For the first time since I woke up in this world, the transparency of my feet faded, and they actually touched the floor. My silver skin flared into a brilliant, solid gold. For a heartbeat, I wasn't a ghost. I was a Goddess.
[ First Offering Received ]
[ Divine Status: Stabilized ]
[ The Whisper of Faith has reached the Altar ]
The sensation was intoxicating—a rush of power far more addictive than any caffeine or corporate success. But it was also terrifying. This man wasn't just giving me power; he was giving me his burden. He was asking for a miracle, and I was just a woman who used to manage software developers.
The old man stayed there for an hour, his forehead pressed against the cold stone, whispering names of people he wanted me to protect. I stood over him, my hand hovering just inches from his head.
I wanted to touch him, to tell him that his apples were the best thing I'd ever seen, but I knew my presence would likely overwhelm his fragile heart. When he finally left, his cane tapping slowly back into the forest, the temple felt different. The air was no longer stagnant; it felt charged.
"You're glowing like a cheap lamp," Arkael said, stepping out from the shadows. He walked to the altar and stared at the apples with a mix of disgust and curiosity.
"You look like a sun that's about to explode. All for three rotten fruits and a dying man's tears? Humans are such strange, inefficient creatures. They give the little they have to a stone that hasn't spoken in a millennium."
"It's not about the fruit, Arkael," I said, my voice still vibrating with that newfound gold light. I felt so much more 'present' now. "It's about the fact that he chose to believe when everything told him not to. That is more power than all the mana in your Abyss. It's an anchor."
Arkael picked up one of the apples. He bit into it, his sharp teeth crunching through the skin. "It tastes like dirt and struggle," he muttered, though he didn't spit it out.
Suddenly, the warmth in my chest turned into a sharp, icy sting. The golden light in the room turned a sickly, bruised purple. A notification didn't just appear; it slammed into my vision like a physical blow, accompanied by the sound of a distant, high-pitched scream that only I could hear.
[ EMERGENCY MISSION DETECTED ]
[ Title: The Cry from the Valley ]
[ Source: The Weeping Willow Orphanage ]
I doubled over, clutching my chest as a wave of cold terror washed over me. It wasn't my terror; it belonged to the children. I could hear them—jagged, frantic voices calling out for help in the dark.
"What is that?" Arkael demanded, his hand flying to the hilt of his sword. He could feel the shift in the mana. The air in the temple had turned freezing, smelling of wet fur and old, metallic blood.
"The children..." I gasped, the system's map burning into my mind. "The orphanage in the valley. The old man... he was praying for them. Something is there. Something dark and hungry."
[ Mission Details: A Shadow-Beast has been drawn to the hunger and fear of the orphans. The ancient sanctuary's protection is failing. ]
[ Objective: Save the 'Seeds of Faith'. ]
[ Penalty: If the children perish, your Divine Flame will be extinguished. ]
I looked at Arkael. He was watching me with those Crimson Red eyes, his face a mask of absolute indifference. He didn't care about orphans. He didn't care about 'Seeds of Faith' or human lives.
"Arkael, we have to go," I said, my voice steadying into the tone I used when a server went down at my old job. "Now."
"We?" Arkael laughed, a dark, vibrating sound that shook the dust from the rafters. "I am a King of the Abyss, not a savior of runts. Let the beast have them. It is the natural order. The weak are consumed by the strong, and the strong move on."
I flew toward him, my golden light clashing with his dark miasma. I was so close I could feel the cold heat radiating from his armor.
"Listen to me, you arrogant demon. Those children are my only hope for a future. If they die, my light goes out. And if my light goes out, this temple—your only hiding spot—disappears. You think the Council of Heavens won't find you if you're standing in the middle of a barren forest with no divine shield to hide your aura? You'll be a beacon for every angel with a sword."
Arkael's smirk vanished. I had hit the only thing he cared about: his own survival.
"You are a manipulative little ghost," he hissed, his claws extending from his gauntlets with a series of clicks.
"I'm a Manager, Arkael. And right now, we have a crisis," I countered. "You kill the beast, I stabilize the area. We save the 'clients,' we keep our home. Do we have a deal, or are you going to wait here for the angels to turn you into a trophy?"
Arkael let out a long, frustrated growl that made the broken glass in the windows rattle. He turned toward the exit, his massive wings of tattered shadow unfurling for the first time. They blotted out the morning light, making the temple feel like midnight.
"I will kill it," he said, his voice dropping into a lethal, low register. "But I will do it because I hate the smell of shadow-beasts. And if you get in my way, Goddess... I'll leave you in that valley to fade into nothingness."
"Try to keep up, then," I said, a spark of adrenaline hitting my spirit form.
[ Party Formed: The Fading Goddess&The Fallen King ]
[ Destination: The Weeping Willow Valley ]
Arkael took off with a blast of dark energy that nearly knocked me over. He was a streak of black lightning against the violet sky. I followed, a trail of silver-gold starlight behind him.
As we flew over the gargantuan trees of the forest, I looked down at my hands. They were solid. The old man's apples were still on the altar, but the goddess was finally going to earn them.