Chapter 451: The Temple of the Goddess of Light

In a room filled with numerous artifacts, paintings, and stone statues sat a man wearing a glamorous golden robe. He was sitting in a chair made out of the finest ores while sipping a glass of wine. This was the head priest of the Temple of the Goddess of Light, Baldur. He was a middle-aged man with an air of absolute authority similar to a king.

As he was enjoying the serenity of the silence within his room filled with priceless treasures two people suddenly burst into his room. The head priest didn't look too surprised by the scene before him, and before the knights could say anything Baldur spoke first.

"So you've lost sight of the hero."

When the two knights heard what the head priest said they started sweating profusely as they quickly knelt with their heads lowered.

"Forgive us!"

The head priest stood up from his chair and slowly approached the two knights. When the two heard the footsteps coming nearer to them, they felt terrified. One of the knights then felt the head priest's hand placed onto his shoulder. The knight felt like all of his blood was drained from his body.

"It is alright my sons, this has already been prophesized to happen, it is by the guiding hand of our Goddess that events transpired." When the two knights heard what the head priest said they sighed in relief.

"Still, a failure remains a failure." The head priest with his thin hands grabbed hold of the necks of two heavily equipped knights and lifted them up. The two knights struggled to break free from the head priest's grip but were unable to do anything. They two kept on struggling in vain until they died. The head priest then dropped the dead bodies and prayed.

"May our merciful Goddess receive the souls of these two humans into her paradise." Once he was done praying the head priest snapped his fingers and the two dead bodies were enveloped in some sort of white light and their bodies, as well as their equipment, were disintegrated. The head priest then went to the side of the room were the was a basin of water. The head priest washed his hands and lifted his head looking at the painting on the ceiling.

The painting on the ceiling was of an otherworldly beauty with a holy glow and merciful smile. This was a painting of the Goddess of Light. The head priest started crying as he spoke to the painting.

"Even though it was by your will, killing your followers is a sin. Please forgive me o' merciful Goddess!" A shining light descended upon the head priest making him show a look of pure ecstasy.

"Thank you for thy merciful hand. With this, I once again pledge to guide the lost sheep onto your embrace and destroy all of the filthy non-humans who dirty this world. Now that the fake hero has been released from his brainwashing, he would try his hardest to protect the non-humans. He will then retaliate saying it is out of self-defense, making it perfectly normal to penalize him with death. Seeing the hero die because he protected their own, the filthy non-humans will finally leave the hole they are hiding in and we will be able to finally get rid of these so called Fangs of Katar. My Goddess how far has your all-knowing eyes seen into the future?"

As the head priest was getting even more excited someone spoke in his mind. The voice of the one who spoke was so melodious that her simply talking sounded like she was singing.

"My child, do not let your guard down. Someone unexpected has arrived that could change the flow of events."

When the head priest heard the voice of his Goddess he quickly knelt before replying.

"Who is it?! Who is it that dares to ruin your plans? Who has the audacity to challenge our beloved Goddess? Please tell me, and I shall find this heretic and tear him apart and sacrifice his soul and the soul of his family and everyone dear to him to you... No, I apologize for I have misspoken, sacrificing the soul of a heretic, is too good of a deal for him. To deal with a heretic like him I need to capture his soul and torment him.'

The head priest went on and on as he spoke about the colorful ways he would torture the supposed heretic. The Goddess of Light didn't interrupt him and waited for her faithful head priest to finish his rant, once he was done the Goddess finally spoke.

"I appreciate your feelings my son, but this is not an opponent you can deal with by normal means. Even among us deities, this person is supposedly someone to be wary of. Well, I guess that's just a problem for weaker deities with few believers, but I'm sure that someone of my status could deal with him easily, for as long as you're able to lure him into the inner temple where I can fully manifest."

"To personally deal with such a heretic... I feel ashamed that I cannot deal with him in your stead."

"It is alright my son, you have your part to play. Go now and prepare for the beast are coming."

"As you will my Goddess." The head priest genuflected before leaving the room.

...

In the realm of deities, in the area designated for her, the Goddess of Light was deep in thought. After the conversation with her head priest, she remembered the rumors from the other deities regarding the Strongest Mortal Soul.

'A mortal man that is outside the realm of destiny and can slay deities, but rejects to become one... The rumors about him seem to be exaggerated, but even if they are not, surely he's only capable of slaying low-level deities that just recently ascended. It is nearly impossible for any mortal person who is unable to access the power of 'law' to kill a deity.'

The Goddess of Light twirled the tips of her hair with her finger while frowning. Even though she was sure that her followers would emerge victorious in the upcoming battle she herself guided, she felt something was wrong.

'This uncertainty I'm feeling must be because of him... If so to get rid of this anxiety I'm feeling, I just need to eliminate him.'