I Became the Goddess of a New World

[Be careful. Twisted patterns are occurring around the Fairy Collective.]

Celestia’s voice echoed in my ears.

Immediately, Master Kim’s gaze shifted to the side.

The first gate of the Twisted World Tree raid, the Fairy Collective.

Creatures that were like the limbs of the World Tree, the Fairies.

The Fairy Collective was a boss monster formed by the fairies merging into a single entity due to the Twisting.

A unique pattern of the Twisted World Tree raid, the Twisting.

The Twisting, as the name suggests, twists something throughout the raid.

The space around the player twists?

Within that twisting, the roots of the Twisted World Tree extend out and attack the players.

Additionally, when the body of the Fairy Collective twists, it becomes a mob pattern where some fairies are summoned.

If a Twisting occurs near the Fairy Collective, there is a teleportation or a pattern that pulls the nearest player.

In this way, the Twisting was one of many patterns that appeared randomly,
like the developer personifying ‘If you don’t know, just hit it.’

Nonetheless, Celestia, disguised as the Twisting’s occurrence, notified us via communication magic
where and when the Twisting would take place, so it wasn’t extremely difficult.

[Be careful! Elderheim is twisting!]

With Celestia’s warning, the ground shook.

The Major Corporation Party, alerting their surroundings, witnessed it.

Outside the battle zone, the Giant Tree Forest, which had been treated as mere background,
was advancing, transforming into a living giant tree monster.

“On that day, humanity realized they were being ruled…”

“Ahhh! This isn’t the time for casual banter!”

The battle zone cannot be escaped.

That was only relevant to the players.

Above the heads of the giant tree monsters that had confidently entered the battle zone, names appeared.

[Twisted Forest Guardian Lv. 90]

“Wow. But at least it’s not a boss-level monster.”

“You’re so unnecessarily positive!”

While Sweet and Suzuka were doing a skit.

Their leader, Master Kim, didn’t stop thinking.

However, no matter how hard he racked his brain, nothing feasible came up to mind.

Would they fail to even find a way to break the pattern and would have to retreat?

Just at the moment when the thought “I might give up on this try” filled his mind.

[Are you going back to your original position? Gravity.]

The voice of the archmage resonated in the minds of the Major Corporation Party.

[Memorize.]

Kugugugung-!

The Forest Guardians attempting to enter the battle zone all knelt down simultaneously.

Gravity. A spell that enhances gravity.

Memorize. A spell that recasts previously cast magic.

Celestia had consecutively cast these with quad chanting, and
the result was the self-destruction of the Forest Guardians who couldn’t bear their own weight.

The Major Corporation Party, dully watching the scene, prepared to cheer,
only to be plunged into thought upon seeing a few Forest Guardians barely survive among the fallen giants.

[Ah… I was out of mana.]

[Can you hold on a little longer?]

[It’ll be recovered soon enough…]

Snapped back to reality by Celestia’s voice, Master Kim got into a combat stance.

“It seems I was supposed to deal with those three from the start.”

Three Twisted Forest Guardians. And the boss monster, the Fairy Collective.

They had struggled against just the Fairy Collective, and now with three giant monsters added, how long could they hold out?

But Master Kim deemed it better than before.

The reason the Major Corporation Party struggled against the Fairy Collective?

It was due to the raid’s unique pattern, ‘Twisting’.

Currently, the Twisting was maintained in the ‘Twisted Forest Guardian’ summoning pattern, and

“If a Twisting is in effect, no other Twisting will occur.”

After dozens of tries, they had figured out the rules of the Twisting pattern.

Conditions of occurrence. Timing of occurrence. Effects of the pattern.

Though everything was wrapped in randomness,
one rule was being absolutely adhered to.

Kong— Kuweung—

Every time the Forest Guardian took a step, the ground trembled.

Master Kim’s gaze was now on Pagu.

“Brother. Can we parry that kick?”

“Are you crazy?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Pagu spat out a curse, and Master Kim chuckled.

“But lightning is doable, right? Parrying a kick should be easy enough, don’t you think?”

“Hmmm… I’m not so sure. Whether it works or not, I don’t know. One thing’s for sure—the odds of success are overwhelmingly low.”

The probability of failure is extremely high.
That statement meant there was even a tiny chance it could succeed.

“Brother, do you know what the most common phrase I heard in the military was?”

“Brat.”

Anticipating Master Kim’s next words, Pagu chuckled.

“If it doesn’t work, make it work.”

Of course, Master Kim wasn’t from the special forces, but

Even a regular soldier would always hear such words from the commanding officers.

“Got it. Understood.”

With both hands up in surrender, Pagu sighed and stepped forward.
One hand held a sword; the other held a shield.

“Hmm… no matter how I look at it, that doesn’t seem like a size I can parry with a sword.”

Pagu opened his inventory and stashed away the sword he was holding.

“Witt, can you bind two of them?”

“Master, aren’t you overestimating me?”

The aura of lightning materialized in the form of a mirage behind Sweet,
and a chilling breeze flowed in front of him.

One Forest Guardian was bound with Chain Lightning,
and the other was frozen with a combo of Aqua Ray and Frostbite.

Without needing to say anything, Master Kim could read Sweet’s planned strategy.

“I can handle at least two.”

“Alright.”

Buying time for Celestia’s mana to recover.
The three Forest Guardians that invaded the battle zone can be dealt with.

Now, the only remaining opponent was the Fairy Collective, which looked unreasonably angry.

“Suzuka.”

“Yes.”

“You’ll assist those two.”

“Understood.”

Suzuka followed Master Kim’s command without a word.
Having spent nearly three months with days longer than half a day,
she genuinely recognized Master Kim as a leader,
and trusted his orders completely.

Following Master Kim’s lead, the three went to confront the Forest Guardians,
and Master Kim, now left alone, looked straight ahead.

“Then now…”

Kwahhh-!

Pulling tight on the gauntlets he wore with all his might,
as he summoned the Warrior’s spirit, winds swirled around Master Kim.

“… Let’s have some fun.”

***

Pagu thought.

Could he parry that giant’s kick?

Even though it was a world within a game,
it felt very much like reality in this virtual reality.

Doubt.
Various thoughts swirled in his head.

If it doesn’t work, make it work.
That’s easy to say.

Actually making the impossible possible was very difficult.

That remained true even now.
But would he just give up?
Unless he completely abandoned the raid,
the massive, moving wall before him
was a trial that he would have to overcome someday.

His contemplation was short, and he resolved his doubts.
Let’s do it.
No, he had to do it.

“Get behind me.”

Suzuka and Sweet stood behind Pagu.
Suzuka immediately cast buffs on Sweet and Pagu.
Sweet concentrated as soon as the buffs were applied and began double casting.

Even in their leader’s absence, the party acted as they always did.

“… Chain Lightning.”

“… Aqua Ray. Freeze in place, Frostbite.”

Sweet’s magic enclosed the movements of the two Forest Guardians on either side.
The cold from the Frostbite seeped through the wooden gaps soaked from Aqua Ray, immediately freezing the Forest Guardian.
Meanwhile, the Chain Lightning ensnared the roots and branches of the Forest Guardian.

Now, only one Forest Guardian remained ahead.
It approached right in front of them,
and as the Forest Guardian lifted its giant foot, a shadow loomed beneath it.

“…”

Pagu’s gaze locked onto the Forest Guardian’s sole underfoot.
Looking up at that giant, he slipped into contemplation.

It wasn’t familiar to hold a shield with both hands,
and he couldn’t even grasp when he needed to parry.

‘I can’t see.’

The shadow cast instantly obscured Pagu’s vision,
and the sheer weight of the natural world before him pressed down on him.
A flood of countless worries filled his heart.

Would he fail to parry and die?
Pagu, the parrying demon, would he fail?

Flames ignited within Pagu’s heart at that moment.
The fire burned away all anxieties that had clouded his mind.

“… No.”

When he instinctively opened his eyes,
the sole opening in the Forest Guardian’s defense came clearly into view.
With all his might, Pagu swung his shield toward that opening.

“Urugh—!!!”

With a thunderous shout, every muscle in his body expanded in an instant,
channeling an enormous force only possible in virtual reality into the shield,
and Pagu swung it with all his strength.

‘It worked!’

He successfully parried the Forest Guardian’s kick,
and with the system message declaring success,
the durability of the shield plummeted to zero, shattering into pieces.

Ding-ding—!

[Achievement Unlocked – Little Giant]

Successfully parrying an attack from a foe over 100 meters tall.
Attack Power +1
Durability +2

*Did you really just topple that giant? Are you perhaps interested in becoming a mercenary?
– The Mercenary King who graced an era.

***

The Twisted World Tree raid was comprised of two gates.

In the first gate, a battle against the Fairy Collective.
In the second gate, an encounter with the Twisted World Tree.

“The World Tree is an essential entity in this other world.”

While planning this Twisted World Tree raid, I had some realizations.
Being trapped in the past won’t benefit anyone.

Because of insufficient ability.
Because of lacking strength.
At that time, I couldn’t save those who had transformed into Dark Elves.
Instead, I merely sealed the Twisting of the World Tree and the corruption of the Spirit King.

I truly hope the next generation can redefine the relationship between the World Tree and the Spirit King, the Elves and Spirits.
I wish they could establish the originally flawed creator-creature relationship from the start.

Knowing fully well what role the World Tree plays in this world,
and how crucial the Spirit King is as the ruler of the Realm of Spirits,
I left behind such a heavy legacy.

My past self and my present self.
Perhaps that fact has continuously tugged at my heart and caused me unease.

“Happy endings really are the best.”

My past self never reached a happy ending.
I merely concocted a scheme to prevent the destruction of this world.
To suppress the Twisting, I sealed the consciousness of the World Tree,
and to suppress the corruption, I sealed the consciousness of the Spirit King as well.

If the Twisting and corruption completely detached from the World Tree and the Spirit King,
the insurance mechanism I had left for future generations would activate.

I chose not to erase that mechanism in this story.
From a narrative perspective, it seemed to end perfectly.

“Haah… this is all because of work stress.”

Having sufficiently relieved my stress,
it was truly time to let it go.

Still trapped in the past of self-reproach and regret.

Wobbling—

I abducted the bear plush golem of Akachan’s direct subordinate passing by.
Pat, pat—

“Such a good boy.”

While stroking the abducted bear plush that calmly nestled in my arms,
I observed the raid of the Major Corporation Party for a long while.