Sacrifice Who Overcame Sloth
Sacrifice Who Overcame Sloth “How the hell did I end up here...?”
The goddess stared blankly at the pitch-black cave entrance, gaping open like a dragon's maw.
She had been attending a strategy meeting, but before she knew it, she found herself joining a special forces unit with her past self to take down the queen.
“I'm sorry for dragging you into such a dangerous battlefield so suddenly.”
Assuming she was frightened, Knight Ren—the leader of the special forces—approached her.
“But this operation is as critical as it gets; the future of all humanity hangs in the balance. If we miss this chance, unlike our enemies who can replenish their resources and troops, humanity will be doomed to extinction. That's why we need the aid of a valiant warrior like you. Please, fight alongside us.”
Despite her rank as supreme commander, which would allow her to issue a coercive order, she made it a request.
Her past self, who had once embodied true heroism.
The goddess wanted to reclaim what she had lost.
“...Fine, whatever. Let's give it a shot.”
She wanted to change herself—the slothful, incompetent version who even got scolded by her apostle.
“Thank you so much!”
With Knight Ren beaming at her response, the goddess ventured into the cave.
...In my past life, I entered the underground cave with my ten heroes under my command.
In her actual past life, she had slain the queen alongside those ten heroes who served as her aides.
She hadn't brought along soldiers like the current Knight Ren.
This was due to the game's design, forcing a protagonist-focused event with just the two of them entering alone, but the goddess had no way of knowing that.
Probably because the records in history weren't preserved properly.
It left her feeling a bit bittersweet.
The fact that her comrades—who had fought by her side, clearing out elite monsters to pave her way to the queen, and ultimately perished—were forgotten.
No, perhaps I'm the one most at fault for failing to pass their story down to future generations.
The goddess reflected on how wrongly she had lived her life up to now.
-Groooar!
-Kieek!
The goddess and Knight Ren cleaved through hordes of monsters, pressing forward.
Even with the kingdom's army desperately drawing the attention of the monster horde outside, the queen's elite guards endlessly swarmed to protect her lair.
After carving through hundreds of them and reaching the deepest part of the cave,
-Kirrrk.
-Kirrk.
Three Elder Guardians lunged out.
Even after killing one outside, there are still three!
In her past life, there had only been three Elder Guardians total.
The influence of the Abyss had clearly ramped up the difficulty.
Clang!
Knight Ren blocked the charge of two aggressively lunging ones.
“I'll leave the remaining one to you!”
“The remaining one, huh.”
The goddess crossed blades with the last Elder Guardian.
She needed to kill it as quickly as possible to help Knight Ren.
Compared to her past self, she had lost her original arm and wielded a different sword; facing two Elder Guardians looked daunting.
Clang! Clang! The goddess deflected the Elder Guardian's blade with the profound technique of her transcendent swordsmanship.
-Kirrk!
She then severed the blade of the Elder Guardian, which wore a frustrated expression.
Krunch.
Without giving it time to retreat, her follow-up swing finally cleaved its neck.
As the goddess gripped her sword in reverse to confirm the kill by splitting the headless body,
Vwooom.
A blue light rippled from the Elder Guardian's body and engulfed hers.
“Wh-what is this?”
Startled by the unfamiliar phenomenon, the goddess tried to dodge the light, but it seeped into her body at a speed even she couldn't react to.
Thump!
A small ripple stirred within her.
Thump! Thump!
The ripple grew steadily.
And finally,
Bang!
Once the ripple completely overwhelmed her mindscape, a pair of wings sprouted from her back.
“Elder Guardian wings?”
The Elder Guardian's essence had been absorbed into the protagonist character.
“...So that's how it happened.”
No matter how much she thought about it, she hadn't understood.
Why so many players had cleared this episode despite the dire situation of just two people taking on the queen without the ten special forces members.
“If essence absorption is possible, that changes everything.”
The Elder Guardian's traits—[Acceleration], [High-Speed Flight], [Sturdy Vitality]—activated in essence form, empowering the goddess's avatar.
Far from her true self, but on a human level, it felt superhuman, an omnipotent surge wrapping her body.
It was the special ability unique to the protagonist of the game Akashic Archive.
[Acceleration], [High-Speed Flight], [Sturdy Vitality] absorbed!
Boom!
The goddess kicked off the ground and charged at the two Elder Guardians pinning Knight Ren.
Bam! Kaboosh!
Her [Acceleration] strike, briefly breaking the sound barrier, pulverized both Elder Guardians.
“Hah... hah... You... What is that power...?”
The goddess's avatar, clad in armor and wings forged from the Elder Guardian's abilities.
At a glance, she might be mistaken for a freak or an Abyss spy, but
“No, no. Thank you for saving me. I'd have been in danger without you.”
Knight Ren brushed it off without a care.
“Now, all the obstacles are dead.”
Knight Ren shook off her sword, adjusted her chrome arm, and walked forward slowly.
“And beyond there waits our ultimate goal—the mother of those bastards who'll end this war and save everyone.”
She turned back to the goddess with a grin.
“Thanks to you, we made it here. I owe you my gratitude. Now for the final stage. Are you ready?”
The goddess nodded silently.
“Good. Then let's go. To save humanity.”
Kabooooom!
-Kieeeek!
The massive monster queen—big enough to stitch together four ogres—let out a dying screech as she collapsed.
A beast that even Ren from her past life couldn't have slain without resolving to die and collapsing the cave, yet it was no match for the goddess's avatar infused with monster essence.
...If I'd had this power in my past life, would things have turned out differently?
Even though she'd toppled the queen with ease, her heart felt heavy.
“Haha... hahaha!”
Knight Ren, splattered in blood, burst into loud laughter.
“A heroic feat, my friend! A warrior in black armor, soaring and hunting the Monster Queen! Your name will live on as legend in history!”
Her maniacal laughter suddenly shifted into a puzzled expression.
“Come to think of it, I never asked your name. What a blunder! ...Let me ask again. What is your name?”
She had so much she wanted to say.
About being another version of herself from the future, and the events that unfolded there.
As the goddess's avatar pondered what to say and opened her mouth,
[Closing viewing.]
The view blacked out like a snapped film reel.
“Good work. For your first trial, I'll give you 9 out of 10.”
When she opened her eyes again, the black-haired pretty boy overseer stood before her.
[Closing the game.]
Poof.
Her usual room welcomed the goddess as she exited virtual reality.
“...”
She knew it all along.
That place wasn't the past—it was just a game world.
A mere fake, dressed up like a hallucination of a distant, irretrievable bygone era.
“Sloth...”
Her constellation name was [Sacrifice Fallen into Sloth].
Since she hadn't actively transcended to godhood but was deified posthumously, she was infamous as a passive constellation.
Possessing immense power and faith, yet never using it, holing up in her abode like a silent god.
“Seems you've awakened from your deep slumber.”
Why had she lived like that?
The continent and her comrades from back then didn't even remember them, yet instead of honoring them, she'd been lounging in her room like a slob. It was utterly unlike her. A profound sense of dissonance, as if something had tampered with her consciousness. But now it was different.
Though a false dream, it had freed her from the deep dream encroaching on reality.
Thanks to it, she could return to her senses.
Now she understood.
What she needed to do.
“First, I should go offer my thanks.”
The authority that implemented the game Akashic Archive was dream authority.
There was only one dream goddess, after all.
The goddess recalled the little girl goddess she'd seen long ago.
[Sacrifice Fallen into Sloth conveys her thanks.]
“...Pardon?”
A message from our constellation lady, delivered in the form of a constellation notification—Goddess Ren's thanks.
In this utterly bewildering situation, I could only sit there stunned.
[“I-It's fine! I didn't say a word about our apostle's identity!” says Dream Storyteller, trembling.]
No, if you're that scared, it's fine to tell her about my identity.
I'm an apostle too, so why has she been hiding who I am from the start?
I'd thought the furious goddess had stormed in because we used her story without permission in our game, but thankfully, that wasn't it.
She was expressing gratitude, instead.
Apparently, she'd asked our constellation lady for my contact info to thank the one who made the game.
Gratitude, huh.
Probably because we made her story so badass.
Good call not including any negative scenes to sell [Knight Ren] as a limited character.
If we'd made her look even a bit silly or bad, our constellation lady and I would've faced divine judgment by now.
Thinking about it sends chills down my spine.
[Sacrifice Fallen into Sloth asks if she may make one request.]
“Of course! You permitted us to use your story—what's a little request among friends? Just say the word, Goddess!”
She's the core character of our game's most vital tutorial. I'd prostrate myself for any favor.
Asking to tweak her nose height or add a halo in key scenes? Totally fine.
But her request was way off my expectations.
[Sacrifice Fallen into Sloth wishes for the names of the 10 special forces members to be added to the game.]
“The special forces?”
Hearing the full story from Goddess Ren, I understood her request.
The special forces who entered the underground cave with her to slay the Abyss Queen.
Each sacrificed themselves in key positions, guiding Ren to the queen and playing pivotal roles in the mission's success.
But since everyone, Ren included, met their end underground, no one survived to tell the tale. All that was known was that the monsters died with the queen, proving their success.
Without survivors to share details, history only recorded the tale of Ren—the renowned leader of the special forces.
The soldiers who drew aggro outside had their stories passed down, but not the special forces.
Goddess Ren's request was to preserve their stories in the game, at least.
“Don't worry, Goddess. Soon, everyone in the world will know those ten names.”
The tutorial—the part players remember most.
Etch it deep there, and her wish would be fulfilled.
Plus, [Monster Queen] is the tutorial's final boss, so she'll debut first in weekly boss content.
Perfect to feature them as allies there.
From now on, players will hunt the queen weekly for rewards and honor those ten heroes in the process.
When I relayed that I'd add them as heroic figures and that the Monster Queen would die tens of thousands, even billions of times at players' hands, the goddess smiled.
[Sacrifice Who Overcame Sloth beams brightly.]
A radiant smile, so vivid I could feel it through constellation language.