The sound of the wind whipping through the mountain peak broke the silence, as Breta turned her gaze toward me with a rare thin smile. Her expression was solemn and serious, which made me wonder what was going on in her mind. As I tried to decipher her thoughts, she spoke up in a determined tone.

"I will be heading to the front lines, to join the war," she repeated, her eyes locking onto mine with a fierce intensity.

I couldn't help but feel confused and concerned by her words. "I heard you the first time just fine, but... why?" I questioned, hoping to gain some insight into her decision. "It's not your duty to do so. Why risk your life when you just came back?"

Breta shook her head, her long hair swaying in the wind. She paused for a few moments, as if collecting her thoughts before responding. "I already told you, Aether. There is no place for me in the Land of Gods," she said, her voice heavy with emotion.

I furrowed my brows in confusion. "What do you mean? You're a goddess. You belong there. And if anything, I'm sure your parents would be thrilled to have you back."

Her stoic expression faltered for a second, and she lowered her head before speaking in a low voice, "My mother fell in the previous war."

My heart sank at her words, realizing that she must be carrying the weight of that loss with her. "Oh, Breta... I'm so sorry," I said, my voice filled with sympathy and understanding.

But she cut me off before I could say anything more. "It matters not," she said, her eyes seeming distant as if she was lost in an old memory. "I've already prepared myself for such an outcome when I was stranded in the Astral plane."

Silence once again descended as we both gazed at the horizon.

"Breta," I called out, my voice echoing through the mountain peak. "Are you sure you're ready to fight with the dragons?"

The goddess did not turn her gaze to me, instead, she simply gave a curt nod. The previous war was one that involved the gods against the dragons. And with her gone for so long, I wasn't sure if she could set aside her differences and fight alongside her previous enemies. I still remembered our first encounter very clearly, how she hurled a spear at me out of nowhere. To call her impulsive was an understatement.

As if sensing my apprehension, Breta spoke, "You don't need to worry too much. Although it's your 'so-called' chosen one's duty to hold the line, some deities had ended up joining the fight. With the dwindling faith, mortals have in us, most of the gods are left with nothing to do, but stay cooped in our land. Some refuse to just sit still and do nothing, especially with how much time we have in hand, and so they join the war," she paused, letting her words sink in before continuing, "So you don't need to worry, although rare, the presence of the Gods is not non-existent on the battlefield. At the end of the day, we are all fighting a common enemy,'

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Her words were logical, and she was extremely talented in hiding her feelings, alas I could still sense her conflicted emotions as she tightly clenched her hand.

I shook my head and answered, "It seems to me as if you are simply trying to distract yourself."

My words must have touched a nerve since the goddess glared at me and shot back, "What would you know about me!?"

Her sudden outburst caught me by surprise, "I can't say I know a whole lot, but, I do know that you can't simply run away,"

"Run away? Hah, run away..." She gave a self-mocking chuckle and continued, "How dare you say that, you don't know me, you don't know what I've been through!"

"I don't, but I am here when you are ready to share," I answered lightly.

"I-I... War is all I ever knew..."

I remained silent as the goddess spoke, "Most of my life was spent on the battlefield, the rest was spent on that cursed land! And now— now that I'm back, there's nothing. What did I even fight for? For what reason was I cursed to be left stranded there? For what reason did I survive-"

Breta suddenly took a deep breath, her expression quickly eased as if nothing had happened. She was eerily good at that, I had to admit. But she couldn't fool me.

"You are stupid, you know that?"

"What did you just say?!" She turned to glare at me.

I shook my head and reached out to my soul space, not giving her nor giving myself time to overthink what I was about to do before a thin thread of cosmic mana descended from the sky and engulfed us both.

Breta's eyes widened in shock and horror as our bodies passed through the void, the world quickly expanded and lost its colors before it flashed back into existence. Only this time, we were directly teleported toward the giant lake below our floating mountain.

I was already prepared and so I managed to stay in the sky, Breta, not so much. She tumbled ungracefully and crashed into the water below.

"Did you calm down?" I asked. Only to regret my words the next second as a light spear suddenly flew toward my head. I hastily used my water mana to divert it, causing a water pillar to rise from the lake below.

The Goddess quickly shot from the water like a cannonball, her fist aiming for me. I had no choice but to block her attack with a strike of my own causing both of us to crash down into the water.

"Are you insane, you overgrown lizard!? We barely got out of there in the first place! If you want to head back, then be my guest, but do not drag me with you!"

I smirked and answered, "Calm down, It's not the same as before,"

"Not the same, oh heavens, I really should have killed you the first time,"

"You know, you are starting to show a lot of emotions compared to when I first saw you," I suddenly said causing her to freeze.

"You-"

"Listen, Breta. I consider you my friend, probably my only friend. Which sounds depressing, but it's the truth. And so, it is my duty to say this to you. You have an eternity to live, you can't let your past dictates your future. You were dealt a shitty hand, but that doesn't mean you should just throw all caution out of the wind. I didn't save your life, only to see you throw it away. So you have to live, no, you WILL live, whether you like it or not."

"...I thought I told you not to say anything weird... And how dare you say I have to live when you near damn killed us!"

"Oh, come on, stop being dramatic. It's just a little teleportation spell," I grinned.