In the end, this divine conflict was over before it even fully started.

The Ice and Snow Goddess simply wasn't a match for the opponent.

She was mercilessly subdued by a gentle large hand, pressed without dignity onto a lap, and furiously teased and caressed.

There were two reasons why she behaved so obediently.

One of them was the opponent's identity.

[God of Cold Winter·Uphemia]

He is one of the Four Seasons Gods of the Natural Pantheon, a powerful Divine Spirit with middle-tier Divine Power, and the nominal Main God whom the Ice and Snow Goddess serves.

Her superior, so she doesn't argue with him!

As for the second reason, it's because... the Ice and Snow Goddess cannot beat him.

The Ice and Snow Goddess barely reached low-tier Divine Power, and even that was due to receiving a lot of believers through his charity.

To be frank, the Ice and Snow Goddess managed to slip into the powerful Natural Pantheon completely because of his guidance.

As a side note, even after getting in, she is essentially just a mascot.

Nobody really expects her to do anything, nor does anyone care about her—oh, except for the Cold Winter Goddess.

Moreover, the God of Cold Winter, although possessing only middle-tier Divine Power, is an Ancient God who doesn't need followers to provide faith, and his strength is genuine.

Bullying a disobedient little kitty was more than effortless for him.

Even though we're now in the Era of Faith, a time dominated by the gods of belief, the Ancient Gods haven't completely disappeared in the river of time.

While quite a few Ancient Gods were slain by the newly emerged gods of faith and were deprived of their authority, some weren't killed in that affair.

Among these surviving Ancient Gods, some betted successfully during those times, opting to assist the yet-to-be-deified mortals, ultimately escaping the fate of being cleansed.

Goddesses like the Moon Goddess, the Goddess of Fortune, the Plant God... are such examples.

Of course, there are also some Ancient Gods whose overpowering strength meant they didn't get involved in those messy affairs, and nobody dared provoke them.

Such powerful Ancient Gods include the God of Death, the Sun God, the God of the Sea... they possess high-tier Divine Power and aren't bothered by the rise of gods of belief.

The Ancient Gods of the new era mostly chose to blend into the Era of Faith, also beginning to gather faith, establishing their own churches.

And like other gods of belief, they compete for followers to try and advance further.

The God of Cold Winter is considered a rather special oddity among them.

As the world's first cedar, he has represented winter in this world since his birth.

His power descended thusly, achieving middle-tier Divine Power from the time of his birth.

He himself has no church of his own.

Because his power wouldn't change much with or without followers.

The world's will doesn't shift because of mortals, and winter doesn't get delayed due to mortal fear.

And when winter arrives and snow falls, mortals will naturally revere the winter.

But unlike some world's cruel and harsh winter gods, the Cold Winter Goddess of this world is very—merciful.

As mocked by the Ice and Snow Goddess, his personality is completely different from his cold Divine Position, and his maternal instinct is rampantly excessive.

Especially enjoying playing the role of "mother" around him.

"There, there~ hehe~"

The Cold Winter Goddess hugged the Ice and Snow Goddess, relishing for a good long while before gently setting her down.

(Shake, shake, shake!)

Once freed, the Ice and Snow Goddess began to furiously shake off on the ground, like a little drill spinning with her long fur.

Expressing her disdain wildly through her actions.

Hate it!

Throughout, the Cold Winter Goddess merely watched her performance without any anger.

Lightly laughing and shaking his head, as if watching a cute little creature.

Finally, after the Ice and Snow Goddess finished her routine, the Cold Winter Goddess slowly spoke: "Do you know why I came to find you today?"

"Why? Hmph!"

The white cat squinted sideways, her eyelids constantly fluttering.

What else could it be?

Isn't it just a bout of wanting to indulge in a cat cuddle!? It's not the first time, acting all innocent?

The Cold Winter Goddess shook his head, his expression still gentle, but with a hint of seriousness in his tone: "Do you know where you ran off to just now?"

!!!

The white cat's expression froze, then instinctively tried to sprint away, but was firmly tied up by branches sprouting from the ice and brought back to his lap.

And this time, back on the Cold Winter Goddess's lap, she appeared incredibly obedient and docile.

Not only did she not struggle, but she also emitted a cute, placating purr.

"Meow, meow~"

Oops.

Caught out wandering by the parent!

"Hehe."

The Cold Winter Goddess shook his head, not chastising but continued to gently stroke her soft long fur, softly speaking: "I know you like to roam around, but you must be cautious of the danger."

The Ice and Snow Goddess perhaps due to her feline nature had a heavy penchant for wandering since her creation, enjoying drifting around the mortal realm.

The Cold Winter Goddess knew this better than anyone and hadn't restricted her much, knowing that with her strength, she generally wouldn't encounter major danger.

But—the Misty Mountains clearly aren't a usual case.

"It's a forbidden mountain range, don't go there again." The Cold Winter Goddess sighed lightly and cautioned, "No matter what you discovered there, whatever attracted you, don't dispatch your avatar there anymore."

"It's a place where gods have fallen, and if your avatar dies there, your true form will be affected too."

Killing a Divine Spirit is not easy.

As long as they don't walk with their true form in the mortal realm, losing an avatar wouldn't majorly impact them.

Even if their true form perishes, they wouldn't completely die but can lie in wait with contingencies to revive anew.

But in this world, there are always some places with different rules.

Like Blood Battlefields, Misty Mountains, Deep Sea Abyss, etc., Divine Forbidden Areas...

If a Divine Spirit unfortunately perishes there in true form, it would be utter death, all external contingencies fail, and they can never resurrect!

The Cold Winter Goddess was startled to discover his silly kitty went there, and arrived immediately at another of her avatar locations.

Arrested on the spot!

"By the way, I never asked, what were you doing there?"

"I went to..."

The Ice and Snow Goddess reflexively began to answer but quickly corrected herself: "Nothing! Absolutely nothing! I wasn't doing..."

"Hmm?"

Gulp.

Seeing the still gentle smile on the Cold Winter Goddess but the lack of smile in his eyes, she swallowed hard, shrinking her head in resignation, closing her eyes in acceptance.

It's over now!

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