Chapter 37: The Definition of a Deity
Chapter 37: The Definition of a Deity
Roughly half an hour passed in complete, serene silence within the master suite of the Smaragdus estate.
Rael’s eyelids twitched. A heavy, groggy haze clouded his mind as consciousness slowly drifted back to him.
"Ugh..." Rael groaned softly, rubbing the back of his neck as his vision began to clear.
When he opened his eyes, he was not staring at the wooden ceiling beams or the ornate chandeliers of the suite. Instead, his view was almost entirely blocked by two soft, pillowy mounds draped in pure white silk, gently rising and falling with quiet breaths. His head was resting comfortably on something warm, impossibly soft, and scented with the delicate fragrance of blooming white lotus flowers.
"My... you're already awake, Master?"
A soft, melodic voice echoed directly above him.
Rael’s brain snapped into full alertness in less than a microsecond. He blinked rapidly, adjusting his focus upward, only to lock eyes with Saint Solenne, who was looking down at him with a warm, radiant smile.
He was lying flat on his back, his head nestled squarely in Saint Solenne's lap!
"Gah!"
Shocked out of his skin, Rael bolted upward into a sitting position. But in his frantic, uncoordinated haste to scramble away, the top of his head brushed firmly against the Saint’s soft chest.
"Mmhh..."
Saint Solenne let out a breathless, delicate gasp a soft, trembling sound that could easily cause any mortal man to completely misinterpret the situation.
Rael’s face flushed red. He instantly spun around on the bed, dropping into a perfectly polite, formal posture, bowing his head deeply toward her.
"S-Saint Solenne! I am deeply, profoundly sorry!" Rael blurted out, bowing so low his forehead nearly touched his knees. "I did not mean to... I lost consciousness, and I certainly didn't intend to disrespect you like that!"
Saint Solenne tilted her head, letting out a light, musical giggle that echoed through the quiet room.
"You still see me as Saint Solenne, Master?" she murmured, placing a delicate hand over her cheek. "As I told you before, it is me Vels! Why won't you believe me?"
Rael raised his head slowly, looking at her with a doubtful, pouting expression. He squeezed his eyes shut, letting out an awkward, strained chuckle.
"Haha... Saint, you really are quite the jester," Rael laughed weakly, shaking his head. "Making a joke like that with a straight face... you almost had me for a second."
Vels currently animating Saint Solenne’s physical body stared at him in disbelief. Her divine composure shattered as she puffed out her cheeks into a cute, visibly angry pout. Her face turned far puffier than the gentle Saint's face had ever been.
"Why won't Master believe me?! Hmph!" she huffed, crossing her arms beneath her chest and turning her head away dramatically.
CREAK.
Before Rael could process her adorable anger, the heavy wooden door to the suite swung open.
Vhal’zhar stepped into the room, his towering frame instantly casting a long shadow across the carpet. The moment his eyes caught sight of Rael sitting up on the bed, a look of profound, immense relief washed over the tall sharp features.
"Master!" Vhal’zhar called out, rushing toward the bedside with a mix of deep anxiety and joyous reverence on his face. "You're awake! I was terribly worried about you!"
Rael let out a long breath, turning his head toward his loyal commander as if grabbing onto a lifeline of sanity.
"Vhal! Good timing," Rael said quickly, gesturing toward the pouting Saint on the bed. "Did you hear her? Saint Solenne is making the most absurd joke! She keeps insisting that she's Vels! But more importantly... where did she even learn the name Vels in the first place?"
Vhal’zhar stopped beside the bed. He looked down at Saint Solenne, who let out a dramatic, long-suffering sigh.
Vhal’zhar turned back to Rael, his expression grave, respectful, and completely devoid of deceit.
"Master... she is not lying," Vhal’zhar stated solemnly. "Vels is currently possessing Saint Solenne’s vessel. It is truly her."
Rael froze.
He stared into Vhal’zhar’s unblinking eyes. He knew Vhal’zhar better than anyone he was physically incapable of lying to him.
Slowly, like a rusty mechanical gear turning, Rael rotated his head back toward the young woman sitting on the velvet sheets.
As his eyes locked onto her gaze, the floodgate of memories from before he fainted broke wide open. The incomprehensible reality slammed back into his mind with the force of a battering ram.
"Ugh..." Rael winced, clutching his forehead as a sharp throbbing pain pierced his temples.
He remembered now. He had passed out because she casually dropped the bomb that she was the supreme goddess.
Rael swallowed hard, forcing his voice to remain steady. "Umm... then, Vels... what exactly do you mean when you say you 'became a goddess'?"
Hearing his serious tone, Vels dropped the childish, pouting facade entirely.
She straightened her posture. In a fraction of a second, the cute, playful aura vanished, replaced by an overwhelming, serene warmth. A soft, radiant aura of pure, golden light seeped from Saint Solenne’s skin, illuminating the entire bedroom with a gentle, heavenly glow.
"It is the absolute truth, Master," Vels spoke softly, her voice carrying a multi-layered, divine resonance. "In those long twenty-five thousand years after longing you... I succeeded in transcending the mortal plane. I ascended to godhood. To the humans of this continent... I am worshipped as Goddess Vale, the Goddess of Humanity."
CLANK!
It felt as if a heavy iron sledgehammer had smashed directly into Rael’s mind.
He sat there, completely paralyzed, as his brain desperately tried to process the cosmic absurdity of the situation. All his life both in his past world as an ordinary human gamer and in his current existence as a reincarnated entity he had viewed "Gods" as abstract concepts, mythical beings.
Now, sitting right in front of him, claiming to be the absolute supreme deity of humanity, was a pet summon he used to manage on a digital screen!
Rael’s thoughts began to race at a dizzying, uncontrollable speed, spiraling into a deep existential crisis.
(Wait... then was my previous life on Earth even real? Or is THIS reality the true one? What the hell is actually happening here?!)
Rael’s knuckles turned white as he clenched his fists against his knees.
(Did I exist in Rael’s body the entire time, dreaming up an entire lifetime as an ordinary human playing 'Echoes of Eternity' on Earth? No... that’s completely impossible! But... could my previous world have been a artificial simulation? An imitation constructed by something higher? Are we all going to wake up FUCK MY BRAIN! Wait, if Vels became a goddess... who the hell created the universe?! SHIT! AAGH!!)
Questions flooded his consciousness like a raging typhoon, threatening to shatter his sanity. But just as his mind reached the absolute brink of panic, his hardcore gamer logic forcefully intervened, stripping away the emotional chaos to analyze the raw data.
(Wait... hold on. Maybe...)
Rael lifted his head, his eyes narrowing slightly as a crucial realization struck him.
"Vels..." Rael began, his eyebrows lifting slightly. "When you say you 'ascended to godhood'... you're defining that by your level of power, correct?"
Vels offered a serene, radiant smile, nodding gracefully. "Yes, Master. Within my divine domain... my power is absolute. I am invincible."
Hearing her answer, the heavy, suffocating pressure in Rael’s chest instantly dissolved. He let out a long, quiet breath, his posture relaxing.
(Ah... is that so?) Rael thought, a quiet wave of relief washing over him. (So 'Godhood' in this world isn't an abstract, omnipotent creator of the cosmos. It’s simply a power tier! It’s a classification created by mortals or higher beings to describe an entity that reached the absolute pinnacle of mana, domain authority, and stat thresholds. It’s a tier above Primordial... but it doesn't mean she literally created existence itself.)
Having rationalized her status, Rael shifted his focus to the most important question that had haunted him since waking up in this world.
He looked Vels dead in the eye, his expression turning deeply serious.
"Vels... were you the one who summoned my soul to this world?"
The radiant, divine smile on Vels’s face instantly melted away. Her sapphire eyes dimmed, filled with a sudden, profound sorrow. She looked down at her lap, her fingers clutching the white silk of her robes.
"Unfortunately... it was not me, Master," Vels murmured softly, her voice heavy with regret. "Even though I achieved true divine ascension... the fundamental laws of nature and the cosmic boundaries of this universe remain an absolute mystery to me. I searched for your soul across the stars for millennia, but I could never break through the world's core laws to bring you back..."
Rael leaned back slightly, resting his chin between his thumb and forefinger.
"Hmm... I see," Rael muttered quietly to himself.
(Then why was I reincarnated into this specific body? It really feels like I was dropped directly into a scenario that was already written by an unknown entity...)
Suddenly, a strange, phantom sensation washed over Rael’s consciousness.
For a brief, terrifying microsecond, the physical world around him seemed to freeze. A sharp, icy chill ran down his spine, as if an unseeable, colossal eye hovering beyond the sky had just glanced down at him. Rael eyes like see something that suppose imposible to see.
[Rael Saw Through You]
THROB!
A violent pain spiked through Rael’s head, making him wince and shake his head vigorously and his tought of that seems being erased.
"Ugh!" Rael rubbed his temples, exhaling sharply.
(Tch... forget it for now!) Rael gritted his teeth, forcibly pushing the eerie sensation out of his mind. (There's no point in stressing over cosmic mysteries I can't solve yet. I need to focus on what’s in front of me and actually enjoy this life! I mean, reincarnating into a super OP body with max stats is basically a cheat code. Being thrown into a magical fantasy world like this... it’s literally paradise for a gamer like me.)
Before Rael could finish settling his thoughts, the divine vessel sitting on the bed moved!
"MASTER! I REALLY MISSED YOU SO MUCH!!" Vels cried out.
Without an ounce of warning, Vels lunged forward, throwing her slender arms around Rael’s neck! She pulled him into a fierce, suffocating hug, burying her face into his shoulder once more.
"Agh! V-Vels!"
Rael, caught completely off guard, stumbled backward on the bed. The scent of blooming lilies overwhelmed his senses as Saint Solenne's soft body pressed firmly against him.
"Please... let go of me!" Rael flusteredly scolded, his face burning bright red as he tried to gently push her shoulders away. "You're currently inside Saint Solenne's body! Act like a proper deity, Vels! You're being incredibly rude to the Saint!"
Yet, despite his stern words and flustered scolding, a bright, genuine smile stretched across Rael’s face as he looked down at his long-lost creation.
And beside the bed, Vhal’zhar stood watching them, deep down he was jealous of her.