Chapter 334: Eve's Resolve

Eve slowly opened her eyes, blinking in disbelief for a few seconds.

"I... I'm alive?" She whispered, puzzled.

After all, she did remember the flash of heat, the flames that swallowed her entire body. It didn't feel painful, weirdly, but it was still something that made her realize that her life was ending.

She remembered the overwhelming surge of energy, the way it had consumed everything—her thoughts, her body, her very existence—in that singular, catastrophic instant.

It was just that powerful.

She couldn't even utter a single word, much less do anything to fight against it.

The force had been absolute, overwhelming—there was no room for resistance, no moment to even comprehend what was happening before it all went dark.

However, she was still standing, alive.

Her body felt real. Although the scene looked the same as before, it still felt solid beneath her feet, her breath steady. Such a situation muddled her mind, scrambling her thoughts as she tried to make sense of the contradiction.

"You're here."

Suddenly, a voice echoed, addressing Eve directly. A familiar voice, but somewhat missing the edge she recalled.

"You are...?" Eve turned, facing the familiar woman standing before her.

It was, as she expected, Sekhmet.

However, unlike her original godly appearance—bright, tanned, and beyond beautiful—the one before her felt... normal.

It did resemble her, and her beauty still surpassed all mortal measures. Yet something fundamental was missing, something that Eve couldn't quite put her finger on until she realized what it was.

She lacked one crucial thing: her aura as a goddess.

That overwhelming presence, that divine weight that made reality itself seem smaller, was gone. In its place was something far more... manageable.

Currently, she felt more like a mortal than a god—powerful still, certainly, but not the all-consuming force that the true Sekhmet had been.

"Exactly. I am Sekhmet." And as if to prove Eve's thoughts, she nodded. "A clone, to be specific. A measly vessel containing a millionth of a fraction of my real strength."

Eve narrowed her eyes, pondering.

But before she could even begin to think of why she was pulled there, alone with a clone of Sekhmet:

"You seemed to have realized your essence, correct? And from what I can see... It is... Interesting." She smiled bewitchingly.

"What is my essence?" Eve asked directly.

Although she'd "realized" her essence, hadn't really figured out what it is. What it's called. And from the way Sekhmet spoke, she seemed to have already grasped what it was. However,

"That's not something for me to say," of course, she refused.

"Figuring that out is also a part of you, realizing your essence. Right now, you just subconsciously figured what you are, and what you want to be. But that's it. You still lack substance."

"I... See..." Eve sighed.

It's true that taking shortcuts to gain strength doesn't bode well more often than not. Thus, Sekhmet's sentiment was one Eve agreed with.

"Then, what will I be doing here?" Eve asked.

"Simple."

Sekhmet raised a hand. On top of her palm, a ball of fire floated—like a small sun, radiating heat that Eve could feel even from a few meters away.

"You just need to figure out the difference between your physical and ethereal body."

Eve heard the answer, but it felt incomplete. After all, she hadn't heard the "method" to do so. How she would be training. What exercises she'd need to perform. What techniques to practice.

The reason was... because she didn't need to know. Understanding would come through experience, through pain and failure and the hard-won clarity that could only emerge from suffering.

WHOOSH!

The next moment, the ball of flame flew over.

It was faster than a bullet, so fast that even Eve could barely follow its figure. She tried to dodge, but the projectile was just way too fast, and in one fell swoop, passed through her body.

The fireball left a fist-sized hole through her chest, before floating about three meters behind her, as if evaluating the damage it had done.

Eve felt all her senses roaring.

The pain, the heat, the burning of her intestines, of her lungs, her heart. The weakening pulse, the blood flowing back, filling her mouth with the taste of iron. The deafening sound of her body getting seared, and the smell of burning flesh.

Everything was so vivid it was surreal. Even though it all happened in a literal blink, the sensations were so vivid as if it all happened over a span of minutes instead.

"Gah...!"

Eve spat blood, falling to the ground. She could feel her fingertips getting cold, strength leaving her body.

Her gaze flickered and darkened.

Only Sekhmet's figure remained firm ahead of her. Not budging an inch. Showing no pity or any emotion at all besides the smile pasted on her face.

"I forgot to tell you," Sekhmet added, placing a finger against the corner of her lips.

"In this dimension, all sensations will be felt forcibly to help you figure out the difference between your physical and ethereal body. So even if you only got hit for a split second, it would feel as if hours had passed."

'No wonder.'

Eve thought as her last bit of consciousness finally faded.

"Gasp...!"

But then, the next moment, she was already standing up again.

The same as when she just arrived. Standing in the same spot, in the same posture, and the same expression.

But what changed was what was left of her senses.

It was no longer present, but like a phantom, it remained in her mind. As if even now, she still had a burning hole through her chest.

She patted it down, and realized it was as flat as before. No holes at all.

"Phew..." She sighed in relief, before feeling slight discontent. "This... what does this mean, Goddess Sekhmet?"

"Meaning?"

Sekhmet tilted her head cutely, as if Eve's question was puzzling to her. Then, a fireball appeared on top of her palm without delay.

Instead of answering, she just continued on with what she was doing!

But this time, Eve was prepared.

She moved fast, waving her hand and summoning the system panel.

"...Huh?!"

But realized that nothing happened.

She couldn't call her inventory, or summon a weapon to fight with. That made her pause for a quarter of a second.

And that pause was more than enough for the fireball to drill through her chest once again.

"Sh... it..."

Eve, once again, felt all her senses rampage.

All sensations, from her sense of pain, her hearing, sense of smell, taste, and sight. Everything was filled with agonizing information, further worsening the knot in her mind.

A flood of information, making her unresponsive for a while.

Then...

"Gasp!!!"

She took a deep breath, realizing that once again, she was standing still, facing Sekhmet. Back to how it was at the beginning.

By then, Eve had partly realized what was going on.

She had just died.

Twice.

And probably more in the following moments. The horror of it—of truly dying, feeling every sensation, every moment of agony—was almost unbearable. Yet there was no blood, no permanent injury. Just the loop. Reset and again.

And along with this realization, she also strengthened the image of her essence. Each death gave her a little more clarity, a little more understanding of what she was supposed to be discovering in this place.

But dying twice, and "wanting" to die again, are different things entirely. Knowing what was coming and choosing to face it anyway required a different breed of courage.

"Bring it on!"

Eve, as soon as she returned to her senses, jumped back.

She might be unable to access the system, but she still had her mana. Her magic. Although not as refined as the others, she could still fight with it.

And just like that, for survival, and to get stronger, Eve fought.

Through hundreds of thousands of deaths that followed, she fought.