When William entered the Temple of the Ten Thousand Gods, he saw a good number of candidates that were wandering around the countless stalls within the area that William had labeled as the Bazaar.
He wasn't able to stop the smile that formed on his face, as the sounds of cheesy pick up lines reached his ears. It reminded him of the days when he first entered the temple and had met Gavin, Lily, Issei, and David.
William walked very slowly as he used the golden staff to support his body. Although Lily's candy had helped him recover, the damages he sustained from Lugh's overwhelming attack were still present in his body.
Clearly, it would take more than a few lollipops to completely recover from the attack of a God.
He was about to look for Issei, Lily, and David when a familiar figure blocked his path.
"Well, well, well, look at who we have here," the Apple Goddess, Lulu, said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "What happened to you, Little Will? You look like you've fought against an entire army."
The Gods in the nearby stalls chuckled at Lulu's teasing words. Naturally, they had also watched William's battle inside the Heavenly Gate and eyed him with renewed interest. For them, watching a God personally fight against a candidate was pure entertainment.
"Hello, Lulu," William greeted with a smile. "Have you been well?"
Lulu grinned as she patted William's shoulder, which immediately made the Half-Elf grimace in pain.
"Well enough," Lulu chuckled. "Here, have an apple. Don't worry, this one is free of charge."
Lulu handed a golden apple to William and urged him to eat it. For some reason, the golden apple reminded him of the apple that he was given in Asgard by the adult Wendy in his dreams.
William only hesitated for a brief moment before taking a bite on the apple. Soon, a wave of warm and soothing energy traveled across his body. It felt so comfortable that he wasn't able to prevent a sigh of pleasure from escaping his lips.
After taking the first bite, William ate the apple with gusto until nothing was left. The pain and exhaustion he felt disappeared like a fleeting breeze, and he could feel his strength returning to his body.
"Thank you, Lulu," William said, sincerely.
"You're welcome," Lulu replied as she patted William's shoulder. "The next time you reincarnate, make sure to choose me as your Patron God. I can at least guarantee that no one will be able to kill you easily, not even a God."
Lulu winked at William before returning to her stall. For some reason, William believed that the words of the Apple Goddess weren't empty boasts. With such a miraculous apple that could instantly heal any injuries, her followers would indeed be very hard to kill.
"Big Brother!"
Before William could even react, a certain Loli Goddess jumped onto his chest like a cannonball, sending him skidding a few meters across the floor. In the end, William fell down on his back while holding the mischievous loli in his arms.
"Lily, I just recovered," William said before patting the loli's head, who was clinging to him like a leech. "Can you take it easy on me?"
"Ehe!" Lily giggled.
William sighed because Lily could be a handful at times. He then raised his head to see Issei and David walking towards his direction. Both of them were smiling and Issei even gave William a playful wink when he neared the boy.
"Congratulations on completing the Heavenly Trial," Issei said with a smile. "You really caused quite the commotion. The Jade Emperor now has a headache about how to deal with the aftermath."
David chuckled as he continued Issei's explanation. "Over a million Celestial Knights are out of commission because of you. The Heavenly Domain will have to be closed for repairs. Also, all of the defenders are now undergoing Hell Training as punishment because they failed to stop you from entering the Heavenly Gate."
Lily pulled William up from the ground and patted his clothes for him. "Don't worry, Big Brother. After ten years, the Heavenly Domain will reopen. I sure pity the next candidate who undertakes the trial. They will not stand a chance because the Celestial Army will not allow themselves to be defeated for a third time. They will lose half of their salary if this incident happens again."
William felt sweat forming on his forehead after hearing Lily's words. He felt like he was the cause of all these problems and wondered if the Jade Emperor would ask him to pay for the damages that he had caused after Sun Wukong descended on the battlefield.
The three Gods could read William's thoughts and snickered internally. They were the true culprits behind William's trial, so naturally, the blame should be on their shoulders. The three cheapskates were more than happy to push all the blame on William when the Jade Emperor came to ask for compensation!
"Now that you have cleared the trial, and registered your Immortal Guardian, it is now time for you to return to your world," David said. "Do you want to return now? Or do you still have unfinished business that you have to settle here?"
"I still have some unfinished business," William nodded. "Sir David, do you know the Goddess Astrid?"
"Astrid?" A playful smile appeared on David's face. "Of course I know her. Do you want to talk to her about something?"
"Yes." William explained the curse that was placed on Est, Ian, and Isaac, to the three Gods that supported him.
Naturally, they were aware of this backstory because Astrid had come clean when William and Est were fighting together at the Trial of Courage.
"Also, I want to see Gavin as well," William said. "I'm also worried about his condition."
The three Gods nodded simultaneously. William was one of the two followers of Gavin. It was perfectly understandable for the boy to want to see him. Although Issei, Lily, and David had their reservations in allowing the two to meet, they still decided to allow William to see his Patron God.
"Let's go visit Astrid first," Issei suggested. He then patted William's shoulder before whispering in his ears. "Astrid is a stubborn Goddess. She will try to intimidate you, but do not falter. After all, you are doing this for the sake of your lovers, right?"
William nodded his head seriously. "Yes. I need to find a way to return them to their original bodies."
Lily, who was standing beside William, grabbed his arm and waved it from side to side. "Don't worry, Big Brother, if she doesn't agree, we can always blackmail her to cooperate with you."
William scratched his head as he looked at the adorable loli in front of him. The more he interacted with Lily, the more he thought that she was a Battle Goddess in disguise. Even so, he pushed these thoughts aside because he needed to focus his attention on the Goddess that held the fate of Est and Ian in her hands.
----
Astrid was seated in her garden and drinking tea with her twin brother, Aamon.
Aamon was one of the Ars Goetia that presided over hell and the Supreme Commander of the Forty Legions that rampaged among the Higher Planes that the Gods ruled.
Ironically, he was also one of the three Gods whom the Kraetor Empire worshipped.
Unlike his prideful, and stubborn, twin sister, Aamon was charming, confident, and a well-known rule breaker. There were even times when Astrid had to personally drag him back to the Temple in order to prevent him from getting out of line.
Even so, the twins got along really well. The only problem was that their personalities were the complete opposite of each other.
"Looks like an interesting brat is planning to demand something from you, sister dear," Aamon teased.
Astrid placed her teacup down on the table and gave her twin a side-long glance. "He's just a brat, you don't need to mind him too much."
"Uh-huh." Aamon smirked before standing up from his seat. "Well then, I'll be returning to my palace. See you later, Astrid."
"Stay away from trouble, Aamon." Astrid warned. "Don't cause too much of a ruckus in Hell."
Aamon chuckled. He then winked at his twin sister before disappearing from the garden.
Astrid looked at the teacup on the table with a calm expression. She already knew that William would look for when he appeared in the temple, so she had prepared a quest beforehand.
It was not like she was against lifting the curse on her devout followers. In fact, she even wanted to do it as well. However, it wasn't as simple as that. In order to keep her promise to the Hellan Kingdom, she needed to ask for the favor of another God.
And that God had already escaped back to Hell in order to prevent his twin sister from introducing him to William.
That's right. The God that agreed to help Astrid tweak the Continental Spell, that descended on the Southern Continent, was none other than Aamon. In order to break the curse, William must travel to the Central Continent and find a way to make the Marquis of Hell agree to lift the curse on his lovers and friend.
However, knowing her twin brother's personality, Astrid knew that William would be sent on a wild goose chase. She just hoped that at the end of that journey, her devout followers would once again recover the things that they had lost.
The Goddess waved her hand as the gates of the garden opened wide. William walked with steady steps, accompanied by three of the Gods who supported him from the Heavens.
'Let's see how far you can go, boy.' The corner of Astrid's lips curled up because she could already see the hardships that William would face as he tried to negotiate with Aamon. 'Show me that you are worthy of my devout followers' love. If you can't even do this much then you don't deserve Est's and Ian's affections.'
Although Astrid was grateful for William's help, that didn't mean that she approved of him. She decided to use this test to judge the Half-Elf's character.. Only after he passed her twin brother's test then and only then would she recognize him as a man worthy of her followers' love.