At this moment, Ariadoa had sealed herself inside an opaque sealing orb to hide her presence, then frantically changed into a new set of clothes.
Truly, in all her years as a goddess, this was the first time she had ever felt such explosive shame. When she woke up, her whole body was drenched—not just in fragrant sweat, but in the release born from primal desire—
"Uuuugh—!!!"
She slapped her cheeks to calm herself, took a deep breath, exhaled, then dismissed the sealing orb. And there he was—the gallant figure of the knight who had saved her.
Although she couldn't see his face, he must be a charming and brave man. After all, no ordinary person could wield such a divine weapon.
He even used a certain technique to transfer the injuries she received onto himself in order to save her.
So, the moment she awoke and saw darkness seeping into him, Ariadoa had been scared to death. Though he was annoyed by her nagging and insisted he was fine, she figured he was just saying that so she wouldn't worry.
"Um, are you really okay?"
She couldn't help but voice her concern again, but he ignored her.
Normally, Ariadoa would feel dejected by such coldness, but instead, her gratitude toward him only deepened.
His disregard for her—such callous detachment—was likely meant to make her uncomfortable so she'd worry less.
Wait... this knight… wasn't he that legendary hero who suddenly appeared during Earth's crisis?
"Ariadoa, right?"
His sudden address made her tense up slightly.
"Don't lump me in with your gods. I'll cut down any demon king that pisses me off. Same goes for gods—I'll kill them too!!!"
The cold words left her completely stunned. The term "god-slayer" wasn't spoken in jest.
"Warn your Unified Divine Realm for me. If I catch any god illegally summoning people from Earth, I'll kill them on the spot!!!"
His chilling voice seemed to freeze the very air. She could feel the weight of murderous intent emanating from the gaze hidden behind his helmet.
So… the reason he came was to pursue someone illegally summoned from Earth—Yukino? Judging by what he said, he must be human from Earth too.
Yukino, hearing this, also froze in place.
"I'll pass your message on to Lady Ishtar. I'm truly sorry."
Since the fault lay on her side, Ariadoa didn't get angry at his words. She had no right to. In fact, she admired what he said.
Judging by how this hero acted, he clearly did not trust gods.
Most likely, he too had experienced being forcibly summoned to another world, made to fight a demon king, survived countless deadly battles, and ultimately defeated the demon king—only to be betrayed by the gods in the end.
Betrayed by the gods? That was certainly possible. Not all otherworlds were under the Unified Divine Realm.
Some worlds had their own divine domains, and the gods there were… complicated.
Some would resort to anything—summoning Earth's heroes without permission—to elevate their own worlds or eliminate enemies. To those gods, heroes were just disposable tools.
So he became an enemy of gods, fought them, and went through unimaginable trials to finally return to his own world.
That's probably why he never trusted gods again. He'd been fighting alone, silently handling any threats to his world.
Then why didn't he trust Earth's own gods either? Simple—why hadn't Earth's gods rescued him?
It wasn't that they didn't want to, but more likely because they had to consider the bigger picture. They couldn't risk starting a war with another divine realm for the sake of a single human.
And so, receiving no help, he stopped trusting even Earth's gods.
Even without divine aid, he had come this far alone. One could hardly imagine how much effort and pain it must have taken.
To Ariadoa, the hero before her was simply too magnificent.
Moved by sorrow and sympathy, her eyes welled up with tears that soon streamed down her beautiful face.
She couldn't help but step forward and reach out, gently trying to touch the helmet-covered face.
But her hand was blocked by his.
"Sorry… that was out of line."
As she said this, Ariadoa felt her heart pounding like a frantic deer.
Her expression turned shy—what was she even doing just now? That moment had felt strangely intimate.
Then she paused. She sensed the divine realm's portal had become usable again. Likewise, the gate connecting to Earth was still open.
With a wave of her hand, a circular light screen appeared, slowly revealing a modern metropolis. As the image zoomed in, it fixed on a classroom at Chiba Municipal Sobu High School.
"I'm truly sorry, Yukinoshita Yukino-san. I'll come personally to apologize and make amends another day."
The situation seemed settled for now, but just in case, Ariadoa didn't delay.
She quickly sent the still-human girl back to her world. A gentle breeze swept Yukino into the gate with a wave of Ariadoa's hand.
Now, wouldn't someone just barge through that gate unexpectedly? Unfortunately, this couldn't be helped. The special portal leading to Earth's human world could only be passed through by Earthlings.
Once she confirmed the girl had returned safely and the gate closed, Ariadoa didn't ask the hero if he wanted to go back too.
It was obvious he wouldn't use the gate. He didn't want to reveal his identity, and she wasn't so clueless as to ask something that insensitive.
"Um—"
What should she say? Ariadoa didn't know why, but she wanted to talk to him more.
Hmm? The hero suddenly looked toward a spot.
She followed his gaze and saw the space there distorting. A figure emerged—though the back was turned, she immediately recognized the god of destruction, Valkyrie. That eased Ariadoa's heart. It seemed she was fine.
But trouble came instantly. In a flash, the hero launched a flying kick straight at Valkyrie, catching her completely off guard.
"BOOM—!"
The impact was so powerful it ruptured the air and cracked space itself.
Valkyrie, who had just returned from another dimension, vanished in an instant. In the distance, a mountain range exploded, clearly from her body crashing into it.
The completely unannounced attack left Ariadoa dumbfounded.
A second later, a fierce wind blew in from the direction Valkyrie had been sent flying.
Now back before her, the goddess looked disheveled and bloodied, her face twisted in fury like a raging demon.
"Where is the bastard who kicked me?! Was it here?! Ariadoa, did you see him?!"
The one who kicked her? Ariadoa looked around, but the figure was gone. Clearly, he had left.
It left a hollow feeling in her heart.
She didn't even get the chance to ask for his name…