The heavens split apart like glass under divine pressure.
From the wound in the sky poured rivers of golden fire, cascading downward in slow motion, illuminating the ruins of Ashfall. The clouds turned crimson and black; thunder sang hymns of mourning.
And through that burning veil… she descended.
The Evil Goddess of Origin, draped in robes of shimmering dusk, her hair an endless waterfall of white flame, and her eyes — twin galaxies of impossible depth.
Her feet never touched the ground, yet every stone beneath her shattered from the weight of her divinity.
The moment she appeared, reality itself trembled.
Mountains cracked. The air screamed. And every surviving creature within miles fell to their knees, weeping without knowing why.
Lirien's halo flickered violently. "She—she's manifesting her true body?! That's forbidden! The heavens will—"
"They'll burn before she ever does," Hayate interrupted.
He stood between her and the goddess, his crimson eyes reflecting that impossible light. The Devouring Star pulsed beneath his ribs, resonating in pain, in memory, in rage.
[Alert: Divine Resonance Detected – Proximity to Original Source Critical]
[Warning: System Integrity Risk – 98% Overload Predicted]
He ignored it. His gaze locked with hers.
The goddess smiled.
"My precious star… how far you've fallen."
Her voice wasn't heard — it was felt, like warm fingers pressing against the inside of his skull. It carried comfort and cruelty in equal measure.
"Don't call me that," Hayate said, stepping forward.
The ground turned to dust under his feet. "You made me. You used me. You threw me away."
Her laughter rippled through the ruins, sweet and venomous.
"And yet you still burn with my light. Look at you, my little fragment — pretending to be free."
Hayate's aura surged, black and gold flames coiling around him. "I'm not pretending anymore."
The Goddess's Touch
She raised her hand, and the world froze.
Time itself bent backward. The ash in the air halted mid-fall, the embers turned to still stars, and even Lirien's scream caught in her throat. Only Hayate moved — barely — his system roaring against the weight of divine law.
[System Override Engaged – Temporal Anchor Initiated]
"Still resisting," she mused. "Even your will defies the laws that bind creation. How human of you."
She reached out — not physically, but through the air, through his soul — and Hayate felt something tear inside. Memories bled into one another: his old classroom, the dungeon where he was left to die, the first time he saw his reflection after becoming her weapon.
"You remember, don't you?" the goddess whispered. "The summoning circle. The fear. The betrayal."
Images flashed: his classmates celebrating their new powers; his status window showing nothing but emptiness; their mocking laughter.
Then — the darkness, the chains, the pain.
Hayate clenched his fists until his nails dug into his palms.
"Yes," he growled. "I remember everything. And I'll make sure you do, too."
The Devouring Awakens
The sky dimmed.
[Warning: System Core Synchronization – 99.6%]
[Protocol Unlock: Forbidden Evolution – The Devouring Star's True Form]
A massive magic circle spread from beneath Hayate's feet — lines of black fire and golden veins intertwined like the weave of a living universe. The ruins trembled; the bell of Ashfall rang once more, louder than thunder.
The goddess tilted her head. "So you would burn your soul to fight me?"
"I'm not burning it," he said. "I'm becoming it."
His eyes turned crimson-gold. His hair blazed red, trailing like flames behind him.
The Devouring Star detached from his chest, rising into the air — a small, pulsating sphere of darkness surrounded by golden light.
Then it broke apart, scattering into thousands of glowing shards that embedded themselves into his skin.
His body transformed — his veins glowing like constellations, his aura devouring everything around him, light and dark entwined.
[Evolution Complete – Title Unlocked: Devourer of Gods]
He spread his arms wide. "Come, Goddess. Let's end this lie."
The Divine Battle
With a flick of her wrist, the goddess shattered the stillness. The frozen embers resumed falling; the world resumed breathing.
Then came light.
A column of divine energy lanced downward, tearing through the ruins. Hayate crossed his arms, summoning a barrier of black fire, barely withstanding the impact.
He shot upward, wings of starlight unfurling from his back, and the two met midair in an explosion that split the clouds.
Her blade — a simple strip of white light — clashed against his dark-forged sword, Astral Rend.
Each impact birthed shockwaves that tore open the sky, revealing the void beyond.
Lirien struggled to her feet, watching from below, tears mixing with the ash on her face. "Hayate… please don't lose yourself."
Above, the goddess moved like poetry, every motion effortless. Hayate fought with raw will, fury, and defiance — a mortal waging war against infinity itself.
She smiled between strikes. "Every blow you strike, every drop of blood you spill — it all returns to me. You were born from my power."
"Then I'll use it to end you!" he roared.
He thrust Astral Rend forward, piercing through her chest — but her body dissolved into golden dust, reforming behind him.
"You cannot kill what created you, child."
He spun, too slow. Her hand pierced through his back, fingers closing around the glowing core within his chest. Pain erupted through every cell.
"I will reclaim my star."
The system screamed.
[Critical Alert: Core Extraction in Progress]
[Host Integrity – 27%]
Hayate coughed blood, his vision fading.
But even as darkness closed in, he smiled.
"Then you should've taken it sooner."
He raised his hand. His shadow stretched, engulfing both of them. The world around them twisted — light and darkness folding into a vortex of shattered time.
The Abyss Between Worlds
They fell through a rift into nothingness.
No sky. No ground. Just endless void — the primordial sea before creation.
It pulsed faintly with echoes of every world that ever was.
The goddess floated effortlessly, her glow undimmed. "You bring us to my cradle? How fitting."
Hayate's breath came ragged. His wounds burned, his body cracking with every movement. "Not your cradle. Your grave."
He extended his arm, the Devouring Star flickering weakly in his palm.
The void responded — countless fragments of broken worlds began orbiting him, feeding into the core.
"You can't contain that power," she warned. "It will unmake you."
He grinned, teeth bloodstained. "Maybe. But as long as it un-makes you first—!"
The explosion was silent.
Light devoured everything — black, white, red, gold — all converging into a single point.
In that brief eternity, they were no longer god or mortal, only echoes — two halves of a broken creation screaming to consume each other.
[Protocol Overload: Star Collapse Imminent]
Hayate's mind fractured — memories, pain, love, revenge all spiraling through him. He saw Lirien's smile. His classmates' betrayal. The dungeon's darkness. The goddess's hand reaching for him in the summoning circle.
Then—he let go.
The Devouring Star detonated.
The Silence After Divinity
When sight returned, the void was gone.
Hayate lay on cracked ground beneath a sky of muted twilight. The air smelled of smoke and rain.
Lirien knelt beside him, her tears falling on his face. "Hayate! Please—please wake up!"
He blinked slowly. "You… again. Always crying."
She laughed weakly through her sobs. "You idiot… you did it."
He looked around — the goddess was nowhere. Only faint golden motes drifted in the air, fading like dying embers.
"Did I… kill her?"
Lirien hesitated. "No. You erased her connection to this world. She's gone — for now."
He exhaled, exhaustion overtaking him. "Good."
But then — faint whispers echoed in his mind.
"I am not so easily unmade, my star…"
Hayate's eyes widened. "No…"
The ground beneath them trembled. A single drop of golden light fell from the sky, striking the earth.
From it, a faint silhouette began to form — smaller, weaker, but unmistakably her.
Lirien gasped. "She's… reincarnating?"
Hayate's voice turned cold. "Then I'll kill her as many times as it takes."
He stood, though his body shook violently. The Devouring Star flickered once more in his chest — faint, cracked, but alive.
"Hayate, stop!" Lirien pleaded. "If you fight her again now, you'll—"
He smiled faintly. "Then I'll fall standing."
The goddess opened her eyes — no longer vast galaxies, but gentle pools of mortal light. She looked… human.
And for the first time, she whispered not as a god, but as something lost.
"Why do you hate me, my child?"
Hayate froze.
The question pierced deeper than any blade.
Because even after everything, her voice still carried warmth — false or not, he couldn't tell.
"I don't," he said finally, his voice trembling. "I just can't forgive you."
The Choice Beyond Power
The light dimmed. The goddess's form stabilized, fragile, flickering between worlds.
Lirien watched as Hayate raised his sword again — the blade humming with faint starlight.
But this time, his expression wasn't rage. It was sorrow.
"Maybe this is what you wanted all along," he murmured. "A star that would destroy its own sun."
The goddess smiled faintly, eyes closing. "Then burn bright, my final creation."
He swung.
Astral Rend pierced her heart.
No light. No scream. Only a sigh — peaceful, accepting — as her body dissolved into the wind.
The clouds cleared. The stars returned.
Hayate lowered his weapon. His knees buckled, and he fell forward, caught by Lirien.
She held him close, trembling. "It's over. It's finally over."
He looked up at her, the faintest smile curving his lips. "No. It's just beginning."
[Quest Updated: "The Day the Goddess Descended" – Completed.]
[Main Quest Unlocked: "Rebirth of the Broken Star."]
The system chimed once more, softer this time.
[Notice: A new world awaits, Hayate. The Devouring Star sleeps—but it will awaken again.]
He exhaled, eyes drifting shut.
And somewhere in the heavens above, the faint echo of laughter — neither divine nor cruel — faded into silence.