＊＊＊
Where do people go when they die? In this world, at least, they go to the Goddess.
The moment the battle-axe hit me, I knew I was dead.
The sensation of Stella’s hand gripping me vanished. When I came to, I was sprawled out on a cold floor.
“Stella!” I jerked my body up.
But the dungeon was nowhere to be seen. I was a human rather than a staff, and I found myself in a now-familiar space filled with monitors.
Knowing this was the divine throne filled me with despair.
What happened to Stella and the magibeast? Without me there—
“Have you awoken, oh human of another world?” the Goddess asked, standing to my side and looking down.
“What happened to Stella?! You have to know!”
“Calm yourself. Look, and behold your answer,” the Goddess said, pointing with her staff. A monitor there depicted Antohsa’s garden.
“Stella...?” I asked, wobbling my way to the monitor.
The dungeon that had been in the garden looked like it had exploded. There were scattered bricks and magibeast corpses. Girls in uniforms had collapsed all over. The dungeon must’ve just recently been destroyed, as a thick dust was still floating in the air.
And in the midst of that, black chains were radiating outward in all directions.
Countless chains extended like wriggling snakes, multiplying at a rate that would soon devour the entirety of the academy’s grounds. It was a disturbing sight that genuinely unsettled me. And at the root of the chains was a silver-haired girl—Stella. For whatever reason, she was hunched over, immobile.
“Do you understand now? What you see is Stella the Witch’s magic,” the Goddess called from behind me. “Those chains are manifestations of Stella the Witch’s magic. As it stands, there remains not a single professor capable of using miracles or rescuing the students from the collapsed dungeon. And the reason is that her chains are binding all the nearby spirits.”
“She’s...binding the spirits?”
“It is just as the chains once bound you. Stella the Witch aims to bind all spirits and make them hers.”
I returned my eyes to the monitor with Stella. “The chains do look kind of terrifying, but is it that big of a deal for the spirits to be bound?”
“But of course. What do you think will happen if Stella the Witch unleashes her power across the entire continent? All the spirits within will be bound by her, and the power of miracles will be lost.”
“So what? Is there a problem with losing miracles?”
“This world is built atop miracles. Without them, how will the people defend themselves from magibeasts? What will light the nighttime roads? How will the economy recover? Where do you think everyone gets their clean water?”
“I came from a world without miracles. People won’t need them to—”
“Furthermore, it is not just spirits that Stella is binding,” the Goddess said, pointing at me. “She binds the souls of men too. Would you tell me to ignore cities overflowing with the limp corpses of those who had their souls stolen?”
I couldn’t argue.
The Goddess’s lips curved up with triumph. “And now you understand that Stella is a witch. I kept my promise.”
Even now, the dark chains were multiplying. That had to be the work of magic. Otherwise, the magibeast would’ve killed Stella.
“It was only through your death that you came to this throne. As it stands, you will be unable to slay Stella. But fear not—I shall reincarnate you,” the Goddess said in a coaxing tone, lifting her staff. A black hole began to form at its tip. “What shall your body be this time? Something with an exceptionally short lifespan will do. After all, your only purpose will be to kill Stella the Witch. Even a maggot should d—”
“Deus est mors!”
Unlike when I was a staff, I felt energy build up in my hand. I thrust out my palm and shot out a black beam of light.
It headed straight for the Goddess, only for her to sniff. The light was sucked into the black hole, and vanished like nothing.
Giggling resounded through the throne. The Goddess was cackling like a predator that had pinned down her prey.
“Why do you resist reincarnation, human? You swore to slay Stella upon confirming that she is a witch, no? Do not tell me you intend to violate this oath. I just informed you that those who lie to a god are cursed with eternal torment.”
Get real. At first I was just hoping for a living creature, but miss me with being a maggot. Why did all of my reincarnations have to be so awful?
“Goddess, what is this power you gave me?”
“And by that you mean...”
“The element. Which spirits combine for it? According to the scriptures, the Goddess was the first saint. The divine power you gave me must be a miracle, then, right?”
The Goddess narrowed her eyes. “I do not have to answer that.”
“Why not just say you can’t? Reason being, this power isn’t a miracle at all. I’ve never seen a saint say the prayer it needs.”
This had been on my mind for a while now. When I’d taken a class with Stella, I’d learned that there were only five patterns that miracle chants followed. Even the high-level miracles used by professors were just combinations of those patterns. The only thing that changed was the prayers attached to start or end.
“Cease your foolish speculation, human. There is nothing unusual about a divine being’s power having unique qualities.”
“A divine being’s power, huh? It’s simple to just say that. But I know an even simpler explanation,” I said, acting haughty. The Goddess’s brow twitched. “Y’know, Miss Goddess. You’ve been around since Pandemonium a thousand years ago, right? You’ve lived an eternity, and have incredible power distinct from miracles. Do you know what that kind of being is called in this world...?”
“SILENCE!” the Goddess roared, and at once a beam that dwarfed the power of mine shot from her staff.
“Ngh!”
I had no time to dodge. It wasn’t a direct hit, but the force still blew me back. I sprawled out on the floor ingloriously, the long chains binding me crashing and clanging about.
“Watch your mouth, human. I am a god. None may refute my words. As I alone sit in the divine throne, I alone rule this world!” she roared. Her mask as a compassionate goddess had finally been ripped off.
She stepped toward me, her gaze cold. “If you will not kill Stella the Goddess, I will reincarnate you over and over until your soul has been ground to shreds. Over! And! Over! You shall crawl on the ground as a maggot and regret your deeds as you are crushed beneath my feet!”
Just before her staff touched me, I made my move. I grabbed onto the tip of her staff with both hands.
“Now, let’s see if you can manage that, Fake Goddess.”
The beam of light shot out of the staff, but I kept my hands locked in place. If I were to let go here and get hit anywhere else, it’d be the end for me.
“How can a mere human resist my power?!” she barked. She stopped her attack, confused.
“That’d be because I’m using magic to block it.”
After getting knocked on the floor, I wrapped my hands in the chains. They were made with Stella’s magic—if the Goddess could cut them herself, I never would’ve ended up in Stella’s staff to begin with.