Chapter 281: Finality (Final) [VIII]

Grip!

My fingers dug into her glowing hair, twisting hard until she gasped, her body jerking back under me.

Her golden strands coiled around my fist like a rope, forcing her head back so her trembling eyes could only meet mine.

I leaned close, my breath hot against her ear, before whispering coldly:

“…We’re not done yet.”

Her body shuddered at the words. Her wings, once spread with pride, spasmed pitifully, folding in as if they could shield her.

Those radiant eyes that once burned with faith and arrogance now shook with raw terror.

She knew she was broken.

Her lips quivered.

“P-please… I-I’ll never fight you again… I won’t attack you… I swear it…” Her voice cracked even more; she was already that desperate.

“J-just… don’t hurt me anymore… I’ll do anything you want… a-anything…”

Her holy body trembled as though each word tore her apart inside, a Goddess begging her enemy, her tormentor…

I looked at her for a few moments, without saying anything.

Then, slowly, a faint smile curled across my face.

“Anything, huh?”

Her eyes widened slighly, hope appearing in them for a split-second.

Foolish.

“Y-yes… anything… I’ll obey…”

That’s when I leaned down, my gaze cutting through her soul.

“Then… die.”

The words struck harder than anything. Her trembling stopped, and her eyes froze immediately.

The golden light inside her flickered.

“…No… no, please—”

SPRUSH!

Her body burst into a blinding glow, holy light flaring as if tearing itself apart.

Her scream was cut off, swallowed in radiance. Her divine form melted away, breaking into pure particles that scattered like ash in the wind.

And then…

THUD.

A frail, human body crashed to the ground below, pale, naked, and vulnerable.

…Christina.

I didn’t even reach for her or bother catching her.

…She was practically the reason why I decided to join the Dark Order, but even so, the Dark Order still has some uses for me.

Fwoom…

Slowly, the golden barrier that had been covering me and the Goddess of Light dissipated away, causing golden particles to hover in the air.

I flicked my fingers, and Christina’s body was wrapped in clothes.

I’m not that bad of a person…

“Christina..”

Her name escaped my lips as I finally noticed what clothes I had put on her. My heart… trembled.

The priest’s clothes she had been wearing… in our first meeting. Long before she became the actual Saintess.

“…Scheiße.”

I unknowingly cursed out of frustration.

Christina… was Aestrea’s first love.

And the moment she chose to side with the ’world’, instead of me… it broke me more than anything else.

I honestly still held hope that she could maybe change her side during the fight… maybe, if she saw me injured…

That was the only reason I didn’t burn my lifespan at that moment, forcibly raise my power, and kill all of them.

But no…

Until the last moment, she chose to be my enemy.

Well, I ended up wasting my lifespan anyway.

[Lifespan: 1 year, 7 months, 34 minutes, 17 seconds, and 351 milliseconds.]

“One year, huh?”

Once, those numbers would have made me panic.

Now… I almost laughed.

“It’s plenty of time.”

I even smiled.

“Now… System, did I actually kill the Goddess of Light?” I asked casually. I wasn’t completely sure if she had died or not.

[No. That was simply her avatar… but other than that… you must have caused quite a trauma on her.]

[And no, Christina continues being pure.]

My expression darkened at the second line.

“…Haaah.” I sighed, ignoring it.

“At least, I’m still alive.”

I turned away.

Fwip!

But just before I could take a single step, multiple space cracks appeared all around me.

“…You actually defeated the avatar of the Goddess of Light. How amusing, my love~” Yennefer purred as she stepped through the portal, her presence pressing down like velvet suffocation.

…Just like I thought, she was indeed watching the fight.

Next to her stood an unfamiliar woman… I didn’t even bother taking a good look at her.

“…Dear Moonlight Swordsman~”

Another voice reached out.

“Or should I call you the God of Karma now?” It was none other than Kagetaro… Yumi, I mean.

I’m still weirded out that he was actually a woman. And it’s also strange that Yennefer… didn’t kill her yet.

She seemed strangely calm.

“Now~, what do you want to do? You have the power to do anything in this little world,” Yumi smiled faintly, approaching me.

Just when she was a few inches away from my face, she continued.

“Kill everyone? Overthrown the other nations? Become the supreme ruler of the whole planet?!” Her voice became gradually excited as she continued.

But… I didn’t think about any of those ideas.

Instead… there was only one.

“…What do I need to do to become a god?” I directly asked her, causing Yennefer’s eyes to arch with delight.

The other women also seemed to smile… but meh.

Yumi chuckled darkly.

“Hehehe… so direct. Most fools believe that once you surpass SSS-rank, ascension is inevitable. But no…” she raised her index finger, wagging it slowly, almost mockingly..

“You only truly ascend if…”

Yumi let her words hang, her smile deepening, dark eyes glimmering with mischief.

“There are two paths.”

…Really?

She raised one slender finger, tilting her head ever so slightly.

“The first… is to become the Vessel of a Goddess. If she chooses you, if she truly pours herself into you… then she can guide your body, mold your soul, and push you beyond mortality. With her power, she can carve the divinity you lack and help you step through the gates.”

Her voice lowered into a whisper, almost like a secret meant only for me.

“…But that comes with a price. For if she raises you as her Vessel, then you are hers forever. Your existence, your divinity, your very self… will always be tied to her.”

Yumi’s lips curved cruelly as she stepped back.

“Of course, there’s another way.”

She raised a second finger, and this time her tone sharpened, carrying an edge of reverence and danger both.

“You could devour the roots of this world itself.”

Her words cut through me like a blade.

“…Yggdrasil.”

She laughed softly, the sound twisted with delight.

“Yes. If you were to absorb the World Tree, its roots, its branches, its infinite sources, you could fuse all of its power into your flesh. You wouldn’t just borrow divinity. No… your body would birth it. You would become your own source, a fountain of pure divine essence. From there, the gates of the Divine Realm would open to you… and you alone.”

I stayed silent at her words, looking at her for a few moments.

Her smile was as eerie as ever, and if that wasn’t enough, I felt like I was being judged by the women next to Yennefer.

Her eyes… they felt like they were watching a prey make its next move.

“…So, what will you do, Moonlight Swordsman? God of Karma?” Yumi broke the silence, smiling teasingly at me.

“Will you kneel to a Goddess… or will you devour the very roots of the world?”

The answer was quite obvious…

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, in the Divine Realm, silence didn’t last long.

CRASH!

A golden vase shattered against the marble wall, shards scattering across the shining floor.

The Goddess of Light stood in the middle of her sanctum, eyes wide, hollow, trembling, her divine aura lashing violently around her like an uncontrolled storm.

Her chest heaved as she grabbed the edge of her table and snapped it in half with her bare hands.

Scrolls, relics, and fragments of holy crystals tumbled to the floor, all ruined beneath her steps.

Her lips trembled, her face twisted in something between grief and rage.

“Aestrea…!” she hissed, voice cracking. Then she screamed, her voice echoing through the halls of heaven itself.

“DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU FOREVER!!”

Another crash.

Another holy pillar split apart under her fists. She dragged her nails across the divine walls until sparks flew.

Her eyes burned with tears, golden, divine tears, but her soul was screaming louder.

She felt it really clearly.

The violation, the tearing away of something she had sworn would never be taken.

Her purity… her pride, her untouchable divinity.

She clutched her chest and fell to her knees, shaking. Her wings, once radiant and proud, twitched as though broken.

“No… no… it can’t be…” she whispered, her tone brittle and almost hollow. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this… I… I was supposed to…”

But once the memory struck again, the warm touch, the unwanted fire that still burned deep inside her body.

Her nails dug into her skin until faint trails of golden blood seeped out.

And then… an idea, dark and twisted… appeared.

It froze her rage in an instant.

“…No…” she whispered again, but her trembling lips began to curl.

Her pupils dilated, madness sinking into her hollow gaze.

“There’s still… a way.”

Her hands gripped her thighs as if steadying herself, her breathing ragged.

“If it’s my husband who takes it… then… then I’m still pure.” Her voice cracked, a manic laugh spilling from her throat.

“Yes… yes… that’s it… it’s not gone… it can’t be gone…!”

She pressed her forehead against the cold floor, muttering to herself, rocking back and forth like a madwoman.

“But him…” she whispered, and the image of Aestrea’s face appeared in her mind.

The way he looked at her, the way he resolutely burned his lifespan, making his strength overwhelm even her divinity.

The human who belongs to a forbidden race, and yet has the potential of something more.

A god…

…A god stronger than anyone.

Her lips trembled into a smile that shouldn’t exist on a Goddess’s face.

“If he can become mine… if I can twist him, make him mine… then it won’t matter. It won’t matter what he’s done…”

The tears still ran down her cheeks, but her smile widened a little.

“Aestrea…” she whispered, clutching her own chest, her nails digging deeper.

“You’ll be mine. Only mine. Even if I have to burn every heaven above me to keep you.”

The room lay in ruins around her, holy light broken and twisted. And in the middle of it stood not a Goddess of Light anymore… but a woman consumed.

Her delusions had begun.

“Only that way… I’ll continue being pure.”

Aestrea had affected her so deeply that she even thought that her original body, which hadn’t been touched by anyone so far, had been dirtied.

Even though…

It was only her avatar that had been touched.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep