Being suspended upside down in the infinite white void should have been a nightmare, but after the blood-soaked carnage of the arena, this place offered a twisted kind of sanctuary.
I took a deep, shaky breath, looking at the White Entity—the Goddess—with a defiant, bloodshot smirk. "You know, for divine beings, you lot sure do love to lecture. I was down there getting turned into a pulp, and you only show up when it's time for a moral science lesson?"
The atmosphere shifted instantly. Before I could blink, an invisible force hurled me through the void like a discarded ragdoll. I didn't scream; I laughed. A loud, jagged, manic laugh that filled the vacuum. "Thank you!" I yelled. "At least you're doing something other than talking for once!"
She let out a faint, cold sigh, flicking her wrist to set me upright on the invisible floor. 'To hell with all of this,' I thought bitterly. 'I'm done being everyone's puppet.'
"We can hear your thoughts, Reyansh," the White Goddess whispered, her voice appearing right beside my ear. "Privacy is a luxury you haven't earned yet."
"What? No privacy either?" I groaned, and in a flash, I was flipped upside down again. 😅 "Alright! Alright! I'm sorry! But... thank you. Seriously. Even if it's just for show, thank you for being there. I don't know what your endgame is, but in a world where everyone wants me dead, at least you're giving me your time."
The two entities exchanged a brief look. For a fleeting second, their cold expressions softened into something almost human.
"Don't worry," the White Entity said, her voice dripping with a haunting, melodic sweetness. "I will always look after you."
"Don't you have any other dialogues?" I muttered as my head began to throb. "That 'sweetness' is giving me a migraine."
The white light intensified, and my consciousness slipped away.
The Palace Awakening
When my eyes finally opened, the stench of sulfur and the metallic taste of blood were gone. I was lying on a bed of pure silk in a lavish chamber. Directly in front of me stood Hina and Yumi.
The peace lasted exactly two seconds.
SLAP! SLAP!Both of them landed a sting on my cheeks simultaneously before throwing themselves into my arms, sobbing uncontrollably. "You absolute idiot! Don't you ever dare do that again!" they wailed.
'Fantastic,' I thought, rubbing my burning face. 'In the arena, a Demon Lord pulverizes me. In space, Goddesses hang me. And at home, my girls slap me. Does the entire universe have a contract to hit me?' Yet, as they clung to me, the warmth of their presence felt more healing than any magic. At least I wasn't alone.
"Wake up already," Night's voice echoed in my head, sounding bored and irritated. "This drama is making my skin crawl."
I ignored him and looked at Hina. "What happened? How did we escape that... thing?"
Hina wiped her eyes, explaining that after I passed out, the four Valkyries used their remaining mana to collapse a massive section of the arena wall, creating a wall of dust and debris. They grabbed me and retreated at a desperate speed. Surprisingly, the Demon Lord hadn't pursued us. He had simply stood there, watching us flee like frightened ants.
'I survived maut (death) through pure luck,' I realized. 'I should have thought of collapsing the environment myself instead of trying to tank every hit like a fool.The Calm Before the Storm
Between the Goddess's intervention and Yumi's constant healing, my body felt strangely rejuvenated. But the palace was a powder keg. Seraphina was at the gates, barely holding back the four First Rank girls who wanted to check on me. A civil war was brewing, and I needed to clear my head before the next disaster struck.
"I'm going out for some air," I told Hina and Yumi. After ten minutes of arguing and promising I wouldn't go looking for a fight, they finally let me go.
"Night," I commanded internally. "Take me to the highest point in this city."
"You just got healed, brat. You want to break something else already?"
"Just do it. Stop talking."
Night took control. My body became a blur of blue light, leaping across rooftops and scaling towers with predatory grace. Every landing sent a jolt of phantom pain through my nerves, but I welcomed it. It was proof I was still here.
Finally, we stood atop the highest spire in the kingdom. The cold night wind whipped against my face, carrying the scent of rain and ancient stone. Below us, the kingdom looked vast and beautiful, glowing with a deceptive peace.
"So many secrets," I whispered to the void. "Why was I summoned? Who are those Goddesses in the white space? Who was the Hero who won the contract and abandoned this world? And that Demon Lord... how do I even touch someone who treats my soul like trash?"
I noticed the emerald birds—Yumi's spirits—circling me like tiny, glowing lanterns. My life was a beautiful mess. My 'friend' Night was a nuisance. The Goddesses were mysterious mummies. And the girls I was supposed to protect were more dangerous than the villains.
But as I looked out over the horizon, the fear vanished. It was replaced by a cold, sharpened resolve.
"The play is over," I muttered, my eyes glowing with a dark, newfound clarity. "From today on, I stop reacting. From today on, I lead the fight. Today, my journey truly begins."