"The world collapsed."
A lingering fear still shadowed the Moon Goddess's face.
"The world collapsed?"
Freya, hearing the phrase for the first time, was stunned.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. The world itself began to fall apart. The world we lived in started to crack. The age of gods and myths splintered into fragments—and even the mortal world began its descent toward the end."
Freya and the others couldn't fully grasp the meaning behind her words, and the Moon Goddess knew it. Truthfully, even she didn't understand why such a catastrophe had occurred.
"If it were only the collapse of myth, perhaps we could have searched for the fragments of human order—found some way to repair it, to restore the divine age. But what happened in our world wasn't a failure of reason. The world itself was destroyed."
"…You might not understand it this way, so let me put it in terms your world can comprehend."
After venting some of the frustration from recounting her world's tragedy, the Moon Goddess steadied herself and began explaining again—this time more clearly.
"You could think of it as heaven beginning to crumble. The gods who still remained there were swallowed before they could react, consumed and dissolved into chaos itself."
"In the lower world, time and space started to twist out of order. Humanity began to decay. Every human being—without exception—was on the path to self-destruction."
"When that happened, the world became aware of its own demise and accelerated toward it—into complete, all-consuming chaos. Everything merged together, but that merging turned into a massive bomb. Just one spark would have blown the entire world apart."
"This didn't just happen once. It started repeating across every realm. Not only the world at the core of the sacred timeline, but every severed branch world began to experience the same symptoms."
"The entire structure of reality was collapsing. Even if a miracle occurred, there was no chance of restoring it. You could say the world was only a few sparks away from absolute annihilation."
"One small spark—and the chaos binding everything together would explode, leaving nothing but ashes."
Her world, she explained, had effectively ceased to exist.
"…Unbelievable."
The four goddesses were shaken. The idea that an entire world could fall into ruin so completely was beyond shocking.
"But if the world was destroyed," Hestia asked, "how did you survive?"
"Normally, there's no surviving something like that. But… someone took my Divine Core before it happened. When my soul began to recover, the one who noticed me was Darling."
"I don't know how he managed it, but he really did save me."
The Moon Goddess couldn't quite explain how she'd been rescued—but the fact remained. Still, she wasn't completely lost in love; she simply chose not to dwell on the details.
"There must've been a reason I was saved. Just like there was a reason I ended up by Darling's side and met him."
A faint light flickered in her eyes. She was utterly convinced it was fate—something destined between her and Darling. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been the only one saved.
The four goddesses exchanged uneasy looks. It was obvious this "Moon Goddess" wasn't entirely sound of mind—but the story of her world's destruction didn't sound like fantasy either.
Loki stood up, summarizing the situation.
"So, we now know this much: another world, the one with a different 'Artemis,' has already been destroyed. And Bell somehow brought that dying Artemis here."
"Even though we still don't know what caused that world's collapse," she continued, "I'd wager it's not all that different from what's happening to ours."
Loki's tone grew grim as she reminded the others that their world, too, faced the threat of a 'Restart.'
A 'Restart' might sound gentler than 'Destruction'—but who could say for sure that the 'Destruction' Artemis experienced wasn't simply another form of it?
If that so-called destruction was really a reset… then their own world was staring down the same fate.
Freya nodded slowly, her expression hardening.
"The information we have about the 'world's destruction' comes entirely from Bell's conversation with the Black Dragon. And now, with Artemis's words confirming that another world also faces annihilation, it's likely ours won't escape the same fate."
Hestia and Hephaestus both looked grim. That meant everything was now resting squarely on Bell's shoulders.
The Moon Goddess hadn't expected this world to face such a crisis as well. She searched through Artemis's memories but found no trace of any related information.
"This world too? When did you find out?"
"About half a year ago. But what we know came from Bell's deductions."
"Ah, Darling."
The Moon Goddess's eyes lit up. She had always known Darling was special, but to think even this world's coming destruction had been uncovered through him—it only proved it further.
"If Darling could foresee this outcome, and if he could rescue me from a collapsing world, then it's obvious—he's the key to this world's destruction."
The four goddesses shared the same conclusion. Their suspicions had begun much earlier, ever since Bell's encounter with the Black Dragon.
Still, the matter concerning this "Artemis" was far from simple.
"Artemis, from now on, you can't just walk out like you did earlier."
"Why not!?"
"For Bell's safety!" Hestia's voice was firm, leaving no room for argument. "A god from another world like you stands out too much. If those restless fools catch wind of your existence, Bell will be in constant danger."
Her tone was so sharp it carried the weight of command. "If you can't comply, then even if I have to forcibly send Artemis back to Tenkai, I will."
It was a clear ultimatum.
"Eh…"
The Moon Goddess could tell Hestia wasn't joking. Her old instinctive fear of her world's Hestia resurfaced—this one might be shorter and seem less dependable, but she was still Hestia. And if Darling's safety was at stake, she had no right to act recklessly.
"…Fine. I'll agree to that—for now. But in return, I need time to see Darling."
Hestia shot her a reluctant glance. Honestly, she didn't want either this world's Artemis or the one from beyond having much contact with Bell. But there was no helping it.
"...All right. I'll allow that, for now."
...
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