CH 142.1

Chapter 142.1. Salvation

-?’s POV-

There was darkness. It was unfathomable darkness with a putrid stench, like rotting filth.

It clung to my body, decaying darkness. And I constantly felt an unbearable, excruciating pain.

The pain was so intense each of my fingers was rotting away as if my body was being dissolved from within by acid as if my brain was being scraped away.

Even though I couldn’t see anything, I somehow knew what was happening around me.

Sometimes I would be confined in a capsule or fused with trees. And I couldn’t move my body by my own will.

I remember being defeated by a detestable enemy. My body was dissolved and transformed into a grotesque form.

How many years have passed since then? At first, I tried to resist. I tried to get my body back somehow.

But it was in vain.

She manipulated my body and subjected me to countless experiments.

She controlled me and made me into the new victim.

My power was insignificant. When I set out to defeat Gerðr, I had confidence. But she defeated me and turned me into an enemy’s frontline soldier.

My mind couldn’t bear it, and I locked myself in a world of madness, living in an eternal hell. Or so I thought.

My consciousness was gone, and my soul, which had only been drifting in a sea of agony and madness, was rapidly regaining its sense of self.

A single warm light penetrated the darkness.

I stopped thinking, stopped pondering, for many years.

I don’t know how long it had been, but my soul was regaining its will.

Had the heavens finally come to rescue me? I never thought someone would save this foolish self.

But that light permeated every corner of my soul, and I felt warmth after a long time, shedding tears of relief.

This must be the end. Immersed in that gentle light, I felt a profound sense of relief from the depths of my heart.

[O Mistilteinn! Let that treant destroy itself!]

[Cure IV]

[Mind Cure]

Is it the voice of God?

I could hear the voice of an unusually young and adorable girl. Along with that voice, the light grew brighter. And I closed my eyes in its radiance.

“Huh? It’s bright.”

I shouldn’t have eyelids, but somehow I’m closing my eyes. Realizing this, I hurriedly tried to stand up.

Stand up? But I shouldn’t have had any legs.

With unsteady steps, I stood up and stumbled, sitting on the ground with a thud.

The sensation of grass and soil greeted me, and I hurriedly brought my hands to my face.

“Hands… I have hands…”

There were hands. I have hands that should’ve gone from my memory. It’s smooth, youthful skin without a single wrinkle.

“Huh? Hands, arms, a face, a body!”

Fluttering in the wind, my bangs covered my face, so I brushed it aside and patted my body to confirm.

“It’s back! It is back! My body is back!”

I couldn’t believe it. My original body had returned. Indeed, the body that had been destroyed by Gerðr so long ago had returned.

I recalled those disgusting memories, but for some reason, it felt like watching scenes from a movie, as if it were someone else’s story. There was fear, but it wasn’t overwhelming. It was just enough to remember that horror movie was indeed scary.

It would become a trauma, or rather, I should have been driven to madness and had my sense of self collapse due to the terrifying experience. However, as I recalled those memories, I felt like I was peering into someone else’s memories, and the excruciating pain didn’t come.

I used to have a hard time. That’s about it.

“What could have happened? Could this be heaven?”

I look around and see a meadow and a forest in the distance.

It was an unfamiliar place.

Besides myself, 8 other people were sitting there, looking bewildered and touching their bodies like me.

A vague memory flashed in the corner of my hazy mind.

They were the ones who, like me, were defeated by Gerðr and turned into treants.

Gerðr boasted about each of them being a powerful mage. They ranged in age, with both men and women, including someone like me.

They had been revived like me. Their bodies seemed to have returned to normal.

“Um… I’m sorry, but this isn’t heaven.”

I heard the voice of a timid girl and immediately tensed up, but…

“Oh, I was naked.”

Under the sunlight, I realized that I was completely naked, and embarrassment flushed my face. Memories of battles ingrained in my body prevented me from letting my guard down.

“Awawawa, um… It’s okay. There are clothes here, so please put them on!”

The one who showed even more panic than me was a girl with beautiful platinum blond hair styled in a semi-long cut and bright blue eyes. She looked about fifteen years old, around 160 cm tall. She had a great figure and a beautiful face, but her timid gaze diminished her beauty.

She wore a streamlined magical armor and held a long, slender spear imbued with immense mana.

In front of the girl, there were clothes placed, so I hurriedly took them and got dressed. The other eight people also took the clothes and put them on.

“Are you a goddess?”

“Yes.”

“………”

“Oh, no! Well, it’s not that… um… I helped along with one other person.”

She waved her hands in front of her face, looking flustered and somewhat adorable.

“It might not be true. The gentle light I felt didn’t come from you. It’s my instinct, or rather, my soul telling me.”

“I agree. Did you use recovery magic?”

As the people around me raised their voices in condemnation, the girl became even more flustered and teary-eyed.

“Please don’t mind that.”

Startled and cautious, I reacted to the sudden voice. I could sense an aura from the timid girl in front of me, but there was no aura coming from the voice I just heard.

“Who is it?”

Despite feeling light and regaining my original strength, I cannot find the source of the voice.

“I’m the one who helped all of you! I’m sorry, but I can’t show myself to you.”

I can hear a young voice, and my soul understands she was who saved us.

Simultaneously, I kneel and bow my head deeply.

“I understand. You are a god! May I know what name to call you?”

With deep respect and gratitude, my eyes well up with tears. They saved not only my body but also my soul from hell.

“Oh, goddess, thank you!”

“Our goddess!”

“Please reveal yourself to us.”

Others also kneel and express their words of gratitude. It’s only natural. After all, that person saved us from what seemed like eternal hell.

“Oh, please don’t worry about it. Well, I helped you on a whim. You don’t need to thank me.”

We can hear the goddess’s voice from somewhere. She says there’s no need for thanks. However, regardless of what the goddess says, we can’t help but feel grateful.