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The dark spirit gazed at Kail with curiosity on his face. Kail could see his full features. Most people who could see the spirits only saw partial features or no features at all. The spirit was swirling black light with a handsome young face.

The energy that made his body was almost nonexistent to Kail's eyes. He could see spirits as if they were still alive but the swirling in their skin always reminded him of the truth. The dark spirit had piercing steel gray eyes and white hair. He even had pointed ears.

"You can see me?" the spirit asked.

Kail could only blink in response. The spirit smiled. "Finally! I have waited forever for someone in this family to have the darkness element again! I will teach you when you are old enough, little one. Welcome to the family, Young Master Kail!"

Young master? Kail was confused by the spirit's words. He had only been called by his name by the servants and his parents. He had noticed that the house was extravagant and the clothes were also extremely nice. He knew his family was rich but he wasn't sure how rich.

Am I noble's son? The idea made him excited. Finally he could live life without worrying about his next meal. He wouldn't have to scrounge for change to eat. As soon as he was able, he would learn more about the family he had been born into.

Unless the goddess decided to tell him. He would ask her whenever she revealed herself again.

When the maid finished feeding and burping him, she set Kail back in his crib. Kail was struck again with his helplessness. He wanted to explore! But he was stuck in his crib, staring at the ceiling.

The maid took a seat in the room and pulled a small book from one of her apron pockets. She began to read. The silence dragged on and Kail felt sleepy. If all he could do was sleep, then sleep he would.

Like that, another day slowly passed by. As time progressed, he learned how to walk, talk, and all other steps in a growing child's life.

He was five when the goddess finally came to him again.

Kail was sitting in the library, reading one of the books. He had managed to slip out of his nanny's care.

"Hello, Kail!" the goddess greeted, startling him out of his concentration. "What are you reading?"

Kail sighed and smiled. "I'm reading a tale about the Light Mage from ten thousand years ago."

"Oh? Why are you interested in him?"

"Well, I want to learn more about The Bloody Claw. I figure the only way to do that is to learn more about the Light Mage he fought against," Kail replied as he stood up to stretch his legs. They were going numb from sitting on the floor.

"My brother was his guide. If I knew where my brother was, we could ask him. He knows that mage better than anyone." The goddess sighed. "But after the Blood Mage was killed in battle, he vanished. I think the two made a contract."

"Contract?" Kail echoed.

"Yes. Gods and goddesses can make contracts regarding various topics. Some gods and goddesses will even sacrifice their life in the contract if they like the human enough. There have only been three cases, including my brother's if he made such a contract."

Kail mused over her words. "Do we have a contract?"

"No. This is more like an alliance. We will both benefit from your goal."

"How will you benefit?"

"I will get the revenge I deserve. That bitch killed my human lover after I blessed him with the darkness element."

"The gods and goddesses take human lovers?" Kail was reminded of the Greek mythology from his first life. Particularly Zeus. Were any of the gods in this world like him?

With a sigh, the goddess answered his thoughts. "Yes. His name is Jaz. He is a troublemaker in the human realm. The number of people he has slept with is unknown. He has been at it for too long. Let's hope you don't meet him when you're an adult. He won't hesitate to try to seduce you."

Kail laughed. "Well, I should be able to avoid him with your help."

"I will do my best to keep you hidden."

"What else can you tell me about your kind?" Kail asked, eager to learn.

She hummed thoughtfully. "Well, we each have our own abilities and role to play in this world. My role is to keep my sister in check. Without light, there cannot be darkness. Without darkness, there cannot be light.

"My sister is one who loves complete control though. She needs to be stopped before she completely ruins our harmony."

"What happens to the harmony when I kill her?" Kail had been curious about the consequences of his future actions.

"A selected human will take her place. All gods and goddesses of this world were originally humans."

That information surprised him. "How were you able to become such a powerful being?" His blue-gray eyes seemed to sparkle with excitement.

"We were all once powerful humans who helped keep this world in check. As we continued to grow stronger and the other humans continued to see us in a holy light, we became gods. We held a meeting to give each other specific roles based on our abilities," she explained. "The belief of humans is quite powerful."

"What happens when the harmony is thrown out of balance? Has such a thing happened before?"

There was a brief silence. "It depends on what part of our harmony is destroyed. For example, my brother's absence has given an increase in wandering lost spirits among the humans. Even the undead are wreaking havoc in areas. He was the god of the dead."

"And what about the Goddess of Light? Has anything like her absence been seen?" His words brought another silence.

"One time before, yes. The original Goddess of Light sacrificed herself when she fell in love with a demon king from another world during a grand meeting between divine beings. A lot of the other divine did not approve of their relationship."

The goddess let out a sad sigh. "My dear poor sister Azrelbella. She and her lover were forced into a war between divine beings. Her lover received a mortal wound and before he could die from his wound, she used her own life force to save him. At the same time, she released her true power.

"Her golden light lit up all of the universe. Her power dispersed the hate and calmed all beings that bathed in her light. Her light was warm and full of love and sorrow. The war ended with that. When she vanished, there was an infant in her place. She had been with child, an extremely rare occurrence between divine beings.

"That war had lasted for a thousand years. Many living beings lost their lives as a result. Some had willingly joined the fight. Some sided with either my sister or those who opposed her relationship. Others tried to stop the divine war.

"The child was left to be raised by the demon king and my sister's absence quickly affected this world. The world was devoid of color. The warmth of the sun was no more. No flame brought relief from the cold that quickly began to take over.

"Myself and the other gods of this world rushed to find a replacement before the world became a planet of ice. We examined every single intelligent being that could possibly be a perfect replacement. Originally we started with just the humans but we quickly added the elves, dwarves, orcs, fairies, and demons. Even the spirits.

"We settled upon a teenage spirit. She met our requirements. We gave her our divine blessing to bring her to life and change her into a goddess. Immediately after doing so, the world returned to how it had been before. Sadly, by then, most of civilization had perished. It took too long to find a replacement.

"Four hundred years passed. The new Goddess of Light became power hungry. Thus began the fight between us. As time passed, she continued to eliminate the darkness element and blood element. Eventually both became rare. As retaliation, my brother and I eliminated any beings of the light element.

"But it came to no end. Now all three elements are rare. You are the first darkness element since the days of The Bloody Claw. The dark spirit you are friends with was his friend but the spell that was cast the day of The Bloody Claw's death blocked his memories."

The goddess heaved yet another sigh. "I wish this fighting between us would end quickly. I am tired and weaker than ever because of the lack of followers. My brother's last mage was The Bloody Claw. I think because of that, he may have given his life as a term for the contract."

Kail went over the information he had been given. It brought another question to his mind. "How come you yourself haven't killed the Goddess of Light?"