These words made Goki narrow his eyes.
"I've read about your legends. You were once a gentle god, even accepting unbelievers into your academy... So, your madness has another hidden reason?"
Upon hearing Goki's words, the Star God nodded, and her form shifted, transforming into a golden-haired Kuranta woman in a white robe with an eye emblem embroidered on her chest.
"Ha, yes, around 500 terra calendar, I was merely an ancient scholar. At that time, I had not yet ascended to godhood. After the previous Star God died in the daily disputes among gods, I completed my Ascension and inherited her divine position—this is what I looked like as a Mortal. How about it, is the size appropriate now?"
With that, the golden-haired Kuranta woman didn't forget to puff out her chest—the size was indeed quite impressive.
"Big enough, big enough—don't crowd me, alright, alright! You're an Ascendant? How many Ascendants are there in Terra?"
Goki's old face flushed, and he hastily dodged backward—while he enjoyed receiving benefits, he preferred to receive them from people he knew.
As for Ascendants, it wasn't strange. The gap between gods and Mortals was infinitely vast yet infinitely small. As long as the method was proper, the Ascension process, though arduous, was still feasible.
In Yharnam, many gods were formed by Mortal Ascension—just like in the Cultist Simulator.
For example, Great Master Willem, to stop Micolash's ritual, transformed his student Rom into Rom, the Vacuous Spider, who manipulated time, thus completing the final Ascension.
Though incomplete, Rom, the Vacuous Spider, was arguably the key to the infinitely prolonged Night of the Hunt. She could even stop the progression of time in the real world.
If Great Master Willem himself hadn't stopped his research after realizing the grave mistake he had made, he would have been the most likely person in Yharnam to achieve Ascension.
And at the end, when Goki chose to usurp the authority of the Blood Moon Queen, he would indeed become the new generation's Moon God.
It was normal for there to be a few Ascendants in Terra.
"Ascendants? That's what you call them, alright... Let me think, I've been mad for hundreds of years, so my information isn't very up-to-date. I can only tell you about that era."
Her golden ponytail swayed behind her. The Star God thought seriously for a moment, then slowly spoke.
"The Ascension of the one on the snowy mountain is hereditary. The big dog in Siracusa is a natural beast. The Lord of the Burning Wind is also the primordial flame. The old geezers of Ursus are mostly dead, and those of Yan have mostly been wiped out. The few who miraculously survived can no longer be considered Great Ones—as for Laterano and Kazdel, almost all the Great Ones there achieved Ascension. I don't know how they are now."
As if chatting casually, the Star God counted on her fingers, mentioning many names Goki had heard of, or not.
"But looking at me now, they probably won't last much longer either—Moon, I called you here to tell you this."
Leaning sharply into Goki, the Star God met his gaze.
"This world is a false prison, and the stars in the sky are merely illusory lights—whether so-called gods or Mortals, all are just pitiful creatures blinded by the truth!"
As she said this, the Star God's expression was exceptionally solemn. It was precisely to say these words that she had brought Goki here.
"I have been to the heavens, beyond the atmosphere, but what the stargazers deduced was all wrong. The starlight we see is not distant star clusters, but merely false projections—the meaning I symbolized lost its authenticity, and my divinity was completely denied. This is why I fell into madness."
Gently placing her hand on Goki's shoulder, the Star God's gaze was filled with urgency and pleading.
"My weakness is not due to a Seal, but because I have lost my reason for existence. My death is already destined, and my followers have long since become equally insane. And these things have already happened to many pantheons—but some still have hope, some gods are still holding on. I hope you will help them! Some gods are indeed bastards, but some gods absolutely do not want to slaughter living beings out of madness!"
This god, who had just claimed she would destroy this country and slaughter all humans, was now pleading with Goki to save all savable gods and people. This contrast made Goki raise an eyebrow.
Although he knew that the fragments of the several gods in Yan indeed seemed to be facing some crisis, he hadn't expected that all the gods of Terra were facing this entire problem.
"No, wait, that's a lot of information—tell me clearly and slowly. You said the stars are fake, so who created these fakes? Who are your enemies?!"
Although from Goki's perspective as a hunter, he shouldn't help these Great Ones, especially those who had stolen his power.
But most people in Terra have faith, and Skadi herself, as well as Nightingale, whom he had recently met, were intricately linked to the power of the Great Ones. Goki didn't want anything to happen to them.
"No, there's no time. Go to Kazdel and find the Bloodseeker. He also received a part of your power back then. As for my share, it should be returned to you after I die... We deeply apologize for this and have no intention of debating our acts of theft, but no one can refuse the temptation from outside the prison. You are our hope, and Terra's hope. Be careful of Originium, it is different from all of us, it is—"
Poof—
Before she could finish, the Star God's chest, wrapped in her robe, was suddenly pierced by a fair, small hand.
"Ah... how I wish I could see the real stars."
Starlight-shimmering blood gushed out, and the Star God's already blurring figure completely dissipated into specks of starlight, converging towards the familiar yet unfamiliar figure behind her.
And around them, the vast starry sky instantly vanished, becoming the dark and cold deep-sea floor.
"The taste is truly wonderful."
Beneath the cyan pointed hat, silver long hair swayed in the water, blood-red bright eyes shone like lamps, and a crimson short skirt enveloped the body that Goki held in his arms every night.
Skadi stood before Goki, giving him an utterly evil smile.
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