‘Remember, Aster becomes what its God wants it to be.’ The goth girl said before we split up, when she tried to give me a flying 101 crash course and ended up failing miserably.

In the end, learning how to fly in a few moments was too much of a task for an amnesic primordial God, but it didn't mean I was about to let Anrietta get away. I hold grudges. I keep them well.

Not against her, anyway.

I tore through the day-lit forest, a flow of white hair following me, just like the aerial turbulence trailing close behind. Everything around me was a blur of sepia and pallid trunks—at my speed, it wasn't at all an exaggeration to say that I would catch up with a being as swift as Anrietta in a second. My stride might not be ridiculous enough to burn the dead leaves littering the ground through insane friction, but I was still at least as fast as a Veyron that consumed steroids for fuel.

Ahead, I could see a shadow clear up, hopping from one tree to another, not minding the mist that clouded the treetops. Hooded, clad in black leather; definitely one of the assassins, but lone. I guess it makes sense for them to split up during escape to avoid getting caught en masse. I couldn't see who it was from the hood, but Anrietta or not, as long as it's someone in league with her, it didn't matter, I just gotta catch them all.

I slowed down and held my dominant hand out—palm aimed at the unsuspecting lone shadow ahead.

Aster becomes what its God wants it to be, huh. My pallid, dried lips curved into an evil grin.

Then how about becoming an object of control?

I stopped, closed my eyes and pushed Aster down the veins of my arm, passing my wrist, flowing through my palm like hot blood.

Four threads of black and purple burst forth my palm. Chains, and no, not the fun kind. They appear translucent, the surface like chipped and chiseled gem of black luster, all while emitting an aura of purple flames. Chains made of crystal... Crystal coated with flames... Crystallized pure Aster chains?

Oy, I wasn't imagining BDSM, or tentacle porn, maybe chains really are just ideal for catching people. It's unconscious you guys, purely unconscious process.

They didn't have definite length and continued reeling out of my palm with rapid clanking, despite not being made of steel. Their launch speed far surpassed the assassin's and before long, their length was enough to reach their mark.

The ends slithered forward, seeking the black-clothed assassin like tentacles of death—again, not what you're thinking.

“Ah!?” She turned around and let out a surprised moan as the first two coiled on her forearms. Not THAT kind of moan. When the other two had seized her legs, I pulled the chains with my other hand and she fell from the oak branch she used as her footing. Like a fly without wings, she dropped and submerged into the bracken ten meters away from me.

“Caught you.”

I followed the trail drawn by the chains fastened to my hand, leading through the black-leafed high shrub barbed with prickly thorns. It's not like something of the degree will do much harm to a divinity, so I just ignored the needles and squeezed myself inside, pushing the natural fluff to the side as I made my way through.

I arrived to a small arbor of clear ground where the old tree the assassin fell from stood. The hooded assassin laid by the tree's foot, body curled to a ball, face-down, the chains gripping her limbs still directly connected to my hand like leashes. When she heard my footsteps crunching the duff, she exhibited a lot of squirming, trying to yank off the shackles that bound her forearms and ankles.

I clutched her shoulder and turned her whole body up.

She couldn't do much but waste her energy yanking the crystal chains that bound her. It was somehow entertaining to watch, if not pitiful.

“You should just stop, you know.” I hunched my back to reach the black hood that veiled her identity.

I clutched the cloth and threw it up, revealing a girl with long raven hair and lazy gunmetal eyes. Eyes wide, jaw dislocated, I froze in disbelief.

“... Laianne?!”

“So we meet, Dark Lord of Asteria, Alrion.” She gave a cold, haughty greeting.

Her languid, half-closed eyes sharpened as the corner of her glossy lips tugged upward. She thrust her palm up towards my face and dark flames sparked from her snow-white skin.

“What?”

The chains that were supposedly grounding her were gone. Non-existent. The black flames in her hand swirled in the middle of her palm—danger.

Damn, I let my guard down. I leapt backward to avoid the bolt of black and purple Aster that would've put a hole through my skull. The dark bolt instead hit the tree leaves above us, burning them and whole branches down to a shower of black dust.

She jumped upright from her unsightly like a super agent and took advantage of the second I spent dazzled, dashing away with the fleet of foot and disappearing into the towering thickets.

I didn't know what the hell just happened.

That was Laianne just now, right? No that can't be... Laianne doesn't have boobs.

Feet first, mind later, I jumped out of the thicket and into the open forest, giving pursuit.

She moved like the wind; jumping over twigs, ducking under arched roots, her nimble figure drifted away every blink and leap and stride.

Too bad the one who's chasing her was a God. I kicked the ground with a force enough to rattle the dust and launched myself forward, closing the gap between me and her down to a couple meters.

But before I could touch even a strand of her hair, she disappeared in a flash of white. Flashbang? Not likely. It was a stream of white light with a side intonation of gold. I skidded to an abrupt halt to avoid colliding with the column of aurum light that obstructed my path in an untimely manner. I felt threatened just by being near it. Arkos.

I pulled back a step away from the tower of light that stretched up until the azure heavens. It just remained in place—as if buying time for Laianne's doppelganger to escape—for four, agonizing seconds. It was enough time for the assassin's figure to finally be out of my sight.

God damn. Frustration and impatience sent tremors down my clenched fists. My eyes trembled as they tried to out-gleam the pillar of light with a glare. In the end, I couldn't catch a mortal girl. Because of this light.

The beam of white and gold dispersed into a scatter of light particles, spawning a man in its place. Talk about flashy entrance.

A man with spiky silver hair, clad in a Greek chiton—which was but white linen cloth loosely buttoned over his right shoulder, leaving half of his toned chest uncovered. The cloth stretched until his ankles like a skirt, held together by a bronze-plated leather belt on the waist.

His calm aureate eyes triggered something inside me. A flash of memory.

That's right...

He's wearing a chiton, but he's not Zeus. He's someone I know. Someone I know well.

Black flames engulfed my right fist that seethed in anger. From within the flames, a mountain of crystalline Aster protruded. The black, refractive crystal began shaping itself—chipping a part there, smoothing a part here. It was like watching a sculptor make do with ice, but instead of cold ice, it's Aster of lethal purity; instead of making human or animal figures, it's a basic pistol with the rudimentary parts: muzzle, breech, trigger and so on.

Someone I know well. Someone I need to kill, right now.

My vision turned red, and I couldn't see anything other than the man in front of me. His sly stare, his confident smile, his rectangular, chiseled olive face as a whole—they brought back a shard of memory. A shard that even I can't understand.

“Nariod.”

“It's been centuries, Alrion.” He said with that deep and smooth youthful voice that flipped my gut.

“Yeah,” I pointed the gun at his face. “centuries.”

I clicked the cold trigger without a thought. The end of the gun banged with a flash of purple flame, spitting forth a bullet—a bullet with a sharp point, made of crudely chiseled pure Aster. It flew straight, heading for Nariod's cranium, but Nariod didn't move an inch. A God can see and avoid a bullet, but he wasn't moving. Instead, he even waited for it with a daring smirk.

The bullet shattered, just before it reached Nariod's clear forehead. A dome of gold light surrounded him, much like the shield that saved me a lot of times. I should've known. Nariod raised his cleft chin and arched a sly brow.

“I know you can do better—”

I let go of the black crystalline gun and propelled myself forward with a shattering kick on the ground.

“—Shut up.”

Mid-rush, I created a basic crystalline poleaxe with both hands and swung its broad edge forward. The heavy blade cleaved with the wind, tearing a horizontal line on Nariod's shield of light.

The golden dome broke into a scatter of golden dust. He leapt backward, the cocky grin on his face wiped away with surprise and irritation.

I wasn't going to let him rest. I threw away the heavy crystal poleaxe and burst into a light-speed rush.

As soon as his gladiator sandals touched the ground, I was already there in front of him, brandishing a black crystalline spear with a broad head shaped like a layered arrowhead. The swing left a diagonal cut across Nariod's chest, but it was shallow and the only damage it did was tear his clothes and scratch his toned skin.

He fell on his behind, unamused, rattled, sweat drenching his wrinkled forehead. He looked up at me, brows bumped together in a scowl.

I pointed the tip of the spearhead against his neck.

“Checkmate.” I glared at him.

“Or is it?” He sneered, his golden eyes gleaming of deviltry.

“See for yourself.” I pressed the tip harder, pinning a dot into his skin that cried a drip of blue blood.

“Now who was that woman in my memory? Why did you kill her?”

Despite his grim predicament, he chuckled.

“No, Alrion.” His eyes sharpened. “I didn't kill her. You did.”

I lost sight of his sly mock when an endless sea of green flashed before me.

I vaulted back in reflex, landing a few meters away from the ominous phenomenon. Pixels obscured my vision as my eyes adjusted from the sudden brightness.

After a second, everything settled; the half of my spear was missing—from the triangular spearhead to the half of the pole.

Nariod was already up, and beside him was a stream of emerald energy stretching out until the unreachable azure.

“You have always been an emotionally-driven God.” Nariod raised his chin and broke a condescending smirk.

“A superior being of power and wisdom, that's what you are, but you cannot control yourself.”

His right hand shone white light, and from there golden radiance smoked out—forming a curved ray of gold particles, an arc.

He gripped the arc and aimed it at me like a bow, but he wasn't preparing to launch an attack just yet. It was as if he was waiting for something.

And that something was the pillar of green light close to his left that drowned the surrounding chirrup and swish with its gushing sound. The verdant beam thinned out—scattering green beads of light around it and, once exhausted, revealed a graceful figure. A woman wearing a green gown with detached sleeves and translucent, jade-colored trimmings. On top of her wavy brunette hair was a silver diadem jeweled with a small emerald.

“You're late, Raien.” Nariod shot the woman with a cold glare.

Raien... Embodiment of life—of Hesra. She scanned me toe-to-head with her leafy almond eyes, paying Nariod's scold no mind.

“As dashing as ever, Alrion, even after spending generations in deep slumber.” She uttered between breaths, her ringed pupils dilated and knees wobbly under the fanned, see-through overskirt.

My hand dropped what little remained of the spear—which was nothing more but a one-foot stick of chiseled black gem. The spear met the black ground that was thick with mucky duff and shattered into a hundred fragments.

Nariod, whose bow of light was still aimed at me, bit his lip and slammed his eyes shut in irritation.

“... Thanks, I guess?” Tension left my stance and I found myself straightening up. “You, don't look so bad yourself.” I said with a wry smile.

She exuded the appropriate aura as a goddess with that hourglass body and glossy green dress that clung to her figure, emphasizing it so subtly. That's well and all, but I can't help but feel like this is so out of context. We're supposedly in combat.

“Really? You really think so?” Raien's eyes sparkled while her palms caressed her red cheeks.

“Yeah,” I gave the lovestruck maiden a pseudo-charming smile. “and I would love to be your company later, but for now can you like, I don't know, distance yourself from that bastard maybe? I'm trying to kill him, you see.”

“... Bastard?” She tilted her head and rolled her eyes skyward. After a second of thinking, she took a glance at Nariod and got back to me. “You mean this one?”

Nariod's spiky silver hair stood up in fury as veins marred his otherwise flawless forehead; Raien was pointing at him while feigning innocence.

“Yeah, that one.” I nodded. “Do you think you can steer clear for a bit? It won't take long, I promise.” My gaze narrowed at Nariod as I willed another rudimentary spear to sprout forth my palm.

“Hmm...” Her finger tapped on her temple with her eyes closed. “Your offer is quite tempting. There's nothing I like more than being with you but...” Her eyes flashed open, sharpened and serious without any of the coquettish behavior she previously had.

“But I can't do that.”

“I see.” I shut my eyes and heaved a sigh. “Have it your way, then.”

I summoned a pistol with my free hand and aimed forward. I fired a shot. A crystal shard flew after a bang, heading towards the goddess.

As a supreme being, something so slow as a bullet was not a threat to her. She blocked the bullet by swiping with peerless speed—catching it with her white hand.

Oh...

You know I was kinda expecting a green shield to coat her or something. Oh well, her action wasn't so bad for me, either. On the contrary, she just saved me trouble.

“Hmmmm...?” She pinched the rough shard with two fingers and zoomed in on it like a curious child. She shouldn't have done that.

I threw away the pistol and snapped my fingers.

Detonate.

The black bullet between her fingers lit purple and exploded into a caustic outburst of raven flames. Blue blood shot splayed across the ground, with bits and pieces of burnt skin that came from her hands and half of her face. She let out an ear-grating screech and fell to her knees; the left side of her face unrecognizable, bathed in blue, while the fingers of her right hand were missing—all of them, their marred stumps crying sapphire liquid.

The goddess' blood may have been blue, but that didn't make it less bloody.

Aster, it becomes what you want it to be, but it can't become something you don't know, something you can't imagine or expect. But I know bombs exist and have a concrete idea how they explode. Something to thank my past life for.

A shaft of golden light sprang forth Nariod's left hand. It was an arrow of Arkos, without the fletching. Just the shaft and the arrowhead.

He nocked the arrow in his bow of light, and drew it as if the ethereal bow had a bowstring. The bow's shallow curve steepened inward in reaction to his draw. Completely no science here. His aurum eyes showed no emotion, but even so they were sharp, aimed at my forehead.

He let the arrow loose and it surged forward. I ducked and tumbled to the right like a pro dancer, making the arrow of light miss and pass overhead. It phased a hole straight into the trunk of a tree behind me.

Without any reaction at all he produced a second arrow and nocked it in. But I wasn't going to give him another chance to strike.

With my low stance as a result of the tumble, I vaulted forward with unsurpassed speed—my spear leading the charge. Everything became a blur, but I didn't lose clear sight of Nariod who was in the process of drawing back his shot.

I would reach him before he even launched his attack. I was confident about it,

But then something coiled around my ankle and I tripped face first down on the muck. All the fancy momentum lost, and my face raked the ground until I collided with Nariod's foot. It was a root. A root of a nearby tree, wrapping my ankle.

It squirmed like a tentacle and lifted me one foot up the ground. I was then hanging upside down. I could see the goddess' white bare feet, approaching me. She's going to be fucking pissed.