Sol found himself standing in a vast open grassland, thousands of stars were shining brightly above him in the infinite skies, and fresh air like no other was caressing his skin with its refreshing touch.
Above him, fourteen thrones floated quietly in the sky in a semi-circle formation. In a way, it was like he was standing before a tribunal, ready to be judged by them for whatever sin he may have conducted.
Sol was reminded of the first time he appeared in this place but now the situation was different.
Firstly, back then, he was bewildered and a little fearful of what could happen to him as he stood before the almighty rulers of this universe. But now, he could calmly observe them and even take in their divine pressure and withstand it.
The second and largest difference between the two times was that the majority of the thrones were currently empty and only five of them were now occupied. One more goddess than Camelia had anticipated, but not outside the realm of possibility for Sol.
Luxuria and Castitas for his human blood and Lilith’s human side.
Invidia and Humanitas representing the Demon side of Lilith.
Finally Superbia for his dragon blood.
Sol found the fact that a mere mortal like him could cause 5 goddesses to appear to be quite interesting in itself, but now wasn’t the time to be lost in his daydreams.
[We are listening.]
The voice of the goddesses sounded as overbearing as ever. Their divine voice had the characteristics that could subdue all mortals no matter what their standing was.
But to this voice of theirs, Sol simply smiled without showing any signs of being bothered.
“—I am here to bargain.”
The young boy who once stood lost in this place and who could only kneel and beg for mercy was no more.
When the goddesses heard his words, a deep sense of silence filled the scene. Clearly, they were all quite surprised at how brazen the young boy was.
From their perspectives, the time that passed since they last saw him was so small that it was basically non-existent.
It was a span of time that was not even large enough for a child to grow into an adult. But here he was, acting as if he was simply negotiating with people of equal standings.
[For what reason did you call us?]
“Lilith Luxuria was born from the experiments of Neptune Luxuria. Previous King and Blessed of Lustburg. But his experiment back then was incomplete and the result made it so that the remaining lifespan of Lilith Luxuria is about to fizzle out, like a candle in the wind.”
[The life and death of mortals are of no matter to us. How do you plan to save her?]
The one who spoke was Superbia. She was sitting with her arms resting on the armchair and her head resting on the palm of her hand.
Even though Sol could not see her expression and was not stupid enough to directly look at her face, he could still hear the indifference in her voice.
He understood it really. Thousands of mortals died every day and even at this very moment, someone, somewhere was dying for one reason or another.
Why should the goddesses care about the life and death of a mere mortal?
His words were direct. Trying to hide anything was useless… For the goddesses should have already known about this situation long ago.
“I wish to ask permission to change the bloodline of Lilith Luxuria and save her from her inevitable demise.”
Silence once more descended into the divine realm, but one much heavier than the one before. It was clear that the goddesses were contemplating something.
The first one to break the silence was surprisingly Castitas,
[Do we even need to think? In the first place, Neptune has already paid the price for his creation. Not only using his wish but also sacrificing his Blessing.]
Sol’s eyes narrowed.
The wish.
It was a single and unconditional wish that was given to all kings of Lustburg. As long it did not break the boundary of the rule established.
Most kings simply used that wish to increase their power. Others would increase their lifespans. There were many uses for the wish.
Neptune, the madman that he was, dedicated his entire life’s purpose to his creations. He died as the weakest king in Lustburg’s long lineage of mighty rulers. He was also the king with the least achievement, officially speaking, and the only king who had no real power over his own kingdom.
Even so, he was a brilliant man whose madness transcended the mere desire for power and who even managed to create beings such as Milia, Lilin, and Lilith. His masterpieces.
Meddling divine power artificially and mass-producing such beings. Even managing to give them the ability to procreate in Lilin’s case.
Truly he was a dangerous man.
After Castitas spoke, the next one to give her opinion was actually Humanitas…
[How many times will we give mortals the authority to meld with the divine? Either way, Neptune had paid the price for the creation of his monstrosities. The same went for Echidna. It would not be fair to simply give this permission to this mortal no matter how you support him.]
Humanitas' opinion was clear. She did not particularly care about Sol but she hated how mortals kept looking down on them by trying to reach into their domain when they should simply bow down and quietly provide faith to their greatness.
At the very least, Sol had to pay the price if he wished to act against the rules. In her opinion, true kindness represented giving equally to all sides. Since his predecessor paid a price for his choices, the same should go for him too.
Luxuria's answer was unsurprisingly on Sol’s side,
[We established the rules to see how far mortals can come on their own. Saving the Singularity Lilith breaks no taboo.]
Sol stood calmly. Two were on his side and one against. This was honestly better than anything he had hoped. After all, he had been ready for all the goddesses to be against his decision. He was ready to pay the price and ready to bargain as much as possible. But at this rate, it seemed like he would not even have the right to do so.
[I don’t really care. But since the boy fought valiantly during the war, I am for looking at the other side. Rewards should be given when necessary.]
Superbia was quite fond of Sol all things considered. The dragons were her masterpiece and seeing Sol continuously grow in power and mentality was like a way to affirm that she had indeed created the best race in the universe.
Each goddess had created their own race and divine beast so who was the best and strongest was always a question of contention between them. But ever since she created Tiamat, she had won by a landslide.
Looking at Sol with his draconic features made her very proud. The only thing lacking would be for him to have a child with an elf. She was sure that the child resulting from their union would be a monstrously talented individual.
‘Three to one.’
Sol’s eyes twinkled. He had been so sure the situation would be full of tricky moments that the currentthat he felt like he was dreaming. Now that it was so, no matter what decision Invidia took, he would win.
His chest began to beat with joy as he already saw himself going home and give the good new to his lovers.
Pandora should already be quite down and it would be easy to make her accept his proposal.
He could almost taste the victory at the tip of his tongue.
Almost—
[As the goddess of Invidia and the ruler of Succubus, I decide to use my right of Veto.]
—Like ice in the desert under the terrible. The taste of victory completely vanished in an instant.
[The abomination Lilith reached her natural lifespan. Saving her is going against an alrady broken taboo.]
But mercilessly, the voice of Invidia full of malice continued, uncaring of the roalcoaster of emotion Sol just went through.
[Sol Luxuria. I reject your proposal. Going against my decision would make you a heretic]
At the end, he could even feel her smiling as she looked down at him,
Finally, even without using his Divine eye, Sol realized who was the source of the hostility.
[But we all know what decision you will take, right?]
He could see it. The anticipation in her voice.
She knew that Sol would save his loved ones no matter what and this was exactly what she wished.
—-
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Changed the gift-to-chapter ratio for a new month and because of the changes on WN.
Bonus for Gifts: