<~> Chapter 326I stood there for maybe longer than I should have, just reflecting on everything that had happened. I didn't know how to feel. About Fortuna... About Sorsette...

  It wasn't as if I had known her that well, but Sorsette had quickly become a friend of sorts... an ally at the very least. Even something a bit like a guardian angel, always watching over me, and helping me when she could. But perhaps that was who Fortuna was to me as well. I didn't know why, but she cared for me. She once said that she loved me. After this ordeal... she hugged me. I don't know what to think about her.

  Then there was Felketh, whose actions didn't make much sense to me either. He had made some kind of deal with Fortuna, or maybe the Tamin church as a whole, and yet he hadn't been taking the fight seriously. It even seemed like he was protecting me from the pressure all of the gods were letting off. Felketh seemed to like me, in some twisted way. He had spoken to me through the bond. The idea of it felt intrusive, intimate in a way that I hadn't really considered before. It felt a little gross for him to hijack my bond line like that, but how else would he have been able to communicate that message to me without revealing his mixed allegiance? 'Too soon to die, kid,' he had said.

  I sighed and looked over the ravine where my friends still were. I could still see the pinpricks of light magic from here. Some of them were still wearing my wings. My heart sank a little as I realized how this must look to them. I was taken away, and then there was an explosive battle right where I was standing, and now I've stood here for maybe fifteen minutes just thinking after everything went still.

  Spreading my wings and letting the dregs of mana I had left flow into them, I jumped into the air and tilted into a nice wind current heading in their direction. I had emptied my entire mana pool into [Manipute Probability], so I didn't have enough mana left to cast anything. I touched my palms to my breasts and warmed my freezing nipples that were hard under the cold morning air. In all of the fighting, my [Arms of Light] armor had been completely destroyed, and I didn't have enough mana to repce it yet. I didn't feel the least bit shy in my nude state, likely due to being in my true form, but I knew logically that I probably shouldn't show off my naked body in front of the other adventurers we had saved. I dipped one of my hands into my belt pouch, but I didn't find any potions there. I had already used the extra mana potion Mimi had given me.

  [Manipute Probability] had been instrumental in Fortuna's pn to betray Moira. It was the spell that had the weird description that sounded like she had written it on a whim.

  [Manipute Probability - Luck Magic Spell]It would be funny if you had a spell to cheat at games! You may spend mana to increase or decrease the probability of any random event in a small localized area. The magnitude of the change is affected by Magic Force. The subtlety of the spell is affected by Magic Control.

  It seemed like Fortuna gave me this spell precisely so that she could betray Moira. Moira is the goddess of fate, but something about Fortuna's luck domain can interfere with her pns. If that book I read is correct, Fortuna might be the only god who can interfere with Moira, which was why their followers are at odds with each other. If that's true, that means that Fortuna had pnned for all of this to happen, and maybe even gave the spell a jokey description to avoid scrutiny. That also means Fortuna's entire pn hinged on me acting as she expected without us talking more than once before. That just seems like a huge risk.

  Unless she knew me in my past life somehow. There is no other expnation, the way she talks, the way she dresses, the fucking quarter. She must come from the same world as me and she knew me there somehow. Was she a former lover? A friend? A parent? Just who was she to me?

  I have to know now. I had been on the fence about ever regaining my memories, but now they seem too important, too connected to everything. The st time, she made it sound like my memories hadn't actually been important. Now it just feels like that was part of the manipution. Maybe her pn wouldn't have worked the same way if I did know. Or... or maybe she had been truthful the entire time, and because she knew me in my past life, she knew the memories would be hard on me. One thing I believed her about though, was that now would be a bad time. Based on how everyone reacted to the error-filled level-up messages we got, I couldn't imagine how everyone was feeling now that the system was going to go down.

  Letting out a shuddering sigh, I tried to figure out what I was going to say to everyone. I was about to reach the range of the bond, but I felt overwhelmed by everything, and I couldn't get my thoughts in order. I winced as I reconnected to everyone. The entire bond was filled with chatter and panic, at the system, Sorsette's death, and at what might have happened to me. They had been so busy with their out of control emotions, and so distracted, that they hadn't even noticed when I reconnected with them.

  ("Hey everyone, I'm back. I don't have any mana though, so I need some clothes ready,") I said through the bond.

  The bond roared with emotions again, but luckily, there had been a lot more positive ones mixed into the downpour. Relief, love, and pride were mixed with guilt, fear, and sadness. The moment I touched down, I was just about tackled by everyone. My lovers were the first to wrap themselves around me, followed by everyone else. The only ones that hadn't rushed over to join the group hug were the four other adventurers we rescued from the dungeon. They looked panicked and exhausted, but thankfully not hostile, at least.

  Once the initial wave of tears and relief passed, I was suddenly pelted with questions. Everyone was talking over each other, and the whole thing was giving me a headache. As guilty as it made me feel, I was gd that I had taken my time and allowed myself to think before rushing back. I finally managed to push everyone away enough for me to shift back to my normal form and get dressed in some comfortable clothes. As dangerous as everything was, we would need some time to rest before I even could return to Traehall, since my mana was so low.

  "Let's start with everything that happened since Felketh grabbed me and dragged me over there," I said, gesturing toward the now broken looking mountain. From this angle, whatever the Lady of Nature and Decay did to the mountain looked devastating. The entire thing looked bckened and dead with long fissures running through it, visible even from all the way over here.

  I went through the story of everything that happened as accurately as I could while repeatedly silencing questions. Since everyone was this high-strung, I knew I would never get through the story with the number of questions I was being bombarded with. I kept all of my observations about the various gods' motives and odd things I noticed to myself, because I knew that any god's name that I invoked could be listened in on. I also didn't say anything about the short conversation I had with Fortuna at the end, it felt more private than everything else. I would tell my lovers through the bond ter. The four other adventurers also listened intently and even tried to ask questions while I told everyone what happened. It was a relief that their first instinct hadn't been to be distrustful of me after seeing me shapeshift in front of them, but I guess some of that would sink in ter. I'd bet it was also hard to be mad at one of the people who saved your life earlier that same night.

  When I finished, Morrigan had the first question I answered. She had tears running down her face and she looked somewhat distraught. "Sorsette... really died? The system is going to go away?"

  "I watched her die. The god of death touched her forehead and dissolved her into ambient magic," I replied solemnly. "As for the system, based on what Allerel said when she stabbed her, I think a lot of this was caused by the system in the first pce. Fortuna said that no other gods would dare take her pce after what happened to her."

  Morrigan leaned back and had a gssy look as she stared off into space. Some of the others had simir reactions, while others responded in confusion, fear, and anger. The responses were so mixed, it was hard for me to keep track of everyone. It was just too much, everything was just too much right now.

  Bel wrapped her arms around me from behind and rested her head on my shoulder. "Everything will be okay, Lilith. We'll get through everything together."

  A lump felt heavy in my throat as I leaned my back against her reassuring chest. I wasn't so afraid about the system going away, but I was scared of what would happen from here. Scared of my memories. Scared of Fortuna. Scared that after I regained my memories, I may agree that Sorsette, a woman who had helped me so much, needed to die to move forward. Morrigan crawled into my p and leaned against me. I wrapped my arms around her and gave her support while Bel gave me mine. Torien hugged against me a moment ter, feeling just as lost and confused as her sister.

  I proceeded to answer a string of seemingly less important questions from there. What each god looked like, how they fought, how they talked. I had repeatedly described what little I saw of Moira, one of the most secretive gods among the others. When I had just finished repeating what Morkinnen had said to me, a more relevant question came up.

  "Hold on, Morkinnen said that his followers needed him?" Lori asked. "Actually, didn't all of them say something to that extent?"

  I nodded. "I think all of the gods were worried about how their followers would react without the system."

  Yefen grumbled. "If all of us were this affected by what happened, what does that mean for the city? You said they were in the middle of a siege, will they be okay with everyone panicking about what might happen to their [Status] in two days?" The questions seemed a bit rhetorical based on the slightly haunted expression he had on his face.

  "We should get back as soon as possible. Raksha'va is going to need us there," Aquil said.

  Yefen gave me a hesitant look. "About your... abilities. Does the guild master know about your shape changing?"

  I pursed my lips. "She doesn't. Though... maybe now would be a good time to talk with her about it. A show of goodwill under all of the uncertain circumstances."

  He gave me a short nod. "Raksha'va is an understanding person. Though she doesn't like being lied to. It would be best to reveal things to her directly, rather than hearing about them from one of the four of us."

  The three other adventurers suddenly looked at Yefen in shock. Each one grabbed the hilt of their weapons in the same motion as their eyes snapped to mine, waiting to see what I would say.

  I slowly put my hands up. "Rex. I like Raksha'va, and I wouldn't mind telling her. I think we have enough rapport with her by now that she'll be understanding. I can expin what exactly led to me gaining those powers as well. I'm not going to try and silence any of you to keep a secret, if that's what you're worried about." I turned to Nora, meeting her gaze. "You protected us when we returned to that dungeon with Tarklin. I'm not going to turn on someone who helped us so much back then. I still consider Tarklin a good friend after that day as well."

  Nora hesitated. She always looked a little off, on the verge of snapping from her own rough past. I didn't know her story, but I knew that someone she loved had gotten killed, and it was easy to assume she hadn't been quite the same since. Her eyes searched me, looking for something. I wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she eventually seemed to find it and visibly rexed. Her muscles sckened, and she closed her eyes as a deep weary look came over her face. "Let's go home. I don't want to be out here any longer."

  I nodded and stood before offering Nora a hand up. She stared at it for a few seconds before slowly taking it and allowing herself to be pulled up to her feet.

  "Mimi, I'll need my armor. Unless you have some mana potions."

  Mimi slipped a vial from a belt pouch. "It's the st one, but you're the only one who needs it. Do you want your armor too?"

  After a moment, I nodded. "Yes, please. I'll save the vial for now."

  I gnced at the destroyed natural bridge briefly before turning toward the forest. The enormous clouds of endless banshees blotting out the sky were finally gone, changing the forest's atmosphere. We wouldn't be able to tell until we returned to the city, but it looked like the siege of demons was finally over. It was finally time to return to Traehall.

  Saine

  Hello! This chapter might answer some of the questions people had from the previous one. Things were pretty hectic in the st chapter, so this one has the characters reflect on some of the major revetions that you may have missed. Things aren't quite over, yet, but we're only a few chapters before the end of the book and we start heading into the next one! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, thanks for reading!

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