SHK CH 771 (Patreon)

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” she whispered, her voice trembling between sorrow and ecstasy. “No matter how many lies they weave, truth always burns brighter.”

The dream shuddered violently. Hypnos’ world began to fracture as the seams of illusion could no longer contain her awakening. The sound of the dream cracking was like the groan of a collapsing universe—deep, endless, final.

Then, from beyond the burning horizon, a voice echoed.

“You shouldn’t have remembered.”

Hypnos appeared—or at least his dream avatar did. Draped in layers of twilight silk, his eyes glimmered like twin crescent moons. The serene expression he always wore was gone, replaced by strain and disbelief.

Ambrosia turned her head slightly, her golden flames still pouring from her body, devouring everything they touched. 

“Hypnos,” she said calmly. “Your dreams are beautiful lies. I’ve lived through enough of them.”

“You can’t wake up,” he hissed, hands trembling as tendrils of divine energy surged around him. “This world is sealed. You’re too deep. Even if you burn this dream, I simply have to create a new one.”

“You are right. If I were alone, this might have truly trapped me. But you know, right? The more power you use to keep me trapped, the more likely the other two will leave as well. In the first place…” Ambrosia scoffed, “I doubt you even managed to keep that crazy woman trapped in your weave. I guess I have to thank her.”

Hypnos' expression contorted.

“From your expression, I guess I was right. Hah, so now choose. Futilely try to keep me trapped and waste energy on two crazy women, or focus all your power on Anubis.”

The choice Hypnos made was self-evident.

***

[Reality – Gluttony Foss]

The air tore apart with a burst of radiant gold. Hypnos staggered, coughing blood as cracks spread across his divine body. His connection to the Dream Realm shattered like glass, and the illusion collapsed partially. 

From the rift behind him, Ambrosia emerged—eyes burning gold, her aura a crown of molten brilliance that lit the battlefield brighter than any sun.

Euphoria turned her head mid-clash, her expression faltering for the first time.

“What—?”

Ambrosia’s flames coiled upward like a divine banner before striking down at the Goddess of Love and Hate. 

Lilith, who was prepared to go on the offensive, adjusted her sword and smirked, “Took you long enough.” The fight had not been easy. Though Euphoria was not a combat goddess, she was still a goddess, and she was extremely elusive.

Ambrosia wiped blood from her lips and whispered, “Sorry. I got caught up in a beautiful lie.” She had not escaped unscathed. Brute forcing her way out of her dreams also left her wounded. But it was a price worth paying.

Then her eyes locked on Euphoria.

“But now I remember the truth.”

The ground began to melt beneath her feet as her aura flared. <<Genesis Flames.>> Her signature spell and the first element she learned. They represented the start of a new story. A new beginning, and once again, they would serve her.

Lilith’s sword rose beside her, its edge humming with killing intent.

Euphoria’s pink-gold aura flickered with unease. The situation was becoming more dangerous than she had anticipated.

The goddess of Love and Hatred now stood before two Demigods.

Euphoria immediately understood that the situation was becoming worse for her. For some reason, Lilith seemed to be particularly resistant to her mental interference. 

This already put her in quite a precarious position, but now that  Ambrosia was out, her chances of victory dwindled further. Ambrosia was somewhat at the cusp of becoming a False God from the information she had. 

The divinity of the Witch was already incredibly thick, and her mastery of spells and concepts made her someone tricky to deal with. 

Since she also followed the path of omniscience, she also had a higher resistance to mental interference than most. 

The only solace in this situation was that the chances for a rule of three to form now were greatly diminished. 

“I can feel the gears in your brain running incredibly fast currently. Not so sure of victory anymore, right?” On her right, Lilith approached nonchalantly, the swords she she conjured vanished, and in the end, only her true sword, still resting in its scabbard, the one created by Theresa, was placed on her shoulder.

This sword was the best she had ever owned. Thanks to its origin, it was close to a divine weapon and had many interesting perks.

“Of course she is. They did not expect much resistance from us, and now they are paying the price.” Ambrosia said as she approached from the left. Her steps were graceful as she stepped in the air. In her right hand, she held a staff nearly as tall as her, and in her left hand, she held the Book of Akasha, her avatar. 

The staff she was holding was in itself nothing particularly special. The materials were obviously rare, but not legendary. What truly made this staff special was that it was created for the sole purpose of accelerating and processing her spells to the utmost possible. 

Processing speed was necessary when you had more than one thousand spells at your disposal. 

“I hope you are ready.”Ambrosia finished, and the two attacked simultaneously. Lilith rushed at her attack at Lightning speed while hundreds of spells formed behind Ambrosia.

“Come.” Euphoria exhaled slowly, her divine presence deepening until even the fabric of reality began to sway. The ripples of her concept spread outward—Love and Hatred, intertwined and absolute. It wasn’t just emotion. It was a Law.

<<All Encompassing Love>>

The world began to love her.

Every atom, every flicker of light, every mote of dust bent in devotion. The molten earth hardened beneath her feet to keep her from harm; the wind curved lovingly around her form instead of tearing through it. The elements themselves worshipped her existence.

Even Fate, silent and impartial, tilted its scales ever so slightly—tiny coincidences shifting to her favor. A misstep from Lilith’s stance, a delayed flicker of flame from Ambrosia’s spell, an errant gust that pushed a killing blow a finger’s width off course.

It was insidious. Beautiful. Terrifying.

Lilith’s blade carved forward. Yet when it neared Euphoria’s throat, the air itself refused to cooperate. For an instant, even the God-Slaying Sword hesitated.

The sword wavered as if guilt-stricken, its edge trembling.

Euphoria’s lips curved. “See, little mortal? The universe itself cannot bear to harm me. Even your blade—”

Her words broke off as her eyes widened. The tremor that ran through her aura was subtle, but unmistakable.

The sword hesitated indeed…But it did not stop. It cut clean through her defensive veil and grazed her cheek, drawing her divine blood. 

“So gods can bleed, huh?”