Suddenly, Aerialia focused her gaze on Orion with a bone-chilling intensity, "Mortal, doth that imply that where we currently reside is the new world?" she asked.
Orion nodded in response, observing as Aerialia turned her head to look around her, "It's beautiful," Aerialia said as she exhaled deeply. "Mayhap my children hath loved this place."
Seeing Aerialia admiring her surroundings with a stiff smile on her face, Orion didn't know what to say.
After all, it wasn't every day that he had the chance to comfort a goddess who had sacrificed everything to see her children's freedom, only to have them die in the end, with her being the only survivor.
So Orion remained silent, observing as she appreciated their surroundings, from the fresh green grass to the towering trees in the distance, and the clear sky with the beautiful moon casting its light on everything above them.
"It's beautiful."
Aerialia repeated once more before she withdrew her gaze and refocused it back on Orion, "The name of this newfound world is Earth, is it not?" she asked, locking her eyes with his.
Orion nodded in response, "Yes, we are currently on the new world, Earth."
Aerialia nodded before posing another question, "Art thou a child of this newfound world?"
Although Orion didn't know what she was getting at, he responded to her nonetheless, realizing he couldn't necessarily avoid her questions even if he wanted to.
"Yes. As I mentioned before, my name is Orion, and I am also of the human race, the only race on Earth, at least before the invasion took place."
Aerialia nodded in response, digesting every word that Orion had just uttered before she raised her head and asked once more, "Since thou wert present when mine children were compelled to kill each other, thou must also know something about the one responsible for all this, yes? Since he was a god that had come from Earth?"
Orion pursed his lips, understanding the hidden intent in Aerialia's question.
Unfortunately, how could he explain to Aerialia that the White Flame that had attacked her and her children was the White Flame from several thousand or even hundreds of thousands of years ago, and not the same as the White Flame of today?
In short, how was he going to convey that the new world she had fought so hard for, sacrificing so much for the future of both her and her children, was now threatened by a terrifying, unstoppable force bent on consuming every life it could get hold of?
"What is wrong? Don't tell me thou art pondering the concealment of that god's identity from this goddess. Thou shouldst be aware of what he hath done to me and mine children. Even if he be the god of thy race, shouldn't I, as a being of divine blood, be granted the right to repay the deed he hath inflicted upon me?" Aerialia said, narrowing her eyes on Orion's figure.
Listening to Aerialia's words, Orion remained silent for a little while longer before he replied, "I can definitely tell you where he is; however, before that, I would first like to let you know that he is not my god or the god of my race."
Although Orion knew that he couldn't explain the specifics of how White Flame had become a god to Aerialia, as he was sure that she would be unable to understand how such a thing was possible given who she was and where she had come from, he knew that he had to make it clear that White Flame wasn't their god.
He was human, just like him, who had attained godhood.
"He is not thy god," Aerialia repeated with furrowed brows.
She had first thought that Orion was one of the children of the god, given the way he somehow resembled him. Also, since the god had stopped her and her children from making their way through the stellar gate, she had thought that he was merely doing his job as a god to protect his world and his children from theirs.
However, it seemed that wasn't the case.
"Yes, he is not my god; he is only a human like me who had attained the powers of a god."
Aerialia was dumbfounded.
"Dost... Dost thou mean that he was not originally a god?" Aerialia said, and the moment she uttered that sentence, she understood how utterly absurd it sounded.
"Yes, he wasn't," Orion responded, nodding his head.
"Impossible," Aerialia muttered, her eyes widening in disbelief.
The god that had fought against her and killed her children, despite possessing an unusual divine energy, she could still naturally tell that he was a god.
He had fought her with his own strength, without any external aid. As such, how could she not be in disbelief after finding out that he wasn't originally a god?
Even during the 'Great War', although they had beings capable of standing up to a god, they could only do so through external means, such as divine artefacts. However, even then, it was impossible for them to kill a god.
As only a god could kill another god.
As such, Aerialia was shaken to the core that the god who had not only blocked their passage into the stellar gate but had fought and killed her, despite the fact that she was already weakened from a previous battle, and also her children, was a former mortal. It was —
Inconceivable!
Aerialia wanted to open her mouth and speak; however, her words were immediately stuck in her throat.
She swallowed them back down and dismissed such an absurd idea from her mind. After all, it wasn't possible that just like the god who had attacked them, the mortal in front of her could also become a god, right?
Aerialia shook her head soon after. Of course, there's no way such a thing could be possible.
It might just be that Orion was hiding something from her because he was still wary of her, which was nothing that she found unusual, considering that he was currently talking to a goddess.
