Free Web NovelChapter 311: Ch 311: The Goddess is too Powerful
The royal court had completely changed into Goddess Astoria’s domain. Rin wondered if this was another illusion, but the pressure he felt from the goddess in front of him was real.
The goddess gestured for Shuu to take a seat she had conjured up with her magic, but Rin kept his distance.
It made the goddess look disappointed, but she waved her hand and the chair disappeared into thin air.
"Since you don’t want my hospitality, I can only assume that you have something serious to discuss with me. I am all ears. You can speak when you want to."
Goddess Astoria said as she leaned back in her chair and allowed Shuu to speak.
Shuu kept an eye on her mood and finally asked the question he had wanted to ask ever since he found himself in her domain.
"What am I doing here? What do you want from me?"
he asked, and the Goddess blinked at him with an amused but shocked expression.
"You are asking...what I want from you? Isn’t that rather simple? I want you to come back and serve me. I have been in a slump ever since you betrayed me. Not only did I lose my best warrior, but I also lost all my generals. Can you imagine how that even feels?"
Goddess Astoria asked in a sorrowful voice. She looked at Shuu, trying to invoke his pity, but Shuu was not going to give her the satisfaction.
"Aren’t you the one who killed off your generals because they wanted to help me? On what grounds do you expect me to help you?"
Shuu asked in a tense voice. The hostility he was showing did not go unnoticed by the Goddess, and she immediately tried to reassure him.
"I am not asking you to help me out for free either. The reason I want you to help me is because you can bring those generals back for me. Don’t you want to meet them again? Just surrender yourself to me and we can do wonders—"
"No, thank you. I have no intention of selling my soul. I am no longer the same clueless child you tried to take advantage of before."
Shuu denied Goddess Astoria’s extended hand and gave her a disgusted look in return. His actions made Goddess Astoria stiffen, but she refused to let go of him.
"Kid, you are not going to take my offer?"
She asked in a carefully crafted voice that suggested she was upset but willing to overlook this small mistake made by a child. Her actions spoke of hypocrisy, and Shuu immediately called her out on it.
"You have always been self-centered, and I doubt that has changed. Tell me, what will happen if I agree to help you? Won’t it just benefit you? I have no intention of letting you take even more things away from me."
Shuu said as he called for his weapon. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
He had learned to do all this ever since his memory had returned. It felt natural to hold his weapon in his hand and aim it at the wall to break it.
He broke the space, and Goddess Astoria finally realized that he was serious about leaving her domain, which pushed her into action.
"YOU! What are you doing? How dare you break this place I cultivated so carefully? I won’t allow you to do that—!"
Goddess Astoria increased the pressure, and Shuu felt all the wind being knocked out of him.
He doubted he was weaker than Goddess Astoria, but her power was still overwhelming his senses. It only made sense if—
"Are we in your domain? Are you trying to dominate me using your aura embodied by this space? Are you not afraid that I will break this space open?"
Shuu asked in a low voice. He was struggling to stay on his feet, but he knew that he could break this place if he used all the power he had within him.
However, it would also injure him, and he likely wouldn’t be able to make it back to Kaiden and the kids.
’But it will be worth it to make sure I do not end up as a puppet to the Goddess.’
"I doubt you will break this place apart. You won’t put yourself at risk like that. Besides, we are both connected by fate. You are just trying hard to get away right now and I—"
"You talk too much. Sorry, but I have no intention of staying behind."
Shuu told the goddess before he began to increase his power.
’Kaiden, Rin, Caelis, I am sorry. I wanted to make it back to you, no matter what. But I don’t think that will be possible now.’
Shuu released his power in an instant and his surroundings began to melt. Goddess Astoria tried to stop him, but she was not able to reach him.
"Stop! Don’t do it. Everyone else—"
"I cannot feel another presence in this space. Did you lose control and kill everyone else in here? Somehow, I wouldn’t put it past you." fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
Shuu asked, and the Goddess immediately defended her actions.
"I only did what was necessary. Those pests would have eaten me alive if I had not gotten rid of them. What do you even know about it, kid? It’s not as if you stayed to help me—"
"What a fool. So you are pretending not to see the problem until the end? Then allow me to help you with it."
Shuu said, and even larger cracks began to appear in the space around him.
Goddess Astoria tried to preserve what she could, but it was impossible for her to do anything with her limited power.
In the end, she began to disappear along with the space, and Shuu looked at her with disappointed eyes.
"I thought I would feel better once you were gone. But it seems that was just wishful thinking on my part. Somehow, I feel just as bad as I did before I met you again. Now, I should try to head back—"
But Shuu’s feet wouldn’t move. They felt too heavy, and he collapsed under his own weight.
"Ah, looks like I am not going home today. What a disappointment."
The goddess walked over to him and placed her finger beneath his chin to lift it. Her gaze penetrated Shuu’s mind, and he felt himself going blank under her power.
"What are you talking about? This is your home. I have been your home since the very start. So why don’t you give in to me and allow me to—"
A cut appeared on the goddess’s face, and she held her bleeding cheek with a shocked expression.
"Why don’t you take your useless proposal to someone who actually cares? I have a home of my own, and there are people waiting for me. I cannot afford to waste any more time here."
The goddess looked enraged, but Shuu was not done.
’Move.’
He commanded his body to move, but it did not listen at first.
’Move. MOVE. MOVE RIGHT NOW.’
He kept commanding his body until it had no choice but to obey. The goddess looked shocked by Shuu’s determination, and her eyes widened as she saw him move faster than she had expected.
A spear made of light appeared in Shuu’s hands, and he aimed it at the goddess in front of him.
"I have made up my mind to live with Kaiden and the kids. They have always been my home, and I will return to them, no matter what. I will even slay you if that is what it takes to get back."
Shuu assured the goddess, and she gritted her teeth before she attacked him.
"You bastard! I took care of you, and this is how you repay me?"
Goddess Astoria tried to use her surroundings to crush Shuu, but he was able to dodge out of her way.
His memories had returned, and his body moved the way it did during his prime as a fighter. His underlying nature was also slowly coming to the surface.
The goddess was going to lose. She realized it as soon as Shuu did, and panic set in just as quickly.
In her panic, she made one of the most foolish decisions she could.
"You are pissing me off. It seems I have no choice but to show you just how wrong you are to go against me."
Astoria whispered before her body began to glow. Shuu felt overwhelming magic radiating from her, and the goddess began to shed her physical form, revealing a radiant glow beneath. It slowly began to change until it was no longer the body he recognized.
"That is..."
Shuu looked at her new body, which had transformed into a mindless beast.
The goddess had traded her sanity for power, and her new form attacked indiscriminately.
"You pushed me this far. I did not want to show anyone this form. But now, you’ll pay for it."
