"Lethe's Veil."

The Goddess Liora's ancient, galaxy-filled eyes widened for a fraction of a second, a flicker of cosmic surprise crossing her perfect features.

Then, they went unfocused, a soft, hazy veil drawing over them like a curtain falling.

The light in the endless space around them seemed to stutter, to fold in on itself for a moment that was both an eternity and an instant. Time itself seemed to hiccup.

When her eyes opened again, the surprise was gone. Completely erased.

It was replaced by the same gentle, kind pity she had held before. The timeline had been cut, the last ten minutes of her divine life erased and seamlessly stitched back together like a perfectly healed wound.

"That is your wish?" she asked, her voice the same melodic bell toll, completely unaware that she was repeating herself word for word. "A simple, low-level mental manipulation skill? It is... a trifle. A piece of trash, compared to what I could grant you."

It worked. The skill actually worked on a goddess.

A slow, cold, and completely triumphant smirk spread across Dante's face.

The exploit that would let him steal everything.

"You are right, Goddess," he said, his voice a mask of humble reconsideration. "I was thinking too small, lost in my grief. I have changed my mind."

"Then speak your heart's true desire, hero," she encouraged, her smile warm and genuine. She wanted to help him. Truly wanted it.

"I wish for infinite mana," he stated, his voice flat and absolute.

The warmth in her smile vanished instantly. "That is not possible," she said, her tone firm, the first hint of divine authority in her voice. "Infinity is an idea, not an amount. It is a power I do not have to give. Even my own power is finite. Ask for something else."

The con continued. He had expected the refusal. Planned for it.

"Then grant me a power that is within your reach," he countered, his voice taking on a desperate, pleading tone. "My battles have shown me that my own reserves are not enough. To protect my team, to be the save from this world, I need more. Just... triple my current mana capacity. Surely that is not beyond you?"

She considered his request, her head tilted slightly. "It is a demanding wish," she said slowly. "To pour so much power into a mortal body... it will be an agonizing process. Your body may not survive it."

"I will endure any pain to gain the strength I need to protect others," he declared, his voice ringing with a false, noble fire. The perfect heroic declaration.

Her expression softened again, her pity won over by his performance. "Very well. Your resolve is admirable. I will grant your wish. Brace yourself, hero."

She raised her hand, and a flood of pure, golden energy, a river of raw, untamed starlight, flowed from her palm and into his chest.

The pain was immediate and absolute. It was not the clean, searing heat of a dragon's fire.

Not the sharp bite of a blade. This was a deeper, more fundamental pain. It felt like every cell in his body was being simultaneously torn apart and crushed, his very soul being stretched beyond its limits, threatening to break completely.

"AAAAARGH!"

A scream was ripped from his throat, a raw, animal sound of pure, unfiltered torment.

The kind of scream that came from a place beyond conscious thought, beyond any control. His body convulsed violently.

His muscles spasmed. Blood vessels burst under his skin, leaving dark purple marks spreading across his flesh.

But through the pain, through the absolute agony threatening to shatter his mind entirely, he felt it happening.

His mana pool, the vast ocean he had acquired, was swelling. Growing rapidly. Expanding. Tripling in size. What had been a lake became an ocean.

What had been an ocean became a galaxy of its own. Pure magical energy filling him completely.

When the flood of energy finally stopped, he was on his knees, gasping.

His whole body trembling uncontrollably, his new form struggling to contain the impossible power now raging within him like a caged beast.

"It is done," Liora said, her voice full of a soft, motherly concern. "You have survived. Remarkable."

He looked up at her, his face a genuine mask of pain, and gave her a weak, grateful smile. Then, through gritted teeth, he whispered the words again.

"Lethe's Veil."

---

[Ten Minutes Earlier]

A flicker. A strange, momentary sensation, Liora looked at the mortal hero kneeling before her, his face a mask of deep, tragic grief.

A wave of deja vu, so faint it was barely a whisper, passed through her ancient consciousness. She dismissed it as a glitch. Nothing important.

"That is your wish?" she asked, her voice a melodic bell toll. "A simple, low-level mental manipulation skill? It is... a trifle. A piece of trash, compared to what I could grant you."

Dante knew, with a chilling certainty, that he could not continue this way. His body was the weak point.

He could steal all the power in the universe, but his mortal body would shatter long before he could contain it all. The vessel would break before he could fill it. He needed to upgrade the container before he continued to fill it. Simple logic.

"You are right, Goddess," he said, his voice weak but determined. "I have changed my mind."

He looked at his own trembling hands, at the body that had just been pushed to its breaking point. The fingers still shaking from the strain of containing that much power.

"The power you granted me is immense, but my mortal body is weak. Fragile. I fear it will shatter before I can use it to protect the innocent in the new world."

"Please," he looked up at her, his eyes full of a desperate, humble plea, "grant me the toughness to bear the burdens of a hero. Make my body immune to the negative changes brought on by absorbing overwhelming power. Let me be strong enough when I receive more power on the other hand of the world."

It was the perfect request, framed not as a desire for power, but as a necessity for his heroic duty. A practical need.

Liora's eyes softened with a deep, profound sympathy. "A wise and selfless request," she said. "Your foresight is as great as your courage. It shall be done."

Another wave of golden light washed over him. This time, there was no pain. It was a soothing, strengthening energy flowing through every part of him.

His bones hardened, becoming denser, stronger. His muscles knitting together with a divine toughness that normal humans could never achieve. His skin reinforced, thicker. He felt the very idea of his physical limits being rewritten, expanded far beyond normal human capacity.

When it was over, he offered her a grateful, weary smile. And then he reset the board.

"Lethe's Veil."

---

[Ten Minutes Earlier]

The hero before her looked so broken, so utterly defeated by his own pain(she didn't knew this pain was his greed, her gift, she thought this pain is what he had endured till now). A deep pity welled within Liora.

"That is your wish?" she asked, her voice a melodic bell toll...

The mana grind began.

Now that his body could withstand the strain, he became a glutton. Greedy for more power. The cycle repeated, a dizzying, painful, and exhilarating series of power-ups and deceptions. Over and over.

Each time, he would ask for his mana to be tripled. Each time, she would express her concern about the danger.

Each time, he would endure the agonizing surge of power, his body convulsing as the divine energy flooded through every cell.

And each time, he would smile weakly, thank her with false gratitude, and drag her back to the beginning of the conversation. Reset her memory. Start again.

One loop. Two. Five. Ten.

His mana pool swelled from a galaxy to a universe, from a universe to a multiverse of pure, raw, and utterly limitless power.

The pain of each infusion was still immense, a mental agony that would have shattered a lesser mind into a thousand screaming pieces, but his new, strengthened body held firm.

The divine reinforcement kept him together. Kept him whole.

After the tenth infusion, he stopped. He knew he had enough. More than enough. His reserves were essentially infinite now. Now, it was time to get the tools to use all this power effectively.

"Lethe's Veil."

---

[Ten Minutes Earlier]

"...a trifle. A piece of trash, compared to what I could grant you."

"I have changed my mind, Goddess," he said, his voice a mask of pained resolve. "In my battles, I have learned that pain is a great obstacle. A weakness I cannot afford."

"If I am struck, the pain might cause me to hesitate, to flinch, and that hesitation could cost a life. Could get my friends killed. I need the ability to ignore my own suffering to better serve others."

"You wish for a nullification of pain?" she asked, a flicker of surprise in her eyes. "A powerful, but dangerous gift. To not feel pain is to not know when your body is breaking. When you are dying."

"A risk I am willing to take for the sake of others," he declared nobly. The perfect selfless hero.

"Very well," she said. "I will grant you this. The skill is called Anodyne State. It is a toggle. Speak the words 'Anodyne Onset' to activate it, and 'Anodyne End' to deactivate it. While active, your nerves will be sealed from your mind. You will feel nothing. No pain. No sensation at all."

The golden light flowed into him. A new, complex knowledge settled into his soul. He could feel the skill taking root, ready to be used whenever he needed it.

"Thank you, Goddess," he said, his voice full of gratitude. "You are truly kind and merciful."

And then, he stole the memory of her kindness from her mind.

"Lethe's Veil."

---

The cycle continued smoothly. He asked for a skill of self-recovery next, framing it as a way to be a better shield for his comrades. "If I can heal myself quickly, I can take the hits meant for them. Stand between them and danger without fear."

She granted him Somatic Flow, another toggle skill that would use his own immense mana reserves to rapidly heal any wound. From a simple cut to a severed limb. From broken bones to internal bleeding. As long as he had mana, he could heal himself completely.

With his reserves now essentially infinite, he was effectively immortal in any combat situation.

"Lethe's Veil."

And then, it was time for the final, most important prize. The key to everything.

---

[Ten Minutes Earlier]

"...a trifle. A piece of trash, compared to what I could grant you."

Dante looked at the Goddess, his face a mask of deep, soul-crushing grief. Real pain showing in his eyes, even though it was all carefully performed. All an act.

"Goddess," he began, his voice cracking with a perfect imitation of sorrow. "My greatest regret, the wound that will never heal, is the loss of my friends. Eric. Rina. Kael. They died for me. They died for this victory. They sacrificed everything."

He fell to his knees, the picture of a broken hero drowning in guilt.

"I wish for the power to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again," he said, voice raw with fake emotion. "Grant me the ability to restore my allies, to turn back the clock on their wounds, to mend their broken bodies and shattered souls. Grant me the power to ensure that no one under my protection ever has to die again."

It was his masterpiece of manipulation, the ultimate 'hero's wish.' Selfless. Noble. Heartbreaking.

Liora's galactic eyes glistened with what looked like a divine, unshed tear.

"Of all the wishes I have heard," she said, her voice full of a deep, soul-shaking respect, "yours is the noblest. The most pure."

"To ask not for power for yourself, but for the salvation of others... you are truly the greatest of heroes. The one I have been waiting for through countless cycles."

"I will grant you this, Dante," she declared, her voice ringing with power. "I will bestow upon you a high-tier healing art, a spell of absolute restoration. It is called Aevum Salus."

"When cast, it will create a field of restorative energy. Anyone within that field will have their body returned to the state it was in exactly two weeks prior, erasing any wound, any poison, any curse acquired in that time, It can work on you too but be cautious its effect on a single person will drain you mana dry within seconds."

"It is a powerful, but costly, spell."

The golden light that flowed into him this time was a tidal wave, a complex, beautiful, and world-breaking piece of divine magic that settled into his very being.

He stood up slowly, the knowledge of the spell now a permanent part of him. Woven into his existence forever. He looked down at the stump of his right shoulder. The arm he'd lost in battle.

"Aevum Salus," he whispered.

A sphere of soft, golden light erupted from his body, bathing the infinite, white expanse in its warm glow. It expanded outward in a perfect circle. He felt a strange, pulling sensation in his shoulder. Like time itself was reversing just for him.

The scarred flesh began to writhe, to stretch outward. Fresh pink tissue appeared. Nerves grew at an impossible, visible rate.

Muscles wove themselves back into existence like threads on a loom. Bones extended, growing longer. Skin covered everything, sealing it all.

In a matter of seconds, a new arm, perfect and whole, had formed. He flexed the fingers experimentally. They moved smoothly.

They responded perfectly. As if it had never been gone. As if it had always been there. As if he'd never lost it at all.

He was whole again. Complete for the first time since losing it in battle.

He wanted to use his self recovery spell for the arm but his curiosity made him do so. Like how much will this skill drain his mana, well a universe of mana.

He looked at the Goddess. Her face was a picture of kind, divine grace, completely unaware of the monster she had just armed with the powers of a god. Completely oblivious to what he truly was beneath the performance.

He gave her a slow, cold, and utterly devilish smile. The mask finally dropping.

The con was complete. The arsenal was built. He had everything he needed now.

And for the final time, he spoke the words.

"Lethe's Veil."

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