The banquet didn’t keep the gods waiting long. Before nearly all the gods had arrived, Bell made his entrance, accompanied by six goddesses.
Six?
The gods rembered that Bell had only taken five goddesses yesterday—how had it turned into six today?
All eyes instinctively focused on the extra goddess.
She had long silver-white hair and wore a simple gown that shimred with silver light. Hmm, she was a goddess they hadn’t seen before, but the divine aura surrounding her felt strangely familiar to the gods.
’Where have I felt this before...? It feels so familiar...’
"The authority of the moon? Could it be... you’re... Sister?"
Suddenly, one god in the crowd snapped to attention. That divine power, that familiar authority—wasn’t this Artemis?
Apollo, who had just realized, was montarily stunned.
He glanced at the other sister standing beside the silver-haired goddess, then turned back to look at the newly appeared one.
"Am... am I dreaming?"
Apollo felt so disoriented that he wasn’t sure if he was dreaming or not, even struggling to tell if he was still awake.
"Yes, it’s Artemis!"
The other gods were imdiately awakened by Apollo’s exclamation. That divine power—it was unmistakably Artemis’s. Not only was the divine power identical, but the authority she wielded was the sa.
"But... how is there another Artemis? The sa divine power, the sa authority, yet she feels like a different person. Do we gods have the ability to create duplicates?"
Clearly, gods did not possess the ability to create duplicates.
A god could attach their consciousness to a specific object, but they couldn’t create an identical duplicate with the sa divine power and authority.
Naturally, Artemis wasn’t a true duplicate. Rather, she was the result of Bell helping Artemis separate her identity.
However, Artemis’s soul and Divine Core were fused too tightly. The slightest mistake could severely injure one of them, so even Bell couldn’t fully separate Artemis.
Within certain limits, though, he could make both versions appear at the sa ti.
Thus, both Artemis attended this banquet.
"Well, Bell."
"Hers-sama."
The other gods didn’t rush over imdiately, but Hers didn’t mind being the first.
Hers’ gaze swept over the six goddesses beside Bell, his expression gradually taking on a teasing smile.
"Who would have guessed you’d manage to bring together all these fad goddesses of Orario?"
This left Bell feeling a bit awkward.
"I... well, the situation is a bit complicated..."
Seeing Bell’s expression, Hers imdiately understood: this wasn’t sothing Bell had initiated. Judging from everything that had happened, he’d likely only been devoted to Hestia before. As for the other goddesses... that was probably a very long story.
Though Hers was curious, today’s topic wasn’t about that, and this wasn’t the place to discuss it.
"No need to go into details. But you’re no longer just an ordinary child from the lower realms. There are so things you need to take care of. Not all gods stay single."
"Yeah, I’ve kept that in mind."
Hers reminded Bell of things he already knew, and Bell had long been planning for them.
Hers didn’t press further on the issue. At least Bell wasn’t a child who needed to be nagged.
"But I understand you bringing Artemis here. But what about the other one... Could it be the sa situation as with Hestia?"
"Vesta? It’s not that complicated. You should already know about the matters from the other world, Lord Hers."
"Oh~ Artemis from the other world."
Hers imdiately understood, and it made sense.
Artemis from another world. Hers instinctively glanced at the silver-haired Artemis, noting the differences between her and their world’s Artemis.
’But... do gods from different worlds have such similar divine powers and authority?’
Hers didn’t ask this question outright. After all, there were topics among gods that were off-limits—especially anything related to one’s own divine authority.
"Now, there’s another matter—one that I’m sure everyone here is wondering..."
"Do we gods still have room to grow?"
"Yes."
The answer ca without hesitation, which left Hers, who had been eagerly waiting for this answer, montarily stunned.
Bell didn’t pay attention to Hers’ confusion and simply continued the previous topic.
"Not only do gods have the potential for further growth, but even Mother and Miss Liangyi have the ability to advance toward the double-digit realm."
"However, reaching that stage requires a lot of preparation, and it cos with its own growing pains."
"Growing pains?"
Hers, snapping back to awareness, murmured the words "growing pains" softly.
He knew well that the conditions for "growth" wouldn’t be easy, but if there was a chance for real growth, no one would refuse it, no matter how painful the process.
Hers glanced at the gods behind him. They were all silent now.
The delicious food and fine wines on the table couldn’t tempt them. For them, "growth" was the most important thing. The lack of growth had always been a significant issue for them, and they all yearned to obtain the ability to grow—this was the deepest desire of any god since their creation.
"Bell, could you elaborate on this ’growing pains’ thing?"
"I suppose I could. But... isn’t this supposed to be a banquet?"
"After you brought up this ’growing pains’ topic, do you really think we’re in the mood for a banquet now? At the very least, we should wait until you’ve finished explaining."
Hers smiled wryly. Perhaps Bell didn’t fully grasp the concept of "growth," since he was fundantally different from the gods—he had always been growing. The problem, though, was that the gods had always lacked that sa ability to grow.
Now that Bell had brought up one of the conditions for "growth," how could the gods possibly continue eating? Without returning to the earlier topic, even the most delicious food would taste like chewing wax.
Therefore, it was best to continue with the "growing pains" discussion first.
The banquet could wait; they could eat after everything was explained.
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