"Thank you, King Arthur, the Knight King. I have heard of your heroic deeds. To think we would meet in this way, it's truly unexpected!"
Zeus looked at King Liao Dekuan on the throne with a bit of surprise. She didn't expect this fellow, besides being a submissive, was also quite good at diplomacy. Sure enough, anyone who can become a king must have some ability.
"You flatter me. Protecting the weak is a knight's principle. King Liao Dekuan, there's no need for excessive thanks."
Sure enough, the grown-up Artoria was as rigid and serious as ever, not nearly as fun as when she was a child. Zeus sighed, looking at Artoria's serious, statue-like face.
"No matter what, you helped us protect Guinevere. Please state any requests you have, and we will fulfill them."
At this moment, the Queen, standing beside them, spoke to Artoria. It seemed she didn't want to owe a favor. If it could be repaid in person, the Queen felt it was better to do so.
"No, there are no special requests."
Artoria spoke politely, subtly glancing at the bored Zeus sitting there. Remembering what her teacher, Merlin, had told her, she felt a headache. It wasn't anything special, just that Artoria had to propose to King Liao Dekuan's third daughter, the renowned beauty 'Princess Guinevere'. This was too sudden, leaving her a bit flustered. She had only just become king, and now she had to marry a girl to be queen. Was Teacher Merlin a bit too anxious? But Merlin, who had educated Artoria since childhood, held considerable sway in Artoria's heart.
"Your Highness, you're finally back."
The two standing beside Zeus, weren't they Liang and Nasha? At this moment, Liang looked at Zeus with tear-filled eyes. She finally saw her goddess again. Oh God! I praise you.
"Your Highness, it's good to have you back."
Nasha's usually expressionless face held a faint smile. The person she served her entire life had finally returned safe and sound. This made her happier than becoming the head maid herself.
"Oh! You've worked hard, Nasha, and you too, Liang."
Zeus said gratefully to Nasha. Based on her perception, Liang's strength had undergone a tremendous change, completely capable of becoming a Great Knight. This was all thanks to Nasha's precise training and Liang's efforts.
"Um, Your Highness, I feel that knight isn't a good person! Please have less contact with her in the future."
Liang looked at Artoria, who was chatting with the Queen and others, worried that Zeus might develop feelings for Artoria. So she began to subtly, deliberately, slander her. Although she knew it wouldn't be very effective, she still disliked this person who married her goddess. Don't even mention 'My King' or anything like that; sorry, Liang is not a royalist.
"Alright, after all, she helped so much. She'll probably rest a bit and then leave."
Zeus comforted the petty Liang. She was very curious now how Artoria would successfully propose to these two overprotective parents.
While Zeus was observing various things out of boredom, Artoria was a bit hesitant, unsure how to speak. She had never experienced such a thing before, completely bewildered. What was the correct way to propose? She couldn't just say, 'I like your daughter, marry her to me!' That would be too direct and impolite. What should she do?
"Um, I wish to bring up a very important matter to His Majesty King Liao Dekuan."
Feeling extremely awkward sitting any longer, Artoria stood up, walked to King Liao Dekuan and the Queen, and performed a knight's bow.
"State your request! We will do our best to fulfill it."
The Queen nodded with a smile on her face. It seemed she was eager to repay the favor quickly.
"I wish to propose to His Majesty, for 'Princess Guinevere'."
Artoria held it in for a long time, then stiffly forced out her words. Her answer was the Queen's surprised expression and King Liao Dekuan's stunned exclamation.
On the other side, after Athena descended from the divine realm, she found that she seemed to be a little late.
"This mixed divine power of five individuals, these must be those with ill intentions!"
Athena held the divine artifact Gaia had given her and began to use her clever little mind to speculate. Moreover, she was unfamiliar with the aura of these five divine powers; otherwise, she would have already known how to deal with them.
Little Athena, completely unaware that she was opposing her five aunts, began to scheme. After much thought, she decided to first interact with humans before making her next move. So, she took elegant little steps, slowly walking towards the small human village, the creatures her Mother Goddess created.
"Are these humans? They look exactly like gods. Mother Goddess, why would you create such creatures? What kind of feelings did she have when she created humans?"
Looking at humans, who resembled gods in appearance, Athena's heart became active. She couldn't understand her Mother Goddess's actions, but she could completely feel a familiar scent on humans. It was a particularly warm scent she felt when she was just born, before she had fully opened her eyes. This must be what Father God called the scent of love! It felt very warm, yet not scalding to a god. Mother Goddess, when you created humans, was your heart also filled with 'love'?
"Excuse me, who are you?"
Just as Athena was lost in thought, a lovely young girl walked up to her and asked.
"Uh!"
Startled, Athena realized the huge mistake she had made. She had actually zoned out, lost in her own thoughts. If someone with ill intentions had approached her, she would have been a goner!
"My name is Athena. I accidentally got lost and ended up here."
Coming back to her senses, Athena introduced herself while observing the girl. She was surprised to find that the girl possessed divine blood. This was the first time Athena had ever seen a demigod. In this twisted world, there were no males, only females. Only 'male goddesses' and 'female goddesses' could naturally give birth to main god-level deities. However, female goddesses were extremely rare, making it impossible for every male goddess to be paired with one. If they desired offspring, two male goddesses would need to combine their divine blood and divine power crystals to form a divine embryo. This embryo would then be entrusted to the elves under the World Tree for nurturing until it reached an infant state, at which point it could be taken home for raising.
Children born through this method were almost all demigod-level, completely unable to reach the main god stage. The Celestial Realm, on the other hand, was primarily composed of true god purebloods, so Athena had never seen a demigod before.
"Hello! My name is Pallas, please guide me. Let me show you our village!"
The lovely girl... or rather, young woman Pallas, said as she took Athena's small hand and began to introduce things.
Athena did not refuse; after all, she still needed to understand the current situation of humanity to better proceed.
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