Chapter 61. The question is...

Chapter 61: 61. The question is...

My eyes melted as they moved toward her face and saw what a blind person sees: nothing. Worst of all, I didn’t feel pain.

Then my vision came back, and Lilathea’s cosmic body disappeared from where it had originally been.

"Straight." As my head came up, her voice came from in front of me.

In front of me was a smile, cherry-pink lips, dark shades painted on with precision. Zooming out, eyelashes long and curved, as if they narrowed whatever was in front of them.

Golden eyes that could put real gold to shame by comparison. I wasn’t sure if they were naturally pointed or if nature itself had made them so. Her skin was smoother and clearer than an infant’s.

Black hair flowed down like the curtains of the windows of dreams. A neck so elegant it could kill someone if they took a bite. The posture of a goddess, shoulders and spine rightly balanced and put together.

Her breasts... moving on.

A sleeveless style featuring a deep, plunging neckline. A corset overlay, a highly detailed, cream-colored corset cinching the waist, adorned with intricate, lace-like floral or butterfly-shaped filigree cutouts, hiding her waist, that’s good or I don’t know what will happen to me.

The skirt: flowing amber-colored silk or satin, complemented by matching, separate off-the-shoulder billowy sleeves attached to her upper arms.

"How long do you intend to stare at me?"

I’d been in some trance before Lilathea decided to break it, not with words, but with her command.

"This is my body from before I became a goddess."

Her eyes were playing a game with me as she spoke, then she decided to cancel it and appreciate herself, lifting her hand and tracing her own curves.

"Beautiful as ever. I never thought I’d miss this body. But this is just a cheap copy of the original, an illusion at that."

Her lips seemed stuck in a constant state of a ladylike smile, or maybe it was me. It was definitely me. I watched her carefully, her fingers coming together to snap.

"Eh–"

I was pulled into the trance again, and Lilathea commanded me to come back. It was serious enough to be a problem in the world we were in.

"I know, it’s not every day a mortal talks to a goddess face to face."

"Ohh, yes, yes. What do you need from me?" I fumbled, since I hadn’t phrased my sentence better, hoping to fix the silence on my side. Luckily, it didn’t bother Lilathea.

"Hm. There’s a lot, so hold on tight, my favorite playtoy." Her heavenly hands cupped my face, and I felt them pass through my soul.

Then she pulled them behind her back and walked off in one direction, swinging her hips in rhythm. A flirty way to tell someone "follow me." I did.

"Before anything, let’s talk about how many realms there are in this universe."

Lilathea talked while I caught up with her footsteps. She seemed to be making faces, which made her even more captivating.

"The human realm, or as we like to call it, the Lowtally. The home of humans and many other low-life species. You already know the Nectarfall." She spoke, never looking at me as I walked beside her.

The ego of a goddess was on nice display. My body screamed that I shouldn’t think anything close to disrespectful, or I might be erased by her command.

"Then there’s the realm of demons, devils, and other evil entities." Lilathea paused and looked at me, smiling before continuing.

"It’s called the Gluttonreach."

She said it in a sweeter tone. Did she read my mind? Or was she just being herself? It’s hard to understand women, and this one was a goddess at that.

"And the realm where angels and gods like me live is called the Equipoise."

Then her eyes sparked like stars in the night sky as she pulled her hands forward. Was I missing something here?

"But there’s a problem. We gods constantly fight, since we all hate each other. It’s not always physical." She tilted her head at an angle, mischievous.

"Since there’s someone above us as well. Watching our every move."

Lilathea placed a finger to her lips, a hint that she wasn’t allowed to say who. And yes, someone above the gods was definitely beyond my understanding.

"We have our own reasons to fight. But I’m somewhat of a quiet god. I don’t fight until it’s completely necessary."

She went on, and I thought to myself, what did I get myself into? Am I her pawn in any way? Is she about to throw me into a fight with a god? Pawns are sacrificial, what are you even thinking, Mark?

"So, coming back to the main topic. It happened millennia ago, so the memory is vague. Not that we’re diving into the details."

Lilathea held her head, thinking about how much she should tell me, I assumed. I locked in, waiting to take in every word she was about to throw at me. Since it would open up my future. Either I was going to die or be killed.

"I was bored, horny, the wettest I’d ever been, honestly. So I tried sleeping with another god. He took it as a form of disrespect and sealed me."

Lilathea totally flipped the table on what I’d thought was a serious matter. For a second I thought she was messing with me. But then the gesture of rubbing her head and closing her eyes, as if it was her mistake, signaled that the ridiculous story was real.

"Eh? So you want me to save you..." I asked a question I thought was rude, due to my overthinking.

"Yes. I want you to move up the evolution chart, fight the gods, and free me from his shackles."

Lilathea, going back to her previous tone, explained. She wanted me to fight gods? I didn’t know if she was a trouble or a blessing.

"Okay, that sounds impossible, but can you tell me how? And who am I supposed to fight?"

"Of course. We can’t work toward our goal if you don’t know what you’re dealing with." She stopped, not to take a breath but to give a rueful expression.

"I might scare you, but there is a way, and you’re on the right path already." She said it while I stopped in my tracks and faced her.

"So, the god who sealed me is the god of Fair Trade and Return. Kalgamir Orsavane Thrakmoor."

The world around us grew heavy as she said his name, and the silence afterward became unbearable for me.

An uneasiness, the certainty of someone who might take everything away from me. My soul, my desires, my fear, every part of my existence.

"In this world, a god’s power relies on the number of followers, prayers, and each time someone calls on them by any means, name or title, or every emotion. It counts."

Listening to Lilathea’s powerful yet calming words made the uneasiness fade away, and I realized I could rely on her. Whatever that feeling was, I didn’t want to feel it again.

She let out a sigh, planting her hands firmly on her hips. Those hips could kill any man, how did Kalgamir even survive? If I hadn’t been in her domain, I’d have been a dead man.

"As the name suggests, the god of Fair Trade and Return. Kalgamir is one of the most powerful gods in the Equipoise."

She started walking again without warning, and I had to follow those hips, for sure.

"In everyday life it’s very common to find lust in people. So I’m pretty powerful myself. But trading..." She paused to put force into her next words by flicking her tongue. "...is something extremely common. It’s very vast. Even the contract we made is a trade."

Lilathea let me see the whole picture, and it was scary, an ontological horror in plain sight. Everywhere you looked, you’d find people making trades.

The world lives on the concept of trade. A marriage counts as a trade, love can be a trade, friendships, relationships, promises, justice, even lust can be a trade.

By the rules of this world, I definitely couldn’t grasp the true scale of such a being. God of Fair Trade and Return? I hadn’t heard of that title in my previous life. Just how powerful is he?

"And you want me to fight such a being, beyond divine?" I held my head as if it would burst like a flower bud trying to reach the state of anthesis. Lilathea kept her hand on mine, her magic working on me once again.

"Be better. I said there’s a way."

Her lips came together, playing another game. Then she proceeded to scratch my head, running her heavenly fingers through my hair.

"Aww, you’re so adorable, Mark. I couldn’t help myself. You look like a lost kitten. Let me pet you for a bit."

Lilathea rubbed my chin while making cutesy noises as if I were a real kitten. My eyes took a day off and rolled over, her touch making me feel things I had yet to name.

"Tell me, who’s a good boy?"

"Me..." I let myself melt, since surely I couldn’t win against a goddess, the goddess of lust at that. I might regret this, but holy shit, her touch was immeasurably good.

"Very good. You’re my good boy, aren’t you? Marky~"

Yeah, this went on for a while. You’re not getting the details.