Watching Rhea's dissipating figure, Tike raised her golden goblet and drank the clear water. Rhea had ultimately refused the gamble, but Tike believed she would seek her out again. With her two daughters taken, Rhea was already distraught; a few more times like this would surely drive her mad.
Setting down the golden goblet, Tike surveyed the empty temple with a sigh. Though the place was beautiful, it offered no peace of mind. She then rose and went to the spring outside the temple, plunging into the water.
Emerging once more, she found herself before a pool flowing with moonlight, surrounded by blooming hibiscus trees. Waving away the approaching tree nymphs, Tike sat among the lilies, lost in thought. For a long time to come, she would have no leisure. The struggle for dominion over the sky domain was about to begin, and all her energy would be focused on competing with Uranus. Therefore, she had to seize this opportunity now! Before Uranus fully recovered, she needed to gain an advantage, otherwise, her chances of victory were truly slim!
"Then I must now create avatars to guard my territory," Tike murmured to herself. Though the Climate divinity within her Divine Fire was temporarily lost, the divinities of Ice and Cold still remained. The primal essences of Cold and Heat within the Temperature divinity transformed into two goddesses, flying out from the Divine Fire. The embodiment of Cold power, clad in a blue dress with white hair, had pupils devoid of any color; the embodiment of Heat, in a red robe, drew the attention of the primal essence the moment it manifested, and was bestowed the divinity of Drought.
Both avatars were only of lesser divine power, but under the unified Temperature divinity, they could contend with those of middle divine power. The safety of the island could thus be assured.
Returning to the temple on the island, Tike summoned her two subordinate deities and gave them instructions. Alke and Iris, both deities possessing divine roles, had participated in the council and naturally understood their sovereign's intentions.
The two rainbow goddesses knelt on one knee and pledged their obedience to Tike. "My subordinate deities, I shall enter a period of slumber. From now on, this island will no longer receive visitors. Any deity attempting to force entry will be considered an act of war against me!"
"We shall follow your will," the rainbow goddesses replied as they departed. A swarm of colorful butterflies flew from Tike's hand, circling the island and using the power of Fate to obscure its traces.
Having completed these preparations, Tike lay down on her bed of coral and shells and fell into a deep slumber.
Her consciousness, connected through the Divine Fire, traveled to the sky domain. Tike carefully skirted the slumbering Uranus, making her way to the domain she controlled. The sky domain, occupied by the Climate Primal Essence, was less than a quarter of the whole. Once Uranus awoke, he could easily expel Tike's power, reclaiming the Climate Primal Essence for himself.
Without hesitation, Tike's Divine Fire burned fiercely, fueled by an inexhaustible supply of divine power. Sky divinity was continuously forged and fed back into the sky domain, claiming more territory.
The loss of power once again disturbed Uranus, and his power began to retaliate spontaneously. Tike gritted her teeth, enduring the weakness caused by the depletion of her divine power, and persisted in seizing the sky divinity. Fortunately, Uriah, the mountain god, sensed the commotion in the sky, and the earth's divine power immediately sealed off the heavens. With Uriah's support, Tike barely managed to suppress Uranus and, with a final push, took a significant bite out of Uranus's domain.
The current situation was akin to Tike being a shareholder in a company, taking advantage of the founder Uranus's delayed reaction to swallow a portion of the shares. Once the founder could free himself, he would be able to kick out the troublemaker. To protect herself, Tike had to secure more than half the shares to stand as an equal to Uranus. At that point, external assistance would withdraw, as Gaia would not hand over the sky divinity to Tike without reason. The sky embracing the earth once more was a minor inconvenience for Gaia, far from a trouble. Primal gods possessed such confidence.
With her focus unwavering, Tike rapidly seized one-third of the sky domain. More sky divine power opened its gates to Tike, forming a virtuous cycle. Increasing amounts of sky divinity sublimated from the Divine Fire, in turn accelerating Tike's encroachment and allowing her to gain more sky divine power. The powerful sky divinity, combined with sky divine power, condensed into a fractured sky divinity core. This power undoubtedly served as a shot in the arm for Tike. Her spirits lifted, Tike immediately pressed her advantage, tearing off another piece of Uranus's domain and claiming over two-fifths of the sky domain!
Seeing the opportune moment, Tike decided to consolidate her gains and focused all her efforts on stabilizing her territory, slowing down the pace of her encroachment on Uranus.
Returning to her body with satisfaction, Tike found the process unbelievably smooth, yet she also knew that she would now have to face the awakened Uranus alone! Her two avatars sent word that everything was peaceful and that the island had been safe during her slumber. Just as Tike was about to relax, she realized something; calculating the time, she discovered she was about to miss Astrea's wedding.
Hurriedly rising, she flew towards the starry expanse of the heavens. The sky rejoiced, responding to the goddess's arrival. With a portion of the sky divinity core, Tike felt as if she were swimming with the current in the sky. She keenly detected Astrea's presence, and with a thought, a portal slowly opened, revealing Astrea's surprised face outside.
Stepping through the portal to stand before the Starry Night Goddess, Tike smiled wearily.
"My friend, I've finally made it to your wedding."
Astrea's eyes sparkled with starlight. The divinity of Fate resonated, allowing the Starry Night Goddess to understand everything instantly.
"Tike, I'm so happy for you!" Astrea cheered, celebrating her friend. "I didn't expect you to gain the sky's recognition so soon!"
"This is all thanks to the assistance of Princess Gaia," Tike acknowledged, fully aware of the gods' intentions, which was also within her expectations. While the Earth Mother was displeased with Uranus, she would not kill him! But now, with a second inheritor to the sky domain, Uranus's position was threatened by her.
"Now, all I need to do is wait! Wait for the war between the new gods and the old gods! Wait for Uranus to fall into Tartarus! I will become the sole possessor of the sky divinity!" Tike admonished herself in her heart. The standoff and stalemate with Uranus were what the gods desired, but after that, it would be beyond their control.
Composing herself, Tike smiled and congratulated her friend, presenting her mother's golden goblet as a wedding gift.
"This is a spring that flows with hot water; bathing with it can dispel fatigue and restore strength."
Astrea was indeed delighted, accepting the golden goblet with joy, and took Tike's arm as they walked into the temple. The prophetic goddess Phoebe was seated at the head table, feasting with Eurynome beside her and a dark-haired, dark-eyed male deity. Upon seeing Tike enter, all three deities raised their wine cups in welcome.
Noticing the unfamiliar male deity, Tike leaned towards Astrea and whispered, "Is that Perses? Your future husband?"
The Starry Night Goddess nodded and replied, "And your cousin and nephew."
Tike pouted helplessly, then joined the feast, enjoying the delicacies.
As soon as Tike sat down, Eurynome kept glancing at her. Seeing Tike shake her head, she immediately understood that she had not reached an agreement with the Queen of the Gods. Without changing her expression, Eurynome drank the mead from her cup and turned to chat with Phoebe about the wedding being held on the divine mountain. Tike, in turn, leaned over and playfully teased Astrea.
"Shining Starry Night Goddess, your future husband has been stealing glances at you."
Astrea showed no shyness, giving Tike a playful glare. "I am not ashamed of that, dear friend. Your shyness, however, is beyond my comprehension. Do you wish to become a virgin goddess?"
Seeing this, Tike shrugged indifferently. "It's not out of the question, as long as it allows me to escape my mother's well-intentioned concern."
The Starry Night Goddess couldn't help but laugh. "The Ocean God and the Sea Goddess probably won't be in a hurry to find a husband for you, after all, you are now the leader of the three thousand Ocean Goddesses, the heir to the sea."
Tike couldn't help but laugh as well, having forgotten that she was now a highly sought-after commodity, with no shortage of potential suitors.
The two goddesses exchanged smiles. Astrea, regaining her composure, avoided Perses's gaze and whispered into Tike's ear, "I sense a disturbance in your divinity; it seems there's an issue with the lost Climate divinity."
The Climate Primal Essence was lost in the sky domain, and currently, no anomalies could be detected. However, Tike knew her friend was not one to speak without cause; she must have truly discovered something, and Tike became serious.
"Thank you for the reminder, Astrea! I will pay close attention."
The power of Fate peered into the anomaly and indeed discovered something amiss; the Climate domain was generating new power! Unable to probe further, Tike immediately used the power of Opportunity to seek the outcome. Unexpectedly, the power of Opportunity informed Tike that this would lead to a positive result.
Slightly easing the worry in her heart, Tike noticed all four deities looking at her with confusion, clearly having sensed the fluctuation of Fate's power.