Theresia and the Starlight Knight, Lucy Raphael, were troubled but ultimately decided to grant the request. Theresia carried a new being, the sun, within her. It would take twelve months to create a light bright enough to satisfy the humans. 

But the process was excruciating. The sun within her was unbearably hot, and Theresia suffered from fever and thirst. It was an immense pain the god had never experienced before. In the end, Theresia couldn’t bear it and drank from the Fountain of Chaos. 

This fountain had been created by sorcerers born from Theresia’s shadow, intended to harm the god. It had a sinister power to separate what should be united, turning order into chaos. As a result, Theresia gave birth to the sun prematurely after just ten months. 

Thus, the Sun God Zerev was born. Zerev could emit the bright light the humans desired, but he was an incomplete being by nature. Deceit and malice were ingrained in his very being. 

He felt inferior to Theresia’s perfection. Though he could create servants from his own body, he could never breathe life into them as Theresia could. His inferiority soon turned into greed and anger. 

Zerev refused to obey Theresia. He shone his light upon her, creating more sorcerers from her shadow. Together, they waged war to bring Theresia to her knees. 

Theresia, who loved all of creation, hesitated to strike down Zerev, whom she had brought into the world in an imperfect form, and this hesitation became a weakness that gradually ate away at her domain. Moreover, she was already weakened from pouring her divine power into creating Zerev. 

Days of perpetual daylight without the moon became more frequent. All the creatures of the world, unable to rest or sleep, fell into madness. 

The endless battle between day and night continued. Though Zerev won many battles and expanded his domain, Theresia’s knights tenaciously held their ground and protected her. 

As the war dragged on, Zerev tore off a piece of himself to create the most powerful knight in existence, one who would guard the boundary between day and night—dawn and dusk. 

Thus was born Yuri Eclipse, the servant of the Sun God Zerev. He was a fierce and ruthless warrior, loyal to his master. He faithfully fulfilled his duty at the boundary of time, wounding Theresia’s knights with his sword and driving them back into the night. 

But the world Theresia had created didn’t operate solely on order and rules. Theresia was a god who cherished the moments when perfect rules were occasionally disrupted, leading to unexpected events. 

Yuri Eclipse was a loyal hound of Zerev, until something happened that even Zerev himself hadn’t foreseen. 

* * * 

The Sun God Zerev was not an easy master to serve. He was temperamental, cruel, and unappreciative of his servants. Many of them defected because of his tyrannical behavior. But Yuri Eclipse was so indifferent to everything that he was mocked for having no will of his own. 

Perhaps it was because he was merely a shell, never having received Theresia’s breath of life. Or maybe it was because Zerev, an incomplete god, had created him with his own imperfect body. He never even considered defying Zerev’s will. 

Dawn and dusk were the times when the battles between Theresia and Zerev were most intense, and Yuri Eclipse was always at the forefront of these battles. On the day his fate changed, he was advancing Zerev’s domain by reducing the stars that shot arrows through the weakened sunlight to mere dust. 

—Annoying weaklings. 

His body was always bleeding from the arrows that struck him, but he was used to managing pain. The wounds would heal within a day, and the next day he would be injured in the same spots again. There was no point in making a fuss over it. 

But that day, the stars, which should have retreated and hidden among the clouds to escape his trampling, didn’t back down. They whispered among themselves in faint voices, as dim as the light they emitted. 

Yuri Eclipse frowned. 

—Theresia is coming, Yuri Eclipse! 

—Lady Theresia, you must flee. 

Then, he heard the name of his arch-enemy. The name of the mother of all things and the creator of the world. The most noble of gods. He tensed up, reaching for his sword. 

Parting the clouds, he moved forward to find his opponent. The long strands of the god’s hair served as his guide. Finally, at the end of those long strands, he met Theresia’s amber eyes. 

She didn’t look particularly strong, nor did she appear particularly large. He almost doubted the rumour that she had created the world. 

He drew his sword and dared to point it at the god’s throat, just as his master would have done in this situation. But as if she were not the creator of all things for nothing, Theresia didn’t flinch at his threat. Instead, she smiled warmly at him, as if greeting a welcome guest. 

—So, you’re Yuri Eclipse. 

—…… 

—I’ve always wanted to see you. Everything in this world was born with my kiss, but since Zerev made you, you’ve never met me, and that’s always bothered me.