[BL]The Hero and his Party Won't Let Me Go

Chapter 312: Ch 312: Clash with the Goddess

"Shuu is not here."

Caelis observed as he looked behind him. Kaiden had been the last one to come through, and the portal closed behind him.

That meant that everyone who had gone in had come out. But Shuu was nowhere to be seen.

"Do you think...he got lost?"

Rin asked in a low voice. He did not sound sure, but his worry was the same as the others. It made Caelis pat his head to reassure him that it was alright.

Kaiden, on the other hand, had a closed-off expression. But the fury was clear to see in his eyes.

"It seems like someone has a death wish. I guess I have no choice but to go after Shuu once more. But this time, I will make sure to eliminate any and all threats at once."

Kaiden felt no mercy for anyone who had tried to take Shuu away from them. But Caelis also knew that his father had a tendency to be reckless.

Even now, Kaiden was using massive amounts of energy to force the gate open in order to get to Shuu.

Kaiden would exhaust himself at this rate and wouldn’t be able to help Shuu when the time came. Caelis was afraid of this, so he decided to help his father with this task. He added his own energy to it, and Kaiden immediately looked at him for an explanation.

"Let me open this path for you. You might need your energy for whatever you are about to face. So leave the path to the other side to me and Rin."

Caelis spoke as he took over the burden fully. fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

Kaiden looked like he was about to complain, but he decided not to in the end and nodded at his son’s effort.

"Then, I will be counting on you, Rin, Caelis."

The kids nodded, and Caelis immediately forced the door back open using his magic. The door protested at first, but it had no choice but to open when Rin reinforced it.

Rin looked at his father with a smile on his face.

"It’s time. You should get going now."

Kaiden nodded and stepped into the portal. He had only one goal in his mind—to get to Shuu at any and all costs.

Unfortunately, that included a lot of searching.

"Fortunately, I am good at searching. So Shuu, you better wait for me and not do anything reckless."

__________

"Darn it! Why are you such a pain in the ass? Can’t you stay still and let me hit you?"

Goddess Astoria asked as she continued to attack Shuu, but he dodged each strike and managed to counter at the same time. It was a never-ending cycle where Shuu attacked and the goddess blocked and countered.

But in a battle of stamina, Shuu was going to lose, and he knew that well. This place was draining his energy every second and feeding it to the goddess.

’I need to shatter the barrier around this place. But can I do it without making it collapse?’

No solution came to Shuu’s mind that was fast enough and would allow him to remain safe. His only option was to risk getting hurt in order to escape.

It was...not a bad trade to exchange his health for a way out. But the real problem was Astoria herself.

Even if Shuu managed to break the barrier and find a way out, he doubted the goddess in front of him would allow him to leave safely. Instead, she seemed like the kind of person who would chase him to the ends of the world if she had to.

"Hahaha, is this all you can show me? Why was I so afraid of you? I should have killed you and made you my slave by force."

The goddess let out an amused chuckle as her power began to rise again. Her intent to crush him was clear.

Unfortunately, there was no way for Shuu to avoid this attack.

’If I cannot avoid it, then I might as well take it head-on and counter properly.’

Shuu tightened his grip and immediately turned to face her. He blocked the attack with a shield and kept pushing forward until he reached the goddess and slashed across her abdomen.

The goddess did not even flinch at the deep cut. Instead, she let out a chuckle as she began to heal herself.

"That was a good effort. Unfortunately, it will take much more than that to bring me down. Little god, there is no hope for you now. So give up and take my hand. Come back under me so that we can create a new age of gods—"

Shuu moved quickly and attacked the goddess’s core while she was distracted. He felt his weapon strike something solid within her core, and he twisted his spear to crack it.

He managed to damage the goddess’s core, and she let out a loud scream as the pain made her lose focus. When she recovered, the first thing she did was stop holding back.

"I am done with you, kid. This is the last time you will get a chance to sneak up on me. I am going to devour your power and make it my own."

The goddess declared before pushing her power even further. Her body began to change from a human form into a fox-like creature, and Shuu stepped back as he saw her attack descending from the sky.

The space around them was breaking apart, and black patches began to appear. The force from those patches threatened to pull Shuu into them.

"Are you planning to kill both of us?"

Shuu asked in a low voice, and the goddess scoffed at his words.

"Are you going to die because of something this basic? If so, then I severely overestimated your potential. I guess even geniuses have their limits."

The goddess—no, that formless creature—mocked him as it attacked with everything it had. Shuu gritted his teeth as he endured the force of that assault.

His power was cut in half because of the space, and now the goddess had evolved as well.

’Darn it! What am I doing wrong? How did I allow things to get this bad? This would not have happened if I were my past self.’

Shuu complained, and for the first time in his life, he longed to become who he once was. He wanted to shut off his emotions and let himself breathe within the fight.

His wish caused his power to react, and Shuu’s breath hitched as he felt his mind going blank.

He did not even realize that his body was changing along with his mind, and a thin layer of power began to cover him.

"What is happening to you? Do you think a cheap trick like that will save you?"

Goddess Astoria asked before she attacked Shuu. But his power lashed out in response, making the goddess choke.

"W-What is this power? I cannot breathe. Stop! Stop it this instant!"

The goddess cried as the power began to consume her. But she was not the only one being consumed.

The space itself and Shuu’s body were beginning to break down under the pressure of his power.

Suddenly, he unlocked another memory. This time, it was about the moment he "died" and was reborn.

__________

’What time is it? Where am I? Am I dead?’

Shuu asked as he slowly blinked and looked around the dark space. He could not feel his body, but he felt strangely at ease.

He tried to move, but he was instantly pushed back onto the bed by a strong hand.

"Don’t try to get up. You need to let your body rest. Honestly, what do you think you were doing? Those spirits had no intention of letting you save them. In the end, you were the only one who was injured in all this."

The sharp voice scolded Shuu, and he let out a strained laugh as he listened.

"Ah, sorry. I just couldn’t help myself. Those kids looked like they needed my help, so I moved before I could think. I will be more careful next time."

Shuu promised as he closed his eyes and tried to force his body to rest. But it was difficult. Sleep would not come to him for some reason.

Sigh

"What am I going to do with you? You don’t listen to me anyway, and when you do, you ignore my warnings. Still, these are all the things about you that I love."

Kaiden’s voice was gentle, and it made Shuu feel warm inside. He liked hearing those words.

"I love you as well—"

"But that does not mean I cannot be mad at you. Next time, don’t use your powers. You know your body is not able to bear their burden yet."

Kaiden pointed out, and Shuu closed his eyes, pretending he had not heard him.

That only made Kaiden even madder and he grabbed Shuu by the shoulder to yell, only to force himself back before he did anything stupid.