As the Goddess of Light was stunned by the horrifying pressure she felt coming from the sword Ren held, she suddenly heard someone laughing. Ren who had a gaping hole in his abdomen was actually laughing at her. Was an injury that could make normal men fall to the ground screaming in agony as they died, so insignificant to Ren that he was still able to laugh.
"Haha, You know back in my past life when I was still called Kretos, I went on a journey to fight all of the demon lords of that time. They were powerful, cunning, and had a ton of followers, same as you. Do you know what happened to them? I defeated them all and became the strongest of that era. Now I'm thinking of taking a new journey, one were I beat all of you deities. Doesn't that sound so exciting?!"
As Ren was saying all of those words, the Goddess of Light didn't respond and simply frowned at him. When she looked at Ren's eyes, she saw a deep madness swirling within, and just looking at his eyes sent a shiver down her spine. It took some time for her to calm herself down, but after a while, the Goddess of Light finally responded.
"Do you really think you can do it?" This time the Goddess of Light was looking at Ren properly, she was no longer looking down on him. Even though she didn't fully believe the rumors, she now understood that this person in front of her was someone she should treat as an equal.
When Ren heard what the Goddess of Light said, he was surprised. He wasn't expecting her to say such things. Still, he found it very amusing that such a prideful Goddess talked like this. So as his blood was flowing out of his body and his injury wasn't healing as fast as he wanted them to, he couldn't help but chuckle.
"Hehehe, who knows if I could do it or not? I may very well die in that journey, who could tell, but isn't that the point? Isn't that what makes it so exciting? Fighting an opponent that is so much more powerful than you, challenging someone at a greater height, isn't that what makes it all fun? I want to test it, I want to witness it, to see the end of my own strength! Just imagining that grand battle before me, makes me want to jump in joy!"
As Ren was saying all of those words in excitement, blood was flowing out of his mouth. If it were anybody else, they would have been unconscious long ago, the pain would have been unbearable. Yet Ren stood there, with the most joyous of the expressions. He was no longer looking at the Goddess of Light, instead, he was looking at a distant future to his next grand battle.
'This mortal is crazy... Well for a mortal to face a deity, one must be crazy in the first place.' The Goddess of Light felt like she finally understood a tiny portion of what makes the Strongest Mortal Soul so dangerous.
"Enough talk, let's get on with it! This next move of mine was something I copied from the Original incarnation, it might be a bit crude, but it's the best attack that I could offer. If you are able to survive this strike, that would be the end of me. Still, unlike the technique the Original made, I cannot draw power from my soul, but instead, I tried merging my mana and Spirit Aura into one, with that I can recreate a weaker version of it."
Ren lifted his sword Snertal up over his head. This was the most basic sword stance that most sword schools teach to beginners, yet for some reason, that sword stance was the most terrifying thing that anyone within that room has witnessed. An overwhelming power was gathering within Snertal, as it continued to roar. This was a strike that had everything Ren had to offer.
"This was the sword technique the Original used to wipe out all that was in its way, even the stars themselves could not survive this strike. The name of this sword technique is so appropriate for this situation. I hope you receive it well [God Slayer]!"
Snertal, which had both Ren's mana and Spirit Aura, created an image of a gigantic white sword. Ren then swung Snertal forward with a basic swing. The swing wasn't fast, nor was it slow, the speed of the swing was as average as it can be, yet for some reason, the Goddess of Light felt that she could not dodge the incoming strike. She who could move as fast as light itself, couldn't dodge such a slow strike sounded like a joke. As the power of the strike was descending upon her, the Goddess of Light felt like a massive mountain was about to smash into her.
She quickly gathered everything she had to counter the incoming strike, she was now surrounded by an orb of golden light that protected her from the sword strike. Yet despite using most of her divine energy by surrounding herself with the orb of golden light, she still felt the sword strike coming down heavily at her. She saw that the orb was cracking. The Goddess of Light gritted her teeth and shouted in anger.
"Don't you dare look down on me mortal! Even with everything you have, I the Goddess of Light shall not succumb to your attacks!"
The Goddess of Light lifted both of her hands forward, strengthening the orb of light as anger swell up from her. The orb of light started to expand, pushing the sword strike away. As the Goddess of Light felt like she was about to win, she heard Ren's voice whisper in her ear.
"That was a pretty fun battle, and for that I thank you. Unfortunately, I must end the fun for now. I hope that you would once again play with me when I visit next time. By then, I promise to give a proper conclusion to this battle of ours. Either you or I will die at our next meeting. So until then, have a pleasant day."
After hearing that, the pressure from the sword strike disappeared. The Goddess of Light deactivated the orb of light and saw that the room was now empty. Ren and the others had escaped, based on the mana fluctuation that she could sense, Ren's group used a teleportation spell to escape.
'I was blinded by my own rage that I couldn't see such a massive spell being created in front of me. If only I did things more calmly, they wouldn't have escaped...'
For some reason, the Goddess of Light felt like she had lost her only chance to win against Ren. It felt like it was a certainty that she would die in her next encounter with him. The Goddess of Light shook her head to chase away those thoughts.
"It doesn't matter... No matter how many times he comes, I will always be the victor." Despite saying those words to encourage herself, the way she said it lacked conviction. Even she felt like she was lying to herself.