*Stomp* 

A foot descended down. 

*Swoosh* 

As it mercilessly cleaved through the cold, airy snow of the mountain tops.  The white slushy substance itself could hardly even reach the top of her toes.

*Shhhmm*

That very same snow melted from her body heat. Forming little droplets that hung on to her skin. 

 It was a brutally cold temperature. One where the mightestist snow wolves huddled for warmth, where the fearsome Yeti’s burrowed deep down away from the freezing winds. It was an environment suitable for no one but maybe the frost elves, however they lived up further north on the mountain range. Not where Nadia was heading. 

She had been searching for an easy way to get across this mountain on which she had finally climbed over. For someone of her stature, her size and power it was no easy feat. 60 metre (approx 200ft) tall giantesses like her were forbidden from climbing across the centre line of the world. It was the reason why the snow melted at her feet. The heat generated from her body was sapped out to the nearby surroundings. The very moment it came into contact with Nadia through her exposed shows, which had holes in them from venturing for so long, it would begin to melt. A sensation that left Nadia unamused. Like a constant reminder that she needed to hurry. 

The laws of almost every neighbouring country forbade the act of giantesses crossing the mountain range. The likelihood of an avalanche forming from a mere sneeze from such a colossal being was a risk no one wanted to take. Whether there was any truth to that statement was besides the point, it could cost the lives of whoever or whatever lived nearby. 

However, Nadia did not succumb to such rules. She knew of exceptions.

‘There had to be.’ She believed with a sense of vigour. 

So, when she was exiled from her homeland, the Queendom of Ranate, she decided she would head north east to Bingfordian. Which was a somewhat friendly ally. However, they were not next to the mountain range, in fact the closest country wasn’t allied with Ranate at all. It wasn’t as if she could hide her identity either as a 60 metre tall giantess. So, she simply scattered away. Continuing to explore the eastern continent. 

‘I searched, I searched and finally I found an answer.’ She explained within the thoughts in her head. ‘The Despotate of Bonbach, a weak country that is under an absolute power, a might rules all ideology. It was perfect.’ She thought. 

Perfect was far from an overstatement. It was only that she was at her wits end that she would consider using such a tyranny filled land to her benefit, not to mention arriving there involved taking a detour north east from Ranate and around to enter from the north part of the country. Making it quite far from ideal.

Alas, they were the only land foolish enough to allow giantesses entry to the mountaintops. If that wasn’t enough reason, the might equals right ideology was in her favour. Being a colossal being, she could easily crush a human without her even knowing. Nadia could happily remove a person away from the world from a simple step. Her foot would dwarf over them, casting a shadow akin to that of a building falling from an inescapable distance. Like nature causing a landslide, all were helplessly doomed to her mercy. 

She could threaten their land with her might. She could achieve her goal with her power. She could right the wrongs of this dictatorship with her strength.

‘...’ She paused for a moment in the snowy blizzard as she recounted. ‘If only I could just take that first step.’ She lamented.

In reality, she could not exert herself to be cruel. All could advocate for that being for the best. However, she struggled to voice her own thoughts and beliefs. She struggled to articulate herself in a way that would normally give respect to someone of her grandness. She failed to respect herself, and allowed others to walk over her. She was weak with her own confidence. 

When she approached the dictatorship, her legs were shaking. Her hands were sweating. Her lips quivering. She uttered her threats, with them only being taken seriously due to her size. 

Without that size, without her identity as a giantess. She was nothing. A nobody. Along with being an exile from Ranate, her title as a royal was gone too. 

‘Is this all I am?’ She pondered. Drifting through the snow, her goldenish-brown hair flickered neatly in the wind. It was tied up into a ponytail, hidden under her outermost layer of clothing. In reality, she was fine for the most part. The clothing she donned was of expert quality and from a certain brand from Ranate. One that specialised in making accessible clothing for the giantesses. It was simply her shoes that were a problem. There were little tiny holes in them, which allowed snow to build up. 

‘Augh, great. I don’t know how much longer I can do this…’ She groaned aloud in addition to her thoughts. Simply put, the giantesses were in an odd place when it came to their natural habitat. Their humongous size made them far warmer in body heat than any other species or animal. Which made warm areas an exhaust zone for them. With constant sweating and heat stroke around every corner. On the other hand, it also made the freezing cold 

 unbearable. Their large surface area made it dangerous for too much unexposed skin to be in contact with ice or snow. 

That left a nice little window of cold but not too cold for the giantess’ ideal temperatures. And as anyone could guess, this was well past that comfort zone. 

Other than the few itty bitty humans that entertained her in the castle, in her life before being an exile, she was rather unaware of magic. Nadia had little to no idea how to conjure anything. She was a complete novice. Which was rather expected of many giantesses. The species wasn’t known for their magic capabilities. 

‘Regardless, it’s been about a day since I left the dictatorship. I’ve crossed the peak, I’m on the other side…’ She concluded. Her own odd pause at the end confused her. ‘The western continent… It's so…’ She struggled to even think. The hunger, the cold, the blizzard. All of it was getting to her. 

Perhaps if she had the mental will to get through it all, it would have been possible for her to continue walking. However, shackled by her own lack of confidence or identity. Nadia found it difficult to continue. 

It wasn't hypothermia that got to her. A typical symptom of drowsiness and falling asleep in a blizzard. If anything it was her own hunger and fatigue. The cold certainty didn’t help but it wasn’t quite enough for it to be that severe either. 

She fell to her knees. Then to her stomach. Flattening all that could have been in her way. In reality though it was highly unlikely she had taken anything out as life itself was scarce on the mountaintops. The land was like a flat plateau. 

Her face made contact with the snow; melting it. She shut her eyes slowly as-

“-A…A S-Skadi’ess? The Skadi’ess!” She heard a faint voice cry. It was equipped with an unfamiliar accent that sounded heavier in tone compared to what she was used to. “The fables were real? The prophet was a fraud!”

‘Who’s voice is this?’ She wondered before everything went black. 

— — — 

“Hmmm” Her voice groaned loudly. Like someone being disrupted from a pleasant nap. Nadia found it hard to wake up. 

“She’s waking up!” A voice cried, whether Nadia could hear it was a question everyone wanted an answer to. 

She was lying down, still in the blizzard, but she felt warmth around her. Her eyes still fuzzy from being startled awake adjusted to her surroundings. Quickly searching for stimuli to make sense of her situation. She arose up from her position, gasping aloud at what she saw. 

Fire. 

A flame that flickered in the eternal dark of the blizzard. It was massive, like a small forest flame. It seemed to measure up to the palm of her hand. If one was to compare them.

“What… What is this? Where am I?” She whispered. Just under her breath. However it wasn’t quiet enough for her words to be ignored. “Who are you all?” She wondered. 

Around her, where the snow enveloped her initially was nothing but wet grass. Beyond that grass were people standing on the white snow in the distance. There were a number of them. These people called humans. Between her and these humans were fires, flames that kept her alive and warm during the blizzard. The heat had melted away the snow, and created a little pocket of fervour within the snowfall.

‘Is this fire magic of some sort?’

 Nadia sat still, unsure of how to react. Her eyes fixated onto a couple of humans who were right in front of her.

“The legends are true, yes?” One man bickered. 

“They must be, oh great elders, we must notify the acting heads of the nearby towns.”  Another excitedly announced.

“What does this mean for the legend? For the prophet?” An older looking lady questioned. She seemed to be representative of a group of elderly humans. “Our apologies, oh great one. We had abandoned our beliefs, our morals and our faith. We beg for your forgiveness.” This specific elder shouted. 

Nadia, in response, almost did a small hop backwards in how out of place the statement was. ‘Beg for forgiveness? Abandoning beliefs?’ She pondered, her nervousness was beginning to show. Once more, her hands trembled. 

“I-I” She opened her mouth, the sole word that escaped came out shakily. 

“Yes! Our apologies, we do not want our goddess to confront us in the cold. Everyone, her holyness does not wish to speak to us until we prove our worth.” The elder announced to the crowd. 

‘No! That’s not it. That’s not it. That’s not it at all!” Nadia had desperately wished to get her thoughts out. Yet, for some reason she could do nothing but hesitate. 

“At once, great elder.” A group of humans responded with courtesy. “We, all unlawful and unjust humans of this land of the Achares Theocracy, seek forgiveness for our actions. For abandoning our beliefs. Oh great Skadi’ess, please enlighten our worthless presence and enrich our lives.” Some humans began to chant. It was practised, Nadia couldn’t help but get a wave of embarrassment coming over her as she saw the many humans around her kneel. The one’s right in front of her gestured to follow them. She reluctantly did. Her hunger was only a few hours away from having her eat live humans. It was an act she desperately wanted to avoid. An act that would be a direct betrayal of her morals and character.

‘Yeah. I can’t do that. Never. Nope. Not under any circumstance… Maybe only in dire circumstances.’ As if telling herself, or giving an instruction to follow she desperately tried to feed herself a command. ‘But-but, I’m in a new land… No longer a royal, no longer tied to be a representative. Can’t I try to follow my own rules now?’ She questioned. 

Her older sisters often debated on many things. However, there was no question that Ana Darlington-Bliss, the middle child, was the best option to be the princess of Ranate. The queendom on which Nadia originated from. 

She was fierce, but inexperienced. Her candidacy was like a trial by fire and combat situation. Where she was force fed into the heart of the situation with her sisters exiled and the previous queen missing. 

Nadia missed her sisters. She especially missed Ana. Out of the three siblings, she was the one who wanted change the most. Who was unhappy with their country's political climate the most. So naturally, she was deemed to be the next princess. As per the rules of how this all happened, the losers being Nadia’s eldest sister and Nadia herself, were exiled. 

It was a strange condition to add. However Ana’s mother added it regardless of the agreement on whoever would become next on the throne before she left. Bitter, angry and annoyed, the eldest sister hypothesised that it was to remove any potential of the princess being manipulated into falling in line with the country’s corruption. All it would take would be the kidnapping and negative framing of either sister to trap the princess candidate after all. Hence, the sisters deduced that removing such burdens from the princess would in fact ease the shoulders of whoever bore such a harsh responsibility. It was a rather ‘ends justify the means’ thought of logic. Yet, it was all they could come up with for why. 

To this day, Nadia missed her sisters. She and Trinity, the eldest of the three, went opposite directions. Where Nadia sought interest in magic from the humans of the west, Trinity saw potential in the innovative methodologies from the lands far east. Both swore to return to Ranate eventually after a buffer period to greet Ana and see how she was doing. As foreign ex-citizens, or guests of the state, rather than royalty. If their thought processes proved to be correct, then once the corruption of the queendom was eliminated from its most upper echelons of society, their return would be all but guaranteed. Who else could oppose their return? 

‘As for what was this upper echelon of giantess society? Obviously the wretched council.’ Nadia scorned in her head. Shaking her head at her own thoughts. An act all the humans around her carefully observed. 

“-My apologies!” Suddenly a shout snapped Nadia out of her trance, her inner thought processes disrupted.

“Huh?!” She audibly sounded. Confusion ran rampant through her mind. 

“I-I’ve offended you haven’t I? It was a mistake I swear!” A sangria-red haired human lady responded. Distress, misery and fear paralysed her voice. Human guards seemed to be surrounding her too now. 

‘No, of course not. What mistake?’ The words rang through Nadia’s head. She knew what needed to be said. Similar to how commonors would talk to her sisters or herself, there was a set of etiquette that needed to be followed. Somehow, somewhere in her cloudy mind, she had conveyed that this lady had breached such etiquette. Instilling outrage to her group of little humans. 

So, all she needed to do was to voice those words aloud. 

“...” 

Silence. 

The blizzard raged on even louder as she followed these people. Whilst Nadia did feel a bit silly following them by crawling on the snow, she felt it would alarm the little people the least. However, she was met with her first challenge as of now. 

The guards encircled the human woman. 

“...”

The guards drew out their swords and spears. 

“...”

The guards pointed them out towards the woman. 

“...”

The guards nudged the woman to kneel, like a site at an execution altar. They were ready to kill her. 

“...”

Not a word escaped from Nadia. Her hands could snatch the woman away. Her body could crush the guards. Her voice could make every human in the vicinity beg. Yet, she didn’t. She couldn’t. 

‘What are they all doing? Why are you all doing this?’ Nadia anxiously thought. 

One of the human guards stood to the side of the now kneeling human woman. They drew their sword right towards her neck. Only a few centimetres away. As if wanting to show Nadia, they made sure she had a clear view. 

‘Why? Why? I don’t want this.’ The giantess breathed in, and out, and in, and out. 

As if in a stance, the sword was raised up into the air. Only for it to descend down and slice through her-

“-Op that!” 

The guard froze. The hilt of the sword that carried the blade froze, merely a moment before making contact. It was a blunt ended weapon, not a slashing weapon. A rather common thing to see out in the colder parts. If contact were to be made, well, it was obvious what would happen. 

As for the human guard, in fear his heart sank. He looked up. 

“Stop that…” Nadia repeated. In shock of her own words. 

“-Y-yes.” The guard fell backwards, unable to shoulder the pressure of even talking to the giantess. She had stopped him before irreparable harm was done. 

She recounted what had just happened along with why it just happened. Hoping to come to a conclusion, she recalled her own actions before remembering the act of shaking her head. She must have shook while staring at the red haired woman. 

It was a simple gesture, every species on the continent probably was aware of it. Yet, in this strange land, that little act was enough to give someone the death sentence. To rid them of their life, their livelihood, their free will and right to live. Her words, actions, implications all had more weight to them than human life. To Nadia, that was a horrifying realisation. 

The scores of humans all stared at her anxiously, their own worries plastered across their faces as if fear was a facial expression. Some held their mouths open, others closed. All were silent. Nadia knew what needed to be done. 

That being a statement. Words of relief. A few sentences to let everyone know that the woman’s actions were to be pardoned. How would she word this? She did not know. The manner of speaking from a position of power had been foreign to her for many years now. 

“The woman’s actions are forgiven.” She cautiously worded. The crowd’s actions still remained full of angst so she continued. “There is to be no refuting my judgement there,” Nadia had not wanted to speak like this any longer. So she considered leaving it at that. However, something, like an itch at the back of her mind commanded her not to. “For a simple gesture, this punishment is too extreme…” 

All drawn breaths from the plethora of humans around her were released. As if the tension in the air was cut. She needed to clarify herself, she desperately needed to explain herself. However in reality, she had no idea what was happening. Or what her own position in this land was. So she remained silent. Eyes darting back to the person she almost killed. 

The deeply red haired woman was crying. Whether it was of relief or the lasting effects of the fear from a moment ago was up for debate. Nadia found it difficult to maintain eye contact so she drifted her eyes away. 

“Please, let us continue.” Nadia broke the silence. 

She continued crawling away. Following wherever the humans were leading her. The humans continued practising their mastery over fire to keep the area warm. Nadia followed, in awe of the magical display.

– – – 

“Feast away all! Feast and enjoy! Feast and bathe in the elegance of lady Nadia!” A chieftain shouted. He was appointed mayor of the little city where Nadia was led towards. 

It had only been a single day. Not even, less than a day. It was the morning right after. 

Nadia had crawled through the snow, surrounded by the warmth of the flames from the humans around her to guide her. She had crawled for many kilometres down the mountain before finally reaching some sort of city. It was a rather typical human establishment for the colder environments. Houses had roofs littered with wool and an exterior snowproof layer of some mysterious rough leather to keep water out. Homes were wooden, with minimal stone architecture. Only existing really for a fireplace that stayed forever lit. Nadia herself would not get to see inside these homes, she was simply far too large. Her accommodation was a rather large cave next to the mountainside city. Where heat absorbent rocks kept the place from feeling cold. All the rocks were preheated from fire magic being blasted out from the humans beforehand. 

In the morning however, it was a sunny day. The snowstorm subsided. Nadia arose from her slumber, one painful and uncomfortable but still much needed rest. She was greeted with a celebratory feast. 

“We, the people of Fregen, cannot describe our feelings of gratitude towards you, oh great one.” The chief respectfully spoke. Unlike the commoners from earlier, who had a fearful tone, the chief spoke with just the slightest bit more confident sounding voice.

“F-feelings of gratitude? For I?” Nadia almost whispered, her thoughts seemed to escape her lips. 

“ You’ve come to rescue our people, of course we all know. The legends speak of a giantess from the eastern continent breaching the mountaintops and to our land.” The chief excitedly exclaimed. Followed by a sudden shift to a bitter, remorseful tone. “The old theocracy of this land outlawed all tales of the great Eastern Skadi’ess. Proclaiming the tales to be all nonsensical rubbish, they elected a prophet as their leader and climbed to power. Our people were none the wiser.” 

“N-no… I-” Nadia began, but the words of the expecting chief seemed to stick with her. Her own actions from last night stuck out to her. “I… I have come to free the people of this land.” She twisted her thoughts, her own grand ideals for the future all for this simple response. 

“We need a leader. We need someone to show our country that our beliefs were not in vain.” The chief almost begged. Nadia stared back around, her eyes focusing back to the woman from last night with the deeply red coloured hair. It was a rather distinct colour that made it easily noticed. “The prophet of this land forces their beliefs on everyone. We can’t even think or believe in what we want anymore. The citizens here are as happy as I’ve ever seen them be. All because of your presence.” 

“My presence?” Nadia repeated back. 

“You are our light. Our only light. We only need to serve under you, and everything will be alright.” The chief continued. Creeping Nadia out slightly. She felt uncomfortable about the absolute trust this stranger had in her. His wording in particular was disturbing. 

“I-I don’t think I’m the only light. There’s plenty more…” She began speaking. “What I’m hearing is that this prophet is forcing everyone to think exactly like they do, right?” She asked, prompting a nod from the chief. “Well, that must be why I’m here. To give the choice back to everyone here on who they want to follow.”

“Yes! Exactly, it's why you are our sole salvation.” 

“... I think giving people the ability to pick their own beliefs is enough for me. If they want to have me be their idol, then…” She wanted to finish that sentence but couldn’t bring herself to finish it. It almost felt like she was rejecting how these humans felt, about how strongly they felt about their beliefs. However, she needed to get that off her chest. To let them know that she has no plans on becoming the sole light of this country. That she merely wanted to give the torch back to the commoners so they could shine their own light. That being said, she couldn’t deny that having people be this nice to her wasn’t a bad thing either. It was a thought that terrified her, she hadn’t been used to being idolised much.

She was the youngest of the royal sisters from Ranate. The eldest was disinterested in politics, whilst the middle sister was extremely interested. It meant that most of the limelight went to Ana Darlington-Bliss. As eventually she would succeed the throne. Leaving the youngest and eldest to venture out away from Ranate. 

“I apologise.” The chief continued. “ We insignificant humans have no right to ask someone of your grandess for help.” He paused for a moment. Providing space for Nadia to cut him off, however she remained too hesitant for that. “Despite that, we are weak willed, we are only human. We long for someone, a higher power to guide us. It is how the people of this country have always survived.” 

“Was liberation what you all wanted? To be free from the beliefs of this prophet?” Nadia, perhaps rudely questioned. 

“Heavens no. We would simply like to be under our rightful deity. Our goddess who would shine the way forward. We aren’t asking to be free from our beliefs, but rather for the opportunity to live them out. The prophet is not that deity, instead he is a farce, playing pretend.” The chief clarified. 

“What if I’m playing pretend? What if I’m not that deity?” Nadia anxiously questioned. Her thoughts put her down. “Will I be replaced one day too?”

“... A ruler, a monarch, a leader. All get replaced. Nothing lasts forever. Having the power to maintain that authority requires genuine respect. Gaining that respect from our country means following our cultures, as well as the wishes of our people. A good, powerful leader wouldn’t get replaced. A true goddess of our people wouldn’t ever be forsaken. I believe that such a person is you.”

Having heard the thoughts of the chief. Nadia wondered in her head. ‘What does it mean to be that powerful leader? What does it mean to become the goddess of these people? How does one become confident enough to fulfil that role…’ She took a deep breath. Almost inhaling a stray bird that happened to be flying nearby as if it were a fly. She breathed out. Her nerves calmed down. ‘Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe this would be a good opportunity?’ 

“What needs to be done, how do I become the goddess of this land?” She called out to the chief, her voice shaky but with an underlying tone of excitement. 

“To capture the prophet, and expose his powerlessness to everyone.” 

Once more, it was due to her size. Her species as a giantess. Her role as a behemoth. Without that size differential, would these people really care for her? ‘Probably not.’ Nadia thought, bitterly. Despite that, this was a breaking point. If anything, it was an opportunity to gain some confidence. To do something of value.

 ‘Fine… I’ll take the plunge forward.’

– – – 

“What is your name? It seems we keep running into each other.” Nadia called out. Sending cold shivers to the red haired woman’s spine. She answered immediately to the giantess who was in a crawling position.

“M-My name is Scarlet Anrose.” She responded. Without any verbal indication she began bowing to Nadia. “I cannot thank you enough for sparing my life!” 

“O-oh no, that was er-” She wanted to call it an accident but subconsciously found it difficult to do so. Was such an accident really becoming of a god like figure, a person she was trying to be? It wasn’t. So she lied. “-An act of kindness. A loyal follower of mine wouldn’t deserve death for such a petty act… Yes.”  

“Thank goodness. To be sent to void like that would be a horrific end.” Scarlet answered. “Truely, I cannot be any more grateful.”

“To void?” Nadia questioned. Tilting her head. Her beady eyes and pupils remained focused on Scarlet.

“My apologies. It makes sense that a being such as yourself wouldn’t be familiar with our human terminology.” Scarlet answered. “The cult, the one the prophet is in charge of, dictates that to die means to be nothing. To be extinguished of everything. That all of your being would cease to be, as if in a void. Of course, now that you are here I suppose that is all nonsense.” 

Nadia pondered for a moment at the information she had just received. ‘To be nothing? How fascinating.’ It differed from her own culture's understanding of life and death. Of what happened to humans when they died in Ranate culture. It was a strangely understandable way of viewing the world despite it being opposed to Nadia’s understanding of it. 

Humans in Ranate, Marvialasia and Vascar were terrified of death by the giantesses. It was culturally understood that their souls would be forever bound to the giantess, specifically stuck to the location on where they were killed. Being eaten meant being one with the stomach, being stomped underfoot meant being one with the sole, being crushed under ass meant being one with the cheek of the giantess. For the longest time, the humans lived in fear of what would happen in their death. There was no way to prove or disprove anything after all. 

“Is becoming void… A bad thing?” Nadia curiously asked. 

“It’s a horrible thing. It’s a frightening idea! That once I depart this vast world, that's it? Nothing more.” Scarlet seemed to put away her fear of Nadia for a moment, and open up to her. “ I don’t want that. I want to be a part of the world. Not to be forgotten. The prophet teases the death penalty to us, as if daring anyone to be voided… May someone save us if our taxes are done even a day late.”

‘How peculiar. That’s nothing like the humans back home.’ Nadia thought. She came to a realization that it wasn’t the beliefs themselves that proved to be horrible but rather how they were weaponized, how the people utilized them to manipulate their populaces.

“The prophet is a bad person, I think at least… But, what does such a being like yourself think about it, about death?” Scarlet asked. As if anticipating an answer, a response that would bring her comfort. Nadia didn’t know how to respond. So she told her about her own customs. 

“Death from-” She began, stopping immediately. Nadia wanted to say ‘Where I’m from, or what my culture believes.’ But would that really cut it? She wanted a way to bring comfort to these people. Telling them about it would maybe bring harm… ‘But in the end, it would be up to the feeble human to believe or not right? I’m not forcing her to think of it like that.’ Nadia reasoned, unsurely. 

“...” There was a moment of silence as Scarlet awaited a response. 

“Death is… The process of ending life, and starting anew. It is the natural conclusion to life.” 

“The natural conclusion?” 

“Humans are, or well, all life forms have something called a soul to them.” 

“Oh, we are aware of what souls are. The prophet said that our souls go back to the earthen ground, resting for eternity and soon to be forgotten once we die.”

“... So the concept of a soul is familiar to you?” Nadia awaited a nodding response from Scarlet. “ It’s known in the lands of giantesses that we can rip these souls away from their fate of being sealed to the earth. We store them in our bodies, keeping them safe and sound. Carrying the collective will of humans so that they may never be forgotten.” 

“L-Like a net catching a school of fish from a lake?” 

“Yes… Exactly.” Nadia had no idea what that meant, but she answered anyway as the statement sounded correct enough. “ Like, as I’m crawling around right now. If I accidentally fell on top of someone, they would er-”

“They would be dead. Crushed to goo… Serving their goddess, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.” Scarlet answered, adding that line at the end to maintain some form of respect, at least Nadia thought. In reality, it was odd how Scarlet added it in.

“What we, sorry, I think is that by crushing humans with our bodies we actually take them in. Instead of some void, it's like we add them to our soul.” Nadia corrected herself. The confusion of how exactly she was meant to be acting was getting to her. 

“So, what you’re saying is that, there is no void?”

“There may be, there's no way to prove anything.” Nadia firmly answered. Hesitant and all, she didn’t want to cause any big misunderstandings. So a firm answer was what she came up with. 

“But I like your version better! The prophet is a scumbag who only wants money. Asking us to shill our coins at him. Mandating us to give him money. If I had to believe someone it would be you!” Scarlet passionately answered. A response that caught Nadia off guard. 

‘Believe me? Why’  Nadia wondered. She couldn’t get used to this excitement of listening and understanding giantesses. Most humans she had come across looked at her with ire, fear, anxiety. Mostly a mix of all three. It was her size again. It was her titanic body. While she held it with great pride, being a giantess, she couldn’t help but feel like that was all there was to her. She couldn’t wrap her head around why a mere commoner human was excited to listen to her. She may be titled as their ‘god’ of sorts, but she wasn’t emotionally ready for that. 

“You don’t have to believe me, just because I said it. I won’t hurt you if you want to stick with whatever the prophet said.” Nadia attempted to reason. “I, Nadia Darlington-Bliss, swear I won’t hurt you.”

“N-” She whispered, cutting herself off from even saying her name. To Scarlet, a mere human like herself didn’t deserve to call her by a gesture that implied they were on equal footing. “My goddess, you have my word, I’ll listen to you not just because of your grandness but also due to what you’ve said brings me comfort.” Scarlet earnestly replied. She was down on one knee, with her hand covering her chest at a diagonal. It was a gesture of respect. 

‘...’ Nadia Struggled to understand what was so comforting about her words. Her tone of voice must have sounded so flustered. So lacking in confidence, so unsure of herself. Why would Scarlet appreciate her more so? The answer was both simple and not so simple. 

“Death was, or always has been, I should say. A horrific idea. We, the denizens of the eastern city of our theocracy have always struggled with our taxes. Poor crop output and all... Every year, the prophet takes a couple people away from our humble settlement. So, death has always loomed at us. Always struck fear in us. Always made us feel like we were doomed to enter the void.” Scarlet paused momentarily. “Yesterday, that premonition of death arose once again. I felt that you had sentenced me to void just like that, when you shook your head at me. I thought that was it. My life was over. My 22 years of living were over… But you didn’t. You showed me mercy. Like a god that loomed over my life, with every right to take it away, you decided not to. That made me feel very warm inside. That was something that not just every gigantic person would do, but something unique to the lady before me. I knew right then and there, that I would give everything to serve you.” She explained thoroughly. Nadia was left in a state of dumbfoundedness. Still unsure. “Now, you're telling me that death isn’t the end? That you’ll carry my soul with you, to the ends of this continent even after I die?” Her tone of voice softened.  “I couldn’t be more happy.”

For as happy as Scarlet seemed about this, Nadia’s face only stiffened up. She didn’t know how exactly to react. “You would be happy… to serve me?” She blocked out the second half of her sentence, that being ‘I’m just another giantess right now. All size, no talk or action.’ 

“Now that you’ve given me the honour of talking to you, I have to say that you’re like the mighty sun. Warm and comfortable but powerful like a burning sensation. Anyone who would dare approach you too closely would get burned, but no one could flourish without you either. Not just anyone could do that, most people would lose themselves to their position. You really are the spitting image of the Skadi’ess!” 

“The Skadi’ess?” Nadia questioned. Sounding like a broken tool, she felt herself constantly asking questions.

“Our local legend. Sorry, I’ve troubled you once more with our petty human gibberish.” Scarlet exclaimed. “It wasn’t always local, it used to be our nation wide belief. It wasn’t mandated either. People could just believe what they wanted to believe. But, as the Prophet reigned, the belief got pushed out of people’s minds. Only poor towns like ours still held on to it…” She examined Nadia, her figure, her facial features, her size and demeanour.  “How lucky of us, to think the legend would come alive. To call this a blessing is not enough.” 

“What exactly is a Skadi’ess?” Nadia reeled in the question. Stopping Scarlet from getting off track.

“M-my apologies. I’m sorry… The Skadi’ess was a titanic woman. One who stood 60 metres tall roughly. She wandered into our country back when it was a lawless land. When anarchy was lit ablaze. It was the victim of bandits, thieves, corrupt officials and unbound beasts. They ravaged, pillaged and reaped everything. The poor civilians couldn’t escape under the fear of being killed. So everyone was under a nationwide lockdown. That was until, the woman, calling herself the goddess of justice, rained down.” 

“Goddess of justice?” 

“She was violent, powerful and apparently very degrading. She was extremely dehumanising to all she deemed to be unlawful. Using them as… Various outlets for her desires.” Scarlet skirted around the topic slightly, she wasn’t sure if it was okay to talk about next to Nadia, the supposed successor to their goddess. 

“You all worshipped such a person?” Nadia questioned. Thinking of which of her ancestors could do such a thing… Which had her realise that it wouldn’t narrow the list down in the slightest. The giantesses of Ranate were savage for much of their history. Perhaps many still to this day. 

“To the bandits, thieves and all. She must have been like a demon that was freed from hell. However, the common folk of the country loved her. As while some innocents were caught in her ‘displays of power’ she was mostly approving of us civilians. She eventually acted as the goddess of our humble land before she passed on. Leaving many eras of governance without her intervention. Most people moved on, but a group didn’t. They instead besmirched her name, and took the position of the new ‘god’ like figures of our country. As messengers to gods, rather than godlike themselves. Since then, many small groups like us here all have been waiting for the legend to strike anew. For a new, true goddess to take the throne.”

‘For a new, true goddess to take the throne.’ 

Nadia, as unsure as she was, simply liked the sound of that. 

“Scarlet, then as my first order as your goddess, I would like to appoint you as the next in charge. Whatever that title is.” 

– – – 

“I-I can just crush these guys?” Nadia shakily asked. A few hours after her conversation with Scarlet. Leaving her in an interesting predicament in the present. 

“That decision falls upon your holy shoulders.” The chief of the village responded. He dared not give any sort of recommendation to the 60 metre tall goliath in front of him. Especially not right now. 

As for Nadia, she was in a crouched down position, scantily clad hips down. Her body had adjusted well to the changes in temperature and altitude and her skin was showing good signs of being in its top tier condition. Her nails were a little long, her dry pink lips wanted some form of moisture. It was tradition back in the older days of Ranate society to paint them red in the blood of the enemy. Perhaps that too could become a tradition if she willed it… Such a thought horrified Nadia, but also felt strangely appealing. That too, was a daunting realisation.  

Nadia’s almost golden eyes searched around for her ‘next in charge’, that being Scarlet. Once finding her, she stared at her puzzlingly. As if asking ‘What should I do?’ 

Nadia’s frame was a monolith, one that every human had their eyes glued to. Her hair was unleashed, no longer stuck in a ponytail; it was flowing freely in the wind, about the length of her lower shoulders. Her skin was fair, quite typical of people from the general area of Ranate and Marvialasia. Not as typical for people of the Achares theocracy, where Nadia was currently. The area had been invaded from many ethnicities in the past, creating a cultural cross pollination of humans. If only they weren’t all extinguished under a single belief system. 

Every human had their sights stuck on Nadia, on her looks. Even if one were to criticise her, as if they’d have some right to do so, they would meet a road block. As Nadia was a pretty lady. Her face had only a single black mole right next to her nose. Her breasts were the size of human houses, her hips extended far and wide, as they connected to her ass and legs. It was by far her most eye-catching feature. Not necessarily something every giantess would want. Not everyone liked being stared at, or having attention drawn towards them. Nadia certainly didn’t. Legs, hips and such were all things the normal sized folks would recognise first from a giantess. So, now especially, she prayed that her little helper would see her instead of fixating on her body. 

Scarlet however did not get the memo. She would never even dare to think that Nadia would be asking her opinion on a matter like this. The power and responsibility of being the ‘god’ of these people came with drawbacks. A certain level of expectation. This was one of those times where such expectations were prevalent. 

Beneath Nadia, beneath where she was crouching were 2 humans. Bound helplessly to the plains, unable to stand or move away. They were anchored to the ground with chains. Such a sight reminded Nadia of the older days of Ranate. Causing a paradoxical conflict within her heart. 

‘This isn’t Ranate, these people aren’t Marvialasian. You aren’t your sister either. Just because Ana takes the moral stance, doesn’t mean you do too.’ She reasoned. ‘That's right, that's what this whole journey is about. To make yourself free from Ranate and living a new life. To come back and help Ranate in the future, sure… But right now what matters is getting more confident.’ 

Appalled at the thought of what her sister would be thinking right now if she were to see this display, it created a slight tinge of pain in Nadia’s heart. 

“The decision rests on my shoulders does it?” She repeated. “What exactly did these people do?”

Scarlet answered before the chief could, while she didn’t think to give her input when unprompted, she would certainly answer when asked. “They were the corrupt tax collectors sent from the prophet. They came in this morning. We all lived in fear and did as they said before, but now with your guidance we can fight back!” She said excitedly. 

“Corrupt tax collectors…”  That meant to Nadia that they were workers. They didn’t necessarily partake in the corruption by the prophet. In the end, maybe they’d been coerced into the whole thing; She was a former royal, she knew how these things worked. Maybe they were in trouble if they didn’t do their job. ‘This whole thing is a bit extreme. I can’t-’ 

“They forcefully removed 2 women and 1 man from our village last time, relocating them to the capital as a form of ‘payment’ for our taxes, relegating them as personal workers with debt.” Scarlet added. 

‘...’

 Nadia found it more difficult to justify that behaviour. She desperately thought and searched for excuses on their behalf. ‘Maybe they were being blackmailed by the prophet to do this… Why else would anyone do such a horrid thing? Surely not by their own volition.’ It was a foreign concept to the privileged giantess. Living as a royal in a society dominated by ladies that towered over the human men and women. While there most certainly were horrid giantesses that also forcefully stole humans away from their homes, such an act was now outlawed. ‘At least the governing body didn’t endorse it. Certainly not now with Ana in charge.’ Nadia thought. The same principle couldn’t be applied to the tax collectors. 

“Hmmm.” She grunted. Prompting a response from one of the bound, sobbing tax collectors. 

“Please! T-The women we stole were made into honoured maids. Their salary far exceeds anything anyone here makes..." One of them flubbed.  "We made a mistake! We took it too far. We didn’t do anything to anyone. Honest. Just let us go, we’ll pretend we didn’t hear or see anything from this damned place.” Quite notably, Scarlet clicked her tongue in response to what was said. Though the action was so insignificant that Nadia wouldn’t pick up on it.

This was a pivotal decision. Would a goddess talk to the prey she was about to cast judgement upon, or would she strip them of their agency, reducing them to a crying mess before sending them to eternal bliss as stains?

Nadia took a deep breath in as she casted her face away to the sky. This was a hard thing for her to do. She wasn’t used to it. Not in the slightest. No one was going to make her choice for her, no one had the authority to dispute her choice either. Everyone respected her for her stature as a giantess… But there were also humans like Scarlet who respected her authority as a person. Whatever choice she would pick, would pave the path forward for Nadia Darlington-Bliss. 

“...” Silence was her initial response. Infuriating the same tax collector. 

“You dumb bitch! Let us go… Let us go, I said! We were just doing our job, quit shaky your hips at us you freakin’ slut! Go plug up the volcanic crater on mount oblivion with your fat ass instead, you-” 

Only after a few seconds after they started talking did Scarlet start getting visibly upset at the tax collectors. However, she had faith in Nadia. That she would make the decision that would best suit the situation. So she simply observed.

“-You be quiet.” Harsh words. Neither humanely aggressive nor passively disingenuous. It was a threat. A threat by a higher being. Nadia’s tone of voice clearly reflected that. The tax collector, the loud one of the two, went silent. As if realising his words weren’t going to save him. “I’ve decided. With how you took away the rights of the stolen villagers to choose their own fate, the same is gonna happen to you two.” 

‘Holy shit… I can’t believe I said that.’ Nadia’s thoughts ran rampant. Her mind was flying apart at the words coming out of her mouth. It would be a lie to admit that this was all due to her own confidence. A large part of it was due to her loyal followers watching her. Expecting of her. She didn’t want to let them down. ‘I feel bad. They could just be doing their job. I don’t know how the prophet runs things here. But, they did a bad thing. I need to set an example. A goddess doesn’t just take such insults. The two did come back here today as well. More villagers were going to be dragged off against their will. This is the best course of action… Yeah, its got to be. I had no other choice.’

Scarlet was admiring the sheer display of power Nadia possessed. That her goddess possessed. Her eyes lit up like a candle freshly set ablaze. For once, her people could get back at the system. Maybe even get to reform the system. A violent revolution rarely was a good thing, but a change of leadership was desperately needed. 

‘Am I meant to say something now? Some sort of finishing words, or like a divination or something. How exactly does this all work…’ Nadia pondered. Lost at her own position on the matter.

Awkwardly, she gathered her courage at whatever the first idea was that came to mind. “Y-You two can kiss my ass goodnight. It’s time to be sent to where you belong.” A haughty tone was employed. 

Not even looking down at her poor victims. The bounded men who had been stripping away villagers of their agency at life, now were forced to bear witness to an almost bare ass stripping away their agency to live. 

Sobbing, crying, shouting, begging, pleading/

Exactly in that order, their courses of actions all changed nothing about their predicament. Nadia had steeled herself to her job now. 

Scarlet was watching in anticipation. 

Excitedly, happily, gleefully, frantically, breathlessly- 

Gleefully? 

Yes, though a bit hyperbolic. She felt a slight sensation between her legs. Not a physical one, but a certain warmth. A certain arousal almost. A sense of satisfaction. She felt like this was the natural course of the world. Perhaps a simplistic view at best, but she enjoyed watching it. She liked watching her goddess get her way. She liked being on the same side of the victor. It was utter bliss for Scarlet. ‘I-I like watching this?’ She questioned, her own thoughts and morals muddy at the sight of an ass the size of a mountain soon to be engulfing two men underneath it. It was a view worth living as a peasant for, at least she felt like almost no other feeling in the world could compare. That slightest bit of fear for death she had, that Scarlet had ingrained into her and her village was no longer applicable. For one, the target was two men from the prophet who she cared not for. However, the main reason was really what Nadia had told her beforehand. That these men would soon be killed, and have their souls be a part of Nadia. At least in a spiritual sense. ‘They would get to live on as a part of the goddess’s ass… How lucky they must be.’ She thought, her own brain chemistry casting a figurative spell of arousal. 

“N-no, I don’t wanna go to the void-”

*Thud* 

The ground sank, the icy-grassy plains of the mountain with now melted snow had altered in shape. If Nadia’s rear end was a meteor, where the tax collectors were was its crater. The land was shaking, violently. Nadia had sat back with force, with energy. The sheer diameter of her rear end would take out any small critters that happened to be nearby, it was simply a consequence of her colossal size. All but casualties to be ignored by her judgement as a higher being. All due to her size and power, but also her role from her trust from the people. 

Scarlet fell backwards, the chief held on to a nearby tree which had some of its roots uplifted. Being on the mountaintops, it would hardly be a surprise if a small landslide or avalanche was created somewhere down the mountain. Nadia was just that powerful. Her rear end could end the livelihoods of anyone and everything that breathed in the theocratic land.

‘... Oh my goodness, I hardly felt anything.’ She remarked in her head. The poor tax collectors, their feelings, thoughts and prayers would all be lost. Reduced to a mere stain on her cheek. The complex processes of their lives exchanged for a bloody mark on the ground. The new ground that is, the one refurbished and moulded by the divine judgement Nadia casted. 

The crackling of bones, the slow painful end that many humans from back at her home town would endure. All of that was her expectation, but she could hardly feel a thing. It was an action akin to sitting down in a chair. Forgettable and mundane. To the humans though, it was catastrophic, life altering even to those completely unaffected by it directly. Nature itself would accommodate the wishes of whatever the bodies of the giantesses would desire… Not even in fact, an accidental event to sit down would cause destruction. The giantesses didn’t even have to try to be a force to be reckoned with. It was in their very nature. 

Nadia specifically though, had casted judgement befitting of someone that sat down like a goddess in the realm of common man. Using no magic, or mana at all to effortlessly end the existence of another. It caused Scarlet to watch, drool starting to drip out of her face. It was all strangely pleasing to watch. Psychopathic sure, but pleasing nonetheless. As long as she believed that the humans that died, lived on in spirit as the flesh of Nadia’s ass. It made digesting death better. Easier even. It made the act of dehumanisation swiffer. 

This was the first act of many. Where the awkward, shy Nadia and the eager, aroused Scarlet would begin their journey. 

“You did it, I never doubted you for a moment! This calls for a celebration. Knowing that the tax collectors are in a better place, I hope their souls can rest for their sacrifice that they’ve now paid for their sins.” Scarlet exclaimed, happily. 

“Though I didn’t like them, my wishes go to them now that they’re in a better place.” The chief responded. 

“Y-you told everyone?” Nadia inquired. Obtaining an answer from Scarlet. Astounded that Scarlet would spread what she rambled on about death earlier. 

“I had to, I can’t just harbour all the divine knowledge and blessings I got from you.” Scarlet earnestly responded. 

“Scarlet had informed us of your values. To think, death was not the end of everything.” The chief inquired. For Nadia, it was mere small talk, but her followers treated her words as some sort of divine wisdom. As if what she said was gospel. 

“N-no,” Nadia’s newly found confidence from her actions was swiftly disappearing. “ It was a possibility, it shouldn’t be treated as fact!”

“If my goddess believes it as such, that is enough for me. Maybe not for everyone, but I value the choice I’m given to think what I want to think.” The chief responded. A respectful tone was taken. “ Besides, things are more interesting this way. It feels less boring than a swift end to it all.”

“I…” She sighed. Nadia couldn’t help it. It was all just so weird. She had never met a group of humans that so unapologetically valued her opinions as much as these ones did. She couldn’t help but play along as their goddess. “I’ve given them the luxury of becoming one with me, at least spiritually… T-There is no greater reward out there.” She bashfully said. Her face flustered. She felt embarrassed. Nadia felt like curling up to a ball, she did not have the confidence to pull off such an arrogant line. 

Alas, it didn’t matter. She could faintly hear enthusiastic clapping. Both from the chief and Scarlet. 

“I’m truly blessed to witness your first ever kills as our goddess.” Scarlet voiced aloud. 

“May this mark the start of something wonderful for this land.” The chief chimed in. Celebrations for blood, Nadia was taken back. 

“... What’s next on the agenda?” Nadia inquired. Her own curiosity had her wanting to change the subject.

“ The military base, known as the army training ground. Otherwise known as Ebhausernt.” Scarlet answered. “I think at least that would be a good idea to capture next. Of course, it all depends entirely on your judgement.” 

‘A military base… Oh goodness, the amount of death that implies.” Nadia realized in her head. 

That soon, she was on her way to becoming a violent revolutionary of her own kind. That she had partaken on a blood stained road full of violence and dominance. Where she would become a force not just to be reckoned with, but not to be trifled with at all. 

This was the story of how Nadia Darlington-Bliss would become the new goddess of order. How her followers would worship a new divine lady in charge. How the relationship of conqueror and conquest would begin.

“N-No, sto-”

**Squish**

Silenced. 

“P-please, have merc-”

**Crunch**

Another one extinguished.

**Squelch**

Bloody stains. All of them. Nothing more, nothing less. That’s all the poor humans could be. 

‘Eww, it's gooey.’  She commented on the feelings under her bare foot. ‘They’re so fragile. So easy to break.’

Under her weight, her standing mass could easily erase a person. Her foot not only towered and reached farther than any human in width or length. But it was simply more agile than them. 

A person could run, but to where? The entire battlefield was within her striking range. Crunching sounds, stomping sounds, the breaking of bones. All it was common in a battle against a giantess. Alarmingly, what was more common was the absence of screams, at least from the perspective of the titaness herself. Sometimes they couldn’t hear the onslaught and carnage they brought forth.

To Nadia herself, almost all such noises could be forgotten about easily. While standing, there was a 60 metre difference after all. To the pathetic, tiny humans in her wake, what happened away at her feet didn’t matter. While she wasn’t savagely attacking anyone or toying with anything. It didn’t really matter. She was still savouring the moment. She had to be. Every step she took would be a few kills. 

**Crunch**

‘Whoops. Didn’t mean to do that.’ She accidentally stepped on a platoon of soldiers at her feet. ‘Don’t scurry around so haphazardly down there. The dust clouds from me stomping away make it hard to see.’

She was attempting to avoid the group, which housed a few soldiers that had surrendered. As while Nadia and her group were raiding Ebhausernt, they weren’t a group of savages. Surrendering meant surrendering. No need for extra casualties. However, accidents happened and Nadia wasn’t ready to accept responsibility for her actions just yet. She had hardly wanted to raid the fort to begin with, yet here she was. 

“Weren’t you sparing that platoon?” Scarlet questioned. Atop the shoulder of Nadia, she sat happily. Away from the carnage that was ensnaring down at Nadia’s toes. Where a plethora of soldiers turned into mince meat. Flattened to the ground. 

“... I-I decided against it. Better safe than sorry.” Nadia answered. Clearly hesitant to anyone but her loyal followers who refused to recognise that. She continued stomping around in the general area, finishing off her victims. 

“Of course, they’d only prove to be a hindrance to us after all!” Scarlet added on. “To think, these militaristic bastards are finally getting their just deserts.” 

The scantily clad titaness couldn’t help but feel slightly unsettled by how well Scarlet was taking this all. Was it a cultural difference? A sense of sociopathic satisfaction? Primal lust? A thirst for power? In reality, her statement was a little bit ironic. 

Only some of those things were true. In reality, to the peasants of the far eastern city, this was a chance for pay back. To remind the rest of their country of not only the legend, but also of the consequences of forgetting their one true goddess. To them, the military in charge was in the wrong for simply following a different chain of command. That was all. 

“Thousands must be dead…” Nadia said aloud. The rubble at her toes consisted of a plethora of humans, many bleeding out from the destruction. Others at their final breaths. Many already dead, their bodies contorted and ruptured beyond repair or recognition. When saying those words aloud, Nadia felt a tinge of guilt atop of her shoulders.

 She did this. No one else’s idea or command had her make this decision. It was hers. Others may have suggested it, but the responsibility of this decision was hers and hers alone. 

“All lives lost… Simply because the commander here couldn’t raise the white flag.” Scarlet scorned the stubbornness of the commander. “All of this could have been avoided. But they chose to fight back, and now they’re lucky to die by your glorious feet.” 

‘Glorious feet’ The words rang through Nadia’s mind. ‘ Only a few platoons have surrendered. The main commanding unit is still fighting. Their fate is soon to be the same… As a couple stains beneath my feet.’ 

Nadia replied. “Truly, this was as easy as it could be thanks to you, Scarlet.” 

“Agh,” Scarlet audibly gasped. “The goddess thanked me by name. It is an honour.” She gestured with her hand covering her upper left chest, where her heart would be. “However, I am surprised. Was magic not common to you?” 

“There is little need for magic for my people. In recent years there’s been strides towards it but really it’s a foreign subject. I suppose I’m big enough to crush my enemies as such… haha.” Nadia awkwardly laughed. Not really knowing whether to celebrate that or not. 

“Wow!” Scarlet had her eyes light up. “Incredible. Being so big that there was never a need to learn about magic?” 

“Well… From what I understand, my people aren’t too good at it.” 

“Nonsense I’m sure. If someone like you cannot use magic, then what good is magic even for? I’m sure we humans only use it to make up for our lack of power. Grand beings like you far exceed the need for our pitiful arts!” Scarlet attempted to bring Nadia’s hopes up about magic. However she just ended up dismissing her own culture instead. Quite a paradoxical perspective, but it only highlighted how infatuated she was with her goddess. How the people of the theocracy were like to their beliefs. 

‘Perhaps it was a cultural difference after all.’ Nadia let out a gentle chuckle in her mind. She readied her throat as she began to whisper, gently so as to not startle Scarlet. 

“I would love to learn more about magic though.” She said, softly. “ However, more on that later. I can see a white flag casted in the commander’s unit up ahead. It seems they’ve finally surrendered.”

“Yea… though a wise commander would have surrendered the moment you arrived at the battlefield I’m sure. All of this carnage would have been unnecessary then.” Scarlet added on. 

“Perhaps they had a difficult time believing I was here. I’m sure that decision has casted a great deal of regret from them.” The guilt towards the fallen lives was immense, yet also satisfying for Nadia. They were the enemy, and she felt like she possessed the moral high ground in fighting against them. Maybe, just maybe that was why when she stepped on the soldiers, Nadia could feel just the tiniest bit of pleasure as each person was squished like a grape. 

Fort Ebhausernt was a circular fortress. It was the theocracy’s military headquarters. Humans from all over the country would come here to train before enlisting to the military, or as a personal guard to the holy ruler. It was filled to the brim with magic users, swordsmen, archers and a plethora of magical devices that required a huge amount of mana. The devices were a part of the classification of ‘magecraft’ which referred to tools that had mana or used magic in some way. The fortress was also housed on top of a mountainous plateau of sorts; it could be seen as a wide mountaintop that was relatively flat. One that was relatively dry and lacking in greenery as well. Nadia when travelling here noticed that the poor wildlife had been brutally burnt and broken from the ‘testing’ done at the military. In other words, the dryness was man made. A result of hazardous practice from the military over the ages. There were navy blue flags across the fort, they portrayed a man in robes in a stylised diagram with light emanating from his head. It was an interesting detail Nadia noted.

Scarlet had inquired into a plan to invade, something she had let Nadia in on from a while back when they were deciding on their course of action. It turns out it was a lot easier in practice than in theory for once. Nadia’s overwhelming size made her incredibly difficult to deal with. Not much of the nation’s magic was ever used against the giantesses in the past, though that didn’t make it any less threatening. What actually allowed Nadia to enter in as some form of impenetrable weapon of mass destruction was Scarlet, who also was a magic user. She had taught Nadia the bare minimum of magic, in fact it was so little that it could hardly even be called a teaching. It was more akin to a few tidbits. That though was the reality, they had things to do. A country to invade and run. Learning magic was a time costly process, so Scarlet only taught Nadia how to translate her innate ethereal energy into mana. Mana which Nadia would express on the outside of her body in the form of heat, which Scarlet could convert into her own mana. It was a process that needed to happen voluntarily from the giantess.

Essentially, Nadia was akin to a battery. Boasting a monstrous amount of mana, with little control over it. She relied on Scarlet to be her defence. To do something against the attacks from the humans. Which she happily did. 

It was far from an advanced mana technique, but as Nadia willingly donated her mana to Scarlet, it made it easy for her to utilise it to make a magic shield around Nadia, like a coat of paint that covered her whole form. It was a protective shield. One that would block against other magic attacks somewhat… 

‘Again, this wouldn’t be possible without Scarlet… Just how much were these villagers preparing to fight against their rulers. They all seem rather competent at magic. Makes me feel like a fool for not knowing anything!’ Nadia couldn’t help but feel such things. ‘The mana shield feels a little funny, it's like a tight fitting piece of clothing all over me, however it doesn’t really exist either. It’s basically non-existent.’

The shield wasn’t all powerful though. Strong enough magic from the magic capital of soldiers should have been able to burst right through it. It should have been able to rupture the amateur level shield and cause great damage to Nadia. Fire attacks should have burnt her, lighting magic should have shocked her, icy attacks should have froze her. The magecrafted devices should have posed a threat. However, none of that occurred. 

‘Then, there’s the elders from the village. Utilizing something called a shaman spell. One that neutralizes high level magic at a certain radius.’ Nadia pointed out. She was making reference to the elders who had spread about through the fortress, hiding away where they were safe, in places Nadia had made sure not to go towards. They all casted a group unison spell, a shaman spell specifically that seemed to reduce the density of mana in the atmosphere. How it worked was simple in theory, but very difficult to pull off. In essence, the elders acted as a sponge that soaked up all the available mana from the surroundings, reducing the available mana available in one area. Instead it was thinly spread across a wide field. 

An abundance of mana was necessary for high level spells. Removing that away, that being humanity's greatest weapon, would make even the strongest fortress in the theocracy at mercy to the giantess known as Nadia. Eerily enough, it wasn’t like how Scarlet had described an area lacking in mana to be like. Artificial coldness was created from absorbing mana away, however the shaman spell didn’t do that. It was a puzzling phenomena to Nadia.

“The elder’s are something else, risking their lives in the battlefield to divert away the enemies magical abilities.” Scarlet exclaimed, bowing her head slightly in respect. 

“Aren’t you doing the same thing, Scarlet?” Nadia inquired. 

“Oh no, not at all. I guess it doesn’t make a difference where us bug sized humans are on the battlefield, to you it must all be the same. But really, I meant that risking their lives on the battlefield itself is scary. I’m just here on your shoulder. I feel safe up here. I’m away from the hell down there.” She pointed down, at the dust ridden, blood-stained fog at Nadia’s feet. “Anything could happen on the battlefield, you could accidentally stomp on an elder by mistake if they were there… Not that I’m implying someone as great as you would make such a blunder! Just that I’m not risking the same thing here.”

Scarlet was a little hard on herself. It made Nadia want to correct her. However she was just the same.

“Not to worry, Scarlet. The fortress extends 6 kms (3.7 miles) east and west roughly. The elders have plenty of room to hide. I somewhat know where they are.” She whispered, making sure only Scarlet could hear her. “The uh, shaman spell sure is effective though.” 

“It’s been passed down in our village for generations. Without it, I’m doubtful if we could pull this off… Though I’m sure you could have come up with a cunning plan regardless.” Scarlet answered.  The high levels of praise were slightly annoying to Nadia. It made her feel like she was forcing Scarlet to talk the way she was. However, she knew in her heart of hearts that this was just the way she was. Someone that wanted a ‘higher being’ to pray to, to talk to, to worship. “It makes high level magic spells ineffective, which leaves low level ones available for these miserable soldiers. However, my mana shield should block all that, and it's being powered by the residues of mana emanating from your body as well. So it isn’t being affected by the shaman spell either.” She clarified. 

It was an intrinsic factor about the giantesses that no other species known to the continent could imitate. The insane mana reserves were unheard of. Scholars from the neighbouring countries of Ranate would suggest that it was due to their towering bodies, allowing for incomparable mana stores. They also hypothesised that controlling such levels of mana would be a feat requiring years of training, making giantesses the worst in aptitude in the magic arts.  

… 

Nadia was silent for a few moments before she remembered. 

‘Oh right, the surrender flag.’

She began walking, or more accurately tip-toeing around the battlefield. Attempting to avoid creating more casualties, however, in reality such a thing was inevitable.

Even Nadia’s mercy had a limit. A limit she could not control. 

– – – 

“I, Scarlet Anrose, on guided authority by the supreme being, Nadia Darlington-Bliss, sentence you to Trial by Ass, commander.” The red haired woman confidently shouted out to the man in charge. Only delicately voicing the name of her leader, everything else in her sentence was to the point.

“N-No! This can’t… Such a trial hasn’t happened since the times of legend. You can’t bolster such-” 

“Nonsense! The goddess is with us now. You are under no authority to be sanctioned.” Scarlet mercilessly shot down the commander’s rebuttal. 

“T-the prophet, he has not approved such a verdict, I won’t be-” 

“The prophet houses no authority. It’s time for you to pay for your sins!” Scarlet refuted. Nadia didn’t exactly like how one sided Scarlet was making this, it felt as if she was forcing the commander to believe a certain way. That being said, she was right. In the current situation, the prophet had no authority on what was happening.

“I… No. I can’t. This is preposterous-”

“Silence, Erarl. Your poor decision making is why so many soldiers died today.” An elder figuratively jumped out. “The sheer amount of you’ve groveld to the prophet each year. Each time begging for increased military spending. Our poor villages on the outskirts of the nation can barely make enough. Instead of supporting us, the money all goes for your militaristic endeavours. And for what? We’ve all seen today that your military stands no chance against our goddess. She has come to deliver justice, just like her predecessor, the Skadi’ess.” Scarlet couldn’t help but chuckle lightly behind her hands, at how the elder omitted the part on them using shaman arts to make the battle as one sided as possible. Without them, Nadia knew this plan was a bust. It would be impossible for her to live up to their expectations. She was, after all, ‘all size, no talk or action.’ 

“...” The man named Erarl fell to his knees, knowing he had no way to refute the points brought forth. He locked eyes with the giantess. With Nadia. The one who would be casting judgement on him. 

“Please, Judge him harshly.” Scarlet gestured.

For Nadia herself, she felt like how she normally does in these encounters. That being conflicted. What right did she have in judging this man? Did she have anything to say at all about that? 

On the other hand, the sound of ‘trial by ass’ intrigued her. So she gathered up her courage and began to speak. Readying herself to sound as haughty and arrogant as possible. This was important. First impressions were important. The batch of soldiers around her would become her soldiers later. They needed to know who they were following. 

“Oh foolish commander, for your trial I promise that each of your men will be sanctioned. For each still lucky to be… Alive, that they be pardoned for their actions on opposing me.” Nadia almost found it difficult to voice her words correctly, she still found it hard to not find herself guilty of killing so many lives today. Yes, they were soldiers, but she wasn’t a heartless monster either. She felt the plight and anger of Scarlet’s village, but also felt bad about doing what she did. She was allowed to feel that way.

Why? Because who else would be powerful enough to condemn her for feeling like that? The answer was no one. Nadia could feel both as satisfied and guilty as she’d liked. That was the corrupt power she was given as an idol of worship. All would sway to her every whim. 

Tears began to roll down Erarl’s face. This wasn’t how he planned to go out. Nadia however was confused, she didn’t even know what the details of ‘trial by ass’ were. It made her both pity this man, but also feel excited. She was laying down, on her back specifically. She had undressed somewhat, still having her black bra and panties on but that was all. She also had her lucky charm, a gold anklet above her heel, it was a little but dirty from the blood and dust clouds. 

Her head was tilted as she was watching Scarlet and the elders admonish the commander. It was impossible for her not to wonder what this punishment was. 

“If you wouldn’t mind, oh great one, please lay on your stomach.” Scarlet began walking towards Nadia’s ear once Nadia had flipped around to be on her stomach, as Scarlet shouted out some basic instructions. She began talking quieter once she actually arrived at her ear. 

…

‘Ohhhh, that's… wow! That's uh, really something.’ Nadia thought as she heard everything Scarlet had to say about the trial. Her left hand extended back to her ass, grappling on to her panties as she began to pull them down to her legs. Leaving her bare rear exposed to the elements. Or more accurately, leaving the creatures in the vicinity exposed to her.

Unlike how things were run in Ranate, the Achareas theocracy believed in a ‘trial by divine plight’ justice system. In essence, condemned criminals were challenged and the result of that challenge determined their fate. It was a fairly common metric of determining the rights and wrongs of people in the world, its legitimacy however was rather contestable. 

Despite that, Nadia didn’t care. If she was to become the goddess of these folks, she would need to start acting like one. She needed to act in accordance with their beliefs, however perhaps due to her lack of confidence. She began neglecting her own. Was it a consequence of being hailed as the figure of authority? A divine being? Possibly. That idea crossed Nadia’s mind. 

In the end, even with Nadia’s own beliefs, she would punish the commander. Definitely in a different way, but a punishment nonetheless. It was the cruel, unrelenting force of those who housed enough power to mould the concept of what was just. For a giantess like Nadia, it was a naturally born gift. Not something she had to work for, or earn. But one she was born with. A privilege of strength and will she naturally possessed, all qualities that the puny humans around her would shudder in fear of. 

‘Back at it again… All size, no talk or action.’ 

Sure, she had made progress in changing since she'd arrived. She was more cruel, more in line with an authoritative figure. However the key aspects of her personality were difficult to change. Some parts of her rejected change, some parts of her deemed it as not a good thing. Nadia’s rational mind disliked how desensitized she was getting in killing scores of people. It was all possible due to her size, her actual personality and beliefs didn’t necessarily align with any of this. Even though she had now spent quite some time with Scarlet’s crew. Which is why she found herself talking once more. 

“Explain yourself.” She said gently. Prompting shock from the teary eyed man soon to be sentenced to the trial. “Make your case, it’ll determine your fate…” She exclaimed with false confidence. Mustering up courage to act this way wasn’t natural for Nadia. No matter how things had been recently, it just wasn’t like her. 

“I-I was ordered to protect this fort.” The commander replied, his words shaking. His tone irregular and nervous. 

“Liar!” Scarlet shouted in response. “O’holy Lady Nadia, we tried to reason. We sent a letter to these filthy beasts to surrender. We even waited outside their fort as a second chance for them to realise their sin. They still chose to fight.”

“No. I mean, yes. However, such a decision doesn’t belong to me...” Erarl weepily answered back. 

“Neglecting responsibility now?” Scarlet figuratively hissed as she spoke. 

“The prophet, on behalf of the divine will oversees all decisions. He told us to defend this fort with our lives, or else our families will no longer receive any funding. No military support. It’s true, I swear! Ask any of my men. The time it took to get word back from him was simply too long, we had to resort to fighting!”

He made his case. Nadia inspected the hordes of soldiers around her, some had their hands clasped in the form of a prayer almost. It looked like they were begging for her to see their plight. Like a goddess who decided their wrongs and rights. She wouldn’t harm them… However, there was still something missing. 

“Why didn’t you surrender, when we stood outside your fort. Before we charged in and raided it all. We gave another chance to surrender then. We warned you of the destruction, of the lives that would be lost. So many of your soldiers have become nothing more than mere blood stains. Am I to hold on to that sin?” Nadia questioned. Staring at the sky, not directing her last sentence to anyone in particular. She wanted someone to answer. For someone to tell her if she was to blame. 

“...”

Though, only silence ensued. Nadia looked back down, wondering why no one was talking back? Erarl found it difficult to make eye contact with her, he was staring at the ground. The soldiers were staring at her, waiting for something to be said. Scarlet was watching, waiting for some form of judgement to be given. 

Nadia didn’t quite get it. However it all began to click. Like finding the last piece of an incomplete puzzle, she began to understand the bigger picture of this situation. 

‘Oh… I get to make that judgement.’ She realized. Erarl had not spoken back as he was patiently waiting for Nadia to answer her own question. She didn’t give him permission to speak. At least not obviously. ‘Whether Erarl was right, whether he was wrong. Whatever his punishment is, and whoever’s sin it was for so many lives to be lost. I get to make that choice.’ 

She steeled her resolve. Her flickering, wavering belief burned only a tad bit brighter. Like a faint candle lit anew. She knew what to say, even if they were cruel, unjust words. 

“The final decision to surrender or to fight was yours. I commend your fighting spirit, but that is all.” Nadia selfishly judged. Not wanting to bear the burden to the sins of all and who she had killed. She decided to share the blame with the commander. To make him the scapegoat, all so her peace of mind could stay just the tiniest bit more pure. That was it. Only because she desired for her mind to not have only a bit of the blame would she risk this man's life away. Perhaps it was the curse of authority to run from responsibility? One could make such an inference if they wanted. 

‘All size, no talk or action…’ The words rang through her mind once more. What good would the ‘talk’ or ‘action’ even do?  Everything she would get, everything she would earn would be a consequence of her size. ‘Even still, I don’t want to change who I am. These soldiers can hate me all they’d like. It’s not like I’m gonna restrict my identity to conform to what these people want.’ Was her distant response to her own internal battle.

It was the only response she could come up with in her heart. Cruel, like reading the death toll report of soldiers in a war, it was systemic and not personal. Purely driven by logic and a desire to hold true to herself. For that, the commander could be a scapegoat for her sins. So that the people that worshipped her could blame another being, to have their faith unquestioned. 

She was a giantess, a being that could get all as she wanted due to her size and strength. Her body could draw in the lustful gaze of any passerby, like staring into the soul of medusa almost all were helpless to fight against her beauty. Her judgement could decide the livelihoods of many. A mere passing thought in her head could allow someone stuck in damnation the opportunity to rise up in social standing. Nadia was many things a human was not. 

‘If I’m really serious about this… I can’t be just all size and no action forever. Even If that's what I am now.’ She decided, or at least that's what she told herself. To hedge her bets to the future. Towards progress. Towards change. Nadia concluded that even if she had gotten everything she had as of this moment due to her size, it wouldn’t be enough. She needed to continue going beyond that. To become someone worthy of being a ‘goddess’ to these people in body, size and personality. In ideals and actuation. Nadia resolved to ascend even higher. Even if right now, such ideals would lead her astray to a path of cruelty. Nadia would think to herself that a degree of cruelty was necessary. 

“I-No! Please, have mercy.” The commander begged. Starting off with a plea, only heading straight to denial. To Nadia who was lying down on her belly. Her ass facing up to the heavens, he was like a bug crawling on the ground. Scarlet who was still by her ear wanted him to crawl around on all fours, however that was a thought she left unsaid. 

“ It appears you’ve drained a lot of funds that my town's people would normally get. All for your increased military spending… I hope it paid off well.” Nadia, for as tough as the words were to articulate to the commander, she still did feel justified in voicing them. The sheer militarism of Erarl’s leadership reminded her of a former queen of Ranate, that being Jade the tyrant. A foolish giantess that was abandoned by her people as no one dared to forgive her actions. She’d live and govern by the battlefield, leaving all her people to fend for themselves. Such an action was oddly reminiscent of the human commander. At least Nadia thought so from the little information she had. It left a bitter taste in Nadia’s mouth. “ I won’t lie, I’m rather interested in hearing about this trial by ass thing.’ She voiced. Leading to Erarl’s heart to drop figuratively. His fate was out of his hands now. 

“ Right away, as the holy lady commands.” Scarlet responded. Rushing towards the sobbing commander, as she’d apprehend his meek form along with a few helpers. “ May your soul rest in peace, no matter what happens.” Scarlet whispered to Erarl. 

“My soul? What soul? It's all over. My life is over. My everything is over. All it’ll take is one missed jump. I’m a step away from being sentenced to the void.” Erarl, with hollow eyes looking at the ground, he responded quietly. 

“Always so melodramatic.” Scarlet scorned in irony. As she too whimpered in fear from when she thought Nadia was going to have her killed. In her heart of hearts, she was happy it was him being sentenced to such a death and not her. Though, with her newly found beliefs of what would happen to her soul if Nadia did ever sentence her to death, Scarlet couldn’t be entirely against the idea. She would become one with her goddess after all in such a case.

Regardless, having arisen up the right cheek of her goddess. Scarlet’s group of helpers utilised the uneven terrain to climb up the squishy meat. Its body heat provided a comforting sense of warmth. One Scarlet wanted to rest her face on but resisted the urge desperately. “ Good luck.” She laughed, releasing the poor man. Her group of helpers stood by a fair steps back to make sure they were clear of the ‘holy trial’ taking place. 

Nadia began explaining. “Trial by fire, trial by water, trial by combat. All these assess your soul if it deserves to be spared. However, as the goddess of justice…” A small break was made, as Nadia attempted to memorise exactly what Scarlet had told her only a few moments ago. “ I offer thee my trial by ass. Simply jump from my right cheek, where you currently are standing to the left one. If you can do that, I will spare you.” She tried to hold in a chuckle at the end. Nadia couldn’t help but laugh, it all seemed a little silly to her. However, it also made her feel powerful. It made her feel good. So she let it slide. 

The commander stared at the chasm in front of him. 

**Squish** 

He took a step forward, his foot descended down into the flesh. As if an elastic force was there. He cautiously took a step back. 

Of course he did. Why wouldn’t he? What loomed in front of his eyes was certain death. The cheeks of Nadia’s body, compacted together in the middle of the ravine, surely leading to her asshole. There was no fate more certain to whatever poor creature was caught there. 

‘Damn the prophet! Him and his anti-enchantment beliefs.’ Erarl bitterly resented in his head. He also resented himself, as he was lacking in physical training in the past couple weeks. His body wasn’t in tune.  Moreover, his mind wasn’t in tune. He had just criticized his holy ruler. 

He was a mere human. His senses were in overdrive. The ground was fleshy, soft even. The sight was monstrously large. The taste of decaying waste was prevalent slightly through the air. Nadia had undressed her lower undergarments. Meaning, a fall was a trip to hell. A one way trip at best. At worst, it was death on the way down.

“Divine right.” Erarl heard Scarlet say right behind him. “ Fall, and you are forever a scumbag. Someone deserving of death. Make the jump, and you will be at the mercy of our goddess.”

They were right. That’s what this was. A mere mockery of his fragile human form. He was unable to run, to escape or do anything at all for that matter. 

No longer wanting to think about the predicament any longer. He put one foot in front of the other. He was making a charge, a lead into the jump across the ravine known as her asscrack. 

“Hyup” Erarl grunted as he jumped.

…

He landed on the other side. 

‘I-I made it!’ He celebrated.

**Boing**

The skin dug in slightly, only ever so slightly to his weight and force of landing. Then, it pushed back, rebounding…

“Fuck! No, no, no-no!” He screamed and begged. However, no one would care. For one, Nadia could hardly even hear him. Scarlet and her crew of helpers certainly wouldn’t lift a finger to help either. In other words, the commander was on his own. His soldiers watched in horror. The commander was starting to slack, yes, however no one wished for his death. 

The flesh rebounded outwards, pushing away Erarl from the comforts of Nadia’s left cheek and towards the valley. Towards the abyss, the canyon between her cheeks. 

He desperately tried to grasp the springy skin, hoping that the sticky, disgusting sweat would save him. However, for as sticky the sweat, it was also just as slippery. Erarl was already in free fall, descending down, accelerating down as his velocity changed from the effects of gravity. The strength he needed to hold on to the flesh that surrounded him was no longer in him. 

‘Magic. Magic! Fuck, what else can I do?’ He desperately wondered as the world moved at a fraction of the pace it normally would. It was well known to the warriors of the theocracy that in near death, time would feel as if it slowed down. It was a sentiment that all warriors felt, something akin to entering the fabled flow state. His scrambled thoughts began to form coherent sentences. ‘How embarrassing… To think I would be in such a ridiculous place.’ 

His pride as a warrior was hurt. He lost to an asscheek. Soon, he would be falling down the crevice, lodged in place between the two mountains of fat-

**Plop**

Nudged he was. Locked in place. He had fallen on his side down the crevice, his left arm and leg were partially stuck through the towering cheeks coming in force together. The dominant half of his body however was facing up to the sky, to the ever enclosing sky. Like a dying frog at the bottom of the well, Erarl wondered if this was the last time he’d see the bright blue expanse. 

“Uggghhh!” He tried to force himself free. Obviously to no avail. He was too tiny, too weak, too puny, too small, too utterly helpless to fight against Nadia. 

“H-haha. Stop that. It’s ticklish. I might accidently clench too hard.” He heard the awkward, displeased voice of the goddess known as Nadia. 

He was tickling her. Erarl Mornstonstar, the newest appointed commander of the mighty Archares theocracy, a country known for its rapidly developing magic might, was only capable of ticking the giantess. 

‘-I might accidently clench too hard-.’  He repeated her words in his head.

He stopped moving. Freezing every voluntary action his body had, he was only barely able to breath by facing to the right side of his body. Up to the sky. 

He could hear his own heartbeat, his breaths in and out. 

Erarl was panicking. 

His life could be over at a whim. A mere second is all it would take. No, not even. The fat globules of cheek meat around him had already trapped him in place, almost half of his body was stuck. A tiny nudge, a tiny contraction was all that was needed for the two mountains around him to crash into one another. It would leave his bloody corpse behind. A stain of sticky blood glued to both cheeks was an image that could pop up in mind. 

Nadia felt Erarl’s movements stop. ‘Oh… Did I kill him? Shit, I can’t feel him moving around there.’ However, the trial by ass punishment hadn’t even started yet. ‘If you’re already dead, maybe I should just get this over with.’ Erarl had failed. He hadn’t crossed the ravine. He was going to die now. 

Nadia reached for her asscheeks, her right hand clasping her right and her left hand to her left. She pulled them apart. Freeing Erarl downward.

‘Fuck! I’m falling againnnn.’ He only had a moment to react, but it wouldn’t have mattered. With his body so compromised a moment ago, he made sure to circulate as much mana as he had around his body. He prayed it would strengthen him slightly, just enough to break the fall down. It wasn’t a particularly deep one now, as he already had his momentum broken earlier from being trapped in place. However, he took whatever precaution he could. 

**Squelch**

It wasn’t quite wet. No, that wasn’t the right term. Unlike falling into a shallow puddle, it was maybe only a single layer of somewhat sticky substance, so shallow it was more misty than actual liquid. For what may that liquid be? It was sweat. Nadia’s cheeks were damp, her overwhelmingly large body would be quite warm. Accumulating a lot of sweat. The worst part was that she herself was barely even aware of it. The outermost layer of her was still on the mountain top plateaus, it wasn’t quite the blizzards of the town east of where she was earlier, but it was still cold. Her butt wasn’t sweating, her hands weren’t sweating. Only her most inner folds were. Such as the meat trapped between her cheeks. Her crack. 

Erarl had landed, quite roughly too. His right arm was fully extended outward and made contact with the ground first, weirdly dislocating it. He wasn’t exactly sure what to expect for the landing, whether it was to be solid or soft. But it was an odd mixture of both. He wasn’t hurt from the fall but rather the way he fell. Erarl was helpless.

‘Wha-What? Where?’ He couldn’t help but ponder. It was a natural response from the body and mind. Erarl knew exactly where he was, but he still needed confirmation. 

He tried to stand up, but the ground was oddly sunk in a bit with his step, it also wasn’t stable. With his dislocated arm, he found it difficult to stand.

A moment passed. Perhaps a couple seconds only. His sense of self became only the slightest bit more relaxed, enough for his senses to register the smell. 

“Hol-Augh! Fuck.” He cried out, his lungs begged him not to breathe. His mortality demanded him to. In front of his eyes was a crater, one sealed shut. He was maybe only a few steps away from its centre. 

‘... This can’t be.’ He realised as he wept. Tears from either his sadness or the smell around him began materializing on his eyes. It was her anal sphincter. The one that connected the world inside her rear hole to the outside. He was only a few steps away from entering the other side. Like at the gates of hell. 

Erarl realized that Nadia must have only gently pushed away her cheeks else the crater in front of him would be wide open right now. A decision he thanked for he probably would have fallen inside if anything else. 

He crawled forward, with his left able bodied arm propelling him forward. He didn’t know why he was moving toward the mighty muscle. He instinctively knew it was futile to attempt climbing, or to resist, or fight back at all. He was her prey… No, he was her example. Something Nadia and her merry group would use as a scare tactic to anyone that dared oppose their might. 

‘Oh! I can feel him squirming a bit… Maybe he’s not dead, but-.’ Nadia analyzed, not fully convinced. Why had she only slightly opened up her asshole? There was a simple answer. That being she wasn’t a complete monster. She would be giving him the faintest of chances to prove he was still alive right now. What that would accomplish however was left to interpretation. After all, Erarl failed the trial. What would ensue was the punishment… 

Only people familiar with the stories of the Skadi’ess of old knew. People like Scarlet knew what this punishment was. 

“Lady Scarlet?” A voice, away from Erarl or Nadia’s vicinity, called.  

“L-Lady?” Scarlet questioned. Feeling an odd sense of embarrassment. 

“Oh, I’m unaware of what to call you.” 

“Sir, I thank you for helping me lift up the commander for this trial. But Scarlet is enough.” She replied to the helper who was assisting her earlier. It was another one of the villagers.  Nadia couldn’t hear this conversation taking place, for one she was focused on Erarl trapped only a finger’s push away from being submerged into her asshole. The other reason was that the helpers and Scarlet were all located on Nadia’s right thigh, quite a ways away from her ears. 

“You’ve been blessed by the holy lady. Not only were you spared, but also you’ve spent the most time with her.” The man rebutted. “Regardless, what is to happen now? Has the commander been judged? Is it over?” 

Scarlet, taken aback by the level of respect she was given, took a moment to respond. She decided to ignore the first half of his query. “The rumbling is to begin. We need to climb down and take cover, I’ve heard that this is quite catastrophic.” Scarlet answered, as she jumped down from Nadia’s thigh to the ground. Eventually running off a bit to a bush. The 2 helpers followed her. They knew that Scarlet was their best bet of being safe. 

They stared at the titanic ass, like a mountain it was akin to a landmass in its own right. Waiting for hell to let loose. Scarlet wondered when Nadia would begin. When the goddess would start her punishment. 

The goddess in question was pondering. ‘I can’t feel him again. Maybe he really is dead.’ She didn’t want to put a finger down her ass to confirm for a dead man. Maybe if he was alive, just maybe she’d consider fishing him out. ‘Well, here we go.’

“Ten… Nine…” She began counting down. Nadia began the countdown.

Erarl could feel it. He didn’t need to hear the words, he could feel like an explosion was about to ensue. With no enchantments, with badly injured ligaments. It was obvious what his fate was going to be. 

Nadia continued her count. “Seven… Six…” Why had she given such a large time frame? Why was she building up the moment?

Erarl didn’t know why. His mind was unable to formulate any coherent thoughts. He knew in 6 seconds he was about to die. Withstanding the canon known as her asshole was impossible at his size. His life was flashing before his eyes. His body weakened, his face planted to the ground in defeat. 

“Five…”  The relentless countdown continued. 

He began kissing the ground. That being her pink flesh. He could see the hole that was slowly and slightly open that led itself to hell, all that was waiting was a release of gas. It was soon to be over. 

So, he kissed the soft ground. 

“Four… Three…” 

He kissed, he slobbered. He prayed for the best, but knew it was pointless. 

He was weak.

He was pathetic. 

He was literally an ass-kisser right now. 

‘Please, just please.’ He kindled some hope in himself. 

“Two…” Nadia continued. Feeling not even an itch as of now. How would the poor soul trapped in her ass know that she was debating whether he was alive or not?

The answer was obvious if he knew. To bite. To chomp on the flesh and alert the giantess. Although risky as it may spell accidental disaster, it was his best bet… However, Erarl hadn’t the faintest idea. He knew better than to bite. He was a mere mite. A pest that only would survive by pleasing his goddess. 

“One…”

‘My Goddess, Please.’ He said it in his mind. He admitted it. Not once in his thoughts did the prophet come. He, who claimed to be of divine origin, couldn't do a thing to help him. At heart, Erarl began to believe that. 

Nadia though? She could. It would only take her on a whim to decide that. 

**Rumble...**

So, even though he was about to die. Even though his life was flashing before his eyes, even as the pink ground beneath him shook. Even though it was all Nadia’s fault he was in this position.

He prayed to her. He prayed to his one, rightful goddess. 

He didn’t question what she needed from him to spare him. It wasn’t his responsibility as a mite to question that. He just needed to have faith in Nadia. At the face of overwhelming strength and frustration, Erarl was collared with a new faith. One he initially didn’t want.

“-Hmm?” She mumbled. Raising a single eyebrow. Or at least attempting to, she couldn’t actually do that. ‘Is that him, I can feel something back there.’

At the climax of her countdown. Everyone around her had their ears plugged as they awaited for hell to ensue. There was just an odd sense of silence. 

Erarl had his eyes closed. His legs were frozen. His body was unable to move… Or at least he thought. The only part of him that was still in motion was his mouth, his tongue. He was still kissing her ass.  

He expected to be vaporized by the sheer force of what was soon to happen, so he resigned himself to that fate. 

‘Yep, that’s definitely him…  Gah, what to do?’ Nadia questioned in her head. ‘I thought he was dead.’

She wanted to release her pent up gas, to put the human out of his misery. However, just as she’d done before. It wasn’t like her. She could act cruel as she’d like, she could act indifferent all she’d like. However, it still impacted her conscious mind. What did she gain from killing the commander like this? It was easier to sentence him when she thought he had already died. She had resolved to kill him earlier, but the sudden realization of him being alive had her take a step back mentally.

‘To make him an example? That doesn’t mean he needs to die though does he?’ She pondered. Perhaps it was the guilt of the fallen soldiers from earlier, but she felt only the slightest tinge of sadness. The crushing realization of what she was doing came into her mind. ‘Well, It wouldn’t be right to leave everyone off on this either would it?’

Scarlet stared from the distance. Wondering what was happening. Why had her goddess paused the trial? She awaited with anticipation. At heart, she would do and act as Nadia desired.

Nadia was facing away from her, so it was an action gone unnoticed. That being said, she knew Scarlet had expected an execution from her.

‘Expected an execution… ‘ Her mind wandered back. ‘Now it's, All size and talk, no action. Hah, maybe it's an improvement.’

She stopped herself from having a light chuckle. She decided what she wanted to do. 

‘I’m gonna follow my own expectations. I’m sure Scarlet would be happy with that too. Besides-’ She reached into her ass, delicately scooping up the poor, traumatized man from what was to be his grave. He was whimpering, despite being held on to her palm.  Nadia pinched Erarl with her other hand and lowered him to the ground. He had not assumed his default position. That being lying down on the ground, whimpering and kissing the dirt beneath him. He was broken. ‘A living example is more effective than a dead one.’ She reasoned. The logic made sense. It was really there however to tell herself than as a point to bring up to anyone else. She just needed a single argument to justify what she had just done out of mercy.

…

“O-Holy Lady. Goddess?” Scarlet ran up and questioned politely. She dared not offend her goddess. In fact, she’d rather be betrayed by her goddess than upset her. 

“I think I’ve proven my case, a senseless death is, uh, rather senseless.” With a lack of a better word, she made her statement. Nadia was, however, nervous. Sure she was a titanic goddess to her people. That being said, being subject to the criticism of the crowd was one of her greatest fears. ‘What would Scarlet say? Was she upset?’ Thoughts like that invaded her mind. All nonsense. The man was following orders to an extent, the thought of killing him in the end also made her, well not exactly delighted.

“-I’ve been humbled. It appears my human, violent seeking side took a hold of me.” Scarlet replied, a little bewildered. “Just like how you spared me, you would spare this man too?” 

Nadia nodded, she didn’t know what else to do, so she began speaking. Just something that was a mix of her true feelings and haughty goddess talk. “A true deity knows when to govern, when to be violent and when to be peaceful. Besides, killing this one specifically wouldn’t really make a difference.” Nadia really did believe that. It wasn’t all just gore and violence. That wasn’t the kind of person she wanted to be.

What was appealing about that? No. There was nothing to Nadia that seemed appealing about it. Violence to fuel her lust she could get behind, but death for the sake of death? It made her feel bad. Just like the soldiers that died today. It was unnecessary. 

She recalled back to her conversation about death and life with Scarlet. She remembered back to her conversation about how she wanted people to have the choice to believe what they wanted to believe. Right now, she was caught up in the need for power. In the need for victory… But would that suffice? Is that how she wanted to live?

Hence, she had decided. 

“O’Holy lady, it appears I have a lot to learn.” Scarlet replied. Nadia smiled back. Glad that Scarlet was understanding. 

‘I’ve decided the kind of goddess I want to be.’ She had an idea of what to become.

She wasn’t a pacifist, she wasn’t a violent beast either. She wanted to be something in between. To care for those she wanted to care for, to better those who sought her aid, to protect those that were indifferent to her and finally to trample upon her enemies. The ones that refused to accept her for who she was. She looked back at the commander, the man she had humbled and essentially tortured.

‘Besides, nothings hotter than simple straight domination. The pain, suffering and death I think I’ll reserve for people that just don’t learn.’ 

Now, bolstering an obviously fake confident tone. At least obvious to all but her followers, Nadia commanded. “Onward, to the prophet!” 

Scarlet, acting as representative for the humans, nodded. It was the dawn of a new era of the Achares theocracy. Merely days before complete conquest. 

“Next week, we capture the Prophet at Rheingen capital!” Scarlet shouted out. 

A cheer from the crowd of soldiers, some of which that had tears in their eyes from Nadia’s mercy also cried out. An act the prophet would never even consider, mercy was out of his vocabulary. They couldn't help but compare their leaders.

Why? Because they had just found a new leader.

“A-Achoo!”

Roaring, like a boisterous thunderstorm from the tropics far east, her reflexes acted up. It was unintentional. Her body simply reacted in its natural processes. However, even a mere sneeze could startle the wildlife in a kilometre wide radius.

“Lady Nadia? Is everything alright?” A red haired, heavily dressed magic user asked. Polite, kind and well behaved. Nadia couldn’t help but smile in response. 

“Just a slight cold it looks like. I’m not familiar with temperatures this low, usually we giantesses live in moderately cold climates. Nowhere snowy or icy. The wind from the central mountain range doesn’t help either.” Nadia explained. While yes, she was a lot warmer compared to humans as a result of her body being so much larger. However, protection against the cold wasn’t something giantesses were known for. It was a rather niche weakness. More people were familiar with their poor swimming performance, or their intolerance to the heat. It was partially why not many ever moved out of Ranate, which had almost the perfect weather for them. 

“I apologize on behalf of our country’s lousy craftsmen. We can’t quite replicate the fabric quality of your clothes. You discarded a lot of your wear when we headed into battle 5 days ago at the fort. Some of it ended up being burned, whilst other bits and pieces were destroyed.” Scarlet recapped. 

“Yes… It is admittedly annoying.” Nadia answered. However she was quick to alter her tone, she didn’t want to make Scarlet feel bad. “All I’ve got is my panties, bra and top. It’ll have to do for now.”

Desperate to give some good news, Scarlet added on, “ The capital city, Rheingen is on flat ground. It's off the mountains, but it is dependent on a river that flows off from the range.” Scarlet hoped the news of being off the mountainous countryside would make Nadia feel better.

“The capital city is dependent on a river? Good to know.”  Nadia noted that one detail down mentally. 

“Rheingen is the richest city in the country, all of our tax money goes to the church and it’s funnelled to the prophet eventually. They pay for all the nice things, fancy equipment and all. However, the river is a natural beauty. So even the prophet hasn’t touched it.” Scarlet explained.

“Is it loaded with statues and all? The city, I mean.” Nadia wondered. Not expecting a serious answer. 

“It’s filled to the brim with statues, they depict the prophet in his dark blue holy garbs. There was talk of getting the mountain side wall to have a sculpted face of the prophet there too.” Scarlet, in a little annoyed tone, spoke out. 

‘Maybe this is a bit hypocritical considering what my role here is… But how does one person live with that much attention willingly?’ Nadia wondered, slightly disgusted.

It was the confidence necessary to live as an idol. Nadia lacked such folly. However, she was improving. Progress was being made. 

“What is the prophet’s name?” She wondered. 

“It’s… uh.” Scarlet froze up a bit. “I actually don’t know. I think only upper members of their group know exactly who the prophet is. Everyone else just calls him by his title. Either that or some sort of nickname.” 

It was an interesting decision to withhold his name. However, the leader of the theocracy did so anyway. It dehumanised him, it made people think of himself less as human and more of a deity. It was an important factor at play. 

“I guess we’ll know in two days when we launch our attack.” Nadia said, slightly bitterly. 

“ The prophet is a bad person. I suppose you and I are bad people too in the eyes of some people.” 

“It doesn’t make killing him any more justified. However, I’m still going to do it.” Nadia, for once, exclaimed so confidently. Why? Was it an act of selflessness for the people?

Nadia would wish that to be the case. The reality was that she would obtain incredible power for getting rid of the prophet. She could govern her people with ease, and allow everyone to be happier than they are now. Which would be doing better than the bare minimum. Yes, she wanted to help them all from the prophet. That being said, she had her own personal motives too. So it wasn’t something Nadia was proud of either. 

 **Growl**

Nadia’s belly grumbled, akin to a lion's roar. It startled Scarlet. 

“We will prepare a meal at once!” Scarlet’s courtesy was as on point as ever.

“Haha, it's fine I can last another day.” She replied. 

“ We have the supplies. We even found a couple spies for the prophet, we have them as prisoners. We can add them to a soup for you.” Scarlet offered a tempting proposal. 

Nadia was hungry. She hadn’t eaten properly in a day. The last time she ate was when she and Scarlet pillaged one of the prophet’s outposts. Where Nadia desperately tried to ask for peace, a sign that never came. Her stomach ended up growling then too. Alarm bells must have been ringing for the residents of the outpost. 

When a giantess needed to eat. The first thought usually meant people. Alive, squirming humans specifically. It used to be a delicacy at Ranate many years ago, with much happening now with the current rule against it. Hence, individuals like Nadia hadn’t eaten a human before, at least not from memory. So instead she simply stole their food and supplies, eating what little was there.

She had not eaten a person… However-

‘They do taste amazing. Soft, squishy and delicate. Bringing the temptation to swallow them whole.’ Nadia lost herself in her thoughts. Yes, while she had not ‘eaten’ a human before, she had tasted them numerous times. Sucking on them, overpowering them with her tongue. All sensations she found enjoyable.  ‘Alas, I cannot. Or should not I suppose.’ She reasoned. Ana, her sister currently in charge of the queendom of Ranate, was very much opposed to the consumption of humans. Their mother too found it to be a disturbing act, so the sisters never partook in eating them. However, Nadia wasn’t in line to be a candidate to the throne. So whether she did or didn’t wasn’t the biggest deal. Not to mention, she wasn’t in Ranate right now. Their rules and culture didn’t apply. 

‘Even so…’  She began her thought process. 

“ That won’t be necessary right now.” She replied kindly to Scarlet. Declining her offer. The kindness and values instilled in her couldn’t be broken that easily. She was a giantess, she could last a day more. Provided there was a feast afterward. Feasting on innocents wasn’t on the agenda for Nadia.

“I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I should have found a better route for food on the way to the capital.” Scarlet began cursing herself. “ If nothing else, I offer myself as tribute. If a meal is neede-” 

“It won’t be.” Nadia answered back. Cutting off Scarlet. She was a goddess to her, but this was a rare act. When did she cut off people mid conversation? 

Really, it was the horrific thought of eating someone she had befriended. No matter how hungry she was, Nadia knew she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if she ate Scarlet. The mere thought of her falling down her gullet, coated in saliva, soon to be broken away and forgotten made her sick to her stomach. Something that worked for her favour, as for the next couple moments, her hunger had vanished.

Scarlet was teary eyed. “Y-yes. Of course. I cannot ever repay your mercy, but for the rest of my life, I swear I won’t ever doubt your supreme rule!” A brief pause occurred. “Not that I was or even thinking about it either!” 

‘Just how extreme do these people go?’ Nadia wondered. ‘A simple growl from my belly warranted her to offer herself up?’ It was an odd predicament. However, it was an important reminder that these were the stakes. She was the actualization of their beliefs, culture, rule, everything. To the people of the theocracy, their beliefs were the bottom line. The final result. The only result that mattered. 

While she pledged to follow her own expectations, to carve her own identity as a goddess and to create her own rule. It was an urgent reminder that these people deserved something back too. ‘How could I not give something back? No one has ever treated me this well. As if I’m their god… I guess that's the point.’ She chuckled. 

Nadia thought back to the legend of the Skadi’ess. The mountaintop legend of the giantess that saved the country from an anarchistic free for all. There was no doubt in her mind that some people flourished under that rule. Some individuals would love a lawless world. However, that freedom would soon be shackled with the chains of justice. Law and order would impede absolute freedom. To those that couldn’t adapt, they were burned. Losing their fight against the Skadi’ess as she reigned supreme as the goddess of the theocracy. Relegated as her toys or prey.

It wasn’t all bad. The people originally from the land, the traditional custodians of the soil, were liberated from their fears of being pillaged and plundered. That fear was traded off with immense loyalty to the Skadi’ess, a being that also respected the land. To them, they were regaining their freedom. Or perhaps, to them the freedom exchanged before and after was hardly different at all. 

‘What does it mean to be free?’ Nadia pondered. ‘ If the bandits of old lost their freedom from the Skadi’ess, but the native humans prospered from it. What does that entail? That not everyone's freedom is the same?’

She was reaching a conclusion. A shoddy, poorly thought out one. However, it was an ideal nonetheless. 

‘The Skadi’ess mandated herself as the true religious influence of the nation. Not everyone was happy with that. Some prospered under her rule, gaining freedom. Others lost it.’ Nadia reflected. ‘ I don’t wanna make myself the bottom line, the only person that people should believe in. It feels so dirty. So wrong.’ 

Nadia looked down to Scarlet. She remembered back to the commander from the fort. She didn’t force Scarlet to believe in her beliefs, she chose to do so. The commander was more or less forced. Which approach made Nadia feel better? Which approach was suitable for a true goddess?

It was a dilemma she was stuck in. However, at the fort she began inquiring towards an answer.

‘ It would be easy to raid the weaklings, to forcefully strip them of their freedom and bend them to my will. However, is that really something befitting of a goddess?’ Nadia had the Skadi’ess as an example to follow. That being said, she was just that, an example. Nadia was her own person. She could do things how she’d like. She began thinking of the support her sister, Ana from Ranate, was given. Mixing and matching ideas to suit her own agenda. ‘ A true goddess gives their followers options. However, she makes herself so unbelievably enticing as the preferred option that her followers would never betray her.’

It was a bizarre thought. In this world of extremism and violence, Nadia would give the humans the right to their own choice? To choose who they wanted as their one true supreme being? To willingly choose to be subservient to her rule?

Yet, it was why Ana was so popular among the humanity support faction in Ranate. She never proposed herself as the only saviour of humans in the nation, but she proved herself worthy of that title. It was the mere definition of competency as a princess candidate. So, with that said, what did it mean for Nadia?

Simply put. To govern as a goddess meant to dominate. To dominate through enticing and swaying the free will of her populace itself. That was the power expected of a goddess. Would it really be dominination if she had every citizen forcefully under her thumb? 

No, that was tyranny. Nadia desired to sit on a throne as a heavenly super power. Not a militaristic overlord. Even if the two seemed oddly similar at times, at least according to her personal definition. 

There just was no compromise there. Especially after how she acted at the fortress, it just made her feel guilty. It was a feeling that was heavily juxtaposed with how sensual it felt for Scarlet to offer herself up willingly. Only for Nadia to never comply with her insane offers. 

The willingness made even the act of eating a person, just the slightest bit arousing for Nadia. 

“We pillaged the outpost for food, I’m fine without eating. I’m sure the rest of our group is too.” Scarlet alluded to a mini army behind Nadia’s glorious form, it consisted of military folk and villagers. Some from the original village east, and some were farmers unhappy with the prophet. Others complied out of fear, a feeling they’d never reveal to Nadia or Scarlet. “ We’ll offer our food to you, I’m sure our collective fast can make a difference to your hunger.” Scarlet offered. 

Nadia was tempted. She didn’t want to resort to eating innocent civilians, but who knows. With enough hunger anything was possible. 

“ V-Very well. I accept your proposal.” That was that. 

Or so the goddess thought. 

“O’holy lady. May I ask a question?” Scarlet prompted. “We’ve already bribed the upper rank soldiers and guards of the country, I thought things would go smoothly, so I wanted to ask something if that was okay.”

“You may.” Nadia replied.

“Will you spare the prophet too?” She gently inquired. Her eyes were cloudy. 

Throughout her journey, she was constantly made aware of the vile person known as the prophet. Would she spare the villain of Scarlet’s story? She had spared the commander after all. Scarlet was curious. Slightly anxious even. The reasoning was that an alive example of a tortured soul was better than a dead one. However, did the prophet deserve that mercy? Scarlet wondered such a question.

“... I’ll make my judgement when I see him.” Nadia hesitantly answered. Not sure what would come of her at the moment when it really mattered. 

“I will trust your judgement then. No matter the outcome, I’m sure what you pick will be the correct one.”

– – – 

Rheingen. 

The hallowed city. Rumoured to be where the providence of the gods shone on the land, lighting the world up with a heavenly glow. Its meaning and nuances were lost to all. To each and every person. All but the man who deemed himself as the prophet. 

He deemed himself holy. He deemed his group righteous. They rose to power and sanctioned their beliefs above all others. No one else could interpret what the ‘holy light’ of Rheingen meant but these greedy men. 

“Oh, enlightened one. We’ve received numerous reports from Ebhausern detailing a giant lady rampaging through the land.” A scared man whimpered. His voice frail and old. 

“Silence. There is no giant lady. Such blasphemy could be interpreted as advocating for the Skadi’ess. There will be none of that.” A deep, charismatic voice replied. Confidence overflowing in his voice, it cut through the frailty in the air. “ As the treasurer, it is your responsibility to ensure we obtain our taxes on time. What happened to the two gentlemen we sent over to Fregen, the eastern village?” The prophet silenced any mention of the giantess. Instead he chose to direct conversation elsewhere. 

“T-they’re missing.” The treasurer responded. 

“The two were trained here on holy soil. Blessed with my wishes, they could not go missing so easily…” The prophet exclaimed. “You suggest that it is due to a giantess?” 

The treasurer nodded his head. “The giantess mysteriously appeared a few days ago. It seems like she’s been heading this way, towards the capital.”

“...”

A moment of silence. The prophet stared at the treasurer's eyes before opening his mouth. 

“Not a word of this to anyone.” He gestured with his hands, a finger slitting his own throat. It was an obvious message, one that implied that their conversation was to be leaked to no one. “How accurate are the reports?” 

“From the commander himself, he pleaded for us to accept a surrender. A shame that the report only got turned in today from a scout.” 

“A surrender? They couldn’t beat her? She may be the size of a landmass, however she is only one person. How could our military lose?” The prophet questioned. 

“We aren’t aware, oh benevolent one.” The treasurer continued, with the last part of his sentence seemingly forced. 

“What was the increased military budget for then? They can’t even win against a single woman.” The prophet clicked his tongue. “It is safe to assume that the military base has been wiped out.” 

“The scout also had left with the surrender plea before the fighting had begun. No one really knows what's happening at the fort right now.” The treasurer added even more bad news.

“ We are quite talented in the arts of magic. I don’t see how we could lose in a fair fight. The giantesses are notorious for being poor at magic too. It doesn’t make sense.” He reasoned. “ How long do we hav-” 

**Stomp**

He was cut off. Nature in its absolute cruelty had created the worst possible time interval for them to get the news about Nadia, and for the goddess to actually appear. 

The 3rd floor of the castle shook, it wasn’t built to withstand the earth shaking so violently. The men standing felt like the building may even collapse. 

The prophet peered out the window, to the furthest part of the city. There she was, her form glistened in the light. Bathed by sunlight, she was exposing her skin on various parts of her glorious physique. Her feet had caused a trail of uneven ground. Some parts of a forest nearby were destroyed too from her wake. 

“Did our spies make it through?” Nadia asked. 

“It appears so.” Scarlet, seated atop her left shoulder, responded. 

“What a devilish idea, to have our spies pretend to be scouts, sending in a fake message to the capital. How long did we instruct them to say we would take?”

“About an extra 2 days.” 

The two women exchanged words. Revealing their plan for what was to ensue. It was a cruel, awful idea. However Scarlet proposed it to bring morale down. To have the city be told that they have a few days left to beg for forgiveness against the goddess, only for the goddess to appear immediately. 

The idea was plain and simple. To send the governmental body of the theocracy into shock. Have them be so frightened that they couldn’t do anything to retaliate. 

**Stomp**

Another step was taken. Nadia was on the outskirts of the capital, where little villages were built up. She hadn’t quite gone into their territory but reminded herself to be just the slightest bit careful. She didn't want to cause unnecessary harm, however that proved to be difficult for her size. She was sure that she’d crushed a small human hut a few moments ago purely due to how big she was. Small slip ups were expected. Though, Nadia still prayed no one was inside.

Back at the divine palace, which was what the prophet called his castle. He stood, frozen. Unsure of what was to happen. 

“A-Ahem. Attention all innocent civilians.” Nadia began, as she took in a deep breath. “ I am not here to hurt you, and as long as no one attempts to hurt me. I have no plans on fighting.” A sense of relief was plastered across the prophet’s face. She was here to bargain, to converse and talk. It was a beautiful display of peac-

“However, I do request that I speak to your prophet. Your holy leader.” 

“...” 

Silence. Only for a moment as Nadia began speaking.

“ Chant for me, everyone. Call out for your prophet.”

…

A chant had begun. 

“O’holy saviour. O’holy saviour. O’holy saviour…” 

It got louder and louder. The noise dwarfed all the mundanity away from the city. 

“Raid his office, bring him to me!” Nadia commanded, her practised arrogant tone was honed. 

Soon, the people began running toward his divine palace. It didn’t matter that he was their leader, no. In fact at that moment it didn’t matter at all that he was even a human. In front of the innocent denizens of Rheigen was a lady that dwarfed the mountains, who’s hips were as wide as the valley near their settlement. When such a gargantuan force of nature commanded the mere humans of the city to do something, it was only natural for them to follow. 

The mere idea of rebellion with magic hadn’t crossed anyone’s mind. It was a foolish thought to have. Why fight back against a force of nature? Especially when not under any leadership, the poorly uncoordinated humans of the capital did as they were told.

“N-No. No! Stop that. Unhand me! You, you all nee-” He yelled as he was dragged across the city from his palace that stood taller than any other building in the city. However that was nothing, Nadia cleared his palace with many metres to spare. If height was a determiner of what was ‘holy power’ then no longer did the prophet have any leverage there. The treasurer could only watch in horror as he saw his boss get dragged away.

‘I pray for you, old friend.’ He wished him well, for Ragnarok was coming. An event that meant the gods of the world were clashing. To the puny treasurer, that meant the conflict between Nadia and the prophet. One was a behemoth who possessed the power to crush a human like an ant. The other was his colleague. He couldn’t help but find himself doubting the prophet as someone worthy, especially when compared to Nadia. 

Times were dire. 

Despite that, the treasurer thanked his lucky stars that he wasn’t involved in this mess.

‘If this is my new god, then so be it. Whatever it takes to live.’ He thought as he ran into a corner, looking for an escape out of the castle. Luckily, everyone had dogpiled on the prophet, he was surrounded by a crowd. Only he was. 

The treasurer paid it no mind. It was his chance to escape.

In a fury, the holy city was in a state of panic. The navy blue flags that represented the Archares theocracy were soon to be burned down. There was no doubt about that. They depicted the prophet himself basked in holy light, the giantess who stood in the distance certainly wouldn’t let these flags linger. The treasurer thought so much at least, it wasn’t an incorrect line of thinking.

As he left the castle, the treasurer spent one last look at the mighty river flowing down from the mountainside at the distance. It was as beautiful as always.

‘This whole city is dependent on water from that.’ 

It was his last remark. Without water, a basic necessity for human survival. It didn’t matter if it was the prophet or Nadia as the new leader. There would be no humans left at all. Whoever controlled the river, controlled the city. Whichever leader didn’t defend their source of water, wouldn’t be able to defend themselves. 

– – – 

‘So, this is the river.’ Nadia thought to herself. It was a rather pristine river, a small one. Especially for her size. Giantesses often required their rivers to be much larger to be of any use. As Nadia inspected it, she realized when she bent down that it was possible to see through all the way down to the water floor. It was that clear, that pure. 

‘The rivers back home weren’t this clean… Though, maybe nowadays we have some water magic or something that can help with that.’ She noted. It was an important thing to consider, just how exactly the implementation of magic would change giantess society. Sure, in the military it made them a force to be reckoned with even more than they already were, but what about beyond that? 

**Growl**

Nadia, unfortunately didn’t get much time to ponder. Her stomach was rumbling. Demanding an offering. She knew she couldn’t hold out much longer. Food was necessary. 

“-We’ve got him! Oh goddess, we’ve finally taken him!” Scarlet shouted, her polite tone absent and instead replaced with joy. 

Nadia looked down, she squatted. While she was in her underwear, it was still somewhat embarrassing. However, no one paid it any mind. The humans were simply too terrified. It made Nadia feel like a fool for worrying about such a thing. She was, after all, someone far grander. Far better than anyone else in the country. If she desired to be in her undergarments, that was a decision no one else got to judge.

“Hmm. So this is the prophet.” Nadia voiced, curiously. 

“MHHMMM!” He mumbled. His mouth was sealed shut with a rope. Something Scarlet added on at the last minute. A gag. 

“A little overweight, old, brown hair. You don’t seem like a divine visionary to me.” Nadia announced. The people around her gasped. They had to, whether they believed what was happening or not, the normal people didn’t have a choice. It was to follow along or be outcasted. Maybe even used as an example. 

“MMHM!” The prophet begged, upon deaf ears. Nadia cared but not enough to release him. Scarlet certainly wouldn’t have done anything either, in fact most people wouldn’t have. Who in their right mind would oppose a giantess after all?

‘All it took was a few words, and a few cleverly preplaced spies in the city. Suddenly everything is going our way. The people that started chanting were on our side, we had them start the chant. The rest just followed. Like sheep to a shepherd.’ Nadia reasoned. ‘ Oh my goodness, I’m that shepherd aren’t I?’

There was no debate. No internal conflict there. She knew herself as the leader. The rightful one. 

“ It is time for judgement. For lying of your divine status, for your greed, for your pride, for your lies. For the amount of people you’ve tricked and gotten killed.” Nadia coldly announced. She felt little sympathy for the prophet. Actually, maybe a little bit. However, unlike the commander who was following orders, or the tax collectors who may have been coerced into what they were doing. Nadia was speaking directly to the chief of command. The one responsible for it all. She could judge him as freely as she’d like to her moral code. “Why do you think your people abandoned you?” 

She inquired. Asking quite a direct question. 

As for the prophet. Not a single tear began rolling down. He wasn’t stone faced, but to know he was desperately searching for a way out. 

“It’s this reason right here. You hardly even look at them, or acknowledge them. You have your eyes glued somewhere else.” Nadia began criticizing, as if projecting her own failings. “It just hasn’t worked out for you I’m afraid. Unlike you, I’ll strive to be a better goddess. One capable of following through on what I need to do.” It was her start, her beginning. She had a lot of potential, a lot she could do. She had learnt to maintain herself as the one in control. Not to be ruled by her desires.

“Mhm…” 

Which is why-

“I’m going to eat you.” She declared as she picked up the bound prophet, with his hands tied together with rope. His mouth gagged. He was utterly helpless. 

Scarlet was watching from a distance, as per usual. Amazed at what she had just heard. Nadia had refused all accounts of wanting to eat a human all along, so why now? Scarlet wondered that single question. 

‘I’m confident now. You’re going to be eaten, because I deemed you deserve it. Not just because I’m hungry or because I think it’d be hot.’ It was an important distinction to make. Nadia vowed that she was eating the prophet as this was his punishment, not to satiate her own desires. 

Would her sister be mad finding out that she made such a decision? Perhaps so, perhaps not. 

Would Nadia continue on with that choice anyway? Yes. She would, simply because that was what she deemed to be right. This was her response to her lack of confidence, and that was to begin building it up with choices she felt were right. 

“You’re gonna go right down here.” She pointed with her index finger to her belly. “Get shaken around, broken into little bits and pieces. Then-,” She adjusted her finger, moving it gradually lower and lower. “ You’re going to go on a little journey. Up, down, up, down. Before finally… It’s all over.” 

“M-MhmmmMHM!” The prophet pulled at the rope, but alas his hands were tied. There was nothing he could do, nowhere he could run. He was atop her palm. 

“But don’t worry. I’ve taught my followers this…” Nadia gathered a brave face, putting on a confident tone. It was necessary. The capital city was watching her little performance. “ It’s been said that the place you die, determines where you’ll spend the rest of eternity as a soul. Though no one knows if it's true or not. I just thought I’d put it out there. Besides, if it's not true, you’ll finally get to give back to your people, as your one true form!” She nailed it. Minimal stuttering, proper eye contact. It was hard for Nadia. However she pulled it off. 

Pinching her fingers together, She forcefully removed the gag off the prophet.

“Speak. The goddess of this nation permits it.” Nadia voiced. The prophet almost fell backwards from her tone. 

“I-I…” He couldn’t articulate sentences anymore. Just like the commander, he was at a loss for words. At least that's what it seemed like.  “...”

That was it. There was silence. Was that all he had to say?

Nadia had stripped away the prophet's greatest weapon. His voice. His ability to control and manipulate through his words. Such a thing was absent purely because of the shock Nadia instilled in him. Shock that existed from finding out about this only a mere couple moments earlier. 

‘I-Please! This can’t be the end. I have to do something…’ He couldn’t speak, but he could think. So the prophet thought of a last ditch plan. It was all he had left. 

He gathered his mana into one spot on top of him, and instead of condensing it together, he altered the quality of it. Solidifying it. Hardening it. It required copious amounts of mana, however he was materializing it anyway. The ball of physical mana stood floating in the sky. 

What was it? 

Simply put, it was the earthen rock itself. The Prophet, claiming to be a messenger from the heavens was shackled with having greater affinity for earth magic. As if he was bound to the continent he was from. Like a permanent reminder that he was not destined for the skies, unlike a heavenly overseer. Instead he was a mere mortal, one that couldn’t even properly comprehend how to utilize his own magic.

All he could do was form a giant ball of rock formed by his mana, and attempt to crush his foes with it. In his defense, it worked quite well for the little amount of enemies he had faced in a one on one confrontation.

‘This is your greatest attack?’ Nadia pitied the prophet. The so-called giant ball of earth wasn’t even the size of her palm in diameter. In terms of height, it was maybe the same as her fist when clenched. That was all. The prophet, despite being from a more magically advanced civilization, had worse techniques than the soldiers of Marvialasia. The country Nadia’s homeland was at war with. ‘To think, merely by capitalizing on the beliefs of your people you could become the divine ruler of this place. You aren’t even that strong yourself.’

It was his final attack, he sent the ball of earthen soil flying toward Nadia. To which, she slapped it away with her free hand. 

‘N-No, impossible. This is unfair, that attack wasn’t meant for such a giant monster.’  He thought, frantically. It wouldn’t be farfetched to conclude that this attack was his one and only.

**Bam**

It landed on the mountain, quite a ways away from the city. However, the mere action of slapping away the boulder shaped attack had sent it flying into the origin of the river, the same river that was responsible for the survival of the capital city. 

It crashed into the rock, permanently damaging the course of the river. Altering its path from the mountain to the city, to somewhere else entirely. In fact it was basically now heading in the opposite direction.

“Look at what you’ve done now!” Scarlet shouted, furious at the prophet. The one thing untouched by his nefarious hands had gotten damaged beyond repair. The very natural beauty of the river was hurt. It wasn’t capable of sustaining Rheingen anymore. Not at least until a road that paved a path to its new course was made.

“Before you cause any more damage. I think it’s time we end your suffering.” Nadia announced, salivating. She was only a few steps away from drooling. A fact she wasn’t happy or fond of.

It was a meal, a human meal. A delicacy. However, that wasn’t important. She had to remind herself. A clear distinction needed to be made.

‘He deserves to be punished for his actions.’

And so, it began. 

The goddess opened her maw. Her dry, pink lips separated and revealed the void inside. A one way trip to an acidic hellscape. Saliva stuck from her tongue to the uppermost area of her mouth, it refused to part ways with itself. Besides that, it was dark. It was humid. Nadia’s breath created a hefty draft of warm wind that almost made it difficult for the prophet to breathe. 

**Thump-Thump, Thump-Thump**

His heart was beating fast. Fight or flight, powered by his sympathetic nervous system, was in overdrive. However, perhaps it was the knowing feeling of this being the end. The prophet could only panic so much. He had frozen in place, his face stuck facing the gaping hole. Listening in to the ambience of her mouth noises, of saliva being whisked around, of her mighty tongue resting. He had given up. 

Nadia felt bad. Of course she felt bad. 

While the excitement of tasting a person was a feeling unlike anything else, she knew what was happening. Devouring an alive person wasn’t a morally ‘good’ thing. It never was, it never could be. 

However, she still was doing it. 

Scarlet had prompted her, had wished for her to do so. The final decision was however on her shoulders. 

She just needed a final push. She didn’t want to eat her enemy as he was. So, she paused for a moment. 

“What is your name?” She spoke, her voice a little shaky. “Oh tiny one, what is your name?” She repeated herself, this time sounding a bit more confident. 

“... Clarentix.” He mouthed, barely audible. Nadia had to pay 100% of her attention to make out what he had just said. 

“Clarentix?”

“Clarentix Beschlonacht.” He answered back, his voice compelled to respond to her orders. It was the signifier of his lost authority, that he no longer was in control. His eyes seemed to stare at nothing and everything all at once. Like a doll being toyed with, his own actions were not of his own violation anymore. 

“Clarentix Beschlonacht, I won’t forget your name.” She really meant that. However, she was acting as a goddess, so she continued further. “Your very being will have the uh, luxury of becoming one with me. Think of it as an honour.” Nadia had gotten better in her arrogant talks, however small slip ups were still present. Despite that, she found it important to get the prophet’s name. As while he wanted to dehumanize himself as much as possible to paint himself above all others. Nadia wanted to humanize him so she’d think of him as a person, not just a meal. 

Forgetting to do such a small, insignificant thing could have a long lasting effect on her person. She made sure to ask for it at the very least. 

The prophet was on his knees, atop Nadia’s palm. Silent. Now that he wasn’t explicitly given permission to speak, he couldn’t find it in himself to speak at all. ‘Is this how it felt?’ He pondered as he thought about the numerous peasants he had sentenced to death during his reign. No one dared to even whimper in sorrow against his decision, as such a small action could bleed out to further consequences. 

Against absolute power, the weak could do nothing but grovel and accept their position. It would take months of planning, scores of people and a heartwarming message to create some form of actual change. Well, either that or it be matched with absolute power back from a giantess.

“You must be wondering how this all came about. I’ll spare you the details, but you deserve to know how your end was spelt out. Simply put, all your scouts, guards and people that would notify your people were wiped out or bribed to be on my side.” Nadia explained. Biting her lip slightly, not out of excitement. Quite the opposite in fact, it was a tinge of frustration that some innocent humans just doing their job had to be killed for this endeavour.

“...” The prophet didn’t attempt to make eye contact with Nadia. He simply wondered how and why. ‘Just how was this all possible?’ was his first immediate thought. He failed to realize his own problems, at least until the very end where he finally realized something, ‘D-did I do this? Were there that many people tired of my rule… that no one took my side at all?’ He wondered. 

The prophet finally realized at the end that because of his corruption and lack of control, no one was really on his side. At least not earnestly. Given a chance to rebel or fight back, everyone would betray him. His benefactors, his soldiers, his people. When faced against absolute power, especially one that did more than the bare minimum for the people, his rule was a farce that didn’t even need considering. 

‘What was it all for? Why did-’ As he continued his thoughts, he was interrupted. ‘Oh right… This is the end.’ Nadia wanted to put him out of his misery, so she commenced the punishment. She hated the feeling of guts and innards in her mouth, so she was sure to swallow him whole. 

‘I’m sorry I can’t make it quick and painless.’ She selfishly reasoned. Nadia was aware of how cruel and pointless her thoughts on the matter were, but she really didn’t want to feel his body swirling around broken. So she apologized in her head, she apologized for what she was about to do. 

“A-aahhh” She opened her jaw once more. This time holding the prophet in both of her palms, both joined up as they faced towards her mouth in the heavens. She was towering over him, her tongue extended outward like from a predator ready to catch its prey. The pink muscle stuck on to his form, like a fly to a web, he was unable to free himself. The sticky saliva had him lodged in place as if it were a strong natural glue. He could feel the warmth of her body, the breath that seemed to heat up his surroundings as the behemoth in front of him exhaled. “Mhmmm.”

Nadia could feel him. Squirming, like a bug that was desperate to escape but had intuitively accepted his place. She liked that feeling, and she despised herself for liking that feeling. It wasn’t right. It never was. Yet, the taste, the power, all of it satiated her inner most desires. 

If she spoke now, she could probably harm the prophet’s hearing. Such a petty action for her could be of so much harm to her victim. The power that came from that made Nadia feel a little warm inside. Her body, that of a giantess, had propagated through the awful exploitation of humans. What made the giantesses not completely evil towards the humans was their mind, their mental at being able to control themselves. Without that, one could argue there was little differentiating the giantesses to hungry beasts. 

She returned her tongue to its den. Slowly creeping it back inside the prison known as her oral cavity. She had captured the prophet to her every whim. Now, he was a goner. He was done. 

**Slurp**

She pressed her lips together slightly, as she held the prophet in place there. He was trapped, bound from his hips. His upper body was facing the outside world, whilst his underbody was within her mouth. He could feel the saliva building up on his legs. It was a weirdly warm liquid, it didn’t feel natural at all. It didn’t feel like something a human should have had to feel at all. Now, without mercy, Nadia began to suckle on the prophet’s body. 

“Mhm!” She sounded. It was a noise, she didn’t attempt to speak. All she was doing was sucking the flavour out of him, obtaining a taste of her meal. She was careful not to press too hard on him from her lips, or to do anything too strongly. For one, it would be a bit painful for him, but more importantly to Nadia, it would be a little gross. ‘I’ve never liked that tradition of painting our lips red in the blood of our enemies. Talk about unhygienic.’ Was her stance on the topic, a stance only a privileged former princess candidate could have. She was rather disconnected in her thoughts about humans. 

In reality, nothing was really happening to the prophet. If anything, he could feel a certain hardness between his legs. As he was nudged inward by the pressure of her sucking, but bound in place by her lips. He was a mere chew toy, one Nadia was having too much fun with. She promised this was a punishment, not a session for her to enjoy. Yet, one could argue that was exactly what she was doing. She knew in the depths of her heart that Ana would be disappointed in her right now. However, that thought didn’t matter to Nadia right now. For she was the one most disappointed in herself. She stayed in this land to change, but to do so like this wasn’t entirely within her plans.

**Slurppp-**

There it was. The final slurp. She engulfed him entirely, resting the poor tiny human on her tongue. The prophet was in a state of disorientation as he was plucked from one place to another in a matter of not even a second. Now, he was being coagulated almost, becoming a mixture of liquid saliva and his own solid mass. The sensation almost had him drowning with his face stuck under a layer of spit, he was wondering how he could even breathe. Or how he was going to breathe in the next couple seconds. All he could get was Nadia’s rancid breath. That wasn't going to get any better. 

**Gulp**

Was it mercy? Was it cruelty? That judgement wasn’t Nadia’s to make, for it was the prophet who should have gotten to decide that. However, he was too far gone already. His mind scattered and lost, he didn’t understand what was happening. 

**Clench**

Nadia’s throat muscles enveloped the prophet’s form. Crushing him together into an easily swallowable mass. His arms, his legs, his feet, his whole body was susceptible to irreparable harm. Namely, his right arm, his right and left legs as well as his left wrist. Their bones broken, crunched with an unforgivable amount of force, they were a bloody mess. Nadia didn’t care too much though, at least the mess wasn’t in her mouth. Though that isn’t to say she didn’t care at all. She felt bad for the poor human in her throat, but only as bad as she felt in being the one to give him ‘justice’. Or whatever they called her actions in this strange land. She prayed he was dead by now, that the mere action of swallowing had killed this enchantment-less human. That his suffering was over. 

“Aa-augh.” She laid down on her back. With her stomach, revealed and exposed to the world. She looked up with a satisfied expression. Nadia had no issues swallowing him down. He had successfully passed through her throat, if anything he was to arrive in her belly any moment from now. 

The goddess thought back to what Scarlet was saying, to what basically every villager had said about the prophet. ‘Yeah… He deserves this.’ She tried to reason. ‘No. No he doesn’t... Alas, this is what his people wanted.’ Not wanting to fall into guilt, Nadia coldly shifted blame to the prophet himself. To the man who had just landed in hell. Her hell, that being her stomach. ‘Still though… Humans really do taste the best.’ Was her final thoughts on the matter. As she covered her eyes from the sun with her arms. Nadia had not wanted to delve on the matter much longer. If anything, she wanted to forget what she had just done. Alas, she vowed earlier not to forget who the prophet was. Hence, Nadia was conflicted.

When the prophet landed, he was unable to move, all he could do was crawl. He was in a pool of liquid, one that housed a slight burning sensation but not too badly. At least not yet. There was no light around him, the prophet couldn’t see a thing. The noises around him were wet, he could hear liquids dropping. He could hear the muscles around him slowly contracting, expanding and relaxing. He could hear the sounds of food being broken down and squeezed into a mush. It was a shuddering realization that he too was no different to that food, that this was his fate in a matter of moments. 

‘W-Why am I still alive?’ He, the supposed messenger of the heavens cursed his fate.

He couldn’t move. He couldn’t run. He couldn’t stand. 

It was dark, it was gross, it was painful. 

Yet, he was a mere snack to his goddess. It didn’t matter what a snack thought. Even if he was fully able bodied, what was he going to do? His best bet was magic, but right now he was in too much pain to concentrate hard enough on a technique. 

‘How the heavens have cursed me… Is this what I deserve?’ He pleaded in his mind, as his thoughts desperately tried to get more blurry. Only through sheer will of mind did he attempt to stay conscious. 

He tried to breathe. He didn’t know why he was alive. It was a miracle in the worst of ways. All he could get from his surroundings was a pungent odor of disgusting filth. It definitely wasn’t a good substitute for fresh air, as his mind was getting more and more sleepy. As if he was falling asleep, forever. 

“Why?” He shouted, his thoughts and feelings would reach no one. “Why!” He screamed. “Why?!?” He cried, louder and louder each time. Whether anyone would feel sympathy for him though, well, that was up for debate. Becoming a man of powerful stature had its problems, one being that almost no one would come to your rescue when you fell from grace. After all, a ‘just’ man wouldn’t reach that powerful position to begin with. At least it wasn’t likely. The prophet had many enemies. Many people hated him. No one would willingly come to his aid when a preferable alternative was present. When a goddess who was worshipped willingly by her people was present. 

The prophet looked around, in one final last ditch effort, and could see some parts of the dark stomach wall enclosing a bit further towards him than its surroundings; the prophet had no idea what it was or why it was there. He prayed it was some sign that his goddess was going to throw him up… 

What was causing that incline, that push of the stomach wall? Well, it certainly wasn’t Nadia attempting to throw him up. Far from it, it was a red haired woman on the outside who had just climbed up Nadia’s stomach region. 

Scarlet laid down atop of Nadia’s belly. She had her ears down to her squishy flesh. Her pleasant skin. Such an action the Scarlet of the past wouldn’t have ever taken, however she felt much more comfortable around Nadia now. 

“I can hear something. Some muffled noise.” Her tender, gentle voice acknowledged. “Do you think that’s him?” Scarlet questioned, hoping Nadia would respond. Her tiny form and body weight was enough to push just a tiny bit inward towards Nadia’s stomach. It was what the prophet saw only a moment ago, not that it mattered. 

“...”

Nadia was silent. Scarlet deduced it was better than to inquire further. Afterall, Nadia knew best. To Scarlet, her judgement was the best out of anyone in the world. 

‘That was it. That was the end of the prophet’s reign.’ Nadia thought. Taking a big sigh. Scarlet didn’t know to interpret if it was out of relief or tiredness. ‘I can’t even feel him down there. But Scarlet said she can hear something… I hope he died, else this is a horrible way to go.’ Nadia reasoned. If he wasn’t dead, then the mere action of walking would certainly kill him. He would be submerged in her gastric juices. ‘Maybe that's better than a slow end-’ 

**Burp**

Nadia let out a relentless roar, alerting all nearby wildlife to scatter. To retreat. She had just burped. An action so ferocious that Scarlet fell backwards onto her bottom, luckily she was atop Nadia’s soft skin, her soft belly. It wasn’t a bad fall.

“...”

That was it. It must have been. Nadia deduced it was either the prophet or the massive amount of water she drank a while before the raid on the capital. One of those two prompted that action. Nadia couldn’t help but blush slightly, although Scarlet could only stare in awe. She put her ear down to the ground again. 

“ I can’t tell anymore, there’s too much going on in there now.” Scarlet bitterly reported. She wanted to do better for Nadia. 

The goddess in question however was silent. The reality was that he wasn’t going to last much longer. She simply had to accept that. The prophet did somewhat deserve it. He killed many peasants unjustly, he removed people from their homes to work for him, he forced his rule upon the people. All Nadia had to do now was to move on with her day, with the possibility of dragging a half alive human within her guts who was soon to be reduced to mush anyway. And then…

“So, what's the plan now? I guess you just need to announce yourself as the rightful goddess of this country and all’s well that ends well.” Scarlet enthusiastically asked. Interrupting Nadia’s trail of thought.

“Yeah. But for now, I just wanna rest for a minute.”

“Right, of course. Villagers, please prepare a summoning at the capital. We will be announcing a new leader for our country!” Scarlet demanded. 

The people cheered. Some fearfully followed the cheers, despite not knowing what was going on. Some were forced into being happy with the change despite liking the prophet. They had to be, else who knows what would happen to them? That was a common mentality. 

‘Guess I’ve done it now. All size, some talk and action. There’s no going back now.’ Nadia provided her rationale. She was serious. This was her new calling now. 

She was the goddess of the Achares Theocracy. A goddess of justice, one so powerful that even if an action was universally deemed right, but she deemed it wrong. Then that was that, it was wrong. At least on the theocracies' soil her will was the rules. Her justice was her rule. 

She knew what she was doing wasn’t completely right. That some people would suffer, some people would prosper and some people would- 

‘Some people would…’ The words rang through her mind. She almost forgot. 

“Scarlet, I’ll be the goddess of this nation… However, I have one condition.” 

“Anything! Anything at all.” She earnestly listened. 

“The people are free to pick their rulers and their beliefs. I’m not a tyrant.”

“B-but,” Scarlet talked back. She immediately corrected herself. “ At once, your grace.”

“You can voice your concerns. I’m all ears.” Nadia gently replied. 

“You are the true ruler here. You led this revolution. You have the power. You can make us prosper under your wing. Why?” Scarlet asked as she walked up Nadia’s gorgeous body. She was at her lower chest region.

“ Would that really make me a goddess? Or a dictator? Maybe they aren’t so different depending on how things are done. But, I want my people to worship me willingly. What good is it if it's forced?” Nadia, perhaps slightly hypocritically voiced. She had just eaten a person to prove her point. However, she made that distinction substantially different in her mind. The prophet’s punishment was a punishment, not fully something she was doing to enjoy herself. Even then, she at least wanted to give the civilians a choice in the matter. Something for them to decide. It made the act of governing them, it made her act more powerful. In all of her nervousness, this was the one thing Nadia hadn’t slipped out on voicing. Maybe because these were her true thoughts, untainted by her obnoxious goddess persona. 

“H-how incredibly kind. We don’t deserve you. Truly we don’t!” Scarlet replied, with a tear down her eye. She ran to Nadia’s left breast, which was tucked underneath her bra and tried to hug it. Burrowing her face in gratitude. She didn’t know how to respond or act. This was just what her body wanted.

“A-are you crying?” Nadia, thinking that she messed up, started feeling bad. Only to realise that Scarlet was crying tears of joy, not sorrow. “Ah, geez. Haha.” She chuckled. Slamming her right hand to her stomach, causing a shockwave to her flesh. Causing Scarlet to almost fall down, again. 

‘Ah shit… I really hope he died by now, else that would have been bad for him.’ Nadia cursed in her head. As she patted her belly gently, as if somehow that would make what she did any better. ‘Yeah… Well whatever. What’s done is done. I need to focus on ruling these people… And public speaking too later in front of them all… Haha.’

Realizing what the weight of her new position was, Nadia sighed once more. ‘Oh well, I can’t be like Ana and be a righteous ruler for all humans. I can’t also just forsake who I am as a giantess. I’ll just do what I can… Yeah. We’ll see where it goes from there.’

A few moments pass. Seconds, minutes. Somewhere, without a need for words the people of Rheingen city gather around Nadia, who was still lying down. 

Nadia, angles her head slightly as if to get a better look. Confused slightly. However she has a general inkling of an idea of what was happening. 

She had just eaten their ruler. The navy blue sign of the country, the holy prophet was drowning within her belly as of this moment. Being broken down, squished and cycled around her system. Nadia had just stripped the holy light away from the holy city, what did that entail exactly?

What would these people want?

Step by step, pace by pace, they all began bowing. Actually no, not all of them. Most of them began bowing. On their knees, they lowered their heads to the ground. Not everyone went towards Nadia, some people off in the distance were still in shock and horror. However the crowd in front of her seemed docile. 

There were no words spoken. Only action. 

Nadia, and also Scarlet who was watching in awe, understood what had just happened. 

‘It appears I’ve swallowed up the divine light of this place… Making me their next light. I guess some of them have recognized that.’ Nadia thought, searching for an answer of why the people here bowed to her might.

Some of the people that didn’t bow instead went downward, following her lightly clothed body. They dare not touch the precious flesh without Nadia’s permission. At least not at a location like her hips, stomach or elsewhere. There was only one spot they thought themselves worthy of touching.

It was her dirty feet. 

Men and women would get on their knees and begin praying towards them. Tears would shed down from the people, some would appear frozen in place. Others were still moving towards the bottoms of her feet, as they were exposed in Nadia’s still lying down position. 

‘Hmm?’ Nadia wondered, a little in shock. A little bit uncomfortable. That being said, she knew what was happening. She was fast on the uptake. 

She could hardly feel anything at her soles. But the gesture was not lost on her. 

The meagre humans, the tiny people of the city were licking her feet. Kissing the dirt off. They had made peace with their new divine being. Not everyone of course. Some would still oppose Nadia, some would hate her, some would become her enemy. However, at the present moment, Nadia proved herself to be someone worthy of the respect of the people. Without forcing them to kneel, or to do these actions. The people willingly felt it was best they do them. It was far from a charitable act from her, however she liked the conclusion. 

Scores  upon scores were climbing her feet, making sure not to ascend a step further to the rest of her body. The humans knew their place, which was at eye level with their being. Anything higher was territory of the goddess, of their goddess. 

‘...’ Nadia was silent. However, even she could not help but blush slightly. ‘I could get used to this.’ She thought to herself.

**Growl**

Her stomach rumbled. Disrupting her train of thought. However it only caused Nadia to blush even harder, her face flushing red. How many people had just heard her? 

‘Shit… I’m still hungry.’ She deduced from her obvious state of being. 

“I’m hungry. My people, your goddess is starved. Please prepare me your finest meal.” She commanded. Her tone quite confident, quite pronounced and proud. For Nadia herself knew that starving herself would only lead to more harm towards the humans. 

Though that being said, she was warming right up to her new position as she refused to move. She instead let the plethora of tiny men and women work their way around her feet, and awaited a feast fit for a deity to arrive from her new subjects.

‘We’ll just see how it goes from here. One step at a time.’ 

THE END