Gathering Wives with a System Chapter 728 Divine Vestige, Possessive Goddess

The moment the binding reached completion, Alice felt a new power merge into her. It was difficult to describe, but rather than feeling foreign or dangerous, the power felt strangely soothing, almost as though some part of her was already familiar with it, as if it belonged to something she knew at a personal level.

Alice was still trying to understand that feeling when something suddenly jerked her consciousness. It felt as though her mind had been pulled out of her body, and before she could even react, everything around her disappeared.

When Alice could see again, she found herself standing in a completely different place. Everything around her was black, with no ground, sky, or distant objects visible, making her feel as though she had been placed in the middle of an endless night.

There was only one other presence in that darkness. A humanoid figure stood in front of her, although it was difficult to call it a person because its entire body appeared to be made from a mass of light.

Alice could not make out any facial features, yet she somehow knew that the figure was looking at something in front of it. The being suddenly spoke, its voice carrying a trace of confusion as it examined the situation.

"Hmm? What is this?" The humanoid figure looked down at its own body before seemingly focusing on an invisible system screen. "The System created a personal System from my vestige, and now I have to judge whether this person is allowed to take that personal System? What the heck? I don't remember making a deal like this. How did I even have a vestige left? I sacrificed everything. Even my name."

Alice listened carefully, but she could not make sense of what the being was talking about. Despite its confusion, there was something about its presence that made it obvious that this was not an ordinary existence.

The pressure coming from the being was overwhelming. It felt as though Alice was standing in front of something as vast as a mountain, except even that comparison seemed inadequate because the presence seemed endless, like an ocean that she could never hope to comprehend.

Alice found it difficult to breathe, and her body had almost completely stopped responding to her commands. Fear instinctively spread through her mind as she realized that the being in front of her was far beyond anything she had encountered before.

This was a God.

Yet despite the terrifying pressure surrounding the being, Alice did not actually feel threatened by it. There was something strangely familiar about its presence, and beneath the overwhelming power, Alice could sense a feeling that was almost soothing.

She did not understand why, but some part of her recognized this being. That familiarity was the only reason she could remain conscious under the pressure that would have probably crushed an ordinary person.

Alice forced her mouth to move despite the pressure weighing down on her. "May I know who you are?"

The humanoid figure raised its head and looked directly at her. It had no visible eyes, but Alice immediately knew that its attention had shifted toward her, and chills ran down her spine as the sheer weight of that attention settled over her.

The being did not seem to be intentionally frightening her. The problem was simply that its power was so immense that even its ordinary actions were enough to overwhelm her.

"I am the War God," the being said after a short pause. "Well, I'm his vestige, at least."

Alice's eyes widened slightly as she repeated the name. "The War God?"

"Yes. And I suppose you are the one who has gained the power of my vestige— Hmm? What is that inside you?"

The being slowly opened his palm, and Alice suddenly felt a powerful force pulling at her body. Before she could react, something black was extracted from inside her and shot forward at an incredible speed, yet surprisingly, it did not resist being removed.

The War God caught the black mass in his hand, and Alice expected it to struggle or try to return to her. Instead, the strange black thing immediately began rubbing itself against his palm and wrapped around his hand in an almost affectionate yet possessive manner.

Alice was completely dumbfounded as she watched the scene. She had always believed that the black thing inside her was connected to her previous self, so seeing it behave this way toward another person made absolutely no sense.

It should only act like that toward Isaac.

This was the War God.

According to everything Alice knew, the War God was either Isaac's ancestor or his parent. Either way, she had never expected the black thing to react to him as though it had known him for a very long time.

Then another possibility suddenly occurred to Alice.

She remembered something Isaac had once said about himself possibly being the reincarnation of the War God. He had eventually dismissed the idea because if he really were a reincarnated God, he should have memories of his time as a God, yet Isaac had never possessed anything resembling memories of Godhood.

Now that she was standing in front of the War God's vestige, the possibility suddenly seemed much more relevant. She was about to ask him about it when the War God began speaking again.

"This thing is interesting. It's [all] of you carried over, something that has clearly resisted the world's reset. It can't carry memories, powers, or anything else from one cycle to another, but it can carry emotions. I wonder who created something like this. It isn't on the level of Oroborus, but the fact that something capable of resisting the world's reset exists at all is remarkable."

He paused before letting out a tired sigh. "If something like this exists, then there must be a need for it. I suppose we still haven't conquered the apocalypse."

Alice's expression changed slightly at those words.

The War God looked toward Alice again, and his attention shifted away from the black existence in his hand. "How many years has it been since the apocalypse?"

"Three thousand years," Alice answered respectfully.

She was careful with her words because, regardless of whether the being in front of her was Isaac's ancestor, a previous incarnation, or his parent. Clearly, she had to make a good impression as a daughter-in-law.

"Three thousand years?"

The War God's voice carried a strange sense of defeat, and he shook his head slowly after hearing her answer. He looked at Alice again before continuing, "Young lady, you can have the power of my vestige. I honestly don't even understand why I have a vestige left. Before I descended into the mortal world, I burned everything I had, including my own existence. Because of that, it makes no sense for me to have a Divine Vestige remaining, but whatever happened has already happened."

The War God raised the black existence slightly, allowing Alice to see it more clearly. "If someone like you possesses something like this, then perhaps my power will be in good hands, and at the very least, you might have a chance of helping save this world. That said, I want something in return."

Alice became slightly apprehensive at those words, although she remained calm. "What do you want?"

"A promise. I want you to help anyone named Hargraves. Only my reincarnation or my disciples will carry that name. Their mission should be to save the world. So, if you encounter anyone named Hargraves, I want you to work with them instead of ignoring them, or treating them as an enemy," the War God answered.

"I'm the wife of Isaac Hargraves."

A strange silence filled the dark dimension.

The War God stared at Alice, and although his face still lacked any visible features, she could somehow tell that he was completely stunned by her answer. After several seconds, he finally spoke.

"Did you say Isaac?"

Alice was slightly confused by his reaction. "Is that what you're surprised about? I thought you would be more surprised by the name Hargraves."

"Fuc—"

12:36

"That is enough talking."

A heavy voice suddenly reverberated throughout the entire dimension, interrupting the War God before he could finish his sentence. Alice's entire body stiffened the instant she heard it, and for reasons she could not explain, she immediately disliked the voice.

A crack suddenly appeared in the distance. The crack continued widening as the entire dimension began to tremble, and even the War God's expression seemed to change when he saw it.

"I should have known this was going to happen," the War God muttered with a tired sigh.

The crack suddenly shattered, and a gigantic hand emerged from the other side. It was a flawless white hand that looked almost completely human, yet Alice instinctively knew that it did not belong to a human.

The moment Alice looked at it, several words appeared in her mind.

[Love.]

[War.]

[Harvest.]

She understood that those words were not coming from her own thoughts. They were appearing because the divine power contained within that hand was so overwhelming that her mind was instinctively trying to comprehend the existence behind it.

The enormous hand reached toward the War God and grabbed him before beginning to pull him toward the shattered crack. Surprisingly, the War God did not resist, and instead simply looked as if he had given up, as though this was something he had been expecting to happen.

"I've been waiting for you for too long, dear," the voice of the Goddess of War, Harvest, and Love reverberated throughout the dimension.

The War God sighed as he was dragged away. "You do realize this isn't my real body, right? This is just a vestige."

"I can reach your real body through it. It's time I punished you for sleeping with that bitch, dear," the Goddess replied, and her voice remained gentle despite the obvious possessiveness hidden beneath it.

"Hey, listen to me. Let's calm down first—"

His words disappeared as the enormous hand pulled him through the shattered crack. The crack closed immediately afterward, leaving Alice alone in the strange darkness with no explanation for what she had just witnessed.

Alice remained silent for several seconds as she tried to process everything. She had heard countless terrifying stories about the War God, including tales about the War Monger and the Slayer of Ancients, and she had always imagined him as an existence so terrifying that merely hearing his name was enough to make people tremble.

Yet what she had just witnessed was completely different.

The terrifying War God, the existence who had apparently burned away his own name and everything else he possessed, had just been dragged away by the Goddess of War, Harvest, and Love because she wanted to punish him for sleeping with another woman.

Alice could not help but stare at the place where they had disappeared. For some reason, the terrifying God she had imagined suddenly looked much more like an ordinary husband who had been caught by his wife doing something he definitely should not have done.

Alice did not think her image of the War God was going to recover anytime soon. The terrifying divine existence she had imagined was now completely replaced by the image of a husband who apparently had to be extremely careful whenever his wife's mood became unpleasant.

As soon as that thought crossed her mind, another thought followed naturally.

'Serves him right.'

If the War God had really been caught sleeping with another woman—which he obviously had, since Isaac existed—then being punished by the Goddess of War, Love, and Harvest was hardly something Alice could pity him for.

Cheating husbands deserved to be punished, and in Alice's opinion, locking them inside a cave forever would be a perfectly reasonable place to begin.

She was still thinking about what might happen to the War God when the Goddess's voice reached her through the opening that had been torn into the dimension. "Thank you, Alice. I never thought I would be able to meet him again so soon."

Alice nodded respectfully, although she was still somewhat distracted by everything that had happened. She had entered this place expecting to receive a System, but instead she had met the vestige of the War God and witnessed him being dragged away by his wife.

"Since he can be counted as a tribute, I can bestow a powerful reward upon you. You don't need to ask for anything right now, so take your time and think about what you want. When you have decided, you can tell me later," the Goddess added.

Alice was slightly surprised by how generous the offer sounded. She had no idea what kind of reward a Goddess could give her, but considering the tales she had heard, she was certain that asking for something casually would be a waste.

"There is something else I want to ask about. What about my System? I still need the War God's permission before I can activate it," Alice said after thinking for a moment.

"You don't need to worry about that. I will grant you permission to use it," the Goddess replied.

"You can do that?" Alice asked.

"Yes, I possess a portion of the War God's God Domain of War. When Gods marry, they exchange a portion of their God Domains with each other, which is why the word 'War' is part of my title. Dear also received a portion of my Harvest Domain when we married, although he sacrificed that portion when he descended into the mortal world," the Goddess explained.

Alice nodded slowly as she tried to organize all this new information in her mind. There were still several questions she wanted to ask, especially about the relationship between the War God and Isaac, but before she could speak, the Goddess suddenly waved her hand.

"You should leave quickly. The System probably won't be happy if it notices that thing," the Goddess said.

Alice's expression changed slightly when she heard that.

The Goddess raised her hand, and the black existence that had remained outside her immediately moved toward Alice. It flew through the void and entered Alice's body without any resistance, disappearing completely from her sight.

Alice felt a strange dizziness immediately afterward. Her vision blurred, and the darkness surrounding her began to fade as though she were being pulled back toward her body.

When Alice opened her eyes again, she found herself sitting on the bed inside Isaac's spatial domain. Everything around her was exactly as it had been before she disappeared, and for a moment, she simply sat there while trying to determine whether what had happened had actually been real.

Then, notifications appeared.

[Warforged System activated.]