Eos, the Goddess of Dawn, slowly came to her senses within the gentle yet glacially cold resonance of Hebe's voice. Though her physical trauma had been mended by Hebe's touch, the psychic scars of the violation left her trembling with a profound, lingering terror. Tears still clung to her lashes like morning dew upon a rose, carrying a heart-wrenching sense of brokenness.
As her vacant eyes regained focus and she saw Hebe standing before her, a trace of life finally returned to her numb features. Yet, her gaze remained hollow. A bitter, self-deprecating smile touched her lips.
"Noble daughter of Zeus, High Goddess of Olympus... why even ask who it was? He is a deity of Primary-level power. I have lost all my protection. Even if I were to cry out for justice, who would dare offend a High Deity for the sake of a disgraced Titan's child?"
The assailant was none other than Astraeus, the God of Stars. He was a son of the ancient Titans Crius and Eurybia. Although Crius had been cast into Tartarus for supporting Cronus, his three sons still held formidable positions on the mountain.
Astraeus's brothers were terrifying in their own right: Perses, the God of Destruction, and Pallas, the God of Slaughter. Astraeus himself held the Mandate of the Stars. All three were Titans of immense combat prowess. Furthermore, Perses was wed to Asteria, the Goddess of Starry Night, and their daughter was Hecate, the second-in-command of the Underworld.
In such a vast and lethal web of influence, who would lift a finger for the fallen Eos?
Astraeus had banked on this isolation. He had once pursued Eos, but she, proud in the favor of her parents and the protection of her siblings Helios and Selene, had rejected him. He had nursed that resentment for eons. When Helios was replaced by Apollo and exiled to Rhodes, and Selene chose to dissolve back into the source, Astraeus saw his opening.
The gods of Greece were not known for their magnanimity; their pettiness was often breathtaking. They could harbor a grudge for an age over a single unintentional word. Astraeus had waited until the Olympians were busy harvesting Faith among mortals, then stormed the Temple of the Dawn and taken Eos by force. When she resisted, his fury had turned to physical violence, resulting in the ruin Hebe had discovered.
"I care not for his rank," Hebe declared, her golden-purple eyes burning with a cold, unwavering flame. "Even if it were my father, the King of Gods himself—to disregard a goddess's will and commit such an atrocity is the act of a demon. He must pay. Tell me his name, Eos. I will see justice done."
Eos felt a jolt in her spirit. In Hebe's eyes, there was no pity or scorn—only a boundless, righteous fury. She bit her lip, and finally, she spoke the name of her tormentor.
"It is Astraeus... the God of Stars."
"Him?" Hebe's brow furrowed for a moment before the realization clicked. She remembered the deity—a figure of high standing and outward radiance. To think that beneath that starlit facade lay such filth. "Wait here. I will find him."
Hebe turned to leave, her mind already calculating. He couldn't have gone far. She intended to strike him down without mercy; against such a low-life, there was no need for divine decorum.
"Wait!" Eos called out, clutching the floral cloth Hebe had manifested. Her rose-tinted eyes held a new, fierce resolve. "I am coming with you."
Astraeus, the God of Stars, strolled through the shimmering firmament, a smug smile playing on his lips. He was in high spirits.
He was a classic image of divine perfection: tall, athletic, draped in a magnificent dark-purple robe embroidered with constellations. His obsidian curls were studded with star-gems, and his face held an air of noble refinement. Looking at him, one could never imagine the "God-Scum" hidden within.
Whiz!
The sound of displaced air screamed a warning. A massive sense of crisis erupted in Astraeus's mind. Relying on pure combat instinct, he dissolved into starlight and blinked into the void, reappearing several hundred meters away.
An arrow saturated with destructive power struck a giant star behind his previous position. In a silent explosion of light, the celestial body was reduced to fine dust.
"..." Astraeus's face turned grim. If that had hit him, he would have lost more than just his dignity.
That strike was at least at the Primary-deity level. Who would dare ambush him?
He didn't have to wonder for long. His sharp eyes caught the silhouette of Hebe, clutching her Jade Bow, with Eos following closely behind.
Astraeus's pupils contracted. Hebe's reputation had grown formidable of late; he knew better than to take her lightly. However, his arrogance held firm.
"Even as the King's daughter, Lady Hebe—attacking a fellow deity so recklessly will surely bring punishment upon you, will it not?" Astraeus sneered. He looked at Eos with a predatory glint. "Eos, you've been busy. I didn't think you had the charm left to find such a powerful patron."
The Dawn Goddess flinched under his gaze, but the presence of Hebe at her side acted as a shield. She stood her ground, her eyes burning with hatred.
"Astraeus," Hebe's voice rang out, vibrating with divine authority. "You have defiled the name of the Stars. Because of the atrocity you committed against the Goddess of Dawn, I must seek redress. If your crime goes unpunished, it becomes a blueprint for the misery of every other goddess. Today, you pay the price."
Hebe began to speak in God-Words, her form radiating a blinding brilliance.
"O noble Mother, Queen Hera of the Golden Sandals, Protector of Women—hear my plea! Come to my side and bring justice to this suffering goddess!"
Space rippled, and Hera stepped from the void. Draped in a gown as red as fire, her white arms gleaming, she exuded a terrifying majesty. Having heard her daughter's call through the Laws, she had arrived instantly.
"Hebe, my daughter. The Laws have whispered your petition to me." Hera cast a glance at Hebe, her purple eyes filled with maternal pride, before turning a look of absolute loathing upon Astraeus. She looked at him as if he were the lowest filth of the mortal world.
"Astraeus," Hera declared, her voice cold as the grave. "You forced yourself upon a goddess against her will. As the Protector of Women and the holder of half the King's Authority, I deem your crime beyond forgiveness. In the name of the High Queen, I grant Hebe, Goddess of Life, the Right of Judgment over you—under the witness of Themis!"
Deep in the Underworld, Themis, the Goddess of Law, felt the resonance. She stood with her Scales and her Golden Sword. Her voice echoed through the starry sky:
"Under the gaze of Absolute Justice, this decree is valid!"
An invisible mark of fate descended upon Hebe and Astraeus. Hebe felt it immediately: a divine dispensation. Even if she were to execute Astraeus here and now, she would suffer no backlash for deicide.
'My daughter, it is in your hands,' Hera signaled mentally. Though her status was supreme, Zeus's infidelities had cracked her Marriage Godhead over the eons, leaving her combat power a shadow of the warrior-queen she once was. To take down this Titan, she needed Hebe's strength.
'I have it, Mother!'
Hebe felt a surge of anticipation. It had been a long time since she had been allowed to cut loose.
"You! This is an outrage!" Astraeus barked, his bravado masking a growing dread. "She is a mere First-Tier goddess! To be united with a Primary Deity like myself is an honor! Abduction-marriage is the tradition of our kind! Do you dare challenge the traditions of eons!?"
"A tradition that breeds such rot deserves only to be spat upon," Hebe replied. Her gown dissolved, replaced by her Divine Battle-Armor.
她 raised the Jade Bow. The power of Reincarnation surged into the string. Nine arrows, shimmering with the binary light of black and white, manifested. She released them, and they roared toward Astraeus like falling meteors.
"The stars are my domain!" Astraeus roared, realizing there would be no peace. He sneered; did this girl think a few years as a Primary Deity made her a match for an elder Titan? "Gravity Domain!"
He manifested a jeweled scepter, which pulsed with dark-purple ripples. The incoming arrows slowed as if hitting a wall of invisible sludge, bobbing and weaving under his manipulation, unable to close the distance.
Snap!
Hebe snapped her fingers. The delicate balance within the arrows broke. The two conflicting energies of Life and Death detonated simultaneously, pulverizing the celestial bodies within Astraeus's domain.
The explosion caught him off guard. Astraeus scrambled to raise a starlight shield, but the blast shredded his robes and left him singed and bloodied.
"Still posing?" Hebe arched an eyebrow, her gaze mocking.
"Damn you!" Consumed by rage, Astraeus went all out. He swept his scepter, summoning a Miniature Galaxy. It was a swirling river of stars, breathtakingly beautiful and lethally unstable.
The galaxy descended toward Hebe, its stars vibrating on the edge of critical mass. Upon contact, they would trigger a chain reaction of stellar explosions.
Hera, sensing the danger, grabbed Eos and flashed away. They could no longer stay in the splash zone; their presence would only hinder Hebe.
With the others gone, Hebe smiled. She unleashed her Domain of Reincarnation. Black and white light swirled behind her, weaving a tapestry of life and death. She reached out her hand, creating a vacuum of divine power that caught the falling galaxy in her palm. Using the balancing force of the Cycle, she stabilized the stars, making them hover submissively in her grasp.
"Impossible! How can you command the Galaxy?" Astraeus stared in disbelief.
"Take it back!" Hebe flicked her wrist. The radiant galaxy surged toward its original master, but this time, Hebe had deliberately introduced a terminal instability. Before Astraeus could regain control, it detonated.
The shockwave rattled his Godhead, and he spat out a mouthful of divine blood.
He looked at Hebe with venomous eyes. This meddling goddess was a nightmare. But he was far from finished. Astraeus's eyes flared, and his form ballooned until he was hundreds of feet tall, transforming into a Starry Great Beast.
The monster resembled a colossal scorpion forged from meteors and nebulae. It had six jagged claws and a tail made of iridescent star-stones. Its head retained his divine face, now twisted into a gargantuan, hideous mask. With massive pincers and dragonfly-like wings, the beast flew through its expanded domain—a vision of grotesque, celestial horror.
Compared to this titan, Hebe was a mere ant. Yet she remained calm.
She contracted her domain to a one-meter shell around her body. Spreading her wings, she kicked off the void like an arrow from a bow. A sword of Death and Ice appeared in her hand.
The beast opened its maw, breathing a beam of violet stellar fire. Hebe raised her left hand, deploying the power of the Cycle. The black and white energies ground together like a millstone, neutralizing the fire into nothingness.
She moved like a streak of lightning, closing the gap instantly. Her sword flashed down, striking one of the beast's legs. There was a spray of sparks and a roar of agony as the leg was severed. The chilling energy of Death and Frost seeped into the wound, freezing the monster's ichor.
Astraeus lashed out with his tail, summoning a rain of giant meteors that obscured the entire horizon. Hebe retreated at high speed, dodging the tail, as the stars began to hammer down.
"Domain of Reincarnation: Expansion!"
The black and white aura exploded outward. Within the domain, vortices of binary power formed, representing the sum total of the world's opposing energies. The meteors struck the domain only to be caught in the swirls and ground into harmless pebbles.
"Ring of Annihilation!"
A ring of obsidian-gold light shot forth, locking onto the beast like a black sun. It hovered above Astraeus's head, leaking a miasma of pure resentment.
"AHHH!" Astraeus shrieked. He heard the whispering of a million vengeful voices. A crushing weakness took hold of him. To his horror, his divine power began to plummet. Under the curse of the Ring, his rank broke—dropping from a Primary Deity to the peak of the First-Tier.
The gap between a Primary and a First-Tier was a chasm.
Astraeus panicked. He dissolved into violet light, attempting to blink through the void to escape. But when he reappeared, he was still in the same spot.
"My Lord, if you wish to leave, you must ask me first," Hebe said with a cold smile. In her hand, she held a transparent crystal pulsing with a faint light.
"Space Essence! How can you have the essence of Space!?" Astraeus screamed. He was truly terrified now. The space had been locked; without Hebe's consent, he was trapped in this killing field.
Astraeus shed his beast form, returning to his divine shape. His robes were rags, his hair was a mess, and his left hand was missing. He fell to his knees before Hebe, his eyes full of pleading. "Noble Hebe, matchless goddess... I see my error! Grant me mercy! I swear by the Styx I will never force another goddess!"
"It is not for me to forgive you," Hebe said, her eyes filled with disgust. She didn't believe a word. "You are coming back to the Great Temple. The Queen shall judge your crimes based on the victim's will."
"Yes... yes... I'll go..." Astraeus lowered his head, his face twisting into a mask of murder. "GO TO HELL!"
His scepter transformed into a star-spear. It lanced out with the force of a collapsing sun, sharp enough to pierce the heavens.
"Ugh..."
Astraeus looked down at the hand piercing his heart. The fingers were long, elegant, and white—but they did not belong to a goddess.
He turned his head in disbelief. Standing behind him was a handsome deity with obsidian-gold wings. The god wore a faint, casual smile as he withdrew Astraeus's Godhead. He did it with such ease, it was as if slaughter was his daily routine.
Astraeus, the God of Stars, collapsed with a look of infinite regret.
"My Lady," Phagos said, bowing as he offered the glowing orb. "I present the Mandate of the Stars to you."