After kneeling before the temple and praying in silence for a long while, Koen rose to his feet.
He looked at the infant girl before him and lifted the swaddling cloth that wrapped around her with both hands. She had been created by the divine power of Asteria's elder sister, Leto, Goddess of Conservation.
Compared with the other gods, Leto and the Meteor Goddess still felt a trace of pity for Hecate, but that was all.
Out of fear of the laws of the present world, the two goddesses likewise regarded her as a disaster star.
Just as in Ryan's previous life, mortals feared flames, storms, and the scorching sun, even though they had no consciousness of their own. Likewise, the gods of Khaos were capable of fear, even though the will that frightened them had never cast so much as a momentary gaze upon Hecate.
Fear stemmed from the unknown. Since Khaos had been created, aside from Ryan, who had opened the spirit world, only the Primordial Gods had gained any deep understanding of the logic governing the present world.
Clearly, the gods' thin bonds of kinship were not enough to make them face their fear.
"Hecate. Is that her name?"
Sighing, Koen, like all the first species to be created, had been born an adult. He had no idea that the infant before him could actually grow up.
Seeing such a harmless lifeform branded a sinner, Koen felt somewhat reluctant to accept it.
But Golden Humans never questioned the gods, so he merely thought there was something lacking in his own reasoning.
As if sensing something, Hecate, who had been born less than half a day ago, rolled her dark eyes toward Koen, who held her up, and began giggling.
Clearly, the young goddess did not seem to