"What are you talking about? Abandoning? You’re my Hero, I can’t abandon you." Silas said with a small grunt, her body was really heavy and the woman pulled back her face looking at him in the eyes while pinning her hands on either side of his head as her eyes glowed.

"R-really?"

Her voice trembled as if she was scared which was completely at odds with the overwhelming divine aura radiating from her skin.

Looking up into her vibrant green eyes, Silas could see the lingering shadows of trauma.

She was trembling against him, her fingers digging into the stone tiles beside his head as if she expected the universe to violently rip her away from him at any second.

Silas didn’t push her off. He didn’t complain about the weight pinning him to the cold courtyard floor.

Instead, he reached up, his hands gently grasping her shoulders. Her skin was incredibly soft.

"Really," Silas said. "I don’t know where you came from, or what kind of hell you were in before you got here but you’re in my territory now. You answered my summons. As long as I’m breathing, you have a place here."

The words hit her like a physical blow. The frantic terrified tension that had kept her muscles coiled rigid for centuries suddenly snapped as a choked sob escaped Eluned’s lips, and she slumped forward burying her face into the crook of his neck.

Silas lay there on the cold stone tiles of the Umbral Basin, awkwardly but gently rubbing the back of a crying, mythic deity.

He spent several long minutes simply assuring her, letting her pour out centuries of isolation and despair until her ragged breathing finally slowed to a calm pace.

Eventually, the Goddess sniffled, her silver-green hair brushing against his jaw as she pushed herself up.

Silas took the opportunity to sit up as well, rolling his shoulders.

"So," Silas said gently, looking at the beautiful woman kneeling gracefully in front of him. "I know the tabs probably has a file on you, but I’d rather hear it from you. Do you want to introduce yourself?"

Eluned blinked, her long eyelashes wet with tears. "You... you want me to tell you? But Lords possess the Absolute Eye... You can see my status whenever you wish."

"I could," Silas agreed with a small reassuring smile. "But you’re not just a string of numbers to me... I want to hear it from your mouth."

Hearing him say that, Eluned’s pale cheeks immediately turned a deep rosy pink.

Eluned shifted her weight, sitting up straight on her knees in front of him as she placed a delicate hand over her chest, right above her heart and bowed her head slightly in a gesture of profound respect.

"My name is Eluned," she said, her voice finally losing its raspy edge replaced by a melodic one. "I am... or rather, I used to be... a Goddess. The Spirit of the World Tree, Yggdrasil."

She paused with a flicker of dark sorrow crossing her eyes as she remembered the roots that had drained her but then she forcibly shook it off.

She perked up as a breathtaking smile bloomed across her face.

"But that doesn’t matter anymore! I am your Hero now. That is my only title."

Silas couldn’t help but smile back. The loyalty radiating from her was infectious and he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Well, I’m Silas Graves," he introduced himself, feeling a bit out of his depth. "I’m really not much right now so I don’t have a lot to say..."

Eluned’s eyes widened in sheer horror at his self-deprecation.

She leaned forward with her hands instinctively grabbing his.

"Do not say such things! You are the one who shattered my chains. You reached into the abyss and pulled me into the light. To the rest of this realm, you may be a new Lord, but to me... you are the most important person in the entire world."

Silas swallowed hard, his face heating up at the burning devotion in her gaze.

’Isn’t this too soon?’ he thought while being a bit overwhelmed. ’Or do all SSS-Rank Divine Beings behave like this when you summon them?’

Regardless of whether it was the Trait’s [100 Diehard Loyalty] mechanic or genuine gratitude, having a powerhouse completely dedicated to him was a massive relief.

As if waiting for their introductions to finish, a golden tab chimed into existence right in front of his face.

[Notice: You can now view Hero Eluned’s status.]

Silas mentally accepted the prompt and instantly, a detailed holographic ledger expanded in the air between them.

Seeing the glowing text, Eluned eagerly shifted on her knees.

She scooted right over to him, pressing her shoulder against his arm and leaning her head in so close that her soft cheek pressed flush against his own.

Silas’s heart skipped a beat at the sudden intimate contact but he forced himself to focus on the tab.

In the Sovereign Realm, Lords and their subordinates operated on entirely different growth matrices.

Lords operated purely on Cores, leveling their territories and personal stats. However, Heroes and Troops operated on Ranks and Levels.

Each rank had a strict unbreakable holding point. For example, an E-Rank troop could only ever reach Level 10.

Once they hit Level 10, they were hard-capped and could not grow stronger unless a Lord spent a fortune in resources to force a breakthrough.

But Eluned wasn’t an E-Rank...

[Hero]: Eluned

[Title]: Former Spirit of the World Tree

[Rank]: SSS (Mythic)

[Level]: 1 (EXP: 0/1000)

[Loyalty]: 100 (Diehard)

[Vitality]: 150

[Mana]: 5000 / 5000

Silas inhaled sharply.

At Level 1, his Vitality was 20.

Hers was 150. She could probably take a cannonball to the chest and brush it off and her Mana pool was absolutely staggering, though he noted it wasn’t limitless; 5000 points meant she still had to manage her output in a prolonged fight.

He scrolled down to her abilities.

[Active Skills]:

[Aura of Genesis]: Radiates a 50-meter field of primeval energy. Rapidly heals all allied wounds and provides near-infinite stamina recovery while active. (Cost: 100 Mana/minute)

[Emerald Execution]: Summons hyper-dense, iron-piercing roots from the earth to skewer targets instantly. (Cost: 300 Mana/cast)

[Nature’s Wrath]: Weaponizes the surrounding environment, transmuting leaves and debris into a high-velocity storm of razor-sharp projectiles. (Cost: 500 Mana/cast)

Silas stared at the three overpowered skills in absolute shock.

"This is... incredible," he muttered. "You’re a one-woman army, Eluned."

Beside him, Eluned actually pouted with her cheek rubbing softly against his as she sighed in frustration.

"This is really pathetic," she grumbled, looking at the screen with disdain. "When the Sovereign Realm’s dimensional laws pulled me through the ether, it forcefully reset my existence to conform to your Level 1 constraints. I lost nearly all of my priority authorities. Before I was imprisoned, I used to have hundreds of thousands of skills..."

Silas held his head with his free hand, feeling a massive headache coming on just trying to comprehend the sheer scale of her past power.

’Hundreds of thousands of skills? Just what kind of absolute monster did the Summoning Card pull for me?’

Despite the headache, a profound sense of gratitude washed over him. He turned his head slightly, looking at her flawless pouting face so close to his own.

"I don’t care what you lost..." Silas said sincerely. "What you have right now is more than enough. Thank you for being my Hero, Eluned."

Eluned’s breath hitched. The frustration melted from her features, instantly replaced by a brilliant blushing smile that reached her eyes. "It is my greatest honor, my Lord."

"Alright," Silas said, gently pulling back and standing up.

He offered her a hand. "We have twenty-four hours before the Novice Barrier drops and the Umbral Basin comes for our throats so we need to build our defenses."

Eluned placed her soft hand in his, letting him pull her gracefully to her feet. She dusted off her woven leaf robes.

"I am ready. Shall we summon our vanguard?"

"Yeah," Silas nodded. "Let’s get some troops."

The two of them turned and walked across the tiled courtyard, heading straight toward the Summoning Portal that stood dormant in the center of the territory.

The white stone archway looked significantly less intimidating now that Silas had a literal goddess walking by his side.

He stopped in front of the pedestal and opened his Lord Inventory.

With a thought, he materialized the stack of items the Sovereign Realm had gifted him at the start of the trial.

Ten heavy metallic cards rested in his palm.

Unlike the black and gold Hero card, these Troop Summoning Cards were a dull utilitarian steel gray.

They were tierless, meaning whatever came out of the portal would start at Level 1, relying purely on their classes to dictate their combat roles.

Silas stepped up to the pedestal and placed all the Troop Summoning Cards onto the circular holder.

Instantly, the archway hummed to life but instead of the heaven-piercing golden pillar that had heralded Eluned’s arrival, the portal simply filled with a dense blinding white light.

A standard tab appeared in his vision.

[Would you like to use 10x Troop Summoning Card?]

[Y / N]

Silas tapped Y.

The white light flared outward, swirling within the stone pillars as the Sovereign Realm reached into the ether to pull a warrior into existence.

Silas gripped the hilt of his Silversteel Spirit Sword, watching the portal churn.

’I hope I get some good troops...’