The Journey of a Rising Hero was a novel that contained hundreds of gods. Naturally, even among the gods there existed a clear hierarchy.
At the very top were the most powerful deities, those who were not bound to a specific concept or created later as gods of events or phenomena. Gods such as the God of Void or the God of Existence. They existed beyond simple human language and beyond even the most complex emotions.
Below them were the gods born from primordial existences that had manifested over time. The Moon Goddess wasthe clearest example of this category. She was, without question, one of the most powerful beings in existence.
Then came the gods of impulses, words, and complex emotions.
Gods like the God of Lust or the God of Wrath.
Finally, there were the gods of specific species. Their power depended on the strength of the race they represented, but they were generally the weakest among the divine. A Goblin God, for example.
However, the Goddess of Dragons, Tiamat, was different.
She was both the goddess of dragons and the goddess of ambition and conquest. Among those who had later seized the title of godhood, she was by far the strongest.
And now, standing before Areth was Lunareth, the Moon Goddess, one of the most powerful beings on the side of good. She clearly did not look pleased to see her champion. In the novel, she had been depicted as a compassionate and protective motherly figure.
But right now, she looked as if she might kill Areth.
She had long, straight, white hair and bright blue eyes. She wore a red dress and had a beautiful, toned physique. Her face was flawless. Her face was flawless, with a small nose, full lips and a soft jawline. Areth was certain that he had never seen such a beautiful woman before.
The surface of the moon had turned red.
This was not Lunareth's nature.
It was a reflection of her anger.
"You! What do you think you are doing?!" the Moon Goddess said as she slowly approached. "How dare you stain the power I granted you like this?"
Areth slowly tried to stand up.
And he succeeded.
That was good news. It meant the goddess had allowed him to rise. Which also meant there was still a chance to speak with her… to reason with her.
"My goddess… please try to understand me. Those people were vile. If I had not killed them, they would have caused me problems in the future."
Lunareth stepped closer across the crimson lunar surface. She was still furious. Her brows were drawn together, and her lips were pressed into a thin line.
"Do not even attempt to lie to me, mortal. I saw how much you enjoyed killing them. And I certainly did not grant you power so that you could commit slaughter over cowardly possibilities!"
He knew lying would be nearly impossible. Lunareth did not merely see what had happened. She saw intention as well. A champion's heart was not a sealed chest to her. It was an open sky.
Areth did not lower his head.
"Yes," he finally said. "I enjoyed it."
A sharp cracking sound echoed through the celestial void.
As if somewhere far away, a star had shattered.
Lunareth's gaze sharpened.
"You admit it."
"Because denying it would change nothing."
Areth stepped forward. The dust on the moon formed a dark shadow beneath his foot.
"Yes… a part of me took pleasure in it. Because what they did to me was unforgivable. My own mother betrayed both me and my father, throwing away our honor for another man. My so-called fiancée spat on the sanctity of marriage by becoming engaged to my brother. And as for my siblings… there is hardly a need to speak of them. You already know the kind of people they are."
After saying this, Areth lifted his gaze and locked eyes with the Moon Goddess.
Her eyes were unbelievably beautiful, the kind that could make any heart race.
"Despite all that injustice, you did not allow me to be crushed. For that, I am grateful. And I will not lie to you. I enjoyed seeing them afraid."
Silence followed.
This time, something heavier than anger appeared on the goddess's face.
Disappointment.
"I did not choose you to spread fear."
"The world you chose me for is not a gentle one," Areth replied. "You distribute justice from the heavens. I walk upon the earth. I see their filth, their betrayal, their hunger."
The moonlight rippled.
"And that made you a judge?"
"No," Areth said. "It made me necessary."
For a moment, something flickered in Lunareth's eyes.
It was not anger.
It was doubt.
Areth continued.
"You, my goddess… you are compassion itself. But compassion sometimes arrives too late."
"Choose your words carefully, champion."
Areth fell to his knees.
He knew this was his final chance.
He did have a backup plan in mind, but angering an overwhelmingly powerful goddess while standing before her would serve no purpose. If a god could split him in two with a single motion, provoking them would be pointless.
So he chose his words carefully.
"I never intended to stain your light, my goddess. BBut I want to go into places where your light does not reach. Down there, justice is not as pure as a prayer. Down there, justice is bloody."
Lunareth raised her hand.
The seal on Areth's chest began burning again. This time the pain was deeper. The power inside him began to withdraw. The moonlight flowing through his veins thinned.
"You crossed the line. You confused justice with gratification."
Areth struggled to breathe, but he did not avert his gaze.
"Perhaps… but if you give me a chance, I can prove my worth. I am still your champion."
At those words, the Moon Goddess reached toward the crescent-shaped symbol on his chest.
"You are not."
The moment those words echoed, the seal did not merely burn.
It was ripped out.
The crescent on Areth's chest cracked. It was not his flesh that split, but his soul. A silver thread extended from his chest, invisible yet undeniable. That thread had wrapped itself around Lunareth's fingers.
She pulled.
Areth collapsed onto his hands. He felt cold. Empty. As though he had just lost someone precious before his very eyes. As the crescent was torn from his chest, light did not spill out like blood. It simply withdrew. The silver energy gathering in Lunareth's palm was the grace that had once beaten within Areth's heart.
He could no longer feel his radiant white wings. In the next moment, they crumbled into dust as if they had never existed.
"I raised you," Lunareth said coldly. "I gave you my light. I turned you from a broken man into the sword of my justice. And the moment you gained that sword… you used it for your own satisfaction."
Areth lifted his head.
His eyes no longer shone silver.
"If I hurt you… then I apologize."
His goal was simple now.
To survive.
Of course, there was also the undeniable fact that he had angered, perhaps even hurt, an extraordinarily beautiful goddess. But saving his life came first.
Lunareth's gaze remained hard.
His apology hung in the air.
But an apology was not a word strong enough to extinguish a god's anger, especially when spoken by a champion whose intentions had been stained.
Areth remained on his knees.
The hollow in his chest burned. The absence of his wings felt like a physical weight pressing against his back. The Moon's grace had been withdrawn. Along with it, the celestial lightness that once filled him.
"I am not hurt," Lunareth said. "I am simply disappointed."
The words fell like a verdict.
Areth looked up again.
His mind was calculating. The instinct to survive sharpened his thoughts. Challenging her now would be suicide. Begging might only make him appear more pathetic in her eyes.
So he chose silence.
The goddess raised her hand once more.
This time, nothing was torn from his chest. There was nothing left to take. Instead, the celestial realm itself treated its former champion like a stranger. Beneath the moon's surface, an invisible circle formed. The light withdrew. The ground lost its right to support him. It pulled away from beneath his feet.
"You will no longer carry my name. My light is closed to you. Now... Go. "
For a moment, Areth felt weightless.
Then he fell.
The surface of the moon rapidly receded. The crimson crescent shrank and shrank until it became little more than a scar in the sky. There was no wind in his ears. This was not a height where wind existed. This was the void between the gods and the world.
Silence here pressed against him like weight. Far below, the world waited. From this height, a human body would shatter into dust.
"Damn you!" Areth shouted. "Did you really have to kill me?! AGHHHH!"
His fall accelerated.
Below him lay a forested region. Jagged rocks, dark tree trunks, unforgiving ground. His mind calculated everything. The angle. The speed. The moment of impact.
There was no chance of survival.
"So this is how it ends," he thought. "What happens now?!"
Would he return to his old body? Would he reincarnate again? Or would he simply die?
The last possibility sent chills down his spine. If he was honest, he had never taken this place entirely seriously. The fact that he had entered this world to fix a novel that had once driven him into rage while reading had overshadowed that reality.
"At least… it was a good revenge story. I hope I've managed to catch the attention of some malevolent goddess... otherwise, if things keep going like this, I'll die."
After that thought, he let go.
He closed his eyes. There was no point in struggling. Sooner or later, he would crash into the ground. He relaxed his body. One last thought passed through his mind. If this truly was the end, then at least he would face it on his own terms. The ground rushed toward his face.
One centimeter.
Maybe less.
And then…
The world vanished.
There was no sound of impact.
No pain.
The ground disappeared.
Areth's consciousness trembled, but not from a physical blow. It felt as though a page had been turned. One scene closed. Another opened. The cold blue of moonlight was replaced by a crimson-gold glow.
Areth opened his eyes. There was no ground beneath him.
No moon.
Not even a sky.
Massive pillars of bone surrounded him, each as thick as a mountain, each cracked and charred. In the distance, rivers of lava flowed slowly toward the horizon. The air smelled of burnt metal and blood. Instead of a sky, enormous wings stretched overhead, casting a shadow.
Scaled wings. Black and crimson. Wide enough to swallow the stars themselves.
And directly in front of him…
A face.
Golden eyes.
Vertical slit pupils.
A smiling mouth.
Her scales were dark, almost black, with light seeping between them like molten gold. Her horns rose upward as if they intended to pierce the heavens themselves.
The Goddess of Dragons.
The Goddess of Ambition.
The divine embodiment of Conquest.
Tiamat.
Areth realized he was breathing.
That alone felt like a miracle.
The goddess was looking at him.
No.
She was studying him.
And as she did, the corners of her lips curled slightly higher, as though she were enjoying herself.