‘Castitas.’
Sol scowled briefly before nodding and giving a gentleman bow,
“Hello, respected goddess. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”
Castitas chuckled a little at his salutations,
“You do not have to worry. I have no wish to interfere with whatever you are doing and in fact, I did not even plan to show up.”
Saying so, she moved her hand and two white chairs, as well as a table, appeared. On it was a tea set and two cups were already placed down with a fuming black tea in it.
“We are currently in the spiritual plane. A place that exists between reality and illusion.”
Sol sat on the chair and sipped on the tea. He noticed that the taste was similar to what he usually drank with Medea.
“As I said, everything in this place is an illusion but it’s also reality. The tea I created was changed by your inner wish of drinking the tea you liked the most. Thoughts and actions can easily affect this place. The only reason you can’t affect much more than the tea is that my thoughts completely took over.”
“I see…”
‘She seems a little scatterbrain.’
He realized that she liked to talk quite a lot but strangely, he didn’t find it bothersome. In fact, he was surprised to see that he was feeling more peaceful and calm and that most of his desire were slowly laying low.
It was as if he was being forced into sage mode.
“You are being affected by my aura.”
Castitas answered simply.
“Do not worry. I do not plan to show you my face like my sister did. She was a little too eager to show you off to us.”
Sol seemed confused but Castitas didn’t mind, “You are…Hum. How to say this. You are xxxxxx.”
Sol heard the first part of her words but the second part completely flew over his head. Castitas frowned behind her veil when she saw his expression but in the end she simply shrugged, “It was worth a try.”
She didn’t bother explaining what just happened and seeing this, Sol knew that he wouldn’t get any answer. Either way, there was something more pressing he was curious about.
“How is everyone home?”
“Hum? Hah, you must mean those in Lusturb. I do not know. I am honestly uninterested in most people there. Of course, except for my beloved daughter.”
Sol nodded grimly, remembering that for all her laughter, Castitas was not an entity that would care for most mortals.
“Camelia is alright. She is going crazy because of your absence, but it’s alright. Also soon she will have to mentor a holy daughter.”
“A holy daughter is it…”
Sol’s fist clenched a little. Since he had his discussion with Nent, he now knew that the number of Blessed was completely fixed. The existence of a holy daughter might negatively affect the Fate of Camelia.
‘Perhaps I should try to lower the number of Blessed?’
He wondered idly while thinking of the Wolf King, Setsuna’s uncle. It was an interesting target and they were already in war anyway.
Still, Sol was somewhat relieved. He would have wished to have more details, but simply knowing that she was alright was enough for him. The knowledge that he still had a home to return to allow him to focus on what was important now.
“How splendid. You were a cute little prince back then but in just a few months you became a proper man. Mortals are always so fascinating. I really mxxx…”
She chuckled again when she realized that the last part of her words had once again been blurred. It was pretty funny if she was, to be honest.
“Now then, while discussing with you is just delightful, I believe it’s time for you to get what you came here for.”
Saying so she waved her hand and a huge screen appeared in the air.
“Normally, when humans form a contract. The goddess in charge depends on the race of the partner. Of course, it is impossible for us to appear each time. The system is fully automated. It’s only when the reading breaks a certain limit that our attention is grabbed. Which is why I am here… And I must say…I am impressed.”
Castitas was indeed impressed. The contract between Sol and Isis wasn’t just a normal one.
In a way, every time a human-made a contract with a magical beast, it was the equivalent of Luxuria making a deal with the goddess concerned.
Here though, the situation was at another level entirely. As a hybrid dragon, Sol was under the jurisdiction of Luxuria and Superbia.
Meanwhile, since Isis was a demon phoenix hybrid, she was under Invidia and her jurisdiction.
One simple contract concerned directly four goddesses. This was something never seen. Even now, the other three were observing her now and she could feel the heated gaze of Luxuria on her metaphorical back.
Her lip twitching, Castitas decided to proceed as fast as possible and move away from this jumbled situation. She had already failed in her experiment and now she was just happy to watch her ‘big sister’ act as she wished.
Though she had a doubt she would succeed. After all, no matter how strong Sol became, he would at most become a second Tiamat or Lucifer.
It didn’t matter how strong that proud dragon was. A false god would always be a fake. It wasn’t a matter of arrogance but a fact. They were simply existences of another plane on the metaphysical level.
“Let’s get this done, shall we…I believe you know the rule. As Isis is your first contract, you get to choose one of her abilities directly and if you are lucky, you can get one or two more of her innate skills at random. Any questions? None? Then, What do you wish for your first ability?”
Sol had eyes filled with resolve as he looked at the screen. His choice was already clear from the start. There was one ability. The strongest and most useful one he could have in his situation.
[Nirvana flame]
Castitas nodded with a proud smile, after all, she was the one who set up that skill for Gabriel and thus all subsequent phoenixes. Her sister also did the same when he created Asmodeus by giving him a certain equivalent skill called [Shedding.]
Asmodeus and Gabriel weren’t two out of the few surviving first-generation divine beasts for nothing.
“I believe it’s a good choice. Very well…”
[Let this mark your Soul.]
The voice of Castitas suddenly changed and it was only then that Sol realized that Castitas hadn’t been using what he called ‘god’s voice’ until now. Her voice now was more distant, more regal. Reminding him once again that the woman in front of him, despite her appearance, was no human.
Wings of flame formed in the air before flashing and entering Sol’s body.
“Is that it?”
“Fufufu~! Nirvana flame activates when you die or when you try to make someone go through Nirvana. Die and you will see the effect.”
Sol could only give a bitter laugh at this joke. He also noticed that she went back to her earlier voice. In fact…Hearing her giggle, he had a distinct impression that this wasn’t the first time he heard it.
‘Why can’t I pinpoint it?’
It made no sense. His brain was far superior to that of a normal human. He should have been able to easily dig up a random memory of his.
‘Well. It isn’t that important, is it?’
A feeling of calm washed over him and he suddenly thought that this wasn’t such an important matter. Why then agonize about it?
‘No. This isn’t right.’
He shook his head in refusal, fighting that fake feeling of peace.
“I…”
He was sadly interrupted by Castitas.
“As for random abilities…”
Castitas clapped her hands with a delighted smile on her face. “You are indeed very lucky and I believe that you should share your joy with Isis. After all, this matter is as much about you as it is about her.”
“Wait…”
“I bid you farewell, Sol. May your journey be paved with success.”
The last thing Sol saw was her gently waving at him as a goodbye while he vanished.
—---
When Sol vanished, the peaceful garden was immediately overridden as the presence of the three goddesses made themselves known.
“You talk too much, sisters.”
“Oh my, Superbia. What might you mean? I believe he heard nothing of value.”
Even though she did not appear, Castitas knew that her little sister was scowling.
“No matter. Do as you wish and pay the consequences of your folly”
Saying so, her presence vanished completely but the smile did not slip from Castitas face, “Heh, what a cute way of saying she is worried.”
“You know her, she would never put down her pride. I envy it so much, such tenacity and strength of will. How truly splendid.”
Another voice took place before slowly fading away, “Beloved sister. While I envy your current Blessed, I believe wasting all the divinity you accumulated before the Kingdom era was truly foolish. Then again, rich people are free to spend as they wish. Just do not count on me to lend you anything in the next era.”
Castitas shook her head at Invidia’s words. Which was once again an attempt to hide how much they truly cared.
Currently, Luxuria was like an addicted gambler that put too much on the table, and like all crazy gamblers, she was still putting things to the table.
If she lost her debt, even as a goddess she would take quite a hit and might enter slumber, like their mother. At least… Castitas believed Order was slumbering.
“They are right, you know? We are all worried about you and how much you are doing. Is that boy truly worth it?”
Castitas couldn’t help but ask but all she received was a slow chuckle and words filled with confidence, “Trust me…Now that he obtained Nirvana, I do not know how or when. But soon, very soon even, you all will be swallow all your doubt.”
Goddesses were not omniscient and there was a limit to what they could see when other goddesses were involved.
Still, Luxuria had placed all the pieces necessary and she knew that all her losses would be worth it.
She just had to wait, and as a goddess, time was something she never had a lack of.
“By the way…” Luxuria spoke, wishing to bring up another topic that has been bothering her. “Did you tell him what would happen once the change began in his body?”
To obtain new innate power, the body had to be completely changed. It was one thing when all you obtained was a new element. But Nirvana, as well as the two other skills Sol, obtained were skills unique to a race. The change it would bring to his body wouldn’t be small. In fact, it would be quite painful.
As if realizing her mistake Castitas gasped. She had been in such a hurry to send him away that she forgot to mention it.
“Ohhh…I did think I was forgetting something…..Ooops?”
(AN: Opinion on the meeting? Underwhelming? Rushed? Or not enough information?)
