Actually… he might know who she is and what she's talking about after all. It takes him a moment to dredge up memories he'd rather not revisit from that day, but after doing so and matching his own experiences to what the goddess is saying, Oren thinks he knows exactly who she is. Of course, things hadn't happened remotely how she said they did.

  It'd been during a lull in the killing. He'd fought, or rather slaughtered his way through the Heavens singlehandedly, killing every single deity who dared to stand in his way. He'd massacred each and every one of them without mercy as they'd tried to stop him from reaching Law's chambers.

  But eventually, there'd come a point where there was seemingly no more resistance. A sense of quiet had fallen over the area accompanied by a disquiet that had fallen over him as he'd stomped down the hallway. Then, just as he'd been turning a corner, so had someone else. She'd ran right into his armored chest and bounced off of him, falling back on her ass and freezing up in terror when she'd seen his imposing form and blood-caked arms and armor.

  He'd considered killing her in that moment. It was what he'd been told to do, after all. Show no mercy. Give no quarter. Anyone he spared would just try to stab him in the back a moment later, or so it had been said. And yet… he'd already been a little weary. So he hadn't delivered the blow. Instead, he'd stomped right on past her and kept going on his way, expecting an attack from behind that had never come.

  The goddess he was staring at now and the woman he'd run into that day looked nothing alike, but Oren already knew why that was and it had nothing to do with Sophia herself. That was a whole other can of worms not worth getting into right now. While there'd been no spitting in his eye… it would make sense if that had been Sophia. Just as it made sense that she would try to embellish things a little bit, rather than expecting him to believe that 'the God Killer' had chosen to spare her out of everyone else for some reason.

  Taking his silence as intrigue at the mention of a reward rather than contemplation over past events, Sophia puffs up her chest, the Minor Goddess of Wisdom and Equity's eyes shining with excitement.

  "T-That's right. In saving my life, you've not only earned my favor but also a reward beyond your wildest imagination! But… before we go any further, I must know…"

  Here, her eyes narrow and she looks around at the corpses he just got done making.

  "… where did you come by such strength? How did you kill them all so swiftly? Is it that… perhaps you are a God of the Mortal Plane?"

  Oren snorts derisively at her words. He understands how she might come to that conclusion, but it was still rather silly. After all…

  "Do you sense any divinity from me, Goddess?"

  Flushing a bit, Sophia crosses her arms over her chest defensively.

  "W-Well… I mean, I'm not at my best at the moment! Besides, I've never met a God of the Mortal Planes before! How should I know how one might feel to my divine senses?"

  Hm, he supposed she had a point. To be fair, Oren hadn't found out that there were multiple types of Gods until after he'd murdered Law. It wasn't until he'd run into his first God Hunters back here on the Mortal Plane that he'd discovered in a rather backwards way who was left for them to hunt in the first place.

  With the deities of the Heavens slain one and all (save for the Minor Goddess standing in front of him apparently) those who had orchestrated the genocide had turned their attention to the divinities located on the Mortal Plane. Deities who were more tied to the elements, such as Forest Gods and River Goddesses. These were divinities who relied on the material far more than their kin up in the Heavens had. Gods of actual, real things instead of Gods of concepts and beliefs.

  It was no secret by this point that the Gods of the Heavens were dead and gone, but there were still plenty of Gods and Goddesses to be hunted down and slain. Oren wanted no part in it though, regardless of his past. No, rather… he wanted no part in it BECAUSE of his past.

  But he wasn't so stupid that he would tell the goddess standing in front of him who he truly was. Even if Sophia didn't seem to have a combative bone in her divine body, he had no desire to see the meager gratitude on her face morph into hatred and terror when he revealed himself as the man who killed her father.

  Instead, Oren decides to go with a somewhat safer secret… a less inflammatory truth that will hopefully distract her enough to obfuscate the greater truth he wants to keep hidden at all costs.

  "I'm not a God, Sophia. Not of the Heavens nor of the Mortal Plane. I'm an Otherworlder."

  She still reacts with shock, of course. Even some disgust as she rears back and wrinkles her nose cutely, seeing him in an entirely new light.

  "Wha- but that's not possible! You shouldn't be here!"

  Oren grunts noncommittally at that, somewhat prepared for this reaction. Having finished with cleaning his blade, he sheaths it back at his side and then busies himself with tidying up his supplies, even as Sophia seems torn between backpedaling at her initial reaction and ranting over his shameful existence.

  "I-I mean… obviously it's probably not your f-fault, of course! Is it your fault? Or were you summoned against your will?"

  "The latter."

  "Right! So really, don't take this personally… but you should NOT be here. My father Law decreed the summoning of Otherworlders to be illegal several millennia ago! It was one of his most important commandments! Your very existence breaks a fundamental law of the universe! You represent a huge threat to everything and everyone just by your very existence!"

  Oh, if only she knew. But Oren doesn't say anything. He just stays quiet, letting her tire herself out.

  "I s-suppose with my father and the others dead; there's nobody left to enforce the Sacred Commandments anymore, is there? So just anyone can go around breaking a cardinal rule and summoning an Otherworlder. Oh no, what if there are more of you…"

  He doesn't bother correcting the misconception about him being summoned to this world AFTER her father's death. In fact, that was precisely the mistake Oren had wanted her to make when he'd spilled this secret in the first place.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  If she knew he'd been summoned to this world years ago, she would likely get even more suspicious of his true nature. After all, back when Oren had originally been summoned, the Gods of the Heavens were still very much in charge. The God Hunters weren't a thing yet, and the divine pantheon that Sophia was part still held power over both their own domain as well as the Mortal Planes.

  Those who had summoned Oren to this world had managed to do so right under Law's divine nose. And then they'd spent years training him up, making him into the perfect weapon… into the perfect God Killer.

  "You understand, don't you? You have to know by this point. Just how fast you learn. How strong you get. Even though you've likely only been in our world for a few short months at most, you're already strong enough to kill an entire group of men without even breaking a sweat!"

  It was true, aside from the part about how long he'd actually been in their world. Hell, Oren could even understand why Law had made the commandment against summoning Otherworlders in the first place. On the one hand, it was a dick move to drag someone from their home. Oren had once dreamed of returning to Earth, of getting back to the simple life he'd left behind. He'd quite literally been mere inches from stepping foot on campus for the first time, having sacrificed everything to get accepted into the University of his dreams.

  … And then he'd been whisked away without so much as a 'by your leave', given a weapon, and told he had to fight.

  However, even setting aside the vile consequences of stealing someone from their life, there was also another very good reason for restricting the access of Otherworlders. Put simply, he and those like him were not properly tethered to this cosmos. They were not limited as those born in this universe were. A mortal being born on the Mortal Plane could never hope to ascend to the Heavens to lay waste to the Gods and Goddesses there. Nobody of this world could have become the God Killer.

  But as an Otherworlder, Oren's potential was limitless. That wasn't hyperbole or an arrogant boast either, that was a simple statement of fact. All he'd needed was time, and because of his natural advantages as an Otherworlder, he didn't even need all that much time before he was capable of slaying divinity itself.

  Again, he doesn't say any of that to Sophia. But he can't help feeling a little guilty all the same, so he throws her a bone.

  "When I was summoned, I was the only one they summoned at that time. There were no Otherworlders there with me."

  As far as reassurances and comforts went, Oren was well aware that it was a shit one. Still, Sophia is floundering hard enough that she latches onto it like a lifeline all the same. Swallowing thickly, the Minor Goddess slowly nods.

  "R-Right… alright. That's good. And what of those who summoned you? Where are they now?"

  Oren can only shake his head at that.

  "I don't know. I cut all ties with them."

  Again, it's clearly not what Sophia wants to hear. But the plucky Goddess is a survivor, that much is obvious. She's also very quick at adapting to a given situation. After a long moment, Oren watches as she swallows thickly, squares her shoulders, and visibly decides to work with what she has in front of her.

  "T-This changes nothing. While your status is certainly… unfortunate, I remain deeply indebted to you. You saved my life when you didn't have to… no, you saved my life when you had every reason to refuse to. I would still see you rewarded for your actions on this day, Oren."

  He raises an eyebrow, easily able to tell she's drawing out her speech for some reason. Where was she going with this, exactly?

  "… Unfortunately, I am currently bereft of the rewards you would be worthy of for saving my life. In fact, I am bereft of practically anything, weakened as I currently am. I will not mince words… I have the capability of rewarding you as you deserve, but only if you can help me reach safety. There is a hidden refuge near here, crafted by yours truly and filled with wonders beyond your imagination. See me there unharmed and not only will you be rewarded for saving my life today, but you will also be rewarded twice over for your troubles!"

  And there it was. By the time she's done speaking, the goddess is panting with how many words she's just spat out at once. Oren stares at her for a long moment, both surprised and not. On the one hand, he's surprised that a Daughter of Law would dare associate with a filthy Otherworlder like him. He was a living example of her dead father's broken commandments after all.

  … But on the other hand, what choice did Sophia have? She wasn't wrong about being weakened. In fact, it would be more accurate to say she was utterly helpless at this point in time. The next God Hunters who managed to track her down wouldn't even have to chase her… she would not be able to give them the run around like she had the last batch.

  Oren lets out a sigh as he looks around his clearing, at the piled logs and the stumps still sticking out of the ground. He'd had plans. Plans that involved staying away from anything else to do with gods or goddesses. Plans that involved keeping his head down and living here alone in the woods. It was to be his penance for his sins and punishment for his crimes.

  But who was he to decide his penance? Who was he to decide what his punishment for his crimes should be? Oren didn't necessarily believe in concepts like Fate or Destiny. Or rather, he didn't believe in their power. After all, neither Fate nor Destiny had helped the God who claimed to embody them. Oren had slain him without issue all the same.

  And yet, was it mere coincidence that Sophia had stumbled upon his clearing in all these woods? Was it mere happenstance that she'd arrived before him in the nick of time for him to save her? And was it mere luck that she needed him now or she would surely perish without his intervention?

  … No, Oren decides. The God Killer was not allowed to decide his penance. And whether this was a sign or not, he had to acknowledge this was far more fitting than his own plans had been.

  "Very well. I will escort you to this… refuge. How far is it exactly?"

  Here, Sophia pauses and fidgets. The beautiful blonde goddess even bites her lower lip for a moment before clearing her throat and answering him.

  "A-Ahem… not far… not far at all. Only a week away on foot at most!"

  Her poker face is terrible. She's obviously lying and Oren suspects the refuge is probably more like two weeks away, if not further. Still… it is what it is. Fortunately for the goddess, he's already resolute in his determination to see her to safety. And luckily for himself, he'd already begun sorting his supplies, making it easy to gather up his meager belongings and sling his full pack over his shoulder a few moments later.

  "Fine. But we'll need to get you a change of clothes immediately."

  Sophia blinks and then looks down at herself, before raising her hands protectively over her dress.

  "What? Why? What's wrong with my clothes?"

  Lifting his eyes to the sky, Oren wonders not for the first time just how 'wise' this supposed Goddess of Wisdom truly is. But then to be fair, she has admitted that she's only a 'Minor Goddess'. Still.

  "Because you stick out like a sore thumb. Because anyone with two braincells to rub together will see you and recognize you as a Goddess. And anyone without two braincells may not recognize you as divinity but will still be talking about your inhuman and unnatural beauty for days and weeks to come, providing any would be pursuers with a trail to follow that will lead them right to us."

  In fact… reaching into his pack, Oren pulls out his only blanket. It's a large piece of black cloth, a little ratty around the edges but thick and comfortable enough that its kept him snug and cozy on many a cold night out under the stars. He throws the black cloth at Sophia, who barely manages to catch it.

  "W-What am I supposed to do with this?"

  "Wrap it around yourself and use it as a cloak. You're literally glowing, Goddess. First step to escaping your pursuers now that we've killed the ones directly on your tail… is to stop drawing attention everywhere you go."

  To her credit, Sophia merely pouts before doing as she's told. That was good, because as strong as Oren was, those God Hunters he'd killed had felt more like fodder than anything serious. They might have been men, each with their own hopes and dreams, but he can only look back and see hunting hounds when he thinks of them. That leaves him with a single burning question… where was their master?

  -x-X-x-

  Hours upon hours later, when morning has turned to day and day has turned to night, a single figure clad in black appears in the blood-soaked clearing. Looking around at the decomposing corpses, the figure hums in thought for a moment, tilting their head to the side.

  "Curious. Very curious."

  Then, as swiftly as they appeared … the figure vanishes without a trace.

  A/N: The plot THICKENS.

  Heh, hopefully I've left you all with more questions than answers.

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