"Ah… finally. You're here."
Zephyr stepped into the goddess's sanctuary like a storm forced into human shape. The marble beneath his boots cracked faintly with each step, hairline fractures spidering out as if reality itself resented his presence. His shoulders were heavy, not just with exhaustion but with a century of violence. His aura pulsed around him, jagged and unstable, distorting the air like heat above a dying fire.
The hall was vast and painfully beautiful. Pillars of white stone rose into a ceiling painted with constellations that shifted slowly, as though the heavens were alive. At the far end stood the goddess.
She looked almost painfully gentle.
"I've been waiting for you, Zephyr," she said softly. "The one who cleansed the abandoned Earth alone."
Her voice carried warmth. Her smile held something that might have been sincerity.
Zephyr stopped several steps away. His eyes were bloodshot, glowing faintly crimson. The iris in each eye had twisted into three concentric rings encircling the pupil, turning his gaze into something unnatural, something earned through too much suffering.
"You were waiting for me?" His laugh was hollow. "Don't insult me."
His anger flared, and the fractures in the air widened, thin lines slicing through space with a low, trembling hum.
"Yes," she replied calmly, unflinching despite the tremors around them. "You heard me correctly."
Silence stretched between them.
Zephyr exhaled slowly, forcing himself to steady. The cracks in reality shrank back, reluctant but obedient.
"Fine," he muttered. "Then you know why I'm here. Send me home."
The word home sounded fragile coming from him. Almost foreign.
The goddess lowered her gaze for a moment before nodding.
"You understand the price," she said gently. "To return to Earth… you must surrender all your powers."
The air froze.
"What?"
Zephyr took a step forward, and this time his smile was wrong. Twisted. Sharp.
"You're joking."
She did not smile back.
"If you return, you will be nothing more than a normal human."
For a second, his hand rose to cover his mouth. Then he laughed anyway. Not loudly. Not joyfully. It was the sound of something breaking.
"A normal human?" he repeated, his voice trembling with disbelief. "After a century as the only human in a world filled with abominations…"
His gaze drifted past her, into memories only he could see. Ruined cities swallowed by vines and bone. Skies are permanently stained with ash. The endless shrieks of creatures that used to be something else.
"I fought every day," he continued quietly. "No rest. No allies. Just me. I awakened the system you forced into me. I unlocked skills. I adapted. I survived."
His voice hardened.
"And when I finally achieved my goal—when the world was clean—you're telling me I have to throw it all away?"
The goddess lowered her head slightly, as if sharing his sorrow.
"I know what you endured," she said. "But you have another choice. Stay here. Remain by my side. We can rebuild this realm together. With your strength… You could become a god in this world."
The offer hung in the air like incense.
Zephyr stared at her.
He remembered the day he was summoned. The light that swallowed him. The panic. The confusion. No consent. No explanation. Just survival.
He remembered learning to fight because dying wasn't allowed. He remembered losing count of the days. Losing count of the years.
Stay here.
Be a god.
"So that's it?" he asked quietly. "You drag me into your broken world without asking. I bled for a hundred years. And now I either give up everything… or stay and pretend this was some noble destiny?"
His jaw clenched.
"That would mean I was just a tool."
"You were chosen," she insisted.
"I was used."
Silence again.
"I'd rather die."
For the first time, the goddess flinched.
"What? No, Zephyr, if you remain here you will have everything. Power. Authority. Eternity."
He drew his sword.
The blade hummed, not with ordinary magic but with something older. The metal shimmered faintly, etched with symbols that seemed to rearrange themselves with every breath.
"I don't care."
Before she could speak again, he moved.
In a single fluid motion, he hurled the sword. It cut through the air with divine precision and buried itself deep in her chest.
The sound was almost soft.
Her eyes widened as golden light spilled from the wound instead of blood.
"W-why…?" she whispered. "That weapon… it's divine…"
Zephyr stepped closer, meeting her fading gaze.
A small, tired smile tugged at his lips. Not triumphant. Not cruel. Just done.
"Yeah," he said quietly, raising his hand and extending a single defiant finger. "Now die, you delusional fool."
The sanctuary trembled. The constellations above flickered.
A violent light began bursting from every part of the goddess's body.
It wasn't just light. It was raw divinity tearing itself apart. Cracks of blinding gold split across her skin, and her scream shattered what remained of the sanctuary. The sound was not human. It was ancient. Furious. Betrayed.
Zephyr didn't look away.
"You don't need to curse me," he muttered, his voice hoarse, barely audible over the rising storm of energy. "I'll be joining you soon anyway."
Her scream peaked.
Then the universe broke.
A galactic explosion swallowed everything. Pillars disintegrated into dust before they even had time to fall. The painted constellations above imploded into spirals of collapsing starlight. Space itself twisted inward and burst outward in a blinding wave.
When the light finally faded, there was nothing left.
Nothing except the void.
And Zephyr.
Or what remained of him.
More than two-thirds of his body had been obliterated. One arm gone. Most of his torso erased. What was left of him drifted in the endless black, fragments of flesh and bone slowly spinning in silence.
No pain. Just emptiness.
Then a familiar orange interface flickered to life before his remaining eye.
[You are in critical condition.]
[Your body will regenerate.]
His tired gaze fixed on the glowing words.
"No."
The void carried his voice nowhere.
[You are in critical condition.]
[Recommendation: Please repair your body.]
His eyelids grew heavy.
"No thanks."
There was a pause, as if the system itself was recalculating.
[You will die in 1 minute 13 seconds.]
[Are you certain you wish to remain in this state?]
A faint, broken smile touched his lips.
"Yes. After all… this is better, isn't it?"
No more fighting. No more grinding through skill trees. No more surviving just because some unseen force demanded it.
Just quiet.
The interface flickered.
[Task in progress…]
His remaining eye snapped open wider.
"What task?"
The text shifted.
[You will be returned to Earth in 9… 8…]
His heart lurched.
"What? No. Let me die."
[Your powers will be sealed. However, a gift will be granted upon arrival.]
"Gift?" His voice cracked into something dangerously close to panic. "I don't want a gift. I want to be dead."
[You will be returned to Earth in 5… 4…]
"Damn you," he hissed. "Stupid system. Let me die in peace."
The countdown continued, merciless.
[You will be returned to Earth in 2… 1…]
He squeezed his eye shut.
"Should've just died in a monster's jaws…"
White light engulfed him.
Weight returned.
Air. Gravity. Sound.
[Congratulations. You have returned to Earth.]