Nairmis stood on the grass. Hearing Uranus call it desire, he suddenly understood.
So that was desire, the power of the primordial god Eros, formless and intangible, yet capable of plunging gods into the same uncontrollable intoxication as mortals.
To be honest, his looks were certainly outstanding in this world. Coupled with the naturally tranquil air his Emotion Divinity bestowed on him, such an appearance could hardly fail to stir hearts in a world that judged by looks.
Nairmis suddenly grew a little worried. Would he become a heartbreaker someday? In this world of Greek mythology, where people threw everything aside once desire took hold, being beautiful was sometimes more dangerous than being ugly. He still needed to grow stronger.
"What are you thinking about?"
Uranus's voice drifted over from the rock, interrupting Nairmis's wandering thoughts.
Nairmis looked up. Night had fully fallen, and the only light nearby came from the campfire. The flames danced, their orange-red glow falling across Uranus's face and illuminating his handsome features.
Nairmis found it a little hard to imagine that beneath Uranus's peaceful exterior lay a brutal heart.
He considered his wording. He knew his current situation was delicate. Uranus had not attacked him, but neither had he left. He had to respond carefully and avoid making this god-king suddenly turn hostile while in a good mood.
"I was thinking about Her Highness Hemera." He chose a relatively honest answer, keeping his voice soft and slow. "I didn't sense any joy of love for me in her, only lust and desire. I was thinking that His Eminence the primordial god of desire's power is truly... frightening."
This was half true and half false, but bringing up desire was a relatively safe opening. The subject involved neither divine warfare nor resistance, nor anything that might anger Uranus.
Uranus gave a scornful laugh, his gaze still on the flames. "What's frightening about someone who has power but can't control it? Besides, desire is a wonderful thing. When you feel it, just enjoy it."
Nairmis shut his mouth. This was the world of Greek mythology, a place that judged by appearances and disregarded everything once desire took hold.
The moral principles he had brought from his previous life meant nothing here. Here, beauty was justice, desire was truth, and the strong were the law.
He nodded and asked no more. Nairmis walked over to the campfire, bent down, and added a few branches.
But at the same time, he noticed something. Uranus was speaking to him far too gently.
This was highly unusual. A tyrant who had just stuffed twelve children back into the earth was sitting beside a campfire, chatting with an unfamiliar god of merely the third class, even speaking with the leisurely air of idle conversation.
Why?
Nairmis rapidly analyzed it in his mind. Uranus was in a good mood today because he had suppressed all who resisted him and reaffirmed the authority of the sky.
And Nairmis himself was far too weak. In the god-king's eyes, a third-class god did not even count as a threat, just as a human would not feel the urge to kill an ant passing by.
Uranus might have regarded him as a talking cat or dog, finding him interesting enough to tease a little, but not truly worth taking to heart.
This realization made Nairmis feel slightly reassured, but also slightly annoyed. For now, though, reassurance mattered more than annoyance.
"Your Majesty, great god-king, night has fallen. His Highness the God of Sleep is about to begin his duties."
He left the rest unsaid, but his meaning was obvious: shouldn't you be heading back?
Uranus did not answer. He merely raised a finger, and the lyre flew up, landing precisely in Nairmis's hands.
"As the god-king acknowledged by the laws," Uranus said casually, "I can sense the birth of every divinity. I want to hear the God of Music's divine power."
Nairmis understood. This was an order. He sat down beside the campfire and laid the lyre across his knees. His fingers brushed the strings, and he began to play.
At the same time, he summoned his healing power, letting those golden notes seep into the earth with the music. He thought of the sight of the earth being torn apart during the day. There was little he could do, but at least he could ease Gaia's pain a tiny bit.
The healing power flowed through the layers of earth with the music. The music also spread through the night sky, reaching the hearts of the small creatures terrified by the day's brutality and easing their fear.
Uranus sat on the rock, his gaze on the dancing flames. He felt the music and the faint healing divine power within it.
It was better than nothing. For a being like him, this little bit of healing power was nowhere near enough to affect anything, but the music itself made him feel comfortable.
He looked once more at the blond god playing the lyre. The firelight danced across Nairmis's profile, his hair swaying gently. He looked very focused as he played.
Uranus's gaze deepened slightly. Apart from the laws' warning, there was a deeper reason he had not attacked this third-class god.
That warning had come from the world-will of Chaos. Back then, Gaia had used her status as Chaos's eldest daughter to help him gain the world-will's recognition, thereby getting the laws to acknowledge his position as god-king.
After that, the world-will had fallen asleep. It had not spoken of its own accord for a very, very long time.
Yet this time, it had actually awakened for such a minor god.
Uranus could not understand it. He had scrutinized Nairmis, and there was nothing about him worth the world-will's special intervention.
God of Records, God of Wisdom, God of Prophecy-these were all decent authorities, but on the scale of the entire divine realm, he was merely a young god with a little potential.
He did not dwell on it. If he could not understand something, he stopped thinking about it. That was his habit. The world-will had its considerations, but he had his own judgment.
Once this minor god showed any genuine threat, he would crush his consciousness outright, no matter how the world-will and the laws warned him.
He closed his eyes. The music continued to flow, and that warmth continued to spread.
Watching Uranus close his eyes, Nairmis's heart lurched.
No matter how powerful the God of Sleep's divine power was, it could not affect a supreme god. Uranus could not possibly fall asleep just from listening.
That meant he had to keep playing until the god-king himself decided he had heard enough, got up, and left.
Nairmis's fingers stiffened briefly on the strings. He stole a glance at Uranus, whose face looked peaceful and calm in the firelight. Yet in that brief glance, Nairmis had caught a faint trace of killing intent.
He no longer dared to speak. The music continued to flow.
At that same moment, in the divine domain of the earth, Gaia lay asleep, her expression pained.
A black figure emerged as an avatar of Nyx, Goddess of Night, descended. Behind her, another figure appeared as well.
Erebus, God of Darkness, was tall and thin, his skin a translucent gray-black. His face was calm, his eye sockets deep, and faint dark light swirled in his pupils.
He was Nyx's husband, the incarnation of darkness. Standing beside Nyx, he said nothing, his gaze also directed at the sleeping Mother Earth.