Chapter 4
"How did I end up here..."
The Goddess stared with bewildered eyes at the dark cave entrance that gaped like a dragon's maw.
She had been attending the strategy meeting when she suddenly found herself part of the special forces team with her past self, tasked with eliminating the Queen.
"I apologize for bringing you so suddenly to this dangerous battlefield."
Knight Ren approached her, perhaps thinking she was frightened.
"But this operation is crucial - humanity's future depends on it. If we miss this opportunity, humanity will perish, unable to replenish our resources and troops like they can. That's why we need the cooperation of a strong warrior like yourself. Please, fight alongside us."
Despite the difference in rank that would have allowed her to simply give orders as supreme commander, she made it a request.
Her past self who had shown heroic deeds.
The Goddess wanted to reclaim what she had lost.
"Well... might as well give it a shot."
She wanted to change her slothful, incompetent self that even the Apostle scolded.
"Thank you so much!"
The Goddess entered the cave with Knight Ren, who was delighted by her response.
'...In my past life, I entered the underground cave with ten special forces members.'
In her actual past life, she had eliminated the Queen alongside ten heroes who supported her.
She hadn't brought soldiers like the current Knight Ren.
This was a situation created by the game to progress events focused on the protagonist, but the Goddess had no way of knowing that.
'I suppose the historical records must not have survived properly.'
She felt somewhat troubled.
The fact that her comrades who fought alongside her and sacrificed themselves handling the elite monsters so she could reach the Queen were not remembered.
'No, perhaps I am the most flawed existence for being unable to pass on those facts to future generations.'
The Goddess reflected on how wrongly she had lived until now.
-Wooooar!
-Kieek!
The Goddess and Knight Ren cut down countless monsters as they advanced forward.
Despite the kingdom's army desperately drawing the attention of the main monster force outside, the Queen's elite guard kept pouring in to protect her lair.
After cleaving through hundreds of monsters and reaching the very bottom of the cave-.
-Kirruk.
-Kiruk.
Three Elder Guardians emerged.
'We killed one outside but there are still three!'
In her past life, there were only three Elder Guardians total.
The influence of the Abyss seems to have drastically increased the difficulty.
*Clang!*
Knight Ren blocked the attacks of two that charged recklessly.
"I'll handle these two - please take care of the remaining one!"
"The remaining one, huh."
The Goddess crossed blades with the remaining Elder Guardian.
She needed to kill this one quickly and help Knight Ren.
Having lost her original arm and changed swords compared to her past self, she looked overwhelmed trying to handle two Elder Guardians.
*Clang! Clang!*
The Goddess dodged the Elder Guardian's blade with swordsmanship that had reached Transcendence.
-Kiruk!
She then cut down the blade of the Elder Guardian who wore a frustrated expression.
*Crack!*
The sword she swung next without giving it time to retreat finally severed the Elder Guardian's neck.
Just as the Goddess gripped her sword in reverse to confirm the kill by splitting the headless body again-
*Woong-*
A blue light flickered from the Elder Guardian's body and rushed at the Goddess.
"W-what is this."
Startled by the unfamiliar phenomenon, the Goddess tried to dodge the light but it seeped into her body at a speed even she couldn't react to.
*Thump-*
A small ripple arose within her.
*Thump! Thump!*
The gradually growing ripple.
And finally
*Bang!*
When the ripple completely enveloped her mindscape, a pair of wings burst from her back.
"The Elder Guardian's wings?"
The Elder Guardian's Essence had been absorbed by the protagonist character.
"...So that's what happened."
No matter how she thought about it, she couldn't understand.
How so many players had cleared this episode despite the dire situation of having to defeat the Queen with just the two of them, without the ten special forces members.
"If Essence absorption is possible, that changes things."
As the Elder Guardian's [Acceleration], [High-Speed Flight], and [Robust Vitality] traits activated in Essence form, the Goddess's avatar was strengthened.
Though far from matching her true divine self, an almost superhuman sense of omnipotence at the human level enveloped her entire body.
This was the special ability possessed by the protagonist of the game [Akashic Archive].
*Bang!*
The Goddess kicked off the ground and leapt at the two Elder Guardians pressuring Knight Ren.
*Boom! Crash!*
And her [Acceleration]-enhanced sword strikes that instantly broke the sound barrier obliterated the two Elder Guardians.
"Huff... huff... that power of yours... what..."
The Goddess's avatar now wore armor and wings created from the Elder Guardian's abilities.
At a glance she could be mistaken for a monster or spy of the Abyss, but-
"No, never mind. Thank you for saving me. I would have been in danger without you."
Knight Ren brushed it off unconcerned.
"Well. All the obstacles are dead."
Knight Ren dusted off her sword and adjusted her chrome arm before walking forward slowly.
"And beyond lies our final objective - the mother of these creatures who will end this war and save everyone."
She turned back to the Goddess with a grin.
"We made it this far thanks to you. You have my gratitude. This is the final stage now. Are you ready?"
The Goddess nodded silently.
"Good. Then let's go. For the sake of humanity."
* * *
*Crash!*
-Kieeek!
The Monster Queen, a colossal beast larger than four ogres combined, collapsed with a shriek.
Even though the Ren of her past life couldn't have killed this monster without sacrificing herself to collapse the cave, it was no match for the Goddess's avatar who had absorbed the monsters' Essence.
'...I wonder if things would have been different if my past self had this power.'
Perhaps that's why, despite easily defeating the Queen, her heart felt unsettled.
"Haha... hahahahaha!"
Knight Ren, covered in blood from head to toe, laughed loudly.
"A truly heroic feat! The warrior who hunted the Monster Queen while flying in black armor! Your name will go down in history as legend!"
Her boisterous laughter suddenly turned to a puzzled expression.
"Come to think of it, I never asked your name. How rude of me! ...Let me ask again. What is your name?"
There was so much she wanted to say.
That she was another version of herself from the future, and about everything that would happen.
Just as the Goddess's avatar opened her mouth, struggling with what to say-
*Ding-*
[Ending viewing session.]
The surroundings faded to black like a film being cut.
"Well done. I'll give that first trial a 9 out of 10."
When she opened her eyes again, the Supervisor, a beautiful young man with black hair, stood before her.
[Game termination]
*Flash-*
Her usual room greeted the Goddess as the virtual reality ended.
"..."
She knew.
That place wasn't the past but a world inside a game.
It was just an illusion mimicking the distant past that she could never return to.
"Sloth..."
The Goddess's Constellation name was [The Sacrifice That Fell To Sloth].
Perhaps because she became a Constellation through posthumous deification rather than actively transcending herself, she was famous for being a passive Constellation.
As a quiet deity who wouldn't even leave her dwelling, let alone use her great power and faith.
"It feels like I've awakened from a deep sleep."
Why had she lived that way?
Despite the continent not even remembering those comrades from back then, what a sorry state she was in, just lounging around in her room instead of honoring them.
It felt completely unlike her.
There was an alien sensation as if something had been interfering with her consciousness.
But now it's different.
Though it was a false dream, through that dream she felt liberated from the deep dream that had been consuming reality.
Thanks to it, she was able to return to her senses.
Now she understood.
What she needed to do.
"First, I should go express my gratitude."
The power that implemented the game [Akashic Archive] was the power of dreams.
There could only be one God of Dreams.
The Goddess recalled the small goddess she had seen long ago.
* * *
*Ding-*
[The Sacrifice That Fell To Sloth sends her gratitude.]
"...Pardon?"
The Goddess Ren's thanks transmitted in the form of a Constellation's message, like those from our Constellation.
Given the confusing situation, I could only stand there dumbfounded.
[T-the Dream Storyteller nervously says she didn't reveal anything about her Apostle's identity!]
It's fine to tell her about my identity if you're that scared.
I'm an Apostle too, so I don't understand why you've been trying to hide my identity all this time.
I thought an angry goddess had come to attack us for arbitrarily using her in our game, but thankfully that wasn't the case.
Rather, she expressed gratitude.
So she contacted our Constellation asking for my contact information to thank me, the game creator.
Gratitude?
Perhaps for making her story cool?
I'm glad I didn't include any negative scenes when selling Knight Ren as a limited character.
If I had made her look even slightly foolish or bad, our Constellation and I would probably be facing divine judgment right now.
Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine.
[The Sacrifice That Fell To Sloth asks if she can make one request.]
"Oh of course! You allowed us to use your story, so ask anything!"
For the core character of our most important tutorial, I should bow down and accept any request.
Asking to make her nose a bit higher would be fine, as would adding halo effects in key scenes.
However, her request was completely unexpected.
[The Sacrifice That Fell To Sloth asks to include the names of the ten special forces members in the game.]
"The special forces?"
After hearing the full story from Goddess Ren, I could understand what kind of request she was making.
The special forces team that entered the underground cave with her to eliminate the Queen of the Abyss.
They each sacrificed themselves in crucial positions to guide Ren to the Queen and played a decisive role in the mission's success.
But because everyone including Ren died underground, there was no one to tell their story and people only knew they succeeded because the monsters died when the Queen was killed.
With no one to pass on the details, only the story of Ren, who was already renowned and led the special forces, could survive in history.
While the story of the soldiers drawing aggro from monsters outside was passed down to future generations, the tale of the special forces members could not be transmitted.
Goddess Ren's request was to preserve their story, if only in the game.
"Don't worry, Goddess. Now everyone in the world will have to know those ten names."
The tutorial - the part of the game people remember most.
If we engrave it deeply there, we can fulfill her request.
And since the [Monster Queen] is the tutorial's final boss, she's scheduled to appear first as a weekly boss.
It would be appropriate to have them appear as helpers in that weekly boss fight.
From now on, players will hunt the Queen every week for various resources and commemorate the ten heroes there.
When I told her about the changes to add them as heroic figures in the game and that the Monster Queen would die tens of millions of times at players' hands, the Goddess smiled.
[The Sacrifice That Overcame Sloth smiles brightly.]
With a smile so radiant that the emotion could be felt even through the Constellation's words.