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AN: TWO CHAPTERS AT ONCE.READ 672 FIRST.DO NOT SPOIL YOURSELF

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Two star-crossed souls ascended together, destined to be each other’s spark, destined to be each other’s doom. The cycle broken.

I felt so powerful at the moment of ascension. Like I could do anything. Like I could see everything. 

I was the Goddess of Medicine, and I was a Goddess, with all that implied. My reach on Pallos was diminished, but in so many other ways, I was more. I was everything I could be.

I saw Iona ascending with me, and we immediately grabbed onto each other. Hand in hand we spun up into the skies, our wedding tattoos inking themselves across our skin once again.

“For eternity.” I vowed.

“For eternity.” She affirmed.

I could see Auri and Fenrir spinning around each other as they ascended, but that wasn’t all.

I could see everything. For a brief moment, I knew everything, was everywhere.

I saw my parents being taken by White Dove in their old age. They hadn’t known what had happened to me, but in their moment of death, in my moment of ascension, the bird had one final mercy.

She showed me to my parents.

“Oh. OH!” My mom exclaimed as she saw me.

“Oh.” My dad said.

But as White Dove led them away to Samsara, to begin again, they were happy and content. They knew what happened to me, and were at peace.

They knew my life, all of it, and were proud of me.

I saw Artemis at the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft. She was in the middle of class, collecting homework - perfect. There was really only one thing to do, one thing to say.

“Yoink.”I stole Artemis over to the divine realm. She looked at me in disgust, and put one hand on her hip.

“Really Healy-bug? In the middle of class? You couldn’t have waited?”

I gave my oldest friend a shit-eating grin.

“Nope!” I told her.

Several of the students started furiously praying to me, thanking me for my timely intervention.

But my mind was elsewhere. A puzzle finally solved, a chance to fix broken lives.

For a brief moment I could see all the realms, all the dimensions - including Earth. Earth was trapped like a bug in amber, stuck moving as slowly as possible through time. It was how Jake had seemed to be from the same time, the same era I was. Every realm moved at different speeds. Some were faster than Pallos, others slower. Earth barely moved, while the rest of the realms zipped by.

I reached out to Earth, and sent my parents and brother there a dream of myself. 

“Hey mom! Dad! Sorry about that. I know you’re not going to believe me, but I ended up as a goddess! Alright, this is going to be a bit of a story, let me explain…”

I told them the entire story, start to finish.

“... I don’t know if I’ll be able to get ahold of you again, but I wanted you all to know. I’m happy. I’m sorry for all the grief I caused. I love you.”

From there, my senses went to the hospital. To the intensive care unit.

In this moment, I knew how I’d died.

My friend was driving me in her pickup truck, and skidded on a patch of ice. It was a dumb accident, and her survival was still in question.

I was a new goddess, reaching far across space and dimensions.

But I was the Goddess of Medicine. It only took a light touch, and she went from a lifespan measured in hours, to one measured in decades. Even the lingering risk of breast cancer had been entirely removed!

Existence itself seemed to nudge me back, prompting the words for me to speak to everyone. All deities got a single chance to talk to Pallos. A single message, either to try and explain their actions, or to communicate their domain and desire. I had but a moment to decide, an eternity with my powers. A way to secure what I wanted.

“Sacrifice a mango to be healed.”

Ciriel blew a raspberry in the back of my mind, then spoke to me.

Excellent choice! Now there’s half the workload. Enjoy!

I nodded in self-satisfaction as we started to construct our domain. Groves of trees and waterfalls stretching to the sky, forests of endless game and fields of wildflowers. Perfect sunlight and eternal moons, the world was our paradise, and our word was law here. Anything we wanted to have, anything we wanted to do, anything we wanted to see, we could have here.

I did a double-take at Titania, already laying out some dishes, and decided not to think too hard about our [Housekeeper], nor the fact that she still had a System up here.

Auri and Fenrir rapidly joined us, and the four of us built our own heaven, our own slice of paradise. Artemis was here, and I happily dropped a harp and a songbook on the twitchy [Mage]. She would find peace here. 

We were just about finishing up when I spotted something out of the corner of my eye. I reached out, both physically and existentially, and cupped a small soul floating through space. I brought it closer to us.

“Hello there.” I said. “You look lost. Can I help you?”

~And we lived happily ever after.~

The End

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Comments

Nate Slattery

Titania is definitely a fae queen

Dan

Thank God

Owen Wilson

I honestly did not think I'd be this upset at the series ending

Mad Max

I was so going to rip into you for being a sadistic tease, when I got the second notification.

Lu

She killed Artemis? (Brought her to the divine realm)

Helland

Congratulations, and thank you for writing a wonderful series!

Khal Lee

Thanks very much... I expressed my sentiments two chapters ago... and again here about bringing us all along. Here's to new adventures... maybe goddess Elaine and Team Havoc (Iona, Auri, and Fenrir) Misadventures of.... grin!

Sparifankerl

Congratulations! What an amazing achievement to finish a series like this. And thanks for writing it, for providing many a nice reading moment and few torturous cliffs to spice it all up. I'll be looking forward to what's coming next.

Bast

Congrats and thank you very much for the whole long, long, wonderful story ^^

vTEMPLAR

Thank you so much!

puppy0cam

congratulations!

trufflezz

Made me cry 😭

Tim

Thank you so much. Mixed feelings to see it end after 4 years of reading it pretty much every week. Thank you so much.

Gwendolyn Simmons-LaRose

I've loved this story since I first found it years ago, and while I've dropped and picked the patron back up a few times, it's been worth it whenever I came back to Elaine's story. I always want more from a story, but I know if there was nothing else I would still be satisfied here.

rizen

Congrats selkie! For this incredible epic you've given us! I feel hollow like when healer of azarinth ended. But that's the joy of reading. When one story ends, another is just beginning. Looking forward to seeing you in the next journey you take us on.

Daniel B

What a fantastic conclusion

Hughes Andrew

Goodbye Elaine. I’ll miss you.

Spencer

Wonderful, youve made a series of books that i believe i will revisit many many times. Congratz on finishing your epic, and goodbye Elaine, BTDEM will be missed.

WeabooKyo

Thank you for the story!

Dalth

This makes me so sad and happy at the same time. It’s that mix where you feel fulfilled, and yet, empty. I cannot wait for more of the Epilogue chapters. The same as Elaine, they have so much more to say, and yet they will be so much less at the same time

Corvid

Ha! She got the lich! Nice.

Aaron V.

Tyvm for writing this.

Khal Lee

And so Auri, after selecting Bundt Cakes R Brrrrpt!!!! Ascended and became Goddess of the Ring... unfortunately, our fire loving bird set it on fire with divine flames turning into a portal dragging her Brrrpt! Ones along... and thus, Elaine Iona, and Fenrir were dragged to the Divine Universe to fight for Pallos and Earth's survival... what new system will infect our adventurers (Witchy Elaine screams I'm not an adventurer!!!)

Nim

Such a journey!

Mike G.

LOL'd at both mango sacrifice and the student's prayers of thanks. Thank you for years of reading enjoyment, this has been awesome.

neverendingstudent

I've always felt these moments of conclusion to be bittersweet. Thank you for this story, this journey. Thank you.

Hauke Sattler

Thank you for the chapters. Thank you for the books. Thank you for the voyage. Thank you for five years of brightening up our everyday lives. THANK YOU!!!

Anonymous

Thanks for the story. Was Titania the one who bought Autumn’s third class?

Virduckia

For years, when I opened RoyalRoad on my phone, this story's page is what I'd see first. I don't know what I'm going to do with this time now. Thanks for such a wonderful story.

ben

Think the soul at the end will be the start of the next book series?

Andrew

Thank you!

Morgan Darknell

Thank you, great job, and congratulations!

carson

Thank for you this, what a wonderful tale. One of the few I've connected with on such a deep level aside from Ascendance of a Bookworm. I ended up starting this series literally just in time to see it. Read it all beginning to end in one glorious go, words can't express my gratitude or admiration.

Azrael

I've been dreading the "the end". How I love the way you did it though. Much love and appreciation for the years of amazing storytelling. Thank you

Chad

Omg I don't know how to feel with this over, this story has been a part of my life for so long now 😭

Sparifankerl

Elaine has just redefined the health potion, hasn't she? No more red liquid in a flask. Now it'll look like a mango wrapped in a prayer.

Mikey3250

Thanks for the ride

TeaGeek

Delightful ending. Wouldn’t have expected the scooping a soul to bring it full circle to hit as hard as it does - a great closure!

Jake Conway

Thank you so much for such a wonderful story. This has been one of my favorite series since the moment I discovered it, all the way back when book 2 was newly released on Amazon. You were the reason I created a patron account! I can't wait to see what comes next! Much love ❤️

AlliterativeArts (Eric Faust)

Thanks so much for this story. I've enjoyed it tremendously over the past several years. Glad to see it go out so well. An incomplete list of open questions I have though: * Laundry list of "what happened to em"s: (In no particular order) Jaclyn. The other Sentinels - Queen, Invincible, Flood, etc. Katerina. Marcelle. Mormerilhawn. Flora - did she still need to ascend? * Aion implied there were "external threats" that might need worrying about (back when Elaine got her offer letters to become an angel), is that still a thing? * What kind of nonsense would happen to Amber should she ascend/get haloed? Would she still limp? Keep the eye? Would she maintain the wonky 3rd class despite no longer being of the System? Would she remember her name is Autumn? Can the gang now call her Autumn again now that they've ascended - or is that still out of bounds? * ((Oh, and what happened to Lich-bro who pushed Erebus "back home"?))

The El Bandito

I really wanted Elaine to have angel Julius waiting for Artemis when she got Angeled. Or is it to late to take him as an angel?

C Gillan

All I can say is, you stuck the landing. Magnificent.

Kennyevilmonkey

And it ends with her bring a lost soul, just like herself, to be reincarnated. Love it. Gods, I am going to miss this story. It has been with me for so long now... All I can say is, thank you Selkie.

LuciferLilac

Gosh. After so long, here we are. What a ride, everyone.

Matt Grayson

Best use of that final line I’ve ever seen. (The one before The End 😎)

Shadw 2 2 7

A fantastic ride i joined around book 4 i admitt to not liking great chunks of the story but i love the world and charcters and im glad to be here for the end.

Nick Pincus

I am glad I am here for the end. Thanks for the days of my life read your books and the happiness they have given me

FeyOne

This has long been one of my absolutely favourite stories. I hate that it has finally ended, but love the story and the ending was perfect. Thank you for your wonderful writing.

Joshua Little

Thanks for the story. Was one of my favs. I hope it was everything you wanted.

Pantheon

An excellent ending to an excellent story. I’ve seen a lot of long form stories fumble the ending to a greater or lesser extent, but you stuck the landing. I think the Countless Joyful Dawns montage is the reason, having so much of the book dedicated to building up to this stopped it from feeling rushed. It feels like the entire book save Erebus and the ending fight is one big epilogue. Really well done.

John

TYFTC. Also that cliff...

Hauke Sattler

I especially loved the parts where Elaine was able to close the loop. To say bye-bye to her both pairs of parents. To heal her friend. P.S. Would love to read a short epilogue chapter where her Earth friend gets her one and only system message: You got healed by Elaine, the goddess of Medicine. Devine Billing Statement: --------------------------------------- Services rendered: - One full body healing - BRCA1 gene replacement - Re-elongating of Telomeres --------------------------------------- Total cost: - One sacrificed Mango at Dawn --------------------------------------- Due: - Whenever you feel for it.

Choronach

WAIT! If we took the broader definition of medicine... Is Elaine took a domain encompassing some SOCIAL requirements? Because it's not only about healing but everything around it. They grow up so fast 🥹

Marquess

I first started reading BtDM ages ago, before I first made an account on RR. It feels strange to see it end, so many years later. I loved it. It was an incredible ride. I hope Elaine gives that poor soul a better time than Papillion gave her.

Harry Hirsch

The part with Artemis was to short! I thought she would become an angel in her next class up like Elaine had the offer from ciriel once. Just getting yoinked was somewhat anticlimactic.

David Kanevsky

Selkie: Congratulations 🎉 and thank for the great story! Chat, do we think the soul is another baby asikai, like Elaine? Or is it the crazy astroid litch guy?

gentlyAmbiguous

Great way to wrap things up! Also, a mango = healing is fun. Way to ensure there's an orchard in every city haha.

Ariel

Ahahaha! I fucking knew Iona was Lyra and that Lux was Elaine! Vindicationnnnnnnnnnn

Sean Shivers

i figured that was explicit when they prayed at the same time to see the other again and the moon goddesses called a miracle and elaine fell into fey. :p

Asheric

i kinda thought elaine was going to end up the goddess of the lost. Given her... history.

Kasamuri

Thanks for the chapter!

Kasamuri

Thanks for writing this book! it's sharing my top 1 favorite book of all time spot with The Path of Ascension. Her friends and family getting closure/this entire ending actually made me cry from a mix of sadness and happiness. I've been following this story since 2021/2, so Im sad that its over, but happy for the good ending.

mechajlaw

I can think of like 5 litrpgs total that ended properly when they were this long. Congrats.

MrMegaPussyPlayer .

I feel there should be some Titania stories coming. There's clearly a mystery going on. Not being cursed by the white dove, arriving at that pantheon without being yoinked, let alone not being mentioned for thousands of years in the story. I don't really remember: Was she still around (was mentioned) when Sara went to school?