The Revealations

Huvel was surprised to learn that there was another nymph on the burial ground aside from the Nymph of Graveyard.

"Forgive me for my ignorance, Flying Leaf Nymph!" Huvel decided to hold a conversation with the nymph since he could feel that the nymph did not have bad intention. "But why are you interested in someone with Light Prowess?"

The nymph looked directly into Huvel's eyes. Their eyes were calm but intimidating at the same time.

"Do the nymphs not want to talk with humans?!" Huvel thought as cold sweats ran down along his spine.

"Simple." The nymph replied indifferently after a short while. "I have Light Prowess so I felt close with any living being that have the same prowess as me. Human, you said you are a dark magician. I can tell that you are not lying. But I clearly felt the Light Prowess in you. Explain yourself!"

Huvel originally did not want to disclose him possessing two types of prowess. He revealed that he was a dark magician since there still were the dark magic trap spells around him. He did not take into account that the nymph could actually feel Light Prowess in people. Moreover, it would be unwise to lie since the nymph seemed to have an ability to detect lie as well.

"Me being a dark magician is not a lie and I am also a light magician at the same time!" He admitted as he could not afford to lie. "I can wield both Dark and Light Prowess."

He casted spells of both dark and light magic to prove his words. The nymph knotted their brows without saying anything.

Huvel was nervous. He did not know what to do if the nymph suddenly attacked him. He had no way to run away from a nymph safely.

The nymph finally opened their mouth after a while. "Marvelous!" they cried. "I have never seen a lower life-form holding two elements! It is rare even among the nymphs! Human, do you have any relationship with a fairy in any way?"

"A fairy? No. But with a goddess." Huvel replied honestly without thinking much.

"What! A goddess?" The nymph almost flew high. "Are you telling the truth? Is she a light goddess or dark goddess?"

"… A dark goddess. What of it?" Huvel felt a little amiss. He almost regretted for revealing it.

"Oh!" The nymph looked dejected. But their eyes became uneasy after a while. "This is the land of the Goddess of … Don't tell me, you are related to grandmother in the underworld?!"

"Huh?! Grandmother?"

"Yes, Gran… I mean, Goddess of the Underworld is my grandmother in a way or another although I am not her direct descendant like my cousin, Nymph of Graveyard."

Huvel was taken aback by the nymph's sudden disclosure of their relationship to the Goddess of the Underworld. But he did not fail to notice how the nymph became a little timid when the name of the goddess was brought up.

"This nymph seemed to be respectful towards the Goddess of the Underworld," he thought. "Is it just because she is their ancestor? Or maybe because she is a crazy, scary goddess? Well, it doesn't matter. I should just take advantage of this!"

"My relation to the goddess," Huvel spoke up, "please don't tell it to anyone."

"Of course!" The nymph replied immediately. "It will cause a controversy among the gods if they know about it!"

"Huh?! That serious?!" Huvel was puzzled.

The nymph bent their waist and put his face close to Huvel. "Human, do you not know about how my revered grandmother became Goddess of the Underworld?"

"… What happened?"

"… Forget it. There is no need for lower life forms to know about this."

Huvel clenched his teeth in frustration. He hated it when someone started a story with the ending but did not tell the whole story.

"Trade information!"

"What?!"

"Since I told you the secret of me having two elements and relating to your grandmother goddess, shouldn't you tell me something important too to maintain an equivalent exchange between us?"

Huvel pushed his luck and mentioned the word 'equivalent exchange' because he read in a book that the proud nymphs and fairies did not like being lied or exploited and that they upheld an equivalent exchange whether be it business or grudge. It was just that he did not know if a nymph would take a human seriously.

"Sigh!" The nymph turned away from Huvel. "That's why I don't want to interact with humans! You people are only interested to take advantage of others."

"Aren't you the same as well, trying to run away at the moment when there is nothing more interesting for you?!" Huvel cried inwardly.

The nymph lied down on a place covered with grasses, facing toward Huvel. "But since I had indeed heard your secrets, I'll tell you what you want to know. Now, human… listen well! Goddess of the Underworld was the daughter of Dark and Water Elementals so she inherited both of their prowess. She dwelled on clouds since she was born. So was called the Goddess of Clouds before. Well, that was until she took in beings inferior to her as lovers."

"Inferior beings? Humans?" Huvel interjected as he recalled the hunks beside the goddess on her throne.

"No. Fairies! The gods never took in fairies as their partners before. So, when Goddess of Clouds broke that unspoken taboo, her fellow gods raged. A god that had animosity towards her since long ago persuaded some other gods to take action. Thus, three gods joined hands and confronted her. She lost the fight since she had only one god on her side and was sealed in the Underworld as her punishment.

The Underworld is said to be in a dimension different from this world. The gods cannot use most of their power there. So, grandmother goddess could not break free from the seal and return here. It was only after a long time that she could communicate with this world through oracles. Homos started to build temples for her and worshipped her as the Goddess of the Underworld."

"Hmm?" Huvel was surprised when he heard the nymph's briefing. "Don't the gods dislike her? They did nothing to her worshippers? Or do they think they were too insignificant?"

"Of course, there were gods that dislike her interaction with the world and wanted to destroy the temples. But after the battle between the gods, almost half of the world was destroyed. Therefore, the gods made new rules to keep the world in order.

The new rules forbid the gods to directly interact or use their power on beings lower than nymphs. And most gods disagree with the idea of destroying the temples of Goddess of the Underworld because they believed her punishment was already enough. So, the temples remained and later, they prospered greatly since the homos with dark affinity revered her as the supreme lord of darkness and death."