The world was once shrouded in utter darkness.
The world was meant to be empty and void.
The world was originally silent and lifeless.
Until the arrival of that merciful being, like a mother to all creation.
With the emergence of the sun, the world was no longer dark and cold—it gained warmth.
Towering mountains rose and fell, rivers flowed, continents floated in the sky, and lush green plants flourished. The world was no longer empty.
It was she who created all things, who brought forth life. She is the Mother of All, the Goddess Terra.
Gentle and approachable, she often appeared among us on the continent in forms we could understand, answering our questions and shielding us from the dangers of a rapidly changing world.
No one could have foreseen—not even she, the all-knowing and all-powerful—that a catastrophic disaster would soon befall the continent of Terra.
An outsider, an entity not of this world, would bring what it called "balance".
hunger, disease, natural calamities, and monstrous beasts.
That foul being tempted certain tribes to betray the Goddess Terra. Under its curse-like blessings, they became incredibly strong,then they slaughtered indiscriminately, becoming the demonic races that served evil.
The Goddess Terra sacrificed her own life to expel that defiling entity from the world. Afterward, she no longer had the strength to aid the lives on the continent or intervene in the wars between the various races.
The Church of Terra believes we should carry on the goddess's teachings: to face all things with compassion, regardless of race, for we are all children of the Goddess Terra.
The Goddess Cult insists that the goddess's teachings must be accepted by everyone—and must be the sole faith. Anyone who dares to doubt, or who follows so-called new gods, should have their skulls crushed beneath the iron hooves of the goddess's faithful.
Different races, different beliefs, different goals, different circumstances—the human race alone splintered into countless nations. Most human nations harbored deep hatred toward other species. Regardless of sect, nearly all believed that humans were the goddess's only true creations.
"Frank!"
"Frank!"
"Frank!"
"Damn it!"
"Wake up!"
The young man in iron armor snapped his eyes open, momentarily dazed. Had it not been for the thick armor and the padded cotton clothing he still wore beneath despite the heat, his body would have shattered like an egg smashed against stone.
The monster before him had not been recorded in the herb-gathering quest. While the regional creature logs were generally reliable, they were often just lazy scribbles from adventurers who couldn't be bothered with proper reports.
Herb-gathering quests were looked down upon even by novice iron-rank adventurers, so information about this forest had not been updated since the last such quest.
Being prepared for the unexpected was a lesson every adventurer was supposed to take to heart. Yet for a mid-tier monster to appear in a beginner-level area was downright malicious—like being cursed by the tongue of Moris himself!
She had just watched her companion get swatted away by a massive claw, sent flying like a broken kite into a tree trunk with a sickening thud. The red-haired girl named Lily drew the twin daggers from her belt. Her body screamed at her to flee, but she refused.
The creature resembled a bear-sized black wolf. Its low growl sounded like a demon crawling up from the underworld, chilling the bone. Its blood-red eyes held only cruelty, and the sharp white fangs bared between dripping jaws left no doubt about what being bitten would mean.
The monster took another step forward.
Lily instinctively stepped back, but the unconscious companion behind her forced her to hold her ground.
The black wolf's growl grew louder. Saliva dripped from its fangs, sizzling as it corroded the soil and left small pits. Its gaze shifted from the red-haired girl blocking its path to the the her companion who was slumped against the tree.
Her heart pounded so violently she could barely control it. She didn't dare blink, terrified that in that instant the beast would strike. Just moments ago, in the blink of an eye, Frank had been sent flying. Lily paid no mind to the dangerous saliva; the moment she noticed the wolf's attention shift, dread gripped her.
"It's targeting Frank!"
Could a beast really think like a human?
The brief distraction cost her. As Lily shifted sideways, planting her weight, the black wolf lunged—not at Frank, but straight at the completely misled girl.
In a fraction of a second it would have her arm in its jaws. A millisecond slower and a chunk of flesh would be gone. Even the grazing touch of its claws left deep scratches on her leather armor.
Lily retreated in rapid steps, using trees to evade the ferocious swipes. Her breathing grew so ragged her vision blurred. She narrowly dodged another claw strike, ignoring the deep gashes left in the trees, then darted forward and slashed deeply into the wolf's foreleg with her daggers.
There was no howl of pain—only a more savage roar. The wounded beast abandoned its playful behavior and attacked with full fury. Its next step landed in the shadow cast by overhanging leaves.
The massive creature simply vanished before her eyes.
Lily's eyes widened in horror. She understood what had happened, but the pressure of possible sneak attack from any angle paralyzed her. Her mind still raced through records of the monster when, silently behind her, a massive maw appeared from the shadows.
"But isn't that completely contrary to the teachings of the Goddess Terra?"
"The goddess created everything…"
"…yet they also say humans are the only beings the goddess created."
"Ridiculous."
Inside the gently rocking carriage—occasionally jolted by a wheel running over a pebble—sat three young adventurers.
The red-haired girl at the back had no interest in the driver's history lesson. She flopped sideways, resting her head on her companion's lap. Seeing the embarrassed look on her friend's face, she flashed an enigmatic, teasing smile and remarked that it had been far too long since she'd enjoyed a lap pillow.
The girl whose lap had been claimed looked down in surprise, then leaned forward slightly so her chest wouldn't block the view. Catching the suggestive expression, her face flushed crimson. She grumbled that there was nothing enjoyable about it.
The redhead glanced at the hand now tickled by her companion's waist-length brown hair, took it playfully, and began twining the strands around her fingers. She envied the length, imagining her own short hair growing that long, then laughed at the thought—she couldn't picture herself with long hair at all.
The only young man in the party, deeply engrossed in the driver's tale, had long since scooted forward to sit closest to him. Unable to hold back any longer, he interrupted, declaring that the prejudice people held toward other races was utterly baseless.
The elderly driver, white-haired and with eyes perpetually narrowed as if smiling, deepened his wrinkles with genuine amusement at the youth's indignation. Releasing one rein, he stroked his equally white beard and asked the blond boy whether he believed demons were also created by the goddess.
The blond youth froze. Irritated by his own hesitation, he raised his voice: demons could never have been created by the goddess. Those creatures burned, killed, and plundered for pleasure; they worshipped violence as their new god. The goddess would never harm her "children."
The driver turned, saw the hatred burning in the boy's eyes, and let the smile fade. He neither confirmed nor denied the words. Instead, he gazed down the winding forest path that stretched endlessly ahead, hiding whatever lay in wait, and changed the subject. He asked why the blond youth had become an adventurer.
"To help those in need!" the boy answered without hesitation. "To grow stronger—strong enough to wipe out every last one of those demonic bastards!"
"Is that so…" The old driver gave a faint smile, as if seeing his younger self. Noting the novice tags hanging from their chests, he shifted tone, his voice turning ice-cold: "You're going to die."
"Huh… what?!" The blond youth was stunned, unsure why the driver had suddenly said such a thing.
"Old man, you've got a nasty mouth," the red-haired girl snapped openly, her briefly improved mood ruined. Ignoring her brown-haired companion's attempt to calm her, she continued, "So what if we die? Is that any of your business?"
"Adventuring is dangerous work," the driver said gravely, gripping the reins tighter. "It's not a game for children playing hero."
"Mind your own business. Your payment's here." The redhead stood, tossed a few copper coins into the carriage, and stepped onto the edge, urging her companions to follow. She leaped off the slow-moving vehicle.
The driver pulled the reins; the carriage stopped. The confused blond youth climbed down, wanting to ask what the old man had meant, but the redhead grabbed him by the neck and dragged him away. The brown-haired girl gathered the scattered copper coins before leaving, handed them properly to the driver, apologized for her companion's rudeness despite the abrupt remark, and then followed.
The redhead scolded the overly gentle brown-haired girl for being too soft, released the blond youth's collar, and kicked a pebble out of the way, muttering that if the law wouldn't make trouble for it, she'd have dismantled the whole carriage.
Watching the three young adventurers disappear into the forest, the old driver sighed. His hands on the reins hesitated…
The earlier conversation with the driver resurfaced in his mind. Frank shook his head violently, finally coming to his senses. He looked down at his undamaged but aching armor, the word "die" searing into him like a branding iron. Seeing the massive jaws bursting from the shadows behind Lily, he could only scream her name.
"Lily!!!!!!"