Volume 3 Chapter 4
Translator: SaltyTank
Editor: Chrof
When I was a kid, my mother told me about a prophecy. She said, “Karile, you’ll fall in love with a human in the future. This man will decide the fate which even I cannot intervene with. The fate of you and the world.
I asked my mother, “Can deities even fall in love with humans?”
With a loving smile on her face, she replied, “If it’s you, Karile, it’s possible.”
“Witsen,” Karile said and took out the disk she had hid on her the entire time. “This is yours.”
Witsen did not receive the disk, but instead said, “Do you know where I found this thing? Inside the ruins of your temple. Turn the disk over and see what’s written on it.”
Karile did as he instructed and found a sentence written in a foreign language. It wrote: Witsen, you are the judge of gods.
“What language is this?”
“It’s from another world called Earth. I only knew that the trial needed two people after learning how to read this phrase.”
“The second person in the trial… Is that me?” Karile seemed shocked at the revelation.
“Yes, that’s one way to put it. This was your trial from the beginning, I’m just the key unlocking it for you.”
One time, I asked my mother what was beyond the sky. My mother’s answer was, “Something really scary. You’ll have to be a brave girl, okay?” At that time, I didn’t give much thought to it and simply nodded. I only believed that as a deity, I have the responsibility to care and do something for my people.
I grew up to be a competent goddess. With my power, I slew the wicked sea monsters in the south and the dangerous dragons that threatened my people in the north. I plucked their teeth and collected them as symbols of my victories. My power further developed the more I fought, but so did my arrogance. Like a teenager who rebelled, I started arguing with my mother more and more often.
“Why are you always telling me not to do this and that! I’m a goddess! The goddess of this world!” I yelled at my mother in fury without realising the pain and disappointment in my mother’s eyes.
“You have forgotten the essence of being a deity. Karile, you are lost,” my mother said.
I left my mother’s palace and descended to the realm of humans. The past me firmly believed that I could gain what I desired there—status and authority. To start a war, I commanded the souls of the dead and ordered them to build a fortress in the northern tundra. I also spread divinity throughout the realm, and humans called it “magic”.
With mere steel swords and armour, the people did not stand a chance against me who was a deity. As though it had been predetermined, they lost the war. Their blood formed rivers while their corpses formed mountains. Those who had been kings knelt before me and honoured me as the Obsidian Princess, but my wild ambition did not end there. Realising I was the only descendant of the world’s creator, I aimed to become the greatest being in this world.
As if one war wasn’t enough, I instigated another war, this time against other deities. The world started to crumble. Even when the deities cooperated together to fight against me, they were powerless in face of my great power. It did not take long before I got rid of most deities and marched towards my mother’s palace, the place I once called home.
Covered in blood, I pointed my sword against my mother who was sitting on the creator’s throne and started my unbridled speech.
“That is my position! I’m the only one who deserves to be a deity in this world! I am the only one worthy of being the creator!”
My mother was not angry in the slightest. With a simple wave, she turned everything behind me into oblivion. She calmly walked over and caressed my cheeks, then said, “Child, it’s time. Go search for the one you love.”
Just like that, she robbed me of my divinity and pushed me back down into the realm of humans. I fell through the air for three days and three nights. When I finally arrived at the land which I was familiar with, no one had the slightest idea who I was, and no one even knew about me.
When I was struck with despair, a man helped me. He brought me to his home and allowed me to live there. That man, his name was Witsen. As time passed, I started to have feelings for him. Whenever I saw him, my heart would pound quickly and it was difficult to speak clearly. That was until one day, he suddenly rushed to the temple where I spend most of my days and asked the gods to grant him strength.
Witsen held Karile’s hand tightly. “You’ve been in this cycle for over five hundred times as well.”
“Witsen, I have a question. Why do you want to obtain that power?”
“Because I saw the monsters dwelling in the chaos. I wanted to protect you, that’s all. Thank you for letting me undergo the trial.”
“Wait…” Karile realised something was wrong. “I didn’t accept your request! I thought you were the one who pulled me into this?”
“What?”
“You came to me twice, right?”
“No, it was three times, which means that the one I met the last time wasn’t you.” Witsen started to get anxious. “Karile, how many deities did you kill?”
“Twenty three.”
“How many did your mother create?”
“Twenty four.”
“Who was the survivor then?”
“Loki, the god of deceit.”