"During the tens of thousands of years I lay dormant, my remnant soul consciousness remained awake. I spent the entire time comprehending my law. My rank advanced, by the time I entered the Holy Grail, I had already reached the late-stage, even though my aura still read as intermediate-stage. When you used the Soul Crystals to restore my remnant soul, the restoration process completed the promotion. My divine soul emerged at the late-stage."
Haru was quiet for a moment. For a hundred thousand years in conscious dormancy, she was unable to do anything except comprehend her Law.. He tried to imagine it and found he couldn't fully. It was an ordeal of a scale that defied ordinary comprehension.
"That must have been unbearable." He said.
"Painful beyond description." Amelie said, with a smile that carried no complaint in it, "But the harvest was real. I'm already at the late-stage and I feel I'm approaching the peak. A hundred thousand years of suffering for ensuring my sisters' safety, ascension to the late-stage and a path to the peak, I consider that a reasonable trade." The smile stayed, "And I received the Lord's redemption. That is my greatest gain."
"From now on you are a Supreme Goddess of the Great Aetherium." Haru said, "I won't restrict your freedom, go meet your sisters in the Nature Pantheon whenever you wish. They're our allies."
The relief on her face was immediate and genuine. A hundred thousand years of separation. She had missed them very much.
She then told Haru something of the four sisters' history. How she, Pandora, Elunara, and Svetlana had fought together in ancient battles millions of years ago. It gave Haru a clearer picture of why the Light Pantheon and the Nature Pantheon were so close: the alliance wasn't just political, it had been forged in actual combat.
He also learned the specific details about the Goddess of Darkness Mordra, in that Ancient Era, Mordra had not been able to defeat Pandora precisely because she had the full backing of the Nature Pantheon behind her. Mordra had survived the battle, which was considered fortunate in itself.
The thought struck Haru as ironic: Mordra was about to be reincarnated by him. The reborn Goddess would carry no conflict with Pandora or the Nature Pantheon, unless the day came when the Great Aetherium and the Nature Pantheon found themselves on opposite sides. But that seemed highly unlikely.
…
Then Amelie's expression shifted, her eyes lighting up with something specific.
"Almighty Lord. I sense Pandora's aura. She's approaching the Imperial Capital."
Haru extended his own divine senses and felt a figure radiating pure light element Divine Power closing fast.
He hadn't met Pandora before. The Great Aetherium and the Light Pantheon had no prior intersection. He couldn't immediately place why she would be coming here, and didn't have long to think about it. Within a few seconds, she had arrived outside the capital's walls.
She stopped there. Didn't push at the barrier. Whether by choice or by assessment of the barrier's strength, Celestia's work, absolutely beyond Pandora's ability to breach, so she waited to be received.
Haru, noticing the clear happiness on Amelie's face, asked with a smile, "You seem quite happy?"
"We are sisters." Amelie said, "Good sisters."
Haru received her in the Imperial Palace. When Pandora walked into the hall, her eyes went immediately to Amelie, and stopped there. The golden eyes widened. The composure that had carried her through negotiations with Asher was simply gone.
"A-Amelie?" She crossed the distance between them with a few steps and stopped, staring, sensing the soul aura that couldn't be faked.
"You're here. You're actually here." Her voice was quieter than before, "But your Divine Power… the Aurora Law is gone. You belong to the Holy and Light Faction now!"
Amelie nodded.
"I don't understand." Pandora said, "In the Ancient Era, you had almost nothing left. How—"
She stopped herself. She was standing in Haru's Imperial Palace. She understood, in broad strokes, how. She turned to look at him properly for the first time since entering the room.
Pandora's first theory was time reversal. She had heard what Haru could do, a Peak Supreme God, a Space-Time Lord, capable of forcibly reversing events that had already occurred. She had assumed he must have used that power on Amelie's remnant soul, shaking the river of fate to pull her back.
The three sisters had spent tens of thousands of years attempting every method they could find and had failed, but Haru had done it alone. The only explanation that made sense to her was time reversal.
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