“Then don’t believe me. But I have come to offer you a deal. If you help me, I will grant you life. I will grant you real, physical, tangible life. This may be but a simulation created through heaps of ichor, but with just a flick of my hand, I can make you into a real thing.”

“Wh-Why are you offering me this? Do you want me to turn on Orion?”

“There is no need for you to turn on Orion. I will handle that part myself.”

“Then what are you going to do with him?! A-Are you going to kill him? Capture him?!”

She was getting on my nerves, but I stayed patient as I slowly weaved lies and truths to form the perfect convincing plan.

…

A few days later, the time came for me to take over her body, but I did it without her consent, completely out of the way from our agreement.

I didn’t care, though, as seeing this boy’s dreaded face was everything I had ever wanted for the past few days.

I watched and inspected him, carefully for every second that he talked to this little girl. Clearly, he was growing more fond of her, to the point I doubted he was even trying to manipulate her.

𝑶𝚟𝓵xt.𝐂𝑶𝓜

But, I kept that shoved into the back of my mind as I knew how this boy was. There was no doubt in my mind that this was all an act covered by dry and very surface-level feelings.

After Wu had coincidentally picked a spot away from any sign of civilization, I took this chance to take over her body.

Pushing her soul down deep into her body caused her to drown, immediately fainting, on the brink of death but not far enough to actually kill her.

Everything was going well, and I basked in that surprised yet angry expression of his. I had ruined his plans. I had completely ruined his plans, and boy, was it entertaining to watch.

But then, his frown tipped into a smile, and I felt a shiver get sent down my spine.

My body instinctively brought my hand up, blocking a flashing attack that tore across my vision, creating a blur that I was unable to see.

For some reason, everything felt slower. My senses were dulled, and my mind was in shambles as if a limiter had been placed on me.

SWOOSH

A blade made of a glistening red material torte straight through my hand and up the arm I was inhabiting, causing it to split in half and begin to pour blood.

Thankfully, my regeneration had carried over. Otherwise, this vessel would have died already, but that was the least of my worries.

“You-“

“You’re in a mortal body, you **ing dumbass.”

His expression widened as the pouring blood still continued to drip. Clearly, my healing properties had been nerfed as well. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be losing so much blood.

“D-Don’t you care about her?!” I shouted, a great sense of panic beginning to flow through me.

I expected him to be using her, but didn’t expect to be able to slash her body without a single shred of remorse… or was he blinded by the fact I was sitting in her body as of now.

A few details were outside of my calculation, but for now, I still had the upper hand. I still had access to my godly powers, so all I needed to do was-

“You know… I had a dream where I killed the general. It took a bit for me to finally regather all the pieces of that dream, but now I’ve realized who my true enemy is… It’s you. It’s **ing you, you disgusting goddess prick. If it wasn’t for you, I would have been able to leave that city, and I would have been able to have the freedom I wanted. I wouldn’t have been sent to hell, and I will admit, the comrades I made are quite good to me….” His sadistic expression dropped to a cold glare, sending shivers down my mortal spine. “… But I couldn’t give any less of a **. Now… will you lose to not only my father but also me?”

My foot slid back as his eyes dug into my skin, but I caught myself before I could subconsciously retreat any further.

My pride had been torn to shreds already, but now I felt that if I ran away now to try and plan something else… I would be known as a fool for the rest of eternity.

“You son of a bitch….”

Those were the only words I could mutter as I was caught in his trap. I didn’t know if he was aware of my current situation in Olympus, but that didn’t matter as he was aware of how broken my pride must have been.

Or maybe he was aware that I couldn’t run away from this fight. That my pride as a god would completely shatter if I ran away from a mortal.

But little did he know, I wasn’t like the rest of the arrogant gods. I just couldn’t run away from this fight to save my own selfish honor… it was for myself as opposed to everything else.

“*cough* *cough* *cough*…”

Clank… clang… clang…

And that’s how I ended up like this. My wrists were chained by golden links, and a thick golden collar wrapped around my neck, suppressing my powers completely.

“For the crime of disturbing the mortal realm and interfering with significant characters of the past, you are sentenced to a thousand years of punishment. The Olympians shall decide your punishment.” A man cloaked in a gray robe with a mask like that of an eagle reading out a long scroll to me.

It rolled far across the ground until it traveled under me, but as my eyes drifted off of this insignificant piece of paper, I saw the surprising events that made me lightly smile.

A single tear rolled down the boy’s face as he carried the wounded man in his arms. But it wasn’t my attack that had hit him. In fact, he perfectly deflected my own skill… yet he was betrayed by a boy he had trusted so much.

He had a gaping spear wound through his abdomen, and as the last remaining bits of life flashed across his eyes, I heard him mutter a few things.

“I… trusted you… and loved you… like a son… I’m sorry.”