It was yet another wistful night in this foreign world, though as time went on I became more accustomed to it. However something I never could really get used to was the fact I never had to sleep. Being awake all the time, an unending stream of consciousness, was a nightmare that few truly consider when imagining the benefits of it. Many nights I would force myself into a dormant enough state that something resembling sleep came. Other times I would go out into the world and find things to do in order to pass the time until morning.
This was one such night when I had gone out to find something to do. What I had decided on tonight was visiting one of the bars in Vinedenne, something I did more often than I cared to admit. It's not like I went there to drink, even though as a goddess it would have no effect on me I avoided drink almost vehemently. No it was just for some reason comforting to go someplace where a bunch of other people were in a generally laid back environment and just ruminate. Maybe this was another one of those things that was carried over from my previous life.
Something I did often while at bars was singing as karaoke was something popular at bars throughout all of time, though no one here would know any songs I did. Generally I just sang alone then whatever song happened to survive my memory. Usually they were somber songs that I suppose reflected my deepest emotions over being transferred to a strange world. Interestingly while singing my words remained untranslated by the magic and were exclusively in English, my original native language. This meant no one understood what I was saying unless I explained it to them. Perhaps this was because my most intense emotions couldn't be translated.
Tonight however I had been singing a rather upbeat tune. It was a version “God rest ye Merry Gentlemen” that consisted of whatever lyrics I could fully remember as even in the songs I did remember I rarely remembered every single word. These lyrics were being translated probably because I didn't have any major emotional investments into them. I was just standing up on one of the tables in the middle of the room and singing with some of the people around trying to join in.
Whenever I did this sort of thing it made the bar pretty popular with all the people up late at night coming to hear a literal goddess singing. My voice I'm told is heavenly which makes sense. It's not like I was in this for the praise though. For whatever reason that surely links back to my other life I just enjoyed sharing music with others. Maybe I had been a famous singer. Of which sex still eluded me though that was not too important at this point.
So there I was just singing away and actually having a somewhat good time when something terrible happened. One of my worshipers somewhere died. Suddenly my body was wracked with a pricing pain as it always did whenever one of them passed away, the intensity of it causing me to pause and curl forward which gripping my heart. Everyone around me asked what was wrong and I just told them I was fine and not to worry.
The pain that came with the death of a worshiper was quite intense, their every feeling almost copied over to me like psychic feedback. Since the first time with Miya many other worshipers had died and so I was much more accustomed to the feeling so it didn't cause mental breaks. That didn't make it any less terrible though and it was still an incredibly unpleasant experience. If all goddesses felt this no wonder they were so protective of their worshipers. Maybe it was linked to why they were all seemingly crazy, driven mad from the pain. Or perhaps the hardhearted ones had gotten so accustomed to it that they became dead to their emotions and lost their humanity. Neither path was an option for me. I couldn't them be.
Following with my procedure for these things I used my goddess map inside my head to look at the place the death occurred, it being very important for me to know where and how they died as least with a casual overlook. This person had been a night guard in one of the towns at the northern boarder of the kingdom, the one with our northern neighbor of Pheoa. He was a man of middling age and appeared to have been shot through the heart with an arrow. For what reason this happened could be one of many, though usually it meant bandits of some kind that far to the north.
I rarely got involved with such things unless more injury occurred. Bandits and other vagrants attacking towns was commonplace and the people living there were no strangers too it. They didn't need a goddess stepping in at every moment to save them nor would they want it. It was the less defended villages where my help was needed and given. Some might call this selectivity cold-hearted itself but I saw it more as giving people space to live their lives. I would involve myself still of course should I be asked for.
In but a few moments the pain faded away and I was able to stand up straight again. I put a halfhearted smile on my face for the people around me to keep them from worrying. The pain their goddess went through could not become public knowledge lest it cause butterfly effects down the road. Plus it was my burden to bear and they needn't worry themselves over it. I had chosen to continue down this path of goddesshood and the consequences of it were mine to carry.
Suddenly another bout of pain wracked my body, the piercing pain of another death shooting through my mind and causing me to buckle over. Instantly my eyes snapped open and burst into a vibrant glow, my gaze snapping to this death's location as they were looking at the internal map my mind's eye was seeing. It was in the same town as the previous one and was another guard only a dozen feet from the other. Shot by an arrow.
This was one of those times where I involve myself regardless of the people's wishes. Two deaths was a sign of worse things to come and signaled a larger scale attack. Thanks to my goddess awareness I was able to look around the immediate area from the two deaths for potential attackers. There were indeed humans staging an attack on the town and by the fact I could barely see their souls it meant they were not worshipers. Just in the second I looked it was clear this was no mere bandit attack either. There were two dozen of them? No more closer to forty. This was like a military attack.
Still bent over and clutching my stomach I opened a portal beneath me to the town. The surprised cries of the people in the bar quickly vanished as I sunk down into the table and appeared in the new location. I had made sure the portal linked me high in the sky over the town, its few scattered torch lights like stars on the dark ground below. Now that I was here all the attackers could be plainly seen with my perfect night vision. Indeed they were a military force of some kind and they were launching a surprise attack.
In the few seconds it had taken to portal here the attackers had already began swarming into the town, their weapons striking at whoever was nearby which thankfully were only whatever guards had been posted. They were also throwing torches into the buildings closest to the gate, a time honored tactic of terror. The gate being open also meant that they had used infiltrators ahead of the attack which meant this was well planned.
The strikes on the defenders in melee were not instantly lethal and only caused mild sensation in the feedback and not all of the people in this town were worshipers besides so I got nothing from some guards. That didn't mean I would abandon them as regardless I would protect this town and all its inhabitants.
With eyes and hair aglow with anger I grew into my full goddess size, my position in the sky now occupied by my head alone as the rest of me grew down until my feet thundered into the ground with a great quake. I made sure my boots came down in the streets between houses. Suddenly the night sky was lit up by my radiance in a display of domineering might. All who saw me and loved me were filled with hope and all that were enemies were filled with fear. I held out my left hand over the town and glared down at the gate where the battle had started, my voice booming out.
“Flee with your lives before- ack!”
Another terrible bout of pain rocked my body as another worshiper was killed. Another guard but this time being run through with a spear. This made the pain even worse as it felt like I was literally being stabbed in the stomach myself. I buckled over and gripped my stomach as the agony flowed through me. The combination of the pain and the needless death had really pissed me off now. The first had been unavoidable, the second due to my complacency, but the third should have never happened. Wounded could be healed but even I couldn't bring back the dead.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
The effect these deaths had on me was not lost on the humans below, my worshipers being filled with confusion and fear. These attackers on the other hand had split reactions that surprised me greatly. Of course a large percentage of them, at least half, had begun fleeing in a blind panic the instant I had appeared. These ones seemingly dressed like proper soldiers with some of them even displaying the crest of Pheoa. The other half however bore no such marks and looked more like mercenaries. They actually kept up the attack in spite of my appearance which made absolutely no sense.
Even through my pain I was trying to keep control. In order to stop the attackers I caused vines to sprout up from the ground all around those who were still assaulting the town to grasp at their legs and keep them in place. The ones that were fleeing were free to go. All the fires were left for the moment as the immediate threats had to be dealt with first. This tactic had worked countless times before but here the unexpected continued to occur.
These crazed men and few women, for whatever reason, would not be deterred by such simple snares. They used their weapons to cut through the vines and continue striking out at whoever came into reach of their blades. At this point some regular townspeople were escaping from the buildings that had been lit on fire and entered the fray in their panic.
More vines burst up from the ground to ensnare the attackers yet they continued, cutting each other free from the traps with an almost frenzy. Several more deaths occurred as this tactic of restraint failed to protect my worshipers. I had never felt this many people die at once before, much less in such a violent manner, and the pain was overwhelming my mind. It was like what had happened at the ritual all over again. I felt myself start to break.
I yelled out in both anger and pain as my body shook from it all.
“Stop!”
It was too late. While the tears began to flow down my face I felt my repressed rage boil over. All of this pain was too much and had caused another mental break, my mind shutting down as I found myself sinking into the goddess zone. There was Sub-Chan, her entire being alight with fury and fire as she surged into control, completely overtaking me with a look of focused rage in her eyes. Justice will be done she said. I'll do what needs to be done with punishments. Too hurt and weak from all the feedback I could only curl up mentally into the fetal position and watch as my subconscious took over.
My body stood up straight once again, the tears flowing down my cheeks as my face was still contorted with the terrible pain I was feeling. The fiery rage and instinct Sub-Chan brought allowed it to power through however. My head and shoulders ignited into blazing fire as my left hand was raised once again. Then I spoke with such a deep and powerful voice that it caused even the fanatical attackers to pause and look up. It boomed out across the town and surrounding open land for miles.
“Only those that worship me shall be spared. Fire and brimstone.”
My hand then dropped down again as the night sky began to glow an eerie red. Then with sudden and violent fury large fireballs burst forth from the stars. All the surrounding landscape was illuminated as they shot down like falling stars. Each was about the size of a person and was made entirely of magical fire, though that did little to differentiate them from natural fire. They were equally hot and destructive, if not more so.
Down from the sky these fireballs fell like rain in numbers that filled the night with a red glow from the streaks of light they left behind. They came at a slight angle as if they were meteors with mass behind them, their trajectory aimed at the area by the gate where the mercenaries were staring in awe alongside the very people they had just been trying to slaughter. All in the span of several seconds they discovered the fury of this goddess. It was almost with disbelief that they stood there gaping as the fireballs began to impact.
The once quiet night had been filled with screams and shouts, the clashing of metal ringing out into the darkness. Now however those screams were mixed instead with the sound of violent explosions as the raining death peppered that small area of the town. Blazing flames engulfed everything as dirt and bits of debris were sent flying in every direction from the detonations, though somehow they failed to injure any of the townspeople.
All of the screams of the attackers were drowned out by the sound of small bombs going off, though their agony was cut short due to the fact their bodies were simply incinerated by the intense heat. The screams of the townspeople however kept going as the inferno strangely did not burn even a single hair on their arm. Instead they were left to stand in the middle of the chaos, submerged in flames as they watched the buildings and mercenaries fade into ash through blinding flashes of light.
Even the gatehouse was destroyed as the raining fireballs smashed into it like the great missiles from a trebuchet, the stone itself melting from the great heat when it wasn't simply blasted outward into the fields surrounding the town. This region of death expanded as the judgment continued to chase down the soldiers who had originally fled. From the sky came meteoric destruction that blasted craters into the field and sent chunks of dirt scattering in every direction. No pieces of men were sent flying however as not even their armor withstood the inferno.
Perhaps unexpectedly several of these soldiers found themselves completely unharmed, left alive to watch their fellows vanish in the blaze. Though they had little time to contemplate their strange fate as the booming explosions nearly shattered their ears and stunned their minds.
Then it all stopped. It was over in an instant. Up above the sky dimmed to reveal the stars as the world once again faded into the darkness of night. The only light that remained came from the lingering fires in the nearby buildings that had not been under the rain of fire. Due to the flames being magical in nature they did not linger, but those caused as a secondary effect were real and continued to burn.
All in all the area that had been impacted was relegated to the northern gatehouse and the surrounding area a few hundred feet out from the wall. It also of course had left a trail of destruction outside the walls leading almost a quarter mile into the fields around the town. The survivors on both sides as well as the onlookers simply stared dumbfounded at the aftermath. Through spectacular judgment of overwhelming might the attacking force had been dealt with, though collateral damage to the town itself was clear to see.
I felt control of my body return as my eyes faded back to their normal state, the fury and indignation slipping away as Sub-Chan herself slide back into the depths of my mind. She had a certain righteous pride about her which meant I did as well. Not so much as pride in what we had done but more so an appeasement to our deep rooted sense of justice. There was also an overwhelming exhaustion that came from both the emotional burden in combination with the great mana cost of that spell with its inlaid protections for my worshipers.
With a sigh betraying my great tiredness I fell to one knee in the middle of the town, barely able to aim my knee so it didn't come down to crush an entire apartment building. I started taking deep breaths to recover as I felt my strength fading. This had all been so overwhelming, mentally especially, that even my vision was fading. I was going to pass out soon. It was imperative that I not collapse inside the town. My body would crush at least half of it and kill who knows how many people.
Using the last of my strength I pushed myself to my feet using my knee and stumbled forwards. Even now I felt my consciousnesses fading as my sight started to fade out around the edges. My first step landed in the middle of the street where it was safe, though my second landed on the remains of one of the burnt out buildings. I almost couldn't panic from the sound of the structure being crushed under my boot, though thankfully there had been no people inside of it.
Feeling the urgency of the situation surge I lurched ahead and towards the fields outside the town's walls. The stone wall only stood around thirty feet tall which made it barely reach my shins, just high enough to pose a tripping hazard. Trip I did, my left foot catching on the wall and causing me to tumble forward, the thick stonework crumbling like a pile of toy blocks as my leg simply crushed it. This did however ensure the rest of my body was propelled through the air enough to ensure I landed completely outside the town.
I braced myself for the fall with my arms the best I could, but like with anyone passing out it was not easy to do. My body twisted to my left side as the trip from the wall and my fading consciousness stole what little control over myself I had left. The impact created one of the most intense earthquakes the residents of this town would ever feel in their lives as my full goddess sized form collapsed to the earth. More of the wall and some of the closest buildings that had avoided being lit aflame shook so much that they partially collapsed as well.
Once I had completely settled down on the ground the last of my strength left me, the toll being more physiological than magical in truth. As I passed out the last thing I saw with my eyes were some of the enemy soldiers before me a couple hundred feet away, their faces a mixture of panic and awe. Inside my mind the last thing I saw being my subconscious staring back at me with a look I couldn't quite figure out.