The newborn stars injected a fresh surge of vitality into the world of Kaos, accelerating the conversion of chaos gas into Primal Essence. Yet, this was merely the beginning. The Leader Stars had only just been born; they required their respective guardians to catalyze their growth and maintain their internal stability. Only when they reached full maturity would the conversion of Primal Power reach its peak, showering the gods in unprecedented bounty.
With the distribution of the mandates complete, Lady Nyx departed Mount Olympus alongside the Underworld host. The denizens of the deep were well-satisfied with the outcome. Among the twelve Leader Stars, the Underworld held a claim to three. Although two were shared with the heavenly gods, the Underworld deities were pragmatic; they knew that forced fostering of stars with clashing elemental attributes would be a thankless and exhausting labor.
Furthermore, the Underworld had secured fifty percent of the countless minor stars. While these lacked the prestige of the Leader Stars, their sheer number meant a significant and effortless accumulation of benefits once marked with divine power. Compared to the Sea Gods, the Underworld felt they had struck a highly profitable bargain.
Hades, Phagos, Hecate, and Charon did not return with Nyx. They remained on the mountain, tasked with ascending to the heavens to guard their nascent stars until they stabilized. For the Underworld deities, this "business trip" felt like a well-deserved vacation from the mountain of administrative duties awaiting them in the halls of the dead.
"Guardians of the Leader Stars!" Zeus declared, raising his scepter high. "You have heard the oracle of Lady Nyx. Proceed to your respective celestial bodies. Until your stars are stable, none shall depart."
Since the stability of the stars directly influenced the concentration of Primal Essence—and thus his own chances of ascending to the Primordial rank—the King of Gods was in no mood to tolerate divine indolence.
Hades ignored the King's posturing. After offering a few brief instructions to Phagos and Hecate, he led Charon toward the Star of the Dead.
Phagos and Hecate shared a look of silent understanding before approaching Apollo and Artemis.
"Lord Apollo, it is an honor to serve alongside you. I look forward to your guidance in the coming days," Phagos said, his dark-gold eyes fixed on the Sun God, a polite smile on his lips.
"..."
Apollo found the smile grating. Despite the winged deity's friendly demeanor, Apollo viewed him with a critical eye. He looks well enough, Apollo thought, but that somber, shadowy divine power is no fit for a Sun God. To think a 'Sun of the Dead' has the gall to encroach upon the Solar Star...
After a moment, Apollo forced a regal smile. "God of the Sun of the Dead, you are welcome. Pray, accompany me to the Solar Star. Its stability will require both our efforts."
Apollo then turned to his sister and Hecate. "Artemis, Hecate—we shall depart first. Proceed to the Lunar Star with all haste."
The two goddesses nodded. The atmosphere between them was markedly less bizarre than that of their male counterparts. Hecate and Artemis were cousins; though Hecate had spent her life in the Underworld, Artemis remembered the aid their aunt Asteria had provided them. Out of respect for that bond, Artemis had no qualms about sharing the Lunar Mandate.
As the Primary Deities departed for the firmament, the lesser gods of Olympus dispersed. Many were already calculating how to win a share of the minor stars from Zeus—perhaps through a fleeting romance or a well-placed favor.
Aphrodite, having entrusted the care of Eros to the Graces, set out for her own chosen planet. She gazed longingly at the sphere radiating a serene, teal-green light, resembling a lustrous, warm pearl. Within her veins, an unfamiliar power was beginning to surge—a heavy, grounding sensation that brought her an unprecedented sense of security... and strength.
With a light step, Aphrodite entered the planet that had been calling to her soul. Though these stars appeared miniature within the nebula, they regained their true, vast proportions upon returning to the sky. Only by stepping onto the surface could one realize how boundless they truly were.
The Goddess of Beauty surveyed the interior with delight. Under the "mask" of her beautiful divine power, no other god would suspect that this seemingly harmless planet harbored a nature entirely at odds with its gentle exterior. Storms, lightning, torrential rains, meteors, and hail—the raw powers of the Sky were abundant here.
Aphrodite spread her arms, triggering the hidden bloodline of her father. She attempted to draw these divine energies into her core.
"...Wait? Is it truly this simple?"
The Sky-power merged with her form without the slightest resistance. Within her, a crystalline Godhead began to form—though no larger than a fingernail, it was pure. So long as it absorbed more Primal Essence, it would flourish. Aphrodite, daughter of Uranus's flesh, had effortlessly seized the Authority of the Sky.
She looked at her hands. Arc-lightning, gales, and storm clouds flickered across her palms. Feeling a power fundamentally different from her previous fragility, her azure eyes filled with irrepressible joy.
If this Godhead grows, I will no longer be a 'flowerpot' goddess. I shall be the new Sovereign of the Sky!
Ambition flared in her heart. She opened her mind fully, resonating with the star and drawing in chaos gas to forge her new Mandate.
Meanwhile, in the deepest, most silent reaches of the firmament, an ancient consciousness that had slumbered for eons was startled awake. A silent, psychic vibration rippled through the void.
'Who... who is stealing my Authority!?'
The Sun-Star, burning with golden flames, radiated an absolute intensity of light and heat that kept the neighboring stars at a distance.
"Behold the Sun-Star," Apollo said, crossing his arms and glancing at the black-clad Phagos with a smirk. "The power of Light and Heat here is beyond anything you've known. Can a god of the dead endure it? Be careful not to get scorched."
"..."
Phagos offered a thin smile. He stepped out into the void, walking toward the roaring furnace of the sun. The Sun-Star vibrated, but it did not repel him. On the contrary, it seemed to dim its radiance as he approached, as if fearing its brilliance might cause the visitor discomfort.
"What?" Apollo was dumbfounded. As the "true" Sun God, why did his star show more deference to this intruder than to him?
Before he could react, Phagos had already landed on the solar surface.
"Dammit!" Fearing the other god might tamper with his prize, Apollo hurried after him.
The interior was a chaotic fusion of light and heat, punctuated by periodic solar flares. Compared to the other stars, this one was "precocious"—it was expanding at a dangerous rate. If left unchecked, it threatened to consume everything in its orbit.
Phagos identified the issue immediately. His Godhead of the Sun of the Dead flared with a cool, silver-violet light. He began to effuse his power across the solar landscape—a light that was brilliant yet frigid and serene.
"What are you doing!" Apollo roared as he arrived. Seeing the "cold" sun-god unleashing power upon his "hot" star, he was seized by fury. "Do you intend to snuff out my sun with your Underworld filth? Are you trying to murder a Leader Star!?"
Apollo lunged forward, seizing Phagos's wrist. "Do you not fear the judgment of the Primordials!?"
"..."
Phagos half-closed his eyes, looking at Apollo as if he were a particularly dim-witted child. He shook off the Sun God's grip. "My Lord knows that sabotaging a Leader Star is a capital crime. I am many things, but I am not a fool. If I intended to murder the sun, would I do it while you were watching?"
Please, use your head, Phagos thought. No wonder my primary self has tricked you so many times.
"..." Apollo flushed with embarrassment but held his ground. "Then what is your aim? This star is pure Yang; your cold energy is a poison to it!"
"Lord Apollo... you call yourself a Sun God, yet your insight is inferior even to that of Helios," Phagos sighed, projecting a look of profound disappointment. "Can you not feel it? This star is over-saturated. Its heat is out of control. It is expanding. Do you truly not understand the consequences of a stellar collapse?"
Apollo's expression shifted. He quickly projected his divine senses. A moment later, his face turned grim. He hated to admit it, but Phagos was right.
"Without my 'Sun of the Dead' to soothe the flames, it would be you facing judgment for a celestial catastrophe," Phagos added, his voice dripping with casual disdain.
"...Enough! You share the mandate; if the star fails, you are equally responsible!" Apollo barked back, though he immediately began channeling his own power to absorb the excess heat, struggling to bring the star under control.
Phagos shrugged and resumed his work. He marked several points on the solar surface, injecting the cold radiance of the Underworld Sun. From the outside, several dark patches—sunspots—appeared on the flawless golden surface. But the expansion halted. The star stabilized.
Apollo remained silent, his heart burning with resentment. Cursed Underworld god... he actually has talent. Unable to find a fault, he could only suppress his irritation and continue the fostering process.
On the other side of the firmament, Hebe landed upon the kaleidoscopic star—Zoe.
The moment she crossed the threshold, a streak of fire roared toward her face. She flicked her wrist, dispersing the flame into sparks. Looking around, she found the interior to be a theater of absolute chaos. Divine energies of every stripe were rioting through the space without order. Opposing elements collided constantly, triggering violent explosions that made the very space-time of the star shudder.
Left alone, the star would have surely shattered under the internal pressure.
But for Hebe, this was not a burden—it was a playground. As the Sovereign of the Cycle, the transition between Chaos and Balance was her specialty.
Binary light erupted from her form as the Domain of Reincarnation expanded. Powered by her Peak Primary rank, the domain swept across the entire planet of Zoe in an instant. The rioting energies were suddenly pinned, unable to move under the weight of her will.
Hebe's purple eyes shifted to black and white. She walked through the void like a master architect, her fingers tapping the air. Under her direction, the chaotic energies became as docile as lambs, flowing to their designated positions.
The light and clear ascended to form the heavens; the heavy and turbid settled to become the earth.
Gradually, the planet ceased to be a soup of raw power. It gained form and substance. Land began to germinate, stretching out in all directions, becoming firm and vast. Clouds swirled in the nascent sky. With the birth of the first drop of water, rain began to fall—growing into a global deluge that filled the depressions of the earth to form the first seas.
The planet Zoe emitted a hum of absolute ecstasy. Its consciousness coiled around the goddess who had delivered it from the agony of chaos. Unlike the faint, murky awareness of the other stars, Zoe's spirit was exceptionally vivid and agile. Nyx had been right—this star's potential was supreme.
As if in gratitude, Zoe released a tidal wave of Primal Essence, pouring it directly into Hebe's body.
The golden-haired goddess offered a captivating smile. Within her, the black-and-white Godhead blazed with light. At its center, the pea-sized speck of grey began to expand at a visible and heartening speed.