Wait, what are you saying?" Alex asked, his voice low.
"I'm done with humans," Ashley snapped. "You're just my vessel. You can't do anything. You can't interfere with divine grace or peace."
She stepped back, her aura flickering like a dying flame.
"Stop trying to control me. I'm done with kingdoms. I'm done with humans. I'm just waiting for the thirty years to pass so I can return to the Divine Realm. I'm too tired of this world."
Beatrice, standing to the side, exchanged a glance with David.
"Let them talk," she said softly. "Come."
Without another word, they turned and left the room.
Silence settled between Alex and Ashley like a thick fog.
"Do you remember what you said before we came here?" Alex finally asked.
"Yeah" she scoffed. "You're tired of being reincarnated. So what? I don't care anymore."
She pointed to herself.
"Look at me. I'm the monster god now, for crying out loud. I don't want to see another human near me. I said I'd follow you so I wouldn't break your heart"
She hesitated. Her voice cracked.
"But now I've changed my mind. I don't care about you anymore. If you want to go, then go. Do whatever you like."
She turned away from him.
"Leave me alone."
Alex's jaw tightened. His fists clenched.
"Yeah. Exactly why I hate gods."
Ashley stopped mid-step.
"What did you just say?"
"I said I hate gods," he repeated, meeting her gaze.
Her expression darkened. Cold. Divine.
"I brought you into this world, Alex," she said, her voice trembling with fury. "I can kill you."
Alex stared at her really stared.
The eyes that once held kindness were empty now. The gentle goddess he once knew… was gone.
And then it hit him.
"So that's it?" he said slowly. "You've decided to just run away. Hide. Let the world rot while you wait to escape."
He stepped closer.
"For people to stop worshipping a goddess, it means something's broken. Something deep."
Ashley looked at him without pity.
"I don't care."
She turned again, walking away.
"Ever since I came to this world, nothing has gone as planned. First, it was you trying to eat a crocodile and now this."
Her shoulders slumped.
"I'm too tired."
Alex's voice cut through the air like a blade.
"What a fucking coward."
Ashley froze in place.
"What did you just say?"
"I said you're a fucking goddess!" Alex shouted, stepping forward. "A coward."
His voice echoed through the chamber like a slap.
"You know what I'll do when I get to the church? I'll tell them where you're hiding. I'll show them that their goddess is just a pathetic, selfish coward!"
Ashley flinched, but Alex didn't stop.
"I'm sick of your divine nonsense. I'm just a human. And how many times have I reincarnated? Three! This is my third life — thanks to a selfish fucking god who doesn't even know how to control her own people."
He pointed at her.
"I hate you. If I had the power, I'd break this damn vessel contract you put on me."
"I didn't put anything on you!" the goddess snapped, her voice rising in anger. "You think I didn't notice what was happening?"
Alex stepped closer, eyes blazing.
"Even Beatrice told me. You limited my power the moment you reincarnated me. You used me like your plaything so you could come into this world like it's some divine vacation. And now that things aren't going your way, you want to run and hide?"
Ashley's eyes widened. "What did Beatrice do to you?"
"You want to know?" Alex laughed bitterly. "For three days, she trained me. She helped remove the limitations from my soul. The same ones you put there. You made me weak just like you so I wouldn't defy you. So I'd follow you like some obedient little puppet."
Ashley went quiet.
Completely silent.
"You think I wouldn't find out? That I'd just keep blindly following you?"
He turned his back.
"You want to hide? Fine. I agree. Just break the damn contract. Let me be free from your madness, goddess."
There was a long pause before his voice broke again, lower this time.
"What kind of god are you anyway? You don't even know your own people are worse monsters than the monsters themselves."
Ashley stood frozen.
But her mind was elsewhere replaying the moment she returned to the Divine Realm, when Alex had been building the elf sanctuary.
She had stood before her father.
And he had said the same thing.