“How did it come to this…?”

The goddess stared in dismay at the dark, gaping mouth of a cave that resembled the open maw of a dragon.

She had been attending the strategy meeting moments ago, yet now, here she was, part of a special task force alongside her past self, Knight Ren, to eliminate the queen.

“My apologies for bringing you to such a dangerous battlefield so suddenly,” Knight Ren said, approaching her. Perhaps Ren thought the goddess was frightened.

“However, this mission is humanity’s last chance. If we fail now, humanity, unlike those creatures, cannot replenish its resources or soldiers. We will be doomed. That’s why we need the strength of warriors like you. Please, fight with us.”

Despite her authority as supreme commander, Knight Ren requested rather than ordered, her tone filled with respect.

A hero. That’s what her past self had been.

The goddess felt a stirring in her chest, a longing to reclaim what she had lost.

“…Fine, let’s give it a shot,” she replied, her voice filled with resolve.

She wanted to change—to no longer be the idle, useless deity constantly scolded by the apostles.

“Thank you! Truly!” Knight Ren’s joy was evident as she smiled warmly and led the way into the cave.

‘In my past life, I entered the underground cave with ten comrades,’ the goddess recalled.

Back then, her task force of ten heroes had fought by her side to slay the queen. Unlike now, no ordinary soldiers accompanied her.

This current setup, with just the two of them, was likely a game mechanic designed to focus the event on the protagonist. However, the goddess wasn’t aware of this.

‘Perhaps history simply didn’t record everything properly,’ she thought, her heart heavy.

The comrades who had fought beside her, sacrificing themselves to clear the way to the queen, had been forgotten by time.

‘Or maybe the real failure lies with me—for not ensuring their stories were passed down.’

For the first time in ages, the goddess reflected on how wrong her life had gone.

Uwoooo!
Kieeeek!

The goddess and Knight Ren cut their way through hordes of monsters as they pressed deeper into the cave.

Even though the kingdom’s army outside was risking their lives to distract the main force, the queen’s elite guard continued to pour in, determined to protect her lair.

After carving through hundreds of monsters, the two finally reached the bottom of the cave.

Kirrk.
Kirrk.

Three Elder Guardians emerged from the shadows.

‘Even after killing one outside, there are still three more?’

In her past life, there had only been three Elder Guardians in total.

It seemed the influence of the Abyss had significantly increased the difficulty.

Clang!

Two of the Elder Guardians lunged toward Knight Ren, who intercepted their attacks.

“I’ll leave the third one to you!” she called out.

“The third one, huh.”

The goddess squared off against the remaining Elder Guardian, meeting its attack with her blade.

She needed to finish it as quickly as possible to assist Knight Ren.

Without her original arm and with a different sword, Ren was struggling against the two monsters.

Clang! Clang!

The goddess deftly evaded the Elder Guardian’s strikes with the precision of a swordswoman who had touched the pinnacle of martial arts.

Kirrk!

She countered, slashing through the monster’s blade and rendering it helpless.

Crunch!

Without giving it time to retreat, she followed up with a powerful strike, severing its head.

Just as she prepared to confirm the kill, gripping her sword in reverse to slash again—

Wooong.

A blue light surged from the Elder Guardian’s body, enveloping the goddess.

“What… What is this?”

Caught off guard, the goddess instinctively tried to avoid it, but the light moved faster than even she could react. It seeped into her body.

Thump!

A small ripple coursed through her.

Thump! Thump!

The ripple grew stronger and stronger.

And then—

BANG!

When the ripple fully engulfed her, a pair of wings burst from her back.

“Elder Guardian’s wings?”

The Elder Guardian’s essence had been absorbed into the protagonist’s avatar.

“So, that’s how it worked…”

The goddess finally understood.

She had always wondered how players managed to clear this episode, given the seemingly impossible odds of taking down the queen with just two characters.

“If absorbing the essence is possible, that changes everything.”

The Elder Guardian’s abilities—[Acceleration], [High-Speed Flight], and [Enhanced Vitality]—were activated in her avatar, greatly enhancing its power.

Although it still fell short of her true divine form, at a human level, the empowerment made her a near-invincible force.

This was the special ability of the protagonist in the game [Akashic Archive].

Boom!

The goddess leapt into the fray, charging at the two Elder Guardians pressing Knight Ren.

Crash! BOOM!

With a single swing amplified by [Acceleration], she shattered both monsters in an instant, their forms collapsing under the sheer force.

“Hah… hah… You… What is that power…?” Knight Ren panted, gazing at the goddess’s avatar.

Clad in the armor and wings formed from the Elder Guardian’s essence, the goddess looked almost otherworldly—like a monster or even an agent of the Abyss.

But Knight Ren simply smiled, brushing off any suspicion.

“No, no. Thank you. Without you, I would’ve been in serious trouble.”

“Well then, all obstacles have been cleared,” Knight Ren declared, shaking the blood off her sword and adjusting her chrome arm. She began walking forward.

“And beyond this point lies our ultimate objective—the mother of those creatures, the one who will end this war and save us all.”

She turned back, flashing the goddess a grin.

“Thanks to you, we’ve made it this far. You have my gratitude. Now comes the final step. Are you ready?”

The goddess silently nodded.

“Good. Let’s go. For the salvation of humanity.”

***

BOOOOOM!

Kieeeek!

The massive creature, larger than four ogres stitched together, let out an ear-splitting scream as it collapsed.

The Queen of Monsters, a foe so powerful that even the past Knight Ren couldn’t defeat it without collapsing the entire cave, was no match for the goddess’s avatar, empowered by the absorption of the Abyssal essence.

‘…If I’d had this kind of strength in my past life, would things have turned out differently?’

Despite the ease of her victory, her heart felt heavy and conflicted.

“Hahaha… HAHAHAHAHA!”

Knight Ren, her body soaked in blood, burst into loud laughter.

“That was a truly heroic feat, my friend! A warrior clad in black armor, soaring through the air and slaying the Monster Queen! Your name will be immortalized in legend!”

Her laughter abruptly stopped, her expression shifting to one of puzzlement.

“Now that I think about it… I never asked your name, did I? How rude of me! …Let me correct that. What is your name?”

There were so many things the goddess wanted to say.

That she was another version of Ren from the future.
That she knew what would happen in the days to come.

But as her avatar hesitated, struggling to find the right words, she opened her mouth to speak—

Ding!

[Ending the session.]

Suddenly, the surroundings darkened, her vision cutting out as if a film reel had stopped playing.

“Well done. For your first trial, I’ll give you nine out of ten,” a voice said.

When she opened her eyes, standing before her was the Administrator—a black-haired boy with an air of authority.

[Exiting the game.]

Flash!

The goddess found herself back in her usual room, greeted by the familiar comfort of reality as the virtual simulation ended.

“……”

She knew.

That place wasn’t her past—it was a world within the game.

A fabricated imitation of a time long gone, a past she could never return to.

“Sloth…”

Her Constellation name was [Sacrifice of Indolence].

Unlike Constellations who actively ascended to divinity, she had been passively deified after her death. As a result, she was known as a passive deity—one who rarely acted or even left her sanctuary.

Despite possessing immense power and faith, she had spent her existence as a silent god, unwilling to wield her strength or step out into the world.

“It feels like I’ve finally woken from a long slumber.”

She wondered why she had lived that way.

Even when the continent and her comrades who had fought beside her faded from memory, she hadn’t bothered to honor them. Instead, she wasted her time wallowing in idleness.

It wasn’t like her at all.

The disconnect was overwhelming, as if something had tampered with her very essence.

But now, things were different.

Even if it had been a fabricated dream, it had shattered the deep sleep that had consumed her reality.

She felt liberated, as though her mind had finally cleared.

And now she knew—what she had to do.

“Well, first things first, I should go give my thanks.”

The power used to create the [Akashic Archive] was a power of dreams.

And if anyone was capable of wielding the power of dreams, it could only be one god.

The goddess thought of the small, childlike goddess she had once encountered in the distant past.

Smiling softly, she rose. It was time to act.