Chapter 542 (2): The Three Goddesses - Life, Order, and Fate

Inspired by the Goddess of Light, Wayne found himself struck by endless inspiration. He realized that there were countless ways to combine the six monsters on the battlefield.

If Storm and Thunder made the Sky, Sun and Moonlight made the Light, and the cycle of Death and Nature made Life. What more fusions could there be on that foundation?

He thought it was worth exploring. For example, Darkness and Light were opposites but also parts of a cycle, just like Death and Nature. Since Death and Nature could merge into Life, what would Darkness and Light be? The Goddess of Order?

Taking it further, what would Sky+Order+Life be? What would be the name of the ultimate goddess?

Would the combination of Destiny and Order create the Goddess of Fate?

Wasn’t it possible—and he did mean it as a possibility—that the goddess that was the amalgamation of the strengths of all six goddesses was meant to be the rightful consort of the King of Gods, Wayne?

(一`′一)

Right. Whoever was his rightful consort didn’t matter, nor did the goddesses’ composition. He had no worldly desires. All he wanted to do now was conduct research.

“I’m sure you all understand after all that,” Wayne said, looking at the five goddesses seated around the table in the garden, his face serious. “I’m doing this for research purposes—to discover the truth. I’m not playing with you for fun.”

Elian didn’t count since She didn’t have a seat. She stood off to the side.

After all the goddesses had accepted corruption, the new Divine Realm, built upon the pale ocean, had become much more unified with greater synergy. While it wasn’t unbreakable, it was certainly durable.

Because of the pale ocean, while Wayne’s divine system didn't contain as many deities as that of the Randal Empire, it was stable, with all structures built upon a stable foundation. The six goddesses had all seen significant boosts in power.

If not for the way Heaven and Hell stuck out like sore thumbs, neither fitting into the system, the new Divine Realm would be a carbon copy of the Book of Greed’s cover.

The goddesses had become stronger, and so had Wayne. It was his first time receiving benefits from the Divine Realm. If he fought the Horseman of War again, he was confident that he could defeat him head-on.

The changes in the Divine Realm weren’t just quantitative, but a qualitative leap. Wayne could sense that it wasn’t the limit of the Divine Realm, so he began tinkering with his monster cards.

That garnered impressive eye rolls from the other attendees of the meeting. They suggested Wayne behave.

Wayne didn’t like corrupting others. Even when he did, he gave the corrupted autonomy and a great degree of freedom, trying his best to minimize the power imbalance between him and his vassals.

For example, Ines, Kaleb, and Siluk had willingly accepted corruption out of their trust in him. Since Wayne had received their recognition, he couldn’t possibly restrict them. They all enjoyed full freedom, allowed to be their own masters.

Take Siluk as an example; Wayne had seen all Her fantasies for Her pride. He smiled and didn’t take it personally.

She was just imagining poking his eyes and forcing him to get on his knees so that She could step on his face. It was nothing. No reason to bring it up. It wouldn’t affect their bond. He would have a talk with Her after the Final Judgment!!

“I don’t think it’s possible,” Ines said darkly. “How could Darkness merge with Light? The concepts are complete opposites.”

“Agreed. It’s absolutely impossible!” Kaleb said with disdain. Darkness was her and Siluk’s greatest enemy. Even Elian couldn’t make them reconcile with each other.

“It is impossible,” Ines said. “Not only would the fusion fail, but even if it somehow succeeded...”

She glanced at Kaleb. “Idiocy is contagious. I don’t want to become a brainless fool.”

Don’t say that, Wayne thought, covering his ears. She may not seem bright, but She’s got a great bod, and your husband likes them dumb.

Bam!

Kaleb slammed the table and shot to Her feet. “Bastard, who did you just call stupid? Come out here and duel me!”

Ines ignored Her with a snort.

Aztimor chuckled and offered a piece of ‘helpful’ advice. “Really? You’re going to duel her? Can you beat her?”

Kaleb wordlessly lunged at Siluk, who was sitting right next to Her, and dove into Her chest. The radiant Goddess of Light descended, Her blonde hair flowing. “Now I can.”

Aztimor sucked in a breath, covering Her mouth in shock. “Oh, no. I totally forgot. Light can defeat Darkness.”

(?_?)

What sass, Wayne thought. With a best friend like you, the collection of World’s Famous Paintings: Goddess of Darkness, Newly Married, will soon have an additional chapter.

It turned out that managing this group of goddesses wasn’t hell mode—it was more difficult than that.

Ines, having been played by Aztimor, decided to retaliate immediately. She had a bad memory and could forget about a grudge the next day, so She always served revenge hot. “Before worrying about others, take a look at yourself. You’re supposed to merge with Elian. There. That’s the one standing over there without a seat.”

Elian crossed Her arms and stood aside with a frosty expression. Though She was being punished, She stood there like a leader inspecting an office.

Aztimor’s face darkened. She would rather die than fuse with Elian.

“Ha.” x2

Darkness and Light laughed mockingly at the same time, filling the air with a cheerful atmosphere.

Elian didn’t laugh since She still held Herself like She was their stern leader. Seleucia didn’t laugh, either. She said in a devoted tone, “Boss, can I only fuse in the last stage? Is it possible that Sky can encompass Darkness and Light, so I can fuse with either of them?”

Only you would remain this loyal!

Wayne looked at Seleucia approvingly. If all goddesses were as well-behaved and obedient as She was, nothing would be impossible. But as it stood, he couldn’t do anything with them.

He patted Her head as a reward.

Instantly, the goddesses’ eyes turned red. Though they had freedom, their desires for their faith remained. They wanted his affection and favor.

When Wayne made the request to fuse them again, they merely snorted and didn’t object.

Perfect!

Wayne nodded to himself. As expected of the catfish of his choice. Seleucia was perfect for stirring the pot. As long as he praised Her, the other goddesses would get competitive.

His thoughts flickered, and the silhouettes of Darkness and Light overlapped. Death and Nature merged. Two unfamiliar yet familiar figures slowly emerged.

Unfortunately, he only caught a glimpse before Light and Darkness separated, and Death and Nature split apart. The Goddess of Order and the Goddess of Life he had imagined did not emerge.

“What’s going on?” Wayne turned to the four goddesses for an explanation. “It was working for a moment. Why did it fail?”

If it was because they disliked each other, he hoped that they would set their differences aside and prioritize the Final Judgment.

Ines scowled. The brief fusion had left Her thoughts in chaos. Light, Death, and Nature were similarly dizzy. Their minds were buzzing like their thoughts had been scrambled.

It had nothing to do with their dislikes for each other or a lack of proficiency. As vassals, as long as the pale ocean was there to serve as the foundation, they didn’t need to trust each other like Kaleb and Siluk, nor did they have to practice to find the right balance. The failure stemmed purely from a lack of knowledge.

The fusion of Sun and Moonlight into Light was the limit. To fuse further into Order would require a massive amount of knowledge. The pale ocean couldn’t force a fusion.

Basically, more materials were needed.

Aztimor and Elian were in the same boat. The concepts that Death and Nature each represented were too vast. Without Life, there would be no Order, and there definitely wasn’t the rightful consort of the Divine Realm named Fate, as Wayne had imagined.

That was unless they broke the box and allowed the six goddesses to take in more knowledge.

“Not the box again...”

Wayne rubbed his temples. The damn box had been stunting his evolution and the growth of the Divine Realm, always standing in his way. One day, he would tear it into pieces.

Since fusion was impossible for now, he could only be satisfied with the six—sometimes five—monsters. He decided to focus on the Divine Realm instead.

“You should practice. Don’t get complacent. If you don’t shed tears now, you’ll bleed later. Use the time before the Final Judgment to improve yourself.”

He began to fade. “I’m heading out. When I return, I hope you’ll have something to surprise me with.”

***

The ninth level of Heaven, Heaven of Crystal.

Wayne, flanked by Mona and Hesione, completed a collaborative art piece with the two women: Goddess of Darkness’s Honeymoon - Heaven.

Mikhael, currently in Hell, was doomed never to become a god, so Wayne had put all his hopes in Hesione/Mona. He hoped that they could fuse into a single deity, unifying the Divine Realms of Heaven and Hell.

Heaven and Hell had been unable to fit into Wayne’s new Divine Realm. Forcing them... wouldn’t be impossible. The cover of the Book of Greed was proof. He trusted that it wouldn’t lie to him.

But first, Heaven and Hell needed a god, and he wanted it to be Hesione/Mona.

Outside the temple, Hestia stood guard with a gloomy face, her head lowered. The ?ār she so admired was once again receiving a private lesson from the Anointed One. Everyone knew it wasn’t actually a lesson, so she wouldn’t point it out.

Whenever she thought about it, she felt a bout of frustration. If she could go back to the time when she kept making mistakes in the human world, she would’ve been more assertive and gripped the Anointed One’s weakness. Then the Anointed One wouldn’t have another weakness for Hesione to grip.

The more she thought about it, the more she regretted it. She had been too conservative. She should’ve been more radical.

Inside the temple, Wayne wore a serious expression as he pushed the updated Sacred Tome toward Hesione and Mona, flipping to the Revelation.

Mona had read it before. She had been by Wayne’s side when Wayne came up with the idea. Thanks to her fusion with Mona, Hesione had also received the same memories. She knew that the New Testament drafted by Mikhael contained the Final Judgment.

Once they carefully read through the Revelation, Wayne packaged the footage of his battles against the Horseman of Death and the Horseman of War and sent it to Mona and Hesione.

Mona only paused for a moment, while Hesione started and blurted out in shock, “Great Anointed One, has your prophecy come true?”

“No, this is Elohim’s prophecy.” Wayne stared at Hesione seriously. “Do you remember that back when we were in the human world, I asked you multiple times to call me ‘daddy’?”

Hesione’s face darkened. She remembered. She had been pretending to be Mona back then, and, unable to stand Wayne’s terrible lines, she had kicked him off the bed.

Is this really the time for that? Couldn’t you be a little more serious?

Wayne remained unfazed. “Is it possible that Elohim was the one who prophesied the Final Judgment, and I was able to foresee it too because... I am Elohim. Or let’s say Elohim is me.”

Hesione blanched, feeling the world spin around her.

Defiled by a bastard→Defiled by a demon→The Anointed One is right beside me→Defiled the Anointed One’s purity→Defiled Father

Her mouth fell open, but no words came out.

“Mikhael knows, so I thought I should tell you the truth.” Wayne observed Hesione’s reaction closely. When he saw how poorly she was taking the news, he laughed and said, “Just kidding. I’m not Elohim. That was a lie to trick Mikhael, or the bastard would keep ignoring me in a roundabout way and refuse to fully submit.”

Hesione closed her mouth and forced a smile. The joke felt too real... It sounded like the truth. It wasn’t funny at all.

Wayne continued to lie, “My relationship with Elohim is complicated. If I had to put it into words, I’d say, just like you, I’m his child. Elohim embodies the Final Judgment and is responsible for destroying the world, while I, the Anointed One, am here to protect the world!”

Wayne didn’t want to paint Elohim in a positive light. He had lied to Hesione for the same reason he claimed the title of the God of Nature: followers were innocent. They shouldn’t suffer because the object of their worship refused to do the right thing, causing their faith to crumble.

As long as Wayne framed Elian and Elohim as evil thoughts, their faith would remain, and they could continue to be proud of their faith.

The lie only worked on Mikhael, though, not Hesione. When he tried it on her, she almost broke down, thinking that she had been an unfilial daughter violating her father.

In that case, Wayne had to switch tactics, reinterpreting the relationship between the Heavenly Father, the Anointed One, and the Holy Spirit in a righteous way. As long as everyone was Elohim, Hesione would no longer be an unfilial daughter violating her father.

She would be violating herself!