A beautiful woman with flowing golden hair. A pristine white dress radiating light and divine grace. Gently staring at the silver blade of the Sword of Mana, she looked like a curious and pure maiden.

But she wasn't. How could she be that when she had forcibly taken over Aria's body? No, her entire being?

I felt the urge to attack. To step forward and use everything I had to force her out and bring Aria back. But I didn't.

Something told me that would be wrong. An intuition that said that was exactly what she wanted me to do. That this would play out exactly like she desired if I tried to solve the situation with force.

So instead, I calmed myself and watched her.

After a moment, the woman... No, the 'Goddess' turned to look at me. She smiled and said, "How surprising. To have evaded me by such a narrow margin... Should I admire your fortune? Or should I praise this girl's determination to protect you?"

It was a chilling gaze. The callous sort that belonged to a predator staring at a prey that she planned to toy with before devouring. One that was completely at odds with Aria's usual demeanor... as well as the Goddess that I remembered.

"No matter." The divine being in Aria's body slowly twirled, examining her body, and said, "This girl isn't so bad... The affinity between us is surprisingly high." She glanced back at me and said, "I would have preferred a powerful vessel like your own, but I can make do with this."

Hearing those words confirmed it. I narrowed my eyes and then slowly gathered my power, mixing mana and spiritual energy. "You... are not Serena."

"Hm?" The person in Aria's body blinked and then smiled, coyly placing a finger on her chin. "Mm... That is true. That girl is different from me. But... I suppose you can say we have a shared origin as a Goddess? Or rather, her power comes from my own?"

A sudden realization. Hearing that, the Goddess- No, Serena's actions made sense. The dichotomy in how she seemed to act at times, switching from playful to callous, caring to cold.

The person in Aria's body laughed, a haughty sound that shouldn't come from Aria's lips. "In any case, I have to thank you." She smiled and stepped forward, slightly swaying her... Aria's hips as she moved. "If you hadn't drawn that girl's attention so much, I might have never been able to act." She stopped and placed her left hand over her chest and said, "From the bottom of my heart, I thank you, Mister 'No One'."

It was wrong. Hearing Aria's voice speak in that tone, seeing those mannerisms in her body...

"In any case." The unknown Goddess idly raised the Sword of Mana and said, "I have quite the number of tasks to accomplish now that I'm free." She glanced back at me and said, "I would love to stay around and enjoy my time with a man like you, but-"

A flicker of darkness cut towards the Goddess's neck. A glint of silver flashed to intercept it.

I stepped forward, pressing down with a recreation of my Faithful Companion, trying to sever the Goddess's divinity from Aria's soul.

But I couldn't advance.

Easily stopping my attack with the Sword of Mana, the unknown Goddess tilted her head and smiled. "Oh my. Did I strike a nerve?"

I reinforced my body and pushed harder. "You aren't going anywhere with Aria's body."

Light flickered around the unknown Goddess and she leaned forward, bringing Aria's face right in front of my own. Again, with that damnable smile, she said, "And what makes you think you can stop me?"

The unknown Goddess suddenly twisted her wrist, causing the Sword of Mana to slide past my weapon.

My eyes widened and I took a step back. But the Goddess stepped forward, pressing her own advance.

I stomped my foot and held my ground. This time, the situation had reversed and that Goddess was the one who was trying to cut me down.

She licked her lips and then said, "Men like you are easy pickings, you know?"

With those words, the Sword of Mana flashed and changed. The pure white light of Order that it radiated dimmed- No. It became tainted. 'Order' twisted into 'Control' and the unblemished light turned into moonlight, carrying with it traces of lunacy.

Seeing that, I suddenly realized how this situation came about.

She was dangerous. That woman wasn't Serena. At the same time, she wasn't Aria. Even so, she managed to supplant Aria's soul, filling in the cracks and taking it over.

Instead of a Goddess of 'power' and 'authority' like Serena, this was a Goddess that acted with subtlety and manipulation. A being that existed within the gaps of Serena's domain.

A flicker of moonlight, thin as a silk thread, raced along my weapon.

Seeing that, I immediately disengaged, forcibly breaking through space to open a gap.

It wasn't much. That Goddess's presence weighed heavily on the surroundings, giving off a suppression power that was on the level of back when I first faced off against the Wrathful Sin Dragon. Because of it, I could only move a few meters back, just enough to come against the walls of the chamber.

"Hm..." The Goddess lowered her sword and said, "I'm mildly impressed. For a human to reach such a level is quite impressive, even if it's from borrowing the power of that damned bastard."

I calmed my racing heart and forced a relaxed smile on my face. "That damned bastard, huh?" Quickly scanning through my memories, I made a guess and said, "Seems like you're pretty familiar with Earth."

"Of course." She smiled and said, "The women from there always make great vessels and that damned bastard is usually too busy to keep an eye on everyone. It's a bit risky, but stealing away even just a single Earthling is worth it."

"I see."

A mistaken understanding from my own assumptions. The reason why Serena always seemed to be of two minds when it came to me. The reason why she was so much different in the past when I confronted her at the Xia Dynasty. Why she was calmer in the current era and seemed so different. That was because...

"You were the first."

"Hm?" The Goddess tilted her head, blinking in confusion.

There was a lot to think about. Mistaken premises I had to rearrange and fix. But for now... It was enough stalling.

I stepped forward again and slashed. This time though, I didn't replicate my Faithful Companion. Instead, a black blade, corroded with crimson veins swept through the air.

Silver flashed and the Goddess smiled, easily holding my attack back. "My, my. Aggressive aren't we?" She glanced at my sword and said, "A weapon like that will completely eat this girl's body up if it touches it, you know?"

I didn't bother responding. Instead, I drew in a faint thread of the Goddess's power to analyze it while feigning to strike her down.

It was sinister. A moonlight that dominated and controlled, as well as one that drove people mad. Beautiful, but insane.

Even so, it was similar to the divine light I remembered. No, like how that Goddess said, Serena's power was an offshoot of this light. The purity that remained when the lunacy was stripped away.

But by that same principle, Serena's power was inherently incomplete.

I could see it now. Why Serena wasn't completely omnipotent and omniscient. Why I could fool her in some instances when a 'true' Goddess wouldn't be fooled.

A soft sigh. "How droll," the Goddess muttered. She took a step back. At the same time, space seamlessly rippled, sending me once more to the edge of the chamber.

I could have resisted it, but instead I straightened my body and observed her.

The Goddess shook her head and said, "You cannot harm me. While I acknowledge your talent and effort in reaching the level of a dark chaos god while starting as a mere human, it is still far too soon to challenge me." She dissolved the Sword of Mana and then crossed her arms. Tilted her head and giving a condescending smile, she said, "It seems that you have an attachment to this girl, but you will have to let her go. We already have a 'pact' you see, so her soul is mine. Of course, if you have any complaints, I will be more than happy to hear them in person after I reclaim my throne."

A haughty expression. Self-righteous beliefs and condescension towards humanity.

Hearing that, I couldn't help but laugh. At the same time, I felt a cold rage simmer from within me. An emotion that arose from beyond the memories I had now.

The Goddess narrowed her eyes. "...Have you gone insane?"

I shook my head.

That Goddess was right. At the moment, my own powers were insufficient to match her. After all, it was barely sufficient to clash against Serena, so it was inevitable that I couldn't deal with that unknown Goddess.

A miscalculation. She was an unexpected variable that existed beyond the rules of this world by virtue of being beyond Serena's own powers.

Furthermore, her type of power was a bad match for the chaotic darkness that I had cultivated. Light and Order were easy to match, as my 'path' diametrically opposed those concepts, but a 'Controlling Moonlight' was something in-between both. A hybrid of Order and Chaos, of Light and Darkness.

In short, I couldn't match her with what I had obtained.

But I knew someone who could.

A man whose path was carved out by a sword tinged with bitter regret. One who shared a connection with my dear disciple and devoted his entire life to make amends.

A man whose power I acknowledged and memorized.

My understanding of it was incomplete. After all, I had only experienced it once and for just a short time period. Even so, the nature of it was compatible with the source of my powers.

Regret was born through memories of the past. Furthermore, that guy was willing to face the world itself for Xinxin, even if she never looked at him again.

So-

"A word without a sound."

The Goddess sighed. "Yet another foolish man making a desperate struggle out of love." She shook her head. "Very well. I will accept your challenge." Fully confident in her abilities, the Goddess lowered her hands and stood straight and didn't bother to summon her weapon again.

I ignored it. Instead, I pieced together the memory of Wang Tian's power and finished the elegy inscribed in the path he created.

"A blade by another name."

The world shifted. Time and space separated, revealing countless threads in its place. A realm that Wang Tian reached after being forcibly severed from his own Karma despite his wishes to hold it close.

I raised my right hand. Within it, a pure white blade emerged. But the moment it appeared, it rippled. Like a mirage shimmering in the heat haze, the sword seemed to be on the verge of fading, rejected by the world.

But I denied that rejection, using my Absolute Memory to maintain its form along with the realm of Karma.

And like that, I could see it.

A black thread wrapped around Aria's right hand, connecting to me. A faded crimson thread, heading off into the distance. And then golden chains binding her neck, arms, legs, and torso.

"You...!" A slow and distorted voice. The Goddess realized what was happening and was moving, using her powers to collapse the Karmic realm I recalled. Moonlight flickered, slowly restoring the stalled world.

But it was too late.

"Regret."

I uttered the name of that person's path and swung his sword. White light flared and was joined by the sound of shattering chains.

In that same moment, I appeared in front of Aria.

She collapsed, falling forward like a puppet without its strings.

I grabbed her before she fell to the ground. But I didn't let my guard down just yet.

The moonlight gathering before hadn't faded. Instead, it coalesced at a spot a few paces behind Aria, forming a female silhouette.

"...I knew it wouldn't be that simple."

Wang Tian's sword severed Karma, but that was all. While I managed to free Aria from that Goddess's control, it only expelled the Goddess.

The light dimmed, revealing a woman in a pure white dress with golden bangles around her arms.

Even while no longer possessing Aria’s body, the Goddess's features were still similar. They were sharper, her emerald eyes a shade darker and her face a bit more Oriental than Western like Aria's. But it was still enough to be mistaken for her.

The Goddess scowled, clutching her chest. There, a thin red line formed, staining her white dress crimson. Staring at me, she said, "I misread you. I thought it would be enough to convince that black-haired beauty to get you alone with that girl... but it seems like that damned bastard laid a trap for me again." She lowered her hand and then began gathering moonlight.

Space began to ripple, the telltale signs of trying to escape through a rift.

I lifted Aria up, carrying her in my arms like a bride, and then said narrowed my eyes. "You aren't going anywhere."

Her power was weaker now. Without a physical body, that Goddess faced the oppression of the world. At the same time, I could sense Serena's gaze, usually unpleasant, but currently a welcome addition.

The Goddess looked up and then laughed. "Trying to corner me? Both of you are still eons too young to try. But..." She lowered her gaze and stared at me again. "You are correct. I am not going anywhere... But you are."

Suddenly, the spatial distortions shifted, moving from the Goddess to myself.

I quickly tried to stabilize it, but I couldn't. At the least, not without abandoning Aria in the process.

The Goddess grinned and said, "Feel free to escape. That is, if you don't mind that girl being lost to time."

"Dammit!"

There wasn't enough time to think.

I could sense Serena trying to intervene, and in the distance I could sense Xinxin’s power flaring up to resist the distortion. But it wasn't fast enough.

With nothing else I could do, I pulled Aria close and focused on making sure she didn't vanish from my grasp.

Moonlight flared and mocking laughter echoed.

And then, silence.

HappyVainGlory

Ayah... So much time passed without me realizing it. I'd been writing ahead in the story and finishing chapters offline between studying and suddenly realized I hadn't been posting them. orz

At the same time, I don't want to flood the site with updates... Um... 

Well, at least I don't have to worry about making the schedule for the next month, ahaha...?

Thanks for reading and putting up with my usual nonsense. orz