The day of ‘Black Sun’ arrives, and the second path is revealed. (NEW)

Time moved quickly and soon, some welcomed the last day of the year and the eve of the New Year.

Not all worlds moved according to the same time flow, hence the reason it was only this way for some.

The morning of New Year's eve began as every other day did, with the sun peeking through the east, albeit at a slower speed than usual, but besides that, there was nothing unusual.

People busily filled the streets of various towns and cities on multiple worlds as they moved about for various purposes ranging from, those hoping to make it to their respective workplaces on time, to the children who raced with each other to their playgrounds.

Some prepared feasts to celebrate the end of the year, some went to temples to pray to the gods they believed in, and many others also offered their sacrifices to the various higher existences they worshipped.

On the side of the gods and other higher existences, they either simply watched the mortal's activities or descended to join them in enjoying the festivities.

Naturally, there were those who did not share the festive mood as others did, some lamented how the year went by without any positive changes while others cried due to the sadness they experienced during the year.

A great majority of them hoped their troubles would end along with the year.

It was on this fine morning that the Olympian Sun god, Apollo, decided to take a break from all his worries, duties, and obligations.

He moved over to one of the planets, inhabited by only plants and animals in his territory, a few light-years from central Olympus.

It was a planet he named Ataraxia, meaning 'absence of mental disturbance'. 

That was precisely how it was as there was indeed nothing on Ataraxia that could cause any disturbance to his rest.

He descended on one of the high mountaintops admiring the beautiful scenery of the vampire-white mountains, with a wave of white snow rumbling down the sides.

The tops of the mountains were all sky-stabbing and their legs were very wide, each of them was shrouded in a grey mist and the air was chilling and numbing.

He was descending the mountains along the turquoise-blue stream that wound its merry way into the forest below, babbling and burbling, it sprung over the limestone rocks in its way. Pebbles whisked about in under wash like pieces of glitter.

"They say streams are the liquid soul of the forest and this one is glowing."

He looked at the chords of soft light that speared down from above, bathing its surface in gold; it was glinting in sparkles like a thousand diamonds blessed with an inner fire. The hedgerows were pregnant with berries and he plucked some, before laying on the ground to taste them.

He felt energized by their pleasant waft and smiled before closing his eyes, about to have a nice nap. However, before he could, he sensed the presence of an intruder.

"Who is it? I'm resting today, go back if it isn't urgent."

"Brother! This is definitely not the time for rest!"

Although he tried to shoo the intruder away, they refused to leave, what's more, the intruder was none other than his twin sister, the goddess of the hunt, chastity, and childbirth, Artemis.

"And why on Ataraxia would this not be the perfect time for rest?"

"Did you forget how to use your powers? If you did then I'd suggest looking at the sky, it'd be a lot faster than remembering or any explanation I could give."

Artemis' reply to his question made him finally open his eyes and look at the sky above him. At first, he wondered how it could explain her reason for disrupting his rest, however, those thoughts lasted only for a single second.

It was simply impossible not to see the reason for her agitation, even more so for him, a god who governed the aspect of the sun. He was flabbergasted as he never expected such a thing to happen without him noticing.

His surprise and her agitation were natural, After all;

It was high noon, yet the moon could be seen in the sky.

◇　◇　◇

Meanwhile, on planet Aeturn, the mother of the prophesied 'child of destruction', Arch Devil Cattleya, was currently seated at a dinner table, participating in a heated game of old maid with a few other people.

"I win, again!"

She attempted to jump up from her seat only to be forced back down by her mother and brother who were beside her.

Looking at her nine-month pregnant daughter who was acting like a child who had just received their first toy, Grand Duchess Inglis Leviathan heaved a sigh of exasperation.

She was a beautiful, slim and tall woman with fair smooth skin and a duchess-shaped nose that complimented her oval face. She had always put on a warm smile that could melt the heart of many.

However, those who knew her personally knew fully well that her smile was just a cover-up for the research-crazed devil that she truly was. Her glossy black hair was long enough to reach her knees, she was known for her changing hairstyles and today she had her hair kept in braids. She had a set of dark-coloured eyes that looked so deep they appeared as if they could peer into your soul. Funny enough, they actually could.

Opposite her, was Creusery's mother and the Devildom's Queen. A woman with literally flaming red hair, she also possessed a slightly darker skin tone and a stoic-looking face. She had red eyes, beautiful enough to burn someone's heart. Her height and body structure were similar to that of Inglis.

If the duo sported the same clothes and hairstyle, one might mistake them for sisters. This was the Phoenix, Aurora.

At the head of the table, Cattleya's father, Devil King Diablo dropped the cards in his hand as he decided to address the elephant in the room.

"Did you really call us all over here just to play a card game?"

"Obviously not."

"Then why haven't you stated your reason for calling us here?"

"Obviously because you never asked."

Cattleya's reply made Diablo's eyebrow twitch, nevertheless, he held back his annoyance and asked for the reason she called them all.

"So, today is the day of 'Black Sun' and-"

"Hold up! Don't casually say that like you're ordering a drink at a bar!"

Creusery cut her off as he facepalmed at her nonchalant attitude. Taking a deep breath, he questioned her on the reason for her assumption.

"As of this morning, the protection from the law of causality has disappeared completely."

"Didn't your brother just warn you not to say serious things so casually?"

"How else was I supposed to say it?

I told you last month that the protection had started weakening, and today it disappeared so I called you all to tell you that.

I even suggested we play old maid to lighten up the mood because it was serious."

Cattleya pouted as she replied to Aurora's question. Seeing this, Inglis couldn't help but retort.

"Old maid isn't exactly a game to lighten up one's mood, you know."

She then adopted a serious tone as she asked a different question.

"Is that really the reason you called us here?"

Cattleya only grinned when she heard her mother's serious question.

"As expected of you mother, you know me best.

The child's father is gonna be coming over today so I thought to inform you beforehand. It's also why I had you create 'that'."

"That bas-! I mean, that man is coming here?!"

"Yes dad, and he's not a bastard."

Cattleya yawned lightly as she replied to Diablo's question. She then turned to Inglis with arms stretched out. Inglis saw her actions and sighed once again before taking a palm-sized spherical device with a circular indentation in the middle.

"If you want him to be able to bypass the barriers we put up with this, then it's gonna need his energy to work."

"I know, I solved that months ago."

Hearing the conversation between the two women made Creusery and Diablo figure that this has been something Cattleya had been planning for a while now.

They watched her pull out a pitch-black crystal from her subspace and their eyes winded in surprise.

Not because of the fact that the crystal was one filled with condensed divinity, but because the stoic look on Aurora's face was broken as she exclaimed with shock.

"That?!"

Her unusual reaction was enough for them to realize something; Aurora definitely knew the identity of whoever possessed the divinity in that crystal.

"Hmm, you know who owns this?"

|How could I not?!|

Aurora replied loudly with her true voice, almost screaming. If not for the barrier that Inglis hurriedly put up, the nobles in the castle may have heard her scream, alongside everyone else on planet Aeturn.

Creusery attempted to calm the agitated Aurora down, after a few minutes when she was calm once again, she turned to look at Cattleya before asking.

"Really? An Olympian? And 'Him' of all people?!"

Her anger was starting to seep out of her once more but she held herself back. Cattleya on the other hand laughed as she heard Aurora's words.

"Wow, he did tell me he had some history with you but it seems it's all doom and gloom, huh?"

Diablo and Inglis ignored her statement and addressed the more important issue. Hell was not really on the best of terms with Olympus and hearing that the father of their daughter's child was an Olympian put the two on edge.

They feared that he may try to do something drastic...like killing the child immediately after birth. Some gods have done so before so it was within the realm of possibility.

However, Cattleya thought otherwise. She revealed that the father was responsible for informing her about the assassins sent by Olympus and some of their allies in advance. This was before it got out that she was being protected by the law of causality.

She seemed to have an unusually high amount of trust in him, which made Inglis have a sudden thought she attempted to confirm.

"Catty, do you possibly have-"

"Nope"

Cattleya cut her off before she could finish asking. While Inglis was still stunned, she continued, saying.

"It's definitely not what you're thinking."

Seeing this, the two men in the room failed to understand what she was talking about. It was expected, after all, Cattleya did not even let Inglis finish her question.

Meanwhile, Diablo was worried about an entirely different thing. Although it was quite rare, it was still possible for even the strongest of devils to lose their lives during childbirth or become severely weakened afterwards. He knew this better than anyone, after all his mother was one of those who were severely weakened afterwards and died some years later.

**KNOCK

There was a light knock on the door, after which Belphegor stepped in. Something he normally would not do without first receiving permission, which showed that whatever occurred was serious enough for him to drop his etiquette.

"Your Majesty, All the three suns of Dorcaster, have been completely blotted out of the sky by the moons of each planet."

His words made Cattleya jump up with a shout.

"Yeah! Told you it was today!"

However, right as she landed back on the ground, there was a sudden splashing sound. It was not very loud, but all the beings in the room were ones with superhuman hearing, they all instantly noticed the source.

Inglis' face turned serious as she asked despite already knowing the answer.

"That wasn't you, right?"

"So, I think my water just broke."

Cattleya only chuckled awkwardly as she scratched the top of her head, causing Creusery to retort loudly.

"Stop speaking about serious things so casually!"

◇　◇　◇

On Olympus, Apollo was hurriedly making his way over to Zeus' abode. He had contacted the other gods in his group using the specially prepared artifacts and asked them about the eclipse but they all claimed to not know of it.

Some even went on to ask other groups but they all stated that there was no such thing as an eclipse currently occurring in all observable areas of their universes.

The solar and lunar deities had utilized their authorities and checked multiple times before confirming this.

Apollo also did the same, however, the results he got made his face pale rapidly.

All of southern Olympus, was darkened.

The stars that acted as suns for the various star and solar systems, were all being covered by the moons of the planets within them. As for planets without moons, large asteroids just conveniently happened to drift in the path the light of the suns passed to reach the planets.

Every other section of Olympus he could observe was fine, except the south.

He instantly disconnected the communication as he had arrived in Zeus' abode and jumped down from his flaming carriage into the courtyard below.

Zeus and Athena who were currently engaging in a conversation turned to him in surprise but he ignored that and told them about the situation and his assumption.

"Are you sure you aren't coming to conclusions too hastily?"

"Do you really think I'd do that at this point in time?

The area the eclipses are covering is increasing as we speak, no matter how I look at it this is clearly abnormal. That leaves us only one alternative explanation, today is the day of 'Black Sun'."

His words seemed to evoke some sort of reaction as the ambient energies around him thrummed wildly, as if agreeing with his words. The increasing concentration of the essence of the law of causality cleared all of Zeus' doubts.

"I believe you all said that the eclipses would begin in areas related to the parents of the prophesied child, right?

If so, it seems Olympus truly has a hand in this matter."

As Zeus spoke, the anger in his tone made Apollo take a step back in fear, he really hated it when his father was angry.

His actions of telling the other solar gods in his group also seemed to add to Zeus' anger as he felt that Apollo should not have let the other gods realize the eclipses had begun in Olympus.

However, before he could continue to scold Apollo, Athena asked a very important question.

"What part of Olympus did you say was darkened already?"

Apollo tensed up visibly and his complexion became even paler, he looked towards Zeus with a panic-stricken gaze as he spoke.

"...Southern Olympus."

|WHAT?!!|

Zeus' reaction was as he had expected. Pulling Apollo by the collar of his shirt, he asked once again to confirm.

|ARE YOU SURE?!|

"Y-yes."

Apollo's reply only served to fuel Zeus' rage, his aura burst forth violently and Athena and Apollo were hit with the full brunt of it.

He left Apollo and walked up to the fountain in the middle of the courtyard they were in and flicked his fingers, tossing a golden drachma inside it.

|Authority of the Master.|

|Goddess of the Rainbow, Iris. The Master of Olympus commands you, Connect me to the god of death, Thanatos.|

The rays of the sun on the fountain water created a faint rainbow that shimmered lightly before the image of a bearded young man with ash skin appeared.

|Thanatos, where is my brother?|

Surprised at the sudden connection, the god of death, Thanatos, was silent for a moment before giving a reply.

[My lord is not present now, as for his whereabouts, I have no idea.

All I know is that he told me to tell you he was going west.]

Zeus trembled with rage as he heard Thanatos's words.

'Hell is west of Olympus! He's not even trying to hide it anymore!'

"It's him isn't it?"

Athena's words brought him out of his thoughts, Zeus' continued silence further confirmed that he had arrived at the same conclusion that she did.

It was also the reason for Apollo's reluctance to state what part of Olympus was darkened. The one person that the gods could barely do anything to even if he was the father of the child that possessed the power to end them.

His power, rank, and status were too high for that.

He was also the person who had the look of 'realization' on his face on the day they heard the prophecies.

'As I thought, he really did know something.'

'He' was none other than the ruler of most of Southern Olympus, the elder sibling of both Zeus and Poseidon.

Cattleya Vaughn's dark-haired best friend and father of her unborn child, was none other than the King of Olympus' Underworld Supercluster.

Hades.