SWNOVELXO Chapter 180
180. The Time Of New Judgment
“You have gone too far, Vanessa Millett.”
A radiant silhouette appears ahead.
“You are—”
Vanessa gasps—
Instinctive terror surges, freezing her in place.
Sweat gushes from her entire body.
Her heart pounds violently in her chest.
Slowly, the light fades, and it materializes.
A monstrously beautiful woman, wings sprouting from her forehead, arms, legs, back, waist—all over her body.
“Why are you here…!?”
The winged goddess, Ga Zegalia Fio.
The very goddess who granted her the skill of teleportation.
“What you have done disrupts the balance of the world. The sealed dragons are one thing, but if high-ranking gods and demons manifest in this world simultaneously, they will only annihilate each other—”
The goddess speaks calmly.
Vanessa knows her intentions have been seen through.
But that’s no problem.
This, too, is within her expectations.
(If she harms me, the goddess will vanish. It’s fine—she won’t dare lay a hand on me.)
She reassures herself.
Gods cannot harm humans.
A truth of the world she deduced from ancient texts, Electra’s prophecies, and more.
“In a world shifting into chaos, the powerful will claim new dominion—is that what you seek?”
Zegalia’s eyes narrow sharply.
“To stand above all others—that is all that drives you. A pitiful thirst for power. Ambition. The desire to dominate.”
“Spare me the condescension.”
Vanessa smirks, twisting the corner of her mouth.
“Even if you see through me, what can you do about it, oh goddess? Surely you don’t plan to stop me by force?”
“I will not command you. I will not compel you. I will not forbid you. How you use the power I granted is your freedom—as I said when I first gave you the ability to teleport.”
Zegalia stares at Vanessa, unmoving.
Her transcendent expression betrays no emotion whatsoever.
“Thus, I merely advise you. Return us to the celestial realm at once.”
Vanessa takes a step back.
“Can’t you return to the celestial realm on your own?”
“Impossible.”
Zegalia shakes her head.
“In this world, our divine power is severely restricted. We lack the energy to return to the celestial realm.”
Yes—Vanessa knows this.
From ancient texts, Electra’s prophecies, and the words of Sefilia, who can commune with gods.
Once summoned to this world, even gods cannot return to the celestial realm by their own power.
Vanessa sharpens her focus.
She doubts the goddess will attack, but she prepares just in case.
If something happens, she’ll be ready to counter with her skills—
“Gods and angels—holy kin—are drawn to demonic beings. Regardless of their will. Soon, I too will be pulled toward a demon on this earth. And when god and demon meet—they will annihilate each other.”
“That is exactly what I desire.”
Vanessa’s smile deepens.
“If the gods and high-ranking demons vanish, the world’s power balance will shift dramatically. And when it does, that one will not remain silent.”
“That one…?”
Vanessa furrows her brows.
“For now, that one must not be provoked. All will perish. Gods, demons, dragons—and humans.”
“What… are you… saying…?”
Neither the ancient texts Vanessa studied nor Electra’s prophecies mention any existence that fits that one.
But she doubts the goddess would bluff.
Then, who—or what—is that one?
“The time of new judgment approaches… Until preparations to oppose it are complete…”
“Judgment’s… time?”
Nothing the goddess says makes sense.
Her words are incomprehensible.
“We gods are not the apex of this world. We, too, are but those who are governed.”
Zegalia’s eyes gleam with an eerie light.
The air before her shimmers like a heat haze.
(The space is distorting—?)
“You, who threaten the world, must vanish.”
For the first time, something resembling emotion surfaces on the goddess’s face.
Clear, unmistakable—killing intent.
“Don’t mock me. I will be the ruler of this world!”
Vanessa leaps back.
“I won’t disappear here! I refuse to vanish—!”
She screams, raw emotion laid bare.
“Pitiful obsession. To surpass others. To subjugate others. That is all you are.”
“The entire world will kneel before me—even a god will not stand in the way of my ambition—”
Mid-shout, she freezes.
“……!?”
No sound comes out.
Breathing is agony.
“I have teleported the surrounding air away, leaving a vacuum.”
The goddess’s cold voice leaves Vanessa stunned.
“Humans cannot survive in this space.”
“……Ah……!”
Even her furious cries vanish the moment they leave her lips.
Her lungs convulse.
Her blood feels like it’s boiling in her veins.
(This is bad—I need to teleport away from here—!)
Even if the air has been displaced, surely the entire world isn’t like this.
A few dozen meters? A few hundred?
Or farther—if she can escape this space, beyond the vacuum’s reach, she’ll be fine.
“……!”
But no matter how she focuses, no power comes.
(I can’t… teleport…)
She’s already exhausted nearly all her spiritual energy summoning gods and holy angels.
“You have no strength left for another teleportation.”
The goddess’s words are merciless.
“Given time, you would recover. But—that time will never come for you. Not for eternity.”
(This can’t… be happening…)
Vanessa had considered the possibility of divine retaliation.
But she believed the gods would never directly attack a human.
Doing so would cost them dearly.
She expected something more indirect.
A subtler move.
And she had prepared for that.
But never did she imagine—a god would disregard its own existence, targeting a single human with self-destructive resolve.
As Vanessa stands dumbfounded, Zegalia’s body begins flickering.
The flickering intensifies, her form fading.
(What is this!?)
“I told you. We too—are governed.”
Zegalia speaks dispassionately.
Her figure is already half-transparent.
“I have defied that one’s laws. Thus, I vanish.”
Even her own annihilation is met with transcendent indifference.
(A power that erases even gods…?)
What—what is it?
But the question dissolves into the void.
Vanessa’s words melt away unheard.
“Child of man. You were too arrogant. Too insolent. Had you known your place, you might have attained the glory you sought.”
Zegalia exhales.
A pitying, quiet sigh.
“Though I vanish, six gods remain. To prevent you from interfering with them—you too must disappear. For eternity—”
(No… I can’t… end like this…)
Her consciousness wavers.
Fades.
She feels her existence slipping away.
(This can’t be… This shouldn’t be happening…)
She wanted to stand above all others.
To prove herself superior.
She had the power.
Yet here she is—
Falling so easily.
Where did she go wrong?
Did she make a mistake?
(I… am…)
In her final moments, only regret and bitterness rise.
Not a thought for her husband, her family.
Only the obsession with her own glory—
“To the remaining gods… my brethren, I entrust the rest… The liberation of all worlds.”
Hearing the goddess’s distant voice, Vanessa’s consciousness scatters like mist.
※
“The plan… is progressing smoothly, I suppose.”
Muttering Vanessa’s words to herself, Electra walks through the mansion’s garden.
The visions of her own ruin—prophesied thousands, tens of thousands of times.
Is the day they are overturned drawing near?
All Electra can do is hope the plan succeeds.
She wants to live.
Just to survive.
A wish she’s clung to every day since gaining the skill to manipulate fate—to see the future.
Then—her steps halt.
“Wh…at…?”
She’s speechless.
At her feet—a collapsed figure.
“H-hey… Vanessa…?”
Electra murmurs in disbelief.
Vanessa lies there—her face twisted in agony.
Her once-glamorous beauty is frozen in a rictus of shock.
Not a twitch of movement.
“What happened… Vanessa…!?”
Electra crouches, trembling hands reaching for her.
No breath. No pulse.
She’s gone.
“Just… what is this…!?”
Electra shakily stands, muttering in a daze.
“What’s happening…? What’s going on…!?”
She can’t believe it.
Vanessa’s end—so sudden, so anticlimactic…