Artemis, the Goddess of the Crescent Moon, had paralyzed the assembly with her audacity. Having just received the New Moon Mandate from her grandmother Phoebe, she had immediately cast down the gauntlet, challenging Selene to a Primal Origin War.
What truly astounded the gods, however, was that the Full Moon Goddess—usually seen as a fragile, elegant figure recently mired in the scandals of a mortal romance—had actually accepted the wager.
The New Moon and the Crescent are but fractured slivers of the lunar whole; combined, they do not even constitute half of the Moon's Authority. To balance the scales, Artemis had staked her original Forest Godhead as well. This was no act of petty impulse. Artemis was "betting the farm"—it was victory or oblivion.
If she triumphed, Artemis would seize the Full Moon Mandate and become the sole Moon Goddess of Kaos, a feat that would propel her effortlessly into the High Council of Primary Deities. Furthermore, the complete Moon Mandate would harmonize with her Forest Authority; the lunar power would accelerate the growth of the woodlands, while the creatures of the wilds would form a tradition of moon-worship. She would become the High Goddess of Nature, the Sovereign of the Wilds and Beasts.
But if she failed, she would lose everything—the mandates her brother, father, and grandmother had painstakingly secured for her, and her original Forest Godhead. Falling in rank would be the least of her troubles; she would be permanently disqualified from the High Council and lose Zeus's favor, destined to live forever as a mere shadow of the Sun under her brother's protection.
Artemis knew the risks. She knew that a slow, patient encroachment upon Selene's power was the safer path. But the sight of other deities eyeing the final seat on the High Council had stoked a fire of urgency in her heart. She needed the Full Moon now to secure her ascension.
Zeus was displeased by Artemis's reckless initiative, but the wager had been struck. Under the witness of the Laws, even the King of Gods could not intervene.
The assembly moved to the Divine Arena. Following the lesson of its previous destruction during Hebe's fight with Artemis, Zeus had commissioned Hephaestus to rebuild the structure as a massive Divine Artifact. Its internal space was expanded a thousandfold through spatial arrays, and the spectator stands were protected by reinforced barriers so the gods could watch the carnage in safety.
The deities took their seats. Nymphs, ever-vigilant, served nectar and ambrosia. This sudden duel had reignited the interest of the pantheon; divine life was long and often tedious, and a high-stakes clash was the perfect remedy for their boredom.
"Hebe, my daughter," Hera whispered, leaning toward her pride and joy. "Who do you think has the advantage?"
"Mother, it is hard to say," Hebe replied, her eyes tracking the two combatants. "Neither goddess is a simple opponent."
Though Artemis had previously lost to Hebe, that defeat was largely due to her own arrogance. One had to remember that she and Apollo had survived the persecution of a Primary-level Hera and even managed to seize a portion of her Authority. She possessed a formidable resilience. As for Selene, she appeared delicate, but she was an ancient Titan. No one truly knew what hidden "trump cards" she might hold after governing the Moon for eons.
Hebe suddenly wondered if Apollo or Phoebe, both holders of Prophecy mandates, could see the outcome. In truth, Apollo was currently straining his Godhead of Prophecy to peer into the future, but the results were murky. Because the duel was formed under the witness of the Laws to ensure absolute fairness, the Laws blocked any external prying. The future was shrouded in an impenetrable mist.
"My grandmother, Lady Phoebe... Artemis, she..."
"Do not fret, Apollo," Phoebe said, shaking her head. Though her own foresight was hindered, she was one of the twelve original Titans born of Gaia and Uranus. She had held the Mandate of Prophecy for an eternity. Even through the mist, she caught a fleeting glimpse of the end: Artemis, bloodied and battered, but standing in a posture of victory.
The Sun God caught his grandmother's meaning and exhaled. If the vision held, Artemis would win.
The two goddesses stood at opposite ends of the arena, separated by thousands of meters. Yet, with divine sight, they could count the lashes on each other's eyelids; with divine hearing, they caught every whisper from the stands.
"So this is your plan?" Selene said with a faint, cold smile. Her eyes held a hidden, dark depth. Even the mildest spirit has a limit; having been calculated against by this family twice now, she was beyond civility. "You think that because you've reached the peak of the First-Tier and your power exceeds mine, you can humiliate me before the Council?"
"No," Artemis replied. Her holy face was a mask of cold resolve. The arrogance of her youth had vanished, replaced by a lethal focus. "You and I both know there can be only one Moon Goddess. You use it to guard your status; I need it to forge my glory. By striking this wager, you need never fear being calculated against again. If I lose today, I renounce the Moon forever and leave the mountain."
Selene's eyes widened slightly. She let out a short, mocking laugh. "You think that earns you my gratitude? From the moment you stole my essence, reconciliation was impossible. Today, I will show you the price of underestimating a Titan Goddess."
"I do not seek your gratitude. I seek my own peace."
With those words, the battle erupted. Both goddesses unleashed a tidal wave of divine power.
Artemis stepped forward, her Forest Authority surging. Countless green sprouts tore through the arena floor, maturing into a dense, primordial forest in heartbeats. Above it, a Crescent Moon hung, casting a cold, sharp radiance.
Selene's Crescent Crown flared. She stepped out, and the ground beneath her rippled like water. Moonlight flowed out, transforming into a silver sea that expanded across her half of the arena. High above, where the stars clustered, a massive Full Moon materialized—half in the sky, half reflected in the water. It was a Domain of haunting, liminal beauty, existing between reality and illusion.
Neither held back. They deployed their Divine Domains immediately. Because Artemis now held New Moon essence, her Forest Domain was beginning to evolve into a Domain of Nature.
Selene, however, had mastered the Moon for eons. Though her Godhead was singular, her achievement in the lunar field was unsurpassed. Her Domain was a masterpiece of near-perfection.
The two goddesses stood within their respective Domains, where their power was amplified by twenty percent.
A breeze stirred. The forest rustled. Artemis vanished into the swirling leaves. The silent, deep property of the woods cloaked her presence; the Queen of the Forest had merged with the trees.
Arrows of silver light erupted from the woods like a rain of fire. The Hunt Godhead gave them unerring accuracy; the Moon gave them speed; and the Crescent Godhead gave them an unparalleled sharpness. If Selene were struck, her divine form would be pierced through.
Selene manifested her Natal Artifact: the Lunar Scepter. Its sapphire body was entwined with gold filigree, capped with a gem shaped like a full moon. She raised it, and the gem flared in resonance with the moon above. The silver water of her Domain surged upward, forming a shimmering curtain of light.
The arrows struck the barrier, detonating in bursts of lunar energy. The curtain rippled and buckled but held.
Selene waved her scepter in an ancient arc. The constellations in her Domain blazed. Several stars detached from the firmament, transforming into emerald-blue meteors that roared toward the moonlit forest.
As the Moon was the brightest star of the night, Selene naturally held the majesty to command the lesser stars.
In the stands, Asteria, the Goddess of the Starry Night, clenched her fists. Her face was grim. Selene's move was a borderline encroachment upon her own Mandate. Had they not been in a formal duel, Asteria might have descended to demand an explanation then and there.
The falling stars hammered into Artemis's forest with destructive force. The rain of arrows faltered. Suddenly, the Crescent Moon in the sky split into two—top and bottom—transforming into two crescent blades that flew into the meteor swarm like dancing butterflies. It was an elegant dance of death.
The New and Crescent Moon essences, sharp beyond measure, hacked the falling stars into dust. Emerald-blue sparks drifted down, turning to scorched earth as the power dissipated.
"Does the radiant Goddess of Light truly intend to hide in the shadows? Pray, show yourself," Selene murmured. She blew a soft breath from her lips, which manifested as a gale within her Domain.
The silver water churned. From the waves, thousands of Moon Butterflies emerged. They danced upon beams of light, moving with incredible speed as they swarmed into Artemis's forest, scattering clouds of glowing phosphorescent dust.
The dust covered everything. Artemis, hidden in the shadows, was coated in the glow. Her silhouette was revealed.
"Dammit!"
"Found you!"
The gem on Selene's scepter erupted with light. A beam of moonlight as thick as a millstone lanced out. Artemis gestured, and the giant trees shifted their forms to stand before her.
The beam bored through the wood. Explosions rocked the forest as trees toppled, kicking up a massive shroud of dust and debris. When it cleared, half of Artemis's forest was in ruins. She stood with a cold face, calling down moonlight to wash the dust from her body.
Selene's Full Moon Domain allowed her spells to explode with terrifying potency. Artemis realized her New and Crescent Moon mandates were not yet fully mastered, and the Forest and Hunt were ill-suited for a long-range artillery duel. To win, she had to close the distance.
Artemis's eyes flashed. Her Domain vanished. The Crescent Moon remained, and she dove into its light, using the "speed of the moonbeam" to rocket toward Selene.
Selene's expression hardened. Her opponent had found her weakness. The Moon was naturally linked to all things mystical; sorcery, magic, and divine spells received a massive boost under the Full Moon. Selene's spells were twice as powerful as any other god's, but in exchange, her physical form was more fragile. Artemis, moving at the speed of light, was her greatest threat.
Selene raised her scepter to summon a barrier, but the speed of light was too fast. In the blink of an eye, Artemis was there. She leaped from the light, clutching her dual crescent blades—shimmering with a cold, lethal frost—and slashed at Selene.
The blades tore through Selene's form.
Was it over?
No!
Artemis realized the goddess before her was an illusion. Mirror of the Moon—a spell that allowed the caster to swap places with their own reflection in the water.
Selene reappeared ten paces away. Artemis followed like a streak of lightning, her blades swinging again.
As the sharp edges closed in, Selene released her scepter. It spun in the air, creating a circular shield of force. The blades struck the scepter with a metallic clang, sending sparks flying in every direction.
Selene retreated, casting rapidly. Stars fell again, hammering toward Artemis.
Artemis let out a strange smile. Her divine light flared, and she reopened her Nature Domain. The trees grew directly out of the silver water of Selene's domain, nourished by the lunar power.
Artemis had forcibly merged her Domain with Selene's!
It was a masterstroke. Because they both shared lunar essence, and the Forest naturally harmonized with the Moon, the fusion held. The scene was surreal: a forest growing in a silver sea under the glow of two moons.
Now it was Selene who was frantic.
Armed with her twin blades and the mandates of the Hunt and Forest, Artemis was the world's most perfect assassin. She moved like a phantom through the woods, her every movement masked by the foliage. She struck from nowhere, driving Selene into a desperate retreat.
Selene had no time to cast her complex illusions. She resorted to raw power: Lunar Bursts, swarms of Moon Butterflies, and Star-Rain. Artemis dodged most with her feline agility, but the sheer volume and area of the attacks eventually drew blood.
The two goddesses were now fighting to the death. The gods in the stands shivered; this was a Primal Origin War, but at this rate, one of them might actually commit deicide.
Artemis eventually adapted. When Selene unleashed a wide-area burst, Artemis simply vanished into the growth she had created. She used Selene's own lunar sea to fuel her vines and trees—it was a maddening, "leech-like" tactic.
Slowly, Selene's divine power began to bottom out. Her robes were shredded by Artemis's blades, her form covered in shallow cuts.
Clang!
Artemis flicked the Lunar Scepter from Selene's hand. The battered but triumphant Artemis appeared behind her, a crescent blade pressed against Selene's throat.
"You have lost," she whispered.
"..."
The Domain shattered. Selene collapsed to her knees, staring at the floor in disbelief.
The assembly was silent. The power displayed by the two had stunned them. No god would ever again claim Artemis did not deserve her Mandate; she had proven it with blood.
"Enough!" Zeus stood. He was in high spirits, looking at Artemis with open admiration. He waved away the arena's barrier. "The outcome is clear. Selene is defeated. Her Full Moon Mandate belongs to Artemis! She is the sole Moon Goddess of Olympus!"
The gods, whatever their personal feelings, applauded the victor. Artemis retracted her blades, a look of fierce pride finally crossing her face. She had taken the most important essence of the Moon through her own strength. She was no longer just the "sister of Apollo."
"Selene, under the witness of the Laws, surrender your Primal Essence," Artemis commanded.
"...&%%￥￥*"
Selene did not answer. She began to murmur a low, rhythmic chant—a blur of sound that set the teeth on edge.
"Hebe! Something is wrong!" Hera whispered.
Hebe, holding the Peak Primary Rank and the Godhead of the Cycle, saw it first. Her divine eyes perceived the shifting energies of the world. In her sight, black, foul miasma was erupting from Selene.
"It's a curse! She's casting a curse!" Hebe shouted.
But it was too late. Selene finished the incantation and looked up, her eyes burning with a hateful fire directed at Artemis, Apollo, and Aphrodite.
In the goddess's arms appeared an amber God-Egg. These were her unborn children with Endymion—the Monae, representing the fifty weeks of the year. She was sacrificing them to fuel her hatred.
Selene hugged the egg as a silver-white light consumed her. She would rather destroy herself and return to the source than be mastered by her enemies!
The Full Moon Goddess's form transformed into a massive Full Moon, which plummeted directly into the arena floor with suicidal force.
The ancient gods scrambled to raise their barriers. A lunar impact was no joke!
The explosion was cataclysmic. Divine energy rioted. The arena, recently remade into an artifact, was once again pulverized by the shockwave.
Apollo shielded Artemis with his Golden Shield, his face dark with fury. He hadn't expected Selene to choose the "Self-Destruction" route.
"Treacherous gods! Deities who toy with love!" Selene's ethereal voice echoed across the mountain. "You shall face the retribution of Love itself! Artemis! Apollo! Aphrodite! I curse you: in the time to come, you shall fall into the agony of Unrequited Love, suffering until your hearts turn to ash!"
The voice faded into the wind.
Apollo and the others had no time to worry about a curse. Their focus was on the Full Moon Essence!
By destroying herself, Selene had caused the essence to scatter. To collect it all would now be a task of immense labor.
Apollo scanned the arena with his All-Seeing Eye, noting which gods had snatched fragments in the chaos. He would make them vomit up every speck.
Then, his gaze landed on the golden-haired, purple-eyed goddess. Hebe stood calmly, her hand closed around a ball of brilliant, concentrated light.
One-third of the Full Moon Essence.
Apollo's lip twitched.
This is bad...