The True Avenger

"Thank you... for hearing me out..."

After a brief clash of words, we finally managed something that resembled a conversation. She wasn't an enemy — not for the moment, at least. She was a goddess who had descended from the Heavenly Realm, but she had no intention of treating me as a foe. That aside, what was that thing Opera had just said?

"You..."

"You're saying you can save this woman?"

Jeong Gyeongtaek pointed at Kang Yeongmin, who lay asleep under a slumber spell, and put the question to Opera. I'd been about to say it myself. Opera rose from her seat and looked down at Kang Yeongmin.

"Yes. I can do it."

"How...?"

"A miracle."

"A... miracle?"

"Yes. If I perform a ritual that only the gods of the Heavenly Realm have carried out across a long span of time, I can restore this woman's mind."

"Ah... ah..."

Heavenly Realm. Goddess. Miracle. From an ordinary person's point of view, it was absurd. But with Gates spreading across the entire world, the existence of gods wasn't all that strange anymore.

"Thank you...! Thank you...!"

Jeong Gyeongtaek seized Opera's hands and poured out his gratitude. She accepted it as if it were nothing at all.

"Not at all. This is simply what I ought to do."

"Ah... ah..."

Get a load of that old man's eyes. He was wearing some kind of rapturous expression. Then Jeong Gyeongtaek turned to me, his gaze brimming with expectation.

"Awakener... sir..."

"Yes."

"Are you... a god as well?"

"....."

What was I supposed to say to that. I'd been delegated a goddess's authority, sure enough. But could I really call my current state that of a god? I looked at Opera. She shook her head. So that was a no.

"No. I've merely been delegated a goddess's authority."

"How...!"

Jeong Gyeongtaek gazed even at that as if it were something sacred. It was kind of creepy.

"It's a long story to explain... and besides, shouldn't we get these survivors out of the Gate first?"

"Ah... right... right...! Excuse me, miss? Can you stand?"

Jin Gaeun nodded and got to her feet. I snapped my fingers, draping a pelt of condensed mana over both Jin Gaeun and Kang Yeongmin. Jin Gaeun walked on her own; I carried Kang Yeongmin. The reason I was the one carrying her was that Jeong Gyeongtaek had something else to take care of.

"What's that suitcase for?"

At that moment, Opera pointed at the carrier and asked. Too late, was I. Inside it, Shin Eunyeong was moaning with her limbs severed.

"There's a first-aid kit in it."

I made an excuse. We were the same divine rank anyway, so even Opera wouldn't be able to discern whether I was telling the truth. I was also interfering so she couldn't read Jeong Gyeongtaek's memories.

"Is that so... But you have magic. Why bother with a first-aid kit..."

Persistent, wasn't she.

"I thought the same thing, actually..."

I pointed at Jeong Gyeongtaek.

"He insisted we might still need one."

A disbeliever who couldn't put his faith in magic. That was how I dressed Jeong Gyeongtaek up. Opera accepted it.

"Ah... I see."

"Yes."

Opera seemed to sink into thought for a moment. I seized the opening and sent Jeong Gyeongtaek a signal with my mind.

A brief exchange. Opera spoke up as if something felt off.

"What are you two talking about so..."

Why was she so nosy about everything.

"It's a private conversation. Are other people's conversations really that interesting to you?"

I said it roughly. Please just stay out of it.

"Ah, n-no, I'm sorry."

"It's fine. That aside — why are you here in the first place?"

Now it was my turn. I cut to the heart of the matter. The reason she was here. Why a goddess, of all people, would walk into a Gate.

"Ah... that's..."

Opera looked at Jeong Gyeongtaek. A hesitant, troubled gaze. Jeong Gyeongtaek wore an expression that said he had no idea what was going on. Looks like they wanted to talk alone.

"Let's get things in order first, then talk."

"Y-yes...!"

"Thank you..."

Did goddesses have any verbal tic besides thank you? Anyway, we took Jin Gaeun and Kang Yeongmin and moved out of the Gate.

A café nearby. When we emerged from the Gate, a thin rain was falling. After some debate over where to talk, we settled on a café. Jeong Gyeongtaek called in his bodyguards and took Jin Gaeun and Kang Yeongmin to the Association. Before sending Kang Yeongmin off, Opera cast a simple spell on her. From what I gathered, that was the starting point of the miracle. We received the location of the hospital room where Kang Yeongmin would be admitted, along with Jeong Gyeongtaek's phone number, and then we parted ways.

Opera used magic to create simple modern clothes and changed into them. Her original outfit had been far too revealing. Though the current one wasn't much better — her chest was so large there was nowhere decent to put my eyes. She'd been drawing men's stares since earlier. Not that I cared.

"I've always wanted to try this."

Opera sipped the coffee from the small cup.

"But the cup is a bit sma— ah...! Bitter...!"

Of course the cup was small. It was espresso. I stared at her, dumbfounded.

"So. Why did you come looking for me? Me, specifically?"

"That's..."

Opera set down her cup and answered after a moment of deliberation.

"...Where is Aria?"

So that was the real issue.

"Why do you want to know?"

"You know. You know where she is."

"I do, yes."

"Because of your wish, Aria was stripped of her divinity."

"Because of me? I heard it was the Heavenly Realm that arbitrarily interpreted my wish."

"Ugh...! That's...!"

Aria had admitted as much herself. The ones who had arbitrarily ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠interpreted my wish and driven her to commit atrocities were none other than themselves. And so I had been inflicting a fitting retribution upon Aria. That was how I saw it.

"Please give Aria back..."

Opera looked at me with sorrowful eyes.

"We know what your wish was, too."

"...."

"Revenge, wasn't it? Revenge against Aria, who selected you as a Hero of another world and put you through every hardship imaginable."

"It might have been."

"....But Aria isn't guilty."

"She herself said she was the one who selected me as a Hero."

"That was... just cutting her loose as a scapegoat..."

"What is that supposed to mean."

"The truth is, goddesses don't have that much power."

"...."

"You've heard this kind of story, haven't you...? Everyone has talent, but if they meet the wrong time and the wrong place, that talent never sees the light of day..."

That was true. Say you had incredible marksmanship but were born in the Paleolithic era. Or you had a genius for knapping stone tools but were born in the modern age. I understood what she was saying. The reason I'd been summoned to another world was that I possessed a mana compatibility that digested that world's mana better than anyone — an ability that would never have manifested if I'd stayed on Earth. The Heavenly Realm had been using that for ages, kidnapping people from their homelands and making them save other worlds.

"All of this is nothing more than the Heavenly Realm's unilateral actions... We simply... follow the orders from above..."

"So you're saying you're innocent. Is that it?"

"........"

She couldn't say a word. Just —

"I'm sorry..."

Nothing but an apology.

"If words like that solved anything, there wouldn't be wars in this world."

"...."

Tears trembled at the corners of Opera's eyes.

"So you came looking for Aria?"

"Yes..."

"And once you find her?"

"I'll take her back... to the Heavenly Realm..."

"...."

Take Aria back to the Heavenly Realm. Frankly, that didn't matter to me anymore. My goal had been to drag Aria down from her seat as a goddess. To make her recognize that she was nothing more than an ordinary sow — a lump of meat, and nothing else. I'd already achieved that goal, more or less. Aria could never return to the body and mind she'd once had. In that case.

"Take her."

Opera's shoulders flinched. But her expression wasn't a happy one.

"I want to, as well..."

"Then do it."

"It's not that simple..."

She'd said a goddess's authority was low, and it really did seem that low. Nothing she tried was ever easy, apparently.

"So what do you need to do?"

"I need your help."

"My help?"

"You used a wish to take revenge on Aria, didn't you...?"

"...Well, it wasn't my intention, but... they said it was what I wanted most, so... I suppose so?"

"Then please. Set Aria free."

"Me? How?"

"By using a wish."

"A wish?"

"Yes."

A wish. Come to think of it, I'd absorbed divine authority and learned a fair bit about what a "wish" actually was. A wish was a miracle that manifested only when the one who desired it had accomplished a feat of corresponding magnitude. But how was Aria supposed to accomplish any feat. Aria was a complete invalid with no arms or legs. What was she supposed to accomplish in a body like that. Opera seemed to understand that as well.

"Aria has no accomplishments to her name that would fulfill a wish."

"So what do you propose."

"I'll grant your wish."

"What?"

"I know your true nature."

A man whose nature was more wicked and destructive than anyone's. And yet a man who still pursued goodness.

"...."

She wasn't wrong. Strangely, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠boundary of that so-called goodness had grown rather blurry of late. Was it good or evil to harm others for the sake of avenging one's parents. That kind of question. Either way, I'd decided to consider it good.

"And?"

"I'll bet on that goodness. On the chance that you'll set Aria free."

"Go ahead. I was going to let her go anyway."

"R-really...?"

"Yes. However."

I had no accomplishments of my own. Opera explained that part.

"You became a being comparable to a god while still in an ordinary human's body. You can use that as your accomplishment."

"Is that allowed?"

"We'll have to fudge things a little..."

She twirled a lock of hair around her finger, as if embarrassed. Not that I cared.

"Fine. I'll do it."

"Then... please write it."

She drew a sheet of papyrus and a quill from her robes.

"Return Aria to the Heavenly Realm. That's all you need ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to write."

"All right."

And so I did. I wrote it exactly as she'd said, not a single character off.

However.

"....?"

A moment of silence. Then Opera's face went ashen.

"W-what... what is that...?"

"...Huh...?"

Opera seemed to be talking to someone. Someone in the Heavenly Realm, most likely.

"But... you're saying there's no hope of restoring Aria...?"

And a moment later... the connection seemed to cut off, and Opera knocked back her espresso in one gulp. Then —

"Tell me the truth."

"Ask."

"Is it true that you... severed Aria's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠limbs and made her a sex slave?"

"....."

"Answer... me..."

Her voice was trembling.

"I heard... you. The one you made the target of your revenge... wasn't Aria. It was the Heavenly Realm."

"Hearing you say it like that, it kind of sounds right."

"You...!"

"I thought my target of revenge was Aria, too... but I guess the wish didn't see it that way."

I'd found it strange myself. I'd been searching, subconsciously, for someone to take revenge on. And I'd thought that someone was Aria. But something had been off. No matter how much I tormented her, no matter what monstrous evil I committed by turning her into a sex slave — something in my heart remained unfilled. Which left only one conclusion.

Aria was not my true target of revenge. My real target was —

"So... you were going to sacrifice Aria..."

Opera's face was steeped in horror.

"Ahaha... this can't be... Aria... that kind Aria..."

Opera rose from her seat, swaying. Then —

Thud.

She lost consciousness.