'Oops,' Caius thought in his head.

Maybe it was because he had just been confronted by Delia for keeping something from her. Or maybe he had just thought there was no point hiding this particular piece of information but Caius had blurted out so many impossible-to-know details before he remembered to hold his tongue.

He was silent for a while after Aurelius's question wondering how to get out of the hole he had dug for himself. His mind was blank. Ironically, Aurelius himself was the one to throw him a lifeline out of sheer impatience at the dragging silence.

"By Aether's resplendent skirt!" Aurelius swore, "Did Anyxyl tell you? Is that why she made you an Apostle of hers?"

Caius had to work a bit to keep the amused smile off his face as he grabbed onto this perfect excuse.

"Yes," he said, "She did."

Delia frowned lightly at that. She had been made an apostle of the goddess as well and she hadn't been told any of this. And she was sure she had heard the voice of the goddess at the time.

Delia could never forget what Anyxyl had told her right before she was made an apostle of the goddess's Dark Divinity. Hell, when she had been unconscious, she had heard it over and over in her head. But none of it had been about the detailed motive of the Demons' rise from Hell.

Caius could have sworn he sensed surprise from an impossibly vast darkness. It was so fleeting that he might have imagined it but he knew he hadn't. Because he knew that if Nyx—the shortened and colloquial name for Anyxyl used mostly only by Vampires—was paying attention to him at the moment, this was the first she was hearing of this scheme.

Aether's plans were Aether's alone and she had not confided in any of her fellow gods. Definitely not her sister whom she had been contending against since the start of their existences. In fact, Aether might hate Nyx more than she did the Demons in hell. And the feeling was definitely mutual.

"I see," Aurelius said and relaxed but then became agitated once again as he said,

"But you just spoke of it to another person. Wouldn't Anyxyl be angry? I've heard she's awfully vengeful."

"Who told you that?" Caius asked with a smirk, "Aether?"

Aurelius flushed and Caius knew he was right.

Still, Caius had no idea why he had even pointed it out. The last thing he cared about was the sibling rivalry between Nyx and Aether so why had he suddenly felt the urge to defend Nyx against the perceived notions Aether had fed her Chosen?

'You're here, aren't you?' He asked in his head and was met with silence. Which caused him to smile.

With the unseen vast darkness that had showcased surprise at what he had revealed earlier as well as the surge of protective urge that had just swarmed him, there was no doubt in Caius's mind that some part of Nyx was present right now.

Interestingly, Aurelius wasn't wrong. Nyx was a vengeful goddess. But so was Aether.

Hell, Aether might even be worse because she tries so hard to project a magnanimous image while being a total bitch…

'Stop it!' Caius snapped in his head and he felt it as the need to be protective of Nyx retreated from his body. But it didn't go far. It stayed close, ready to possess him and take over again.

Caius cleared his throat.

"I'm free to talk about it because I haven't been bound by orders of secrecy."

"I see," Aurelius said with a nod.

"Well, that's good then," Delia said.

"What do you mean?" Caius asked.

Delia gestured at Aurelius and then at the door as she said,

"If he can't tell them anything in there, then you can just do it for him."

"I'm afraid, I can't," Caius said, shaking his head.

"Why not?" Delia asked, confused.

"Because I actually agree with Aether that he should keep it a secret. Today's challenge wasn't supposed to be that bad. It became that bad because of me— Because of us," Caius finally admitted.

"What do you mean?" Delia asked taken aback.

"A different Demon was supposed to rise from Hell and battle Aurelius but things changed when Hell sensed that Aurelius wasn't the only godling on this part of the mortal plane," Caius said with a pointed look at Delia.

"You mean us," she said slowly, "So that thing wasn't wrong to call us 'godlings'?"

"It wasn't," Caius said, "Because we have Divine seeds. We have Divine energy naturally existing in our bodies. It isn't temporarily bestowed by a god to be retrieved once the moment passes. We actually have it growing within us."

Delia's hand dropped to her midsection over where she knew her Divine seed was and she clenched that hand into a fist as she stared. Her eyes soon became unfocused as she took in what Caius was saying.

Caius continued.

"Unlike Aurelius though, we don't have a good handle on our Divine energy so while we're technically 'godlings', we're not on his scale. We're not on the scale of the individual who's the very center of the Hellish invasion.

Alas, the powers that be within the Hellish plane didn't care. They sensed 'godlings' in plural and so they sent a stronger representative."

"What does that have to do with not telling the Professors?" Delia asked, "They could do something about this…"

"Delia, the core of the situation is Aurelius. His strength determines who rises from Hell.

However, the support he has around him allows the powers that be in Hell to manipulate their parts of the agreement.

The agreement states that only an appropriate representative gauged according to Aurelius's strength should rise from Hell. But once Aurelius has support exponentially greater than he is, the representative of Hell can simply be a being that surpasses that support. How much the Hellish representative surpasses Aurelius's supports doesn't matter.

For example, due to our support and the inkling of multiple godlings, they sent Belron up. And we only beat him because Nyx decided to one-up her sister. Otherwise, she couldn't care less if we live or die.

Delia, if the Professors and the powerhouses of the Acheron Empire get involved in this, we could have an attack of a Demon Lord on our hands.

A Demon Lord is a being on par with gods. No one in the Acheron Empire… Hell, the world is powerful enough to face such a threat.

If that happens, everyone dies."

Delia gulped. Aurelius just stared. He knew most of this already. Aether had told him while he was harnessing his Divine energy. She had let him know just how paramount it was that he defeat Belron and why he had to do it 'alone' but hearing it from Caius was different.

For one thing, his mention of a Demon Lord was a detail that Aether hadn't provided. It hadn't been needed because the threat was tangible enough already and her order for silence made it impossible for him to ask for help anyway.

That said, Caius's mention of a Demon Lord and its power level did scale things up even more.

Delia let Caius's words sit with her for a while and then she let out a shaky breath.

"So we're supposed to just do nothing? What happens if he loses to the Demons?"

"I won't lose," Aurelius said and when Delia looked at him, he raised his chin and placed a fist over his heart,

"Whatever comes next, I shall strike down."

"Please," Delia said, "You couldn't beat Belron on your own."

"Because you both interfered. Caius just admitted to it. If you hadn't interfered, I'd have won… easily."

Caius frowned at him.

"It's true that you would have won if we hadn't interfered. But it wouldn't have been 'easy'. Hell, you'll be within an inch of your life and require more power from Aether to win. Just barely."

Caius looked back at Delia whom he smiled at gently.

"And by the way, I said not to tell the Professors. I didn't say we'd do nothing. We, the little godlings, have now been factored into the challenge for better and for worse.

So, at this point, we have to help him."

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