Death is a strange and new concept for the goddess Lora.
From the moment she was born, she had known only warmth — the laughter of creation, the songs of the rivers she shaped, the gentle rhythm of hooves and paws that filled her meadows. Life has always been kind, predictable, and cyclical. Nothing truly ended here.
Until now.
Until this moment when she saw her followers' blood flowing from the saw cleaver of her enemy, running through golden wheat, staining the soil she had blessed. The bodies of her beloved followers lay still among the flowers. Their eyes, once bright with joy, stared blankly at the sky.
Her world was young—just 200 years in existence, and on top of that, only 80 years ago, life began to sprout across the grasslands of this world. Even her first creation, Cute Cat, was only 50 years old.
This world was still so innocent, so fragile, and aside from the unfortunate female Fabbit that died during childbirth in her land, Lora had never seen death or violence before, and now strangers came in and slaughtered it like butchers killing cattle. Witnessing it now felt... odd, like it shouldn't be possible.
It was an unfair, uncalled-for act of violence that left the goddess's heart pounding with fear and anger.
"NOOOOOOO!!!!"
Her cry echoed in her domain, sending a shiver down the neck of even the insects. Her energy exploded in an explosion of light that made the entire sky flash bright gold, threatening to blind anyone who looked at her. The air cracked; clouds burst apart like torn silk. The land trembled beneath her rage.
"Pretty lights," the blue-haired woman only smiled, resting her blood-soaked cleaver on her shoulder. "I wonder what else she can do?"
"Sigh..." Madam X shook her head before turning to Lora. The little goddess was on the brink of exploding in fury. Her divine energy was like a bonfire that even the smallest breeze could set ablaze, and even a single touch of her power could level this entire region.
"How dare you! I'll make you pay! I swear I'll make you pay for this!" Lora raised her hands, letting out another surge of energy. "You think you can just kill my follower? I'll make sure that you suffer!"
Now, a few things to keep in mind about Lora.
First, she was an iron-rank goddess, and not even a combat-type one. Animals and farming were her main domains. Both of them offered little to none in terms of direct combat.
Her strength lay elsewhere, in the soft things: the way a foal learned to stand, the slow stubbornness of a root that split stone, the warm patience of seasons turning. Lora's gifts were growth and nurture, not blades and blood. Even so, inside her domain, those gifts were swollen with purity; a gardener's touch could be a hurricane when it had the whole world behind it.
However, that does not mean she was invincible. It meant endurance, a steady burn, a stubbornness that outlived storms. It meant she could coax a dying sapling into a tree overnight, or twist a river to carry life where there had been drought. It did not mean she could cleave a Collector in two.
Still, she would not yield.
Lora reached for the small, intimate magics she knew best. She called to the spectral creatures first — the rabbits, cats, dogs, and goats, the flocking songbirds, the stoic oxen — a private summons, a mother's plea. Her voice ran through root and feather, and for a flicker, life answered: wings beat frantically, paws dug, and a hundred hearts thrummed with fury. The spectral animals surged forward like a flood, the sky filling with the sound of their furious bellows.
Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.
The blue-haired woman jumped back, slicing her cleaver through the air in an arc of blood, causing the spectral animals to vanish like a fog dispersed by a rising sun.
"Cute." The blue-haired woman grinned before turning toward Madam X.
"I love it when they try to attack me like that."
"Just do your job," Madam X said. "We don't have much time."
"As you wish!" The blue-haired woman turned toward Lora, who was shocked at how easily her summons were destroyed.
"Let's see..." The blue-haired woman started to grin as she raised her cleaver. "Should I cut her arms and legs, or should I make a real mess?"
"!!!" Lora shivered in fear; hearing those bone-chilling words from the lips of a small girl with an 'innocent' face gave her more terror than any wild void beast ever could.
'Why? Why is she doing this?' she thought, tears streaming down her eyes as the blue-haired woman approached her, her smile sickly sweet. 'Who are these two? What do they want? They mentioned Morgana, why?'
She wanted answers, but at the same time, she was too scared to ask them.
Lora was only a young support-type goddess; how could she fight back against such power? She felt powerless, and right now she couldn't think of anything else to do but run.
But... where should she run?
'NO! I can't run! This is my home!' she thought as the blue-haired girl continued to approach. 'I won't run, I won't!'
Lora wasn't a combat goddess, but she was determined not to be killed without a fight. However, she was smart enough to know her limits, so the best logical thing she came up with was to ask for help.
Sadly, no matter how hard she tried to send out distress messages to Morgana and Katarina, she couldn't. Her domain was sealed off by Madam X's bracelet.
'Why? Why can't I get a hold of them? Morgana and Katarina are my friends. Why didn't they come to help me?' She was so confused.
"YAAY~!" The blue-haired woman cheered as she raised her cleaver over her head and charged toward Lora. "Let's play!"
Rumble!
"Stay away from me!" Lora yelled, thrusting both hands into the earth and pushing, and the ground answered — roots threw themselves up like snares, thorned vines braided into cages, soil rose in protective ridges. For a breath, a green wall knifed between the intruders and her fallen.
The blue-haired woman laughed and swung her cleaver with a lazy arc; the blade sang and cut through root and earth as if it were wind through wheat. Madam X exhaled smoke and stepped forward, close enough that Lora could see the tiny scars beneath her eyepatch.
"You keep trying the same, little gardener," Madam X murmured. "That's charming. But predictable."
"PROTECT THE GODDESS!"
"KILL THE INTRUDERS!!"
"!!!" Lora flinched as she witnessed more of her followers rushing toward her, wielding axes, sickles, scythes, and pitchforks. The cute furry animals charged without fear at the invaders.
"NO! STOP! STAY AWAY! RUN!" Lora let out a cry, sending a pulse of divine energy to force them to run away, but they did not listen.
'I can't command them. No matter what I say!' Lora was shocked. 'Why? I don't understand?'
"Hahaha!" The blue-haired woman only laughed at the sight of so many cute attackers, and without hesitation, she raised her cleaver above her head and swung it down with a loud clank, cutting one of the cat-kin in two. Then another and another.
In less than two seconds, more than fifty followers were killed.
"Hehe~ yummy, yummy. So tasty." The blue-haired woman licked her lips as she watched the blood pool on the ground. "Now then, shall we continue?"
"STOP! STOP!" Lora screamed, watching her followers dying before her eyes. "Stop! Why are you doing this? Why?"
"Because we want to." Madam X said flatly, her fingers tightened like iron in Lora's hair, jerking her head back until their eyes met.
"Talk," Madam X said, her good eye narrowing, her breath a cloud of cigar smoke. "Where is Morgana? What do you know about her? Tell me the coordinates of her world? I want to know everything."
"..." Lora kept silent for a few seconds, trying to figure out a way to escape, but then, out of nowhere, she suddenly gathered her courage and spat into Madam X's face.
"Fuck you! I won't tell you anything!"
"What did you just say?" Madam X glared at her, but Lora only let out a grunt as she spat into Madam X's face again.
"Fuck you!" she said again. "Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!"
This was the first time Lora ever cursed at anyone, and the words felt strange on her tongue. Even so, she refused to give in to the fear that was now thrumming in her blood. And more importantly, she would never betray her friend.
"Enough games," Madam X muttered, yanking Lora's head back before punching her in the gut.
"Aghhhhh!" Lora grunted and coughed, wheezing as the breath left her.
"The more you struggle, the more you'll hurt." Madam X shook her head. "Give it up and cooperate."
"No..." Lora winced, her hand tightly holding onto her belly. "No... never..."
She gritted her teeth, gathering her courage. Lora was ready to fight to the end.
"Sigh." Madam X let out a sigh before proceeding to punch Lora in the face and the gut again, and again.
By the time the red-haired Collector finished beating Lora into a pulp, the young goddess's nose was broken, her lip was cut, and the corner of her eye was swollen.
Lora tried to crawl away, but Madam X grabbed her by the neck, lifting her off the ground like a kitten. Lora coughed, splattering blood on her chest, her hand trembling as she touched her face.
"Answer my question," Madam X said, her good eye cold, her voice calm.
ROAR!
"!!!" Suddenly, from the corner of her eyes, Madam X spotted a three-meter-tall brown creature.
Long rabbit ears, the face of a fox, and sharp claws and fangs — a mixture of a rabbit and a fox. The male Fabbit jumped forward, baring his fangs.
Madam X didn't think much of it; a mortal creature would never be able to harm a former gold-rank goddess such as herself, especially in a young world like this.
But then something surprising happened.
The male Fabbit reached out and wrapped his big furry arms around Madam X's extended arm as if he was trying to free Lora from her grasp. However, his real intention was to block her view, so he could give the one who was hiding behind his back a chance to strike.
"Hmm?" Madam X narrowed her eyes when she spotted something small and pink jumping toward her wrist.
"Cute." She murmured, but then her eye widened in shock. The moment the small pink cat bared her fangs, Madam X sensed the spark of divinity inside her.
Crack!
And due to her shock and surprise, Madam X was too slow to react, and the pink cat was able to bite on her bracelet and break it, causing the seal to be broken.
"Shit," she cursed, swiftly kicking both the Fabbit and the pink cat, who was in fact Nyari'ael, Morgana's daughter with Cute Cat.
Ding!
"Hehehe," Lora let out a maniacal laugh as her eyes caught the notification from her system.
"What's so funny?" Madam X demanded, punching Lora again, but that did nothing to stop her laughter.
"HAHAHAHA!" Lora laughed, her body shaking in pain, blood running down her face like tears.
"Prepare your ass for my friend's 50-inch cock!"