There was a moment of silence before the Goddess erupted into laughter.

  “How long has it been since someone resisted me?” she said, her voice rich with amusement. “And for it to be a mortal of all people.” Her laughter slowly faded as her tone softened. “You really are an interesting human. I suppose I should have expected no less from someone with an ability as terrifying as yours. Those miserable fools truly made a catastrophic mistake this time. I wonder if they can even fix the damage you have caused.”

  Joe raised an eyebrow.

  “You’re a fun one,” the Goddess continued, her smile fading. “But don't you think you are getting ahead of yourself, mortal. This realm may be yours, but the one standing before you is the pinnacle of divinity. Show some manners.”

  A pulse of energy exploded from the Godess. Joe was flung through the void, he landed twenty meters away before skidding another ten meters to a halt.

  The Goddess rose to her feet and brushed her dress. “I will admit that I underestimated you. What you did that day was no accident. Even so, do not mistake that for superiority. In my eyes, you are still nothing more than a bug. A feisty one, perhaps, but a bug nonetheless.”

  She smiled faintly. “Still, I will forgive your rudeness. It has been a long time since someone made my heart race like this.” Her eyes gleamed. “I have changed my mind.”

  She vanished.

  Joe barely had time to react before she reappeared directly in front of him. Her hands cupped his cheeks as she stared into his eyes.

  “I like you.”

  Joe flinched. His heart nearly stopped, but he forced control over his body and leaped back, landing twenty meters away. His expression was stoic, his voice firm.

  “Enough of your games. Tell me how to leave this place.”

  His chest thundered.

  No woman aside from his mother had ever spoken words like that to him. He refused to let the Goddess see even a flicker of weakness.

  “You cannot excite a woman and then leave,” the Goddess said with an innocent pout. “Aren’t you going to take responsibility?”

  Joe’s eyes widened as his heart skipped a beat.

  ‘What the hell?’

  His thoughts spiraled somewhere dangerous before he forcefully dragged them back.

  The Goddess fiddled with her fingers. “Don’t you want to play with me?”

  Joe’s pulse spiked.

  “Just tell me how to leave,” Joe said, grinding his teeth. “Then we never have to see each other again. I’ll even forget everything strange you said today. I just want to return to my original body.”

  “Fine,” she said brightly. “I’ll tell you the exit. But only if you satisfy me.”

  Joe felt his thoughts nearly blank out.

  “Satisfy you how exactly?” he asked cautiously.

  “The best way, obviously,” the Goddess replied. “Battle.”

  Joe tilted his head and blinked. “Battle?”

  “Of course. What did you think I meant?”

  Realization struck and his face heated with embarrassment. He quickly shook his head. “Nothing.”

  She studied him briefly, then shrugged. “If you agree to battle me, I’ll not only tell you how to leave this place, but I’ll also enlighten you about your revival.”

  Joe’s eyes sharpened. “You know how and why I was reborn?”

  “Of course. So do you agree?”

  His goal had never changed. Escape this place and reunite with Olivia. Learning the truth behind his rebirth was something he never thought possible, yet now it was within reach.

  “I do,” Joe said, then frowned. “But how do you expect me to fight a god? I’m just an Unawakened.”

  Even defeating the golem was challenging. Facing a being that claimed superiority over gods felt absurd.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  “Don’t belittle yourself,” the Goddess said warmly. “We both know you’re more than an Unawakened.”

  Her smile made Joe’s cheeks flush faintly. His composure wavered and he cursed himself for it.

  “But I understand,” she continued, her tone shifting. “Even with your power, there is no reality where you could harm me.” Any lingering attraction Joe felt vanished instantly. “That is why I will limit myself to your current level. I will not use skills or techniques. Does that satisfy you?”

  It sounded reasonable. Being within his own consciousness might grant him another advantage. Still, doubt gnawed at him.

  “What are the conditions?” Joe asked.

  “One hit,” she said simply. “Land one strike on me and I will tell you everything.”

  “And if I fail?”

  “You remain here with me indefinitely.”

  Joe’s eyes widened.

  Even so, time was something he could not afford to lose.

  “I accept,” he said.

  “Excellent.” She raised her hand and gestured casually. “You may attack whenever you wish.”

  Joe steadied his breathing and clenched his fists. The opponent before him was a god. And he was about to strike first.

  Joe exploded into motion before his mind could talk him out of it.

  He crossed the distance in a heartbeat and drove a straight right toward the Goddess’s chest. She caught his fist effortlessly, her soft palms closing around it as she gave him a teasing smile. Joe answered with his left, firing a punch straight at her face. She tilted her head and his fist sliced past her cheek, the force of the miss rippling through the void behind her.

  Her grip tightened.

  She twisted his wrist sharply.

  A scream tore from Joe’s throat as bone shattered. The Goddess slammed her palm into his exposed midsection, silencing his cry as his body folded and drifted backward. She did not let him escape. She seized his left hand mid slide and yanked him forward before smashing her other palm into his face.

  A loud crunch echoed through the void.

  Joe staggered, pain exploding through his skull, but she stepped in with her dominant leg and swept his footing away. He slammed into the void hard. She followed immediately, driving her bare heel into his stomach. His body folded around the strike as he gasped for breath and spewed essence. Her foot came down again, stomping his face into the surface. His nose cracked and she twisted her sole against his face, grinding it in.

  Then she lifted him with one hand and hurled him away like a rag doll.

  Joe tumbled through the void, spinning helplessly.

  “Don’t disappoint me, my dear,” the Goddess said lazily. “You’ll need to do far better than that if you want to please me.”

  Joe lay facedown fifty meters away. He lifted his head with a groan.

  Pain ravaged his body. This time, his wounds healed slower than they had against the Guardian. He forced his spirit energy into motion, manually accelerating his regeneration. Bones knit together as he stared at the Goddess.

  The moment his skeleton finished restoring, Joe vanished.

  He surged forward at blistering speed and feinted a right toward her chest. The Goddess raised her forearm to block. Joe shifted his weight instantly, bracing one hand against the void as his leg swept low.

  She jumped to avoid it.

  While still balancing on one hand, Joe twisted again and snapped his foot upward toward her chest.

  The Goddess stepped on the void itself, solidifying it beneath her feet, and leaped back. Joe’s sole missed her by an inch.

  She landed twenty meters away.

  Joe appeared in front of her.

  He threw a fast left hook as she stabilized. The Goddess slipped aside, his fist whistling past her white hair. She countered with a strike to his stomach, ripping the air from his lungs. Joe doubled over as she followed with a rising palm beneath his jaw, sending him upward.

  She twisted and landed a spinning heel strike to the side of his face.

  Joe’s head snapped sideways and his body spun through the void.

  She grabbed his ankle mid flight and smashed him into the surface again and again. The void turned hard beneath each impact. Bones crunched. She laughed wildly.

  Then she hurled him upward.

  Joe spun helplessly before she appeared above him and drove a palm strike into his body. He plummeted and smashed spine first into the hardened void.

  Cracks spread outward.

  The Goddess descended with her legs together and extended, landing atop him. Her soles crushed into his chest as it caved inward. Joe gasped in agony as the void fractured beneath them.

  She pinned his arms with her knees and unleashed a flurry of blows, laughing as she struck.

  “Look at the bright side, my dear,” she said gleefully. “Now you’ll be stuck here with me forever.”

  Joe’s vision blurred. He wrapped his legs around her throat and wrenched with everything he had, hurling her away. She spun through the void, buying him a moment.

  Joe shot to his feet and leaped back just as her palm smashed into the space where he had been lying. The void fractured violently and a shockwave blasted him backward.

  She appeared in front of him mid slide.

  A palm shot toward his face. Joe raised both forearms to block.

  It was a feint.

  Her real strike slammed into his stomach, shattering his guard. Another palm crashed into his already fractured chest and sent him flying. He tumbled across the void before slamming to a halt fifty meters away, face down.

  “You’re disappointing me, my darling,” the Goddess said coldly. “All that confidence, yet you cannot back it up. You are no different from the countless weaklings I have slaughtered.”

  She smiled.

  “I hope you enjoy this place. You will not be returning to your original body.”

  ‘No.’

  Joe’s thoughts screamed.

  Energy erupted from his body.

  Joe surged to his feet and locked eyes with the Goddess. Soul energy cloaked him in a blazing aura. A white circle formed on his forehead and his eyes ignited with blinding light.

  His fist clenched.

  The Goddess laughed in delight. “There it is. That energy. Show me, sweetheart. Show me your aggression.”

  Voices screamed inside Joe’s mind.

  Hatred. Rage. Resentment.

  They clawed at his soul, oppressive heat filled his chest.

  Joe roared inwardly.

  His soul crushed them.

  Explosions of soul energy rippled outward again and again as his aura expanded violently. His eyes burned brighter with every pulse.

  “What are you waiting for?” the Goddess began.

  Joe was already in front of her.

  His right fist, overflowing with spirit energy, shot forward.

  The Goddess flinched. Her eyes widened as she threw up both forearms to block.

  The impact detonated.

  A violent explosion of energy tore through the void as the Goddess was blasted backward. She slammed into the massive energy orb behind her, cracks spreading across its surface as she grunted in pain.

  She steadied herself, staring at Joe in disbelief.

  His aura continued to rise.

  It climbed higher and higher, soul energy surging without end.

  The Goddess swallowed, her voice trembling.

  “What… is this?”