Chapter 671: The Goddess Cares For A Mortal?

Gaia noticed the expression on Joy’s face—the confusion, the disbelief, the utter inability to reconcile what she was witnessing with everything she had been taught.

It was, frankly, embarrassing.

To have shown such a face to a mortal. To have let her sisters behave so disgracefully not once, but twice in this poor girl’s presence.

She let out a deep sigh, then floated gently toward Joy.

"I’m sorry, dear." She said, her voice soft with genuine regret. "This is the second time you’ve had to witness such a sight. I am truly ashamed that we’ve behaved this way in front of you."

Joy blinked, caught completely off guard.

A goddess was apologizing to her.

Not demanding worship. Not commanding obedience. Not striking her down for witnessing divine foolishness.

Apologizing.

"No, no." Joy stammered, shaking her head rapidly. "It’s...It’s alright. I—"

She didn’t know what to say.

She felt like she was seeing things she shouldn’t see.

Peeking into forbidden knowledge that mortals were never meant to glimpse.

And beneath it all, a small, terrified part of her wondered if she would be executed just for witnessing all of this.

Gaia seemed to sense her fear.

The nature goddess’s expression softened further, and she shook her head gently.

"You have nothing to fear, child. You won’t be harmed for witnessing this."

She glanced back at her sisters with an expression that was equal parts exasperation and resignation.

"Though I can hardly blame you for being confused."

She turned back to the Goddess of Debauchery, her gaze hardening into something stern.

"What you did was wrong. You know that."

The voluptuous goddess tilted her head, looking for all the world like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar—if that cookie jar contained the fabric of reality itself.

Gaia continued, her voice taking on the weight of authority.

"I know you like to play pranks on your sister. I know you enjoy bothering her." She shook her head slowly. "But what you did just now is not acceptable."

She gestured at the space around them.

"You broke into her domain while she was speaking to this girl. If she had not protected her—"

Gaia’s eyes narrowed

"—even a single shard of that breach, a single crack, could have touched her. She would have been sent to another realm in a million different pieces."

Joy shivered violently at the image.

The Goddess of Debauchery, however, seemed completely unbothered.

"Well." She said with a dismissive wave. "I had to make an appearance, didn’t I? Not only was she trying to divulge too much information about my chosen one..."

She shot a pointed look at her sister

"...but I’m fairly certain my dear sister over there was thinking of giving some extra power to that girl."

"Power that could be used to finish off my chosen one. End his life entirely."

The moment she made such a claim, the temperature in the void dropped.

Slowly, very slowly, Gaia turned to face the Goddess of Light.

Her expression was still obscured by her veil, but her posture shifted.

The gentle, maternal energy that had surrounded her moments ago hardened into something far more formidable.

"Is that true?"

Gaia’s voice was low. Dangerously low.

"Were you truly trying to harm Cassius? To get rid of him?"

The Goddess of Light’s eyes shimmered.

"No! No, of course not, Big Sis!" She shook her head frantically, her hands raised in protest. "Why would I ever do something like that?!"

She whirled on her sister, pointing an accusatory finger.

"She’s lying! She’s absolutely lying! Twisting everything to make me look bad, as always!"

The Goddess of Debauchery smiled serenely, the picture of innocence—if innocence had curves that could break the mortal mind and eyes that promised both pleasure and destruction.

"I’m lying?" She tilted her head. "Then what about those vague messages you’ve been sending to your daughter over there? The ones about ’taking care of’ my chosen one?"

"What exactly was that about?"

The Goddess of Light’s jaw tightened. Her fists clenched at her sides, and Joy could see the visible effort it took for her not to explode again.

"I wasn’t trying to kill him!"

She ground out through gritted teeth.

"I was simply trying to make him change sides or contain him! There’s a difference! Don’t you dare misinterpret my intentions!"

She took a breath, forcing herself to calm down.

"Not to mention, even if my daughter tried, she wouldn’t be able to do anything against him. The only person who could probably actually make a move against him is her—his counterpart in the world he’s in."

She gestured vaguely at nothing.

"Other than that, he’s untouchable."

Joy shivered.

The words hit her like a physical blow.

Untouchable.

Even the Goddess of Light admitted it—there was nothing she could do against Cassius. Nothing anyone could do.

But more than that—

There was someone else.

Someone who could potentially do something against him.

Who?

How powerful would that person have to be?

Before she could dwell on it, the Goddess of Debauchery let out a scornful laugh.

"You say you want him to come to your side." She said, her voice dripping with contempt. "You want to take him from me."

She laughed—a sound that was somehow both beautiful and mocking.

"Well, let me tell you that will never happen. He has pledged his eternal allegiance to me. There is absolutely no way he would ever go over to the light of your side."

The Goddess of Light’s expression twisted with contempt.

"You keep saying that, but at the end of the day, your basically forced him to go over."

She leaned forward with a provocative glint in her eyes.

"What was it? Destroying an entire world just to send him here? And you think he’d prefer to be on your side? The side of a demon like you, rather than with me?"

The Debauchery goddess waved her hand dismissively.

"Oh, please. That was simply a joke. You know there’s no way I could actually do something to his original world."

She glanced at Gaia with something almost like respect—or fear.

"After all, it’s her world. I wouldn’t dare lay a hand on it."

She turned back to her sister, her smile returning.

"You keep on dreaming. He’ll never come to your side."

The Goddess of Light opened her mouth to retort, her aura flaring with indignation—

"...Enough."

Gaia’s voice cut through the rising tension like a blade.

It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t angry.

It was simply...final.

"I have had enough of this fighting. Both of you, constantly at each other’s throats, constantly dragging me into your squabbles."

She looked between them, her expression one of profound exhaustion.

"At this point, I’d rather remove myself entirely from this situation. Go settle down next to some garden somewhere near Cassius and not care about anything above at all."

Her voice carried the exhaustion of someone who had mediated the same argument for millennia.

"At least plants don’t argue back."

Gaia then turned her veiled gaze toward the Goddess of Debauchery, her expression firm despite the obscuring light.

"No more breaking into domains while mortals are present."

She said, her voice carrying the weight of final judgment.

"And at least try to stop interfering in your sister’s business."

The voluptuous goddess said nothing in response.

But the look in her eyes—that spark of mischief, that glint of unrepentant amusement—made it very clear that she had no intention of following either instruction.

Gaia seemed to recognize this, because she let out another small sigh before turning to the Goddess of Light.

"And you." Her gaze sharpened. "I’m not telling you you can’t say anything about Cassius to your daughter. But do not divulge too much to her."

She paused, and when she spoke again, her voice carried a chill that made even the radiant goddess before her straighten.

"And I had better not hear any news of you trying to harm Cassius directly."

Her eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.

"You know how important he is to me."

Joy’s breath caught.

Important?

Cassius was important to Gaia? The Goddess of Nature, of the earth itself, of all living things?

What could possibly make a mortal man—even one as extraordinary as Cassius—important to a being of such immense power?

But before she could dwell on it further, Gaia looked between both her sisters one last time.

"With this problem sorted out..." She said, her voice carrying a note of weary hope. "...I hope I don’t have to resolve another issue again. At least for the next millennium or so."

She floated over to the Goddess of Debauchery and took her hand.

"Come now. Let’s go. Let’s not stay here any longer."

As she began to lead her sister away, she glanced back at Joy. Through the veil, her eyes softened into something warm.

"Goodbye, dear. Take care of yourself."

A hint of amusement entered her voice as she added,

"And have fun with Cassius over there."

Joy’s eye twitched.

That was not her mission.

But as she opened her mouth to protest, the Goddess of Debauchery also turned her head.

That seductive smile widened into something intriguing.

"You’ll make a perfect fit for his harem, you know."

She said, her voice carrying that sing-song quality that made Joy’s skin tingle.

"I’m going to enjoy watching him tame a girl so feisty."

Joy’s face flushed with outrage.

"I will never join Cassius’s harem!"

She shouted after the departing goddess.

"I’m not like all those other women who fall for him! I have standards! I have dignity! I have—"

But the Goddesses were already gone.

The light they had brought with them faded, and the cracks in the abyss began to slowly mend themselves, reality stitching back together in their absence.

Joy stood there, sputtering, her protests echoing in an empty void.

The Goddess of Light let out a long, deep sigh.

She turned to Joy with a reluctant smile on her radiant face.

"I am sorry, my dear daughter."

She said, rolling her eyes heavenward—or what passed for heaven in this place.

"As you can see, my sister is quite a headache to deal with."

She shook her head like she was tired and went on to say,

"When it comes to any other issue, any other Goddess who confronts me or challenges me, I can remain as calm as can be."

"After all, when you’re ruling over the entire universe, you need some composure—unless you want to accidentally destroy multiple worlds just because you felt angry."

She chuckled, but Joy didn’t find it particularly funny.

"But my sister?" The Goddess of Light’s expression soured. "I don’t know how she does it. She always manages to work me up. Every single time. She’s quite talented at it, I’ll give her that."

She looked genuinely ashamed.

"I’m sorry you had to see that display."

Joy shook her head quickly.

"No, it’s alright, Mother. It’s completely alright." She hesitated, then a reluctant smile of her own appeared. "I have a sister too, you know."

The Goddess tilted her head curiously.

"Aqua." Joy explained. "I don’t know how, but whenever it comes to her, I always get dragged along. I can never resist her, no matter how hard I try." She shrugged. "So I understand how you feel. At least a little."

The Goddess of Light stared at her for a moment.

Then both of them shared a look of mutual understanding—two beings, one divine and one mortal, connected by the universal truth that sisters could be absolutely insufferable and utterly wonderful in equal measure.

The Goddess cleared her throat in a surprisingly human manner.

"Anyway." She said, her tone shifting back to something more businesslike. "let’s not waste too much time. You’ve already stayed in the realm for quite a while, and any longer could affect your soul."

Joy straightened, her heart beginning to race.

"So let’s get down to business."

’Finally.’ Joy thought. ’Finally, answers.’

But the Goddess’s next words made her heart sink.

"The business, of course, is about Cassius." She held up a hand. "But as you may have witnessed just now, there are...complications. I really can’t say much about him. So don’t expect too much."

Joy’s excitement dimmed, but she nodded. Something was better than nothing.

"But if you have questions." the goddess continued. "You can ask. I’ll answer what I can."

Joy’s mind raced.

She had so many questions. So many things she wanted to know.

Who was Cassius really?

Where did he come from? Why did he have such power?

What was his connection to the Goddesses?

Why did everyone around him seem to fall under his spell?

The questions piled on top of each other, overwhelming her.

But then, through the chaos of her thoughts, one question emerged.

The most important one.

The one that had been eating at her since the very beginning.

She looked up at the goddess, conviction burning in her eyes.

"Mother." She said, her voice steady despite everything. "I want to know if Cassius belongs to the side of righteousness or evil. If he belongs to the light or the dark."

She paused, gathering herself.

"Basically...I want to know if he is a good person or a bad person."