The sky above the shattered temple burned crimson.
Fragments of divine energy drifted through the air like dying embers, each carrying whispers of despair. The ground quaked beneath Rengoku Hayate's boots as he stood amid the ruins, the last shockwave still echoing from the Evil Goddess's descent.
System Alert: Host Vitality – 42%. Spiritual Core – Unstable.
He ignored it.
His hand trembled on the hilt of his blade — a weapon cracked from hilt to tip, glowing faintly with the remnant energy of his last attack. His breath came in shallow bursts, his armor torn and his body bleeding.
But his eyes… burned.
"Hayate," Lyra's voice echoed inside his mind — soft, desperate, trembling. The usually playful tone of the system spirit was gone. "We can't fight her directly! That projection is carrying at least 2% of the Goddess's real power—"
"I know," he whispered, wiping blood from his lips. "But if we run now… she'll hunt us again."
Across the crumbling altar, the Evil Goddess's phantom stood — tall, regal, cloaked in shadows laced with scarlet light. Her eyes glowed like dying suns. Every movement of her slender hand sent ripples of divine destruction through the world around her.
"Still alive, little mortal?" Her voice was silk and venom. "Even after being discarded by your own kind, you still defy me. How quaint."
Hayate spat blood. "Defy you? No… I'm just tired of being someone's pawn."
The Goddess smiled — beautiful, terrible. "Then allow me to erase that arrogance."
She raised her hand, and the world cracked open.
A storm of black lightning burst across the ruins, vaporizing stone, twisting air into molten glass. Hayate barely leapt aside, the blast grazing his arm — searing flesh to the bone.
System Alert: Host limb integrity – 34%.
Pain roared through him, but he gritted his teeth and drove his sword into the ground. "Lyra! You said there's a synchronization protocol—use it!"
Lyra's voice hesitated. "That protocol… it's incomplete. If we link, your soul might collapse!"
"Then we die together."
For a heartbeat, silence.
Then — a whisper. "…Understood."
A pulse of golden light erupted from Hayate's chest. Circuits of divine glyphs flared along his body, intertwining with the black-and-red energy of his system. The air trembled as Lyra's form began to materialize beside him — first a shimmer, then the silhouette of a young woman in ethereal armor, eyes glowing like twin moons.
Her voice rang in both worlds now — clear, resonant, fierce. "Soul Sync: Initiate!"
The dungeon's darkness shuddered. For the first time since her creation, Lyra stood beside her host, a spirit of pure will and light.
Hayate stared at her, stunned — she was radiant and terrifying, her presence bending reality around her.
"Lyra… this is—"
She smiled faintly, her expression carrying the sadness of centuries. "The truth I never told you. I'm not just a system, Hayate. I was once… the Goddess's guardian."
The Evil Goddess's laughter cut through the air like thunder. "So you've finally revealed yourself, my lost fragment."
Hayate's eyes widened. "Fragment?"
"Did you think," the Goddess purred, "that power comes without chains? That system in your soul—" she pointed at Lyra "—was carved from my own essence. She is my shadow."
Lyra's hands tightened around her spectral spear, voice trembling. "I broke free from you! I will never serve you again!"
The Goddess only smiled, spreading her arms. "Then return to me, broken piece. I will make you whole."
A tide of divine energy surged from her form, twisting the sky. Shadows exploded outward, forming wings of pure darkness that swept across the ruins.
"Hayate—move!" Lyra shouted.
He leapt, but the shockwave hit like a mountain, throwing him through a half-collapsed pillar. Pain exploded in his chest; he coughed blood, vision blurring.
System Alert: Host Vitality – 19%.
Hayate forced himself up, dragging his sword through the dust. "You're not taking her."
The Goddess tilted her head. "Foolish mortal. She belongs to me."
"Then you'll have to tear her from my corpse."
He raised his blade — its cracks glowing gold-red as if answering his defiance.
Lyra floated beside him, aura flaring brighter. "Hayate… if I merge fully, I can match her projection. But—"
"I'll survive," he said, voice hard. "I've done it before."
She smiled faintly. "No. You'll burn."
"Then burn with me."
She hesitated, then nodded.
Soul Sync – 98%… 99%… Complete.
Light consumed them both.
Their souls merged — human rage and divine sorrow intertwining. Flames erupted around Hayate's body, forming wings of burning light as his sword reshaped itself, now gleaming with celestial fire. His hair flared crimson-gold, eyes glowing with dual pupils — one human, one divine.
The Goddess narrowed her gaze. "So you would defy divinity itself?"
Hayate's aura rippled. "Not defy. Replace."
He moved — faster than sight.
The two collided in midair, light and darkness erupting like stars colliding. The temple disintegrated under the force. Every clash of their blades birthed shockwaves that tore through mountains.
Lyra's voice echoed within his soul, steady now. "Focus, Hayate! Her projection is unstable — strike the heart seal!"
Hayate's sword flared, drawing energy from the ground itself. "Abyssal Ascension—First Form!"
He vanished in a streak of light, his blade piercing the goddess's chest.
But instead of blood, a torrent of black light burst forth — laughter echoing through the void.
"Did you think I would fall so easily?" she hissed, grabbing the blade with her bare hand.
Hayate's grip faltered — divine energy surged back through the sword, burning his veins.
Lyra screamed. "Hayate!"
To be continued…
The Shattered Oath (Part 2 – Aftermath)
The world turned white.
The instant the Goddess seized his blade, power detonated between them—divine light and mortal fire devouring everything in their path.For a heartbeat, Hayate saw nothing but fragments: Lyra's face lit by agony, the shadow of the Goddess splitting apart, and his own body dissolving into sparks.
Then came silence.
A soundless, endless void.
He felt his consciousness drifting, weightless, until a faint glow touched him—soft, warm, familiar.
"Hayate," a voice whispered through the darkness. "Open your eyes."
He did.
He was lying at the edge of a broken sanctuary, moonlight pouring through a cracked dome above. The air smelled of ash and rain.His body trembled; the armor that had blazed with divine fire was gone, leaving only shredded fabric and burns. His sword lay beside him, buried halfway in the stone floor, still humming faintly.
System Alert: Vitality 12%. Soul Link Unstable.
"Lyra…?" His throat scraped the word out.
A shimmer coalesced near him—first faint, then radiant. Lyra hovered above the ground, but her once-bright form flickered, pieces of light falling from her body like feathers. Her eyes were dimmed gold, her smile weak.
"You… won," she murmured.
He forced himself up on shaking elbows. "No. We only destroyed the projection."
Lyra's gaze turned distant. "And in doing so, broke one of the Goddess's seals. She will feel it. She'll come herself next time."
Hayate swallowed. "Then we get stronger before she does."
A flicker of amusement crossed her fading face. "Always stubborn."
He reached out instinctively—his hand passed through her semi-transparent shoulder. "You're fading."
"It's fine," she whispered. "The merge overloaded my spirit core. I'll have to sleep… a long time. But I'll return."
He clenched his fists. "You said you were her fragment. What does that make you now?"
Lyra looked up at the fractured moon. "Maybe… something new. A spirit born from rebellion."
She drifted closer, placing an incorporeal hand above his chest. "You carry the ember of that rebellion now. Protect it, Hayate. It's what makes you more than human."
He met her gaze. "Then you'd better wake up to see what I do with it."
A quiet laugh—half joy, half sorrow—escaped her. "Don't make me regret choosing you."
Light enveloped her form. For an instant, her voice echoed both inside and outside his mind:
System Reconstruction Sequence Initiated…Spirit Core Entering Dormancy Mode.
And she was gone—reduced to a single orb of light that sank into his chest. The system interface flickered once more, its tone suddenly colder, mechanical:
Main System Online.Administrator: Temporarily Unassigned.Warning: Goddess Signal Detected — South Sanctum Coordinates Locked.
Hayate staggered to his feet, staring at the distant horizon where faint red lightning scarred the clouds. A whisper of divine laughter rolled across the sky.
So she was still watching.
He tightened his grip on his sword. The cracks in the blade pulsed once—gold light threading through them, as if Lyra's will still lingered inside.
"I'm not done yet," he muttered. "Not until every chain she forged is broken."
He turned away from the ruins, limping toward the forest below. Each step hurt, but every heartbeat burned brighter with defiance.
Somewhere deep within, he felt a pulse—half heartbeat, half whisper:
Quest Updated: Break the Chains – Locate the South Sanctum.
A smile touched his lips. "Guess rest isn't on the menu."
Hours later, rain fell over the broken land.Hayate sat beneath the hollow roots of a giant tree, nursing his wounds. The forest was silent except for the soft drip of water and the faint hum of the sword lying beside him.
"Lyra," he murmured, eyes half-closed, "if you can hear me… thank you."
The orb of light within his chest pulsed faintly, as if answering.
For a moment, he allowed himself to breathe—to feel the weight of exhaustion, of loss, of the quiet between wars. Then thunder rolled again, louder this time. He looked up.
The clouds above twisted into a vortex of red and gold. Lightning shaped like wings spread across the heavens.
A voice—cold, divine, unmistakably hers—echoed from the storm.
"You dare wound me, mortal? Then I shall return the favor."
The sky split open. A single beam of light speared the earth miles away, turning night into day. The force of it shook the ground even where Hayate knelt.
He stared at the distant explosion of light, jaw tightening. "She's serious this time."
The system chimed faintly inside his head:
Warning: Celestial Entity Manifestation Detected.Estimated Time Until Impact: 72 hours.
Seventy-two hours.
Three days until the Goddess herself descended.
Hayate rose slowly, rain streaming down his face, eyes burning crimson through the shadows.
"Then I have three days," he whispered, "to become strong enough to kill a god."
The forest wind carried his words into the storm, and somewhere beyond the clouds, a divine figure smiled.
[Quest Updated: Break the Chains – Locate the South Sanctum.]