Chapter 71: Chapter 48: Fire from the Sky

Translator: 549690339

Kneeling in front of the temple, he prayed silently for a long time before Cohen stood up.

He looked at the infant girl before him and lifted up the swaddling clothes that enveloped her. She was created by the divine power of Leto, the Goddess of Nursery, the sister of Asteria.

Compared to other gods, Leto and the Goddess of Meteor did show a trace of pity for Hecate, but that was all.

Out of fear for the laws of the current world, both goddesses also regarded her as a calamity.

Just as in Laine’s previous life, mortals would fear fire, storms, and the blazing sun, though actually, these elements had no consciousness of their own. Similarly, the gods of Chaos also felt fear, even though the will that caused their fear had never cast even a fleeting ‘gaze’ upon Hecate.

Fear stems from the unknown. And since the inception of Chaos, besides Laine, who opened the Spirit Realm, only the Primordial Gods had some deep understanding of the logic of the current world’s operation.

Clearly, the tenuous kinship among deities was not enough for them to confront their fears.

“Hecate, is that her name?”

He sighed. As humans were a species created first and naturally born as adults, Cohen was unaware that the little infant before him could actually grow up.

Seeing such a harmless creature identified as a sinner, Cohen also felt some reluctance.

But Golden Humanity would not question the gods, so he merely thought there was something lacking in his own thoughts.

It seemed as if sensing something, Hecate, who had only been born for half a day, turned her black eyes and giggled at Cohen who held her.

Clearly, the young deity did not seem to realize that her fate had just taken an abrupt turn.

“When fire descends from the sky, calamities will arise.”

“Just uncertain where this disaster will strike this time?”

The wars of the gods in the heavens are beyond the observation and understanding of mortals. But whenever stars are shattered, the fragments that fall to the Mortal Realm always bring disasters.

Moreover, the shattering of stars often signifies that a God of Stars has lost their dwelling and is about to enter eternal slumber. Hence in the past, gods told humanity that when streaks of light crossed the sky, an unknown disaster was unfolding in some corner of the world.

Hecate was born from the falling light, bathed in fire, and she herself was despised by the gods. Cohen did not know where the disaster originated from, but his nature as Golden Humanity made him worried about it.

Shaking his head, the priority was to execute the Divine King’s command. Cohen turned around, looking towards the Golden Humanity drawn by the anomaly and gathering around.

“King, has the great Divine King conveyed another divine oracle to you?”

Someone in the crowd asked.

Seeing this, people turned their gaze towards Cohen. They felt a hint of envy, after all, for the people of the Golden Age, listening to a divine oracle was the greatest honor.

“Yes.”

Nodding slightly, Cohen held up the swaddling clothes in his hands. His gaze slowly swept over the crowd, looking at every human.

“Her name is Hecate, another creature created by the gods.”

Facing the gathered crowd, Cohen solemnly said, “But she is inherently guilty, and the gods are displeased with her.”

At his words, there was a moment of unrest in the crowd, but it soon calmed down.

The innate reverence for the gods made them instinctively dislike this life they had never seen before, but the people of the Golden Age lacked negative emotions, so they couldn’t harbor feelings of animosity towards her.

However, the will of the gods supersedes all; regardless of personal thoughts, humans would choose obedience in the face of a Divine King’s decree.

“The great King of All Gods, Cronus who rules over everything from atop Mount Othrys, has passed down his decree. He commanded that she live among us, but without permission, no one is to communicate with her.”

“From this moment forth, all are forbidden to speak of her relation to the gods, and I will build a house for this life at the farthest place from the temple.”

“What about food?” someone asked, “What does she eat, and what do we need to prepare for her?”

“There’s no need,” Cohen shook his head, “She requires no food or drink. Though she will feel hunger, it will not kill her.”

“Let her fend for herself, it seems the bodily suffering must be the deities’ punishment for her, and we should comply.”

“Ensure she’s not harmed by other lives, but that’s all we shall do. Beyond this, we do nothing.”

To stand by as others suffer was not an easy decision for Golden Humanity. But if it was the will of the gods, it was not hard to accept.

“Since the gods do not allow us to reveal her past, should I still record the events of today?”

Another asked. It was Hewa, among the Golden Humanity, the one responsible for recording History.

In the beginning, humans carved every interaction with the gods onto the pillars of the temple. Later, when the pillars were filled, they began recording on huge Stone Slabs.

Humans originated from divine creation, and present civilization stemmed from the Civilization Slate, so they fashioned their records after the Slate’s likeness, erecting it before each temple, chronicling the past with images and writing.

“…Record it, but omit any parts related to the gods.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Cohen finally decided, “Hecate, born into light on the night of spirit count, emerged from fire, the person of original sin; her arrival to the Mortal Realm on the night of the spirit count would bring disaster to the world.”

“But remember, Hewa, all this is the judgement of Humans, unrelated to the gods.”

“Understood.”

Hearing this, Hewa nodded.

Humans are not eternal, he was aware of this. Compared to the lifespan of humans, stones endure much longer.

To enshrine these Stone Slabs that record history in front of the temples was Hewa’s way of expressing his reverence to the gods.

After addressing a few more questions and seeing that there were no objections from those present, Cohen waved his hand to dismiss the surrounding humans.

Turning around, he left Hecate in front of the temple, instructing a dedicated person to watch over her, and then set off toward a distant forest with only two others.

It was one of the places where Golden Humanity obtained their water, and he planned to build a dwelling for this being from the heavens in the center of that forest, near a small river.

The gods did not require him to provide Hecate with food, but the nature of Golden Humanity made it difficult for him to watch another life suffer. Thus, Cohen decided to build the dwelling there.

If this being possessed Wisdom and knew how to learn, then she would be able to find food in the forest and draw water from the river by herself.

But if she were as ignorant as those also created by the gods yet lacked the capacity for thought like humans, then that was her fate.

Just as they revered the gods, Golden Humanity also revered fate.

Based on the fragments they understood from the words of the gods, they knew that fate and Wisdom seemed to be closely linked. If Hecate lacked Wisdom, it indicated that even fate had forsaken her, and suffering was her only outcome.