Chapter 04: The Piteous Goddess

"Who dares to corrupt this spear?" A thunderous voice resounded inside the room.

The spear in Amon's hand immediately escaped his loosened grip and hovered in the air as it glowed brilliantly.

A female figure cropped up from the spear before Amon's very eyes just at that precise minute. She'd long blonde hair that cascaded down around her buttocks, two large white wings arching off her back like a concave reflection, and two cerulean-blue eyes that brimmed with immense anger.

*Clank*

The spear fell on the ground losing its previous luster immediately.

Her body was encased in thick, sumptuous armor as she wielded a broad heraldic shield in one hand and a sharp-looking sword in the other. She was wearing a winged metallic helmet on her head, gauntlets on her wrists, and graves over her thighs.

However, as usual, instead of being surprised Amon squinted his eyes and gingerly studied the figure.

As he did so, a pale blue name flashed and floated above her, seemingly seeable only to him.

[Fragment (???) of the Divine Goddess of Light (LVL 190)]

"How could a mere mortal attempt to corru—" Just as she was about to yell at Amon upon her arrival, for attempting to corrupt the spear, he cut her short instantly.

"You're quite weak for a fragment of a Goddess, meh," He mumbled noticing her level as he placed his hand on his chin, "and here I thought I was finally gonna fight someone strong."

His prior expression of curiosity had vanished, leaving nothing but scorn in its place.

"What...?" She couldn't help but say. Even though she was only a part of the true Goddess, she remained a formidable opponent for mortals. She possessed the strength of a mid-S-rank hunter, as well as the out-and-out control over Holy attacks and light-affinity,

much of a muchness to her primary body. Yet, in front of her, Amon dared to be so pompous.

'What the hell is he thinking behaving like that in front of me?' She pondered.

Not only did Amon try to corrupt the spear, he even went as far so as to provoke her by acting so arrogantly. It wasn't even a minute upon her arrival yet she was thoroughly disrespected.

'Is he fucking dumb or... does he really have the qualifications to say so?' She gave it a thought.

According to her, Amon had previously attempted to entirely transmogrify the weapon, as well as herself, using some disconcerting and malevolent force. She'd previously assumed it was some artifact-related energy, but after meeting Amon now, she had to alter her mind.

All the same, she couldn't stand such humiliation as a fragment of a Goddess anymore.

Gripping the sword in her hand tightly, she locked eyes with Amon. A sudden torrent of wind rushed through his hair as her body then and there receded from Amon's sight view.

*Whoosh*

Almost instantaneously, a sharp blade emerged out of the air, aiming for his throat followed by her figure.

However, arching his back backward swiftly at the right moment, he deftly dodged the prompt horizontal attack as if he saw it coming way back.

The attack that was supposed to harm him instead impacted the wall behind Amon, causing a medium-sized crack; a significant crack had emerged in the wall, which had heretofore been strong enough to withstand a handful of missile attacks. This was enough to demonstrate that her power was not to be taken lightly.

Amon, on the other hand, appeared seemingly unconcerned, his countenance cold and bored as he straightened his back.

'Huh? He dodged it?... So my suspicions were correct, after all.' She reflected on the fact that Amon had long since evaded her onslaught. This made clear to her that Amon indeed did have the power she'd anticipated; she now needed to get serious about fighting him or else she'd be overwhelmed eventually.

Her eyes flashed with coldness, as she infused her blade with a tremendous amount of mana and vanished instantly with a violent gust of wind once more.

*Whoosh*

She emerged, her blade amber and shimmering blazingly, in front of Amon. This time, though, Amon stood motionless rather than evading.

*Crackle*

A sphere of mana erupted from his fingertips, gently engulfing his hands like a slime that glittered indefinitely; a flame sprang from his palm as a long, narrow, luminous cone, swallowing up all the enveloping slimy mana entirely. This whole process merely took a few seconds.

As soon as she saw Amon was ready to strike her, she withdrew from the scene reappearing on his back to attack him instead.

A glorious white light from her sword encompassed her body, as she swung her sword forming a beautiful yet deadly arc before sending it toward Amon's back.

*BOOOMMM*

A glittering white light engulfed the entire room, along with a deafening 'Boom' that sounded like tens of bass drums reverberating at the same moment.

Soon after everything went silent. A tense ambiance followed.

'He can't be defeated with that... there's certainly something wrong.' She thought inwardly as she readied herself to attack once again in the air.

*Swish*

The light dulled over the moment as she flapped her wings and sped toward the place where Amon was — or at least where he was supposed to be — Amon was nowhere to be seen, it was as if he'd been never there, to begin with at all.

"Where did he go??" Her expression was tense, as she abruptly came to a standstill. Thousands of questions ensued inside her mind.

'Where the fuck did he disappear to? Is he as fast as me?'

'From what angle will he attack me?'

'Should I defend with my shield or attack with my sword?'

And so on.

However, neither of those thoughts, unfortunately, kept Amon from attacking her.

All she saw before getting struck was a blur of Amon standing close to her, with his mana-imbued palm directly facing her face. Following that, a humongous blow landed on her, resembling a deluge of lavatic fire.

*KABOOOOMMMM*

As soon as the onslaught hit her, a flamboyant explosion erupted in the air, accompanied by a powerful blast of wind.

Her body was flung across the room and toward the corner. Blood gushed rapidly from her mouth, exhibiting no signs of abating. The strike was so episodic that she was thrown, up against the wall before she could possibly wield her shield or sword. Flames scorched her armor along with her whole face.

It slowly penetrated the armor, letting the attack hit her torso which caused even more pain and sank her into a state of denial and skepticism.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Feeling her entire exquisite face and eyes scorching, she cried in despair.

It was impossible for her to imagine that as a part of a Goddess known for her beauty and might, she would lose her visage and even her sight one day.

Alas! It was a matter of fact that, what had been done couldn't be undone. She was but merely a fragment of Goddess, so it was hard to believe that the other Gods and Goddesses would help her in recovering, heck they would even mock and ridicule her if she were to return, for her incompetence.

Amon had just now ruined her face as well as her eyes for good.

"N-no..." In the middle of excruciating anguish that spread from her face to throughout her body, she managed to mumble out albeit difficultly. The pain that she was experiencing right now was like having needles soaked in alcohol shoved through her flesh, like her torso had been replaced with hot magma, and lightning wired directly into her spine.

Just then, Amon spoke up while levitating in the air, "That's so weak of you, Goddess, or... should I call you a bitch instead?"

The moment she heard him, she clenched her teeth and yelled, ignoring the pain that crawled up her torso, "YOU SON OF A BITC-"

"'YOU SON OF A BITCH! HOW DARE YOU DISRESPECT ME! I'LL ERADICATE YOUR WHOLE FAMILY AND ALL YOUR LOVED ONES FOR INSULTING ME!' That's what you were gonna say weren't you?... Come on. At least refrain from saying such 'Cliche' bullshit like that. I'm tired of it."

'Wtf! How did he kno–'

"You're probably wondering how I knew your thoughts beforehand, right now, right? Well, not gonna lie, you're so predictable that even a 14-year-old adolescent can predict what you're going to say. After all, you're but an idiot. An utter idiot."

"YOU BASTARD!"

Her wrath, which had been building up because of Amon till now, detonated the very moment she heard those condescending remarks from his mouth.

'Bingo!' Amon smirked inwardly.

The scheme he'd devised had worked just fine. He'd succeeded in getting her stockpiled rage to explode like a dormant volcano, allowing her to enter a temporary state of [Frenzy] and demonstrate her full power.

Earlier when he was gathering all the relevant information he could regarding the spear, something intriguing had piqued his interest. He'd discovered that the spear carried a one-of-a-kind Spirit (a monster dwelling inside any artifact or weapon), a fragment of the Light Goddess.

He eventually went on to learn more about such entities just because of his curiosity, including their skills, intrinsic abilities, weaponry, and so on. He discovered that Spirits could wield other weapons irrespective of the weapon they were dwelling inside and like other Boss-type monsters, they could also undergo a [Frenzy] state if they were countered and agitated to a certain threshold.

The [Frenzy] state permitted the entity to gain power exponentially, limiting their emotions, and bringing out all of their abilities and instincts to their fullest. Although it provided a great deal of power, the aftereffects were somewhat unpleasant, and the power only lasted a few seconds. It was fair to presume that almost all monsters hated going into [Frenzy] mode due to the evident disadvantages.

Amon had long since gotten bored for a while dodging her attacks so he decided to forcefully activate her [Frenzy] state and fight her. This way she could keep him entertained for a while.

'Entertain me, puppe*cough* GODDESS.'

*Buzz*

Golden energy surged throughout her body, expanding her muscles while thin electrified sparks erupted.

Her hands pressed against the wall for support as she stood up shortly. Owing to [Frenzy], her charred face had gone bitterly cold, with no emotions whatsoever. Despite her inability to see right now, she'd access to [Enhanced Senses], a skill that allowed her to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel better than the ordinary members of her species. Thus, allowing her to pinpoint Amon's exact location and attack him.

With a deft movement of her nimble wings, she launched herself back into the air, using her legs as a center of gravity. Simultaneously, a large crater was left on the spot where she stood previously.

*Whooooooosh*

She was like a golden arrow loosed from a bow, speeding up and up. She clutched her blade firmly, which was gleaming brilliantly, as she reached the apex.

Soon enough, she swung her blade forward in an attempt to slash Amon's chest. A white arc considerably larger and more powerful than the previous one burst from the blade and proceeded to strike him.

*Whoosh*

As he observed the attack approach him, becoming significantly faster and stronger than ever before, Amon smiled, pleased by the development.

In consequence of the attack's lambency, the entire room was bathed in white light. Following that, a shiny silver shield formed out of nowhere in front of Amon, instantly intercepting the attack.

*Booooommm*

The impact of the blow shook the entire room, as a teeny-tiny, practically non-existent breach emerged on the shield. Amon withdrew the shield, as it vanished into thin air, leaving no traces behind.

*Swish*

Just then, her figure appeared in front of Amon. She reared back her arm and clutched her hand into a fist, creating small lighting sparks, attempting to injure him.

*Buzz*

However, Amon immediately noticed the impending attack and shifted to the side, succeeding in making the attack to hit nothing but air.

He soon realized that her blade was absent after he evaded the 'pathetic' punch. He yanked his head high, only to be confronted by the weapon rushing toward him.

'Ah, so she threw her sword at me first, then waited for me to let go of my guard and attack with a fist...interesting.'

He transitioned his head to the left at the double, so as to dodge the sword in the spur of the moment.

*Swish*

By a hair's width, the weapon narrowly missed his head. She snatched the sword from Amon's back and sneaked up behind him to strike him yet again.

Her strategy, regrettably, backfired at the last moment as Amon seized her by the shoulders and threw her against a neighboring wall with sheer strength.

Following, his hand sparkled with tints of white, as a spurt of mana in the shape of a sphere was discharged from his palm. His mana-imbued hand moved downward with a swift movement to attack her.

Countless beams of light, accompanied by a prolonged 'Boom', blasted from his hand, aiming to hit her.

*Boom*

Thankfully, she'd placed her shield in front of her before the strikes could reach her; thereby stopping the attacks. However, she was forced back by the intensity of the dominant and seemingly incessant attacks, and her back eventually collided with the wall.

*Bam*

Her back slammed on the wall. Hard.

She struggled to block them, letting out a weak whimper, only to be met by yet another series of shafts of white light from Amon.

The continual attacks stupendously hammered her against and into the wall, causing a massive crater to develop in no time. The blows compelled her guard alongside her weapon to fall out of her grip, and fall to the bottom.

*Clang*

*Clang*

She'd nearly lost all of her energy if not all, due to the accumulated damage over time. Soon after, she tumbled down the wall, collapsing to the ground, near comatose.

*Thud*

Worse, her [Frenzy] state wore off, resulting in the loss of her brief power increase. A jolt of hysterical pain swept through her body, driving her to cry out in great pain.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

Amon sighed as he realized her [Frenzy] mode had worn off, and the aftereffects started having a gradual effect on her.

"It's a shame we can't enjoy our fight any longer, sigh," Amon grumbled as he landed.

'Is this the end for me?' She pondered as she drew her eyelids tight, preparing to meet her ultimate fate.

However, contrary to her expectations, Amon didn't kill her. At least immediately.

"System Inventory," He shouted, reaching out and grabbing a lilac-colored potion from the newly formed spatial crack.

Following that, with the potion in his hand, he approached her. When he got near enough, he applied his fingertips to split open her lips vertically and, upon removing the cork, dumped the potion into her mouth.

In a trice, she opened her eyes and attempted to shove Amon back, but to her utter dismay, she couldn't lift them; as a matter of fact, she'd lost all of her preceding vitality, after all.

The liquid gently trickled down her throat, spreading a bitter sensation all across her insides.

*Smash*

Having been emptied, Amon hurled the bottle on the ground, shattering it into thousands of pieces.

"W-what... was... it?" She nervously asked Amon.

"Poison."

"And, oh don't assume this is just any poison; it's a poison that can catch your lies and tenfold your preexisting agony and can only be remedied with an antidote. So, without hesitating, answer my questions as rapidly as feasible... you can very well die a painless death."

"I-"

"My. First. Question. Tell me everything you know about those Gods and Goddesses. Everything."