The Goddess's Might Saves the World - Chapter 1

The night was already dark, but now, the forest was absolutely engulfed in a flame far deeper than the darkness itself.
The fire wasn’t red; it was pitch-black, like ink, yet it radiated the searing heat of molten steel. Trees instantly shriveled up, exploding into charcoal as they were ripped apart. The air hung heavy with the choking stench of ash and cinders.
The black mist overhead twisted with the flames, turning the forest into a cage yanked straight out of Hell.
“Hah… hah…”
The Hero slumped against a half-burnt stump, his breath sawing in his chest, his whole body shaking. His face was ghostly pale, and the Holy Sword in his hand looked useless, dull, and completely stripped of its usual glow.
His eyes were locked on a spot with pure dread, because the low, deep growl of a dog was getting closer.
── Thump.
── Thump.
The ground itself was vibrating.
A colossal black shadow began to emerge from the heart of the fire.
Three heads rose simultaneously, their canines sharper than blades, their eyes glowing like volcanic lava. The air they exhaled wasn’t breath—it was black flame, potent enough to incinerate the very atmosphere. Every single gasp was a small volcanic blast.
“Th-three heads… that thing…” The Hero couldn’t finish the thought. His throat was bone-dry, and his voice was a mere tremor.
Lumina, however, stood calmly in front of him. Her silver hair danced in the intense heat, and her eyes were perfectly tranquil, showing zero sign of fear.
“That’s Kurosu, the Black Flame Demon Hound,” she said softly, her voice slicing through the roar of the flames, reaching the Hero’s ears clearly.
“He’s the most bloodthirsty Head Hunter among the Twelve Demon Kings. Any prey he sets his sights on, no matter where they run, will have their skull crushed by all three of his jaws at once.”
As she spoke, the Demon Hound roared.
The sound shook the sky, and the ash of the entire forest surged like a massive wave. The Hero’s ears were ringing; he nearly lost his footing, stumbling back against the dirt.
“Waaahhh—! I-I can’t do it, Goddess! You’d need a full army just to stand a chance against a monster like that!”
The Hero clapped his hands over his head, his face a mask of fear, his voice completely broken.
Lumina knelt gently, placing her hand lightly on the Hero’s head. In that moment, the noise of the fire seemed to pull back, leaving only the sudden warmth and the beat of their hearts.
“Quiet now. You have just one mission: to bear witness.”
“B-bear witness…?”
“To witness how Light overcomes the Dark. To witness how my Radiance protects the world.”
The Goddess lifted her head and walked toward the fire.
Where her foot touched, the scorched earth immediately cooled, blooming with a faint silver light. Like a flower of ice unfurling in a furnace, it briefly pushed the intense black flames away.
Kurosu’s three heads simultaneously wrenched open their massive jaws, spewing three interwoven torrents of Black Flame.
The molten fire twisted together and crashed down onto Lumina, swallowing her whole.
“Goddess—!” the Hero shrieked in desperation.
But the next second, from inside the black flames, a clear yet unyielding voice called out.
“Too shallow.”
Light exploded.
It was a divine radiance unleashed from her Sacred Core, like a silver waterfall, ripping the black flames to shreds. Her figure emerged from the sea of fire, completely untouched. The light radiating from her Sacred Core seemed to be the only thing that could truly repel and negate the Black Flame.
The Hero gasped. The raw, unbelievable power of the spectacle punched him in the heart. This wasn’t something a sword could accomplish—it was the power of her body suppressing the darkness.
Lumina’s voice was solid, echoing across the entire burning forest.
“Hero, watch closely. This is our first battle—”
She slowly spread her arms, facing the three enormous heads ready to pounce.
“—From this moment on, the Darkness will yield beneath the Holy Radiance!”
Boom—!
The three streams of Black Flame erupted at once, pouring down like a lava cascade. The blaze dyed the night sky an even deeper black, threatening to swallow everything. Trees burst instantly; burning fragments danced in the air, and the whole forest became a gigantic inferno.
The Hero’s eyes were wide with terror, his voice barely a rasp.
“No way! That fire could turn a city to ash… Goddess, how can you—!”
Yet, within the sea of fire, the silver light shone once more.
Lumina’s form stepped out from the deepest parts of the blaze, her silver hair flying. The Holy Light from her Sacred Core was blinding. Her armor was partially shattered by the searing heat, but her face showed no hint of retreat.
“…My body might be soft, but the Radiance can suppress ten thousand beasts.”
She took a deep breath, and the Holy Light in her Sacred Core pulsed, causing the air to ripple like water.
Kurosu lunged again, this time with all three heads snapping from different angles, trying to tear her to pieces. Flames consumed the sky, and the ground started to melt.
The Hero stood frozen in the fire, his eyes reflecting the intense light.
“This battle… it’s totally beyond anything human…”
The Goddess just took one more step forward.
“Then I shall be the one—I will lock the Black Flame with my Holy Radiance!”
The silver light violently exploded. She met the three colossal heads, her arms outstretched, her Sacred Core taking the full impact head-on.
Heaven and earth roared as the three Black Flame-burning heads struck simultaneously. The sheer force was like three volcanoes erupting; the blaze and debris pushed the entire forest to the edge of annihilation.
The Hero felt the world was collapsing. He instinctively raised the Holy Sword to shield himself, but the sword was still dull, no better than a useless piece of metal. His heart hammered wildly, and his voice, squeezed out of his throat, was laced with a sob.
“Goddess—run! You can’t hold them back!”
But Lumina didn’t flinch.
Instead, she took a powerful step forward. It was a move as solid as an oath carved in stone, shaking the burnt earth until it cracked wide open. A silver tide of light surged from her Sacred Core, releasing a wave of pressure that overwhelmed the battlefield.
“Black Flame Demon Hound… you are a Head Hunter of the Twelve Demon Kings. If I can’t even suppress you, how can I challenge the greater darkness?”
Her voice held no fear, only pure resolve.
With a crash, the three heads bit down simultaneously!
—Only to be brought to a complete halt the very next instant.
Lumina’s arms were spread wide, her radiance acting as a sacred shield, pinning the three heads firmly to her Sacred Core. Black flames spewed madly in front of her, scorching the air and melting the ground, but no matter how they struggled, they couldn’t break through that sacred pressure.
“This is…” The Hero’s eyes snapped open wide, and he couldn’t make a sound.
“—The Holy Lock of Radiance!”
The Goddess’s fierce, low cry echoed across the battlefield.
The Holy Light from her Sacred Core coiled around the three heads like chains, locking them tightly in place. Kurosu thrashed and roared, the flames flaring up even hotter, but they were steadily subdued by the holy light.
Its teeth cracked inside the light, and its lava-like bl00d splattered onto the ground, burning deep craters into the scorched earth. Its howl shook the sky, but grew increasingly frantic, like a suffocating animal.
“Impossible! All three heads… suppressed…?” The Hero shook all over; the sight utterly defied his understanding.
The flames should have consumed everything, the Demon Hound should have been unstoppable, but now, the three heads were tightly hugged by a force both gentle and merciless, struggling yet unable to escape that Radiance.
Lumina’s expression remained serene. Her silver hair was lifted by the heat, her face bathed in firelight and holy light, making her look both stunning and untouchable.
“Lava, fierce flames, despair… these things mean nothing. Because the Radiance is the very thing that can embrace everything, and suppress everything!”
As she finished speaking, the Holy Light exploded.
“Seal—!”
With a deafening boom, the three heads were crushed into the abyss of the Holy Light at her Sacred Core, as if thrown into an endless embrace. That was the place the Darkness feared most—not swords, not fire, but suffocation under the combined pressure of light and warmth.
Kurosu’s struggles slowly faded, and the sea of black flames died down. The fierce fire in the forest vanished quickly, as if its fuel had been sucked away, and the smell of cinders in the air was washed away by the silver light.
Finally, the three heads let out one last unified roar, then shattered into fragments within the light, disappearing without a trace.
Only the Goddess stood alone on the scorched earth, the light from her Sacred Core slowly receding.
The Hero stared blankly at the scene. His knees felt weak; he nearly collapsed. His breathing was fast and shallow.
“Is this… is this actually real…? You… you actually beat the Demon King’s Hound with your power…?”
Lumina turned, her expression still composed, but carrying a faint, knowing smile.
“Yes. From this moment on, this land will be reclaimed, piece by piece. No matter how fierce the darkness gets, it will be suppressed by the Holy Radiance.”
The black mist in the sky churned, clearly unwilling to accept defeat. But at last, a crack opened in the night, and silver stars peeked through the clouds. A light that had been missing for so long finally fell upon the burnt earth.
The Hero looked up, seeing the true starlit sky reflected in his eyes for the first time. That light was no longer just a distant dream; it was made real by the Goddess standing before him.
He whispered, shaking.
“…Goddess… you really are… our only hope.”
Lumina simply tapped her Sacred Core, her tone composed enough to bring the Hero to tears.
“Don’t be scared. There’s more than enough room here—and this is just the beginning.”
In the distance, the low growl of the Twelve Demon Kings sounded again, as if resenting their defeat. The earth faintly trembled, and a new shadow was approaching.
The first battle was over, but it was only the opening act.
—Silence.
After the black flames died down, the entire forest felt utterly empty, leaving only scorched earth. The harsh smell of cinders still lingered, and smoke slowly drifted up in the night wind, like countless silent souls floating toward the stars.
The Hero sank onto the ground, covered in dirt and sweat, his eyes glued to the Goddess’s back. He had just witnessed a demon hound capable of burning everything to ash being locked down, suffocated, and turned to dust by that Radiance.
The image was so absurd it felt unreal, yet it was crystal clear, burned into his mind.
“Hah… hah…”
The Hero’s ragged gasps mixed with whimpers, his chest heaving violently. His hands shook as he tried to grab the Holy Sword again, only to find it was still lifeless and dim.
“I… I seriously… didn’t help at all…” he mumbled softly, his voice nearly lost in the night air. “I just hid in the back, totally useless…”
Just as he dropped his head, a silver-white light suddenly fell beside him.
Lumina approached. Her figure looked like a star made human. The Holy Light from her Sacred Core had receded, but she still radiated a steady calm.
“You did your best.”
Her voice was gentle, a complete contrast to the roar of the battle—like a river at night softly touching the shore.
She crouched down and placed her hand gently on the Hero’s shoulder.
“But… you can fight perfectly well alone… why do you bother bringing someone useless like me?” Tears finally escaped the Hero.
Lumina looked at him, not with mockery, but she gently pulled him close, letting him rest against her Sacred Heart.
It was an overwhelming sense of safety. Though the Hero’s face burned with shame, tears simultaneously streamed down his face.
“A Hero doesn’t need to be perfect. A Hero only needs to bear witness.”
Lumina’s voice was firm as she stared out at the burnt forest.
“You must witness how this land is reborn beneath my Holy Radiance; you must witness how the darkness is suppressed, step by step. That is your mission now.”
The Hero’s throat tightened; he wanted to argue but found he had no words. For the first time, a strange thought crept into his mind: maybe… maybe this wasn’t so shameful. If the world could truly be saved by her Radiance, then perhaps the one who witnesses it all has a purpose, too.
The night wind shifted, and tiny silver-white lights began to sparkle on the scorched earth.
It was the land, reduced to nothing by the black flames, starting to sprout new life. Though fragile, the shoots bravely broke through the soil, sustained by the lingering essence of the Goddess’s Holy Light.
The Hero looked up. Through the gaps in the trees, he saw the long-absent stars. In that moment, he forgot the harsh smell of the flames, feeling only a gentle comfort in his own heart.
“The stars… they really are still there…” he whispered.
Lumina’s lips curved into a smile. The rise and fall of her breathing seemed exceptionally steady and calm.
“Yes. The stars never left; they were simply hidden by the black mist. Just as hope never disappeared, it just needs someone—to press it out.”
When the Hero heard this, his mind flashed back to that absurd yet holy scene: the Demon Hound’s three heads struggling, suffocating, and finally collapsing against her power.
He couldn’t help but let out a dry, shaky laugh.
“…So that’s your ‘suppression’…”
Lumina didn’t reply, just fixed her gaze on the far distance.
Deep in the night sky, the black mist churned again. It wasn’t just an ordinary cloud, but a colossal shadow slowly taking shape.
A freezing wind swept in from the distant ruined cathedral, carrying the scent of burning feathers.
The Hero felt a deep chill, instantly sensing the danger.
“Is that… a new Demon King…?”
Lumina’s expression was more serious than ever. She slowly rose, her silver hair fluttering in the night wind.
“Yes. Sapphire, the Fallen Archangel. He heard of the Hound’s demise and is soaring towards us now.”
High above the night sky, a grating bird cry echoed, sharp like shattering glass. The stars trembled, and the clouds were ripped apart by a searing sword of light.
The Hero swallowed hard, shaking all over.
Lumina simply raised her hand, her fingertips tracing a line across her Sacred Core, as if officially announcing the next battle.
“Hero, remember. This is only the start. From now on, every darkness will be defeated beneath the Holy Radiance.”