The great war that had shaken the entire Little Garden to its core finally subsided, officially classified as an internal Christian conflict.
The Son of God vanished, and God reascended to the head of the Christian pantheon.
Christianity also underwent a major internal cleansing. Through a continuous process of generational renewal, the newly summoned angels and angelic legions were brought fully under the glory of the Lord.
For any other pantheon, losing their Full-Authority Domain would mean losing their greatest pillar of support. But for the current Christian faction, this was not the case.
With a powerhouse who had defeated two Full-Authority Domains at once at the helm, the new God had truly achieved a deterrent force comparable to a two-digit being while possessing only a three-digit Divinity.
In the current era, where Full-Authority Domains could not easily make an appearance, his deterrent power was even greater.
However, such a reputation could only be maintained for the next few centuries. Over a longer timeline, the impact of this battle would diminish, and a new generation of gods might not hold the same reverence for a feat that could seem like an exaggeration.
---||---
The next morning.
"Su Mo, I've got great news! I wanted to tell you... huh?"
Shiroyasha excitedly ran back to her room, about to say something, only to freeze at the sight of an extra person inside.
A young woman with golden hair like spun silk and beautiful turquoise eyes, possessing the dignified and elegant air of a princess or queen, was currently acting like a maid. She personally carried a tray, placing black tea and breakfast on the table in front of Su Mo.
She looked so eager, she might as well have started feeding him by hand—or by mouth.
If Scáthach or the knights of her order were to witness this, they would surely be dumbfounded, questioning their own reality.
Queen Halloween—usually so proud, so demanding of etiquette, who wouldn't necessarily even give face to a Full-Authority Domain—was stooping to the work of a maid, and looking delighted to do so.
Was there something wrong with their eyes, or had the world itself gone mad?
And yet, the scene before them was undeniably real.
"Queen? What are you doing here... Wait, this is my room! Why are you just barging in?!" the white-haired loli demanded, clearly displeased.
She had just managed to get Su Mo to stay here. She steps out for a moment in the morning, and her nest has been raided?
This was absolutely intolerable!
"Shiroyasha?" Queen Halloween glanced sideways at the room's owner, then shook her head contemptuously. "I am merely fulfilling my duties and waking my own chief god. What are you doing here? Get out, and close the door behind you!"
"Huh?"
Hearing these words, so self-righteous and completely upside-down, Shiroyasha was momentarily stunned.
If she remembered correctly, this was her room, right? To be told to get out by a guest... where were her manners? Wait, hold on!
"Your own chief god? What do you mean?"
Seeing Su Mo calmly accepting Queen Halloween's service without questioning the title at all, Shiroyasha grew suspicious. In the Little Garden, such titles were never used lightly.
"Oh, did my master not tell you?" Queen Halloween covered her thin lips with her hand, feigning surprise. "Yesterday, while reorganizing Christianity, Lord Su Mo invited me to take on a part-time position. So, I suppose I belong to Lord Su Mo now!"
Queen Halloween's ability to lead the Celtic pantheon stemmed from the deification of the concept of Halloween itself.
This allowed her to hold the dual Divinities of a Celestial Star Spirit and a god without being demoted like Shiroyasha.
And while the concept of Halloween did indeed originate from a Celtic festival, it was later, along with other holidays, encroached upon by Christianity and almost became one of their own holy days.
What was once a ghost festival to worship the sun was rebranded by Christianity as "All Saints' Day." They even used the classic Annals of the Ages in an attempt to claim ownership of Halloween for themselves.
The Son of God's original strategy had not only targeted the Knights of Avalon, but also seemed to involve pulling Queen Halloween into his own camp.
Naturally, he had failed.
With the refusal of the exception-class three-digit Queen Halloween herself, the least Christian of all holidays did not follow in the footsteps of Christmas and Easter; it was not successfully assimilated.
But now, with Su Mo at the head of Christianity, Queen Halloween had immediately reversed her previous resistance, joining his banner with what could only be described as proactive enthusiasm.
Thus, the current Queen Halloween was akin to a guest retainer for Christianity. She was both the deification of a festival worshipping the sun's spirits and the divine representative of All Saints' Day.
With Halloween's immense popularity, her status would likely rival that of the Holy Mother.
Or perhaps, that was her true goal all along?
"Despicable!" Shiroyasha gritted out. Though she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, she instinctively understood that the Queen was making a move on Su Mo.
"Despicable? Such slander is unbecoming. I am simply repaying Lord Su Mo's kindness and, in doing so, allowing him to use my Authority at will. Is there anything worth criticizing in that?" the Queen asked, blinking innocently.
As a subordinate god, she could naturally form a pact with Su Mo, sharing her power with her chief god.
While it was a shame that a "husband and wife god" type of contract wasn't possible, with her permission and the effect of Su Mo's Pantheon, he could indeed use this relationship to freely wield the Queen's Boundary Authority.
Her motives were twofold: first, to get closer to Su Mo, and second, to genuinely repay her debt.
Of the Demon Lord Alliance's remnants, all but the Storyteller, who hadn't been directly involved in the Avalon incident, had been handed over to Queen Halloween to deal with after the battle.
These Demon Lords were powerful, some of them three-digit beings possessing the Authority of Time, but they couldn't make a single ripple before Su Mo and Queen Halloween.
The culprits who had directly murdered her subordinates were personally executed by her own hand. The indirect mastermind behind it all, along with his entire pantheon, was overthrown. Even the true final boss, the Son of God, had fallen because of her.
Queen Halloween had never imagined such a deeply satisfying revenge, not even in her dreams. She had never thought it possible to actually kill the Son of God.
And yet, Su Mo had made her wildest dreams a reality.
Faced with such treatment, how could Queen Halloween not be completely smitten? Never mind sharing her authority or taking a position in Christianity; if Su Mo asked her to become his property entirely, she would probably only hesitate for a moment.
As for the current treatment of feeding him... that was purely a reward. A reward for her.
"Hmph! It's just sharing authority. Like I haven't done the same!" Shiroyasha huffed, seeing the Queen's smug look.
"Oh? You've done so as well? What method did you use?" Queen Halloween asked, intrigued.
"That's none of your business, but my way is better than yours!" Shiroyasha declared, shaking her head smugly. If she had a tail, it would surely be wagging. "The current Su Mo can use all of my powers at my peak! And I mean all of them!"
When she first joined the Chat Group, she had been wary of Su Mo, so she had only listed one Sun Sovereignty and one of her converged Authorities in the store. But now, Su Mo had paid a price to win her freedom from the Twin Goddesses. How could she possibly hold anything back from him now?
Though her method was different from Queen Halloween's, she had indeed spent last night uploading all of her remaining powers, plus her other converged Authority, the Geocentric Model, to the store. She and Su Mo had then colluded to game the point system and completely clear it out.
If he wanted to, Su Mo could transform into the White Night Demon Lord at any time.
"...All of your peak powers? How is that possible?" Queen Halloween was skeptical. It didn't conform to the rules of the Little Garden.
"That's our little secret!" Shiroyasha stuck her tongue out playfully before happily hopping over to Su Mo's side and whipping out a Gift Card.
"Tada! Look what this is!"
"Hm?"
Watching Shiroyasha present her prize, Su Mo curiously took the Gift Card from her hand.
"This is?"
"It's rent from the Twin Goddesses. They said to consider it payment for borrowing the twelve Sun Sovereignties. They hope to maintain a good relationship and wanted me to tell you that if you ever need anything, you can feel free to ask for their help," Shiroyasha said, puffing out her chest with pride.
Naturally, the only people she would wake up early to meet were no ordinary individuals.
"A gift from the Twin Goddesses... They are quite considerate. If you see them again, you can reply for me that I won't hesitate to take them up on their offer," Su Mo nodded, not particularly surprised.
In the world of the Little Garden, influenced by the omnipotence paradox, the original God's Divinity wasn't actually that powerful, ranking as mid-tier among the three-digits.
But the original God from the myths was a different story.
If Su Mo remembered correctly, God had once described his own Divinity thusly: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, I am that I am."
If he wanted to cultivate the Little Garden's God Divinity to that level and completely break free from the omnipotence paradox, the Twin Goddesses' Divinities would be key.
Thus, maintaining a good relationship with them was necessary.
As for the rent for the Sun Sovereignties, it was merely a token to maintain their connection; the item itself wasn't important. Still, coming from Full-Authority Domains, the Twin Goddesses' gesture was quite generous.
"Twelve Moon Sovereignties?" Looking at the rent in his hand, Su Mo looked up and met Queen Halloween's gaze. "If I recall correctly, there are only fifteen Moon Sovereignties in the entire Little Garden, right?"
"That's right," Queen Halloween nodded, her expression also one of slight surprise. "Although modern astronomical observations have caused the importance and status of the Moon's Sovereignty to plummet, as one of the celestial bodies with the greatest influence on Earth, a single Moon Sovereignty is still at a four-digit level. And like the Sun Sovereignties, they are unique and cannot be replicated."
"I never thought the Twin Goddesses would have collected so many. There are fifteen phases of the moon, and we have twelve right here... No, wait, we have thirteen in total now!"
As if remembering something, she pulled a Moon Sovereignty from her own Gift Card and handed it to Su Mo. "This is a Gift I scavenged from the body of one of the Demon Lords we defeated yesterday. With this Moon Sovereignty, one can control time and lay waste to the land. That's how they managed to completely destroy all traces back then, leaving even Laplace with nothing to investigate."
Speaking of the past, Queen Halloween's tone was still unhappy, but the gloom was gone from her expression. After all, she had successfully exacted her revenge.
"The Sun Sovereignty's power is to interfere with the Little Garden's central hub and rewrite the Akashic Records. The corresponding power of the Moon's Sovereignty is merely to interfere with time?" Su Mo asked, taking the Gift from her.
He was only two away from collecting all of the Moon Sovereignties.
"Can't be helped," Shiroyasha shrugged. "It's just a satellite. It can't even host a Celestial Star Spirit."
Then, she tapped her head, remembering something. "Oh right, Su Mo, there's one more thing."
"What is it?"
"When I went to see the Twin Goddesses, Indra asked me to pass on a message."
"What message?"
"He's asking when you're going to return Shakya," Shiroyasha said, spreading her hands. "The Buddhist sect is in chaos right now, but no one dares to come and rush you, so they had to come to me."
She paused, then added, "Of course, I'm just relaying the message. I'm definitely not rushing you. If you feel it's necessary, you can keep him locked up. That guy Shakya loves to meditate anyway, so leaving him alone is fine."
"I told Indra the same thing. Since you haven't let him out, you must have your reasons. It's not like you just... forgot, right?" Shiroyasha winked, thinking she'd made a clever joke.
However—
"The World-Honored One?"
Su Mo paused, then an expression of dawning realization crossed his face.
"No way, you actually forgot?!"
Shiroyasha was dumbstruck.
Did a dignified two-digit powerhouse really have so little clout?