Chapter 463: Exchange between a mortal and a deity

The Goddess of Light suddenly felt an overwhelming pressure coming from Ren. The pressure made her feel like she was back to being a mortal again. She felt like she saw the battlefield of old embodied by Ren. It has been such a long time since she felt such dread. She hated it, she hated this feeling of uncertainty Wasn't she a Goddess, didn't she go beyond this mortal feeling of fear? Isn't this person in front of her just a mortal man, that she should be able to squish like a bug whenever she pleases?

The Goddess of Light gritted her teeth and felt anger not at the man before her but at herself. She already sacrificed so much to gain the strength and followers she had. Was that all meaningless?

While the Goddess of Light was feeling overwhelmed by her own feelings, Ren's companions were looking at him with astonished expressions. Valdel couldn't believe in the power Ren was currently emitting.

'So he was holding back all this time... Was he always this strong? Simply based on the aura he's currently emitting, hasn't he already surpass his peak state when he was still Demon Lord Kretos?'

'As expected, he's growing stronger by the second. Every time I see it, no matter the incarnation, it such a treat to see. Still, even with this, he won't be able to win.' Lara thought to herself as she watched the battle unfold before her.

...

Ren had finished unleashing his full force. This was the first time ever since his soul was healed that he was forced to go all-out. He found it amusing and got excited at the feeling he was having. He smiled that vicious smile of his, as he felt a surging exhilaration flow through him.

He knew that even with this, he was no match for the deity that was standing in front of him. Still, that didn't deter him to fight, instead, it pushed him forward to face the challenge head-on. It was not like all of his past battles were easy. There were many times that he felt that he would lose, but even then, didn't he surpassed himself and won?

"Now let's see if you're able to handle this O' Goddess."

Ren lowered his stance, his left hand was touching the ground, his right hand was holding Snertal, and was placed at the back. In this position, it looked like he was about to start running. The Goddess of Light sneered, she thought that he would do something different, but wasn't this just a simple charge like before? It was at that very moment, Ren suddenly disappeared.

The Goddess of Light quickly reacted as she lifted her hands upward, a wall of light appeared before her, defending her, yet in the next moment the wall of light shattered. She quickly evaded the next strike but unlike before, she couldn't do it with minimal movement and evaded in a very awkward manner.

She then saw at the corner of her eye, Ren was once again charging at her, she couldn't evade in time, and couldn't use a spell to protect herself. So she lifted her hands, trying to block Ren's sword. The sword made contact with her hand. Despite her hand being sturdier than a Dragon's scale, Ren's sword strike was able to make her bleed, but in exchange, she had caught Ren's sword and was able to counterattack.

There was now a gaping hole, in Ren's lower left abdomen. Ren started coughing out blood, but despite that, he was still smiling that vicious smile of his. Ren then increased the power he exerted in his sword swing, slashing the Goddess of Light's right arm off.

The Goddess of Light screamed in a maddened state, as she pushed Ren away. She looked at where her right arm was supposed to be, and when she saw that it was no longer there, she grew even more infuriated. On the other hand, Ren who had a gaping hole in his stomach was chuckling.

"Hehehe, that was pretty exciting. As expected there's nothing that could beat the exhilaration of fighting a powerful opponent. This was awesome, this was the thrill I've long since wanted!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself you arrogant mortal! This isn't much for I can still do this."

Something started forming in the stump, where the Goddess of Light's right arm used to be. In but a few seconds, she regrew her arm.

"Do you see now, you arrogant mortal? I am a Goddess, you cannot kill me with such measly attacks. No matter what you do, no matter what you can think of, nothing you do will work on me."

"Is that so?.... But in my eyes, it seems to me that unlike before, your divine presence seems to be weakening. So does that mean if I keep on attacking you, will you eventually fall?"

The Goddess of Light didn't respond to Ren's question, instead, she glared at him with all the hate she could muster. She knew for a fact, that what Ren said was the truth, in this mortal plane, she could potentially die. If they had fought in the astral plane where deities like her reside, she would have been able to unleash her full might. Yet here, in the mortal plane, her powers were limited. She couldn't do anything about it, since those were the rules the deities abide by. If she were to break it, she would be punished by the world itself and she would cease to exist unable to reincarnate ever again.

As the Goddess of Light was oddly silent, Ren looked at Lara and saw her nod her head. It would seem that the preparations were done. Ren then started to give out some orders using hand signals and Lara responded by nodding her head.

"If you are able to regenerate your body parts, what if I use an attack that could destroy every part of you, all at the same time, will you die then? How about we test that out."

While Ren was saying that. The Goddess of Light felt a horrifying pressure coming from Ren's sword. Snertal, which was being filled with mana and spirit aura suddenly roared. The Goddess of Light who heard the roar, finally understood why Ren's sword was able to harm her. That sword was created using the body parts of an ancient dragon. This was the first time since the start of the battle that the Goddess of Light felt like she could actually lose.