Brand New Life Online: Rise Of The Goddess Of Harvest

The Death Apostles all lowered their heads in deep reverence, every single one of them showing absolute respect toward the figure seated at the head of the vast black table.

Some of them were corrupted kings of spirits who had once ruled entire realms. Some were gods themselves who had fallen from grace. A few were once legendary heroes whose names still echoed in mortal legends. Others were monsters that had been granted true intelligence and free will. Despite their varied and often terrifying origins, they were all creatures of great strength and unwavering loyalty to him.

Among them stood three Demon Kings of particular note.

The Demon King of Flood appeared as twin mermaids, wearing their usual contrasting expressions. The older sister looked defensive and constantly on guard, her sharp eyes scanning the chamber for any sign of weakness. The younger one seemed afraid of nearly everything around her, shrinking slightly whenever anyone raised their voice.

Then there was the Demon King of Swarms, currently taking a smaller form in her preferred human appearance. She was small and silent, yet she always wore a quiet, knowing smile that suggested she was fully aware she was stronger than almost everyone present. She was held back only by him and him alone. She remained the only one among his Death Apostles who never greeted him with full cordiality or open submission.

He still wondered from time to time if he should have awakened them in the first place, but it was far too late for any regrets now.

”What happened to Jester? Where is he?!” he roared, his deep voice echoing powerfully through the vast chamber. ”I know he is a Player, but he has never missed a single meeting before.”

”...Jester, you say?” the Fairy King Oberon wondered aloud, glancing at the empty seat that always sat beside him. He normally held the hand of a beautiful Succubus woman, another Death Apostle with whom he was deeply in love. ”Well! That fool is likely off doing some heinous thing back on his home world, hahaha! Humans are truly disgusting creatures. Why even allow one of them to become part of our group, Your Majesty? We should simply kill them all, right, my beloved?”

”Indeed!” the Succubus nodded, laughing as she moved her long purple hair with a graceful flick of her wrist. A pair of demonic butterfly wings fluttered lightly behind her. She was part Succubus and part Darkwood Fae, the daughter of Lilith the Archdemon of Lust and the Patriarch of the Darkwood Fae Family. Her true name was Lilim. ”We should enslave them instead. It would be far more entertaining.”

”Jester is always a little annoying...” muttered the younger sibling of the Demon King of Flood twins, her voice soft and hesitant. ”M-Maybe this is for the better, Y-Your Majesty?”

”Hmph! I do not like him either...” the older twin said, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. ”But why would he not be here? Even we made the effort to come all this way!”

”Hmmm...” The Demon King of Death looked carefully at the empty seat and then noticed a black stone resting upon it. The stone looked cracked and severely damaged. ”What?!”

He connected his power to the soul stone without hesitation. In that instant, pure shock and disbelief flooded his face as the truth became clear.

”Impossible!”

As he screamed, every one of his Death Apostles panicked. Their expressions shifted rapidly from calm reverence to genuine alarm and confusion.

Among them sat a young-looking child with pale skin and long gray hair that fell past her shoulders. A small black spider rested calmly on the back of her hand. She was the youngest of the Goddesses of Fate from Greek Mythology, one of the three Moirai.

Clotho, the Spinner of Fate.

In her small hands she held a gray thread of Fate that shimmered faintly with residual power. She was perhaps among the strongest members of his entire Kingdom. She had chosen to follow him after her sisters had constantly tried to control her every action, always calling her ”the most impulsive” of their trio.

She had grown tired of the world as it was and wanted more for herself and for the gods. In him she had seen a true opportunity to finally rise as gods who could conquer both the realm of the living and the realm of the dead together. Because of that long-held desire, she had begun weaving his fate carefully, guiding him step by step toward victory. Naturally, she did not offer the same favor or protection to everyone else present in the chamber.

And Jester... had been a complete wildcard that nobody expected to die so permanently.

”The Wielder of Chaos itself is dead?!”

”Impossible!”

”Jester is among our strongest, is he not?!”

”And he can revive endlessly... did he die in his human form?”

”No, on Earth he is a powerful dark magician!”

”But... who could have done this...?”

The Demon King narrowed his eyes and gazed deeper into the thread of life with Clotho’s careful assistance, watching the fragmented events that had unfolded through her limited power.

”My King...” Clotho spoke softly, her voice carrying a note of genuine unease. ”Jester was killed by... a woman. Someone who pierced both his soul and his body at the same time. She shattered his soul and this vessel completely, destroying him eternally.”

”W-Who? Who is she?!” the King demanded, staring hard at the blurry, ethereal forms that appeared before him. No clear image of the attacker could be seen no matter how hard he focused.

”Fate is not a surveillance camera, and I hold the lesser authority among my sisters,” Clotho sighed with mild frustration. ”T-This is all I can show you, My King. The threads are too tangled.”

”You are useless!” he roared in sudden anger, smashing the heavy desk in front of him with one fist and shattering it into countless pieces. ”Who dares oppose my army?! Who dares kill one of my Death Apostles?! Who dares insult me like this?! Trace them! Find them! Who was she?!”

”I remember something,” the Demon King of Swarms said at last, finally revealing her face from beneath her white veil. ”Jester and I got along well enough in our own way. We used to talk about Earth and other private matters from time to time. He once told me he had found someone very interesting among the undead... a rebel. Did you know about her, Thanatos?”

”Rebel?!” Thanatos narrowed his eyes sharply, his voice dropping to a dangerous tone. ”What nonsense are you talking about—”

”A rebel!” she laughed, her voice carrying clear amusement and a hint of mockery. ”A zombie woman who appeared out of nowhere and rebelled against your reign! Hahahaha! Her name is... Elayne! Does that ring any bells?”

”...?”

Thanatos did not recognize the name at all.

He fell silent for a long moment and looked around at everyone else gathered in the chamber. No one else seemed to recognize the name either.

Of course he did not know her by that name.

He only knew her as Yggdrasil or Planta, after all.

Never would he have imagined that not knowing her true name would leave him so completely in the dark at a critical moment like this.

”Who is this ’Elayne’ you are talking about?!”

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