'This is annoying.'
That single thought crossed the mind of the goddess Artemisia as she stared at the shouting n and won before her with a deadpan gaze.
The location was Denerth Pri, the Cultivation World chosen to host this eting of Race Rulers from different galaxies, along with the Main Entities of the Valmone Universe's Pantheon.
It was a circular hall, with seats ascending along an inclined slope, each seat occupied by Deities of increasing rank the higher up one went.
From dozens of chairs at the lower levels where the Junior Race Lords sat, to a few tens where the Race Kings were seated, and only 13 at the highest level where the Main Entities and the Universe's Master sat.
Naturally, Artemisia was among those 13.
The thrones were spaced evenly along the walls of the circular hall, and the only one slightly above the Main Entities belonged to the Master.
Said seat was encased in a small cubicle, with a lattice screen covering the upper half of their body, leaving only a silhouette of them visible through the white veil, and their legs visible to the naked eye.
Due to the enchantnts on the veil, few could see through it, and even the Main Entities who could didn't bother since they already knew the face and state of the one behind it.
The enchantnt also made it impossible to tell where the person was looking, but Artemisia was 110% certain that the god behind the veil was staring directly at her.
"Explain yourself, Artemisia!"
The loud voice pulled the goddess from her thoughts, and as she turned to face the speaker, they demanded,
"What the hell was going on in your territory?!"
Artemisia regarded him silently for a mont, and just as the god King was about to speak again, she finally spoke.
"For what reasons should I inform you of what happens in my territory?"
"You have no choice in the matter!" the god King shot back.
"A Void Angel was summoned into this Galaxy, and into a Planet under your rule. A planet everyone knows you have close ties to! You are obligated to give us an explanation," added another Main Entity, a god King whose voice alone annoyed Artemisia.
"I am obligated to give you nothing. As you said, it's my territory. Last I checked, what happens in my territory is my business, not yours."
She remained calm as she responded, but the Main Entity she addressed shouted back, his voice loud enough to make so of the others frown in mild annoyance.
"It stops being your business when it affects the security of the universe! A Cosmic Horror appeared, and not only do you refuse to explain why it ca to your territory, you also didn't even respond to our summons in person!"
The god King's brows twitched as he raised his voice, but Artemisia simply lifted an eyebrow, her expression unchanging as she replied,
"Security of the universe? If a single Void Angel is enough to threaten the security of the universe, then all of us here are nothing but useless flesh waiting to be slaughtered.
And besides, what does my choosing to be present here with a clone have to do with anything?"
Her words revealed to the Race Lords and weaker Race Kings, who couldn't tell otherwise, that the Artemisia before them was rely a clone hosting the consciousness of the real one.
Evan and the Aidosians didn't know this, but encountering the real Artemisia had beco a rare event these days.
It had been that way for over a millennium, ever since the New gods Faction had split in two following the falling out of its two leaders.
In all that ti, the number of people on the intergalactic stage not subordinated to her who had t the real Artemisia could be counted on one hand.
Many speculated that she was hiding her true body because she was still recovering from the wounds sustained during that incident, but that could not be any further from the truth.
Indeed, Artemisia had been grievously wounded, both physically and ntally, especially since the injuries had been inflicted by the Unique Authority of a god Queen on her level.
But she had long since healed and was only concealing her real body because she didn't want the Old gods, like these two god Kings demanding explanations, to know she had grown far stronger than she had been during the god race's civil war.
Much stronger than they estimated she was.
She didn't care to reveal herself to the Aidosians because none of them could perceive even a millionth of her true power.
But it seed this Old god interpreted her use of clones as a sign that she held no regard for them, which, while not exactly wrong, wasn't the reason she had used a clone.
"And again," Artemisia said, her eyes narrowing slightly, "what happens in my territory is my business, even if it involves a Void Angel, and especially since that Void Angel did nothing beyond the gravitational field of that planet, much less the rest of the galaxy or the greater universe.
I fail to see how this qualifies as a problem warranting a council eting."
"It's a problem because soone in your territory can summon a Void Angel to do their bidding!" one of the Elven Kings shouted.
At this, Artemisia turned her gaze down to them and asked calmly, "In other words, your so-called concern for the security of the universe is rely a veil to conceal the fact that you're afraid I have ties to, or control over, soone capable of summoning an existence that terrifies you?"
"You—"
*BAM!
The hall doors slamd open the mont the Elf King tried to speak, drawing every eye except Artemisia's.
She didn't bother to look, already knowing the person standing there had been approaching long before anyone else in the room.
Even though the bond between them had been broken and they were now at each other's throats, residual emotions and traces of the strong connection they had once shared still lingered.
At the doorway, a beautiful hazel-eyed woman rubbed her eyes with a sleepy expression, her long white hair tied into a ssy ponytail whose tip still reached her knees.
As she yawned lightly while dragging her feet into the hall, the Master behind the veil spoke with a dissatisfied tone.
"You're late, Beatrix Xagna."
The woman looked up at the god Emperor at the sound of his words, blinking before replying, "I see no reason to be punctual for a gathering that amounts to nothing more than a waste of ti."
Beatrix's voice echoed clearly across the hall, and one of the Race Queens seated at the topmost level frowned and responded.
"A waste of ti, you say? We convened here over a problem originating from your galaxy, and you call it a waste of ti?"
"What else could it even be?" Beatrix shot back, sliding her hands into the pockets of her jumpsuit.
"It's just a single Void Angel that left the Dead Zone, and you're all already pissing your pants. It's pathetic, honestly."
Her voice grew cold with derision, and the Human Queen she addressed slamd her hand onto the armrest of her throne.
"Watch your tone, child! You know nothing of the terrors of the Void's Spawn!"
"I know nothing??"
For the first ti, Beatrix's expression changed, turning to the kind one would normally reserve for a lunatic.
"Did you forget that I'm one of the only two people here who's had contact with the mother of that Dark Young playing 'human' on one of the Replica Earths, even if indirectly?
If I know nothing of the Void's Spawns' terrors, then your understanding of them must be in the negatives.
To put it bluntly, in matters of the Void, you're all ignoramuses."
"You arrogant little—!"
"Yes, I'm arrogant," she said, cutting off the god King shouting in rage, then raised an eyebrow and added, "What are you gonna do about it?"
This was a blatant provocation that drew frowns even from those present only for formality and had little interest in the events unfolding.
Ignoring all the glances, Beatrix continued speaking.
"For one, I'm not scared out of my mind because of the possibility that a younger generation goddess might have ties to or control over soone capable of summoning entities of the Void.
Mind you, this is only a possibility."
Rolling her eyes, she pulled her hands from her pockets and added,
"Use those masses of brain matter in your heads for a second. If that one," she gestured to Artemisia, "really had control over such a thing or the ans to do so, do you honestly think we'd be having this eting?"
Before any of the gods could respond, one of the Demon Kings seated at the top level released his aura to lightly pressure them, then spoke.
"Xagna is right."
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