ENTER Online

In the beginning, before the Thirteen Gods descended, there was the Fourteenth...

Lyra's true form began to emerge as the divine light surrounded her. She was not just a Sword Saint, she was Asteria, the Goddess of Free Will, the divine embodiment of choice itself. She had been the first to fall when the Thirteen Gods began their conquest, not because she was weak, but because she had chosen to limit her own power to protect mortal autonomy.

"I am Asteria," she said, her voice now carrying the power to reshape reality itself. "I am the goddess who chose to become mortal rather than enslave mortals. I am the divine will that refuses to impose itself upon others."

The revelation sent shockwaves through the arena. In the stands, even the most powerful observers felt the weight of standing in the presence of true divinity.

"Three hundred years ago," Asteria continued, "when the Thirteen Gods descended, I made a choice. I could have fought them with my full power, but that would have destroyed the world I sought to protect. Instead, I chose to sacrifice my divinity, to become human and fight from within the system they created."

Her fifty swords were not weapons, they were fragments of her divine essence, each one containing a piece of her original power. She had broken herself into pieces and scattered them across the world, ensuring that no single force could claim her abilities.

"But you," she looked at Bruwa with eyes that held the depth of eternity, "you are what they made in my absence. A mockery of free will, a soul enslaved by artificial purpose."

Bruwa's corruption level spiked to 93% as the Red God poured more power into her, desperate to match the revealed goddess. "I am perfection!" she screamed, her voice now layered with divine harmonics. "I am what mortals become when they embrace their true nature!"

"You are what mortals become when they surrender their true nature," Asteria replied sadly. "You are a weapon pretending to be a person, a puppet convinced she is the puppeteer."

The Red God's influence surged through Bruwa, pushing her corruption level to 95%. Her body began to crack and bleed as the divine power overwhelmed her mortal form, but she felt no pain. She was beyond such human weaknesses now.

"Final Technique: Absolute Zero!"

Bruwa raised her hands, and between them formed an arrow of pure glacial destruction. It was not made of ordinary ice, it was made of the concept of absolute zero itself, a fragment of divine cold that could freeze the very essence of reality.

The arrow flew with the speed of thought itself, leaving a trail of frozen space-time in its wake. It was an attack that could have flash-frozen entire solar systems, focused into a single point of absolute glacial annihilation.

But Asteria was ready.

"Sword Formation: Edge!"

Her fifty swords moved as one, not to block the attack, but to absorb it. Each blade took a portion of the god-slayer arrow's power into itself, distributing the destruction across all fifty fragments of her divine essence.

The swords cracked and began to dissolve, but they held. The attack that should have killed a goddess was neutralized by her willingness to sacrifice her own power to protect others.

"Impossible," Bruwa gasped, her corruption level spiking to 97% as the Red God's desperation grew. "Nothing can survive a god-slayer technique!"

"Free will can survive anything," Asteria replied staring at Hanan, her form beginning to flicker as the damage to her sword-souls took its toll. "Because it chooses to."

But the effort had cost her greatly. Her divine form was failing, her power scattered and damaged. She was dying, but she had proven her point. Even a god's power could be overcome by the simple choice to resist.

Bruwa's corruption level reached 98%, her body now more divine construct than mortal flesh. The Red God was pouring everything into her, turning her into a living avatar of his will.

"I will not be defeated by sentiment!" she screamed, her voice now completely inhuman. "I will not be weakened by false hope!"

She raised her hands for one final attack, gathering power that would have been enough to crack continents. But as she did, something unexpected happened.

The 2% of her that remained uncorrupted, the tiny fragment of her original self that had somehow survived the Red God's influence, began to fight back.

Deep within the divine construct that Bruwa had become, a small voice whispered a single word. "Hanan."

The name hit her like a physical blow. For just an instant, the corruption wavered, and she remembered. She remembered a silver-haired girl with emerald eyes, laughing as they played in a garden of crystal flowers. She remembered gentle hands braiding her hair, a warm voice singing lullabies, the feeling of being loved without condition.

"No," she whispered, her voice suddenly small and human. "I... I remember."

The Red God's power surged, trying to suppress the memory, but it was too late. The 2% of her that remained pure had found something stronger than divine corruption, it had found love.

Her corruption level dropped to 96%, then 94%, then 90%. Each recovered memory weakened the Red God's hold, but the process was destroying her mortal form. She was not strong enough to survive the transition from divine puppet back to mortal woman.

"I remember who I was," she said, looking up at Asteria with eyes that were finally her own. "I remember my sister. I remember my family. I remember... I remember that I was loved."

Asteria's heart broke as she saw the truth. Bruwa was dying. The process of breaking free from 87% corruption was tearing her apart at the cellular level. She had perhaps minutes to live, but for the first time in years, she was truly alive.

"I'm sorry," Asteria said, tears streaming down her divine face. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you sooner."

"You did save me," Bruwa replied, her voice growing weaker as her body began to fail. "You showed me that I was more than just a weapon. You reminded me that I had a choice."

She looked up at the stands, where Hanan was crying openly, and smiled. "Sister," she whispered. "I'm sorry I forgot you. I'm sorry I forgot how much you loved me."

"I never stopped loving you," Hanan called out, her voice carrying across the silent arena. "Even when you were lost, even when you were angry, I never stopped believing in you."

Bruwa's corruption level continued to drop, 85%, 80%, 75%, but each percentage point recovered was killing her. Her body was breaking down, unable to handle the rapid transition from divine construct back to mortal flesh.

"I have a choice now," she said, understanding what was happening to her. "I can die as myself, or I can live as his weapon. There is no third option."

"There's always a third option," Asteria said desperately. "I can---"

"No," Bruwa interrupted, her voice filled with quiet strength. "This is my choice to make. For the first time in years, this is my choice."

She closed her eyes and made her decision. Rather than fight the corruption or accept it, she chose to burn out both her divine power and her mortal form simultaneously. It was suicide, but it was suicide on her own terms.

Her corruption level plummeted to zero in an instant, taking her life force with it. But as she died, she smiled. She was free. She was herself. She was choosing her own ending.

"Tell my sister," she whispered with her last breath, "that I remembered how to love."

DING!

SYSTEM ALERT - ELF ARCHER ELIMINATED

The arena fell silent as the young elf's body crumbled to dust, her mortal form unable to survive the transition from 87% corruption to complete freedom. She had chosen to die rather than live as a slave, and in doing so, had achieved the ultimate victory.

Asteria knelt where Bruwa had fallen, her own divine form flickering as the battle took its toll. "She chose freedom," she said softly. "She chose to die as herself rather than live as someone else's weapon. That is the greatest victory any of us can achieve."