Small motes of dust danced around in the air of the stuffy room. All around towering bookshelves were laden with musty tomes and various scrolls tied up with ribbons. This was the personal library of the mages in Vinedenne and not a place any outsider was allowed. That is to say any outsider who wasn't a literal goddess. The secret collection of ancient knowledge would normally remain hidden from the world, as the secrecy of those with power usually dictates. However in my particular case gaining admittance was as easy as asking Ferherlyn.

Of course the goddess of knowledge is expected to already know, well everything, but that was obviously not the case. Not everyone knew I was from another world entirely and therefore would have no reason to have per-awareness on everything about this world. Not that they would care if they did, probably still expecting me to know everything. Ferherlyn however was one of the few I trusted enough to let in on my little secret and thankfully he was willing to help me "fake it till I make it" as they say. I'm yet to find out if my trust is a mistake.

Regardless of how I got into this secret library I was here. The fount of its information was now made available to me in full. As for the reason for my being here: it had everything to do with this so called "Demon Mage." Merely asking Ferherlyn about it had gotten me some information immediately as its somewhat of an old legend in these parts. He wasn't all too familiar with the specifics though as there was so much for a lead mage to keep track of. The books with more information in them were easy enough for him to track down however.

From the immediate information he gave me it was revealed that the Demon Mage was some mage from the age of the goddesses. So a very long time ago! No wonder it was considered legend in this age. This individual was extremely powerful in the ways of magic and had enough mana to supposedly defend themselves from actual goddesses. Not in any way best them, that was beyond humans, but to protect oneself from or otherwise escape a goddess was a feat in itself. Their last moments were apparently spent holed up inside their mountainside castle in the very mountains I had appeared in.

After getting this information from Ferherlyn and being led to the library the both of us had scoured the place for more information on this person. Thankfully some tomes were found and I was able to learn more about the Demon Mage of Henjuk. That's right: the mountain range was apparently named after a city that existed there long ago. A city that was wiped off the map by this mage's magic. The exact reasoning for why he did this was not entirely known, but it was widely known that the people were raised as undead creatures after the city's destruction.

The books keep calling this person a he, meaning a male mage. That meant that this current "demon mage" was nothing more than a fake, someone who had not a fraction of the original namesake's power. They were probably using the feared title in order to cause more fear in potential opponents. A reasonable tactic. Name stealing or "copycatting" was pretty common even where I came from, especially when it came to crime or deeds of evil.

This information alone was enough to handle the situation but of course that wasn't enough for me. I wanted to know more about this guy or at least his name. Ferherlyn was currently looking for a book that had mention of his name in it while I looked though a stack of books in front of me.

Newly disturbed dust swirled into the air as the old man scooped another book off a creaky shelf. He wiped off the front cover and coughed before turning my way.

"You know goddess" he said smiling. "I haven't been in this library for many years. I've forgotten how enjoyable it is to be lost in reading. To be learning forgotten things."

I was currently flipping through a book on the types of magic. My chin in my right hand as it propped me up on the table.

"Yeah..."

My reply was distant as my focus was currently on the book in front of me. I was hoping the section on necromancy would have some clues for me. It was a forbidden art for a reason.

Ferherlyn perked up as he stepped down off the stool he was on.

"Oh! This book looks promising goddess! It's titled 'Of Notable Mages.' Surely our friend's name will be in here?"

After hearing the title of the book I stood up and walked over to where he was standing. My hand reached out with palm up.

"Alright hand it over."

He passed the book off to me without protest and watched as I opened it up and started leafing through the pages. It seemed I was being too rough on the pages as he was looking nervous as he watched.

"Careful please!" he said with a concerned tone. "These books are very old and fragile!"

I didn't even look up from the book to reply.

"Yeah yeah..."

After only a few more seconds of speed reading, another something my powers allowed, I was able to find the information I was looking for.

"Finally!" I said pointing at the page with celebration. "Here it is!"

The old man was just as excited as me and quickly moved to look over my shoulder at the open page.

"Oh? Pray tell what is his name?"

"Barthenor." I said smiling.

We both stood there for a moment processing the information. After a few seconds I frowned a little and closed the book carefully. I had already read the rest of the limited information in his article.

"Not that intimidating is it?" I asked looking up at Ferherlyn.

Ferherlyn sighed and stepped back from me, his arms crossed over his chest. He was frowning as well in disappointment.

"I suppose you're right goddess." he replied. "It is a somewhat underwhelming name. Though I suppose the most feared of monsters can come from the most unlikely of places."

I let out a small breathy sigh myself and passed the book back over to the man, forcing him to uncross his arms.

"I dunno if he was a monster and all that. I never met the guy." I then turned to walk back to the previous book I had been reading. "For all we know that city story was embellished just to-"

I froze. A prayer had just come in about people being killed and I instantly dove into the goddess zone. The map was already moved to the location and Miya was standing over it looking down. When I appeared she turned to me and a wave of relief visibly washed over her.

"Oh you're here!" she said with a deep breath. "Look!"

Before she could finish speaking I was already standing over beside her. The situation on the map was confusion at first, this event taking place at a boarder town to the north-west of the kingdom. It wasn't a very large town either and my initial assumption was some kind of bandit attack. The prayer was from a young woman who had prayed to me to save some people that were being killed so my scans started there.

As my enhanced eyes looked over the map I tilted my head slightly to the side to look at Miya in my peripheral vision.

"Thanks for being here" I said solemnly.

Miya just smiled weakly and watched me for a few moments.

"You're welcome Jenna."

The people around the woman in question seemed to be fine, though they were running from something. That alone was enough for me to head over there. But then something unexpected and horrific happened. The woman that had been praying to me suddenly and inexplicably died. It was over in an instant. Her soul vanished from this world, the last scream of pain cut off as it echoed into my mind.

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I clutched my chest in pain as the emotional damage hit me. A worshiper dying suddenly, another failure of a goddess to protect her people. All of this from the moment I got the first prayer to her death had been less than ten seconds in real time and yet that was enough time for such a tragedy to unfold.

Without another word I shot back up into my body and opened a portal over to the location. My eyes were glowing brightly as the anger rose up within me. I felt Sub-Chan clawing at the back of my mind in glee, the rage boiling up from within the deepest parts of my heart. Ferherlyn called out to me asking me where I was going but I ignored him.

No. First I must protect the people. Eliminate the immediate danger and ascertain the threat. Then I'd figure out who and how to punish.

More prayers came in from the town's people as the portal transported me over. In just a few more seconds another of my worshipers had died. The fire within me threatened to erupt into a volcano as I finished appearing in the new location.

There beside me was the person who had just finished praying to me, their body charred as if hit by some kind of fire. It was a young man, someone who's future had been ripped away from them by cruel fate.

The rest of the people were still running away from the threat and I could see them running into buildings in order to hide themselves. Another woman was currently stumbling her way over someone else who had tripped and fallen, a large ball of fire about to hit her in the back.

In an instant I dashed over to her location, my speed causing time to stand still as I moved into place. Then I stopped moving and backhanded the fireball with my left hand. It exploded upwards into the sky, the edges still singeing the hair of the woman. She however was safe now. No one else was going to die.

I turned my gaze to the origin of the fireball. My were were full of fury as stars burned in a swirling dance within them. There standing in the middle of the town square was the target of my vengeance.

It was a woman of perhaps thirty years. She was dressed in vibrant red robes indicating her a mage of primarily fire. This made sense considering the nature of the attacks. Her hair was bright blue and her face was dominated by an expression of delusional delight. This expression changed however when she noticed her latest victim had been defended.

"Hey girl!" she shouted over. "Did you just block my fire?"

I said nothing, a grim look of quiet anger on my face as I started walking towards her. This didn't seem to alarm her as she raised her arms up and laughed in a less than well adjusted way.

"Haven't you heard?" she boasted. "I'm you're new goddess! I heard that some woman's been playing as one in this kingdom so I came to join in the fun!"

My face changed from anger to outright fury again as she spoke. So this was what this was about? Some mage from another kingdom thought they could play at being a god? She came here and killed people in a bid to play god with people's lives? The rage was boiling over and I wondered if I should even fight it.

Another fireball burst forth from the woman's hands, this time aimed at me. It was understandable of course. She had been saying something to me I hadn't heard due to my internal struggle, probably a warning of some kind or whatever.

Regardless of what was said the fireball posed no threat to me. I simply swatted it away with my hand again as I continued walking towards her. It exploded in the air above me and the draft of hot hair swished my hair around.

This surprised the woman as she clearly didn't except someone like me to actually be able to protect from her attack. Not only did I deflect it but I took absolutely no damage at all. She snarled and lifted both her hands up together, her fingers extended and pointed at me.

"Take this you little bitch!"

A bolt of lightning wormed out of her fingertips like a writhing serpent, its movements too fast for any eyes save my own to witness. It shot out like a white hot streak of fire and hit me directly in the forehead. The electric current had no effect, merely flowing down my body and into the ground with not so much as a sizzle.

With the latest attack neutralized it was time to show my true power. I lurched into the sky, growing to my full size in an instant. Now I loomed over the foreign mage and the town alike, my massive feet booming down in the side streets and shaking the ground. Of course I had made sure my footfalls were in places there were no people, something I didn't have to worry about much as most had already hidden themselves away.

The clouds in the sky above me began to swirl around the area above my head as I lifted my left foot into the air for another step. Still not having said a word I brought my foot forward and brought it down on top of the woman, my boot pinning her down into the dirt with just enough pressure as to not crush her.

She squirmed and swore underneath my boot. It was the size of the average house and even though she wasn't being crushed it would still leave bruises. How humiliating it was for her, a powerful mage now no more than a squirming bug under the boot of a little girl.

The people of the town had gathered enough bravery to peek out from their hiding places. It was clear their fear of the mage was eclipsed by their fear of the towering girl standing into the sky. Their fear was more of a general fear of my power than of me specifically however. They understood I was on their side, but the sight of a furious goddess was overwhelming.

I finally spoke, my voice booming down over the entire town as the sky darkened overhead. The barely contained rage was evident in my voice as it dripped from every word.

"Give me one good reason not to turn you into a smear right now."

The response was another burst of fire from the woman. It did nothing to the sole of my boot of course and merely blasted out from either side in jets of flame. She was perhaps in too much of a panicked state to properly verbalize a reply, but her actions were more than enough.

With a somewhat malicious grin I slid my boot off her body, its sole scraping at her skin until the toes were over the lower half of her body. Then I pressed the tip of my boot down until bones cracked, completely smashing her legs flat under my weight.

Screams of agony pierced the air as the mage had her legs reduced to a crumbled mess. She writhed about in the dirt as the pain wracked her body. Between her wails she didn't have the breath to even curse me for what I'd done. It was like watching a dying bug.

I shrunk back down to human size and walked up to her. As I did so the people of the town watched on in awe, unable to look away as the scene unfolded before them. Not a single prayer of mercy came for the mage woman.

"You want to play goddess" I said sneering. "You want to take other's lives into your hands." Then I reached where she lay and stood over her. "You've met the real deal."

The woman looked up at me with eyes full of hate. She was clearly still in agony, clutching her broken legs with bloodied hands. In her eyes there was no repentance for what she had done, only a desire for vengeance against who had done this to her. The fact a true goddess stood before her be dammed!

I glared down at her. My bubbling rage had been kept in check so far. Through sheer willpower I had cooled it down into merely a burning rage. My eyes still were aglow as I glared down at this evil woman.

"Do you repent?" I more demanded then asked.

This mage's ego was clearly too powerful to be overcome by even a true goddess's threats. She merely spat at me and glared with a hatred one would think inhuman.

"You scum!" she snapped at me. "Goddesses are as bad as I've heard."

Her choice had been made and there was no room for mercy left in my heart. With a cool rage on my face I walked around the woman to stand at her side, standing over her and looking down with flattened lips.

"You've killed my worshipers" I said calmly. "You've mocked the goddesses." A burning fire burst forth over my closed fists and within my eyes as I shouted. "Return to ash!"

Within an instant the woman was engulfed in fire. The flames were intense, flickering in all the colors of the rainbow as they utterly consumed her, the last scream from her lungs itself igniting as it echoed around the town. In only a matter of seconds nothing was left but a black scorch mark on the ground where she had lay.

I turned away from the grim sight and my eyes returned to normal. My arms dropped to my sides and I closed my eyes. I even lowered my head slightly out of respect for the dead.

"May my father have mercy on your soul."

At this point the townsfolk had begun to reemerge from their hiding places. Some of them even walked closer to me in stunned awe. They understood that all this had been done to bring justice for the dead, but the sight of an angry goddess dispensing punishment was truly terrifying.

Sensing their unease I didn't approach them, leaving the distance between us up to them to set. I did however let out a long and almost depressed sigh before addressing them. My voice spooked them and made them jump.

"I'm afraid the dead can't be brought back to life. Bury them with respect."

The people looked at each other and then to me. Some of them nodded and others just looked at the damage that had been done to the buildings from the mage's fire.

"I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner" I continued. "I rely on your prayers to know what's going on in your lives. In the future pray to me if anyone suspicious shows up so I can know of these things faster."

One of the men in the crowed nodded and solemnly looked at the body of the dead woman.

"Thank you for coming goddess."

I let out a sigh and hung my head, a portal opening above me.

"You're welcome."

With this said I teleported back to the library I had been with Ferherlyn at. Despite being victorious against the mage I couldn't help but feel defeated. Several of my worshiped had been killed because I didn't know of the threat ahead of time. It wasn't my fault I knew that, I couldn't be literally everywhere at once. My ability to react was dependent on the prayers I revived. There would have to be an effort to educate my worshipers on the necessity of alerting me of anything suspicious. This would lead to many false flags of course, but that was better than losing them.

When I returned the library my mood for discovery had been extinguished and I didn't bother explaining what had happened to Ferherlyn. He didn't pry into it and I was left dejected for the rest of the day. Not soon after seeing my mage friend again I excused myself and sequestered myself away in my domain to think.