When Athtar opened his eyes, he found himself staring at a familiar ceiling; it was a warm morning, and the sun, casting its light through the room's windows, illuminated everything.
Athtar sat up, only to find himself in his bed, his chest bare, and beside him, a blonde girl lay breathing deeply, seemingly fast asleep.
'Was that a dream? What a terrifying nightmare.'
He gently placed his hand on his head and smiled faintly, then leaned towards his wife, Margret, and planted a small kiss on her forehead. Margret stirred slightly in her sleep and turned onto her other side.
Athtar got up, put on his shirt and went to wash. After freshening up, he drew his sword and went downstairs. In front of the cottage, which was surrounded by a medium-sized garden, Athtar began practising in silence, swinging his sword up and down, trying to keep himself in good shape as he always did.
A few minutes later, Margret opened the cottage door, wearing a white dress with shoulder straps; it was tight across the bust, then gradually flared out as it fell down her body. The dress was short, covering only the upper part of her thighs, whilst the rest of her smooth, glowing legs were exposed.
"You're already awake, Athtar? Good morning… early as usual…"
Margret yawned sleepily, her eyes still closed, as she greeted her husband, whilst Athtar stopped waving his sword and smiled slightly at his wife, nodding to her.
"I want to reach your level quickly…"
"You're a determined lad…"
Margret smiled gently as she looked at him, then turned and walked back inside, causing her dress to ride up, revealing white embroidered fabric that lightly covered her buttocks before disappearing beneath her dress as it fell back into place.
Athtar's face flushed slightly and he looked away, then quickly resumed waving his sword, trying to ignore the amusing sight he'd just witnessed—one of which Margret was probably unaware.
Half an hour or so passed, then Margret called him to come and have breakfast. Athtar replied with a nod and stopped swinging his sword; he gently wiped the sweat from his brow and returned to the cottage.
The couple sat facing each other, eating breakfast in silence, before Margret broke the silence, grumbling slightly.
"Our patrol was two days ago, but His Majesty is already calling us in for guard duty today. This isn't supposed to be our patrol! "
Athtar sighed softly as he put a mouthful of food into his mouth, then looked at Margret, closing his eyes briefly before swallowing and saying
"Our unit is the strongest of them all, and there's an important guest arriving from the Kingdom of Seiya to visit Duke James Michelle, so we need to stay close by just in case…"
"But the Kingdom of Seiya harbours no hostility towards our kingdom… Uncle… His Majesty the King is simply very worried…"
"That's nothing new."
Margret sighed and rested her head on the table, pouting playfully at her husband, who said, looking at her, "Behave yourself at the dinner table." "
Margret ignored his remark, looked away, then looked back at him, saying with some annoyance.
"I wanted to go out on a date with you…"
Athtar's cheeks flushed slightly, and he looked away with his eyes closed.
"We can go another day, as you know…"
"I want to do it today…"
"That's not possible. Don't be childish…"
After a bit more grumbling, Margret rose from the table, energetic and in high spirits, as she always was.
"Since we're going to do this, let's do it properly, shall we, darling?" "
Athtar looked at Margret, a small smile playing on his lips. Margret was ready to leave, but when she noticed that Athtar hadn't moved at all, she stopped, turned to him, and asked with a hint of curiosity.
"Aren't you coming with me? "
Athtar continued to smile and shook his head from side to side, causing Margret's eyebrow to twitch slightly.
"That's not where I belong… It isn't anymore, my dear… "
Margret looked at him; her smile faded, and a calm expression settled on her face. She said in a quiet voice:
"If you come with me… we'll be together forever… you won't have to struggle for an uncertain future… Isn't that what you're really thinking? That this world is no longer worth living for?"
Athtar's calm smile remained unchanged, yet he did not take a single step.
"That is one thing, and this is another. The desire to live and the desire for justice are two different things… I did not choose to live…"
Margret opened her mouth to reply, but Athtar stopped her by raising his hand. He approached her quietly and placed his hand on her face, as if etching her features into his memory for the last time.
"I shall come, but not now, not today. When I do come, I shall have come without a single regret remaining… That is the day I will take that step with you, but for now…"
He removed his hand from Margret's face and turned away, his eyes gleaming with a fierce desire for revenge, his gaze angry and sharp.
"Now, there is something I must do here… "
Margret clenched her hand tightly and turned away; both had their backs to each other. Margret opened the door, and as she stepped outside, light flooded the room and everything vanished. Athtar did not hesitate; he did not close his eyes; he did not flinch. He accepted whatever was to come, with everything.
As the light faded, Athtar slowly began to regain consciousness. He opened his eyes and looked around him, finding himself in the very same room where he had lost consciousness—the room where he had found the Fragment of Consciousness and updated the system.
"Did I lose consciousness because I'd depleted my mana? I thought I hadn't reached the limit. Was there something draining my mana?"
Athtar couldn't recall anything relevant, so he stood up, placing a hand on his head. He felt a slight headache as he looked around to make sure nothing had changed.
'System… tell me what updates I've received.'
Athtar thought calmly, but for some reason, no screen appeared; there was only silence. Athtar felt a sense of unease, so he spoke again.
'System…'
But there was no response. Athtar felt a little anxious, but suddenly the room shook, and Athtar began to feel as though the whole temple was moving.
'What's happening here?'
Athtar thought to himself as he leaned against the chest nearby, then headed towards the door and began climbing the stairs quickly. The shaking was getting faster and faster, as if the entire temple were collapsing at his feet.
When Athtar reached the room where the corpse lay, he saw that the corrupted mana surrounding the corpse was in a state of extreme agitation, as if it were losing the balance it had previously maintained. The moment the corrupted mana sensed Athtar's presence, it attacked him immediately, forming what looked like a blade, intending to pierce him.
Athtar was taken by surprise, as it had not occurred to him that the corrupted mana would move of its own accord; he did not have time to counter the corruption. However, before the corrupted mana could devour him, pure mana emerged from his forehead, instantly forming a barrier that repelled the corrupted mana, causing it to spread in all directions, destroying everything it touched. Such was the density of the corrupted mana; it was so dense that it physically affected the natural world.
As for Athtar, he was even more surprised by this mana that had suddenly emerged from his head. Where on earth had it come from?
[ Tch… ]
Athtar heard a woman's voice suddenly cursing inside his head, causing him to look around as he said:
"Who's there? Are you the one responsible for what just happened?"
[ There's no need to shout, child. I can hear you perfectly well… Hmph. Be grateful that My Majesty was kind enough to save you… ]
When Athtar looked ahead, there was no one there; the voice was definitely inside his mind.
'Are you the System? Is this your new update?'
[ At least you're clever enough to realise that ]
Athtar sighed slightly, but after a moment he rolled his eyes and said coldly.
'You—or rather, I suppose I should say 'she' now—seem more human now… Is this because of the Fragment of Consciousness? Have you awakened a consciousness?'
[ Yes. Why do you think it's called the Fragment of Consciousness? Are you really that stupid, or are you just playing dumb? ]
"Shut up."
[ Hold on… How dare you tell My Majesty to—… ]
The System's sentence went unfinished, as its angry voice slowly faded until it vanished from Athtar's mind. Athtar sighed with relief that he still had some control over the System.
'If this narcissistic system keeps bothering me non-stop, I'll wish for death.'
[ Quest ]
[ Obtain the body of the fallen goddess ]
[ Reward ]
[ Evidence of a Fragment of Matter ]
Athtar looked at the unexpected quest, then at the corpse filled with corrupted mana, and thought coldly.
'Are you mocking me?'
But Athtar received no reply; it seemed that when he had silenced the system with his own commands, it had become annoyed and had now decided not to respond to him.
Athtar looked once more at the floating corpse, then calmly closed his eyes. He approached the corpse quietly, step by step; the barrier that had previously protected him had already disappeared some time ago, so Athtar was now being directly exposed to the corrupted mana.
Nothing happened, and Athtar continued walking towards the corpse; when he reached a certain spot, a specific notification appeared.
[ Danger! ]
[ The host is being exposed to a massive amount of corrupted mana ]
[ Please move away from the area ]
Athtar ignored the notification and continued walking impassively until he was one metre away from the corpse, whose features were now visible. It was a cold, grey, colourless corpse; stunning golden-blonde hair of considerable length floated around the body, and there was a terrifying, gruesome hole in the centre of the torso.
[ Are you daft! You'll turn into a demon if you carry on like this ]
'What? Have you finally decided to speak?'
Athtar said sarcastically, but he had no time for small talk. He took another step, and then another.
[ Don't say I didn't warn you! ]
said the System, but Athtar had already reached the corpse, and as soon as he touched it, a new notification popped up.
[ Notification ]
[ Item found ]
[ Do you wish to load the corpse? ]
'Yes'
As soon as he agreed, a light appeared from Athtar's forehead and immediately enveloped the corpse. Under the effect of that light, the corpse began to slowly decompose, breaking down into tiny particles that entered the centre of the light emanating from Athtar's forehead.
The process took some time, and unfortunately for Athtar, the corrupted mana was part of the corpse, so he was forced to absorb that entire vast quantity of corrupted mana into himself.
[ Corpse successfully loaded and sealed ]
A system notification popped up in front of Athtar; most of the corrupted mana had now completely vanished, and with it, the corpse of the fallen goddess.
[ Quest ]
[ Obtain the body of the fallen goddess ]
[ Quest completed ]
[ Would you like to claim your reward now? ]
'Yes'
Athtar thought calmly, and the loading bar began to progress steadily; after a short while, the download was complete.
[ Guide to the Fragment of Matter ]
[ Searth ]
When Athtar saw the hint, he merely murmured quietly.
'The continent of Searth?'
The continent of Searth was one of the continents in this world, though it is not the one where Athtar currently lives; the journey there would take an enormous amount of time and resources.
The temple continued to shake, prompting Athtar—who had finished everything he needed to do here—to finally decide to leave.
'I'll think about all this later; right now, I need to get out of here and get back to where Christie is…'
Athtar set off on his return journey, but then a notification came through – or rather, the voice of the new system.
[ I advise you to jump out of here, hmph ]
Athtar wondered why the system had suddenly decided to be kind, but he knew it was trying to save him, so he immediately looked around, found a window, and saw through it that everything was falling, as if gravity were returning to normal.
Athtar headed towards the window, smashed it with the hilt of his sword, and looked down, where he saw the temple already slowly plummeting towards the ground; it was now very close to crashing. Had it not been for the system's warning, Athtar might not have realised this in time.
Athtar leapt from the window onto the nearest rock, then onto the nearest flying tree, then onto some debris and a few more rocks, until he reached the end of the barrier. When he emerged from the barrier, there was the eerie violet mist.
[ Get away from here; a major change is about to occur in the area ]
Athtar did not argue; he ran away from the place, watching as the temple crumbled, then finally crashed to the ground, causing a massive explosion. A huge wave of the corrupted mana remaining within it spread out, dissipated into the eerie violet mist, and merged with it.
Athtar sighed and felt a slight sense of relief before standing up and beginning to walk away from the scene.
In another area, outside the violet mist, the demon with the wound in his waist was panting heavily, blood pouring profusely from his body as he trudged through the forest with difficulty and some pain.
"Damn that bastard Athtar… I'll get my revenge on him!"
"So… did you get the fallen body for me?"
The demon heard a voice that made his limbs tremble slightly; he raised his head and found a demonic figure that looked exactly like him: a tall man with horns and wings, but no tail, short white hair, and slightly terrifying red eyes.
"S-Sir… I'm sorry! I couldn't do it… My opponents were too strong, so I was forced to retreat…"
The massive demon didn't seem upset, as if he'd expected this outcome. He looked at the wreckage amidst the violet mist and said coldly, "Is the corpse still lying there?" "
"I suppose so. When I left, it was still in place, and no one will be able to touch it without risking losing themselves or turning into a demon because of the amount of corrupted mana surrounding it, just as you said, sir… "
The massive demon nodded coldly, then looked at his subordinate and said, "Let's go back and retrieve it. You're sure you didn't leave any evidence behind, are you?"
"Yes…"
"Good, then…"
.
.
.
To Be Continued.