I reject the eternal march of progress. There is no such thing and there are plenty of examples throughout history: both natural and man-made of advancements being made and then later removed once they weren’t needed. In fact, I would say this eternal march of one step back, two steps forwards is the very essence of our world. For even when it was made, it clad itself in a sheet of ash that had to settle before life could form.

Humanity created kings and queens, and replaced them with presidents and ministers. Humanity created antibiotics and withheld their power from common colds. Humanity created great weapons in the past, and set them aside for the sake of the future. From cigarettes to coal power, from the fact that every regulation is written in blood to the fact that Divinity is already in retreat worldwide, humanity learns from mistakes and humanity corrects mistakes.

But humanity’s greatest mistake, that has proven time and time again that it is capable of destroying the world if it wished to, is still uncorrected:

Divinity.

“One step back. Two steps forward.” A critique of Divinity by Anarchia

Fer looked around as she heard the laughter. The gears in her mind started to work and then she turned them off immediately, thinking could be done later, right now, there were other things to do. Her eyes scanned the environment and the ruined city around her. Broken windows, sharp glass. Wreckages of vehicles. One car had been thrown and was smashed into a building. A tank that had been hit from above and now lacked a turret. A hole in the roof of a building. Smell of fire from within it. And gasoline. Bodies on the ground. They smelled of humanity and Divinity at the same time.

And then Fer looked at the two people in front of her that were still standing as she tuned out the echo of Anarchia’s laughter. A huge muscled man, almost naked, with a hammer, and a woman with a sword in a dress of pinks and violets. Fer raised an eyebrow for a mere moment as she looked at the people. Who did they think they were? Actors? Superheroes? They looked out something taken out of a children’s book. Fer didn’t give them a moment to test her strength, nor did she wait for them to make the first move.

As Anarchia began to shout something, Fer sprang into action. She didn’t waste a moment. Lions did not wait for permission to start a hunt, and wolves did not wait for their prey to lie down before they went for the kill. She saw the muscled man, saw him flinch as she launched across the black tarmac of this Arisian street. That was good, he must have a powerful blessing if he was fast enough to flinch against Fer’s speed. The sweet smell of Paida’s awe entered her nose as Fer’s clawed hand tore through the man’s chest and she tasted blood.

Human blood, yet heroic. Powerful. That was the only way Fer could describe it. It burned on the way down like a particularly large mouthful of a particular strong vodka and then set alight in her stomach. Fer felt fur burst out over her skin as her foot slammed into the ground and she immediately launched into the woman dressed in the pinks and violets.

This person at the very least had the decency to raise a counter attack. She gave up on all hopes of defence and simply swung her blade through the air towards Fer’s general direction. The Goddess of Beasthood towered over Divines, she didn’t know if the woman had given up and was simply giving a final desperate swing everything she had, or if she actually meant to try and stop her, but Fer was so large that dodging something like that was practically impossible.

Fer’s hand shot forwards and she caught the blade with her open palm as the woman screamed. Of Beasthood felt the blade cut through her skin and smiled as her claws severed the woman’s head from her neck. It was always impressive when someone managed to actually cut into her, even more so when that person was a mortal. A thousand more blessed people like this, and Fer may actually break a sweat.

The Goddess of Beasthood stood up tall as she licked the blood off her hand. She was a giant statue clad with the backdrop of a golden mane. Covered in fur and with bouncing ears that popped out from the top of her head as her yellow eyes looked around. She saw Anarchia, she smelled Paida behind her. The Goddess of Rancais smelled of shock and awe and relief. Anarchia ahead had that slightly tangy smell of mild annoyance. Fer stretched her hands, palms facing outwards from herself as she made a show of stretching and looking at the Goddess of Anarchy.

Anarchia was tall. That was the first thing that came to Fer’s mind. Very tall, taller than Paida easily. Maybe as tall as Kassie. She had hair as black as pitch and shining eyes of crimson and white. Casual clothes, simply a shirt of black and a skirt to match it. Normally, Fer would only smirk at Divines that went without armour. The amount that truly lacked the need for any protective clothing in a battle measured how many? There was Arascus, and even had donned battle-armour on occasion. There was Anassa. Irinika. Olephia. Did Elassa’s battledress count? Most likely. Zerus then, and Sceo. Even Kassie wore armour and she was the Goddess of War. And Fer supposed she herself also went without steel slowing her down.

Anarchia, simply from the way she carried herself, immediately deserved her position as one of the armour-less.

Fer’s eyes narrowed as she heard her own heart beat and pretended to be relaxed. An opponent underestimating could only be good, although she doubted she could be underestimated after killing those two that quickly. “We meet at last!” Fer shouted. “Shouldn’t the junior introduce herself?”

“I know who you are and you know who I am.” Anarchia shouted from the end of the road. No weapons either. Did that mean she was a fist-fighter? Maybe. Fer’s eyes looked around as she saw two more souls jump onto the roofs. More of Anarchia’s blessed warriors. The Goddess of Beasthood smelled the air and saw humans run out onto the street from behind Anarchia. Unblessed souls, but obviously loyal to that Goddess: they were dressed in whatever style of clothes were at hand, but everyone wore a red armband and carried some makeshift club or cheap rifle.

“And here I thought you would have some decency.” Fer said as she scanned Anarchia. Should she move in quick? The rules changed when facing a Divine. A mortal should always be killed quickly in case they have some powerful gemstone or catalyst on them, but stepping close to a Divine could mean certain death.

“You just killed four of my chosen.” Anarchia replied flatly. She looked at Fer, at Paida, then back at Fer and took a step forwards. Fer stood her ground as her ears quivered. She smelled the woman’s… excitement? Was Anarchia really that prideful? But then even major Divines would be nervous going up against her. It was either the woman had no clue what she was doing, or she knew exactly what she was doing.

“Do you want to meet them in the afterlife?” Fer asked. Anarchia took another step forward as those crimson eyes scanned Fer.

“Why do you fight?” Anarchia shouted and Fer rolled her eyes. If the woman didn’t have such an unnatural aura about, she would have gone in already.

“What sort of question is that?” Fer asked and Anarchia shook her head. That black hair was a blemish on reality, as if it was simply a lack of space behind the woman.

“I simply want to know.”

“Why do you?” Fer replied.

“I’ll answer if you do.” Anarchia replied, Fer had her reply ready. Frankly, she didn’t know if it even mattered or not.

“Because I want to.” Fer said and Anarchia smiled.

“Then I fight for what is right.” Anarchia shouted back and Fer rolled her eyes. Kassie had led this change in Divine combat, and it had always been one she appreciated. The need for these pre-battle dialogues had never sat right with her and she had always gone in for an early kill. That had not been good for her reputation until Kassie’s revolution in Divine combat put an end to talk.

“And what is that?” Fer watched Anarchia’s step. Confident and sure of herself. The Goddess advanced step by step.

“It is to free the world from you.”

“Wonderful.” Fer said and finally charged forwards. From zero to a hundred, from standing as still as a magnificent statue to striking as fast as a leopard. Fer launched forwards and realised she had overshot her speed or maybe undershot Anarchia’s. The raven-haired Goddess stepped to the side and smirked as she tapped Fer on the shoulder.

Fer immediately turned, her feet sliding into the tarmac and swung at Anarchia. Her fist impacted, the other Goddess was so tough that Fer’s fingers broke and Anarchia was sent sliding backwards as Fer followed up on the advance, her bones naturally piecing themselves back together. She punched again and Anarchia dodged her again. Was the woman getting taller? Fer blinked and took a punch to the gut. She hadn’t even realised that Anarchia had thrown a counter.

If the woman was this good at dodging, then Fer would wait for her own counter-attack. She stopped, she moved, and she kept her eyes on Anarchia as the woman bounced from foot to foot with a grin on her face. “That was weak.” Fer said tauntingly, even though her heart wasn’t in it. Since when was Anarchia moving so fast anyw… Fer’s heart dropped as she realised what was happening. Anarchia was not moving faster.

She was getting slower.

“I’m not here to kill you kitten.” Anarchia said. Fer felt her knees buckle. “Not yet anyway, the might of Beasthood is one of the truest sources of strength in this world. Think of how many people your strength can power!” And the Goddess of Beasthood realised what was happening to her.

“Leech.” Fer spat out as yelled and threw another punch into Anarchia’s stomach. The Goddess of Anarchy was starting to move faster.

“Leech?” Anarchia cooed. “No, I am not a leech.” She laughed again and tutted. “I thought you would be harder to defeat.” The woman punched towards Fer as the Goddess of Beasthood dodged backwards. She needed to get away from this power. But she needed to find out what Anarchia did exactly that made her like this too.

“Do you think I’m down and out already?”

“I have my hooks in you already.” Anarchia said and punched Fer square in the chest. The Goddess of Beasthood felt her entire body recoil, she had no clue how she had been hit, but likewise she didn’t even see Anarchia’s blow. How was the woman getting faster? “Think what you want, you are not as true to yourself as you think you are Fer.” Anarchia shouted as Paida screamed.

“FEERRR!!!!”

“Neither are you Paida.” Fer’s ears twitched, the hairs on her back stood up and she forced herself off the ground. Not her and not Paida? And hooks? True to yourself? She smelled the sheer confidence in Anarchia and then tasted blood in her mouth. Her own blood. That was a rare feeling indeed.

“I am myself Anarchia. I am me and no one else.” Fer said and Anarchia laughed.

“If you are, then why is your heart filled with so much doubt and worry?” Anarchia shouted. “You are you true, but are you Divine?” Fer stood up and breathed heavily.

“Are you stupid?” It was a cheap jab, and Anarchia laughed out loud at the flat question. But there was no better way to get someone to spill their secrets than to have them gloat.

“It is simple Fer!” Anarchia called out. “I am the Goddess of Anarchy! I take your little hierarchies, the lies you’ve constructed for yourselves to aggrandize your own greatnesses, I take the bits of yourself that you try to hide and I bubble them up to the surface. Do you think you are better than humans Fer? Do you think you don’t have doubts or regrets? I know you’ve broken your own codes before, we all have, it’s a natural part of humanity! Don’t pretend you don’t have weakness within you.”

Fer narrowed her eyes and went into a jab as she tried to bite Anarchia to repower herself with Divine blood. Anarchia did not let her, she took a step back, a fist landed in Fer’s stomach, then an open slammed her collar bone and Fer was sent backwards. The Goddess of Anarchy kept on her gloating, but Fer understand it already. The woman was doing something that Fer had always assumed impossible. This sort of leeching strength… it truly was a Divine of a new age. These types of abilities simply did not exist in the past.

“Do you not understand Fer?” Anarchia said slowly as she started to saunter forwards with a rolling sway. “I am the second incarnation of the Godkiller. I am humanity’s want to surpass Divinity made manifest. The first one failed because it tried to out-strength Divines. I know you are stronger than me Fer. Humanity cannot compete with Divinity; thus, humanity needs to steal Divinity’s strength.” Fer felt herself get even slower. She tried to stand, her knees simply would not muster up the strength in order to pick herself up and off the ground. The Goddess of Beasthood roared and kicked Anarchia away before coming sliding to were Paida stood. She didn’t see the Goddess of Rancais, but she could smell the woman’s fear behind her.

That was good, fear was a survival instinct. If someone was afraid, that meant they were alive. Although against a monster like Anarchia? Fer had no retort, although Anarchia gave her no chance to speak. “I am a natural conclusion to rational thought, a Divine made to counter Divinity. Not through power, not through strength nor speed nor skill. I kill Gods because I bring out the humanity in you! Tell me! Is there any Divine out there without even a shred of consciousness and humanity? Well Fer?!”

Paida looked at Fer, and at Anarchia… Impossible… There was simply… How could that even be possible? At first she started to doubt her eyes, then her sanity, then she accepted the sight before her.

Fer was getting smaller.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep