“What the hell are you?” Rayis was on high alert.

“A hero.”

“My ass! You don’t even have a blessing yet! You just got lucky!”

“Lucky?”

“That’s right! You got some damn good skills after coming from another world. I had to claw my way to get to where I am.”

Before he ended up in this world. Rayis was an average person. He was forgettable. His presence was—

“I don’t care about that.” Kiryuu interjected. “I don’t care about your backstory. I don’t care about what you did in your first life or what you went through.”

“What?!”

Rayis blinked and Kiryuu was already in front of him. His hand digging into Rayis’ chest.

“Gah!” He screamed in agony. He felt his very being tearing apart.

“This is what I came here for,” Kiryuu pulled out a small white orb from Rayis.

“That’s… give that back…”

It was his contingency plan. It was the reason he wasn’t fazed even when he was sentenced to death. For every person caught or recruited into his organization, he took a fragment of their soul. It allowed him to keep his sentience even if he was just a soul. Having surviving members helped him find his way back, or so he believed. Even if there were no survivors, he would still be able to survive the purge. He would use those soul fragments as a bait to avoid being purified. He did not expect that having a surviving member helped his odds of getting to the light.

“How did you even… do that? Why… even?” Rayis lost his strength and dropped onto his knees.

It took him years to be able to rip a piece of someone’s soul. Yet this man was able to do it flawlessly and with precision. Of the countless fragments inside him, this man was able to pick out one over the rest.

“She wanted to be saved.” The orb was absorbed into into Kiryuu’s hand as he looked down on Rayis. “For many years, she cried but no one could hear her. This is for all her sadness and frustration.”

He clenched his fist and drove it into Rayis’ face. A thundering noise echoed as the ground beneath them shattered. A small crater formed under Rayis as he was flattened on the ground. Kiryuu slammed his foot down. Again, and again. He drove Rayis deeper and deeper into the ground.

“Agh!” Rayis shot a blast of energy at Kiryuu in desperation. He missed but it propelled him a short distance away. Kiryuu went after him.

Rayis got up immediately. In his fury, he started firing all kinds of destructive spells at Kiryuu. Conflagrations scorched the ground. Energy blasts rupturing the surroundings. Ice swords shot in repeated volleys. Plasma beams cutting through the air. Wind cutters and earth spikes destroying the terrain. He threw everything and anything that came to mind at Kiryuu. “DIE YOU OP FUCKER!”

Kiryuu weaved between those attacks fluidly and with minimal movement. An ice sword nearly nicked his ear as he tilted his head. He would deflect or disperse an attack when needed. Razor sharp winds died down in front of him. He even deflected a beam of light with the back of his hand. As the ground started to tear, he used the solid protrusions of earth and the flying ice swords as platforms.

‘What the hell is this guy?!’ Rayis was shocked. Right now, he should have more than enough to go toe to toe with a hero. He had no physical body so there was no risk of straining and breaking it. He was free to go wild with his magic and abilities. There had been cases of people dying. It was because they couldn’t handle the overwhelming magic they used. It takes great skill and control to make sure the physical vessel wouldn’t break. The risk was high when using powerful magic. Despite not having that weakness, he could not land a single hit. He could see Kiryuu’s amused expression.

In his desperation, he started summoning copious amounts of weapons. From flying blades and guns, to lasers and artillery. But it only made things easier for Kiryuu. He would take a weapon and use it to defend until there was a better one available. He dodged, blocked, or deflected the projectiles with various melee weapons. He found the gap between sweeping lasers to avoid them.

“Just. Die. Already!” He was furious. He was being toyed with. He should have reached a level that no hero had reached before. All those years spent gathering those skills seemed pointless.

Rayis placed his hands together. He turned all the thrown and shot weapons into pure dense energy. He detonated them all at once in a catastrophic explosion. It deafened him for a moment. Only a buzzing noise rang in his ear as his hearing recovered.

When the sword Kiryuu was holding started to convert to energy, he tossed it behind him. He forced it to detonate by infusing it with his own mana. He positioned himself so the explosions propelled him forward toward Rayis. He twisted his body so he was approaching feet first. He dropkicked Rayis right in the face. He curled his legs and kicked off of his face. He did a flip in the air and landed on his feet.

“Fucking—gah!” Rayis stumbled and rolled on the ground. He punched the ground several times in frustration.

“I didn’t want to use this,” he spat on the ground as he got up. “But you leave me no choice.”

The soul fragments from Rayis started to flow out and merge. A large celestial being formed behind Rayis. Kiryuu looked up at the collosal entity. A single finger was as tall as he was.

“[Avatar of the Oversoul]”

It was a state of transcendence that was highly risky. He could go wild with magic because he doesn’t have a physical vessel to worry about. But with this, even his soul was at risk of breaking. But that was what the other fragments were for. Those would be shaved off first, giving him ample time to deal with this hero. And if he could take his soul, then he could reach greater heights of power.

The huge entity swung its fist down at Kiryuu.

“[Libitina’s Coin]”

A small gold coin appeared between Kiryuu’s fingers. It caught the large fist and stopped it in its entirety. He pushed the coin and it was absorbed into the celestial body. A bright golden light could be seen traveling from the fist and up the arm.

“What the fuck is that?” Rayis saw that the same golden light was traveling up his arm. He felt a burning sensation from it and tried to catch it with his other hand. The celestial figure mimicked his movement.

It traveled from his shoulder to his chest. Rayis felt as if flames were going to burst from his chest. The celestial being started to crack. Its chest shattered like glass and the creature crumbled.

“What did you do?!” Rayis was clutching his chest. His upper body had fractured just like the avatar he had summoned. “WHAT DID YOU DO?!”

Countless orbs flew out from the gaping hole in his chest. They were soul fragments. They varied in size based on their stats and skilled. The smallest ones had few or no notable skills. Rayis took them as they added to his stats. The more powerful the skill it housed, the larger the soul fragments. All those fragments surrounded Rayis. They began to morph into their appearances during the time they were alive. All the souls and skills that Rayis took escaped from him.

Kiryuu couldn’t see the beastkin that started him on his path of stealing abilities. It was strange as he could already see various races.

“No… no! This can’t be happening!” Rayis screamed as one of the souls sliced him up with a blade. He wouldn’t die in this state but he was powerless. All those souls bore a grudge against him. Only after they were satisfied would they finally join the stream of souls and move on.

Kiryuu took Shino’s soul since she was still alive. They would be repercussions if a fragment of her soul entered the stream. He turned around and started to walk away.

“Wait! Wait!” Rayis stretched his hand out to Kiryuu. The other souls kept him restrained. “Save me! You’re a hero, right? Save me! Please!”

“No,” Kiryuu shook his head and chuckled. “I don’t think I will.”

He kicked off the ground, leaving behind a screaming, cursing Rayis. His voice soon drowned by the myriad of vengeful spirits eager to satiate their grudges.

Kiryu weaved between the soul streams when a small figure popped out from his shoulder. It was a cute figure the size of a fist. A mini-figure of a woman with a lower half that of a snake’s.

“Are you satisfied?” He asked the mini-figure.

“Very much so, Master,” Mini-Dessa nodded happily. She requested to witness how he would deal with Rayis. A fragment of her soul is currently being used as a vessel for the Mini-Dessa. Her physical body was still recovering from last night’s activities. “Erm, you will inform the goddess Maia about this, right?”

“Don’t worry. That’s what I plan to do next.”

Kiryuu stopped. He was facing the remnants of the tear but…

“Dessa, get back inside for now.” He placed his hand on her head and gently nudged her back inside him.

Dessa did so obediently. She caught a glimpse of several glowing arms. They were protruding out of the space surrounding the tear.

“I went too far, huh?” Kiryuu got carried away. The Will of the World was now fully aware of his presence. He wasn’t worried about himself but he would hate not being able to see Vena and the others anymore. Also, he still had Dessa’s and Shino’s soul fragments.

He prepared to fend off those hands. If he got completely caught, he would be erased. He needs to get into the tear somehow. He clenched his fists. Runes and symbols glowed and etched on his limbs. The arms grew closer, and closer. Suddenly, they stopped. The glowing arms went limp and started to retract.

“Fuck,” Kiryuu cursed. He was not relieved at what happened. There was someone else more troublesome than the Will of the World. “I don’t want to deal with her right now.”

Kiryuu flew towards the tear and entered the realm of the goddesses once more.

Maia woke up to the sound of knocking. She slowly got up and dragged herself to the door. She wore a short-sleeved shirt and a comfortable pair of shorts. Her hair was tied neatly in a ponytail. Lazily, she opened the door.

“Hi,” Kiryuu greeted her. Mini-Dessa sat on his shoulder as she waved.

Maia blinked a couple of times before slowly closing the door. She took in a deep breath and slowly opened the door again.

“Tch, he’s still here,” she clicked her tongue and closed the door again.

Kiryuu was about to knock when the door opened only slightly. Maia peeked in through the crack.

“What are you doing here?” She showed her displeasure with his presence.

“I figure you wanted an explanation,” Kiryuu scratched the back of his head.

“I just want to say that this is all Master’s plan. I only did what he asked me to do,” Mini-Dessa pointed out in her defense.

“I figured,” Maia sighed, still not opening the door further. She knew this was all his fault. After a short nap, she realized that she would be better off not knowing all about it. It was just a pain in the neck. She couldn’t even understand how he got here. It should be impossible for anyone to enter the realm of the goddesses. To pinpoint her own private quarters was unthinkable.

“Consider it forgotten. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” she hurriedly tried to close the door.

“Hold up,” Kiryuu placed his hand on the door. Frustrated, Maia exerted a godly strength to close the door.

“…”

It didn’t budge.

“A-at least let me get dressed?” She pleaded and kept pushing on the door.

“It won’t take long. You’re fine as you are. Pretty cute, to be honest,” he smiled as he pushed on the door and intruded into her room.

Maia gave up when she was already pushed back. She dragged herself to her bed and let herself fall into it.

“What do you want?” She turned to Kiryuu with a sour expression on her face.

“Rayis was talking about a blessing a while ago.”

“Of course. We, goddesses, provide our chosen champions with blessings and abilities. I didn’t give you one because it was pointless.”

“And this?” He pointed to the back of his hand.

“It’s the mark of my heaven.”

“Heaven?”

“Oh… right,” Maia briefly explained how people call on the stars to use magic. She then explained about the goddesses and their assigned heavens. Hers is the Moon.

“The moon is beautiful,” he nodded and smiled smugly. He really thought he pulled off a good one there.

There was an awkward silence as the two were confused what that phrase was for.

“It doesn’t translate well into other languages. My apologies.”

Maia sighed. “Don’t tell me. You didn’t look up the magic system before you came into this world?”

“I was in a near-death state!” He really was. That was the reason Maia noticed him in the first place. But it was desperation and impatience that drove him to that point. Besides, he was supposed to have an arc where he learned magic and its systems. Then, he would find out that he excelled in it. That was supposed to be how it would go.

“Anyway,” he dismissed that topic for now. Talking about arcs elicited confused looked from the two. “I want to avoid any complications. I don’t want to stir things up because I don’t have a blessing.”

“Fine,” she gave up took off her bedroom slipper.

Mini-Dessa hopped off of Kiryuu’s shoulder and settled on the bed. She was not sure if there were any side-effects if she were to get a blessing.

“I bestow upon you my blessing,” Maia’s slipper glowed with her declaration. Then, she slapped Kiryuu on the forehead.

It didn’t work. The light was supposed to be absorbed into his body, even if it was an astral form.

“L-let’s try again,” she struck him again. It didn’t work but that felt great. She smacked him on the head again. And again. And again.

“Hold up,” Kiryuu grabbed her wrists. She was holding the slipper with both hands and was about to swing down with full strength. “Are you giving me a blessing or bruises?”

“You’re the one that wanted the blessing. Be obedient and let me hit you,” she struggled against his grip.

Mini-Dessa felt like causing some mischief. She never liked fighting against the goddesses and the heroes. That’s why she wanted to make sure they knew that it was her Master that told her to lead Rayis’ soul. Seeing the goddess in this state, struggling with her Master over a slipper, gave her an idea.

She snuck behind Maia as the two were struggling. She coiled her tail like a spring and poised to strike. She then sprung forward and shoved Maia forward. This caused the goddess to lose her balance and fall forward.

Kiryuu would have caught Maia but he was still holding her wrists. He fell flat on his back as Maia tumbled on top of him. He felt a soft sensation on his chest, a warm, sweet taste on his lips, and a blinding light that engulfed both of them.

Hero Kiryuu obtained the [Blessing of the Moon].

Goddess Maia obtained the [Blessing of the Conqueror].

Shino’s eyes fluttered open. Her head still lay on Kiryuu’s chest. He held her all night. It was rewarding in its own way. She felt as if she finally broke free of a heavy burden. A burden she had been carrying ever since she ended up in this world. She snuggled up against him, wanting to get a few more moments of this blissful situation.

She was about to bury her face in his chest when a serpentine tail wrapped around her master’s waist. Shino immediately got up, only to see Dessa with her lower half transformed. She was clinging onto Kiryuu from behind, even nibbling on his shoulder playfully.

Shino immediately pinched her awake.

“Mrfnya…” Dessa opened her eyes as he cheek pried away from the sleeping Kiryuu.

“What are you doing here?” Shino let go of her cheek once she was awake.

“Master told me to go ahead,” Dessa yawned and embraced Kiryuu from behind. She was still out of it.

“Go ahea—hey!” Not wanting to be left out, Shino embraced Kiryuu from the front. She wanted to inquire about Dessa’s lower half but this was of more importance.

There was a knock at the door. The handle started to turn. Dessa forgot to lock the door when she came in. Vena and Hilde let themselves in when they noticed the door was unlocked. There were greeted by a strange sight.

A sleeping Kiryuu, sandwiched between Shino and Dessa. One wore thin lingerie, the other's lower half was that of a snake's. Dessa’s tail slowly wrapped around his legs. The two eventually realized that some people came in.

There was an awkward silence. The sound of the door closing echoed in the room. Hilde made sure to lock it.

“I’ll be honest,” she sighed. “Of all the things I braced myself for, this was not one of them.”

Kiryuu stumbled out of the doorway. He fell forward and rolled over. He laid on his back when Mini-Dessa followed soon after. She was thrown like a stuffed toy and landed on his stomach. He saw a flustered Maia slam the door shut.

“You went too far,” he said as the door disappeared. They were back at the large empty white space.

“Master,” Mini-Dessa was not at all remorseful. “Demon lords and goddesses are similar beings. The difference is us demon lords descend and act on our own while the goddesses calls upon heroes.”

“What’s your point?” He flicked her on the forehead.

“Ow!” She held her forehead and cried a bit. “If a demon lord can become a familiar, maybe a goddess can be one as well.”

She was curious. This was the first time the possibility appeared before her. She couldn’t resist. Kiryuu kept silent. It was possible for a goddess to serve under someone as a familiar. If he told her that, she might pester him about it.

“Dessa,” he called out to her as something from afar caught his attention.

“Master?” She turned towards the direction he was staring at. There were glowing arms sprouting all over. It was like the ones they encountered a while ago except they were tinged in a purple hue. The arms ‘sensed’ Kiryuu’s position and started to crawl toward him.

Mini-Dessa tried to jump back inside Kiryuu but she found herself trapped in a glowing sphere. “Master?! What is this?!”

“I need you to go on ahead. I’ll catch up,” Kiryuu dug into chest and took out a white orb. He pressed the orb into the sphere and deposited it in Mini-Dessa’s hands. The space under them started to tear. There was a rip small enough for the sphere to pass through.

“Master! Wait!” she protested but he already dropped the sphere into the tear. The last thing she saw was the sight of the arms swarming and completely constricting her Master.

The drop caused Mini-Dessa to immediately fuse with her original body. She was still exhausted but quickly transformed into her human form. She got dressed and hurried to the inn where Kiryuu and Shino stayed.

She didn’t waste time going in through the front door. She summoned her wings and entered through the window.

“Guh…” Her knees buckled as she landed on the floor. It was her first time conjuring up an astral form. It was only possible because of Kiryuu’s help. Even then, she only created a small version of herself. He warned her of the extreme exhaustion that would occur. It was worth it. It was worth witnessing something beyond her wildest imaginations.

“Master,” she muttered and dragged her body the the bed. Her vision blurred and her judgment clouded. Before she passed out, she managed to climb onto the bed and cling onto her master.

Kiryuu blacked out when the arms piled all over him. When he regained consciousness, he was in a black void of space. It was like the audience chamber of the goddesses, albeit shrouded in darkness. He sat on a chair with a dim light over his head. It was the only source of light in this vast expanse of darkness.

In front of him was an empty wooden table. The atmosphere gave off a feeling of a suspect brought in for interrogation. He looked down and found that his wrists were cuffed together and his ankles were bound to the chair’s legs.

In front of him, a woman made her entrance and walked into the light. She had silver hair and red eyes. Her skin was pale and she wore a white silk dress. A pair of white stockings emphasized the beauty of her smooth legs. She was attractive and voluptuous. Yet Kiryuu’s face contorted in frustration upon seeing her.

She sat on the table in front of him and slowly crossed her legs. The way the silk slid over and exposed her thigh would captivate any man. A bit of her skin teased him but he was having none of it.

“You’ve been causing some trouble, haven’t you, ᚱᛖᛁᚴᚢ?” Her sultry voice sent shivers down his spine.

“I don’t want to deal with you right now, ᚪᛱᛆᛊᚺᚨ…” He complained. It was the only thing he could do right now.