Conviction

"HeHeHe! HeHeHe! Hahahaha! The fools! All of them! Fools! HeHa! Everything is going according to the plan! Did I have a plan...? What a silly question! Of course I have a plan! Yes! Yes… Yes… I must!"

Few could imagine a more terrible sight than that of the deranged Ilias wandering the streets, her gown of white was plastered with mud and wind blown filth, her eyes reduced to pin points of blue that were locked in a thousand yard stare, her voice was an insane prattle of half thought schemes with each more insane than the last.

All that talk of forgiveness and regret? Gone! All that pathetic whimpering as she laid dying? Just another part of some great ruse she must have forgotten! She was back baby!

"It's perfect! Everything is perfect! A new world! One with humans and those disgusting monsters!" Ilias' right eye twitched "But oh! They're going to help me! Hehe! Soon this world will have a new master to lead mankind to strike down those filthy beasts!"

Haha! That fool, the god of salvage as he called himself, would regret mocking her! He brought her to this world for some reason but all he would find is his death! She would rebuild! Make it just like her first world! Everything was so simple!

SO. FUCKING. SIMPLE!

"Just a bit of semen to regain my strength! Then I'll go back and murder that boy and blame it on those monsters of his! Oh ho! I'll show this new mankind the proper way of thinking just like I did the old one! Haha! Yes! Just kill a few humans and blame it on these vile creatures and start my worship all over again!"

As Ilias continued to mutter her psychotic plans while slogging her way down the flooded streets she ignored the pain by entertaining herself with daydreams of the deaths she would give those girls who plucked her from where she fell.

"Ohhho! Drowning for the spider, they hate water! For the mermaid I'm thinking impalement. Maybe I can make a nice horse skin rug from the centaur? I'll break that Harpie's wings and throw her off a cliff!"

'They helped save me…'

"Aghhhhhhhh! What is this!?" screamed Ilias as she clutched her head with both hands

'They cared for me…'

"Get out! Get out of my head!"the goddess roared as strange thoughts and feelings invaded her head.

In her frantic desperation to halt the unwelcome thoughts she braced herself against the side of a nearby building and bashed her head against the wall made of unknown grey stone.

'Could there...be...hope...me…'

"Out! *Bang* Out! *Bang* Out!"

With one final bash she got the voice to stop at the cost of the blood now trailing down her face.

"Right...Should have taken the tiara off before doing that"with that she held up a bloodied hand that had been briefly touched to her head.

In spite of the splitting headache and blood gushing down her golden locks Ilias felt better as the voice had died down and she was now free to get back to planning her second ascension. She paid the matter no additional thought as that was hardly the only voice in her head she had ever heard.

Getting back to her schemes Ilias was beyond excited. This world may have been strange to her right now but the goddess was a fast learner and flawless actor, all while that Centaur was dragging her back to that den of filth monster perversion she had listened to the brute talk to her "master" about a great many things. Apparently monsters were still new to this world but already mankind was starting to go soft on the abominations, they embraced the fiends and sought to live in peace! Peace for her sakes! What kind of degenerates could reach this point so fast!?

It had only been like four years! It took millennia for humanity to stoop so low in her world!

But there was still hope! The Centaur had spoken of groups of humans opposed to the monsters and their presence as she voiced concerns that Ilias herself may have been ambushed by them.

"Master do you think this may be the work of the men who have been in the news lately? Those "One Humanity" villains who have been stirring up discontent for limials?"

"Why kind of men (or women too I suppose) would do something like this to an innocent person? It makes me sick!"

"Oh Master! Your dedication to justice is so noble!"

"I just don't see the point in hating other races. In the end we all have to share this world now; what do we have to gain by hating each other? Why bother?"

Ignoring the strange fact that she had appeared to run into a damn-near clone of Luka, Ilias was overjoyed by the news. Some group were harassing monsters and even trading blows with them lately if what she had heard was correct. Ilias would have worshi-allies! She would have allies to help her!

Oh to be surrounded by adoring allies again!

Just like the old days!

Ok, not those old days but at least the good ones! The days after she tricked the original monster lord into sealing herself where she could just spend all day lounging around with her loyal worshipers and angels.

Curious, why did thoughts of mindless praise and loyalty give her nausea all of sudden?

"Who cares?! Just need some power to get me going. First I find some poor bastard to drain dry of semen then I can get back to strangling that Lamia with her own red tail! Hehe! I can pretend she's Alice!"

Ilias may of had tenuous grasp of her own sanity after millions of years of isolation that left her prone to serious psychotic breaks and violence but what she wasn't was stupid. After being impaled by the Quadruple Giga and dropped from fucking orbit she was in no shape to fight one monster let alone the pack of 5+ back at that house she had escaped from. It had been a chore alone to remove herself from that comfy bed and haul her sorry ass out that window while they went off to...to…

'Care for me. They cared for me. Why hurt them? It can be different. Don't repeat this path. M-M-Moth….'

"Dammit! J-Just force the damn thing out! You're a goddess for my-sakes! You can handle some pitiful little voice!"

Inside her deluded mind came the blurry image of an angel; pure white feathers and a glowing halo stood in contrast with flowing brown hair at shoulder length. Her eyes were a brilliant sapphire blue and held a kindness tempered by understanding. It was Lucifina, Ilias's second creation. For the briefest of moments Ilias felt stupid for forgetting the face of the second thing she ever made before just chalking it up to her desire to forget that traitor.

Lucifina had left with much drama after she found out how frail Ilias's sanity had become and went on to aid a great hero who tried to rebel against her before birthing the one who had finished the damn job the second time. Ilias herself had indirectly killed her after dropping the worst plaque she could conjure on the village she called home in human form.

'M-mother…?' the voice inside her seemed to weakly ask, sounding like a little, lost child.

Ilias was left unamused and unsympathetic. This voice, whatever it was, dared to argue against her superior will. It was just another obstacle to overcome and obliterated once she was restored. Odds are it was due to her extreme weakness and possible onsetting hypothermia as she continued to slosh around the half flooded city in little more than a paper thin dress and some jewelry. Some hallucinations were to be expected as she pushed her already compromised body far past it's limit. Once she was healed by a man's energy the Goddess was certain it would fade back into the mists of her mind, she couldn't let it's madness get to her.

"Oh give me a break! I have no time for this nonsense…! Huh? Was this water always this high?" she commented, now becoming a bit more aware of just how bad the flooding had become.

All around her the wind was howling and the rain was downpouring, the storm was getting worse by the minute and any reasoned person would have fled the streets long ago. By now Ilias was slogging through some back alleys after her head trauma had thrown off her sense of direction. She hadn't meant to go this way but when you had no clue where the hell anything was regardless, being lost in one place was the same as being lost in another. Besides, the growing white splotches in her vision were going make navigation a problem anyway.

"Interesting, I appear to slowly be going blind now. HeHe! Oh well! I'll sniff out a man if I have to! Nothing will stop me!" giggled the goddess as her sanity began to fade along with her eyesight.

"Um, excuse me? Is anyone back here?" came an uncertain voice from behind her

It was a MAN's voice!

By the time the poor (and freakishly tense) bicycle cop with black hair and wide eyes rounded the corner with his flashlight and yellow poncho the goddess had vanished upward, leaving only a faint ripple in the water. He remained certain he had heard someone back here but all he could see was a empty alleyway with a few cardboard boxes floating around in the flood water behind Libido Doujin.

"Anyone? There's a mandatory curfew until the storm passes! Hello…? Argh! I don't want to be out here! Why did I get storm duty! Curse that short straw!"

No one wanted to be on patrol during this mess of a storm but the chief explained that they needed people out to check for citizens in distress and looters. Already tonight they had two reports of a group of exceptionally large males donning hoodies while trying to break into adult book stores during the emergency. After the incident with the Orcs the owner of this store had been seriously on the police force's ass about protecting his stuff so the second one of his motion sensors picked up something he had been on the phone to report it.

"Of course he can monitor the security system from his warm and dry house while Ihave to go swimming out here! Only a mermaid would be out here now!" he said with a nervous laugh "Hehe! Mermaids… So cute but a guy like me would never have a chance with one of them!"

"How about an angel?" came a most Yandere voice from behind him

"Huh?" *Twack!* *Thud*

With all the skill of viscous hunter Ilias had used the last little bit of her strength to propel herself to a higher vantage point with her wings. Using her hands to press against both sides of the narrow alley she had held herself in a strike position until she saw her chance. With a thunderous fist she had crashed down on the clueless man and knocked him cold in one blow.

"By my name you're ugly!" was all she could say as she lifted his head out of the water and held him up

With a great shove she pushed him against the wall where he slumped to his knees.

"Bottoms up!"

*ZZZZZZZZZip!*

"Uggghhhh! I don't remember these things being so...so… repulsive!" the Goddess squirmed with her personality seeming to stabilize "Beggars can't be choosers! Let's just give this poor bastard some work before he wakes up!" she hissed with her eyes returning to pinpricks.

Her arms and legs were already shaking, she didn't have the strength left to deal with a fight. Until she had energy back all she could do was hide in the shadows and work in secret.

"It's a shame almost, he obviously doesn't deserve my divine techniques but this sorry bastard is all I can get! Thankfully if I do this right all he'll remember is tripping and falling. I CAN'T let the people of this world think I have these type of low standards!"

Less than five minutes later a much less confident Ilias could be found just inside a local shrine's courtyard dry heaving against a stone wall. She had done the deed and fled after cleaning up all she could. It was only once she found this little hiding spot that she began to notice something was horribly wrong.

"Mrrrph!? Ugghhh! *Cough! Cough!* What the hell was that?!" groaned the Goddess as she continued to brace herself against the agony her body was going through.

Rather than feel energy flowing into her all the fallen Goddess felt was sheer disgust and illness gripping her body. She couldn't figure out why the semen wasn't working, normally angels didn't need the power like Monster girls did but they -could- use it in a pinch if they found themselves drained of energy. Mostly her angels raped men as punishment for crimes or pleasure rather than sustenance like the dark god's creations. Even if it wasn't part of their normal diet there was no reason to explain why in her name Ilias wasn't getting anything from the semen she had absorbed. If anything, it was only making her sicker!

Now she was stuck in a unknown shrine's courtyard trying to keep her own stomach from rebelling against her, never had she imagined that anything could of felt worse than being killed.

She was wrong…

In between the bouts of heaving Ilias kept trying to make sense of what had happened "W-why *Gag!* Why isn't this working!? It's not enough that I get stabbed through the fucking chest and die? Now *Hurgh!* I reduce myself to a lowly whore and get nothing for it?!"

"Clever girl but, uh, now clever enough it seems"

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh! *Urp!* Fuuuuck YOU!" groaned Ilias with disgust and bitterness as she recognized that voice as the one from earlier.

She couldn't see the strange deity this time but she could feel it's presence and hear it's voice clear as day.

The peculiar "God of Salvage" gently mocked her "I'd say such language is unbecoming for a Goddess but after the back alley blowjob (Which I am 95% sure is a porno name) it's not unreasonable to assume you have no dignity left"

"Ugh! Fine! Fine… I give you that one…" she admitted as more stomach tremors hit her "Now tell me why it didn't work!?"

By this point Ilias knew she was beat, her tone was that of a fallen Monarch who was just waiting for the invading enemy to kill them in their castle. Her body was beginning to fail as the toll from her original death at Luka and Alice's hands compounded the damage all this walking around in the chilly floodwaters was doing. Even now she was still subject to their bitter brutality as she pressed her back to a stone wall and slid into a sitting position, submerging nearly half her body into the waters once more.

"It's simple. I wasn't stupid enough to send you to a place where you could restore yourself. Unlike your world there's no energy or life-force in the semen of men here"

So that was it. Why the hell hadn't Ilias though of that sooner? She had just assumed everything worked on the same rules when this was obviously a different world! How had she missed this? For eons she had been known for her paranoia and brutal cunning. Why had she acted so recklessly?

'So the monsters of this world don't require semen? I saw that whole house filled with them along with that boy so I just assumed he was their food source! Why on earth would he have so many if they didn't need to feed off him?!'

What the fuck kind of place was that back there?!

"Damn-*Gag!*-clever…"

"Indeed"

With it's simple reply the voice of the other god stopped talking leaving Ilias with naught but the sound of the rain and wind to accompany her in the shrine courtyard. In this relative silence Ilias was only left to think on what had occurred. Whatever fire had sprung up inside her when she believed ascension was within her grasp had been doused. Yet again she found herself feeling the same way she did right after having Angel halo rammed through her chest.

It was a sad, lonely clarity that in some way felt strangely good to her; like a breath of fresh air after being stuck inside for too long. It was the feeling of her hatred and fear receding.

"So I'm right back here again aren't I? About to die and wondering what the point of it all was" she mused quietly

"Just as I found you"

"*Sigh* What happened with Luka, was that all just a pointless charade? I opened my heart to him and did one good thing after so much evil. Did any of it really matter?" Ilias was left to wonder

"Don't look at me for answers. I just take junk and see if it ever can be used again"

"Junk…. *Sigh* That's all I ever was and still am…"

"But as I just told you junk can still have value"

"I am the Goddess Ilias; deranged divine who will never know another path"

"So then. What now?"

"I know it's just as pointless as that gesture I pulled with Luka-"

"I wouldn't call it pointless. Are you glad he's alive? Do you wish him a happy life?" asked the other God before Ilias could finish her sentence

"I'm… I'm happy that at least he gets to enjoy this new world he desires. He's earned it" she admitted

"*Chuckle* It seems like when power is out of your reach a better side of you comes out. Feeling happy for others isn't something the Goddess Ilias could do. Perhaps this is proof there was always a good to you that was simply hidden away by the pain?"

"What good is it then if it only comes out now when I'm all out of time? No, there is only the Goddess Ilias. As I was about to say before; it's about time she finally acted like a goddess. Before it can be too late for this world"

"What do you mean to do?"

"To die" Ilias declared

"Die? Do you really believe after your talk with Luka and what you did for him there is no other option?"

A weakened hand slashed the water around her to emphasize her position "You saw what happened I assume? There's a reason I'm here and not back in that bed"

"That dark part of you has a strong hold; of that I am certain. However, it does not mean it cannot be cast out"

"I won't chance it. A real Goddess would destroy the threat; even if it was herself; before it could be allowed to harm others. I will finally act like a real Goddess even if I no longer have even a single follower"

'What does it mean to be a true Hero? A true Monster Lord? A True Goddess?' pondered Ilias who thought back to her last conversation with Luka

"Words of conviction? Caring about others? Self Sacrifice? Starve the beast of power and it seems a true angel is born"

"I just want to be the Goddess Luka originally believed in. If I can only be that Goddess on the verge of death so be it. I will end this now before I return to how I was"

"Such a sudden change" spoke the other god. His voice betrayed little but Ilias thought for a second she detected a hint of sarcasm to it.

"In the end Luka managed to change even me"

"That's an understatement in a way you wouldn't believe"

"Lucifina would be proud. I know she and her sister wanted to change me for the better but could never figure out the way"

"Hard to believe all this was started because you wanted someone to talk to"

"That original desire from so long ago…"

"All you wanted was to be happy"

"And I plunged a world into near genocide to get it"

"Did you? Did any of it make you happy for long?"

"Of course not. So many lives wasted and ruined for the sake of making me feel joy and I never felt an ounce of true happiness. What a pointless waste. It's cruel, I develop a sense of guilt and morality in time to regret what I did but not soon enough to save a single life"

"So you really wish to end things?"

"My victims will get to see me cast to hell and I get to die with something resembling pride. Everyone wins"

With a splash and muffled clank a metallic object crashed down into the water between Ilias's legs. It was a sword and sheath made of fine silver with engravings of prayer running down its sides.

"If this is what you must do at least make this painless. You've suffered enough"

"Th-The Goddess sword? This was broken back in San Ilia. How did you…?" asked Ilias

It was sad as even now she lacked the strength to hold up the sheath without colossal effort. The Goddess Sword may of have been tied to a bullshit prophecy she used to annoy the hell out of whoever the current Monster Lord was but it was still a very heavy and expertly made blade. In the end that mattered little when the Monster Lord herself decided to shatter it in her palm but in all fairness very few things could survive that.

"As humans were your charges the broken are mine"

"Broken is right. It's still cracked in half"

After removing the bottom half of the sword from it's holder Ilias could see where it had been snapped off from the top of the blade which still resided in the sheath in dozens of pieces. For the hell of it she shook them and listened to them rattle around inside like some kind of musical instrument.

"A full blade isn't required to slit a throat" argued the other god

"True" replied Ilias

"This is the meaning of what I do. I take those who are discarded and place them where they can do a task no one else is available to do. In this instance all that is needed to end your life in the quickest way possible. Such a broken blade can easily accomplish this"

"So you take junk and give it some pity mission?"

"Less wasted potential. I don't care what it's original purpose is or what is has done; all I want is to see it be useful. The idle and destroyed have no value. The reclaimed do"

"Still sharp, it'll work" commented Ilias who ran a finger alongside the side of the remaining blade and watched it draw blood.

"And that's the point"

"I suppose it's better than dying of exposure"

I'll leave you to this then"

"One question"

"Shoot"

"Why bother with me?"

"Less wasted potential" he repeated

"I don't get it"

"You don't have to, but know this: the discarded can do great things when paired with other castoffs. The broken can be reformed into something far stronger"

With it's little sermon complete the voice ceased to speak as Ilias was left with the broken blade of false prophecy in her hands. She held it lovingly for she knew it would finally break the cycle of misery that had consumed her since the very day she was born. This was her key, her salvation.

"So then, here we are" spoke Ilias who could only lament dying alone for a second time

'This was the path I took. Now it's time to see what lies at it's end'

With only a cursory glance around the flooded shrine the tired Goddess mused on the fact that this place was hardly any better than her fading heaven to die. These were to be the last things she would see, hear, feel; this was the scene of her final moments. After only a few seconds Ilias was forced to shut out such thoughts for they caused her fear of oblivion to rise once more. She needed the courage to do this. This never-ending nightmare had to stop before another world was consumed.

'Well I get a second chance at my last words so I better make them count'

In that instant only one thing made sense to say.

"Lucifina, wherever the hell you are, thank you. Luka did it. Someone finally did it. Someone saved me"

Oh god that was so cheesy for her but was the only thing she could come up with! In a way she was almost glad no one was around to hear it!

'Now then, let's see if this blade is worth anything after all'

With a shaking hand weak from the cold Ilias held the edge of the blade to the horrifically pale skin of her wrists and prepared to give it one quick, clean slice.

'Deep and fast, leave no chances…. Huh? Why do hear I galloping all of a sudd-?'

"THOU SHALT HOLD THY BLADE!"

POW!

"Ahhhh! I didn't mean to hit her that hard! I just needed to prevent her from claiming her own life!" yelled Centorea who had just dropped almost her entire body weight onto the suicidal angel through a galloping highkick.

When she and her master finally located her in this storm they rode up just as she was about to slice open her own wrists. All Centorea had been focused on was striking her as fast and hard as she could before the blade could drop. This meant using the first part of her body that managed to make contact.

"She's out cold but I think she's still breathing. You did the right thing!" spoke her master who had been off her back and upon the angel in seconds.

He grabbed the sword and sheath and passed them to her for safekeeping as she inspected her further. She was in far worse shape this time. Her skin was ice cold and blood could be seen dripping from a nasty gash on her head as well as splattered all over the golden tiara she wore. Honesty, even without the suicide attempt she probably wouldn't of lasted long like this.

"This is bad" Kimihito spoke

"Master?"

"We need to get her back to the house!"

Centorea obeyed without question and lifted the woman onto her back with ease as she holstered the unknown sword next to her own replica. The angel dangled limply and Kimihito was forced to mount up as well to hold her princess style so her wings wouldn't fall back into the water on the trip back. Normally having someone other than her master riding her or having her master carry another woman in such a way would a serious concern for her pride but considering the situation she found it acceptable.

Beating a hasty exit from the shrine the trio stormed down the flooded city streets towards the house. For a moment Centorea felt a rush of excitement as she imagined what the three of them must of looked like. Her master as a noble hero riding away with a rescued princess in his arms and herself as the mighty warrior companion guiding them through the danger. Heck, they even had lightning streaking across the sky to complete the look!

The image was soon disrupted by worries about this story ending with the princess and hero sharing a bed together which almost distracted her enough to accidentally trod through deep waters.

'It's too early to worry about that. We still know nothing about this woman' Centorea reasoned

It was quite the mystery indeed. Who was this angel? Why did she try to take her own life? Where did she get such a beautiful sword? How had a blade in such good shape even been shattered like that?!

'Merro believed she might of been a fellow royal and this sword looks like the work of a master. Could this be some kind of bloodline relic and her failure to keep it intact demands her life as compensation?! Maybe me and master have stumbled upon some great scheme tearing apart a royal family!?'

Whatever it was the authorities were involved now. The reason they were heading for their homestead and not the hospital was the fact that Ms. Smith was already on her way there with a angel specialist and a few exchange program investigators.

A extraspecies person in distress (Who happened to look very important) appearing in the country from out of the blue had already raised all sorts of alarms for the program and its officials. Master had even commented on how fast Ms. Smith's tone had changed on the phone once he mentioned that it looked like this new woman had been attacked or escaped from something. Things had already gotten a bit more tense as of late thanks to the incident with the Orcs followed by the growth of the the anti-extraspecies group "One Humanity" who had caused all sorts of noise the past few weeks with protests and threat making. They were still regarded as nothing more than a mere bunch of cowards who hid behind keyboards and talked endlessly about extraspecies conspiracy theories online but they were still trying to stir up discontent.

'This might not be their doing based on what me and master just witnessed. Even if they aren't involved that still leaves the question of what happened to this person to leave them willing to take their own life' thought Centorea as she charged through the submerged streets.

Regardless of whatever had happened all that mattered now was getting this woman to help. By her Centaur's honor she would not let this angel die!

Author Note: Not entirely happy with how this turned out but I really want to get this story moving along. I might go back and take another crack at this at some point.