Gods Among Us (4)

PREVIOUSLY

A shiver ran through my spine. That was a bad end. I really didn't want to suffer from it.

Although, there were advantages to having a deity's mark or blessing as well. For example, if I ever get near to the high elves or basically, any creature that had a connection with the moon, they would respect me enough to at least consider not killing me, no matter my crime.

I needed power. With but a thought, I pulled out a map from my [Dimensional Storage], a map that I had bought for cheap, detailing the immediate surroundings of this town.

There.

I marked a patch of the forest, just a few kilometers away from the town, 'X', a distance that may seem far but with Aegis as my steed, it was just another number. If anyone looked at it, my mark seemed completely random, but to someone who had played the game a gazillion times, they would know that I had just identified the location which would advance Raegis's power by a couple years again.

What? Since the world was trying to fuck me over with that Demon God's clone appearance, I decided I was going to fuck it over first. Let all that came later be boiled to hell.

If my plan worked, Raegis would have enough power to at least extinguish that clone. If it failed, well, I'd be royally fucked. After all, I was going to forcefully awaken a part of her memories, just a smallllll part that would make her remember who she truly is.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I gave Raegis's hair a gentle pat as she stirred in her sleep. She must have been really tired to not even react to what could have easily been an attack. Well, I didn't really blame her, since whenever Fluffy took over, Raegis would always suffer from immense fatigue, as did many of her race who had this ability.

"Good girl," I whispered. "Thanks for protecting me." I pet her even more, and gave a genuine smile. "Really, thanks a lot."

Then, in my bed, I started to plan my next course of events.

***

The Swamps was a place where even the holiest of beings were dirtied, and even the speediest of creatures had to take a pause. Everything that was poisonous in this world grew here, and that meant that everyone who attempted to cross it, usually died.

That would be the case for many, unless one was a golden-haired, six foot tall woman who was the incarnation of everything that was good. And yet, one would never guess she was a knight of good when you looked at the torn rags and broken/stained armor that had previously shone white.

Equipped with an invisible holy sword, and her senses, Elm felt something wrong the moment she had entered the Swamp. With her knowledge, to get to the North to obtain her Shield, she had no choice but to cross the Swamp since that would be the fastest way there especially since she carried the flag of Valterra on her shoulder.

Political troubles arising due to crossing into another kingdom's borders was something she desperately wanted to ignore. In fact, all that was politics was something she hated in all of her incarnations.

POOF!

"T'ze suk yu-?!"

And, down did the evil fairy go. With just a wave of her hand, the evil fairy had been slashed in half, purified with her holy energy before she disappeared into fairy heaven.

Elm felt nothing. She didn't even bother looking at a monster that could have easily wiped a small kingdom off the map by itself. To her, the moment her beloved brother had been ripped apart from her life, everything was stale.

Her heart didn't beat the same. The food didn't taste the same. The world was just too dull.

Oh, how she missed her brother.

"Oh accursed hero-?!"

Slash. Dead. Another monster who foolishly tried to stop her from advancing. Sometimes, Elm tried to amuse herself with random questions just like how her brother used to ask her so out of the blue.

Oh, she could still remember his wide eyes looking up at her, as he asked her why people died and where they went.

A rare smile formed on Elm's lips. The world turned pink for a few seconds before returning back to gray when she realized it was just a memory.

For a moment, Elm stopped. In the Swamp, any form of flight was forbidden unless you were a denizen of this Swamp, a curse set by an old god. Elm could ignore it and break the rule, but she really didn't want to bother having a long drawn out fight with the old god that ruled this place.

Besides other than a few monsters, it wasn't like there was anything that could truly hurt her in this place.

Elm scanned her surroundings, and reviewed the map she had memorized in her head. With the pace she was running at, it would only take her a day to get out of the Swamp, a feat of speed that only a few could even hope to challenge. After the Swamp, she could pass a few towns, move on to the HighLands, climb the Twin Peak, and finally get her shield.

Oh wait, she'd have to battle the fallen angel guarding the place first.

So much to do , so little time. Elm was even in more of a rush to obtain her original equipments and power due to the events that occured a week ago. When the entire world turned blood red, only a selected few knew why.

But Elm, oh Elm, how would she ever be able to forget that red sky? Her heart skipped a beat, and [One-Man Army] had unconsciously activated just from feeling her presence descend upon this world.

Eliza, along with many of the high level personnel, had to physically and magically restrain Elm from rushing to the place with her speed of light. Elm fought with all of her might against the restraints and would have mindlessly charged to where the Demon God was, but just as suddenly as it appeared, it disappeared just as quickly and Elm returned to her original senses.

Elm slashed apart an evil fog that had been attempting to ambush her from behind, and closed her eyes to remember the feeling of anguish and hatred she felt back then.

As much as Elm wanted to berate Eliza for stopping her, Elm knew what Eliza had done was the correct choice at least politically and realistically because the hero's absence during the war with the 70th Head of the House would have been absolutely crushing for the kingdom.

Elm liked to take her mind off the regret by thinking of the good news instead. From her memories, she knew that there would only be specific moments in which the Demon God would ever descend to any of the myriad worlds, clone or not.

And, Elm knew that out of all of the reasons, there was only one specific reason as to why that scum would descend onto this world, or more specifically, for whom she descended.

Elm opened her eyes, and smiled. A little light lit up her gray world.

Her brother was back. Willow, her oh-so-beautiful brother was back.

Feelings that were previously unknown to her sprouted in her heart. She put a hand over it and sighed. How could she have been so dull as to not understand the emotion of love? Yes, love that was not of the carnal sense but one that was of pure and good!

But, the Demon God.

Love turned into hatred. How she'd been cucked still ran strong in her mind.