At first, every single thing she did and learned on her journey had been new and exciting for her. She saw and experienced things she had never before even dreamed of. Her adventures took her to the nearest and farthest reaches of the universe imaginable, and then it had taken her way past all of those places to see things that she could never have even imagined if she had tried.
She had started out on her journey for reasons she had long since forgotten. Was it to grow stronger, to better enforce the justice of her home? Was it to deliver justice to worlds plagued with darkness? Was it to deliver a swift kick to evil wherever it raised its ugly face? Was it to spread the message of goodness and heroism wherever she went, perhaps? Or was it simply it to find somewhere where she belonged, somewhere where her justice could find solace and comfort when she wasn't chasing demons and their lords?
Was that right? It couldn't be, could it? Why would she ever look for something like that, though? Didn't she already belong somewhere? Why would she have started her journey for a reason like that?
In her heart, she knew that there was somewhere she treasured more than anywhere in the universe, or any universe, that she would always feel fond of. It was a place that she would always call home — in fact, it may have been the only place.
At the same time, as her journey continued, seemingly never ending, it started to become painfully clear that she could never return to that magical place that she had once called home.
It wasn't like she didn't want to. It wasn't like she didn't care about all the people she had left behind when she had begun her incredible journey. It wasn't like she didn't think about them, like she had forgotten about them. No, it was nothing like that.
It was for their very sakes that she couldn't ever go back.
After the things she had done... After the things she had seen... After the things she had become, even...!
She had reincarnated herself so many times she had lost count. She had helped or singlehandedly beaten down more gods and goddesses than her home would ever have. She had been to many worlds that now looked up to her like some kind deity, like an "over lord" of sorts, all for taking down the tyrant that had ruled over them previously. She had also been to worlds where, after accidentally "conquering" them in this way, the population turned on her, for now she was the one that needed to fall if they wanted the throne. She could maximize her levels in a single afternoon, start from one again, and be halfway back to the top again before she even got hungry. She had been turned into a sword on more occasions than she was comfortable with, but she had still done the same to companions when the situation called for it. She had seen evil that she hoped with all of her heart her home would never have to witness, and she had seen good that brought tears to her eyes like nothing before ever had.
She had become something that her home simply could not handle.
She had experienced things it never would. She had been to places that were so fundamentally different that even the smallest details could threaten to destroy their faith based harmony. Worse yet, she had experienced what it was like to be in the shoes of her goddesses herself — she had also experienced, much too often, dethroning those in similar positions as well.
But perhaps the worst part was simply what she had become.
Her stats had ranged from ten to twelve digits long at one time, before she'd started reincarnating more often — as if doing so would help her to deny what she was becoming. She had learned abilities that were so incredibly strong, simply using one could destroy a planet. She had become so absurdly powerful if she could defeat any of the goddesses of her home with a single punch.
The craziest part of it all was that she wasn't even that strong compared to some of the others that she had come to meet.
In many ways, she was thankful for this, thankful there were still new challenges to face, new mountains to climb, and ever more journeys to have.
In many other ways, it scared her. It sent a chill down her spine unlike anything she had ever felt — and it made her want to get even stronger.
If any one of these beings stumbled upon her home, it would be over for them. Perhaps, from their perspective, from the perspectives of those she had left behind, the monsters they faced on their home turf were strong, even game breakingly strong at times, but they didn't know what was really out there. They couldn't possibly.
She would make it so they never had to.
She was their hero through and through, and if that meant never returning to them so that their protection could forever be ensured, then so be it. She would keep the people she loved safe.
Safe from the monsters of the universe that played with worlds like her home as if they were toys.
Safe from the monsters that inhabited those worlds, vying for power, vying to become the overlord, vying to be able to do the things that she could now do effortlessly, despite how she sometimes wished she couldn't.
But most of all?
Nisa would keep Gamindustri safe from the monster that she knew she was slowly becoming herself.