When the Goddess wanted to grant someone strength, she first got them to fixate on strength. By doing that, they easily accepted their new power and would not hesitate to use it.
To clarify, the Goddess was able to control a target even if she didn’t do so directly. It was not impossible for her to turn someone into a puppet even if they refused her. Only by having a will on par with Benetnasch’s would someone be able to repel the Goddess’s control. In other words, she could take control of Sei whenever she wanted.
So why hadn’t she? The reason was simple. Because it would be a weak move if she did. No matter how much a puppet’s stats were raised, something that wasn’t making decisions under its own will would be full of openings and would not add much to a battle. Because the existence that was the Goddess was so large, she was unable to notice small happenings from small people in their small world.
For example, imagine a game where one is god, and an incredibly tiny snake cut in front of a character. There would be no way for the player to realize that, however, because the characters would be too small. In terms of battle, this would be life-threatening. It wouldn’t be going too far to say that the player would be completely defenseless. If the difference in their strengths was so large that the other side’s attacks wouldn’t work in the first place, then things might be fine, but unfortunately, the opponent was Lufas Maphaahl. A hero with that many openings would not even be close to a match for her.
That was why, when the Goddess had controlled Alioth and the others before, she’d made sure to leave their consciousnesses intact. She’d made Pollux into a complete puppet, but that had been a special instance. Pollux herself was weak anyway, so it didn’t matter much how many openings she had. Those who did the fighting were the argonautai. That was why, when awakening a hero, the Goddess made sure to follow the steps to make them realize their powerlessness and lead them to desire strength before granting it to them.
However, that plan would all come crumbling down thanks to the betrayal of just one person. All because of the runaway, Dina, who was supposed to be a part of the Goddess.
It should have been accurate to say that Dina was basically another Alovenus with a copied-over personality and memories. There was no reason to expect a betrayal. However, she had been the cause of everything. Lufas was supposed to have been given a false personality, but all that had done was give Lufas back her body along with knowledge of the other side. All the members of the Twelve Stars, who had been purposefully separated, had gathered once again under Lufas, and instead, the devilfolk were weakened. In addition, she had even managed to have Libra make a mistake by purposefully acting carelessly.
Finally, the hero had been ignored constantly, leading to how he was now. An understanding had been brokered between the hero and Lufas, and now they both stood against the Goddess as enemies. This was something that was never supposed to have happened. If the protagonist didn’t confront the final boss, there was no story. Even worse than that would be teaming up with the final boss, saying, “The writer pisses me off, so let’s beat her together.”
However, all that ended here. Now that the Goddess herself had taken action, the story would be forced to progress. The Goddess/Dina took up a smile, sure of her victory, as she activated her thought manipulation skill. Lufas, likewise sure of her victory, never lost her smile as she stood by and let her opponent act.
The both of them had played their hands, so all that was left was to see whose hand was superior. However, they both shared one thing in common: no matter who came out on top, the hero would be the one to close the curtain.
＊ ＊
Sei was confused. He was sure that he had just been in the Ark, trying to calm the people who were inside. He remembered that much. It was debatable whether that actually counted as calming them, but we can just call it that for now.
However, he was now looking at the outside. He was now outside the Ark, watching Virgo as she fought desperately. She was facing the Wood ouroboros, an unprecedented monster that could destroy planets and one strong enough that Virgo would not be able to remain untouched against it. Sei was simply watching, unable to do anything. After all, Virgo was strong while he was weak. He was liable to die just from being outside the Ark, let alone while helping in a fight.
The planet had already lost its original shape, was swallowed by magma, and was suffering countless meteor impacts from the sky. Mountains were pulverized, the land split, the oceans boiled away, and the earthquakes never stopped as many other natural disasters frequently popped up all over. The world was truly ending. This was a time only talked of in myths.
Sei would be lying if he tried to claim he didn’t feel miserable. Rather, he always felt miserable due to his inevitable sense of inferiority. It was embarrassing for him to be so weak even though he held the title of hero. To Sei, the feeling of powerlessness was a nosy neighbor he couldn’t escape from. Ever since he had witnessed Lufas after coming to this world, that neighbor was constantly posing as his best friend, arm wrapped around his shoulders. On top of all that, this annoying neighbor had been getting bigger and bigger this entire time. Sei had felt especially powerless in Laegjarn, during his fight with Debris.