Chapter 280: Ch 279: The return of the Goddess

Elena felt the numbness spreading across her body. She could tell that something important had been taken away from her, but she was not sure why.

"L-Lyra...it hurts..."

She insisted, feeling as if her body was being taken over by a foreign force, and that made Lyra panic even harder.

"H-Hold on! I will go and get Kael for help. He would be able to do something-"

But her feet wouldn’t move. It was as if she had no will of her own left. And Elena, who was just withering in pain, walked toward her slowly.

"L-Lyra, I cannot control my body. What is going on? This feels like...this feels like I am being controlled by corruption once more. What do we do?"

Elena’s words made Lyra pause in horror as she realized that the other female was right. This did feel like she was being controlled by corruption. And this time, breaking its hold felt impossible.

She needed to tell Kael and Leon. She needed to tell them what was happening and-

/Shhh. There is no need to panic like this. I am just your friend, and I am here to help you feel better. Now, go to sleep. When you wake up, you will have gained what you desire./

The sweet voice tried to entice Lyra, but she knew better than to fall for the temptation. She tried to resist it, but the lull of that voice was too strong, and she was taken under in the end.

...

"Leon, is it only me, or is the aura of corruption getting stronger?"

Kael asked as he looked at Leon’s blank expression.

He could tell that the hero had noticed what was going on as well. And he looked just as concerned as Kael was about this.

"I...am beginning to feel that the world has started to shift. I cannot explain what is going on, but..."

Leon sounded frustrated, and for good reason. Even Kael did not know how to explain what was happening. But he could feel the disturbance that Leon was talking about.

His instincts told him that he needed to check up on Lyra and Elena, and also Iris, as soon as possible. But Seraphina started to groan the second he tried to leave.

Kael felt like he was being tugged from all directions, and his head was starting to throb.

"I have a feeling that we are in for a hard time."

He told Leon, and at that very second, the window he had been looking at broke open as a small paper bird flew through it.

It had the power of the Council embedded into it, and it spoke before Kael even touched it.

[Grand Master Kael, you and all the other people are being summoned to the Council House for an urgent meeting. The world has started to head toward its end, and corruption has started to break free. It is time for the Hero and the Saintess to fulfil their duty. Unfortunately, their young ages can no longer become a shield for them.]

The note was clear in its demand, but that did not make it any less sickening.

Aiden was not comfortable with the idea of sending a kid to his death. But there was a bigger problem at hand here, and that was the mentioned Saintess, who was already under the corruption’s influence.

"I have a feeling those old fools are not going to like this."

Kael whispered as he began to make preparations to head out to the Council House.

As much as he wanted to ignore this summons, he could not risk letting this world end. And right now, this Council was the only thing standing between corruption and the people.

...

"Lumi, what did you do? I thought you said you could control the corruption. But this world is..."

Kristan Han, the chairman of the Council, forced Lumi’s door open to yell at her, but he was instantly greeted by darkness and corruption. It was so thick that even his magic had a hard time penetrating it.

But he had dealt with it long enough to know how he could get to the center of it and find Lumi.

Except, she was lying dead on the floor with a beautiful woman leaning over her.

The silver hair and that flowy dress were very similar to the Saintess’s, and even that face looked similar. But he could instinctively tell that the person in front of him was not Saintess Seraphina.

She was another creature that was making his blood run cold.

’What is...this thing? The chills that I am feeling are not normal. This is not normal...’

Kristan felt like he had to take a step back every few seconds as he tried to get out of that creature’s attack range. But the corruption started to move and grabbed his legs.

"Hmm, and what do we have here? Aren’t you that kid who ran after my replacement and vowed to never leave their side? Are you still enforcing that false god’s will even after he is dead? His lingering will is a problem, but I will deal with it soon enough."

The corruption asked, and her voice sent chills down his spine. He had no idea what he had done to attract a creature like this. But...

’Wait! She said something about my god! I...I think I recall what she is talking about. But how does she know? Our god died a long time ago, and the Saintess and Hero are just manifestations of his lingering will. Just who is she?’

Kristan wanted answers, but he was not sure how to demand them from this creature he could not even look at properly.

Fortunately, the creature decided she wanted to give him answers, and she let out a giggle as she looked at him.

"What? Don’t you even recognize the goddess your god decided to throw out? Or was that proud person wanting to keep his secret, so he never told this world about me? Not that it’s a problem. Now that I, Goddess Aria Solwyn, am back, this world will learn to worship me once more. And my precious follower will be returned to me."