My Goddess is Good at Pretending

Chapter 524: Chaos Fragment

When Elysia arrived at the shrine abode, anticipation hung in the air as everyone gathered, ready for the imminent departure to the Divine World. The teleportation array on the Heavenly Altar was prepared. Its intricate symbols glowed with ethereal light. Friends, family, and companions stood in a circle around the altar, exchanging excited whispers and final preparations.

As Elysia approached the house, her heart warmed at the sight of her fluffy little friends bounding towards her. The fluffy white rabbit, Yusagi, and the playful cat, Vanessa, leaped into her arms, nuzzling her affectionately. Followed right after them, two stunning soul foxes, Luna and Lynn, also greeted her, asking for a warm embrace.

Their joyful energy was infectious, and Elysia laughed as she cuddled them, feeling their love and excitement. Yuuki, the nine-tailed snow fox, was still nestled around Elysia’s shoulders, looking at her fluffy friends satisfying their longing desire for their beloved master.

"You’re back just in time." Ai stepped forward with a troubled expression. "Everyone’s ready, and the array is fully charged, but..."

"Did something unexpected happen?" Elysia could feel Ai was troubled by something. Ai took a quest to uncover an unresolved mystery, and it took longer to finish than expected. It had been four days, and something that could make Ai restless was definitely not a trivial thing.

"That’s about Zera... she-" Ai was just about to tell Elysia about the problem, but the mentioned girl emerged out of thin air.

Zera held Elysia’s arms with a restless gaze and stared deep into Elysia’s mesmerizing purplish-blue eyes. "Do you remember who I am?"

"Uhm, how could I forget you? You are Zera, my girl. Your divine title is the Chaos Goddess of Destruction, one of my precious family members." Elysia faintly smiled, but she was still wondering about why Zera was so restless and desperate.

"Phew..." Zera breathed a sigh of relief. She already asked everyone, and fortunately, all Elysium Family members could still remember her. And, she could tell Elysia was unaffected by anything.

"What happened? Feel free to express your thoughts." Elena tapped Zera’s back while glancing at her Goddess sisters.

Ai sighed and shook her head. "We still don’t know what happened, but the situation is like this. Thirty minutes ago-"

As Ai began to share the details about Zera and her encounter with everyone, Zera looked to the ground and held Elysia’s arm, feeling a bit complicated.

Half an hour ago, right after Zera grabbed a mysterious purple fragment from the treasure box in the unknown secret realm’s dungeon, the world felt like it was no longer the same.

The mysterious purple fragment fused with Zera’s hand, but somehow, Zera’s existence was forgotten by everyone. Zera also felt something intrude her sea ??of ??consciousness, but she couldn’t find the intruder.

At that time, Ai was the only one who went with Zera, and she could still remember about Zera. After their return, even the Elysium Family members had to recall something from the Elysium Channel before they could remember Zera. Unfortunately, Sacred Sakura’s people could no longer remember Zera as the esteemed great elder.

"Erina, don’t access the Elysium Channel yet. Do you recognize this lady?" Elena nudged Erina beside her.

"Eh, ah... uhm... I can’t remember. I-I’m sorry!" Erina put her hands together to apologize.

"Now try to access the Elysium Channel and identify her." Elena pointed her hand at Zera.

Erina did as she was told, and she finally could remember Zera, one of the Elysium Goddess, the former strongest Ruvoid God’s clone, who got converted into an ally under Elysia’s command.

"Alright, you can remember Lady Zera now. But, my disciples, do you really can’t remember about Elder Zera?" Miko approached her core disciples with a concerned gaze.

"Please forgive us, master. We’ve no recollection about Elder Zera..." Gabriella bowed slightly to apologize, followed by her junior brothers and sisters.

Zera also asked the core disciples and some of Sacred Sakura’s people previously, but whatever they did, they still couldn’t remember anything about her.

"The mysterious fragment already merged as one with Zera’s hand. It doesn’t leave a mark, but the aura is still there on her left hand." Ai showed Zera’s left hand to Elysia.

"The power to bend the world’s laws and everyone’s memory... Allow me to check it out." Elysia squinted her gaze, staring intently at the foreign aura on Zera’s left hand.

She put down her fluffy friends and began to observe the mentioned mysterious fragment’s secret.

Once she held Zera’s left hand, she entered the realm of darkness within Zera’s sea ??of ??consciousness. The spiraling darkness of chaos, Zera’s spiritual roots, remained the same. However, there were strange Outer God’s aura, albeit so weak.

Zera’s origin could be considered as the Outer God, but this energy source was vastly different, and it was more oppressive than Zera’s chaos divinity.

’Found it.’ Elysia spotted the newly merged mysterious fragment. It was so hidden and camouflaged really well amidst the dark.

It was hard to notice without her sacred vision, but after she touched it, something happened.

*Zap*

In that instant, the scenery became a dark universe with a dim starry sky. Right before her eyes, stood a massive primordial creature, thick with cosmos and void energy. The sight of unimaginable terror and ancient power.

Its form was an amalgamation of dark, twisting energies and physical monstrosity. Its size was colossal, dwarfing an entire star as it drifted through the empty void... a living nightmare against the backdrop of the star-studded universe.

Its body was a shifting mass of inky darkness, constantly warping and flowing like a living shadow. Shadowy tendrils extended from its core, each one tipped with glowing, malevolent white eyes. These tendrils moved with a sinister grace, each movement causing ripples in the fabric of space itself.

The creature’s head, if it could be called that, was an abyssal maw filled with rows of jagged, crystalline teeth that seemed to shimmer with a light of their own.

From within this maw, a void of utter darkness stared out, an abyss that seemed to consume all light and hope. The edges of its mouth dripped with a viscous, otherworldly substance that dissolved everything it touched.

Its skin was a mosaic of dark, iridescent scales, each one reflecting the light of distant stars in a grotesque pattern. These scales shifted and changed, displaying scenes of chaos and destruction.

Sprouting from its back were massive, skeletal wings, each one covered in tattered, blackened membranes that seemed to absorb all light. The air around the creature crackled with eldritch power, creating an aura of fear and despair.

Its many limbs, some ending in claws, others in barbed tentacles, reached out in all directions, grasping at the void and tearing through the fabric of space.

In the presence of this primordial entity, the essence of life and light seemed to wither and fade.

However, Elysia stood her ground, hovering right before the unknown primordial creature’s colossal head. The suitable term to describe this creature was the skeletal grotesque, demonic dragon with an eldritch abomination mix.

Despite its terrifying existence, Elysia didn’t feel the slightest bit afraid or intimidated. This monster wasn’t even a real living creature, only an incomplete soul essence. It was far different from the Unknown Nightmare’s true terror, the authentic primordial monster from the unknown universe that forced its way into her dreams.

"Hu-man?" The grotesque primordial creature asked, but it waited for no answer. It opened its jaws, devouring the puny human.

*Crack* *Crack*

The crackling noises rumbled within the grotesque primordial creature’s jaws. Elysia’s consciousness vanished into the fabric of darkness and void, transforming her form into a more terrifying primordial creature with her imaginary divinity.

Right before the grotesque primordial creature emerged the Unknown Nightmare that stretched far and wide to almost all corners of the space, treating the colossal primordial creature as a mere inferior thing, smaller than an ant. Elysia’s newly formed monstrous form swallowed the darkness just because of her presence and aura, inflicting absolute intimidation.

The grotesque primordial creature looked up, feeling too tiny and helpless compared to the absolute darkness authority before its eyes. It could do nothing as the fear and suppression already swallowed itself from its entirety.

*Splat*

The tentacles of darkness struck the colossal grotesque primordial creature like swatting a fly. From the scattered soul remnant’s dust, it gradually reformed itself, returning to its previous state.

Elysia revoked her imaginary divinity. She deactivated her Unknown Nightmare form, returning to her human girl appearance.

This time, the grotesque primordial creature prostrated itself, showing obedience and submitance to the little human girl.

"Tell me about yourself." Elysia asked.

"This one can no longer remember."

"After forcing your way to my people, what is your aim?"

"Survival."

Elysia began to interrogate the grotesque primordial creature, and it could do nothing but answer all of her questions.

She thought this primordial creature’s remnant could provide some hints about the Unknown Nightmare. Unfortunately, she gained nothing because the grotesque primordial creature couldn’t even remember a thing. It only hoped to survive and had no other aim other than to take over Zera’s body.

"Is that so. But, we can’t allow you to play your tricks on my people further." Elysia raised her hand.

"Wait! I won’t cause any trouble to my new host and your people. Please provide a way out for me. I will do anything!" The grotesque primordial creature was terrified beyond measure.

"What can an incomplete soul remnant like you do? Once we eliminate you, we can refine that purple fragment for use." Elysia averted her gaze, staring at the primordial creature’s inner core. It was purple in color, and the purple fragment that fused into Zera’s hand was clearly a small part of it.

Since the grotesque primordial creature knew the little human girl before itself was actually the authentic terrifying primordial monster, it began to negotiate desperately. Even though it would be unfair conditions, it had no other choice since it wished to survive.

Elysia sealed the deal and bound the grotesque primordial creature under her rule. She then commanded. "Detach yourself from my people right now. If you’re good, we will find a way out for you."

"Obey." The grotesque primordial creature obeyed the order with no question.

Elysia vanished and came out of that spiritual space. At the same time, the purple fragment slowly emerged from Zera’s hand, releasing its fuse from its host.

"?!" Zera gasped in shock. She had no idea what was happening, but she just opened all her spirit and soul access to Elysia, and the intruder helplessly came out of her body with no repercussion whatsoever.

She regained her composure and serenity again, knowing there were no outside influences in her spiritual space anymore.

"Behave." Elysia grabbed that mysterious purple fragment and looked aside. "Gaia, Lifa."

"At your service." Lifa immediately approached, still surprised about how easily Elysia handled Zera’s matter. She once tried to resolve the matter before, but she couldn’t precisely find the cause.

"Available." Gaia immediately appeared beside Elysia, ready to carry out any request.

"We’ll investigate this matter in more depth. Please seal this fragment thoroughly first." Elysia handed over the mysterious purple crystal to Lifa and Gaia’s care.

"Understood." Lifa and Gaia nodded in response.