The Sky Queen's Tears
When the words "Goddess Department War" rang out, the killing intent vanished from the goddess's eyes. The sound of the bell ceased as she quietly lowered her legs. Still touching the golden ornament at her groin, she stared at the eyes watching her and continued in a dazed voice.
"How can you interpret the divine language of my homeland? And how do you know my true divine name?"
"I am also the Dimensional Lord. I have seen and learned from many dimensions. A goddess as beautiful and powerful as you stands out in my memory. Though your physique and eye color differ, I could not be certain. The Goddess Hera saw no desire in the Dimensional and War God's eyes—only reverence for herself."
"It is an honor to meet you, Great Queen of the Sky, Hera."
Hearing her true divine name after so long, spoken with pure reverence, sent her heart into turmoil. Without realizing it, her emotions began to sway.
What should I say? My face keeps flushing. My mouth is going dry.
While the Goddess Hera's heart wavered, the indifferent War God removed his hand from her sealed region and resumed drinking his tea.
All I see in his eyes is reverence. As if he is looking upon someone he respects.
Without thinking, she straightened her posture.
There is not a trace of desire in his eyes. The assassination attempt was a mistake.
In this situation, she felt like a wanton harlot trying to seduce and kill a pious god. Disgusted by the thought, she retrieved her formal uniform from her pocket dimension and put it on.
The War God watched her and continued.
"Is Granzoa the daughter you bore in the Otherworld? She certainly possesses a different caliber of power from the goddesses here."
Memories of his difficult past with Granzoa flashed through the War God's mind like a brand.
After reaching the 10th Circle and obtaining the divine position of Dimensions, I rejoiced, thinking myself invincible, and moved to occupy the High Elf Empire. At that moment, Granzoa's divine presence that blocked my path was dazzling.
Granzoa nullified every magical attack as if restoring reality itself through the Main God's reality manipulation, and even attempted to revert the War God back to his original human form.
Granzoa's Infinite Restoration was incredible. If not for my Dimensional Authority, I would have been turned back into a human and died.
No attack worked against Granzoa. When he raised his divine power and desperately struck her, her body restored itself endlessly.
If my Dimensional Authority had not partially neutralized her divinity and Infinite Restoration, it would have been the end.
The two, evenly matched at the time, fought an endless battle of attrition, destroying and restoring each other's bodies.
When I resolved to collapse the dimension itself with the 11th Circle Dimensional Authority, Granzoa, sensing it, proposed a karma contract.
Crack—!
The War God grew furious at the mere memory.
Back then, I did not yet understand what karma was. I thought living kindly without harming others would suffice.
It was a time when he was still naive. That was why he had not known he would be recognized as the supreme dark mage and forced to bear all the negative karma.
Once I became a complete 10th Circle mage, karma acknowledged my power and authority. And it demanded a truly harsh price.
Once he reached a level worthy of being called strong, the application of karma's negativity was truly terrifying.
Any mistake in magic guarantees failure. When summoning spirit gods, I had to fight to the death against the worst or strongest among them.
Because creating required spirit gods of different attributes from the Otherworld, he ultimately fought and subjugated them all, forging contracts.
Among them, the pregnancy attack from the Great God Emperor Nuwa still sends chills down my spine even now. Me, pregnant? Just thinking about it makes my body tremble.
After such fierce battles with the Otherworld spirit gods, he had sworn never to associate with women again. The Goddess of reverence visibly flinched at his sudden surge of fighting spirit.
This is disrespectful. As the Lord of the Otherworld, and as the mother of the powerful Granzoa, she deserves respect.
Come to think of it, the formal attire Granraha—rather, the Goddess Hera—was wearing was quite plain. It did not suit the Queen of the Divine Race.
"I am the one and only special existence in this world."
He manifested his proudest magic upon her formal wear.
Fwoooosh—!
Ten circles of mana restructured Granraha's attire. She seemed flustered by the sudden event, but as expected of the renowned Goddess of the Otherworld, she sensed no malice and remained still.
Whooooom!
The structure of the uniform changed. For a brief moment her naked body was exposed, but soon the transformation began. An extremely ornate dress, woven entirely from golden threads fit for an empress, enveloped her entire body. A platinum-glowing metal breastplate adorned her rounded bosom, embroidered with a flying peacock. A wide golden belt made of dragon leather, featuring a peacock feather pattern inlaid with jewels, cinched her slender waist. Countless jewels sparkled like stars in the Milky Way across the golden skirt. A magnificent cloak fashioned from multicolored jewels into peacock feathers wrapped around her back like folded wings.
"!?"
The Goddess Hera was astonished by the sudden, extraordinarily lavish dress, yet felt a strange familiarity with its design.
Of course. It is a slightly more ornate version of the attire she wore while ruling as a goddess queen. It is only natural she would feel a connection.
He crafted a crown adorned with countless diamonds—the transparent eternal gem—and gently placed it upon her dazzling golden hair with both hands.
This too is a slightly more ornate recreation of her Otherworld Main God crown.
As the Goddess Hera absentmindedly stroked the crown on her head, he created a large mirror to reflect both her and the room. Within it stood a goddess more magnificent than the temple itself, radiating greater dignity and beauty than any other.
The War God gazed at his own creation with satisfaction, thinking how perfectly it suited her.
"Hnnngh!"
After staring blankly at her reflection for a long while, she suddenly lowered her head and began to cry. Before he could react to the abrupt situation, she threw herself into his arms and burst into sobs.
"Hnnngh—! Sob—! Uuuk—! Why—! Why! Hic—!"
"……"
Unable to control her emotions, she had collapsed. He held her for a moment, soothing her. It was some time before she regained her composure and pulled away. She could not meet his eyes, her face flushed as she kept her head bowed.
An awkward silence followed. The War God prepared tea once more.
Strange. Lately, tea tastes better than alcohol. Perhaps because I have so many worries, I find myself preferring these over sweet things.
He served her the red pomegranate tea she had often drunk and enjoyed.
A specialty from the Otherworld, since it does not exist in the main universe.
The War God had thoroughly investigated items obtained through Dimensional Authority from the Otherworld and kept anything that posed no danger—especially seeds and foodstuffs, which he had taken in bulk.
It was not theft. I tossed them a gold nugget each time, so they made a windfall.
The Goddess Hera picked up the teacup again, tasted it, then looked at the War God in disbelief. She sipped it little by little, tears still welling in her eyes.
Why is she acting like that? The taste seems fine.
It was clearly a top-grade pomegranate tea, with its clear, sweet-and-sour flavor.
The War God felt disoriented by how different her current appearance was from the assassin-like figure who had first appeared.
The atmosphere is completely different. She is undoubtedly Granzoa's mother and the Goddess Hera of the Otherworld. Her eyes are not the large, clear black like a cow's but golden, and her figure has shrunk considerably, yet no other goddess possesses such heavenly divine power. She herself admitted as much, did she not?
Yet the goddess, dressed more splendidly than any empress, with tears clinging to her long golden lashes as she sobbed, appeared far too fragile.
The Goddess Hera I knew was the queen of all goddesses in the Otherworld, the great goddess who ruled the Divine Realm in place of her philandering husband. I wonder how she ended up here.
Moreover, it was absurd that such a great goddess queen's authority was "Lord Slayer" and that her body had been trained as an assassin.
Is it related to the Divine Realm of the Otherworld, which was said to have completely collapsed after the Transcendent Revolution?
However, since he had no connection to the Otherworld, he set the thought aside. The most important matter was the Goddess Department's decision regarding his treatment.
He poured more pomegranate tea into her now-empty cup and waited for her to calm down.
"Thank you for letting me indulge in memories for a moment."
"I hope I did not make a mistake."
"No! I am more grateful than I can express. I will return this outfit right away."
"You may keep it. It was made for you, Lady Hera, so others would reject it anyway."
"Is that all right? Thank you so much."
Her tone had somehow changed. Seeing her delighted like a young girl, he found it difficult to say anything. Moreover, the way she looked at him overflowed with affection—almost excessively so.
"As thanks, I will tell you. Among the eight highest-ranking goddesses, the ones equal to me are…"
Suddenly, they had reached the main point.
This is top-secret information I need to listen to carefully. But is it all right to reveal this when we are not even on the same side yet?
"All eight goddesses who serve as the highest-ranking members of the Goddess Department."
"……"
The War God, who had believed the only Main Gods in the Divine Realm were the Main God of the Divine Realm and himself, felt momentarily dazed.
What did I just hear? Did she just say there are eight Main Goddesses? Besides the monstrous Main God of the Divine Realm with two hundred billion believers, there are eight more Main Gods, each with only one star?