Depraved Noble: Forced To Live The Debaucherous Life Of An Evil Noble!-Chapter 673: The Age Of Light

Joy felt as if another bomb had been dropped directly on her.

From seventy-two gods to just one.

One.

She couldn’t even begin to imagine the consequences of such devastation.

The scale of loss was beyond mortal comprehension.

And Gaia—gentle, nurturing, motherly Gaia—had been the sole survivor.

She had watched gods she once called friends turn into monsters.

She had fought alongside those who remained loyal.

And in the end, she had stood alone amidst the ashes of everything she had known.

The loneliness. The grief. The unimaginable pain.

Joy’s heart ached just thinking about it.

"But—"

Joy’s voice faltered as another question rose in her mind.

"If only one god existed after that, how did the world continue to exist? How did the universe survive?"

She shook her head, trying to work through the logic.

"I understand that the Goddess of Nature might be incredibly powerful. But it took seventy-two gods to rule the entire universe before. Surely even she would have struggled alone."

The Goddess of Light smiled—a warm, approving smile.

"You truly are a smart girl, Joy." She nodded. "And you’re exactly right. The cosmos was in complete disarray. My sister simply could not manage everything on her own, no matter how powerful she was."

"Fortunately, there is an ancient rule in the universe." Her eyes lit up. "A fundamental law that states the cosmos and the Heavenly Realm must always be governed by seventy-two Gods. Always."

Joy listened intently.

"So when Gods die, new Gods are born to take their place. It’s an endless cycle, a self-correcting mechanism built into the very fabric of existence."

Her eyes sparkled.

"And it was in that generation—the generation after the great war—that seventy-one new Gods were born."

Joy’s eyes lit up with understanding.

"As a matter of fact, me and my sister..." The Goddess gestured vaguely "...the Goddess of Debauchery, we were both born in that generation."

Joy gasped softly.

"And luckily, in this new generation, my eldest sister was there to lead. She guided us, taught us, shaped us."

The Goddess’s voice softened with genuine affection.

"And this time, she made absolutely certain that balance would be maintained."

"Unlike before, darkness did not reign supreme. Light did not overwhelm darkness. They were perfectly balanced, as they should be."

She smiled.

"She specifically did this by adopting me and my sister. Even though we were simply newborn gods who knew nothing of the universe, she took us in as her own. Made us her sisters in truth, not just in title."

Joy’s mind raced, piecing together the implications.

"As it turns out, the universe itself had already chosen our roles. It had titled us as the new leaders of the two fundamental forces."

The Goddess straightened slightly, a note of pride in her voice.

"I was born as the Goddess of Light—the embodiment of all goodness, virtue, love, and righteousness in the world."

She paused, a wry smile crossing her features.

"And my sister—the Goddess of Debauchery—she is the embodiment of darkness itself. Not evil, necessarily, but all the things that come with it."

"Greed. Lust. Anger. Rage. Passion. Desire. All the forces that drive mortals to both greatness and destruction."

Joy nodded her head, as the Goddess of Debauchery really did seem to be opposite of her sister.

"So technically, we hold a higher position than the rest of the gods. We are the leaders of our respective sides, the ultimate representatives of light and darkness in the Heavens."

She spread her arms wide with pride.

"And it has been more than ten thousand years since we were given these titles. More than ten thousand years since we were born."

"And the birth of this new generation of gods—that moment, that transition is what we call..."

She paused for effect, a mischievous smile playing on her lips.

"The end of the Age of Darkness, and the beginning of the Age of Light."

Joy’s breath caught.

The Age of Light.

And entire era that was forged from countless sacrifices for the greater good.

The Goddess chuckled at Joy’s expression before adding to smear her sister’s name,

"And you know, Joy, it’s actually one of the reasons my sister is always bothering me, and why she’s always trying to get into my business."

"She doesn’t like that even though we’re technically equal, the new age is named after me. My title is the one that defines this entire era of cosmic history."

She shrugged with exaggerated innocence.

"She’s a little grumpy about it, but what can she do? Our sister was the one who named it, and even she can’t change that now."

Joy gasped softly.

The implications were staggering.

Not only was the being before her one of the highest-ranking gods in existence, alongside her sister of debauchery.

But Gaia, the gentle, nurturing presence who had saved her soul, was apparently the most powerful entity in the entire universe.

And Joy had been held by her.

Comforted by her.

Spoken to her as if she were simply a kind aunt.

The awe of that realization washed over her like a wave.

But then another thought pierced through her reverence.

She looked up sharply.

"I truly appreciate you sharing all of this with me, Mother."

She said, her voice sincere.

"This is knowledge no mortal could ever hope to obtain. It’s an honor beyond words."

She hesitated.

"But...what does any of this have to do with Cassius?"

The Goddess blinked.

"I only asked if he was a good person or not. I don’t understand how any of this involves him."

"Oh, Cassius?.."

The Goddess of Light waved her hand dismissively.

"...This has nothing to do with him at all."

Joy stared in disbelief.

"I only told you all of this because you brought up the topic of righteousness and evil. It brought back memories, and I wanted to open up to someone who isn’t a god."

She gave a vibrant smile.

"It’s refreshing, you know. Talking to a mortal about the ancient past."

"But Cassius himself..."

She shrugged.

"...He isn’t really involved in any of this. So don’t overthink it."

Joy nodded, accepting the explanation.

But deep in her gut, something stirred.

A feeling.

Instinct, perhaps, or intuition honed by years of hunting lies and deception.

Despite the Goddess’s confident dismissal, despite her casual assurance, something in Joy’s soul whispered that Cassius was involved.

That he was connected to all of this somehow.

It made no sense. It was just a feeling, formless and irrational.

Cassius was impressive, certainly. Extremely strong, undeniably charming, frustratingly capable.

But these were matters of cosmic history—wars between gods, the foundation of the universe itself.

There was no way he was connected to any of that.

Right?

Joy shook the thought away, chiding herself for overthinking.

She refocused on the Goddess.

"So." She said carefully. "Returning to my question about Cassius, Mother."

"Is he a good person or a bad person? Does he belong to the side of darkness or light?"

The Goddess of Light paused.

She put her hand on her chin, her expression turning thoughtful.

"Cassius."

She murmured, a mysterious look entering her eyes.

"That boy my sister cherishes so much..."

Joy waited, barely breathing.

"Well, I can’t tell you too much. But I will say something interesting."

The Goddess leaned forward slightly.

"Cassius himself does not belong to the side of darkness or the side of light. Not truly."

Joy’s brow furrowed.

"You could even consider him to be the epitome of balance itself. He’s a neutral party—a person who exists at the exact midpoint between good and evil."

"His very nature is to ensure that both sides remain...balanced."

Joy stared at her, completely lost.

That answer made no sense. It only raised more questions.

Seeing her confusion, the Goddess smiled gently.

"But since you’re asking if he’s a good person or a bad person—if you want a simple answer—then I suppose..."

She paused thoughtfully and said,

"I suppose he would be a good person."

Joy jerked in surprise.

This was finally the answer she had been waiting for, but it wasn’t what she was expecting to hear.

The Goddess continued, her voice soft with contemplation.

"Perhaps in the past, he was a neutral party. But in the present—in the life he’s living right now—he’s most definitely aligned with the side of light."

"Every action he’s taken so far has only increased the strength of light and diminished darkness."

She nodded, as if confirming it to herself.

"He’s not neutral anymore, as he once was. He’s finally taken a side, and that side is good."

Joy’s mind spun.

This completely contradicted everything she had believed about Cassius.

Every assumption, every prejudice, every carefully constructed narrative she had built around him.

He was good?

The demon she had been sent to destroy was actually...good?

"Then—"

She stammered, struggling to form the words.

"Then does that mean he’s not some Spawn of the Devil?"

"Not the reincarnation of some Demonic Entity?"

"Not some Evil God who descended upon the world?"

The Goddess looked genuinely confused.

"What? No, not at all, dear." She shook her head. "Why would you think something like that?"

Joy’s voice rose with bewilderment.

"Because of what you said, Mother!"

"You came to me in a dream! You told me to monitor him, target him, expose his false-religion, destroy his faith!"

"You told me I should vanquish him!"

She gestured wildly, years of conviction pouring out.

"Because of that I assumed he was evil! Some kind of dark entity you wanted me to eliminate!"

"Why else would you specifically target someone if they weren’t a threat that needed to be dealt with personally?"

The Goddess of Light stared at Joy for a long moment, genuine bafflement written across her radiant features.

Then she shook her head, waving her hands in a gesture of denial.

"No, no, Joy—you completely misunderstood!"

Joy blinked, taken aback by the Goddess’s emphatic response.

"Yes, I told you to target him." The Goddess continued, her voice firm but not unkind. "Yes, I told you to monitor him and keep him as your focus."

"But I never, ever intended for you to treat him like some demonic entity that needed to be killed."

She shook her head firmly.

"Not at all."

Joy’s brow furrowed deeper.

"And when I said to ’eradicate his false-religion.’"

The Goddess explained.

"I meant the influence he has been spreading all over the world. The propagation of his fame—and through that fame, my sister’s name—throughout my territory. That’s what I wanted you to target."

She leaned forward, her eyes intent.

"And when I said to ’expose his lies and narrative’..."

She paused, choosing her words carefully

"...I meant that I wanted you to expose to the world that he is not the demon everyone thinks he is. That he is not the depraved person the rumors paint him to be."

She gestured emphatically.

"I wanted you to throw water on all those false narratives. To stop the spread of those horrible rumors that continue to grow worse every day."

Joy stared, her mind struggling to process this.

"Overall, I wanted you to keep an eye on him. Make sure he didn’t continue to spread those negative rumors and that damaging influence. I wanted you to contain him, not destroy him."

The Goddess sighed, a wry chuckle escaping her lips.

"But you’re not really to blame for this misunderstanding. I suppose my messages were far too vague."

She shrugged helplessly.

"With my sister watching over me, I couldn’t exactly send direct messages targeting Cassius specifically. I had to be...creative with my wording. Evasive."

She smiled apologetically.

"It seems my creative wording backfired completely."