Avoid the Yandere Goddess

Meanwhile, Aion, who had been brimming with confidence, was now thrown into confusion by the unfolding situation.

And for good reason.

-KWAGWANG!
-SHK!
-THUD!

Contrary to his expectations, the monsters were being massacred without even having the chance to scream.

‘Why are there such people in this rural village?’

Aion turned his head north.

There, a breathtakingly beautiful woman was slaughtering the monsters, to the point where anyone watching would be left in awe.

‘She’s definitely an assassin.’

Moreover, she wasn’t just any ordinary one.

There was barely any killing intent in each of her attacks.

-KRRRRK!
-KYAAAAAH!

At that moment, agonized death cries erupted from the eastern entrance.

Aion shifted his gaze eastward.

‘That beastkin is no joke either.’

At first glance, the individual appeared endlessly delicate and beautiful.

-PAK!

Yet, each of their martial arts techniques was executed so perfectly that it inspired reverence.

The problem, however, was that they were an enemy.

As Aion frowned and glared at Kage—

-KWAGWANG!

This time, a thunderous roar erupted from the south, shaking the very ground.

Aion turned his head with a grim expression.

‘The biggest problem is that one.’

A majestic dragon stood in the south.

It looked exactly like the dragon he had seen years ago, but given its significantly smaller size compared to that encounter, it must have been a hatchling.

However—

‘A dragon is still a dragon.’

Hatchling or not, it was undeniably the most dangerous among them.

There was a reason dragons had been at the apex of existence in ancient times, surpassed only by transcendents.

This was an opponent he could never afford to let his guard down against.

“Hoo… What should I do? Should I retreat?”

That was an option.

Given that the village remained eerily silent in such circumstances, the residents had likely evacuated.

In that case, this operation was already a failure.

‘But then, how long will it take again?’

That was the issue.

If he retreated now, he had no idea how long it would take to replenish the monsters he had lost.

‘…We should retreat.’

As humiliating as it was, he had to act rationally.

If he made a mistake, he might lose his life for nothing.

Just as Aion finished organizing his thoughts—

-KWAGANG!

A loud noise erupted from the area between the east and south.

‘What? Why is there noise coming from there?’

The unexpected disturbance drew his attention.

Then—

“…That one!”

A familiar-looking woman came into view.

At the same time—

-Throb!

A sharp pain flared in the wound carved into his chest.

Narrowing his eyes, Aion carefully scrutinized her.

‘…She looks a little different up close.’

However, he was certain—she had to be related by blood.

Denying it was impossible when she looked so much like the two who had once humiliated him.

“I have to kill her before I retreat.”

Having made up his mind, Aion patiently waited for her to come rushing toward him.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, at that very moment.

Kaine and Lisanna, who were moving to utterly crush the half-human, half-demon Aion, were in a state of frustration.

For good reason.

“Agh! Why the hell are there so many damn pests?!”
“Exactly.”

Contrary to expectations, the place was swarming with monsters.

Honestly, they hadn’t fully expected all the aggro to be drawn to the women defending the village, but this was far beyond what they had anticipated.

“Seriously. Looking at this, I can’t help but wonder—forget the constellations—how did Lise manage to fend off the wave all by herself…?”

Their respect for Lise grew anew.

Even now, with a much smaller number of weaker monsters, they were already fed up.

Yet, Lise had managed without a single complaint, all while protecting the people behind her.

-FWOOOOSH!

At that moment, a poisoned arrow flew toward them from behind.

Without even looking, Kaine snatched it out of the air—

-GRAB!

—then immediately hurled it back at the one who had just fired it.

And—

-THUNK!

The hobgoblin hit by its own attack foamed at the mouth before collapsing on the spot.

The next moment—

-KYAAAAH!
-KIIIIEK!

The other hobgoblins, as if avenging their fallen comrade, rushed forward.

Kaine raised his magic gun—

-BANG! BANG!

—and, without hesitation, blew holes in their foreheads.

Even though he had taken down dozens of them in under a second, the horde showed no signs of diminishing.

Letting out a deep sigh, Kaine spoke.

“Lisanna.”
“Hm?”

“Lisanna.”
“Yeah?”

At his call, Lisanna, who had been slaughtering monsters, tilted her head.
Then, Kaine spoke in a dramatic, movie-hero-like tone.

“I’ll stay here. You go ahead.”
“…Babe.”

Judging by her expression, she seemed touched.
But just as Kaine was patting himself on the back for his noble self-sacrifice, Lisanna responded with an exasperated face.

“You’re not even going to die against these guys, so why are you acting so cool?”
“….”

How nice it would be if she played along just once.
As Kaine grumbled to himself, Lisanna suddenly—

-SMOOCH!

—gave him a light kiss on the cheek.
Then, she grinned.

“But you still look really cool♥”

[The Goddess of Fate comments that this kind of moment is usually a cliché where someone dies.]

At the same time, Fate sent him an ominous message.
Kaine wanted to argue, but…
If this were an anime or movie, it was a common death flag cliché.

However—

‘This is reality.’

So he could just ignore it.
Brushing off the message, Kaine activated his draconic powers.

-WHUMMM!

His entire body began to transform.

“Phew… This never gets any easier.”

He fully transformed into a dragonkin.
Seeing him like that, Lisanna’s eyes sparkled.

“…Wow. You look amazing!”

Despite being surrounded by monsters, she leaned in close with excitement.
Kaine let out a dry laugh.

“You seem awfully relaxed.”
“Hm? Well, yeah.”

She nodded casually.
Kaine sighed.

“Stop standing around so carefree. I’ll clear a path—get ready to run.”
“Okay, got it, babe!”

Kaine turned toward where Aion was.

‘Did Little Dragon do it like this?’

He opened his mouth wide.

-WHUUUUM!

Mana gathered inside his throat.
And then—

-FWOOOOSH!

A dragon’s breath attack erupted with a blinding light.

-KYAAAAH!
-KWUUEEEK!
-KRRRRRK!

Agonized screams filled the air.
Lisanna stared at the monsters turning to dust from the attack and chuckled.
Kaine lightly nudged her side.

“What are you standing around for? We should go while they’re dazed.”
“Oh, right! Let’s go!”

Snapping out of her trance, Lisanna nodded and dashed forward.

Meanwhile, the dumbfounded monsters barely had time to react—

-BOOM!

Kaine blew off a monster’s head, drawing their attention back to himself.

“You guys should be fighting me first.”

Lisanna sprinted at full speed along the open, desolate road.

She briefly turned her head back.

—Crash! Boom!

Seeing Kaine slaughtering monsters with a relaxed expression, she figured there was no need to worry about him. Instead, the one she should be worrying about was herself.

‘The bastard who killed Mom and Dad…’

Back then, her parents had been among the top-ranked priests. Even if they had been exhausted, the enemy had still failed to kill them.

And more than that…

‘They were the ones who suffered fatal injuries instead.’

There was no room for carelessness.

As she ran, she heard a man’s voice echo near her ear.

“So, you’ve finally arrived.”

She turned her head.

Long hair cascading down to his waist.
Skin marred with patches like a monster’s.
Yet, features similar to a human’s.

The moment she laid eyes on him, she knew.

This was the half-human, half-demon who had killed her parents.

—Thump! Thump!

Her heart pounded wildly.

She wanted to tear him apart and kill him right then and there.

But before that, there was something she needed to ask.

“Let me ask before I beat you to death. Why are you so intent on slaughtering the villagers?”

“…Huh? Hah!”

At her question, Aion let out a mocking laugh.

Then he spoke.

“It seems you’re mistaken. Asking questions is a right granted only to the victor.”

“…Fine. After I beat you half to death, maybe you’ll start talking.”

With that, Lisanna kicked off the ground.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, at that very moment…

The village chief, who had been leading the villagers to safety, was lost in thought.

‘So, this is how it ends after all…’

Unlike the others, the chief, Makao, knew exactly why Aion was trying to destroy the village.

‘This is all karma.’

He understood why Aion sought revenge.

As the old story went, his mother had been killed by the villagers.

And that wasn’t all.

‘He was tormented quite a bit, too…’

Simply for being a half-human, half-demon, Aion had been tormented by the villagers.

From that perspective, the villagers seemed like terrible people.

But at the same time, he could understand their side of things as well.

Even now, people feared monsters. How much worse must it have been back then?

‘But before we talk about revenge…’

The ones Aion wanted revenge on had already died long ago.

It was understandable, but that didn’t mean the innocent people here deserved to suffer.

—Boom!

At that moment, an earth-shattering explosion rang out, as if dozens of tons of bombs had gone off.

Judging from the direction, it seemed to have come from the forest.

Then—

“Chief?”

The captain of the village guard stared at him as if asking why he wasn’t moving.

The chief patted his lower back and opened his mouth.

“Alright. Let’s keep going.”

With that, the chief resumed leading the villagers to safety.

.

.

.

About 30 minutes passed.

Kaine glanced around.

“It’s finally starting to wind down.”

Just half an hour ago, the number of monsters had seemed endless.

Now, they had clearly dwindled.

With a relaxed expression, Kaine turned up the volume on his communicator.

—Squeal!
—Don’t you dare get your filthy monster blood on my face!
—Slash!

Since things were still under control, there was no need to worry.

But more concerning was…

—Thud!

Lisanna’s side of the fight.

He didn’t doubt her skills.

But meeting one’s sworn enemy could make anyone lose control.

It was only natural to be worried that she might get reckless and be caught off guard.

Honestly, who could stay calm after coming face to face with their parents’ killer?

“Tch! And I can’t even fly right now.”

Clicking his tongue, Kaine furrowed his brows.

He wished he could fly like Yong-yong, but…

“When will I ever get used to this?”

Even after all his training, flight was still something he hadn’t mastered.

As he slaughtered the monsters charging at him, the sound of battle became clearer and clearer.

“Hoo…”

Finally, he arrived at his destination.

And then—

“What?”

Kaine’s eyes widened.

No wonder—Aion was standing there, battered and covered in blood, while Lisanna remained perfectly unharmed, looking down at him.

Had he taken a moment to think, he might have noticed something off.

But instead—

“…”

Seeing Lisanna in this situation, Kaine’s expression turned ice-cold as he charged straight at Aion.

Watching Kaine rush at him with terrifying momentum, Aion…

“…Why are you coming at me like this? Seriously.”

—probably had the most unfairly aggrieved expression in the world.