Chapter 3: Knight Ren

"...!"

The Goddess rose, her body dripping with green blood.

The filthy, sticky sensation covering her entire body was far from the usual cleanliness maintained by her Divine Body, but such things were of no concern to her.

A hero enveloped in brilliant light, cutting down Monsters while dashing across the battlefield.

Despite being the kingdom's strongest knight and commander - the most crucial general in warfare - she emitted light that drew the Monsters' attention while saving allied soldiers.

Though wounds accumulated one by one on her body as she led by example, throwing herself into danger, she pressed forward without any regard for them.

And this hero, [Knight Ren], was none other than the previous life of Constellation Ren.

"Me...?"

It was her life before becoming a Constellation goddess.

"...I remember."

The Goddess recalled memories from the distant past, now grown hazy.

During the time when she was human, Monsters transformed from the Abyss invaded the kingdom she protected.

Created by the mysterious power of the Abyss whose origins were unclear, these Monsters swept across the continent with only the instinct to slaughter sentient beings, including humans.

Connected by a hive mind to a single Queen, the Monsters were the very embodiment of terror, recklessly charging forward to tear humans apart with no regard for their own bodies.

"..."

Ren blankly watched her past self swinging the Aura Blade to cut down Monsters.

A hero who prioritized battlefield victory and protecting allies over her own safety.

"To think I was... like this."

That nobility made her marvel, even though it was herself.

The hero of humanity stood before her.

Hundreds of years after being elevated to become a Constellation.

A great ripple formed in her heart, which had grown dull from the languor of the Divine Realm, forgetting even herself.

She realized what she had forgotten.

What great deeds she had accomplished in her previous life.

What kind of being she had been.

-Kirruk.

At that moment, an agile mantis-like Monster with a sleek form suddenly leaped out from among the Monsters.

"...Elder Guardian."

According to the Goddess's memory, it was one of only three highest-ranking Monsters that served as the Queen's royal guard.

'Why here now?'

But in her memories, it had not appeared on this battlefield.

Something was different from her past.

-Kirrrrrr!

The Elder Guardian charged at Knight Ren alone, fluttering its wings as if uninterested in the other small fry.

Clang!

The Monster's sharp exoskeletal blade clashed with Knight Ren's Aura Blade.

Befitting an elite soldier created with many resources from the Abyss, the Monster's weapon had enough strength to match the Aura Blade.

-Kieeek!

At that moment, a large Monster tried to spew breath toward where the soldiers were concentrated.

If the Monster's breath full of acidic substances covered the soldiers, they would all melt away.

"Tch!"

Knight Ren clicked her tongue once before sending a blade of energy to slice the large Monster.

But the price of taking her eyes off the battle was substantial.

*Crack-*

"Ugh!"

The Elder Guardian's blade severed the arm she was using to hold her sword.

Ren's sword also flew far away and

*Thunk-*

Landed right in front of the Goddess's avatar.

!!!

"Impossible..."

The Goddess was shocked.

This hadn't happened in her previous life.

Since she hadn't encountered the Elder Guardian on the battlefield, the loss of her body part hadn't occurred at this point yet.

"This should happen during the operation to infiltrate the Queen's lair..."

[Trial]

[Story]

[Abyssal Corruption]

The Goddess could finally understand.

The Supervisor had said this story containing her narrative had been corrupted by an Abyssal Being.

At first she thought it was because the Monsters appearing in the story originated from the Abyss, but it seemed the power of the Abyss had twisted the story itself.

And her role as a Supervisor candidate, what she needed to accomplish in this trial, was to resolve this distortion.

The Goddess gently grasped Ren's sword.

This cool yet warm sensation.

It was her Beloved Sword that she had long forgotten.

*Crackle-*

The sword that had initially repelled her and tried to blast her away for not being its master now quietly accepted her after reading her will.

-Kieeek

Numerous Monsters surged forward upon discovering that she had grasped the sword.

[Swing the sword]

An invisible force from the sword tried to move her body.

A combat tutorial to assist with the first battle in virtual reality.

"No."

The Goddess released the sword's power, shattering all those assists.

"Not needed."

This was a battlefield she had experienced before.

She wasn't one to grow dull from her time in the celestial realm.

*Whoosh-*

The Goddess swung her sword while kicking off the ground.

The Magic Power filling her entire body the moment she grasped the sword.

That power was enough to support her quick and strange movements.

-Kieeek!

-Kik!

-Kurrrr...!

A straight line of radiance cutting through countless Monsters as it advanced.

The Goddess at its head was finally able to reach Knight Ren.

*Crash-*

There, her past self was fighting the Elder Guardian with just Fist Strength in her remaining hand, having lost her sword.

Though Knight Ren was stronger than the Elder Guardian, she was growing steadily weaker.

Blood loss from wounds accumulated helping others on the battlefield until now, and the massive bleeding from the recent amputation were taking their toll on her body.

[Save Knight Ren]

"Don't need to tell me, that's what I'll do."

The Goddess gripped the sword and joined the battle between the two powerful beings.

-Kirruruk!

The Elder Guardian's wings trembled as if expressing rage at the sudden entry of a new powerful being when victory was in sight.

Knight Ren looked slightly surprised but soon smiled and launched combination attacks together with the Goddess.

When Knight Ren blocked the Elder Guardian's blade, the Goddess would cut with her sword, and when the Goddess blocked, Knight Ren would crush with Fist Strength.

An organic combination as if they were one body despite meeting for the first time.

The Elder Guardian lasted only 30 seconds.

-Kirrr.....

The severed body parts of the Elder Guardian scattered.

*Rumble-*

When the highest-ranking Elder Guardian died, all the Monsters on the battlefield began retreating.

The Queen had acknowledged defeat in battle and issued the retreat order.

"Lieutenant! No pursuit! Clean up the battlefield and tend to the wounded!"

Like the supreme commander she was, Knight Ren issued various orders before approaching the Goddess with a bright smile.

"Soldier! Your performance just now was excellent. If not for your help, I would have fallen to that disgusting monster!"

"..."

The Goddess remained silent.

Though she had much she wanted to say, she couldn't bring herself to speak.

Meeting her past self had overwhelmed her with too many emotions.

The Goddess wordlessly held out the sword she was gripping.

"Hmm?"

Knight Ren looked at the sword and showed a slightly surprised expression.

"I thought it seemed familiar - it was my sword. This is amazing. I didn't know there was another being besides myself who could use this Magic Sword."

Knight Ren reached out and grasped the sword.

Then she fell into thought for a moment.

"Come to think of it, you should keep it."

"...Pardon?"

"I've lost my right hand that I mainly used. But you haven't. Moreover, considering your skill with that sword rivals my own, wouldn't it be better for you to use it?"

Knight Ren said this while holding out the sword again.

"Here. Take it."

The Goddess reluctantly took back the sword.

Such nobility - giving her Beloved Sword that comprised a significant portion of her combat power to a soldier she just met, for the sake of better protecting humanity.

'...Was I really such a person?'

It contrasted too sharply with herself, who had wasted time cooped up in the Divine Realm.

* * *

At the strategy meeting held in the general's tent after cleaning up the battlefield

Though normally only high-ranking officers above captain could attend, the Goddess was dragged along by Knight Ren despite being a soldier and sat in a corner.

"Through this battle, we've annihilated their main force and secured a strategic point leading to the deepest part of their territory."

Knight Ren spread out a large map and began briefing.

Her severed arm had already been replaced with a chrome-colored artificial arm made through Alchemy.

"But they are beings that function like cells subordinate to a single entity. Just reducing their numbers won't deal them a proper blow. They'll instantly create more troops and swarm us again."

Knight Ren pointed with a long rod at a spot marked with a red circle in the center of the map.

"We must kill the Queen who controls and moves them to end this war."

While the main force draws the Monster army's attention, a special force composed only of elites will be sent to assassinate the Queen.

It was the same operation executed in her previous life, and they succeeded in killing the Queen to drive back the Abyss.

'Though it cost me my life.'

In the final moment, she chose mutual destruction with the Queen by sacrificing herself.

That noble act saved humanity and remained in history, allowing her to be elevated to godhood.

A completely different being from her current self as an incompetent goddess.

That was Knight Ren.

"And the key to this operation is right here."

Knight Ren's finger pointing as she explained the operation indicated one spot.

All the generals, officers, and staff followed that direction with their gazes and

"Eh? ...Me?"

At the end of that finger sat Goddess Ren.