Seven stared at the Goddess before him blankly.
"...Euryphaessa?"
He said the name aloud this time.
After all, it was a fact that children in this world were taught in their early childhood about the seven deities who once overlooked this world.
Though it was not strange for a mere mortal to recognize a Goddess.
But in all honesty, he only recognized her thanks to the novel that mentioned her appearance detail by detail.
Yet, for some reason, she looked a little surprised.
Euryphaessa.
She was once the most revered of the seven but was now cast out by her own creation.
If one were to travel across the entire continent today, they would find her name etched into ancient stone, spoken only in fables, and clung to by no one.
After all, what use was a god when there was no longer a threat that required divine intervention?
None.
Faith only holds power in desperation.
And desperation had long since passed.
Back then, during the founding era of the Hart bloodline— her first disciple— people prayed. They whispered her name under moonlight and carved her sigil into their door frames for protection.
That was during the first century of the kingdom of Othrelis where countless wars and skirmishes happened here and there that no one felt safe.
Still… something changed.
Until just recently, not a single being in all seven continents had believed in her, except… one child did.
One child alone in his room, wished for the Goddess to bless his frail body.
He spent years combing through old tomes inside the mansion's library and traced runes.
Secretly.
Hoping that she would answer.
Urghkk—
Seven groaned as a memory surged into his mind.
He saw the original Seven again.
A boy hunched over his desk, candlelight flickering over scratched parchment. Ink-stained fingers scribbled magic circles across pages and when a knock— probably Iria— echoed on the door, he scrambled to hide them beneath the desk drawer.
The boy cried.
Day after day, his eyes grew desperate.
He began waking in the middle of the night, whispering the same incomplete incantations to the ceiling as if begging the Goddess to respond.
The memory faded.
Seven frowned.
"Pathetic."
The word slipped out again, just like the first time a first memory had surfaced back then.
He did not mean it.
He just hated seeing someone trying their absolute hardest… only to fail. It reminded him too much of himself.
Even if he believed the system had made a good choice in choosing him, he knew deep down they were not all that different.
And when he came back to the present, he saw her eyes already narrowed, studying him intently.
"Child."
She said.
"That eye… How did you obtain it, when you never watered the holy flower?"
His left eye pulsed faintly.
"...Flower?"
"???"
"...?"
Confusion flickered across both of their faces, but the one on Seven's face was evident.
Even after reading all the published chapters, there was never any mention of a 'holy flower' that needed watering.
"Child."
Euryphaessa asked again, brows furrowing deeper.
"Tell me. Did you read my response?"
She looked visibly displeased now.
That divine message was her only response in centuries and it had cost her nearly half of her remaining power. It was a gamble.
If the child had succeeded and begun to spread her name once again, her power might have returned.
But the boy standing before her did not seem to know anything.
"…Response?"
He asked again.
His mind scanned back and pulled the details he dismissed when he first arrived in this world.
One parchment came to mind.
One of the many he skimmed through in the original Seven's desk, where there was a brief line of text…
"Holy water… bucket?"
He said it aloud.
"Indeed."
Euryphaessa's gaze sharpened.
"So you did see it.
"Then do tell me, child. Why did you not water the flower?
"Had you done so, I could have descended and led you to that artifact myself."
Seven tried to remember the details once again, to see if there was any chance of a mention of the holy flower but to no avail.
There was none.
"...It— It was all that was written into it."
"??!"
"...?"
"?!!"
A long silence stretched between them.
Her disbelief was practically screaming across her expression now.
"Child, do tell me. For what did you do with the bucket of water?"
Seven did not reply.
He could not tell her the truth.
That the original Seven had used it to drown himself and his death was the result of a desperate wish for a blessing.
He could not tell her that the holy water meant for divine blooming had been used to die.
Instead, he ran a hand through his hair and scratched the back of his neck.
"I… uhm… I suppose it's still… in my room?"
Sigh.
Euryphaessa only sighed in response.
It was not as if she could just force a mere mortal, her only believer, into a talk that he clearly was uncomfortable with.
Thus, her expression turned serious.
She no longer looked like a goddess draped in divine light, but more like a judge standing before him.
"Child."
She said again for the third time.
"I cannot prolong our conversation."
The air began to shift. The stars above them flickered like someone was trying to snuff out the entire sky with trembling fingers.
She raised her hand slowly and pointed downward.
"What you saw earlier, they were…"
She paused, as if hesitant to continue.
But she did either way.
"They were you."
She did not elaborate it further.
Something in his chest grew cold at the implication, like he had stepped into a puzzle too vast to ever fully piece together.
"You may not remember it, but you have stood in that place before."
Her voice softened.
"Many times."
Snap!
Euryphaessa snapped her fingers and the scene changed.
Seven found himself no longer standing before her, but back to the void that did not have any silhouette from earlier.
It was only him and the rippling water below his feet.
Slowly, a pair of colossal eyes blinked into existence above as if watching him, followed by a ray of golden light that emanated from its left eye.
The light curved and expanded until it revealed a throne that was not there before.
A massive throne.
Unlike the ornate thrones of kings or emperors, this one was unadorned by jewels or emblems of glory.
It bore no crest, flag, nor a name.
Only numbers.
A repetition of a single numeral: seven.
It was carved into stone, etched into gold, layered atop obsidian, spiraling in endless variations across its arms, its back, and its towering spine.
"That throne…"
Euryphaessa's voice echoed in the darkness.
"It belongs to you, Seven Hart.
"Rule yourself.
"Only then can you decide whether to kneel, or to sit."
Seven said nothing.
Euryphaessa continued.
"And do not trust the shape of your shadow. It may not always be yours."
And then, the divine glow behind the colossal eyes began to flicker and distort and it disappeared, and the complete darkness returned.
Nothing happened.
For seconds.
For minutes.
|| Exclusive Trait: Imperial Bower ||
But not for an hour given that a system interface suddenly appeared before him.
At the same time, a four leaf clover had tattooed itself on his wrist— right beside the bracelet— and began to glow amidst the darkness.
|| Description: He who sits upon the throne of nothingness wears the crown of eternity ||
|| Classification: Authority ||
Crackle! Cra—
A crackling sound followed right after, and a blinding light again flashed that he quickly shut his eyes.
But when he opened his eyes, he was back at the training ground and the first thing he saw was…
"...Iria?"