Brand New Life Online: Rise Of The Goddess Of Harvest

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“No offense, but your spirit has proven mediocre in combat. How can I be sure this alliance benefits us by keeping you as a participant rather than… by simply defeating your heroic spirit right here and now?” Elayne asked. Her aura surged as vegetation spread everywhere. “Can you give me a good reason why, Harumi?”

“Ahh…!” Harumi stepped back, overwhelmed by the immense divine aura rushing toward her.

“Master…!” Assassin moved forward, shielding her from the shockwave. “Ruler! Are you suggesting I’m so weak that an alliance wouldn’t benefit you?”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I mean,” Elayne nodded. “Now, Assassin. Do you truly believe you’re a worthy ally for someone of my caliber? I won’t reveal my true origin, but you’ve likely guessed a few clues already, haven’t you?”

“…!” Assassin clenched his teeth as he confronted a literal goddess of nature, life, and earth. His eyes widened before her overwhelming might. “I know your immense strength very well, Ruler…”

“Mom? Do we really need to fight?” Elena asked, looking worried.

“We do,” Elayne replied. “If you truly want to win, we do. We can’t afford an ally who’s dead weight, dear. I might sound harsh, but… if we want that wish—to revive everyone—we cannot hesitate.”

“…!” Elena realized her mother wasn’t entirely wrong. “I guess you’re right… But still.”

“Consider it a test, then,” Elayne whispered to her daughter, winking. “Let’s see how willing they are to ally with us.”

She turned to Assassin and began distorting the entire domain, infusing it with her divinity and spiritual power.

“Assassin… What if I try to kill you right now? What will you do?”

“I will fight, naturally!”

“For an Assassin, you’re far too good-natured.”

RUMBLE!

“…?!”

The ground beneath him shattered open. Giant sharp branches erupted—not aimed at him, but…

“Master!”

…toward Harumi.

Assassin, who had always seemed to fight only half-heartedly for some reason, changed the instant he saw his master in danger.

“I thought you had honor, Ruler!”

Rage surged through him. He transformed into purple lightning, his black katana slashing through the countless wooden branches targeting Harumi. She conjured barriers around herself, but they shattered like glass under the piercing sharp wooden spears.

“Master, close the domain—we have to escape!” Assassin urged.

“I can’t! She took control of it with a single thought!” Harumi panicked. “D-Damn it! I just wanted to become allies—why did it turn into this?!”

In her panic, she conjured dozens of spells and unleashed spheres of blood and darkness everywhere. Countless explosions barely slowed the endlessly surging vegetation.

“I’m just getting started.”

Elayne took a step forward. The entire area trembled. The hill beneath them shook and transformed—two enormous hands rose, followed by a full head and body. A titan of stone and vegetation roared.

“GROOOOHHHHH!”

The giant charged. Assassin became purple lightning again, swinging his sword and unleashing a dozen slashing attacks against the massive titan. It began collapsing rapidly before exploding.

BOOOM!

However…

“Assassin!”

Harumi cried out as three more Earth Titans manifested out of nowhere. They punched through her barrier and tanked her magic effortlessly.

“Ruler! Stop this! Fight me—not her!”

“…”

“RULER!!!”

Assassin screamed in fury, rushing to his master. He ran across one titan, slicing it into countless boulders, then leaped to another, beheading it and shattering its spirit core. He reached Harumi, grabbed her, and fled.

“We’re getting out of here!”

He swung his katana, splitting the domain’s spatial barrier in an attempt to escape.

However.

FLUOSH!

In an instant, Ruler appeared in front of the tear, as if she had regrown from vegetation right there.

“Ah!”

His eyes widened further as dozens of Rulers manifested around him, emerging from the plants…

They pressed their hands together, harnessing spiritual energy of gold and green light. Dozens of spiritual butterflies fluttered around their many bodies.

“World Pulse.”

“…!!!”

RUMBLE!!!

The entire world shook. Dozens of pure-divinity shockwaves struck Assassin in rapid succession. The ground shattered open beneath him, and the skies cracked and distorted.

BOOOMMM!!!

Blinding light engulfed him and his master…

“M-Mom, you didn’t have to hurt Harumi though—why did you—”

FLASH!

Amid the smoke, however, Assassin emerged—covered in dust, armor cracked, bleeding, but alive.

“UAAAAH!”

He charged—not toward Elena, but her Heroic Spirit. Elayne appeared in front of him, suddenly forging a sword of divine spirit wood.

CLASH!

“You’re wielding a blade?!”

The Heroic Spirit staggered back in shock as Elayne swung swiftly. Divine and spiritual energy melded into a serpentine dragon-like attack; each strike resembled a vicious bite.

CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

“W-What is this?! You’re a swordswoman!”

“I do possess that ability, yes.”

“How?! I thought you were a deity of some kind—”

“I am much more than that.”

Elayne raised her sword. A blinding pillar of celestial light formed and rushed downward toward Assassin and Harumi behind him.

“Celestial Descent.”

Facing absolute death, Assassin’s eyes widened. A flood of memories flashed through his mind in seconds, filling him with awe.

The memory of losing his family, powerless against enslavers.

The memory of being enslaved, tortured, and forced to obey every command.

The memory of being sold to a Japanese warlord—Oda Nobunaga—one day.

The memory of becoming a laughingstock in a foreign land, mocked for his appearance and called a demon—even by Nobunaga, who treated him as mere decoration.

And the memory… of the man who saw past his shell, who recognized the real person beneath, who saw him as someone with a heart, capable of fighting loyally like a true warrior.

The man… who gave him a sword.

For that man—and for everyone he later met, forging precious bonds that slowly transformed him into who he became.

“I will protect these bonds.”

His eyes erupted with purple lightning. Massive quantities of Mana surged through his body.

In an instant, the world trembled. The sword of celestial light halted as an explosion of lightning struck and destroyed it.

BOOOM!

Amid the smoke, he emerged. His black armor had cracked open, revealing his muscular upper torso, black skin, fiery golden eyes, and long black hair tied in a ponytail.

Countless scars covered his body. Lightning runes manifested around him. His aura exploded outward, resembling a malevolent demon god of thunderstorms.

“Oni-Raijin Kengen – Manifestation of the Black Thunder Demon.”

At long last, he had revealed his true self hidden beneath the black armor. Elayne—who possessed the [True Name Discernment] Ability—had already known who this man was.

But even so, she needed to force him out of his shell.

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