Chapter 183 183 – The Goddess of Death

This time, Yua and I came out of the firewall instead of a mist like my place. My eyes were greeted with black stones with crack decorations emitting a reddish glow. And a few feet in front of us was a black castle building with a giant gate with carved skulls.

I felt a distinct sense of hell.

“Get lost!” Levi snapped at the two skull-masked guards at the gate. They had no other choice but to bow and open the gate.

As soon as we entered the castle, I saw a woman in a ponytail sitting on a throne made of the bones of various living creatures. Her face was covered by a skull mask like guards, while her body was wrapped in torn gothic clothes.

The slender woman came down. “Raymund?”

“He’s not the Raymund he used to be, Heila.” Levi started to speak. “He is the successor god.”

“Speak your business here, Levi.” Heila seemed to hold back her anger. “You know I still don’t like your coming here, right?”

Levi glanced at me, and I stepped forward, immediately speaking. “I want to take one specific soul from this place.”

At first, Heila was silent, but a few seconds later laughed. “What did you say? Taking one of the specific souls?”

“I know, my predecessor screwed and made the scarlet wizard threaten the realm of God…”

“Didn’t you tell this new kid something else, Levi?” Heila cut me off. “You didn’t tell him that it was Raymund who asked me for a servant again to defeat the Scarlet Wizard?”

Levi looked away, and I raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t seem to know yet, do you?” Helia chuckled. “Your predecessor asked me to send some more souls, even though he was reluctant. The old Raymund was forced by Levi to do it.”

Levi sighed. “It seems that there is no need to tell….”

“No, this new god of hope should know exactly what happened back then.” The goddess of death cut off the supreme god’s words.

I’m confused. “What happened back then?”

“Your predecessor’s new servants are even worse than the scarlet wizard. At least Scarlet wants to become a goddess to grant people’s wishes, while the new servants want to gain divine power for their own sake, to feed their greed.”

I turned to Levi, who was now closing his eyes.

“Yeah, it’s true that the previous Raymund didn’t want to send any more servants after the Scarlet Wizard incident.” Levi closed his eyes. “But, we as gods can’t interfere too much with mortal affairs, so servants are crucial.”

Helia came to me. “Your predecessors swore never to send any more servants into the mortal world, Raymund. And I respect his decision.”

Now I realize. Levi’s reluctance to come here was due to Helia’s hatred of the supreme god. Helia didn’t ban me from coming here either. Levi himself prevented me from coming so as not to hear the story. So that I still want to send servants to the world below.

“However, this soul I am about to take is crucial to defeating the Scarlet Wizard. You don’t want that mage to gain divine power and come here, do you?” I chimed in.

“Even if she comes here, then we will fight her. We are gods, Raymund. Why are we afraid of a mortal? Even if she has divine power, we can definitely beat her.”

I gripped my hands tightly. “Many will die if she manages to awaken that divine power.”

“Well, there’s nothing we can do then.” Helia started walking backward away from me. “It’s a shame that so many mortals died, but what can you do? I don’t want to risk sending a new servant below. Like your predecessors, I don’t want those servants to cause more trouble.”

“Please, Heila.” I’m getting desperate.

“And now you guys are using souls from another world instead.” Helia laughed bitterly. “Are you guys crazy? You guys are not very familiar with them. And we don’t know the motives of those earth gods.”

“You can research their souls then, madam.” Yua finally got into the conversation. “Soon, Sir Raymund will receive a soul consignment from Osiris. You can exchange it for this soul my master asked for.”

It took a moment for Heila to answer. “Researching souls from the earth, huh? Very interesting idea… Well, to be honest, I don’t know anything about them.”

Great. With just a few lines, Helia’s determination began to waver.

“You think souls from the earth are a threat, right?” I used a firmer tone of voice. “Like this servant of mine said, you might need to check it out.”

“And that soul that Raymund asked for might be the key to our finding the god of energy,” Levi added. “She can use unimaginable magic and is thought to be connected to that god.”

Helia was silent again, this time for a longer time. And then, she said. “Shit. I don’t care about the energy god’s discovery. However, I have to admit researching souls from the earth is very important. Maybe there are things we can find out that can prevent the earth from doing something bad to us.”

“Then you can take the soul when you come to my place.” I breathed a sigh of relief. “And then we can make an exchange.”

“When did she die?”

“She just died today. A girl. She died sacrificing herself to save a city.”

“Ah, that becomes a problem, Raymund. I can’t do this trade so quickly.” Heila sighed. “It is not as easy as taking water from a well. I need a week.”

“What?” I’m bewildered. “But, I need it now. The existence of one country is at stake!”

“If possible, I will immediately make the exchange.” Helia continued. “I want to immediately conduct research on souls from the earth. However, as I said, taking souls from the afterlife is not easy. The recently deceased soul had to travel a long time to get here. And I can’t intervene at all, or the soul will be destroyed.”

I slapped my forehead. Yes, I did finally get to take Renee. However, the chaos was almost unstoppable. I don’t know to what extent Elise’s dark power is. I have a feeling that she won’t be defeated by human soldiers.

“Sorry.” Helia sighed again. “At least tell me the name of the soul you want.”

“Renee…” I sighed. “Renee Emilien.”

***

Due to Mona’s incredible speed, Elise didn’t take long to arrive at the city’s outskirts. Several spear soldiers and mages immediately confronted the female warrior.

“Hey, who are you!?” One of them shouted as the female warrior descended.

“What’s with the dog?” The other one looked scared to see Mona, who was so fierce. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I’d like to ask.” Elise hissed as she walked over to the people. Her head lowered. “Where is the road leading to the palace?”

One of the guards came to Elise. “Look, miss. Honestly, you and your dog look suspicious. We can’t let….”

Elise heads the person with her sword until it is severed, forcing it to fall covered in blood.

“Bastard!”

The other soldiers charged forward, and the magicians shot fireballs. However, Elise easily slashed those people while avoiding the fireballs. In just a short time, the soldiers and magicians had fallen, covered in blood. Body parts lying everywhere.

They were all out of breath, leaving only one female witch who shuffled backward, her body shaking uncontrollably and her pants wet with urine.

“W-why?” The witch cried out in fear.

“They let the townspeople to die.” Elise hissed with a sharp gaze and cold tone. “And they won’t tell me where the royal palace is.”

“W-we were just carrying out orders!”

“They still are guilty. They are supposed to protect people.” The female warrior pulled the witch to her feet. “So, do you want to take me to the palace?”

The witch gulped hard.

***

I returned to my place and found Anja shaking on the pond’s edge. While checking what had happened, I let out a huge gasp.

“Shit.” I staggered, leaning against the pillar. Then, my body slumped down until I fell.

I have turned an innocent woman into a monster. And because of that, a great disaster will occur. All that I did because I thought this was all just a game. Elise is just an NPC I can play with to my heart’s content.

Yua crouched in front of me with a concerned face.

“I’m completely incompetent in carrying out my duties, Yua.” I chuckled bitterly. “I understand why Scarlet wants to take matters into her own hands.”

The kunoichi rubbed my face gently. Her eyes began to be coated with a clear liquid. “But you have tried very hard, sir. Many people have been greatly helped by you.”

“I barely did anything, Yua.” I also started to feel hot tears in my eyes. “You girls did that. I’m just staring from here.”

“Without your guidance, we can do nothing, sir.” After saying that, the kunoichi embraced my body, sending warmth from her body to me. “So, don’t be too hard with yourself, please.”