The Art Of Deception
Stella knew the position of everyone in her dominion. So she perfectly knew where Sylvania was.
When she came back to this planet yesterday, she had already scanned everyone within her range of consciousness and all their information was processed inside her head instantaneously.
She pulled out Sylvania's info.
'Let's see, the strongest person in the city, a reincarnated Goddess, and a sweet lover?
Oh? What is up with reincarnated Goddesses and their love for sweets?'
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[ Name: Sylvania
EP: 4100000
Age: 19 - Soul Cycle: 2
Abilities:
• Divine Soul (S):
As a former Goddess, her soul is extremely powerful. Because of her soul, she has an extremely good memory and is highly proficient in magic. Has resistance against many manipulation and illusion magic.
• Demi-Goddess Body (S):
Despite being reborn as a mortal, her body has been showered with divine powers because of her soul. Her body's constitution is very high. She's extremely resilient and her physical strength is at the utmost limit to what humans can achieve in this world.
• Faded War Goddess (S):
Her memories as the Goddess remain. Extremely efficient at battling. Can summon her former Divinity as the War Goddess temporarily if pushed to the extreme at the cost of her soul's erosion. Will show no mercy to her opponents.
• Battle Perception (S+):
She honed her perception in countless battles. Both in this life, and the former. Extremely sensitive to bloodlust and intents.
• Sweet Tooth (C):
She loves anything sweet. But she deeply hides this secret from everyone.
Skills:
• Divine Swordsmanship (S+)
• Azure Spear Arts (S)
• Pseudo-Divine Magic (S)
• Healing Magic (A)
• Strengthening Magic (A)
• Elemental Magic (S)
• Spatial Magic (D) ]
'She's powerful and proficient in battles...But that's expected considering she's a reincarnated Goddess...
A War Goddess nonetheless.'
Stella teleported tens of kilometers away to a close position to where Sylvania was.
Then she brought out a sweet roll and started eating it as she walked down the streets in a carefree manner.
'Wow! These pastries are too good. I wonder how it's made.'
Stella was enjoying her meal as a powerful Demi-Goddess was out to spill her blood.
Stella had already activated [Absolute Stealth] on herself but excluded its effects from Sylvania so she could find her.
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*******
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'They dared to come here?? Did they already forget what it means to face the Goddess of War? I might not have my former powers anymore, but that does not mean they can trample on my dignity.' Sylvania was out for blood.
Her two lifetimes of hatred were spilling out as she spread out her perception to search for the girl.
Even though her target seemed to be a little girl, Sylvania knew better not to blindly believe what her eyes saw. As long as they came from the Divine realm, there was no trusting their appearances.
Her bloodlust made all people who were close to her vicinity faint, or shake uncontrollably in fear.
As she glanced around, Sylvania finally found a little white silhouette walking down the road, eating something.
'Kill!' That's all that was running inside Sylvania's mind at that moment.
Sylvania shortened the distance between them in a split second as she brandished her sword and struck at the little girl at a terrifying speed that seemed to distort space itself.
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'Sigh, better stuff the sweet roll inside my mouth before it flies off.' Stella thought. Naturally, she didn't give a crap about the incoming strike. She couldn't respond to this attack, as it was all part of her plan.
A simple and very effective one at that.
However, Stella knew every move of Sylvania.
The effects of [Primo##### Sense] and [Undeniable Authority] were terrifying. Stella didn't even need to actively look out for any danger at all. She could perceive any threats to her subconsciously.
Even after all of that, if someone managed to sneak attack her, the amount of damage they will inflict would still be....none.
She didn't want to kill Sylvania by any means. Her death would bring instability to the empire and the whole continent would be in turmoil.
She had to resolve this without killing her. And that's where her simple plan comes in.
The plan's contents? Just act like a pitiful and clueless little girl. And then beat her up.
Stella already limited her physical strength down to the EP value of 1000000. So that she could act pitifully, and not make Sylvania suspicious currently.
Stella wanted Sylvania to fall into a state of confusion. This was the most appropriate way to
avert any blame for the 'crimes' she had committed.
Stella honed the art of deception by scheming her 'antics' against Zero. But in truth, he was subtly training her to protect her true intentions from others by playing along with her schemes. Even though many of her memories were sealed, his teachings were ingrained in her soul.
She didn't let this on, but she was extremely cunning and deceptive when it came to fulfilling her goals. And she would not hesitate to use underhanded methods either. But unfortunately, she would suddenly become dumb and childish when it came to anything about Zero. Him being impossible to deceive didn't help either, but he mostly played along to train her abilities further. As they say, love does wonder.
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Sylvania struck down the girl at full force.
The terrifying force hit her as she was thrown away into a nearby building and then came out from its back.
She crashed into buildings one after another. All of them got turned into rubble along the path.
She was buried in countless big chunks of stone from the destroyed buildings.
Sylvania was surprised.
That little girl 'couldn't react' to attacks at all.
She was absolutely 'defenseless' even at her last moments.
Even though Sylvania knew it was probably a disguise, she could help but feel guilty striking down a small defenseless girl with what seemed to be a sneak attack.
She didn't bother announcing her presence as she believed the disguised girl would retaliate as soon as her attack closed in.
But it was apparent, that the little girl couldn't even 'perceive' the attack as she was stuck down and 'killed' mercilessly.
Sylvania infused her Divine power into the strike, but it didn't react at all when she struck the little girl. She finally realized this wasn't someone from the Divine realm and possibly wasn't disguising her appearances.
'Did I just kill an innocent little girl for my blind hatred? Even if she was the culprit behind the spatial tunnel and the disappearance of the spy, she didn't deserve to die, especially if she was truly just a child.' Sylvania felt guilt fill up her heart.
She floated above the rubble with guilt and sadness. Beneath her cold and ruthless demeanor, she had a soft heart deeply hidden away. 'I'm sorry, little girl. I can only hope you find happiness in your next life and forgive me for my actions.'
Even though Sylvania had former memories of being a War Goddess, she wasn't blackhearted enough to kill innocent children without batting an eye.
She shook her head and started to leave.
But suddenly she saw the rubble move slightly as a small white figure squeezed out.
It was the little girl. She survived! And she wasn't gravely injured either.
Sylvania was stunned. She immediately flew down.
But as the little girl saw her, she immediately covered her head and sprinted away crying,
"Waaaa! I'm getting bullied again. Someone help me!"
"....." Sylvania was speechless.
But the speed she ran at was as fast as a normal person jogging, which in front of Sylvania was the same as a snail trying to walk backward.
So Sylvania immediately caught up with her and she stopped her with the sword.
If the little girl could survive such a devastating attack, she wasn't simple, so Sylvania didn't use her hand to touch her.
As Stella was blocked in the front, she simply ran the way she came from again.
"....." Sylvania had black lines along her forehead. 'Would you please stop? I'm not going to eat you....
Well, I did strike you down mercilessly to kill, but still...'
She only could complain in her heart, because she realized the girl was indeed just a kid and her reaction was justified. So she had no choice but to use her hands to restrain the little girl.
"Would you stop running, you little..." Sylvania couldn't even finish her sentence as the little girl cried out louder, "Waaaah! I'm sorry! I won't steal sweets anymore. I'm really sorry!"
"It's alright, I'm not going to hit you again. I'm sorry, it was a mistake." Sylvania was vexed. She was proficient at cutting down her enemies, not coaxing children.
The little girl immediately stopped crying as she looked at Sylvania, "Really? You won't bully me again?"
"Uh-huh, I won't bully you. I mistook you for someone else that I really dislike. It's okay now, you're not hurt, are you?"
The little girl shook her head sideways.
"That's great, I'm relieved. So what's your name, little girl?" Sylvania asked.
"I'm Stella." The little girl replied. But then she suddenly realized something and shouted out, "Who are you calling a little girl?? Do you want me to beat you up??"
"....."
"Huh? You're still not apologizing?" Stella started to become 'angry'.
"....."
"Alright then, I'll have to beat the apology out of you."
Stella floated up, grabbed Sylvania's neck and directly threw her into a sub-dimension and then entered it herself.
Unfortunately for Sylvania, this was going to be quite a violent beating. And the most frustrating moment of her life.