Selene had, of course, heard of the Artificial Magic Net, and it had left a deep impression on her.
She still remembered a night long ago when Hecate excitedly told her that a mortal wizard was trying to analyze the essence of the Magic Net, and even attempting to replicate a new one.
But at that time, the Moon Goddess was undoubtedly very surprised, not only by the mortal's delusion but also by her friend's reaction.
The former was easy to understand; after all, the Magic Net was such a magnificent and vast masterpiece.
For a mere mortal, who didn't even possess Divinity, to attempt to deconstruct the Magic Net, was simply preposterous.
Moreover, given that human's realm at the time, he couldn't even fully access the twelve-layered structure of the Magic Net, let alone create a new one.
As for the latter, there was no need to mention it; the Authority of a true god was the very face and power of the deity.
Now, a mortal dared to covet your Divinity, and not only did you not eliminate him, but you also seemed overjoyed.
Selene couldn't understand, so she decided not to hide her confusion.
Facing the Moon Goddess's question, Hecate's answer at the time was thought-provoking.
"I remember you told me that you are the Goddess of the Magic Web, the pioneer, the builder, and also its perfecter and achiever."
"It will be perfected in your hands, eventually taking root in every corner of the present world… but that's all."
"You are its beginning, but you will not be its entirety; you have known this since the first day it was born."
"So you are not angry about the birth of the Artificial Magic Net… in fact, you are more pleased."
"You hope someone studies it, perfects it, achieves it, and is ultimately achieved by it."
"So when the Centaur, who discovered the existence of the Artificial Magic Net, frantically came to you, asking for your opinion on the matter, you ultimately told him—you never considered studying the Magic Net to be a blasphemy against you."
"On the contrary, this is wizards using their Wisdom to express their respect to the pioneers on the path of witchcraft."
On the nameless Celestial Bodies, beside the silver chariot.
Selene had just managed to try and play the role of 'listener,' 'thinker,' and 'problem solver,' but within three seconds, the girl in the red dress had reverted her to her original state.
Fortunately, the Moon Goddess was already used to this; she merely twisted her neck under Hecate's 'punishment,' trying to meet her eyes.
"So what do these messages have to do with the Artificial Magic Net? Did its research fail?"
"Yes."
Nodding and casually swinging her small leg, Hecate acknowledged Selene's statement.
"It did fail, just like when I once taught little Chiron."
"Hmm… perhaps I'm not very good at being a guide."
"It feels like every promising beginning I've touched hasn't come to fruition."
"Zeus might be good at this, but he's not the Golden hair young man I first met anymore, and I don't want to bother him at all right now."
"Maybe there are others who are good at these things, but I don't know them."
"So, let it be; with a few more tries, it will surely succeed."
"Hmm, but speaking of which," Hecate lowered her head slightly, looking at the Moon Goddess: "Since they're all unreliable, Selene, would you like to try?"
"Try what?"
A little confused, the goddess in the moon-white gauze dress was puzzled.
"Huh?" Hecate's eyes widened slightly, and she exclaimed in surprise: "Didn't I mention it before?"
"You didn't mention it?"
Puffing her cheeks lightly, Selene was a little annoyed.
"Is that so?"
Hearing this, Hecate waved her hand, a little embarrassed.
"So you didn't know, but it's not important… it's not too late for me to tell you now."
She organized her Language, and facing the Moon Goddess's accusatory gaze, she lightly described her thoughts.
"Actually, it's quite simple; I mainly need your help to temporarily take over as the Goddess of the Magic Web for me…"
"Pfft—"
"Cough, cough… Wait, what did you just say?"
Her eyes wide, Selene's voice even cracked a little.
Hecate, however, seemed to just casually shake her head, as if the other party was making too much of a fuss.
"Yes, you heard right, it's to take my place as the Goddess of the Magic Web."
"How about it? Are you tempted? This is the Magic Net; it's much more powerful than your Moon."
"…Hecate, are you crazy?"
"What god would willingly abandon their Divinity, and how could I possibly steal your Divinity!"
Incredulous, at this moment, the Moon Goddess felt as if she were dreaming.
However, in front of her, watching Selene's reaction, Hecate simply thought for a moment.
Immediately, a sky-blue shadow converged behind her, evolving into another version of herself.
In an instant, some invisible influence seemed to spread out.
Unlike the lively nature of the girl in the red dress, when the figure in the blue dress appeared on this nameless Celestial Bodies, even the entire starry sky seemed to become quiet and peaceful.
With her hands clasped at her right hip, the blue-dressed Hecate took a step forward.
Though they shared almost identical faces, her demeanor made anyone feel gentle as water.
"I'm not crazy… Selene, this is my true path."
"In fact, the true Goddess of the Magic Web is me; I am the one born from the Magic Net."
"And the one who wants to give up this Authority is also me; it has never been anyone else."
Speaking softly, the girl squatted down.
And in front of her, looking at the faint smile on the blue-dressed Hecate's lips, Selene felt as if she was seeing the vast and boundless Magic Net itself.
"I am its pioneer, but not its entirety."
"The Magic Net is 'Hecate's' Authority; it is also not her entirety."
"Thousands of years ago, she completed her earthly life above the Eastern Sea. When the Magic Net was born, I appeared."
"As for now… when the Third Era comes to an end, the Magic Net will be perfected in my hands."
"From that day on, the next 'me' should arrive."
"…"
"So that's how it is… But Hecate, I still don't understand."
Nodding gently, after a moment of silence, a hint of confusion flashed in Selene's eyes.
She tried to understand the words of the blue-dressed Hecate, but the mystery of the Tri-Phase Incarnation truly exceeded her knowledgereserves.
Seeing this, the girl in the blue dress merely smiled faintly, while the girl in the red dress poked her in dissatisfaction.
"So troublesome… Alright then—I'll explain it to you properly."
Pursing her lips, Hecate could understand.
The Tri-Phase Incarnation was a unique endowment, yet just like how the same witchcraft inheritance often yielded different results in different hands, beings with Tri-Phase abilities themselves varied, and even their own choices could lead them down entirely different paths.
Her ability to embark on such a path was, to some extent, a matter of fortuitous circumstance.
…
Unlike the Tri-Phase Incarnation of the Lord of Eternal Night in legends—of course, strictly speaking, Hecate didn't know what the other party's incarnation looked like.
It was just that in various ancient Legends of the world, Nyx's three phases and she herself were always separate, as if they were independent entities, but she was not like that.
In her original trajectory, Hecate had the image of three heads and three bodies, and also manifested as old, middle-aged, and young.
But no matter how they were divided, her three phases were mutually external and internal, unified into one.
They could not be divided, could not be separated.
Rather than three different individuals, they represented three different imageries of the same existence.
On this point, Hecate in this world further developed it.
Her first incarnation, the image of the girl in the red dress, symbolized her inherent identity, everything she was born with, and all her actions in the mortal world.
And on the day the era changed, when she successfully wove the Magic Net and ascended to godhood, it meant that her journey from birth to godhood was completely perfected.
The incarnation in red was thus complete, and the Goddess of the Magic Web descending from the sea was born from this.
They were all Hecate, yet none of them were the complete Hecate.
Therefore, from this day on, the old journey ended, and a new task named 'Perfecting the Magic Net' was born.
As Hecate's second Tri-Phase Incarnation, she in blue was born alongside the Magic Net.
So, to perfect herself, she had to ensure the Magic Net also reached perfection.
Of course, absolute perfection does not exist; she only needed to achieve relative perfection.
And although this was difficult, Hecate was confident she could achieve it at some point by the end of this era.
However, at the same time, another problem arose.
Because when the Magic Net achieved relative perfection, Hecate's second incarnation had to withdraw from the Magic Net while perfecting herself.
Otherwise, once that moment of relative perfection passed, her second incarnation would revert to an incomplete state.
Only by timely selecting the next Goddess of the Magic Web, allowing her to smoothly abdicate solely as 'the pioneer of the Magic Net,' 'the shaper of the Magic Net,' and 'the perfecter of the Magic Net,' would subsequent imperfections be unrelated to her; that would entirely be the concern of the second Magic Net God.
Hecate had naturally known this from the day the Magic Net was first established.
So she took on an apprentice who resembled her somewhat—an immortal, a divine descendant, and a seemingly abandoned Centaur.
She hoped he could, like her, reach the pinnacle of near-godhood, and then take over the position of Magic Net God from her at the next epochal shift.
However, this idea did not last long; as time passed, Hecate gradually realized that although Chiron was diligent and eager to learn, he simply did not possess this ability.
"He is very intelligent and talented, especially in astrology… That's why I initially thought he was just obsessed with Prophecy and potions, rather than lacking in his own talent."
"But later, the naked reality proved me wrong."
"His talent in witchcraft was no better than that of other divine descendants; in fact, more accurately, his aptitude in this area was quite ordinary."
"Instead, he seemed naturally sensitive to mortal martial arts and archery. But by the time I realized this, it was already a bit too late."
Shaking her head slightly, Hecate found it difficult to comment on the matter.
When she realized that Chiron's talent was not in witchcraft, she once very seriously told him that, given his aptitude, he might never be able to meet her requirements.
As the Goddess of the Magic Web, she was naturally very disappointed.
But as the teacher of her first apprentice, Hecate hoped that he could timely recognize his strengths and no longer focus his energy on the path of a spellcaster because of her.
He could delve into martial arts and archery, training his physique, even though Hecate could not teach him in those areas.
However, although the Centaur outwardly accepted reality, he had not given up in his heart.
He still tried to learn profound witchcraft, even in the realms beyond Legend, his mediocre talent made every step difficult.
Conversely, it was his hobbies of martial arts and archery that allowed him to display the normal strength of a demigod descendant.
"No choice, I couldn't change his mind, so I stopped discussing witchcraft with him and let him live as he pleased."
"As for the divine heroes he taught, although I mostly didn't like them, since that was what he wanted to do, I didn't stop him."
"I just started trying to find a new successor… until the appearance of the Artificial Magic Net."
With a hint of reminiscence on her face, Hecate continued.
"Selene, do you know?"
"This was a genius invention, and from the perspective of a Legendwizard who hadn't even stepped into the demigod realm, it was especially genius."
"This kind of exploration into the essence of the Magic Net was truly what made someone potentially capable of inheriting the Divinity of the Magic Net God. I even thought at the time that if he could continue like this, I would bestow upon him immortal Divinity at the end of the era, then open up a divine kingdom and entrust him with the Authority of governing the Magic Net."
"I originally wanted to tell him this myself, to tell him that he had been chosen as the successor to the Magic Net God."
"But I hesitated, because I thought, perhaps such a genius could give me even more surprises."
"If he could rely on his own abilities to ascend to demigodhood, or even become a god, then he might be able to wield the Magic Net better, and take over my legacy more smoothly, so I chose to let him be."
"Someone once told me that the most brilliant thoughts and civilizations only arise in the freest environments. So I didn't pay too much attention to him, only decentralizing the Authority to manage the arcane locks to those wizards."
"After all, the root of the arcane locks is the Magic Net; studying the arcane locks is more conducive to them understanding the Magic Net itself… But Selene, even I didn't expect that mortal wizard to embark on such a path."
"He gave up on the Artificial Magic Net and chose to study gods themselves."
Speaking softly, as a god, Hecate rarely paid attention to what the wizards in the mortal world were doing.
After all, she only needed to open compendium of all laws, and knowledge not involving the divine realm would automatically appear on it.
However, unfortunately, the forbidden research of the other party involved a god from the very beginning… So the girl in the blue dress slowly stood up, and she could only shake her head about it.
"He finally found the path to immortality, but I no longer intend for him to be the Magic Net God."
"He is not suitable for this position; becoming the Magic Net God would only lead him further into the abyss of taboos."
"So I've thought it through. Although my intuition tells me I need a mortal to inherit the position of Magic Net God, that doesn't mean it can't first be held concurrently by a god."
"Selene, perhaps you are indeed not suitable for this position."
"But I think, there will be a god who is suitable."