My surroundings suddenly turned pitch black. But I quickly realized that I was standing in a gloomy, wide, musty hollow space.

The first thing that came to my mind was the Sixth Mine.

But the difference is the ground in this place was perfectly even, reminiscent of an artificial creation.

And there was a woman standing about 10 meters in front of me.

I didn’t know how I was able to see in a place devoid of light, but there was certainly a woman standing there.

「You are the goddess, right?」

I asked with certainty.

The woman was dressed in layers of loose cloth. Her long hair and facial features were just like the goddess statues built around the world.

What exactly is this space?

The dwelling place of the goddess?

Is there a place like this somewhere in this world?

The answer stood right in front of me.

「You are correct.」

The woman answered.

Her voice was soft, reminiscent of a woman in her thirties.

Of course, her real age would be in the hundreds and thousands.

But her voice isn’t the main point. It wasn’t even her reply.

It was the language she used.

The woman — the black haired black eyed woman, answered in Japanese.

「........」

She deliberately used Japanese because I was reincarnated from Japan.

Then the woman said,

「..Are you not surprised? Did you already realize that I was Japanese?」

「It’s not that I wasn’t surprised. I was just thinking of it as one of the possibilities. That the goddess could be a reincarnated person the same as me.」

The color of the goddess’s hair and eyes were never recorded. And even when she appeared, she was enveloped in bright light that it was too difficult to see.

But the possibility that the goddess might be Japanese was always in the back of my mind.

The black-haired black-eyed reincarnated person called the “Child of Disaster” is Japanese.

There must be a reason why all these elements are connected to Japanese.

One reason is to make them stand out. If a black haired black eyed Japanese person is “selected” and reincarnated – if the goddess is reincarnating them – into this world where such qualities do not exist, it is most likely to make them stand out.

The other reason is that the goddess herself is Japanese.

「So then.. Child of Disaster, because of you the plan has gone awry.」

「If you say that black hair and black eyes are Child of Disaster, then you are too, aren’t you?」

「Yes. I was the first Child of Disaster.」

The woman said, indifferently.

Her words carried no emotion, as if she was reading from a note.

「When the Vision Ogre betrayed me, I was a little more emotional.」

The woman’s eyebrows twitched.

But that was all.

The Vision Ogre, who served as a mediator for a long time, would certainly have more of an impact on the goddess’ heart than me, who popped out of nowhere.

「Why are you doing this.. Proclaiming yourself as a goddess and such? What is your power? Were there reincarnators before you? What is your ultimate goal?」

I questioned her.

「........」

The goddess never opened her mouth.

She doesn’t want to talk, it seems.

After all, from her point of view, I am just a small pawn in her plan. Something which must be disposed of even now.

「........」

Before I realized, the goddess was holding a single-edged sword.

Her long, gleaming white blade seems to have been formed with snow.

「Die.」

The moment I even perceived the goddess moving, she had already closed the distance in a few steps.

「!」

The upward slash from below had a speed reminiscent of a seasoned adventurer.

However,

「I have walked the line between life and death many times too.」

I dodged the slash by a hair’s breadth, and swung my dagger as we passed each other.

The goddess’ neck was cut, along with the bones, and slashed off.

Her head spun round and round while spraying blood, and fell to the ground with a thud.

Her headless body staggered, and collapsed on the spot, bleeding profusely.

「........」

It was over too soon.

Like an abrupt ending.

Perhaps once you reach the place where the goddess resided — where the goddess’ real body was located, it is extremely easy to kill her.

Perhaps that’s why the goddess used that white space and her followers to stop us.

She was still incomplete. Perhaps she didn’t have enough power to fire a beam of light like she did previously, so she single-mindedly pushed for the construction of the “Goddess Temples” and tried to gather power of faith from her followers.

This is her true form.

(Surprisingly.. I don’t feel anything..)

I realized that I had killed the goddess, a fellow Japanese person.

But there was no sense of guilt, no sense of achievement, no sense of escaping, no sense of security.

(Now that the goddess is dead.. I wonder what will happen to the world?)

There are no more skill orbs, covenants, or mediators. What remains is a world of harsh nature and the people who live there.

Originally, people were about to be defeated in the face of harsh nature.

However, the goddess forced herself into the world to forestall that problem.

(Will people be able to survive? In a world where there are no skill orbs.. It’s up to people themselves to overcome it..)

I looked around.

Well then..

How do I get home from here?

「........」

At that moment, I felt something move from the direction of the goddess.

「..Are you for real?」

The goddess stood up and put her head back on her neck, attaching it. Blood gushed out of her mouth like bubbles. She spat it out, and suddenly there was a white spear in her hand.

The goddess started running towards me.

「This is going to end the same way no matter how many times you try.」

The goddess lunged, but the spear did not reach me.

Because I had cut off both her arms, and then her head once again.

Honestly.. it was a grotesque scene. I did not want to see it.

But I had too..

「..Are you going to revive again?」

Her arms had fallen quite far away. But it suddenly disappeared, and reappeared near the goddess’s body, regenerating.

Next was an ax.

Next was a bow.

Next was a pole.

Next, next, next..

「Haa, haa, haa..」

As expected, this is a mental battle.

Even if her body was torn apart, burned with Fire Magic, or fossilized with Earth Magic, the Goddess always revived.

「........」

Her body was covered in blood and dirt, and her clothes were torn and ragged, but the goddess still stood expressionless.

Her current weapon was a staff.

「Haa, haa, haa..」

「..Are you scared?」

「!!」

I was shocked when I heard the goddess’s voice for the first time in a while.

Scared?

Scared of a goddess who can revive no matter how many times I kill her?

「So you can revive as many times as you want as long as you receive faith from the believers, huh. But no matter how many times we fight, I will win.」I said.

「How about 1000 times, then? 10,000?」

「........」

「I wanted to see you make that face.」

I must have let out an agonized expression.

At that moment, the goddess’ expressionless look broke down.

She smiled softly.

「Since you’ve destroyed my plans and hurt me so much, I want to see you make a more painful face.」

The goddess held up her staff.

「–No way!」

「Did you think I couldn’t use it?」

The scepter glowed. In an instant, a dazzling beam of light was shot towards me.