SON OF THE HERO KING

The King realm. A stage that is basically chased after by almost all beings that exist on any plane. Some people tried and failed to attain it their whole lives, not even being able to enter the first and most crucial step in entering the realm that granted them near-immeasurable power.

Finding their True Name.

Be it in the Mortal Realm or the Astral Realm, beings who have attained the King Realm are respected and even worshiped by many. It was the theoretical summit for most people in the Mortal Realm and even the Divine Beasts rarely had more than four or so Kings in their entire clans.

So, when Sol heard Nuwa’s words, he could only feel a shock that ran deep. And the feeling was followed by endless amusement.

Even people as talented as Lilin and Setsuna have not yet managed to completely form their true names. It was only a matter of time now but they were still slower than Nuwa, there was no questioning that fact. Not to mention, Nuwa did not particularly train either, at least that was what he could recall from his time interacting with her.

In a way, wasn’t she what people would call a Once in a Millenia Genius?

“What is your True Name?” Sol was curious. His memories on earth were mostly blurry nowadays. But for some reason, memories of history and mythologies still remained incredibly clear and precise. Sol did not remember much about what he did as a university student. Perhaps he was studying mythology?

Hearing Sol's question, Nuwa closed her eyes for a moment and focused on the name shining inside her soul. Six letters were floating silently in her soul’s depths. Their light was weak, yet, they seemed to hold immeasurable power within them.

Her name was,

“Aergia.” She muttered. Instinctively, she understood the power and concept linked to that name and she smiled to herself. It was a simple name and she loved it.

Sol was surprised. “Aergia, huh… How suitable.” He sighed, his thoughts a little complicated. Fate was truly wondrous.

From what he remembered, Aergia was not particularly popular or strongly represented in the ancient Greek mythologies and yet, it was impossible to call her weak.

Aergia was the personification of Sloth, laziness, and indolence. She was not a god, but rather a primordial entity holding authority over the literal concepts she represented and its interconnected domains. A bonafide titan, born from the intertwinement of two Primordial entities, Gaia and Aether.

This was more than just fitting for Nuwa, the True Name was practically tailor-made for her. Be it in terms of personality or parenthood.

Though it was certainly amusing how someone born from the personification of Lust and the embodiment of Gluttony ended up focusing on the concept of Sloth.

The piece of information that interested him the most was that Aergia in mythology was the subordinate of Hypnos.

While obviously there was a difference between the Hypnos of Earth and the one here, Sol was not one to dismiss such similarities as mere coincidence.

Hypnos was not a being that Sol could deem insignificant. He did not underestimate any of the old golds for he knew that it would be most unwise.

Is it Fate's way of telling me something will happen between Nuwa and Hypnos? Is he perhaps targeting her?

Sol pondered deeply for a few moments, the thoughts churning in his mind while his gaze scanned Nuwa. Until… a flash of inspiration struck him.

Now that I remember, didn’t they say I was the key to unlocking Echidna’s seal?

During the Astral War, one of the Wings of Freedom wished to capture him. She was one of Echidna’s many creations and loyal followers.

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“Well, this is something to consider.” He looked up. His senses were telling him that one way or another, Echidna and Nuwa were going to play pivotal roles in the events of the near future.

In moments like this, he wished his ability to observe the future was much stronger than what he had. Even for him, predicting an event of this magnitude was unbelievably complex, impossible even. The number of powerhouses involved didn’t help in making it easier.

Nuwa could see that Sol was deep in thought. This would always happen when he was with her. She thought that Sol was quite the scatterbrained man. He would randomly stop talking and gaze at the sky or far in the distance as if the weight of the whole world was on his shoulders.

Such a tiring life. Wouldn’t things be better if everyone could sit still and enjoy life in silence and peace?

“Do you want a candy?” She asked, showing him the bag she was holding. There was nearly nothing left in it but her offer was still sincere.

Breaking from his spiral of interconnected thoughts, Sol smiled and lowered his head before biting on the candy she offered. A crunch sounded as it was neatly split in two with the other half remaining in Nuwa’s hand.

“Thank you. This will be more than enough.” Chuckling, Sol licked his lips before walking away from the room. He had an important meeting to arrange.

Meanwhile, standing behind him, Nuwa looked down at the half candy left in her hand with curiosity. Then, she put it in her mouth and started licking it.

Recently, she heard some of the girls talking about things such as indirect kisses. She had been wondering how it would feel but, in the end, she did not really feel anything different.

“I will have to tell that to Isis.” She shook her head and continued whittling the candy down using her tongue. Though, far slower than she generally did. She ignored the heat on her cheeks and simply walked behind Sol. Her mind wandered, her head mostly empty.

She had a feeling that she would be able to become a King pretty soon. But she was more interested in knowing how the discussion about Echidna would go.

***

A few hours later, still in Sol’s dimension, Nuwa found herself sitting in front of a round table with mostly the adult group of Sol’s harem surrounding her from all sides.

Camelia, Pandora, Lilith, Persephone, Theresa.

“What about the duchess? Will she not be joining us?” Nuwa, despite her mind being empty most of the time, was not stupid. She was simply carefree. The lazy girl understood that Sol had gathered the women who were part of his parents’ adventurer group.

Yet there was one person missing.

Arachne Milaris.

In the somber atmosphere enveloping the group, no one thought much of her question but it did startle them somewhat.

Sol, who had been waiting for the right moment to speak, was also a little surprised as he gazed at Nuwa, “You do know that she is perhaps the one that will hate you the most out of everyone, right? Even though you aren’t Echidna. She will most likely ask for her head even if it might hurt you.”

Sol had not invited Arachne because he did not really care about the opinions and feelings of the insufferable woman. She was not one of his women after all. Not to mention, she had the strongest feelings for his father, Mars, among his father’s whole clique and Sol did not believe she could act rationally in this scenario.

Nuwa shook her mind, “Since you want to have a fair judgment, then shouldn’t she be considered?”

In her mind, she could hear Echidna talking about trying to kill her with a borrowed knife but Nuwa was not such an insidious person. She simply wanted this situation to be wrapped up once and for all.

But if Milaris was not included now, sooner or later, she would make a fuss, which would be a huge waste of time in her opinion. It was clearly more efficient to add that woman now and come to a unified decision that would not leave any room for future troubles.

The other women gazed at each other and in the end, Theresa raised her hand.

“I really don’t know why you called me for this but… I think Nuwa is right. Let’s call Duchess Milaris. We can continue this talk outside if you don’t want her to visit your dimension.”

Sol hesitated for a short moment but in the end, he relented. He was the one who insisted on calling them. If they wanted Milaris then they would get her.

As for bringing her to his dimension, “No problem for me.” He had no more reasons to hide from her after all. Milaris had more than proved her loyalty to the crown.

He simply needed to make sure no one would have access to her thoughts. She was just a normal Duke after all. Too weak to prepare a proper mental defense.

Thinking about this. He clapped his hand and the entire venue seemed to move under his control. The surroundings continued to change until he clapped once again and everything stopped.

The woman, surprised, gazed around them. They were still in Sol’s dimension but now they were outside of the part he could fully control and were able to see the world outside.

What they saw surprised them a little.

Dozens of paintings depicting Mars in different positions and clothing were hanging and even sculptures of him could be seen in the corners.

“Well, Nuwa. Still sure you want to add Milaris to this?” Sol asked, a teasing light dancing in his eyes.

Nuwa gulped. This reminded her of what she had seen in Milia’s bedroom. If this woman Milaris was anywhere close to the level of obsession Milia had for Sol then…

Should I have simply kept my mouth shut?

She was already starting to regret this decision.