"You're seriously trying to kill me. Can we not even negotiate the terms?" Maria was not looking to negotiate. But even she had to admit that she had no chance against the goddess. Not in her current limited state.

"Negotiate? About what? You destroyed my carefully crafted story. I can't forgive you for that." The goddess was not in a forgiving mood. Maria cursed her luck at the timing of the events happening.

She had been so close to the healing pond and had her curse broken. And now she was stuck in a lockdown she could not win. She was outclassed quite heavily.

"Now that I have a good look at you, you do feel familiar. Is it the mother's influence you carry? But I feel like there is something more-" the goddess was monopolising.

It might seem like the question was aimed at Maria, but she knew better. The goddess was talking to herself.

Maria tried to take this time and escape the goddess's hold. But she was stopped without much effort.

The goddess was hovering in the sky for one second, the next she was in front of Maria. She did not give Maria the time to gather her thoughts before familiar eyes looked back at her.

"Ah, I remember. You were in the memories of a lamb that fell in my node. It's a shame that she did not survive. You were quite close to this body, right?" Maria found her body not responding to her command.

She was in shock to see Nao's face looking back at her.

Maria had not expected to see Nao ever again. The magma should have burned the magic and the organic matter to bits.

And yet, here they were. Nao's face looked back at her without emotion.

"Y-You. Don't look at me with that face." Mari had meant to yell. But her voice broke at the last second.

She did not recognise the person speaking. The voice sounded like hers but the tone was one Maria had never used.

"Ha! So you did know her. I'm glad I preserved this body." The goddess sounded trump as she stepped closer to Maria.

Maria instantly backed down a step. Her emotions were all over the place. She was compromised.

"What happened? Not going to fight any longer? What happened to all your drive to fight?" The words came out of Nao's mouth. The voice that spoke was Nao's.

But the words were not Nao's. Nao would have never tried to fight Maria. Not even in practice.

"Don't speak with her voice." Maria felt engraved. She also realised an important fact about herself.

She had never really come to terms with Nao's death. She had just fooled herself into believing that Nao might be alive somewhere. The hope had always been there.

It was only now that the hope was dwindling inside Maria that she realised. She had never properly mourned Nao's death.

"I can't do that. This body is one of my hosts. The only way to make her quiet is to cut off the vocal cords. I don't think that is what you want me to do." The goddess taunted.

The overconfidence was oozing out of the goddess. As was magical power.

Had Maria been in her right mind, she would not even have thought of attacking such a person. It was too dangerous to engage the goddess when she held all the advantage.

But Maria was not in her normal set of mind. She was enraged and she wanted vengeance against the person that dared to use Nao's face.

"Give it back. Give her body back." Maria did not even recognise her voice. She did not recognise her magic, nor her anger.

It was like she was not even in control of her body.

But the magic was still building up inside her. The node was fueling her anger. And there was an energy source filling her from the inside.

She felt her magic connect with something familiar and nostalgic. Something marks had never felt before.

But she did not fear the unknown familiarity. She welcomed it with open arms. It was something made for her.

"Your magic is building up. I don't like it. What are you playing at? No matter what you do, the course blocking your magic will not break." The goddess replied.

The taunt was gone from her voice. Instead, it was filled with awareness. The goddess was no longer playing around.

"I know what I am capable of. You can't stop me." Maria was fast in deploying her chains. Unfortunately, the goddess was faster.

Maria was more than good without her magic. Her chains unleashed powerful attacks. But the goddess was faster and deadlier. She even held the advantage of having magic.

Maria could defend herself against the magic-using her chains, but it was a temporary solution.

"Stop trying to be so stubborn. It won't do you any good." The goddess replied. Her body was a work of grace.

The flexibility the goddess displayed was one Maria had never seen in Nao's body. It made things easier for Maria to digest.

"I am not being stubborn. I'm just being true to myself." Maria remembered as she gathered her magic. It was not a lot but Maria condensed whatever magic she had.

It made her attack smaller but deadlier. The goddess did not try to dodge it.

Maria was not optimistic enough to believe that her attack had harmed the goddess. It might not even have left any visible scars on the goddess.

"You are vicious. Is this how all humans fight? Or is it something unique about you? Now I see how your creator managed to charm my sister. Something is charming about your foolishness." The goddess replied.

There was a hint of blue on her temple. It flowed down the goddess's face in a river.

It might have been blood, it might have been something else. Maria was not sure.

"Unfortunately for you, I don't have an answer. I never got to meet my father and my mother never told me anything about him." Maria spat those words out.

She did not care about her family much. She might mourn and remember her mother from time to time, but that was it. As far as she was concerned, she had a father in her life.

"I see. Unfortunate circumstances indeed." The goddess replied as she went on the offensive. Maria had no time to think.

The goddess was playing with Maria. No strike was aimed to kill, just immobilise. It was a miracle that the chains were able to hold the goddess back.

Maria could see the frustration build up on the goddess's face. It felt good to be able to put that expression on the goddess's face.

Their clash ended in stalemate as the goddess caught the chains with her hand. But her face no longer looked perfect.

"What is with your weapon? It is weird and it is draining me. How do you even manage to use it?" The goddess sounded fatigued? Maria was not sure if this was reality or a hallucination.

"These chains are something my mother bestowed on me. Don't touch them." Maria yanked the chains toward herself.

She was beginning to feel the effect of the prolonged usage of the chains. They were draining her quite heavily now.

And despite everything the goddess had taken, she did not look to be even winded. She looked as perfect as the time Maria had met her.historical

Only her eyes betrayed just how much of a toll the chains had taken on her.

"You will be a problem for us. These chains are no ordinary weapons. They feel like mothers' magic. I cannot allow you to have possession of them." The goddess sounded enraged.

This was the first time Maria had seen such emotions coming out of the goddess.

The magic building up around her was dangerous and wild. It felt like it was about to consume Maria. She did not even dare move.

"Maria, I'm here to help out." Maria felt her concentration break at Venus's familiar voice.

"Idiot. Get out of here. You will get killed." Maria did not know why Venus had returned here. The girl should have taken the chance to escape and even break her curse.

And yet, she had decided to return.

"How unfortunate. You won't die, but she will." The goddess sounded gleeful.

Maria suddenly understood what Venus was doing here.

This had been a trap since the beginning. The goddess had a tight grip on this world and the magic.

"Venus, don't move." Maria knew she was stretching her powers thin. She was already putting herself in danger but she still chose to cover Venus as well.

She directed the majority of her powers toward Venus and chose to take the attack head-on.

The connected attack stung. It had been an all-out attack as well. But Maria has chosen the target as herself.

"M-Maria?" Venus sounded like she was coming out of a trance. Maria had seen the signs. She had known that the other female was not herself.

[User alert. Detected signs of life failure

Emergency life-saving protocol initiated. Turning off the limiters]

Maria did not hear anymore. It was all turning quiet and dull around her. Even the hands that touched her were cold to Maria.

Was this what true death was?

(I was plotting out the Albest saga for this book and it's too long. I will be cutting this book before the Albest Saga and post the Albest saga as a stand-alone. Hope you all will stay tuned for it. This one will be finished by the end of the month. Around next 10-15 chapters. Then take time off to plan the Albest Saga. and edit this story out. Also, if anyone is interested to Beta my (better) yuri story, they can dm me on twitter at /DaygonY. They'll get free access to my premium chapters and other privileges. I'll also be posting some art I've been working on.)