamat smiled gently. “Next time, let’s have a good chat in our dreams, just like always.”
She was referring to the fact that when Shiomi falls asleep, their connected spirits allow them to meet frequently in their dreams.
As a result, even in the desolate sea of imaginary numbers, Tiamat will never again experience the loneliness of being abandoned by her child.
"Mother, you've worked hard." Shiomi looked at Tiamat and asked the question she hadn't been able to ask before, "But why are you in the form of a young girl?"
“If it gets bigger, human language will become ineffective, and otherwise, it will be difficult to talk to you,” Tiamat said with a smile. “After all, this time is very short.”
"I see."
tide Jian understood and prepared to stand up and return to the real world.
"Have you decided?" Tiamat asked as she watched him leave.
"Decid what?" tide Jian asked, puzzled.
“A divine name,” Tiamat said softly. “To become a god, one needs a divine name. You are an exception; you must decide your own name.”
"Can't we continue to use human names?" Shiomi asked.
"Your human name is just a substitute name chosen for you by the one on the moon," Tiamat said. "You can continue to use it, but it will reduce your output as a god."
"I see." tide Jian hadn't expected there to be such a question involved.
“As a human being, I use a human name; as a god, I should also have a divine name,” Tiamat added.
“Then, Mother, please bestow upon me, this still-unfinished, immature god, a suitable name. A name befitting the son of the Goddess of Creation,” Shiomi suggested.
Tiamat clearly hadn't expected Shiomi to leave the decision to her. Her smile softened, and she cupped Shiomi's face in her hands, leaning down to kiss his forehead before saying:
“My child has made this request, so let’s think of a name for him, Mother.”
Then, Tiamat whispered in the child's ear, bestowing upon him his 'divine name'.
Chapter 86 You, the Emotion of the Chaotic Star (2)
laugh--
The hatch of the Machine God's true body, which had just closed not long ago, opened again, and Shiomi, who was bound inside, was ejected from the inside as if a time bomb had been dropped.
Aphrodite cannot continue to contain Shiomi's existence; continuing to house her within her true form would cause her to fall into a serious logical malfunction.
“…That wretched Tiamat…how dare she protect a human like this…”
Aphrodite was furious, yet helpless.
The difference in their social standing determined the outcome of this meeting in the Sea of Spirits; the moment Aphrodite was pulled in, the outcome was already decided.
Forcibly analyzing and rewriting Shiomi's spirit caused Aphrodite to accidentally come into contact with Tiamat's spirit, exceeding the scope of her interference, and the Machine God's true form fell into a temporary overheating state.
“A mother protecting her child is only natural. Aphrodite from the pan-human history is the mother of the Roman ancestors.” Shiomi floated in the air and slowly raised her head. “Even if you didn’t experience these things, the Hidden Ones should have told you, right?”
"..." Aphrodite was speechless.
Before Chaldea arrived, she had already communicated with Kirshtalia and the Hermits he had summoned more than once.
She also knew about Aphrodite, the Pan-Humanist.
Even if you know, that's all you'll ever know.
Aphrodite from Lostbelts only ever loved Hephaestus, the god of blacksmithing, and was not nearly as passionate as the Aphrodite from Pan-Human History.
“But all of this is useless talk. I do not intend to seek understanding from the Lostbelt Gods at this time.” Shiomi slowly reached out and grasped the God Spear Gungnir. “After all, unlike Demeter, our powers do not even resonate with each other.”
The thunderclouds below continued to surge. Zeus had originally believed that as long as Shiomi approached Aphrodite, she would be consumed by her power and then enslaved.
Therefore, Zeus did not continue his attack after Shiomi broke through the thunderclouds that were thousands of meters thick.
But now, the opposite is unfolding before him, and Zeus has no choice but to immediately offer assistance. Even though Zeus believes that the world can continue to prosper as long as he wins, even if he loses the other Olympian gods, he has no intention of abandoning Aphrodite.
The fact that the gods under Zeus's command were successively defeated by the same man was itself the greatest trampling of Zeus's divine power.
Based on this alone, Zeus could not tolerate Shiomi continuing her behavior.
Countless bolts of lightning shot out from the thunderclouds below, heading straight for Shio, surrounding him and relentlessly attacking him.
This also bought Aphrodite time to recover from the overload.
"Codename Pandemos, input confirmed. Enemy intelligent life form confirmed. Spiritual intelligence station, commencing. — 'You are the Mindhack Mycenae, the emotion of the chaotic star,' I will utterly shatter your heart!"
As Aphrodite recovered from the overload caused by Tiamat in her Mecha God form, she activated her Noble Phantasm again, and the three giant crystals on her true form quickly gathered their magical power.
This was not a purely mental attack, but a massive attack comparable in scale to Demeter's Noble Phantasm.
Focusing on one point, the target is the man surrounded by thunder in front of us.
With no chance to fight back, let it fall!
With these emotions in mind, Aphrodite unleashed the true name of her Noble Phantasm.
"By the name of my god, I swear that the stars will fall thrice. I do not covet the power of the throne; all I do is to reclaim the future that belongs to humanity. Even if lightning strikes, this blow will not miss... Fall to the earth, Aphrodite! 'Declaration of the Great God - Dawn of the Gods' (RagnarokGungnir)!"
A light as dazzling as the morning star tore through the curtain of thunder, and at the moment Aphrodite unleashed her Noble Phantasm, Gungnir flew from Shiomi's hand.
Even without the ritual that aided in shooting down Artemis, at such close range, it would have been enough to shoot down Aphrodite.
Aphrodite's Noble Phantasm, composed of highly concentrated magical energy gathered from three true crystals, was torn apart the moment it met Gungnir.
The Spear of God, like a fish swimming upstream against a rushing river, pierced through Aphrodite's Noble Phantasm, slowly but irresistibly.
"No...no, no, no, no! I...a god...how could I be defeated by mere humans...!"
Seeing the sharp tip of the spear approaching her, Aphrodite let out a low, incoherent gasp.
Even at this moment, she still refused to admit that the man before her was neither human nor not human, but a new god standing on the boundary between humans and gods, fighting for humanity.
The divine spear, which was destined to strike, pierced through Aphrodite's true form like a meteor, destroying and shattering her divine core.
The colossal, divine form of the machine began to disintegrate and dissipate the moment it was pierced.
Even returning to human form was impossible; Aphrodite could only watch helplessly as she dissipated.
Having withstood countless thunderbolts, focusing solely on the Noble Phantasm attack, it was still able to unleash this devastating blow that would surely kill the god.
Shio smiled with satisfaction, then lost her buoyancy and fell downwards.
The increasingly ferocious thunder, while not fatal, still caused his injuries to accumulate to a troublesome level.
With her vision obscured by thunderclouds, Shiomi was unable to see how Aphrodite fell.
The next instant, a massive shock spread out, and the explosion caused by the dissipation of the true form even tore apart the dark clouds that Zeus had used to unleash his thunder.
But it inadvertently helped Xijian.
At least, the thunder's attack would subside before he hit the ground.
He raised his hand and caught Gungnir, which flew back into his hand; his fingertips and body were already numb.
It was Zeus, after all, a chief god who, like Odin, held the title of a great god.
The battle against him will surely be much more difficult.
Thinking this way, what would be a fatal fall from ten thousand meters in the sky for a human would only create a crater a dozen meters deep and a dozen meters wide.
The crash site was in a forested area between the western and southern parts of the interstellar city.
Clutching her aching body, tide Jian, covered in dust and dirt, struggled to her feet, coughing up a little blood.
The severe injuries sustained upon landing were quickly healed within a few breaths; the remaining issue was the cost of this battle.
If Zeus hadn't been in the way—
"It's amazing that he survived falling from such a height."
A voice, both unfamiliar and somewhat familiar, rang out.
tide Jian raised his eyes and saw a pink-haired woman standing above the pit, scrutinizing him with amusement.
"It seems you're severely depleted right now, like a fish on a chopping board, Mr. Shiomi of Chaldea. Or perhaps it would be better to call you His Majesty the God-King?"
"Koyanskaya..."
Chapter 87 Beast
Koyanskaya was one of the main culprits behind the destruction of Chaldea.
However, since the Antarctic incident, Koyanskaya has rarely appeared in front of Chaldea.
However, traces of her activities can be found in every Lostbelt.
This woman, who is closely associated with alien gods and even alien apostles, exists in a way that suggests she is not also an alien apostle.