It took Melody a few days to control her divine glow. She was quite thankful to Eric and Lord Tulsen for their advice and the manual.

  Coming out of her home, she saw Mother Koda walking about with Gaia, inspecting the Grove after the guests had returned to their homes. Gaia worked with Mother Koda to improve how to get from one place to another. Now, they had a Spirit Gate that connected the Mountain Giant village to the Grove. Mother Koda would often come to discuss various trades with materials mined from the mountains.

  “Mother! Mother Koda!” Melody jogged over to them.

  “Little fern, so good to see you awake and less bright.” Gaia giggled.

  Mother Koda laughed. “Never thought I would see the birth of a goddess. Will you be leaving for the realm of the gods?”

  Melody nodded. “I plan to visit Nana Lyuten and meet the other gods.” A dark smile came to Melody’s face.

  Gaia sighed. “I am just as angry at Kodela, but please, little fern, don’t do anything too crazy.”

  “No promises.” Melody giggled.

  “Melody!” Rui hopped onto her sister’s back, hugging her around her neck. “Can I go with you?”

  “Sorry, Rui. I don’t know about that yet. I’m still reading the manual, so please wait until I learn more about being a god first.” Melody pulled her sister around to her front and hugged her.

  Annabelle and Violet rushed up to them from the Grove’s central Fairy Ring.

  “Is something wrong?” Melody asked them.

  “Well, nothing to worry about since Anna’s grandpa is going to make his move,” Violet said.

  “What?” Melody raised an eyebrow.

  Annabelle looked furious. “Those old bastards at the temple are declaring you to be a danger to the world and demanding you be put down.”

  “What?” Both Gaia and Mother Koda sounded furious.

  “How dare those fools do such a thing to the savior of our world?!” Mother Koda roared.

  “Sounds like it is time to destroy the temple.” Gaia coldly stated. A powerful storm was forming overhead, and the wind was picking up.

  “I heard.” Okan stomped over, standing upright with bulging muscles. “When are we going?”

  “I will call Alure. I’m sure even the dragons will want to show their disdain.” Gyyanrel angrily stated.

  Various calls from other forest spirits rolled in in agreement to march on the holy temple to clean the house.

  “Snrrt!” Melody snorted.

  Everyone turned to Melody, who was covering her mouth and trembling. She began laughing loudly as she carefully placed Rui down. Melody clutched her stomach and eased down to her knees, tears streaming down her face.

  “Melody?” Gaia’s rage dispersed, and the clouds cleared up.

  “S-Sorry! HAHAHAHAH!” Melody rolled onto her back, laughing more. “I… I… LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!” With her senses so much more powerful, she knew all of her family meant what they said.

  Spreading her arms out to her sides, she smiled and let loose all of her love, warmth, and desire to always be with them. It flooded from her, silencing all the angry voices worldwide.

  “I want to see my mom,” Violet stated.

  “You too? I want to see my parents and grandpa, too.” Annabelle added.

  Melody sat up and looked at the two. “Something wrong?”

  Violet placed a hand over her heart. “I’m not sure, but I think you might have sent out a ‘I love and want to see my family’ wave out. How far do you think it went?”

  Melody tensed, and a voice called out to her, something different than through nature. “Melody.” The voice of a kind-sounding old man called out to her.

  “Who are you?” Melody answered.

  The old man chuckled. “I am Dyluran.”

  “Melody?” Okan called.

  “Sorry, it’s Dyluran,” Melody stated.

  “They cannot hear me, only you,” Dyluran stated.

  Melody turned her attention back to the call. “Um, is this something related to what just happened?”

  “Yes. Nothing is too bad since your godly power is limited while on the ground. As your friend observed, you unleashed a wave of ‘Familial Love and Yearning’ across the world. You may need to come to the divine realm sooner than I thought. Do not worry. You will not be gone from the world long since time is much faster here.” Dyluran explained.

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  “How do I get there? I haven’t quite gotten to that section in the manual.” Melody asked.

  Dyluran chuckled. “No need to worry. It is similar to the idea of your Fairy Rings. With your godly senses, you will not have issues feeling where we are. You establish a travel tunnel and ‘jump’ through, but don’t do it just yet.”

  “Why not?” Melody asked.

  She then felt anger, not directed at her, from Dyluran. “We have a request for you before you come here.” The god told Melody of the request and ended the connection.

  “Looks like you’re done,” Violet commented. “Are you getting punished?”

  Melody shook her head. “Not me.” She grinned down at her friends. “But some old people are!”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Cardinal Ackerman stood before a large group of people in the grand temple in the empire’s capital city. “My people!” He began. “I am sure all of you have heard of the ‘supposed’ savior of our world. The so-called Forest Song!”

  The people looked at each other. Many looked skeptical, while others were hanging on to his words.

  “But I tell you, she is no savior, but a vile temptress!” The Cardinal exclaimed. “I know the royal family has publically stated her achievements, but some of you don’t know that this giant also goes by the name Crimson Goddess! The reason for this name was that, using her powerful skills of Charm and Seduction, she corrupted and nearly killed thirty of our people!”

  Some people were curious about the incident, but not many seemed moved. Most everyone seemed more focused on hugging or being close to their families.

  “It is clear what has happened! She has charmed His Highness and the royal family, turning them into her pawns! If we do not band together and deal with growing evil, we will find ourselves at the mercy of giants!” The Cardinal stated.

  “That is enough!” A powerful voice yelled.

  Cardinal Ackerman looked down the aisle to see High Priest Alan Barton, the Cardinal he drove out of the temple to solidify his power.

  Prince Matthew and a small group were with Alan Barton, one of them likely Annabelle Barton, the priest’s granddaughter. Trailing behind them were two people he never expected to see again, and they caused him to pale a little.

  “High Priest Barton, I-I remember you were banished from the main temple.” Cardinal Ackerman stated.

  “That changes today.” Alan Barton stated while holding up a stack of documents, circling to speak to everyone present. “I have proof of Cardinal Ackerman’s corruption and thievery from the good people of our world.”

  “Lies!” Cardinal Ackerman yelled. “Guards! Remove this blasphemer from this congregation of good people!”

  “No.” A soft, feminine, yet commanding voice stopped the temple guards from moving.

  “Y-Your grace.” He turned to see a tall, older woman, the Pope.

  “Cardinal Barton-.” The Pope began, only to be interrupted by Ackerman.

  “He is not a cardinal!”

  The Pope’s silvery eyes bore into the Cardinal, making him wither away from her. “I never approved of his banishment or demotion. I may have been busy meditating with the gods then, but you had no right to restructure the temple as you did. Guards, seize Cardinal Ackerman.”

  The guards quickly moved to the Pope’s words.

  “Unhand me!” He yelled, but they didn’t listen.

  “Your pawns in places of power in the temple have been captured in lieu of the investigation into the information provided by Cardinal Barton.” The Pope stated.

  “Lies! I am telling you they are lies, your grace! You have to believe me!”

  The Pope sighed. “I have had my suspicions for some time but didn’t have the proof or path of investigation. Since you restructured things to benefit yourself and lock me away, divine intervention finally broke your hold.”

  “W-What…?” Cardinal Ackerman was shocked. Was what she said true?! Did the gods indeed get involved? “T-Then prove it!”

  A tall woman in black fur armor stepped forward. “May I?”

  The Pope nodded. “Please, Miss Melody.”

  Melody grew in size until she was now eighteen feet tall. The people in the temple were surprised, but the Cardinal couldn’t understand. Why were they not scared? It was the giant!

  “By the gods!? They bring the beast within our ranks! That is the Crimson Demon! The beast who will destroy our way of life!” Cardinal Ackerman yelled.

  Melody brought her hands together in prayer. “Divine Influence: Familial Love.” A powerful wave of divine energy rolled away from the giant.

  Cardinal Ackerman stopped struggling. Thoughts of his parents and siblings came to mind. He wished he could see his late parents again. He wanted to see his younger brother and sister and apologize for abandoning them. Why did he do it!? WHY!? How could he just leave them!? His sister’s child died, and he could have easily prevented it with an inconsequential amount of divine power. Yet… he refused to acknowledge any familial relation.

  “Oh… gods…” He fell to his knees as he realized how disappointed his parents would be in him. How cruel had he become? All for what? Power? What was power worth if there was no one there with you? “What have I done?” Tears rolled down his cheeks.

  A divine glow radiated from Melody. “I am Melody of the Gaian Forest, and I have ascended to godhood. From here, I will be leaving for the divine realm for my training with the other gods of our world.” She gave a beautiful smile. “Soon, I shall return to bring peace and happiness to our world, where every family is happy, and evil does not prevail.”

  The Pope stepped forward. “What Goddess Melody has stated is true! I have heard the voices of our gods! Soon, our world shall improve, and we of the temple will work with her!”

  Prince Matthew then made a proclamation. “We, the royal family, shall fully support the newest goddess of our world!”

  Melody turned her eyes toward the heavens. “May peace come to our world. May our families always find happiness!” With her final words, Melody vanished in a flash of green light.

  The people cheered and praised Melody and her name, calling out the name of the Forest Song.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  The Pope looked down at Cardinal Ackerman while the people celebrated the birth of the new goddess. “Anything to say for yourself?”

  “I’m… sorry. I shall confess to everything. I swear it.” He sobbed.

  Cardinal Barton arrived with his family and Violet.

  The Pope smiled. “I am glad you two lived, especially my replacement.” She spoke to Annabelle’s parents.

  “To be honest, thanks to our daughter and her friends, we were able to cure all of the beast-kin.” Annabelle’s mother laughed. “Also, I won’t be the one to replace you.”

  The Pope raised an eyebrow. “Oh? I was told it would be you.”

  Annabelle stepped forward. “You were told that it would be a female from the Barton family. There are two of us.”

  The Pope eyed Annabelle and could barely feel any divine power from her. Annabelle’s mother had considerably more, not as much as the Pope, but it was enough for a pope.

  “Anna, you no longer need to hide it.” Cardinal Barton chuckled.

  Annabelle beamed. “That’s right!”

  “You gotta do the thing.” Violet snickered.

  Annabelle spread her feet to shoulder width, tightened her bent arms to her sides, and clenched her fists. “UwwwwooooooaaaAAAAAAHHHHH!” With her cry, powerful waves of divine power burst from Annabelle.

  The Pope was shocked. In just a few moments, the young lady had already exceeded her mother’s power and rapidly closed in on her own. “Unbelievable…”

  Annabelle’s unleashing of power caught the attention of the masses in the temple. Her light and power continued to grow until they filled the entirety of the temple, acting like a signal from the world, showing that the next Saint had come.