CHAPTER 608: CHAPTER 609: LOVE THAT LAST FOREVER

This place was here. It existed. It could be perceived, yet at the same time, it was not. It was not here. It was a place that did not exist.

A lone angel sat upon a crimson ground that glittered faintly even in the endless dark. His long silver hair flowed behind him like a river of light, each strand catching the faint glow of the abyss.

The ground beneath him shifted and rumbled, alive, its sheer mass radiating a dreadful power. Slowly, the angel raised his hand and tapped the surface with gentle care.

"Hush now... be good... and sleep."

A deafening rumble answered, a sound so terrible it would have driven any mortal who heard it into madness, or killed them outright. But this god knew the truth: this was no ground.

The endless red plain that stretched farther than mortal eyes could ever see was merely a single scale of a dragon so vast its proportions could never be comprehended. Just this single scale was larger than the entire world of Aetherus.

Yet the unknown god remained unshaken before such overwhelming presence. This was the abyss.

And in that abyss, a single wisp of light drifted toward him. Compared to his immeasurable vastness, it was insignificant, smaller than a spark before a star. Yet the unknown god felt warmth radiating from it, a familiar feeling he had not known for ages.

His heart stirred as he listened. There was no hatred within it, even though the one who prayed had every right to hate. There was no rage, even when she had every reason to feel it.

All that reached him was a single, gentle wish spoken with all of her heart.

But even as he received this offering, another reached him. A sacrifice made with blood, a heart drowning in resentment so deep it shattered innocence and drowned purity. A curse so strong it demanded to be heard.

Both prayers belonged to one soul. Both were bound to Lilith Astranova.

And so the unknown god was faced with a choice: a path of love... or a path of pain.

Ishana had given her love, pure and unwavering, and he was drawn to its light. Yet why should he reject Lilith’s sacrifice, offered with her deepest curse and sealed in hatred?

To the unknown god, time meant nothing. He was here yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He listened without end.

And so he made his decision. Both prayers had come from love, in the end. He would merge them into one singular wish. For though the Omniverse scorned him as the most abhorrent, most evil, he was still a god of duality.

The two wishes collided and merged, love and hate, light and darkness. They tore at each other, each refusing to yield, like fire and ice locked in eternal struggle.

The unknown god watched in silence. The outcome of this clash would decide which wish would take form.

Slowly, the light began to wash away the darkness.

The unknown god turned his gaze aside. It seemed the choice was made. Lilith’s resentment could not overcome Ishana’s love.

But then, the light faltered. It stopped, leaving behind a fragment of darkness that refused to be erased.

The unknown god paused. A slow, knowing smile formed on his lips.

"Hahah... ahahahahahaha..." His soft laughter echoed throughout the void. "Very well then... so be it."

"I shall answer both."

Far away, Ishana’s body lay broken. Her hand still reached toward the heavens. She did not know if the unknown god could hear her, but this was all she had left—her desperate plea as a priestess who had lived her whole life in something as shallow and fickle as faith.

Gods did not care for mortals. To them, humans were ants. There were billions and trillions of believers, each crying out in vain. Why should one fragile voice stand out among the countless others?

And yet Ishana’s hand refused to fall.

In death, she heard a voice.

"Ishana of the Snake Temple... I hear you. I see you, Ishana."

The voice was not cruel, not twisted, not demonic. It was gentle. It was the voice of a god.

Her hands fell at last, her body collapsing, yet her departing soul wept at the sound.

"I will grant your wish, Ishana. The love you have given me... I will give it all to Lilith. Rest, Ishana. In the name of Luminous Astraeus, god of the cosmos, I make you a star in the heavens."

Her fading consciousness heard one last whisper.

"Rest now, Ishana..."

Her soul lifted from her body, rising into the heavens, leaving behind the abyss and its unknown ruler. She ascended into the starry domain of the cosmos, her body dissolving into light.

"Now everyone can admire your beauty..."

Her mortal shell, once marked as demonkin, transformed. The blackened wings of a demon dissolved into nothing, ashamed to cling to her pure soul. Golden blood spilled from her wounds, and where it touched the earth, fields of white flowers bloomed.

Her form became divine, freed from every taint. She could never have been human. She could never be a lowly human. She could only be divine kin.

But she was dead. The first divine kin in the history of Aetherus died before her kind could ever be known. No one would see her splendor. They would only see the beauty of her corpse.

The unknown god had fulfilled part of this wish. Now it was time for the other prayer—the one born of blood and hatred.

The Omniverse called him evil, depraved, insane. A demon god who would kill his own kin. And now this god turned to answer Lilith Astranova’s sacrifice.

In the temple, the hunters watched in silence as the altar began to respond. Fear etched their faces as silver light pulsed faintly.

But nothing happened. The girl’s body remained still.

"The girl is dead. Heretical gods answer no prayers. Hail the goddess!"

A templar pointed at Lilith’s bleeding body.

"Bring her corpse."

The death squad moved to retrieve her. One reached out his hand toward the girl... and vanished.

No sound. No light. No magic. No blood. He simply ceased to exist.

A chill seized the templars as they drew in sharp breaths.

The altar flared at last, silver light flooding outward. The temple dissolved into a white canvas that stretched forever. Only the altar and the girl upon it remained.

And then something stood before her.

The templars could not comprehend what they saw. Long silver hair that reached the ground. A form both man and woman, saint and sinner, radiant and depraved.

It was the most beautiful being they had ever laid eyes on, a vision they longed to carve into their souls forever. Yet at the same time, their hearts recoiled in horror, gripped by disgust so deep it felt as if their very existence rejected what they saw.

Two desires clashed within them—worship and revulsion. Love and hatred. Beauty and abhorrence. Their souls screamed at the contradiction.

And the entity had not even moved. Its gaze rested only on the girl upon the altar.

It spoke, its voice calm, detached.

"You sacrificed yourself to a true demon... and someone prayed to a god. Lilith Astranova... you have failed to summon a demon, because Ishana has called a god. I give you all of her love, all of her wishes. I bless you with the prayer that touched the void."

A mark spread across her back, glowing faintly as power wrapped around her body.

He disappeared, fading away before she could see him.

The voice of the Omniverse whispered into her unconscious mind.

["Oh foolish child... of all you could have wished for, you chose darkness. You sacrificed for death when you could have asked this imperfect god for anything. But a mother paid your price, and this god was moved by her pure love. Even in her death, you will never be an orphan."]

["You have awakened the unique class: Child of the Void."]

["The love this wretched god could not give to the Angel of the Abyss, he will give to you. Lilith Astranova... you are known to the void."]

Lilith’s eyes snapped open. Morning light flooded the temple.

Her body was whole. The blood was gone. Her wounds had vanished.

Confused, she raised her hands. She was unbound, unharmed, alone. The templars were gone. No sign of them remained.

She slid from the altar. Her body felt light, unnaturally so, as though the world itself embraced her. With one step, she felt space bend around her, as if the air itself wished to carry her forward.

"Isha... Isha..." she cried, her voice breaking as she vanished, reappearing at the place where she had last seen her.

When she found her, she froze.

Ishana lay still, surrounded by an endless field of white flowers, her body as radiant as a fallen goddess.

Lilith stumbled forward, gasping, tears flooding her eyes. She fell to her knees beside her, clutching Ishana tightly, sobbing against her chest.

The white flowers clung to Lilith’s body, leaving upon her the eternal scent of gardenias.

It was as though the world itself wanted her to remember this moment forever.

That scent would follow Lilith Astranova for all her life.

A love that would never fade.