Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 333: Chapter 333: Divine Attention [500 GT Bonus Chapters 1/2]

Chapter 333 – Divine Attention

At the same time, while Raven finally made the inevitable decision, Sarah herself was inside her room, looking fondly at the pictures she had taken with Raven.

As she looked through them, she couldn’t help but remember how he had reacted when she got hurt during the Opening Ceremony.

That thought alone brought a deep smile to her cute, angelic face.

’I truly love him.’ She thought giddily. ’I have loved him since the beginning, and I still do after all these years. And he...’ she grimaced, ’...he might not love me yet, but he appreciates me and respects me now! This is a good beginning, Sarah! Don’t be nervous, you got this!’

She giggled to herself, thinking that maybe she would not remain unloved forever.

Gripped by a feeling of gratitude for all the good things happening in her life, Sarah stood up from her bed and knelt on the ground, facing north.

She clasped her hands together in prayer and began to pray sincerely:

"Praise the Queen." She said with emotion. "I never thought I would reach this level of happiness in my life. But You guided Your Blessed to me, and he guided me toward You. Thank You for everything, Queen, and I hope You will find me grateful in the same way I found You merciful and loving."

Then she smiled sheepishly, a little shy.

"Today is another day I am asking You, Queen, to bring Raven and me together. I truly love him, and I can’t see myself loving anyone else but him. Please, make him destined for me!"

Usually after this, Sarah would feel a soothing sensation inside her heart that came directly from her goddess, a sign that She had heard her prayers.

But that night, it was something else entirely.

That night, the Queen herself spoke to her First Believer.

[Sarah,] Ananke said tenderly, like a mother speaking to her daughter at night, [I named you Sarah of Secrecy, giving you my own epithet. Do you trust me?]

Sarah’s forehead immediately touched the ground, her heart overwhelmed with love, respect, and devotion.

"I do, my Queen. I do!"

[Then hear me well, my dear Believer. Perhaps you dislike something that is good for you and like something that is bad for you. I know, and you do not know.]

Sarah’s tears suddenly began to stream down.

[Do you trust me, Sarah of Secrecy?] the Goddess asked again.

"I—!" She sobbed. "I do, my Queen! I do!"

[Then do not falter and do not mourn. What is good for you will find you, and you will be satisfied.]

And again, a third time.

[Do you trust me, Sarah of Secrecy, my dear?]

Sarah’s cries grew louder.

"I do!"

[Then do not cry, my dear. Your pain will not go unnoticed. I see you. I understand you. I support you.]

Sarah finally broke down into a torrent of tears whose origin even she did not understand.

But one thing was certain to Sarah at that instant after her goddess’s words.

’Something happened...something happened with Raven!’

And whatever it was...

’Pain is waiting for me.’

And her Goddess had warned her about it.

’Praise the Queen!’

...

"Praise the Lord of Death, Vorn!" The beautiful woman sitting in front of Vorn inside the Gate of Death said with mock reverence. "Or should I say, Praise Vorn, the Usurper?"

The woman had deep, unfathomable black hair that fell completely to the ground, forming a pool of black beneath her throne.

Her face couldn’t be seen, blurred by the intensity of her divine power.

She wore a dark, gothic dress that emitted an intense scent of death.

Vorn was sitting on his ancient throne, his face hidden beneath the dark hood over his head.

Below them, the Kingdom of Death went about its daily life as if a meeting between two gods were not literally happening above them.

"What are you doing here, I wonder, Persephone?" Vorn spoke, piercing Persephone with a dark glare.

"Let’s not waste time on useless words and deceptions, Vorn." Persephone said, her voice deathly cold. "I know what you have been doing lately."

The Lord of Death didn’t answer, only listened.

"Do you really think it will work?" Persephone almost scoffed. "Do you really think that because I don’t love you, because I hate you with all my divine soul, you can create your own Persephone and replace me?"

"Why not?" The Lord of Death smiled beneath his hood. "I succeeded in taking the place of your dear husband, Hades, and snatched the Authority of Death from him. Where is he now? Ah, I can tell you."

His smile turned monstrous as he pointed at his own chest. "I devoured him, Persephone. I devoured him completely. Now, why not a second time?"

Persephone’s face, even though it was blurry, immediately turned livid. "You only succeeded because Desdemona helped you take Hades’s Gate! Do you think you can do the same? Do you think you can take my Gate away from me?"

"Persephone, if you were that confident that I couldn’t, you wouldn’t be here." Vorn chuckled coldly. "But you know that I can do it. After all, as a successful example myself, I can very well do the same thing. However, you are right about the fact that I am not Desdemona, but even if it takes time and multiple attempts, I will eventually succeed."

"You will regret this." Persephone grated. "The Greek Empire let you go after taking Hades’s Gate. If you do the same thing again, no one will let you go. Your whole kingdom will be destroyed."

"I would like to see that." Vorn’s voice instantly turned menacing. "I am tolerating your stinking presence in my kingdom, along with all of you gathering around that pitiful boy, but one more misstep and you will realize that I am not Hades in any way. And..."

He looked deeply at her.

"Stop acting like you care about your husband. You cheated on him with a mortal! A mortal, Persephone! And you came here acting like a wife?"

"That mortal is Adonis." Persephone’s voice took on a cold edge. "He is beyond any of you as a man. I cheated on my husband, so what? I am a goddess, I do what I want. But you are one to talk, Vorn."

The goddess laughed, suddenly deeply amused.

"You are what you are only thanks to Desdemona." She said. "She gave you the Gate of Death and even allowed an infinitesimally small part of her power to be used to give birth to your Family, the Hood. You are the First Ancestor, and her power gave birth to your first descendant."

Vorn’s face began to harden, knowing where Persephone was going.

And indeed...

"Yet look at what you are doing now that she is no longer here."

"You don’t know anything." Vorn hissed.

"Oh, but I do." Persephone laughed. "You are a hypocritical bastard, Vorn! A true hypocrite! What would your Family think if they realized that the rule of the Hood forbidding one Hood from killing another, or else suffering a consequence, was never meant to protect them from themselves?"

Persephone leaned forward, her face cold. "You created that Rule all this time just to destroy your own bloodline and reconstruct it from scratch."

She paused before continuing swiftly.

"You manipulated your descendant and made her cheat on her husband, only to manipulate that poor man into creating an entire Sect, all to do the dirty work you can’t do yourself."

"Again," Vorn said, his voice colder, "you have no idea what you are saying."

"And again, I am saying that I do." The goddess retorted. "You are trying to get rid of the influence Desdemona placed into your bloodline by destroying it and rebuilding it. That influence, after all, forces your family to protect the Desdemona no matter what. I know, Vorn. I know very well."

"Just like you said." Vorn replied. "I am a god. I do what I want."

"Even going against your own Creator?"

"Desdemona also created all of you." Vorn scoffed. "She is the Third Holder. Her birth made our own birth possible, us, the Third Generation gods. We are all her creations. Yet here you are, standing aside while other gods try to kill her family. I know some of you even help those very gods. Who are you to talk? At least, I have no intention of killing the Desdemona. All I want is the freedom of my bloodline from her influence."

Persephone fell silent, then continued rapidly. "You do not need to take my Gate for that."

"I don’t need to. But I will do it."

"If I find that woman you are using to replace me, I am killing her, and this whole kingdom of yours will become history."

Vorn laughed harshly. "You can try, Persephone. All of you gods of the Greek Empire can try. I have only one thing to say to all of you..."

His grin widened wildly, making the very Gate of Death shake in horror.

"...This is the 333rd time."

Persephone’s eyes suddenly widened.

"Let them all know," Vorn’s hood slid down slightly, revealing monstrous black eyes, "this is the 333rd reincarnation, bloody fools."

—End of Chapter 333—