Chapter 235: An Overprotective Father
The night was unnaturally still. Above the Eternal Tree, the stars bent inward, folding like an eye gazing down upon the world. The air grew heavy, saturated with an ancient presence.
Igaris stood alone on the balcony, his black cloak stirring in the wind. His golden eyes narrowed as the voice came, deep and endless, filling the sky.
"Igaris Vance."
The voice was not thunder, nor was it whisper. It was the world itself speaking. The Will of Orca.
"You were chosen to do more than conquer. You were chosen to restore me. To bring back what was cut away, what was lost. Gilgamesh... my counterpart. My reflection of wrath, of hunger, of ambition. The shadow of my will. Without him, I remain broken. Incomplete. And you—my vessel of power—have failed me."
The words struck like stone, echoing in the marrow of his bones.
Igaris frowned. His hand clenched against the balcony rail, knuckles pale. Still, his voice remained steady. "Failed? I have brought the world to its knees. I have united what was shattered. If Gilgamesh has not yet returned, it is because he hides. His shadow is not easy to chase."
The heavens quivered, clouds writhing like wounded beasts.
"Do not excuse yourself. You allowed him to slip away when you should have bound him. You were to draw him to me, to complete what was torn apart. And instead, you let destiny fracture again. You disappoint me, Igaris."
For the first time, a trace of anger stirred in Igaris’s golden gaze. He lifted his chin, unbending beneath the weight of creation’s voice. "You speak as though I am your servant. No. I am your partner in this fate, Orca. You cannot command me as though I were your pawn."
The silence that followed was sharp enough to cut. Then, the voice rumbled again, lower, colder.
"Without me, you would not be. Do not forget your place, Overlord."
Igaris did not flinch. Instead, a sound pierced the tense air—the soft cry of a newborn child from the chamber within. His daughter. Celestara.
At that sound, the fire in his eyes shifted, tempered into something deeper. His voice dropped, resolute.
"Listen well, Orca. You want to be whole again. You want your counterpart returned. Fine. I will find Gilgamesh. I already know the place where he festers... the Valley Beyond Names, where forgotten worlds collapse. When the time comes, I will drag him out and bring him before you. But not tonight. Not while my daughter breathes her first breaths. Not while Evernight and my wives stand beside me. I will not abandon them for your impatience."
The sky pulsed, dark and restless, as though the will of creation itself debated how to answer. At last, the voice returned, quieter but no less heavy.
"...So be it. For now. But do not delay, Igaris. The shadow grows stronger each moment. If you falter again, all you have built will burn. Remember that."
The stars steadied, and the presence withdrew, leaving only silence and the pale glow of the Eternal Tree.
Igaris lingered, his fist slowly unclenching. He whispered into the night, "Gilgamesh... you are not mine to fight, but mine to capture. For Orca. And when the time is right, I will come for you."
He turned and stepped back into the chamber.
There, Evernight cradled Celestara, her small horns glowing faintly in the moonlight. Shirley and Diva sat close, their hands protectively near the child. His other wives lingered in quiet reverence. The room was alive with warmth, so stark against the cold demand of the heavens.
Igaris approached, lowering himself beside them. He brushed a hand against his daughter’s dark hair, and for the first time in centuries, his lips softened into a smile.
"Until then... I will protect this."
Celestara cooed softly, her tiny hand reaching up as if to grasp his finger. Igaris let her, his heart steadying with an oath no god could break.
"This is my eternity. My reason. My truth. Orca will have to wait."
---
Celestara’s first months were unlike any other child’s in existence. For she had a father who could bend space like paper and fold time into ribbons, yet chose instead to spend his days hovering anxiously over every small sound she made.
Igaris, the Supreme God whose roar once toppled thrones, now snapped to attention the instant his daughter sneezed.
"Was that a cough?" His golden eyes blazed as if ready to incinerate an enemy. He scooped her up instantly, examining her as though even the cosmos itself was unworthy of touching her delicate skin.
Evernight sighed from the bedside, her long hair spilling over her shoulders. "She just sneezed, Igaris. Children sneeze."
But Igaris shook his head gravely, rocking Celestara as if soothing the entire universe. "No. A Supreme God’s daughter must not sneeze. It means the world is not pure enough. Perhaps the air here is tainted. I will find a better one."
And before Evernight could stop him, he stepped into his domain, folding space like parchment.
Moments later, they were on a meadow world of eternal spring. Blossoms glowed in colors unseen by mortal eyes, and rivers of starlight flowed instead of water. Celestara gurgled happily, tiny horns glowing as she waved her little hands.
Igaris exhaled, satisfied. "See? Here the air is worthy of her."
Evernight pinched the bridge of her nose, torn between exasperation and laughter. "You cannot whisk her away to a new world every time she sneezes. Do you intend to burn out the universe protecting her nose?"
Behind them, Iskarth Vance and Eleanora watched from a hill, both shaking their heads with faint smiles.
"He’s hopeless," Eleanora whispered, covering her lips to stifle her laugh. "He acts as though she will crumble at the wind."
Iskarth chuckled, arms crossed. "So it seems. Our son, the one who terrifies gods and demons, now undone by the cry of a babe."
---
Another day, Celestara’s cry rang out because a star outside their balcony flickered faintly.
Instantly, Igaris appeared in the sky, his hand stretching across galaxies. He plucked the star itself from its place, drawing it like a glowing pearl into his palm. He returned to the chamber and gently placed it before Celestara’s cradle.
"See, little one? It will never flicker again. I have brought it just for you."
Celestara giggled, reaching for the star as though it were a toy.
Evernight leapt to her feet, aghast. "Igaris! You cannot just steal stars! Do you mean to strip the heavens bare for her amusement?"
"She smiled, Evernight," he replied calmly, as if that excused bending the cosmos. "If her smile demands the light of every sun, then I will give her all suns."
Eleanora buried her face in her husband’s shoulder, laughter shaking her. "He’s impossible."
Iskarth only groaned. "I fear for the universe. If this continues, he will hand her the laws of creation by her first birthday."
---
Yet the most outrageous incident came during a family trip to the Crystal Sea, a world where oceans were made of shimmering glass. Celestara toddled to the edge, her reflection sparkling in the waves. She cooed at the light, clapping her hands.
But when she tripped and fell onto the soft sand, Igaris reacted as if struck by lightning.
In an instant, he froze the entire sea, sealed the winds, and summoned twenty of his doppelgangers to surround her in protective formation. "Who dares harm her!" he roared, eyes blazing with golden fire.
Evernight, Shirley, and Diva all shouted at once. "Igaris! She just tripped!"
He blinked, then slowly looked down to see Celestara crawling happily, patting the sand as if nothing had happened. She giggled, reaching up toward him, her horns glowing faintly.
Igaris sighed with immense relief, picking her up carefully. He cradled her as though she had just survived a calamity. "You are safe. Good. Good. I will destroy every grain of sand on this world that dared to touch you."
Evernight smacked his arm lightly, cheeks flushed in both frustration and embarrassment. "If you destroy every world she touches, there will be nothing left for her to walk on!"
Behind them, Iskarth laughed openly this time, holding Eleanora as she leaned against him, unable to contain her mirth.
"Our son is lost," Eleanora said through her laughter. "Utterly lost. Not even gods could stand before him, yet here he trembles before a child’s fall."
---
Still, despite Evernight’s scolding and his parents’ teasing, Igaris never relented. Every trip they took, every world he unfolded for her, was filled with his devotion.
Whether it was bringing her flowers made of crystallized time, sculpting moons into shapes just to amuse her, or silencing storms so she could sleep without thunder, he gave Celestara more than the universe.
He gave her his heart.
And even Evernight, as much as she scolded, would sometimes catch him late at night—sitting by Celestara’s cradle, golden eyes soft, watching over her with a smile that was no longer the Overlord’s, but a father’s.
Evernight would lean against the doorframe, her voice quiet. "You are too much, Igaris."
And he would answer every time, never moving his gaze from his daughter.
"No. For her, there is no such thing."