Hope
"..."
The unbearable past surfaced in Artemis's mind, darkening her expression. Her hands clenched tightly as they had back then, yet they trembled slightly.
That was a past she never wished to mention, no matter what.
In her life spanning ten thousand years, it had been the only time she had followed her instincts, betrayed her duties, and disgraced herself so thoroughly.
Faced with the greatest evil in the world, the strongest enemy, the most terrifying existence of magic, she who had been determined to uphold justice and order had ultimately fled in such a wretched state. This was no longer something that could be dismissed as mere humiliation.
Artemis's pride as a Goddess, and her dignity as a guardian of justice and order, had become laughable in that moment.
"Artemis."
Nadula cast her a worried look from beside her.
In truth, she did not know what had happened when Artemis challenged the Demon King back then.
She had merely received word that Artemis had stormed into the enemy's headquarters, entered the Demon King's castle, and gained the chance to face and challenge the Demon King.
As for the outcome, neither she nor Lidas and Anima had held out much hope at the time.
They had even prepared themselves for Artemis to perish completely after that battle.
Her opponent had been the Demon King, a true supreme being whom even the Supreme God could not defeat—the embodiment of power, a synonym for destruction, the incarnation of the very concept of "strength."
Artemis could not possibly have won. She could only have faced an irredeemable end.
Ordinarily, God Race Goddesses could hardly die for good. As long as their True Seals remained, they could revive countless times.
But when the opponent was the Demon King—the existence that perfectly countered the