A Villainess Should Be Strong

"I'm going to what?" Estelle asked, tilting her head as she questioned.

Astarte was hesitant as he stepped backwards, away from his older sister. Revealing an awkward smile, he spoke up. "Sister, I don't think I will go down to the mortal realm with you today. I just remembered that I have things to do here. Please take care and don't let yourself be harmed in any sort of way. Remember, sister. Their realm is separate from ours, and we can't interfere too much.. or else their fates are going to be ruined altogether. Surely, you do not want to be the cause of that, do you?"

[He is hiding something.]

The original Goddess' personality before it got matured by the course of things was naive, so naturally in a situation like this, the Goddess would actually accept Astarte's response as a natural one and let it slide. However, Estelle began to sense a strange discrepancy between this younger God and the actions that were told to her.

[Please, don't let him be a traitor in this timeline as well.] Estelle hoped that the younger God was truly like the stories, genuinely caring and loving for the Goddess. If not, she would have to renew all of her understanding of the word 'love'.

She hoped that the matter was just something that would be best for Estraea to not know. Something terrible that could be resolved behind her back, and that the God Astarte was not the key perpetrator here.

"En, I don't want to!" Although Estelle was suspicious, she still played the role of 'Estraea' in order to mask her true identity.

"Then.. I'm leaving now, alright? Take care. I will remind you once more.. that you mustn't do outrageous things, you mustn't fight the world's fates,"  Astarte heaved a sigh. Truthfully, if he could, he would just tell this older sister of his to not go into the mortal world. Because there would always be a heavy risk to her actions, one that would be irreversible if she made a mistake.

However, he knew that the Goddess would not concede to him no matter how much he tried to persuade her. Because she was made to be that way. The Absolute wanted her to be the epitome of freedom, the embodiment of the term 'carefree'. She had every right to do so.

Astarte's words caused Estelle to frown internally.

[Fighting the world's fates?] Estelle held this phrase and repeatedly scrutinized it inside her mind, searching for the meaning.

While she was deep in thought, Astarte waved goodbye to her and left the vicinity quickly. Inside the vast space, only Estelle was left.

The world's fate.

What was the world's fate? According to her understanding of the phrase, it was the sequence of cause and effects that happened inside a certain world. Inside the string of events, there would be fates for each and every denizen of said realm, creating a large paradox where one misalignment could cause the change for thousands of others. The world's fate was not permanent, it was something that could be 'changed'. However, one must be mindful that when this change occurs, the ones affected will not only be a select few individuals, but a lot more than that.

For example, if a simple salaryman who was destined to work like that for the rest of his life suddenly 'changed' his fate and built a huge company that reached the pinnacle of the business world, then not only his life, but many others that would be accepted into this new budding company would be affected. Originally, these people were supposed to work for other entities because this company wouldn't exist if not for this 'change'.

Of course, there was a difference between natural change and forced change. Natural change was unprepared for and unintentional, whereas forced ones were the opposite.

As a Goddess, Estraea was able to tweak this fate and commit forced changes by quite the generous amount. Thus, her actions such as protecting or blessing certain races were judged as acceptable by this world's fate. Her existence was just that huge.

Her actions were 'forced changes', because she was not supposed to exist within the realm, she was an outsider who held a high authority, thus being immune to the world's fate's eyes.

However, what if she wanted to fight against this string? Fighting and tweaking were very different.

A Goddess' fate. Even as a Goddess, she also had her own fate.

Was her fate to die under the hands of Ophelia? Resulting in the others desperately trying to save her, ending up in 'fighting' their own fates, which was to lose the esteemed Goddess?

If so, then the very existence of 'Estelle Clareste' and 'Kirisaki Reina' were the byproducts of fighting this fate. It wasn't even just one person, but several people who joined in this maddening plan.

Was that how it all started? The sequence of destruction that escaped to the new Surface. The one that caused the suffering of many powerful individuals. The one that even affected the Absolute, who was supposed to be this impenetrable being. Holding the power of Origin couldn't even shield him from destruction. Who could do such a thing?

Who could offer a trade for the being's unmatchable power in order to salvage her?

There was only one lingering answer that Estelle had formed. It was the tree the Absolute spoke about back in his space. The Tree of Origin, Yggdrasil. If anything, this tree would be the ultimate form of the world's fate. The mother of all life, it would also hold the realms together and balanced.

[I think.. I have to inquire more about this tree later.] She noted the task down, but her current priority was to go and look at the ones who were the main figures in Goddess Estraea's downfall.

She wanted to stay somewhat positive for the time being. But she knew. She was clearly missing something.

What was it? About her fates? The ones she repelled? What was she supposed to do?

Be a villainess. That was the fate she learned of back when she first jumped into this world.

[...Villainess. I have never asked about this matter to the Absolute, have I? Perhaps.. it's time for me to ask about this.]

Estelle let out a loud sigh as another thing caught her eyes.

The intricate ring that snugly fit on her slender fingers shone with a golden light.

Estelle's mind was baffled once again. This was the ring that she retrieved back in the Surface. The one that was supposedly passed down for the Elven Royals. It was here with her. As the Goddess' Estraea's possession.

How come she never noticed that such a light came out of the ring? No... it wasn't that she forgot. The ring she possessed, the light emitted was blue.

She began to look for signs of other accessories. She found another one, but it was of another type.

The ring was paired with a matching earring. Estraea touched her left ear. The long, dangling earring was there.

What was its purpose? Who gave it to her? Naturally, it should be the Absolute. However, would he really bestow such things to her just because of aesthetics? It couldn't be. She saw the exact ring in the Surface, so something important must be behind this pair of jewelries.

Stressed out, Estelle was frustrated by the amount of new things she is encountering. Her mind had to constantly work to process all of them, to find out the secrets.

While thinking about all of this, her hands were actively operating the gate to the mortal realm. It was locked, and would only be opened when there is someone like Estelle or Astarte, who had the necessary authority. Using her lingering memories, Estelle let her body begin the process. Her body showed signs of practiced actions, proving that she had indeed done this process way too many times for her own good. By the time she wrapped her thoughts and organized them up, the pinkish, psychedelic gate had already opened successfully.

The gate that connected the higher realms to the other dimensions. By passing through this, she would fall down into the mortal realm and see exactly who ended up causing the world to fall apart and letting her soul break into pieces.

Without thinking much, Estelle stepped into the gate. She felt a light tingling sensation as she crossed the dimensions and opened her eyes to another environment. The sight that greeted her once she passed was nothing unfamiliar.

She arrived at one of the barren lands in the middle of nowhere. She faintly remembered that she would always use this place as the connector, because no one would be here and it was strangely compatible with the dimension breaking gate. Even though the gate was created here multiple times, it didn't affect the balance of this area at all.

She was here. In the late Surface, one that would crumble down and become the infamous Underworld in the near future.