Chapter XLIX: To Become A God (5)

Previously

“Sorry about all of this,” I wasn’t shameless enough to not, at least offer an apology for everything. “But seriously, what happened? What did. .I do?”

Now, I may not be able to read her emotions at all but after the weeks we had lived together, I had already begun to pick up some of the habits she made like how she grits her teeth when pondering about something for example. Or her current biting of her inner cheeks when she was hesitating to say something. But of course, her face still remained as impassive as ever. Sometimes I do wonder how it’d look, ransacked with pleasure. Focus. 

“You snapped,” Ivanka said. “It was nothing like I’d ever seen before.”

I noticed she was healed enough to be able to start speaking comfortably. “Elaborate please.”

“. . .Perhaps I may have gone too far to satisfy my curiosity, to test the limits of your strength this early on without foundational buildup,” Ivanka said, which was more like her way of saying an apology. “But I was always prepared to switch everything off if you so much as collapsed.”

“What I did to you may have been harsh but it was a test a martial artist must and needed to go through so that we can draw out any latent talent or ability one might possess,” Ivanka said before her eyebrows knitted. Another habit of hers she did instead of frowning. “But I fear I may have brought out something far more horrifying instead.”

“What?” I asked tentatively. “What came out of me? Latent talent? I don’t understand. I thought you weren’t allowed to possess any abilities outside your racial god’s system? What do you mean?”

Ivanka now had enough energy and feel in her right hand to raise it, pausing me from fumbling over my questions. “I’ll answer them all later. I only have enough breath in me to answer your original question.”

“Enough breath in you? Wait, how could I have even hurt you to this point?” I looked over my innocent little emblem. “That shouldn’t be possible. I don’t possess any offensive skills and you’re realms beyond my current strength. It shouldn’t be possible.”

“. . .What came out of you was a herald of death,” Ivanka breathed in sharply. “No, maybe I was battling against death herself. Then it is logical that you were able to wound me since after all, you then possessed the divinity of salt, erosion and decay.” She circled her finger around, showing the eroded state of the training grounds. 

“Divinity?” I said in disbelief. “But, I’m not a god.”

“What came out of you was,” Ivanka said firmly. She motioned to the stump on her left arm and the curse that hung above it. “Only something of divinity-class can hurt me. But I’ve never been wounded with a curse that is able to trump my regeneration factor before.” She noticed that the curse was of a language she could not read and that it was half-purified already. “. .How can you do that?”

There it was. The question I was hoping to avoid. Shit, I should have known she’d ask this the moment I asked what happened. I sighed. It was a pain to deal with too since I’d have to give at least a half-lie due to her annoying truth detector.

“Do what?”

“The healing?” She said then her eyes glowed. “You. .know the meaning of this curse. It’s basic knowledge that to dispel a curse, you must first know the origins of it’s language. I’ve never seen this language before in my years of life. You have?”

I had to stop her before she started figuring out the truth. Amongst many things, she was also a masterful detective, perhaps even near the level of Sherlock. “Yes.”

“No,” Ivanka said. “You know the language.”

“Stop that,” I stopped healing for a second. “I’m not perfect. You have secrets you want to keep and I have secrets I want to keep. Don’t ask for mine and I won’t ask for yours.” I noticed the curse around her body throbbed a little. “Unless you want to tell me yours or the other way around.”

She nodded after thinking for a while. I resumed my healing, seeing that the curse was around 90% purified. “Sooo, since you’re lying here in anguish and it was technically still me, you could say that little ol’ me defeated the big, strong Ivanka, vanquisher of evil, slayer of dragons?”

She let out a grunt. “I was simply distracted.” Then, she turned her head away and if she could show emotions, you would be able to see her pout. 

I found it somewhat adorable to tease her like this. Also, I don’t know what I did but this small feeling of victory over her, a literal god, albeit a fallen one, made me a little excited. 

I let out a giggle. “Riiiight, and you were totally distracted and not giving it your all which is definitely not the cause of your predicament right now.”

“. . .Were you always this mischievous?” Ivanka asked, amused.

“Only when I succeed in getting my revenge,” I said. “You were pushing me a little too hard in your little test.” I gave her forehead a little love tap with a grin plastered on my face. “Willow 1, Ivanka 0.”

“So childish,” Ivanka huffed adorably. As she was now, she was like a big bear throwing a tantrum and she had the audacity to call me childish. 

“I love you too,” I told her, not noticing the glint in her eyes. Finally, I was able to purify the curse completely as the english word, ‘CURSE’ had been torn in half like paper before an angry whisper echoed as it was fully purified. 

I fell onto my butt, holding myself with my arms in the back of my torso and sighed in relief. The purification wasn’t really taxing on my prana reserves but it felt entirely uncomfortable, like I was doing surgery on a heart patient. I cleared my sweat in victory and asked Ivanka, “How is it?”

She was testing out her left stump of an arm, her eyebrows knitted in concentration. “It’s all normal again. Before,” She grunted. “It was like something was blocking my energy from transferring to my left arm. I couldn’t even feel my left arm.”

“But now,” Ivanka focused as particles of energy coalesced around her left stump, showing the preview of an arm. Her right hand formed into a fist as a sudden burst of light flashed around her left arm.  “It’s like it never happened.”

I blinked and opened my eyes. Her left arm was there, brand new as she flexed her fingers and new arm. “You have got to teach me how to do that.”

“A simple trick you’ll learn when you ascend to godhood,” Ivanka said.

“Godhood?”

“Yes,” Ivanka turned her attention from her arm to me. “You did say that you wanted to get your vengeance on the Demon God, right?”

“Well, yeah,” I replied. 

“Then you must ascend to godhood,” She said, matter-of-factly. “After all, only a god can kill a god.”

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