The night was too quiet.
Only the crackle of burning ruins and the low whistle of the wind broke the silence as Rengoku Hayate walked through the shattered remains of the old cathedral. His sword hung loosely in his right hand, its blackened edge flickering faintly, reflecting the red moon above.
Behind him, the battle was over. The Wingless Seraph — a creature of divine origin — lay in ashes.
But Hayate's heart refused to settle.
Something still watched him.
He paused at the edge of the cliff where the cathedral's foundation had crumbled. The abyss below stretched endlessly, swallowing sound and light. He stared down into it, half expecting the Seraph's ghost to rise again.
Instead, he heard her voice.
"Still pretending to be strong… little mortal?"
The words slithered into his ears like smoke. Soft. Feminine. Mocking.
Hayate's breath hitched. His grip on the sword tightened until his knuckles turned white.
He didn't need to turn around. He already knew who it was.
"The Goddess."
Laughter echoed all around him — gentle at first, then sharp, like a knife dipped in honey.
"You say my name like it's a curse. I suppose, for you, it is."
The voice came from nowhere and everywhere at once. The moonlight dimmed, and the shadows around him began to move, twisting into shapes that weren't human.
Hayate spun around, eyes glowing faint red, scanning the darkness. "Show yourself."
"Why should I?" she whispered, her tone playful. "You look better when you're afraid."
The ground trembled beneath him. His System flickered — [Error: Unknown Interference Detected] — as if something divine was rewriting the air itself.
A figure began to form from the darkness — tall, slender, radiant. Her hair flowed like liquid gold, and her eyes gleamed the color of a dying sun. Her beauty was breathtaking… and utterly wrong.
The Evil Goddess smiled.
"Ah… so the discarded toy still works."
Hayate's jaw clenched. "You call dragging people from their world and killing them a game?"
Her smile deepened. "Oh, no. You misunderstand, my sweet failure. You were never meant to die. You were meant to entertain me."
His pulse quickened, the heat of rage rising in his chest. "You ruined lives. You destroyed everything I had."
"Destroyed?" She tilted her head. "I gave you purpose."
Hayate lunged forward, sword flashing. The blade sliced through her chest — but passed through like smoke. The image of her body shimmered, breaking into gold dust.
An illusion.
"Do you really think I'd waste my divine self on a half-formed insect like you?"
Her laughter echoed through the ruins again, shaking his bones.
Hayate ground his teeth, looking up at the red sky. "You're afraid."
The air froze.
For a heartbeat, everything went silent.
Then her voice darkened. "Afraid? Of you?"
Hayate's lips curved into a bitter smile. "You wouldn't bother whispering in my head if I wasn't a threat."
"Cute."
The shadows flared again, and the Goddess's tone grew colder. "Do you remember the girl you spared? The one who left you to die?"
His eyes narrowed. "What about her?"
"She's mine now. My eyes. My ears. Every breath she takes… I will use to find you."
Hayate felt a sharp pain behind his eyes, like a needle piercing his mind. The System flashed:
[Warning: Divine Signal Interference Detected]
[Foreign Influence Attempting Neural Override]
He fell to one knee, clutching his head.
"Get out… of my mind!"
"Why?" the Goddess cooed. "You invited me in the moment you defied your fate."
Her voice grew louder, wrapping around him like chains. "I can see your thoughts, Hayate. I can feel your anger, your loneliness, your hunger for revenge."
Hayate's vision blurred. Memories flooded back — the laughter of his classmates as they watched him fall, the betrayal in their eyes, the cold isolation of the dungeon.
The Goddess whispered softly, almost lovingly:
"Let me help you. Join me, and I'll give you everything they took away. Power. Glory. Immortality."
He forced a laugh through gritted teeth. "You sound desperate."
"And you sound afraid," she countered, her voice turning sharp again. "But that's fine. I like my heroes broken."
The world suddenly twisted.
Hayate blinked — and the ruins were gone.
He stood now in a vast field of white flowers under a golden sky. The air shimmered with divine warmth. Ahead stood a familiar figure: a girl in pure white armor, smiling shyly at him.
"Hayate," she whispered. "You came back."
He froze. "S–Sayaka?"
It was her — his childhood friend, the one who had pushed him out of harm's way during the summoning ritual… the one he'd watched die in front of him.
"Sayaka… you're—"
She reached out, touching his cheek. "You suffered so much. But it's over now. We can go home."
For a moment, he almost believed her. The warmth of her hand felt real, the scent of the flowers soothing.
Then his System flickered.
[Cognitive Distortion Detected.]
[Reality Layer Compromised.]
Hayate's eyes widened. The field began to ripple, the sky tearing apart. Sayaka's smile twisted into something cruel. Her eyes turned gold.
"Almost fooled you," the Goddess chuckled. "Your heart is so easy to play with."
Hayate's expression hardened. "Not anymore."
He raised his hand, and crimson energy surged from his body, shattering the illusion like glass. The Goddess's laughter echoed one last time before fading into silence.
The cathedral ruins returned. The moonlight burned red again.
Hayate stood alone.
His chest heaved. Sweat ran down his temple. But his gaze burned brighter than ever.
"You think you can break me through illusions?" he whispered. "You'll need more than tricks, Goddess."
From deep within, the System pulsed faintly — no longer cold or mechanical, but almost alive.
[Synchronicity Level Increased.]
[System Evolution: Partial Sentience Achieved.]
A faint voice — different from the Goddess's — spoke inside his mind.
Soft. Calm. Familiar.
"Don't let her control your path, Hayate."
He froze. "Who are you?"
"You'll know… soon."
The light vanished.
Hayate exhaled slowly, lowering his blade. The world felt heavier — but clearer. For the first time since his awakening, he could feel the Goddess's gaze fading away.
But the damage was done. She'd found him.
He turned toward the horizon, where black clouds gathered over the next city.
"If you want war, Goddess," he said, "then I'll give you one."
He tightened his grip on his sword, and the System's interface glowed red with new alerts:
[Main Quest Updated: "Path of Vengeance" → Stage Three]
[Objective: Investigate Divine Interference in the Mortal Realm]
[Sub-Quest: Find the Fallen Oracle.]
[Hidden Notification: "A Soul Watches You From the Void."]
Hayate's eyes narrowed. "A Fallen Oracle…?"
The wind shifted — carrying faint whispers, half like laughter, half like weeping.
Somewhere far above the clouds, the Goddess smiled, her golden eyes watching every move.
"Run, little mortal," she whispered across the dimensions. "Every step you take… brings you closer to me."
Later that night…
Hayate rested beneath a ruined tree, the flames of his small campfire flickering in the breeze. His armor lay beside him, cracked and bloodstained. The stars above looked cold and distant.
He replayed the voice he'd heard — the one that wasn't the Goddess.
It had been… different. Almost kind.
Don't let her control your path, Hayate.
Was it part of the System? Or something else entirely?
He didn't know. But for the first time in a long while, he didn't feel completely alone.
He leaned back, eyes half-closed. "If you're real," he whispered to the night, "then guide me. Because the next time I see her… I'm ending this."
The fire crackled, the darkness deepened, and in the shadows behind him, something moved — a faint silhouette, cloaked in light, watching silently.
[Quest Updated: The Goddess' Whisper – Survive the Mental Invasion]
[New Quest Unlocked: The Fallen Oracle – Seek the Voice Beyond the System.]
[Warning: Divine Hunters Deployed in 7 Days.]