Goddess Reborn: An Isekai LitRPG — The Mirror World Progression Saga

The way Glaelychus studied her made it clear to Sammy that he had not shared the vision… She wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. Then he had a dark grin cross his features as he leaned in a bit to say, “You have no chance against me or the Sage, youngling.”

Sammy exhaled in annoyance as she withdrew her hand testily. She favored him with a sour scowl. “Speak for yourself. You had to sacrifice a priceless sword and run away.”

This did actually get him, as his face twitched once. He shrugged. “That is a fair point, but I had not planned to face him there, and facing him remains a longer game. I would not have ever needed to if something hadn’t woken him up. Now I realize what. Now I realize who.”

Sammy continued to glare at him. “You can’t possibly be blaming me-”

“Don’t deny what you’ve done!” Glae shouted with a pointed finger, fury painting his features.

The whip-crack of the anger and motion was enough to make her jump and back up. She narrowed her eyes at him. “How — fucking — dare you…”

“Spare me your protestations!” Teeth bared, Glae continued, “Will you deny that you caused a warble in reality? Twice, even?”

Sammy froze at that. Shit. I definitely did.

“Tch!” Glae let his hand drop, his face smoothing over. Nonetheless, abject hatred remained in his eyes. “No need to answer, as it’s painted on your face, Fate Goddess. You messed with things you shouldn’t have. You are a trickster, an underminer — you’re a damned monkey wrench! A supernatural wildcard painted with chaos.

“Your recklessness did this. Your recklessness killed Klymene Elvenblood, destroyed that priceless artifact, lost a battle, and possibly lost a war in dealing so much terror to the Naugites. The fight has likely gone out of most of them. And they held… so much promise.”

I can’t believe he called me the wildcard! Oh, the fucking irony.

Under the whirlwind of accusations, Sammy’s back quite literally stiffened as she lifted her chin. “Fuck you, Glae — I’m not taking the blame for any of it. Especially with your attitude. You knew the risks, so did she I’m sure as a capable warrior, and every defiant thing you did against the Dominion was a massive gamble. You kept winning out but it was inevitable you’d lose. Heads, heads, heads, but tails has to come eventually.”

They stared each other down for a silent spell. A duel of glares.

Glae finally sniffed derisively and said, “The coin has flipped on its side for now, at least for me. That war, specifically, perhaps is tails at this point. What has become of Zadkiel?”

Oh, wouldn’t you like to know? Should’ve led with the sugar first, bitch. Maybe I’d have told you. And I totally won the glare duel. He flinched first!

Sammy crossed her arms, allowing some satisfaction to enter her features. “Perhaps I have a morsel to share on the matter to trade. But first, you need to pony up on your existing agreement. You told me you’d tell me what you are. So? Out with it.”

Frowning, he nonetheless answered immediately, “Demigod half-titan. Titans who were the gods and the origin of the giants. I survived by hiding behind multiple entities and the power of illusion. In that, we are similar though you are a beginner comparatively.

“Demigods don’t need worship to survive but it is harder to advance and level. We’re made to adventure like the common mortals, essentially, though we gain some extras from belief. More if we choose to harvest it. I generally did not.”

Sammy’s attitude shifted on a dime due to her piqued curiosity. “Amazing! So you took your time living among mortals in the Southlands — Traesh and the mountains you were born in especially! And-and you were actually behind all sorts of legendary heroes! Warriors, mages, rogues — like Devero and- oh! Skippin’ Phin?!”

He looked at her askance, disbelieving of her sudden interest. “Yes…”

“Dodging the Dominion for a century or more! Awesome. I wish I could make a few demigods. Hmm. I wonder what the hard requirements are…” Maybe level 7? It has to be a big benchmark! If not, maybe level 10. Wait, why am I-

“It wouldn’t matter. This is not an age in this world where it’s feasible. Especially with your likely very short lifespan going up against the Dominion.”

“Har har, Glae. Keep thinking you know everything. But you’re right about one thing: time is short. Nonetheless, if I knew the bare bones requirements, I might be able to jigger a workaround solution to costs and such...” Once again, she just randomly started musing mid-conversation. Damn it! Stop, brain! I blame Ozra for this.

Glae scoffed at her, shaking his head in disgust. “That’s you, isn’t it? Trying to find a way to cheat. Skirt the rules. Some are there as core stabilizers, some are there as the whole anchorage and point to existence. When there is so much missing information for all of us, meddling with those principles can unravel everything.”

He pointed his finger at her again, though they were no longer close so it wasn’t exactly in her face. Nonetheless, he was clearly incensed and adamant. “If you continue to do such things — and I will be paying closer attention for signs — I will put you down like the mad dog you’d prove yourself to be. I’ll tear down whatever walls you’ve built in Geirkos and every king and bishop you’ve raised up, one by one if I have to.

“We are not friends and we are not allies. You will leave Traesh and leave Traesh out of your machinations! This is my territory and you are not welcome. You can have Vitarion — shove him up your ass for all I care. And all the rest of the half-rates I left from going on the campaign! Hyginos is mine, though. You wouldn’t want him. He cannot be anything but mine from top to bottom, to root and core.”

Sammy, her fists clenched, nonetheless controlled her own anger bubbling up hotter with every word. She was somewhat aided by the tumultuous mix of emotions — a sense of regret and loss. The echo of Bo Fengshi’s sadness for what seemed like a brother to her once.

“Some ‘summer cherry,’ Fortuneteller.” A bitter thought directed through the greater cosmos.

To her surprise, the Fortuneteller answered with apologetic airs, ‘Regrettable, but the fruits of summer are always fleeting. A bite is a bite and a hard, bitter seed so often lies within. Consider all those you secured as yours despite this nation’s loyalty. Exiles with regrets, but this man is a harsh master. He makes precious few friends for all his might.’

“Some might be spies.”

‘Then vet them.’

Sammy took a deep breath, then replied to Glae, “His choice is his choice, and Traesh’s choice is theirs, and so on for the rest of them. If you exile them, then of course I will shelter them.”

Glae burst out in a laugh of pure mockery. “Yes, you’re a veritable saint taking the high road! As long as it doesn’t require taking responsibility for your actions, right?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?! I guess you’ve never made a fucking mistake in your whole life, huh? All I can do is go forward! And, you know what? I saved Hyginos’s fucking life! That marriage would’ve been poison and my advice dodged a bullet- a-an arrow, whatever. Yeah! A poisoned arrow!”

For perhaps the first time in the conversation, Glaelychus’s intense eyes slid away from hers, annoyance in his features — no doubt for the truth she was spitting.

Sammy added, “Not to mention, when I got into your precious League of Glass, I uncovered a spy for the Dominion! I guess you’re not so perfect after all, hmm?”

His sour expression only deepened, but he turned his eyes back to hers. “That you’ve shown elements of merit is why we are having a peaceful meeting. That you are not without potential use to me is why I did not conspire immediately to destroy you. That compromise between us can serve me is why I have remained generous toward a future treaty of understanding.”

She stared at him incredulously, shaking her head. Generous?! Right! And all his words… me, me, me. Not his nation, not his people. He doesn’t really care about them, does he? “Just what the hell is your plan, anyway? What about the Dominion? The Naugites?”

“My plans are my own. You can throw yourself against the Dominion next. Be my guest. I wash my hands of Zadkiel, as it is obvious your hooks are in him and tainting him already. Even if he seemed free I’d suspect your secret slavery. Considering his weaknesses, he’ll probably fit the collar for you himself. Fine. Throw him at the Dominion yourself. Perhaps he’ll sack another city or two.”

Sammy barked a bitter laugh. “So now you want someone else to be your distraction. To soften up your enemy. Is that it?”

“If you can manage it. Or perhaps, by miracle, you’ll conquer all the way to the Gates of Heavenly Order.” His tone made it obvious how little he believed it. “Plans can change. Along the way, you both would’ve proven yourselves. From apparent zero percent chances to one percent is a whole world of difference.”

“Sounds more like running alongside the boulder downhill after others did the pushing.”

“Only if you do not consider that everyone and everything else aside from the Sage himself are just continents of jungle brush to chop through on the way to face the beast. You’ll need a vast amount of time and toil to get through it, but your muscles will grow stronger. War will scour all the fat out, will roughen the smoothness of the lies you tell yourself.”

He shrugged. “I’ve already been through enough gauntlets. Countless.” He vehemently pointed at himself with a thumb. “I tamed the Land of Naug because I created Zadkiel and was behind him the entire way. I fashioned him out a little snot-nosed runt! Nonetheless a diamond in the rough for those parts because he had half a brain. Sadly, the other half is dominated by fueling his erection.”

Though she was fascinated by the shift of the conversation, she didn’t let herself get distracted internally from one particular point: him and his ‘plan changes.’

He isn’t trustworthy and I can only expect him to betray me. If I ‘prove’ myself, will I secure him? He wants to fucking win himself. Would he wait until ‘after’ the Sage to come for me? Is there an after, and do I have to account for two enemies now to survive?

Despite her internal deliberations, she said, “All that, and you’re just going to throw it away, now?”

Glae glanced over at the goddess mural with the smudged-out face. “If he persists — if he returns in truth — it remains in his hands. All the investment is what has been put into motion indirectly. Were he gone… some inferior contingencies might work… but the region only holds together by thin, taut strings. It will easily snap back to the old ways without the haphazard patch of his religion. But that requires deific power because it is the foundation.

“As for me, my plans cannot include potentially wasting time actively there. Either my agents could wrangle some order out of the chaos or they’d fail, and that’s that. Zadkiel’s return is an order of magnitude the safer bet.”

Shit. Zadkiel can’t know, but I need him back, just as a check on whatever this is. Better us than Glae manipulating shit, even though he’s probably got a million spies there. And this is further proof my bastard is legit good for the region…

Glae sighed and said wearily, “You cannot imagine how difficult it was keeping him focused all this time…”

“Oh, I can. Trust me.”

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