"what?"

The Zodiac star field, just before and after the Goddess of Light and Demeter arrived at the edge of the starry sky.

Yawning out of boredom, the goddess of victory transformed back into her original form and lingered at the edge of the star field.

Until one moment, I seemed to sense something.

With a slight exclamation, she transformed and took out a special rune.

The runes flickered, as if responding to something.

If you look closely, you might find that the structure of the runes is somewhat similar to that of Valhalla.

To this, Nikki proved that this was true.

However, this rune is not similar to [Valhalla], but similar to [Victory].

As Odin's training ground, few people remember that it not only has heroic spirits among mortals with high morale, but also has female warriors called Valkyries.

These Valkyries are not entirely human, some of them are even real gods.

They hold special authority and assist in the operation of this magical weapon.

Therefore, in the structure of [Hall of Valor], it contains not only the power related to spirits in the Nine Realms, but also contains the divine power related to [courage], [victory], [war], and a little bit of [destiny] and [time] fields.

But for some reason, even though he had held it in his hands for more than a thousand years and even inherited Odin's Asgard domain, Zeus never obtained these powers from Valhalla, and then used the foreign artifacts to get involved in related fields.

The only thing he succeeded in doing was to create many kingdoms of God by referring to its power to create heroes, and continue to allow it to maintain its own functions.

Instead, it was in Athena's hands that Nikki personally witnessed the changes of this artifact.

For example, Shikoti, the guardian of the Urd Spring and one of the three goddesses of fate in the foreign land, actually represents the future time and thus has a little bit of the divinity of fate.

In the remaining records of Asgard, she was the leader of the Valkyries.

Zeus once studied this very hard, trying to obtain the divine power that could control destiny from Valhalla.

But in the end, Nikki knew very well that this power had never been obtained by the other party.

It had fallen into the hands of its owner one day before, and had seen many special things through it.

The goddess of victory was very puzzled by this. After all, in her perception, although her master's power was strong at that time, it was definitely not comparable to that of the God King.

Fortunately, after she asked the question, Athena answered her readily - although the answer sounded a little strange.

"The God King did not discover the secret hidden in [Hall of Valor] because he was too weak."

"If we exclude the secret of ascending to great power, perhaps this is the most valuable thing in all of Asgard."

“But facing the remaining power, even if his power is ten times stronger, he cannot penetrate the core of [Hall of Valor].”

Athena told her so, but the goddess of victory felt like she was listening to a mystery.

If the God King is ten times more powerful and still cannot penetrate the secret of Valhalla, how did you crack it?

However, the goddess of wisdom did not answer her question.

She just gave Nikki a task - to collect a reward for her one day in the future."

"So now is the time for your reward to come?"

"That's right, I've been curious for a long time."

"Who is Braki? Is he a foreign god? Anyway, I have never heard of this guy."

Nikki curled her lips as her eyes swept across the star field, then left a fake body at the original place.

Although Zeus was sealed away, his royal order continued to erode the heaven and earth, and so did the gods.

Fortunately, unlike the old woman Phoebe, the other gods were more or less rational and did not act rashly.

……

wow...

Passing through the invisible barrier, I was frightened by the power that seemed omnipotent and could annihilate everything.

Leaping out from the edge of the starry sky, to be honest, Demeter didn't want to appear in this strange place at all, nor did she want to listen to Thea talk about the past.

After all, from the beginning to the end, her thoughts and demands were simple and straightforward - that is to master the power to protect herself and then seek revenge on her former enemies.

In order to achieve this goal, she had this in mind when she was making the golden arrow.

After all, according to Volos, although his golden arrows do not take effect according to the user's wishes, they are still somewhat useful.

The person who is hit by the arrow can only know what you want, and if the other person happens to be the "sacrificial" type, he or she may be able to satisfy your wish.

"But what's going on now... Where exactly is this place?"

"Your Highness Theia, what are you going to do to me?"

"Even if you were affected by both the priesthood and the golden arrow, and developed some extreme emotions... there should be some logic behind this, right?"

"I don't want to walk into any chessboard at all, and I don't need you to express your love for me in this way!"

The goddess of agriculture shouted angrily, her anger now mixed with more tension.

Coming here, for some reason, she always felt like she was in big trouble.

It's just that she doesn't want to get involved in this. What she wants is obviously very simple.

However, beside her, Theia looked at the goddess of agriculture's resistance with a smile. Not only was she not angry, but she looked like she was looking at a rebellious child.

"No, you want to."

"With the help of that golden arrow, I was able to see into your inner thoughts."

"You want to gain enough strength to protect yourself and to avenge the enemy who hurt you. These are your innermost wishes. I didn't force them on you. You won't deny this, right?"

"…But what does this have to do with us being here?"

Looking at this vast ocean of white light, even before she walked in, Demeter sensed a unique law.

Just like other places in the world and Asgard... Suddenly, as if she had thought of something, the Goddess of Agriculture's eyes lit up.

"I see."

"This is a secluded haven. Only we can come here. No one else can find us, right?"

"As long as I come here, I can avoid all dangers and get real safety!"

Tread.

The forward steps suddenly stopped, and the Goddess of Light frowned when she heard the words.

"Why do you have such an idea? What's the point of hiding?"

"No place is ever safe."

"The reason I brought you here is to get the power to protect your safety, not to hide away from the world."

"Get power?"

Demeter looked slightly stunned and asked in surprise:

"Do you want to find a divine weapon to increase your power?"

"Of course not. How much power can a divine weapon enhance?"

"It's not so easy to protect yourself in this world."

Shaking her head, Thea denied it.

"…But your power is strong enough."

"You have already been able to fulfill my desire, right?"

The conjecture was denied, and the Goddess of Agriculture couldn't help but ask doubtfully:

"So in your opinion, what kind of power is needed to protect my safety?"

"Of course that is the power that can suppress the God King."

Without thinking, Thea replied calmly.

"Although I cannot obtain this power this time, I will work with you in this direction."

“Your dream is my dream—even though it’s a little ambitious, it’s not hopeless.”

"what?"

Demeter was dumbfounded and shocked.

What is the power to suppress the God-King? Has she ever proposed this idea?

"That's not what I thought, you misinterpreted me!"

"I never said I wanted to suppress Zeus, I—"

"No, you want to."

Interrupting again, Thea kindly reminded.

"You should remember that you wanted to protect your own safety and take revenge on the thugs who hurt you."

"And these two can actually be summed up as one dream, which is to surpass all the gods who have hurt you in the past."

"So think carefully, was the God King the most powerful among the gods who hurt you in the past? Of course he was."

"After all, the second-generation God King who devoured you is no longer in the world. Zeus is our biggest imaginary enemy."

"So this is your dream - don't worry, I will face it with you."

"...?"

With a blank look in her eyes, Demeter wanted to retort but didn't know how.

That’s right, that seems to be what the Goddess of Light said.

Zeus is the source of his pain. If he could have the power to suppress it, everything would be fine... What the hell!

"Don't be ridiculous, I never intended to be an enemy of Zeus!"

"He is so powerful, how can we possibly be his opponent—"

"——So if you really have more power than him, would you choose to let him go?"

asked at the right time, Theia was willing to listen to the other party's opinion.

"I……"

Asking herself, a hint of hesitation flashed in the eyes of the goddess of agriculture.

Noticing this emotion, the Goddess of Light nodded with satisfaction.

"Look, you think about it, you just don't dare to say it out loud."

“This is a common problem among many people of God. They have dreams and aspirations, but they are content with their current situation and are unwilling to work hard.”

"When faced with difficulties, the first thing they think of is to escape; when faced with power, they will only shrink into their own little world, waiting for the so-called capable people to stand up for them."

"That won't do. It's a habit that only the most mediocre people have... Fortunately, I will help you change it."

"Although the road ahead is difficult and disaster may come at any time, I will always follow you."

"The road ahead is difficult... will it bring disaster?"

"Theia, can I refuse?"

His expression was stiff as he came back to his senses from his reverie.

Having keenly caught these two words, Demeter asked with difficulty.

She felt a little regretful. Why did she shoot the golden arrow at this woman... and the next moment, the Goddess of Light did not disappoint her "expectations".

"Refuse, of course not."

"Demeter, you have to know...I am doing this for your own good."

Thea said this earnestly and mercilessly.

"False love is to condone the other person's mistakes."

“True love makes you a better person, even if it means being against the world.”

"Can you understand my feelings? I think you can understand, after all, it was you who shot the golden arrow at me."

"Don't worry, I will definitely help you... no matter what kind of enemy we face!"

"..."

But I don’t want to face the enemy, nor do I want to be an enemy of the world. Can you let me go?

The goddess of agriculture wanted to say this, but after opening her mouth, she finally did not speak.

Are you kidding? What if I keep refusing and the Goddess of Light thinks that I am not perfect enough and don't even have a chance to get better, and she takes more radical measures?

Although this sounds a bit outrageous, Demeter had never expected to encounter such a thing before coming here.

Taking a deep breath, she walked in the dazzling white light, trying to divert her attention.

"Well... can you tell me where this place is?"

"I have never heard of such a place existing at the edge of the starry sky."

"This is my first time here, but if nothing goes wrong, this should be 'Alfheim', a world of light."

Nodding with satisfaction, Theia said slowly when she saw that the goddess of agriculture no longer resisted.

"This interface is very powerful. Even if Apollo hadn't intervened, with the integration of Alfheim, Chaos's [Light] would have supported my promotion long ago."

"Fortunately, it's not too late now. After all, without Apollo, I have your help... Of course, we are still missing the last piece of the puzzle."

Her posture was calm and confident. At this moment, Theia acted like the Mother Goddess of Light of the Second Era.

Looking at this scene, the goddess of agriculture paused slightly and felt a little envious.

It would be a good thing if I could be like her...right?

Since I can't resist it, I can only try to convince myself.

After thinking about it carefully, Demeter felt that what Thea said made some sense.

"Well... maybe that's true."

"I think I may have had this delusion, but I just didn't dare to say it out loud in the past... That should be it."

Take a few quick steps and keep up with the pace of the Goddess of Light.

At one point, it was like crossing a barrier.

The goddess of agriculture felt dizzy and soon opened her eyes again.

Looking around, this is already a strange space.