Chapter 404 - The Death Of Riveting Night
Chapter 404 - The Death Of Riveting Night
As could be expected, Amaterasu was unable to comprehend exactly what the hell Eva was talking about this time. Eva had pointed at the kneeling statues and had claimed that Amaterasu got them wrong. Was she really serious?
Despite being unhappy, Amaterasu took a deep breath and maintained her calm. "Please explain further."
Eva nodded. "Let's start with the most glaring of them all, your so-called 'Celestial Maiden' Inheritance."
"This Inheritance supposedly displays our supreme and ethereal beauty, with you at the forefront and the most famously beautiful female deities over the course of history that were supposedly born from our Lineage behind you."
"Looking at them, even as a woman, I can state with confidence that they certainly represent an objective idea of beauty. No male or female should rightfully claim that they would not be enthralled by these avatars. Anyone who does is simply lying or not human."
Eva shook her head at this point. "But have you ever asked yourself why they are beautiful? What purpose does such beauty serve?"
Amaterasu frowned because Eva was asking the obvious. "To receive the adoration and worship of all living things in the world as they revere and bask in our supreme beauty."
Eva nodded. "That I can understand, because I've felt the effects myself whenever I removed my veil in the past. The more entities that gaze at me, the more intense their reverence, the stronger and more complete I feel. That is why I've taken to removing my hood more and more nowadays."
Eva spoke softly at this point. "However, that is only one part of it. Look at them, Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Beauty? No. She's the Goddess of S.e.x and Beauty, able to charm even her fellow Gods into desiring her flesh. Venus, the Roman version of Aphrodite, Goddess of Love, Beauty, and Fertility? No. She's the Goddess of S.e.x, Beauty, and Fertility."
Eva pointed to the statues once again. "Freyja, the Norse equivalent of Aphrodite. Goddess of Death, Beauty, and Love? No. She's the Goddess of Death, S.e.x, and Magic. Ishtar, probably the oldest of these Goddesses, one of War and Love? No. Ishtar has and always will be the Goddess of S.e.x and War."
Eva lowered her hand and stared point-blank at the stunned Amaterasu. "Do you see the trend here? This Inheritance isn't about being a pure maiden that resides in some heavenly garden full of flowers and morning dew. It is about being a supremely beautiful woman who draws out the desires in all onlookers, promoting s.e.x, marriage, and fertility among mortals."
Eva had an amused smile. "You can even think of it as a 'Holy' version of a succubus."
Amaterasu was left speechless. Just like Eva could barely talk back when she had pointed out her flaws, Amaterasu was also tongue-tied when she was slapped with the dirty truth she had hidden away or subconsciously ignored.
Eva didn't relent. She pointed to the statues of the void creatures. "You claim that this Inheritance exists to keep the abyssal monsters at bay. That we're some sort of gatekeeper that controls the only passageway into the abyss."
Eva shook her head. "That… is frankly nonsensical."
"Look at those statues. Look at them carefully, not with the eye of a righteous Goddess protecting the mortal plane from evil monsters from the other side, but as a neutral party with a discerning eye. What do you see?"
Amaterasu subconsciously followed Eva's instructions, as she was pulled into the madwoman's rhythm. Insane as she was, Eva still possessed boundless charisma, even more than Amaterasu. Then again, it was a known fact that the mentally infirm were usually the most charismatic.
"They look… sad. Despondent. As if they had been abandoned by their most precious person, and every living moment means eternal anguish for them." The Sun Goddess replied slowly.
Eva sighed. "Have you ever wondered why we, a whole heavenly Goddess, have access to the Abyss? After all, something 'so sinister' should have been under Draco and Lucifer's purview as the Lord of Evil and Darkness."
Amaterasu shook her head. She didn't have a concrete answer, for it had been a mystery to her and Lucifer as well. She simply gazed at Eva with confusion, waiting for her reincarnation to enlighten her.
"Because, Amaterasu, this so-called 'Abyss' is not a path to some chaos realm or some underworld. That, 'Abyss' is the raw and uncultured form of our Elysium."
Amaterasu's eyes widened and she shook her head vigorously. "No! That… That cannot be!"
Eva's eyes glinted with sharpness. "But it is! No matter how you try to reject it, you should know deep down that this is the truth! That realm is the foundational space for what should have been 'Heaven'!"
"Draco and Lucifer have access to 'Hell' with their Horned Demon Inheritance, which they have structured into 9 layers, a place where the dead would be tormented for eternity if they lived evil lives!"
"So then, if there are no real Gods in this universe of ours, where are the good souls supposed to go?" Eva asked with a dark smile.
At this point, Amaterasu was on the verge of a mental breakdown. She had always felt incomplete, because unlike Lucifer who had perfect control over his 'realm' she did not seem to have access to hers.
As she - and likely everyone - assumed, her 'heavenly realm' must have been manifested by the Goddess of Light Inheritance, yet the truth was not so simple. As Eva had stated to Draco during the fellow's bloodline training, their Inheritances matched and echoed each other.
The Dark Angel and Celestial Maiden were two sides of the same coin and as Eva had just revealed. This wasn't even metaphorical, but they were literally the same thing, just taking slightly different paths.
The Horned Demon and Abyssal Eye Inheritance were also in a similar situation. Draco and Lucifer controlled their special realm, Hell, and could manipulate souls to enter it at will.
Similarly, Eva and Amaterasu controlled their special realm, Heaven, and could manipulate souls to enter it at will. Hadn't it always seemed strange that Eva could pull out souls with her eyes and tear space as well?
The difference between Draco and Eva, or better yet, Amaterasu and Lucifer, was that Lucifer had been able to develop on his world because he had come to understand his true nature and had accepted it, whereas Amaterasu misunderstood and discarded hers.
Amaterasu gazed at the statues standing behind the indistinct 'void mist' that made up the main statue and the various horrifying aberrations that stood behind it in the masses.
"S-So all these statues…?"
"All your… our people in a sense. Just like how Draco and Lucifer have the Four Hors.e.m.e.n as well as the avatars of all hell's creatures, as well as the guardians of each floor of hell, these were supposed to be our angels and holy spirits."
Eva wore a truly sad look on her face. "Yet, they had been ignored and cast away by their mistress… and since they were forced to reside in an uncompleted realm full of chaotic energy, how could they maintain their beautiful forms? The chaos energy has twisted them into the aberrations you see now."
Amaterasu looked like she couldn't take it anymore. "W-We have to help them! We have to free them!"
Eva raised a hand to stop Amaterasu with a look of amus.e.m.e.nt on her face. "I have to help them, not you. You had your chance and you wasted it. Now, the real you has already left the world to go to who knows where. You are just an avatar of my bloodline and a remnant echo of the real Amaterasu."
Eva's harsh reminder sobered Amaterasu up as she gazed at her second incarnation solemnly, before sighing in defeat. "And... what about the Goddess of Light?"
Eva turned to face the statue and rubbed her chin. "That one you were pretty much spot on with. The light here is of a purifying and cutting nature, not possessing heat per se, but holiness of a sort. If anything, this Inheritance is what qualifies us as a Goddess more than the other two."
"Since it was also the one you used the most, there was little chance of you making a mistake. The only issue with it is that the feeling of being 'just' and 'righteous' has made you too pompous and overbearing."
Eva's eyes flashed. "If I'm not wrong, you probably argued with Lucifer many times on many topics. I bet it is this very same Inheritance that gave you this whole idea of being equals, walking beside him, and this other nonsense."
Amaterasu was silent for a long while before she nodded. "Lucifer was always very accepting. He was never forceful or demanding, so I often had my way. I only listened to him when I felt it was fair and just, and when it didn't, I would make my opinion known."
Eva clapped. "And that's fine. You pursued a relationship of equals with your soulmate, and the two of you were able to work it out."
Then she frowned. "So why the hell are you in here telling me how to conduct my relationship with Draco? If I wanted to be his dog that barked on a leash, that would be my decision to make which has nothing to do with you!"
Amaterasu gazed at Eva silently for a few minutes, thinking about everything in detail. She realized that Eva has made her point, while she - Amaterasu - had also made hers.
Both of them were valid, but it didn't change the fact that there was a conflict in their ideals. Also, no matter how they argued and debated, it didn't change the fact that the bloodline instinctively rejected Eva's current self, which was taking a toll on her real body.
"Eva, I understand you, just as you understand me. We both know that the issue is bigger than us, as we are risking the life of our… your, child with every passing second. A miscarriage due to us butting heads would torment us… you for eternity." Amaterasu spoke solemnly.
Eva trembled and lost her facade of coolness once this issue was brought up. "What should I do?"
"I propose a compromise, Eva. I shall fuse a small part of my remnant consciousness with your mind, mending certain behaviors of yours to suit mine while still maintaining your overarching sense of self." Amaterasu suggested with a low tone.
Eva scowled but didn't wish to argue anymore. "What exactly will change about me?"
"You will no longer feel averse to showing your face, be it in this digital world or the real one. However, you will maintain your current self that hates the idea of making all beings subservient because of your beauty."
"You will no longer perform all forms of evils with no bottom line. You will have a bottom line suitable for a Goddess of Light, but you shall be able to act ruthlessly when the situation calls for it. However, you will no longer radiate malice, and people will henceforth love to be around you, instead of fleeing from you."
"You will no longer love the shadows and all forms of darkness abilities, rather preferring skills and techniques with flair and awe. However, you will still maintain your ability to be discrete when in the presence of Draco if you so wish. But when he isn't around, you shall be the Sun that brightens the world."
"Knowing all that, do you agree?" Amaterasu asked finally.
Eva remained scowling, but sighed with defeat. "Fine, do what you must. If it'll help me make Draco happier, then that's fine."
Amaterasu nodded and waved her hand. A beam of light left her form, making her thinner and less corporeal, entering Eva, merging with the madwoman's form.
Eva manifested no changes outwardly, but her aura changed so greatly that it was not even comparable to before. As Amaterasu said, all the malice she usually radiated disappeared, and her resting bitch face became softer.
Once this was done, Eva opened her eyes and for the first time, that dark swirl in there became soft and less menacing. However, Eva sighed as she gazed at the throne.
The cracked throne quickly repaired itself and turned pristine. Not only that, but a statue of Eva was seated upon it, her face locked in a calm smile as she blessed all living things in the world.
As Eva began to disappear from this realm, she paid respects to her former self which was now lost, and welcomed what she had now become.
Riveting Night was no more, and Eva was now eternal.