Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

The newly born deity opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw of the world was the boundless night, as well as two ancient gods who felt even more ‘present’ than the night sky itself.

One was the master of this place, with the entire domain resonating with her; the other was still fused with the power of the Spirit Realm, with seven layers of phantoms presenting themselves to his divine sight.

In the perception of the God of Sleep, two vast auras stretched from heaven to earth, capable of grinding him to dust with a mere lift of their hands.

Subconsciously feeling a bit tense, Hypnos couldn’t help but clench the deep purple flute in his hand. It was his natal Divine Artifact, a fusion of parts of “Sleep” and “Dreamscape,” along with a slight touch of “Chaos” and “Music” from the Spirit Realm.

The lullabies played on it could put gods into slumber and allow creatures to lose their minds in their dreams, amusing the gods with their skirmishes.

“…Hypnos, pays his respects to the Father God and Mother Goddess.”

His wariness was but a momentary flicker, so fleeting that even if Laine had not been observing closely, he would not have noticed. In the next moment, the newly born god displayed a gaze full of humility and admiration.

As a ‘born knower,’ Hypnos knew that the two divine beings before him were his ‘parents.’ Since they had created him, they naturally did not intend to harm him; moreover, in the presence of these two formidable entities, the God of Sleep didn’t feel that his caution held any significance.

Rather than displaying his ‘fangs,’ it was better to appear gentle and harmless.

“…Father God, huh, according to the traditions of Chaos, it seems to be the case,”

Observing the change in Hypnos’s demeanor, Laine was at first startled and then chuckled.

For deities, power had a much deeper connection than blood ties. Laine and Nyx’s powers jointly created this deity, so from a legal standpoint, they indeed could be regarded as his parents.

But one need only reference Uranus and Gaia to understand how unreliable such non-blooded parental relationships could be. Furthermore, this was the Chaos World, where, in later mythologies, parent-child strife was practically daily fare for gods and mortals alike.

Meanwhile, Nyx’s expression was hard to discern behind her black veil. She paid no heed to Hypnos’s greeting, simply turning to glance at Laine before opening her mouth calmly:

“Since the matter is resolved, you can take him away.”

“Regarding the matter of compensation—”

In the end, Nyx had put faith in Laine’s previous explanation. She also felt that no one could spy on her fate without her knowing.

Given that it wasn’t Laine’s intention, she naturally should offer a reciprocal gift.

Yet in the empty land of Eternal Night, there was nothing fit to be offered as such a gift.

Thus, Nyx extended her hand and tore a piece from the hem of her dress. With a gentle shake, the tattered fabric transformed into a black silk cloth.

The cloth was just an appearance; in reality, she had torn off a small portion of her “Nyx’s Black Robe.” To the Lady of the Night, after all, this artifact could not advance any further, so this small loss of power was of little consequence.

“It is yours now.”

With a snort, she tossed the black cloth to Laine and, turning, merged silently into the night of the Land of Eternal Night.

Watching this, Laine couldn’t help but smile wryly.

“Heh heh—”

“Hypnos, it seems your ‘Mother Goddess’ isn’t too fond of you.”

Taking the black cloth imbued with the power of “Secrecy,” Laine turned to look at the newborn deity.

However, as soon as he spoke, he clearly felt a slight rejection from the surrounding night.

Faced with Nyx’s subtle warning, Laine said no more.

“So, Father God, will I be living with you from now on?”

Looking somewhat saddened by the departure of the ‘Mother Goddess’, Hypnos cast a hopeful gaze at Laine.

Watching this scene, Laine felt not the slightest bit of compassion. He was well aware that an evil god, whose creation had been tinged with a portion of Chaotic Source Force, was no paragon of virtue.

For Hypnos, if it weren’t for the difference in their strengths, as well as Laine’s control over his godhood as the Lord of the Spirit Realm, he probably wouldn’t care at all about this so-called ‘Father God’.

But Laine didn’t care about that, either.

“Come with me, and the same goes for you all.”

Signaling Hypnos and the three thousand demigod dreamscape evil spirits born alongside him to follow, Laine turned and started down the path they had come.

The God of Sleep quickly followed. Despite having just been born, he vaguely sensed that in this realm blanketed by night, wandering aimlessly without someone to guide him would likely not bode well for him.

Following the path from before, Laine continued on his way.

Perhaps it was because the Lady of the Night had once permitted the power of the Spirit Realm to probe into the Land of Eternal Night, but now, the return path seemed to genuinely possess some mystic force. The night’s curtain subtly gave way, and the local beings dared not cause trouble there.

Even without the Lady of the Night’s guidance, Laine managed to exit successfully. Not until he had crossed the divide between the curtain of night and the Underworld did he look back at the path he had traveled.

Through divine vision, a faint halo lingered over the path, but it became erratic as Laine left.

This was a slight manifestation of Chaos in the Land of Eternal Night; spaces within could possibly intersect and change. But no matter how it altered, the path tainted by the force of the Spirit Realm would remain, though its location might shift.

If someone is fortunate enough to receive guidance in the future, they would be able to traverse the path Laine had once walked, entering and exiting the Land of Eternal Night safely under the protection of the Spirit Realm’s power.

Of course, all this is predicated on the Lady of the Night being uninterested in him. The residual presence of the Spirit Realm may ward off the beings beneath the curtain of night, but it could not resist the Primordial God herself.

“Hypnos,” Laine turned and casually asked, “Do you see that fellow over there?”

“Yes, Father God.”

The youthful deity bowed slightly and gazed into the distance.

Above the Styx River, though seemingly empty, Hypnos sensed a surge of intense emotion circling there, blatantly revealing its existence to the outside world.

The deities of the present, or rather the gods of Chaos, always operated in this manner. They tended to sense and conceal through divine power and form, but they were utterly unguarded against the spiritual.

Even the mighty Zeus could be sent into a dreamscape by the original god of sleep in mythology without noticing. To the deities of the Spirit Realm who observe directly from the spiritual layer, the God of West Wind’s concealment was as good as nonexistence.

“Father God, should I take care of him?”

Wearing a gentle smile, Hypnos softly inquired.

“Go ahead, capture him.”

Nodding, Laine agreed to Hypnos’s request.

Similar to the twelve Titans, Hypnos did not reach the limit allowed by his godhood upon birth, but he still possessed mid-level weak divine power.

In direct combat, he might not be a match for the Wind God. But seeing Zephyrus still completely oblivious, Laine knew that the battle would soon be over.