A white-haired girl sat on the throne, pressing her fist against her temple in deep thought.
She held this pose rigidly, motionless, like a beautiful statue.
The girl had one question—a question that had no answer.
Am I still a slave? That was the girl’s question.
“I’m already… not a slave anymore, right?”
After an unknown length of time, the girl suddenly spoke aloud to the empty palace.
She had already asked this question sixteen times.
The palace echoed back indifferently.
After a long while, the girl showed a weary expression.
She was tired.
“I really am… still a slave.”
Contradicting her earlier words, the phrase slipped out from the girl’s lips.
It seemed to have gained reluctant acceptance in her heart.
She frowned.
Though it made her unhappy, the statement was undeniably true.
“Baiya Ifiel Clorom has always been a slave to fate, never changing—that’s just how it is.”
After defining herself, Baiya Ifiel Clorom closed her eyes.
Unconsciously, echoes of disbelief, wails, and sorrow rose around her ears.
“Sister, save me! Please, save me! Help…”
A girl cried for help as she was about to be swallowed by a monster.
And Baiya watched this scene coldly.
She raised a dagger, and after the monster devoured the girl, Baiya plunged the dagger into its heart.
“Baiya, why…? Yes, yes, I’m a notorious pirate, but I’ll behave—I swear I will! So please, don’t… don’t treat me like this!”
A girl wearing a pirate hat looked up at Baiya with tearful eyes, like a little dog rejected by its owner.
Such sincere and touching words.
But all Baiya returned was ruthless contempt.
In front of everyone, she drew her pistol from her waist and fired a shot at the girl.
“I always, always believed in you! You—you’re too cruel! The gods won’t bless you!”
A beautiful nun pointed a cross at Baiya, her face twisted in pain.
Baiya swung a giant scythe, blood splattered everywhere, and the nun was cleaved in two.
“Is that how you treat friends? I was foolish to open my heart to you again, Baiya. This is the last time I’ll call your name.”
The girl removed her helmet, her pupils gradually dissolving as she smiled faintly at Baiya.
Baiya watched her die, then without hesitation, pressed onward.
“…Very well, so be it. Step over my corpse and move forward. I’ll wait for you in Hell… hope that day comes late, my dearest friend.”
The bloodied woman embraced Baiya, stroked her hair, and lowered her hand.
Baiya drove the blade deeper into the woman’s heart.
“Baiya! Baiya! Little Baiya!”
Not just voices, but painful memories flashed through Baiya’s mind one after another.
Betrayal after betrayal, causing the girl on the throne to painfully clutch her head.
Baiya was on the verge of collapse.
She had thought she could stay calm and indifferent, but now it seemed she had failed.
“Spare me!”
Baiya closed her eyes and shouted with all her strength.
Afterward, the noise in her ears gradually faded, the images of memories retreated.
Yet Baiya did not find salvation, and this made her want to cry.
“I am a slave. Always have been, always will be, sob…”
She covered her eyes with her palm, gently wiping away tears that slipped out unintentionally.
“I just want to live. I can only do this. I have no choice. If there was another path, I wouldn’t have done this.”
Baiya curled up, shouting emotionally, her petite body trembling uncontrollably.
In this palace, the dignity she should have possessed was completely gone.
“I’m a despicable traitor. I don’t deny it. But if I don’t do this, if I don’t… then who will save me?”
Regret and sorrow surged relentlessly, the sorrowful voice echoing through the empty hall.
“I wanted to save you all. I didn’t want to give up on you! You gave me many treasures, but all I wanted was you. In the end, I gained everything but lost everything. Yes, I’m a slave. Always have been! A slave to fate, passively accepting its cruelty with no power to resist.”
She had said it all, but there was no one to listen.
Closing her eyes, Baiya thought she could see one beautiful girl after another smiling at her.
She covered her face, tears dripping through the gaps between her fingers to the floor below.
According to Molly, Baiya must look utterly pathetic right now.
“That’s not true, Akana-chan doesn’t have slaves. She only makes friends. Akana-chan is a gentle person.”
Someone wanted to remind Baiya that the Goddess of Fate, Arcana, didn’t shoulder this blame.
The originally empty hall now held a blonde girl.
White feathers wrapped around the girl’s pure body, radiating a gentle white light.
The girl was the speaker just now.
Behind her back, six pairs of wings slowly folded.
Is she… an angel? Baiya thought.
The “angel” blinked her big red eyes innocently at Baiya.
Baiya quickly snapped back to attention and said in a deep voice, “Who are you, and why are you here?”
Not wanting outsiders to see her disgrace, Baiya wiped away her tears.
On her face, streaked with tears, she spoke with absolute authority.
Baiya’s tone was less a question and more a command, demanding the girl reveal her identity.
The blonde girl heard Baiya’s words and widened her eyes, showing a very happy expression.
“I’m a god~”
The blonde girl smiled without changing expression.
That single sentence shocked Baiya enough to cause her pupils to constrict instantly.
Deep in her red eyes, an imprint appeared, projecting the girl’s shadow within.
The girl really was a god, no doubt about it.
In less than three seconds, Baiya had her answer.
“A god?”
Baiya gave a self-mocking laugh, the doubt in her voice tinged with disdain.
“So am I.”
Baiya crossed her legs, resting her hands on either side of the throne, looking down on the girl with the air of superiority.
Yes, Baiya was a god, the highest-ranking goddess.
She had sacrificed all her companions to claim her divinity.
“I am the Ruler God of This World, Baiya Ifiel Clorom.”
Baiya revealed her identity as the world’s sovereign deity, showing her attitude.
A god of a world was so lofty she need not show respect to another god.
With their identities now out in the open, Baiya assumed the blonde girl would stop smiling and become serious.
That was Baiya’s one-sided expectation.
“Oh~ so impressive, really amazing, Baiya-chan~”
Baiya narrowed her eyes, displeased.
The reason was the blonde girl’s continued smiling face after pretending to be shocked by Baiya’s words.
Could it be that she didn’t take Baiya seriously at all?
“Hehe~ Baiya-chan, let me introduce myself. Nice to meet you. I’m Fia, the Creator God of the Multiverse. The most powerful Fia~”
The blonde girl—Fia—tapped her chest proudly as she said her name.
Seeing Fia’s smug smile, Baiya felt pain mixed with a flicker of anger.
Her smile made Baiya detest her!
“Creator God, what brings you to my domain?”
Baiya suppressed her anger.
A god coming to another god’s territory without prior notice was rude and could be considered an act of war.
Baiya readied herself for battle.
Her divine weapon already charged.
When asked why she came here, Fia’s smile grew even brighter.
Baiya always felt it was a chilling smile.
“Baiya-chan, your world is crumbling. As the Ruler God of This World, you’re destroying the world you were born into. Why?”
Fia stopped smiling and stepped closer to Baiya.
She climbed the steps and stood before Baiya, smiling as she looked at her.
Outside the palace, the world was collapsing.
Floods surged, volcanoes erupted, plagues spread, monsters roamed, and the undead ravaged—an apocalyptic scene.
—So that’s what this is about…
“Is that why you came? Who knows. Maybe it’s because this world is my prison, a prison that once tortured me. Now that I’ve become its master, I must take revenge.”
Baiya chuckled softly, raising her fist as if clutching the world itself.
Fia thought Baiya’s smile was sad.
She shook her head and said, “No, Baiya-chan, if you do this, you’ll create countless dead. Our death goddess Carris-chan will be overwhelmed. She won’t have time to look for her missing brother and is already mentally unstable, which could cause many problems. So please, Baiya-chan, stop~”
Fia clasped her hands in a pleading gesture, her expression sincere, seeming trustworthy and non-threatening.
—Stop…?
Divine might burst forth!
A fierce wind sprang from Baiya’s body, sweeping toward Fia.
Baiya’s eyes widened as her petite figure channeled divine power.
She stretched out her hand; in her palm, light and darkness swirled together.
“You want me to stop? Just because of you?”
Her expression was cold, absolute murderous intent blazing from her.
In her palm was the power of destruction.
At this moment, Baiya looked less like a god and more like a demon lord.
Fia looked troubled, holding back her wild hair with one hand as she muttered, “What a troublesome child.”
“Baiya-chan, just so you know, even if the Archangel Elifiel and Death Goddess Carris team up, Fia can easily win. It’s no lie that I’m the Creator God of the Multiverse. So, Baiya-chan, are you still going to attack?”
Snap!
The darkness and light in Baiya’s palm disappeared—not by her will.
Fia snapped her fingers, silently nullifying Baiya’s divine strike by her own will.
Baiya was silent for a moment, withdrawing her divine might, her face tired.
She could feel from Fia’s sudden divine power that Fia wasn’t bluffing.
“I won’t stop. Do you want to kill me?”
Baiya knew she couldn’t defeat Fia and might even be killed by her.
But that didn’t change her resolve.
“At this point… it’s quite possible~” Fia smiled.
Baiya slowly rubbed the white strands resting on her shoulder.
Her gaze turned hollow, a strange smile curling at the corner of her lips.
“I see, so it is. Again, again, I’m dying soon. But now, there’s no one left to use. No one left to betray. Haha! Hahaha!”
Baiya knew she must look pitiful right now.
She was less a god and more like a madwoman.
Fia suddenly showed a worried expression.
She had seen this state before—on a demon general she had once rejected completely.
That general had struggled with betrayal and before his death wore the exact same expression as Baiya now.
Such pitiful children, Fia thought.
“Baiya-chan, you’re crying while laughing… Fia will protect you.”
Baiya suddenly felt warmth flood her body.
When she came to her senses, she realized Fia was holding her.
“I won’t kill you. Stop, Baiya-chan, don’t be sad anymore.”
Strangely, tears flowed uncontrollably.
“I… can’t stop! I so desperately want to see them! I don’t want to run away anymore. Even once, I want to resist! Too late, too late! Sob! Please, kill me!”
Baiya wept into Fia’s chest.
She was not a god, but a helpless child.
Baiya truly regretted it.
She wished she had died from the very start.
Then, the lives of those she cherished would have been very different.
At least, they wouldn’t have died because of her.
“Shh, shh, poor child. No one will kill you. Fia will help you.”
“Fia will grant your deepest wish, so please stop.”
Fia stroked Baiya’s hair again and again, speaking gently.
“Really, really?”
“Mm~ Fia never breaks her word.”
“My… wish… I want… them to be well. Even if they forget me, it’s fine. Just, be well.”
Hearing the choked, broken voice, Fia nodded twice.
“Fia knows your wish. So, Baiya-chan, let’s start over.”
“Since Baiya-chan thinks it’s too late, the God of Time of the Multiverse has the power to reset a world’s timeline. I’ll ask Chiwushi-kun for help. Baiya-chan’s life can be lived again, back to when everything still had hope. Of course, Baiya-chan will revert to her original self and no longer be the Ruler God of This World.”
Fia boasted about her connections—no, her divine network—able to easily solve Baiya’s problem.
Baiya was shocked.
Her life could be lived again!
Baiya fell into deep thought.
“Live again… no! No! No! Betray them again? Someone like me, this despicable goddess, no longer has the face to see them. If I live again, my choices probably won’t change. I don’t want to do it again!”
Having made this clear, Baiya shook her head fiercely and looked pitifully at Fia.
Fia sighed helplessly.
“Fia thinks starting over is the best choice. This world is nearly destroyed by Baiya-chan. This solution can let the world be reborn. It’s also the only way to bring back all the people Baiya-chan misses. Baiya-chan, let’s return everything to the beginning.”
“…”
“Baiya-chan?”
“…Then let’s start over. But erase my existence. Their lives don’t need a despicable person like me.”
That was Baiya’s condition for compromise.
For her, her existence was a mistake, something that needed to be erased.
She emphasized again—she had no face to see them anymore.
“You can’t leave Baiya-chan out of the reset time.” Fia smiled wryly as she rubbed Baiya’s head.
“Since Baiya-chan lacks confidence, let’s ask Baiya-kun~”
“Baiya…kun? A boy? Same name as me?”
Baiya suddenly raised her tear-streaked face and asked.
Fia nodded.
“Yes, Baiya-kun exists in another world. He’s a super amazing boy. If he replaces Baiya-chan, there won’t be any problems!”
“Fia, that’s not right! I shouldn’t exist! Anyone who replaces me, no matter who, would make the same choices I made under such extreme conditions! I don’t want that!”
Baiya grabbed Fia’s arm excitedly and shouted.
She had thought of struggling, of not bowing to fate, but reality was merciless, offering no hope.
“To reiterate, the reset cannot exclude Baiya-chan or chaos will ensue. Don’t worry, Baiya-kun isn’t ordinary. He apparently likes calling himself the best player, though Fia doesn’t understand what that means. Anyway, Baiya-kun is fine~”
Fia laughed awkwardly while rubbing the back of her head.
Baiya felt Fia seemed a bit unsure.
“Please trust Fia~”
Those words shattered Baiya’s last hesitation.
In the end, the person by her side was Fia, so Baiya chose to trust her.
“Fia… I understand. I’m counting on you. But Baiya-kun will replace me—will he become a girl?”
Having made her decision, Baiya suddenly thought of this and asked.
She worried it wouldn’t be good for the male Baiya.
“Well, to be precise, Baiya-kun will become your exact form. Of course, a girl~ To be honest, I have a bit of a grudge against Baiya-kun. Many girls have asked me to punish him by turning him into a girl. Hehe, sounds fun~”
Fia’s rare mischievous expression appeared on her face.
“Then, Baiya-chan, please write your experiences into a novel. It will be very useful—essential even~”
Fia clasped her hands together and blinked her big eyes as she begged.