The Knight I Used to Be
Knight Ren …!
The goddess hauled her body up from the sticky green blood.
Filthy, clammy sensations—far removed from the pristine cleanliness she maintained in her divine form—cloaked her entire body, but she couldn't have cared less.
A hero dashing through the battlefield, wrapped in radiant light, slaying monsters left and right.
Even as the kingdom's strongest knight and supreme commander, the most vital figure in the war, she drew the monsters' gazes to herself, saving allied soldiers.
Wounds accumulated one by one on the body of the woman who led from the front, throwing herself into the fray without hesitation, but she pressed on undeterred.
And that hero, Knight Ren, was none other than the previous incarnation of Constellation Ren.
“I… me?”
It was her life before ascending to goddesshood as a constellation.
“…I remember.”
The goddess dredged up hazy memories from a distant past long faded.
Back when she was human, monsters born from the Maelstrom had invaded the kingdom she swore to protect.
These beasts, forged by the unfathomable power of the Maelstrom, swept across the continent driven solely by their instinct to slaughter intelligent beings like humans.
Linked by a hive mind under a single queen, they charged madly at humans without regard for their own bodies—symbols of terror incarnate.
“…”
Ren stared blankly at her past self, dazedly swinging an aura blade to cleave through the monsters.
A hero who valued victory on the battlefield and the preservation of her allies over her own safety.
“To think… I was like this.”
Even though it was herself, she couldn't help but admire that nobility. Here stood humanity's champion, right before her eyes.
Hundreds of years had passed since her elevation to constellation.
A massive ripple stirred in her heart, dulled by the languid haze of the Divine Realm, where she had even forgotten herself.
She remembered what she had overlooked.
What feats she had accomplished in her past life.
What kind of being she truly was.
-Kirrrk.
Suddenly, a sleek mantis-like monster burst from the horde.
“…Elder Guardian.”
According to the goddess's memory, one of only three elite monsters serving as the queen's personal guard—the pinnacle of their kind.
Why is it here now?
But in her recollection, it never appeared on this battlefield.
Something was different from her past.
-Kirrrrk!
The Elder Guardian flapped its wings dismissively, ignoring the lesser foes as it charged straight at Knight Ren.
Chaaeng!
The monster's razor-sharp exoskeleton clashed against Knight Ren's aura blade.
True to its status as an elite soldier crafted with vast resources from the Maelstrom, the beast's weapon matched the aura blade's intensity.
-Kieeeek!
At that moment, a massive monster reared back, aiming its breath at a cluster of densely packed soldiers.
If that acid-filled breath engulfed them, every last one would melt away.
“Tch!”
Knight Ren clicked her tongue once, then unleashed a sword beam that bisected the giant.
But paying attention elsewhere mid-battle came at a steep cost.
Kwajik.
“Grk!”
The Elder Guardian's blade severed the arm she used to wield her sword.
Ren's sword flew through the air and
thunk
embedded itself right before the goddess's avatar.
!!!
“No way…”
The goddess recoiled in shock.
This hadn't happened in her past life. She hadn't encountered the Elder Guardian here, so her body hadn't suffered such dismemberment at this point.
“This should only happen during the infiltration of the queen's lair…”
[Trial][Story][Erosion of the Maelstrom]
Only then did the goddess understand.
The overseer had said this story—containing her saga—was being eroded by the Maelstrom's influence.
At first, she thought it was just because the monsters in the tale originated from the Maelstrom, but it seemed the Maelstrom's power was twisting the narrative itself.
And as a candidate overseer, her role in this trial was to resolve that distortion.
The goddess gently gripped Ren's sword.
This cool yet warm sensation.
Her beloved blade, forgotten for so long.
Pajijik.
The sword, which had once repelled her for not being its true master, sensed her will and quietly accepted her grasp.
-Kieeeek.
Countless monsters swarmed upon noticing her seize the sword.
Swing the Sword
An intangible force from the blade tried to guide her body—a combat tutorial to assist a player's first battle in this virtual reality game.
“No.”
The goddess unleashed the sword's power, shattering all such aids.
“I don't need it.”
She had been through this battlefield once before.
She wasn't the type to grow rusty from time spent in the heavens.
Taat.
The goddess swung the sword and kicked off the ground.
The moment she gripped it, mana surged through her body.
That power was more than enough to bolster her swift, uncanny movements.
-Kieek! -Kick! -Kurrrr…!
A straight line of glory sliced through countless monsters.
At its forefront, the goddess finally reached Knight Ren.
Kwang!
There, her past self fought the Elder Guardian barehanded with her remaining fist, aura surging through it.
Knight Ren was sturdier than the Elder Guardian, but she was steadily weakening.
Bleeding from wounds sustained aiding others across the battlefield, plus massive blood loss from her recent amputation—it was eating away at her.
Save Knight Ren
“Even without that, I'd do it.”
The goddess tightened her grip and leaped into the fray between the two powerhouses.
-Kirrrk!
The Elder Guardian shuddered its wings in rage at this new powerhouse crashing the fight just as victory seemed at hand.
Knight Ren looked briefly startled but soon flashed a smile, syncing seamlessly with the goddess to unleash a barrage of linked strikes.
When Knight Ren blocked the Elder Guardian's blade, the goddess slashed in; when the goddess parried, Knight Ren pulverized with her aura fist.
Despite being strangers, their coordination was organic, like extensions of one body.
The Elder Guardian lasted a mere 30 seconds.
-Kirrr….
Its fragmented body parts scattered everywhere.
Kurrung.
With the top-tier Elder Guardian slain, every monster on the field began fleeing.
The queen had acknowledged defeat and issued a retreat order.
“Adjutant! No pursuit! Secure the battlefield and tend to the wounded!”
True to her role as supreme commander, Knight Ren barked orders before approaching the goddess with a radiant smile.
“Soldier! That was brilliant back there. Without your help, that vile beast would've had me.”
“…”
The goddess fell silent.
She had much to say, but the words wouldn't come.
Facing her past self stirred too many emotions, leaving her dizzy.
Wordlessly, she offered the sword.
“Hm?”
Knight Ren glanced at it, surprise flickering across her face.
“I thought it looked familiar. So it's my sword. Impressive. I never imagined anyone besides me could wield this demon blade.”
Knight Ren reached out and took the sword.
She pondered for a moment.
“On second thought, you should keep using it.”
“…Pardon?”
“I've lost my dominant right arm. But you haven't. And considering how masterfully you handled it—better than I could now—it makes more sense for you to have it, no?”
With that, Knight Ren extended the sword back.
“Here, take it.”
The goddess reluctantly accepted, her hand trembling slightly.
This blade had been a huge part of her power, yet here she was, handing it to a stranger for the greater good of protecting humanity. Such nobility.
…Was I really like this?
It stood in stark contrast to the self she'd wasted away in the Divine Realm.
The battlefield cleanup concluded, and now a strategy briefing unfolded in the general's tent.
This was a gathering reserved for high-ranking officers and above, yet despite being a mere soldier, the goddess had been dragged here by Knight Ren and seated in a dim corner.
“In this battle, we've annihilated their main force and seized a key stronghold leading to the heart of their territory.”
Knight Ren unrolled a massive map and began the briefing.
Her severed arm had already been replaced by a chrome prosthetic crafted via alchemy.
“But they're like cells functioning under a single entity. Losing troops alone won't hurt them much. They'll regenerate their forces in no time and come at us again.”
Knight Ren pointed her long rod at a red-circled spot in the map's center.
“We end the war by killing the queen who commands them.”
While the main army drew the monster horde's attention, an elite detachment would infiltrate and assassinate the queen.
It was the exact plan from her past life—one that succeeded, driving back the Maelstrom.
At the cost of my life.
In the final moment, she had chosen mutual destruction with the queen, sacrificing herself.
That noble act saved humanity, etched itself into history, and allowed her ascension to godhood.
A being utterly unlike her incompetent goddess self. That was Knight Ren.
“And the key to this operation is right here.”
Knight Ren's finger halted on one spot during her explanation.
All the generals, officers, and staff followed her gaze, and
“Eh? …Me?”
At the tip of that finger sat Goddess Ren.