Chapter 87 - Unknown Favor

Chapter 87: Chapter 87 - Unknown Favor

The old man simply listened to Eugene with amused patience, nodding along as if listening to a fussy toddler.

Spotting Vincent walking out onto the grass, his face lit up with a broad, warm smile. "Ah, Vincent! I see you’re awake. I assume Natasha already shared the good news? The passage back to Earth has been fully restored... sort of."

’Huh? That’s the second time...’

Now that all three of them were in one place, Vincent bowed sincerely to the old man, Natasha, and Deina. "I can’t thank the three of you enough. Like, seriously. I owe you all big time."

"No, young man. Thank you for giving me a chance to redeem myself."

"Right, so... what actually went wrong down there? Both you and Nat said it ’sort of’ went alright. What happened?"

Deina answered his question. "What Natasha really means is that we spent ninety percent of our time playing hide-and-seek with the god rather than actually fixing the problem."

"Hide-and-seek?"

The old man took over the explanation. "First things first. You should know that the deity overseeing Earth is a low-ranking... hmm... ’timid’ lesser god. When First Generation divine beings such as us suddenly entered his domain/planet without warning, the poor fellow panicked. Haha, he probably thought we were out to execute him or something."

"Execution?! Dafuq?! That’s quite the assumption, isn’t it?"

"Indeed. So out of sheer terror, he concealed his divine aura, hid his presence, and scrambled across Earth in a desperate bid to avoid us. It took us days to finally corner him and clear up the ridiculous misunderstanding."

"And once we finally got him to stop screaming," Natasha grumbled, "we were able to sit down and ask him the real question: Why in the hell did he block your passage back to Earth in the first place? V, do you remember how gods are created and the order of power?"

"Well... The Supreme Goddess, Lazarus, created the First Generation of Gods to help manage the vast multiverses she forged. And those higher gods created lesser gods to help them manage galaxies, solar systems, and individual planets, right? There are also you guys in the Divine Realm who are also considered to be First Generation Gods since you were directly created by Her Majesty."

"Exactly," Natasha confirmed. "The Earth deity is a low-tier, lesser god whose primary job is simply maintaining Earth’s stability. He is neither a warrior nor an influential figure in the celestial hierarchy. Like... at all."

"When you awakened to your divine blood, that energy resonated through the underlying threads connected to your mortal origin point – Earth. With you being an Earthling, the god of that planet noticed this change.

"And knowing whose lineage your blood traces back to, the Lesser God panicked. Allowing a divine being – half or not – to freely walk and reside on a low-level mortal realm like Earth would draw the immediate, wrathful attention of the Higher Gods down upon his domain. Out of self-preservation and fear of divine punishment, he hurriedly sealed the realm’s passage to keep you locked out."

"Why would he be so terrified of the Higher Gods noticing me?"

"Because of what is known as the Ancient Split. As you know, the universe’s primary ruling pantheon consists of Higher Gods who were created directly by the First-Generation Gods. And as we have come to confirm, the specific God ruling over the Universe containing Earth – much like the one who rules over Pristina’s Universe – is part of the faction that harbors a deep-seated hatred and jealousy toward Her Majesty, the Supreme Goddess, Lazarus."

Deina’s expression darkened slightly. "If those gods discovered that a direct descendant or vessel tied to Lazarus was living casually in a low-level, unmonitored mortal realm like Earth... they wouldn’t just execute you, Little Bird. They would obliterate Earth to erase your existence and torture the Lesser God for negligence."

Vincent felt a cold chill run down his spine. The thought of Earth – his hometown, his friends, his family – being wiped out simply because of his divine heritage was terrifying.

"Then... how did you manage to stay a whole week on Earth without them noticing you?"

Deina smiled with a glint of proud confidence in her golden eyes. "I placed a high-level divine concealment array over Earth. This completely masks divine aura from the eyes of the Higher Gods. Whenever you step onto Earth now, you will appear to the cosmic order as a completely normal, unremarkable mortal.

"Luckily, Earth is what most gods, even by us here in the Divine Realm, consider a ’peasant world’ – it has no magical advancements or cosmic relevance, so they never bother keeping a watchful eye on it in the first place. They will never notice the concealment. With that guarantee, the Lesser God finally agreed to reopen the passage for you."

A massive weight lifted off Vincent’s chest. He let out a deep sigh as a genuine smile returned to his face.

"That... is a huge relief. Now that the passage is open..." He looked between the old man, Deina, and Natasha. "What about the time dilation between here and Earth?"

"It... remains the same." The old man answered. "We could not get the Lesser God to sync up the dilation. I’m sorry, Vincent."

"... You’re kidding, right? He doesn’t want to sync up the times? Dammit. How am I supposed to balance my life on Earth with everything going on here and Pristina?"

"It’s not entirely hopeless." Deina smiled at him reassuringly. "Since he is the main god of Earth, he technically can do it..."

"But there is a catch," Natasha chimed in. "The timid little bastard won’t just do it for free. He promised to sync up the time flow only if you fulfill one favor for him."

"A favor? Okay... what does he want?"

Natasha let out an annoyed groan and rolled her eyes. "Don’t ask us. When we asked him what the favor was, he practically zipped his mouth. The cowardly idiot refused to spit it out and insisted he would only tell you face-to-face when you return to Earth."

Before Vincent could even process the absurdity of a deity being too secretive to leave a message, the glass patio doors behind them slammed open.

THUD!

"VINNYYYY~!!!"

Maribelle came charging out, clutching the photo album tightly against her chest like a sacred relic. Tears of motherly joy were streaming down her blushing cheeks.

Completely ignoring their serious discussion, she tackled Vincent from his left side and squeezed him tightly.

"My adorable little baby! Look at you! You were such a little squishy dumpling! Oh, those chubby cheeks in your diaper pictures!"

"M-Mom! Wait– We’re talking– important– How are you so strong–!?"

Natasha’s lips twitched into a competitive smirk. Not about to be outdone in showing affection – especially now that they were officially together – with a swift step, she glided over to Vincent’s right side and wrapped her own arm tightly around his waist.

He was stuck. On his left, his mother was gushing loudly while rubbing her cheek against his; and on his right, his girlfriend was clinging to him like a cat asserting her territory.

A few steps away, Deina watched the chaotic, warm scene unfolding with lingering affection filling her eyes.

Looking at Vincent trapped happily between his mother and Natasha, something inside her chest swelled. Almost unconsciously, she raised her hand and reached out toward Vincent. Her lips parted.

"L–Little..."

Her fingertips hovered just inches from his sleeve. Then, a flicker of hesitation flashed across her face.

She looked at Natasha’s comfortable, natural closeness with him, then at the bright, carefree laugh escaping Vincent’s lips. A bittersweet shadow crossed over her heart.

She smoothly pulled her hand back and curled her fingers into her palm before letting her arm drop to her side. In a quick second, almost as if it didn’t happen, the quiet vulnerability dissolved, replaced by her usual lively smile.

"Stop ignoring me, old man! Turn me into an almighty dragon!"

"Almighty dragon, my foot!" Deina giggled as she spun around toward the lawn where Eugene was stomping his feet. "Look at him, old man! Hahahaha! Even with such a cute voice he’s throwing a full temper tantrum!"

"I AM NOT THROWING A TANTRUM! I AM ASSERTING MY DRAGON DOMINANCE!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Natasha caught every single moment of Deina’s retreat. She saw the raised hand, the hesitant drop, and the careful shift back into the ’cheerful friend’ persona.

Her brow furrowed, and a soft, irritated click of her tongue escaped her teeth.

She loosened her grip on Vincent’s waist and tapped his chest with her fingers. "V... I need to talk to you. Just the two of us."

Vincent looked down at her, surprised by the sudden shift in her tone. Seeing the quiet seriousness in her crimson gaze, he nodded. "Sure. Hey mama, Nat and I are gonna go inside to talk about something important real quick."

"Okay! Don’t take too long, alright?"

While Maribelle began showing the old man and Deina a picture of five-year-old Vincent wearing a superhero costume, Vincent and Natasha slipped back into the kitchen.