Countess Partus stared blankly at the ruined site.
A voice called out behind her, “Your Excellency...”
Silence.
“Your Excellency!”
She finally responded, “Uuuh. Hmm. Yes, what is it?”
“They...”
She’d thought a war was going to break out. She’d figured everyone on her land would likely die. The enemy numbered fifty thousand, while her side had far less than even a tenth of that. More than anything, they were short on military supplies.
Yet, all of it ended in practically an instant.
They’d been faced with an army fifty thousand strong; powerful knights; those who seemed more dangerous than even Master-level beings; and finally, even the woman who led them, who possessed a massive power that made it even difficult to look at her directly.
There the countess stood, looking out at... nothing. Everyone except the woman had been burnt to ashes, and the woman had hastily fled elsewhere. Despite seeing her go, the men and women who’d shown up didn't make any other moves.
It was as if they didn't need to bother pursuing her.
“Wait, what am I doing?!” Whatever the case, the countess had to express her gratitude to them. Wielding inhuman power didn't mean they shouldn't be thanked as fellow human beings.
The countess hastily led her troops, opened the castle gates with a smile on her face, and approached them. “I'm Countess Partus, who governs this territory. Thanks to the help of you noble ones—”
Just then, a massive man thrust the spear he held into the ground and rebuked her, saying, “Recklessly opening gates is foolish.”
She was stunned by the sudden analysis. “Pardon?”
“If we were the enemy, your territory would've been instantly breached just now.”
“What do you mean by...” She had a hard time keeping pace with the man’s mind.
“Of course, that doesn't matter in the current situation. Hahaha!”
‘Is this man ill? Does he require a healer?’
The countess stared at Astrea, the King of Conquest, with a look of bewilderment.
They’d been said as a joke, but his words certainly made sense.
Confused, she argued, “We have no reason to doubt your allegiance, though. That airship in the sky is a one-of-a-kind treasure on the continent, belonging to Heins Territory.”
“Tsk tsk. Seems like this woman’s still got a lot to learn.”
Countess Partus wasn’t sure what he was exactly unhappy about. She was dumbfounded, but she took the utmost care with her demeanor and added, “May I ask one thing...”
“Go on.”
“Are you all... the ones sent by Grand Duke Davey O'Rowane?”
Instead of her getting an answer, a small girl interrupted them and warned, “Don't say anything unnecessary, muscle head.”
Leaning on a staff and wearing an indifferent expression, she slowly approached the countess.
Her steps were light, like a child's. Nonetheless, the countess felt an instinctive fear.
“Stop,” one of the others, a woman, called out.
“It's only right to erase her memory of us and our power,” the small girl insisted.
The woman nodded calmly and smiled faintly, saying, “That's a matter of outcome, but this isn't the time for debate. We're on a tight schedule to deceive Davey! If we don't join up with him soon enough, things will get annoying.”
It wasn’t long before the visitors all began to turn into light and disappear one by one. The last remaining was the tiny girl, who silently looked at the countess, turned her head, and vanished.
‘Is this what it feels like when a god descends?’
The countess silently watched as the colossal airship, which had been hovering high in the sky, slowly turned its bow, passed overhead, and disappeared into the distance.
The area had briefly darkened beneath its enormous shadow, and once the airship accelerated to an unbelievable speed, it vanished in the blink of an eye. Its appearance was so magnificent that she couldn't help but gasp.
Following that, her territory’s soldiers came running toward her.
“Your Excellency!”
She quickly regained her composure, advising with concern, “Draft some troops to handle the aftermath. And... announce that the war is over.”
Facing the sudden shift in tone, the soldiers stared blankly at each other.
* * *
“Owww!! I'm sorry! Please let me go!”
“Neltarid, let go of her now.”
“Senior, you need to calm down before you do anything rash. If she dies, that's it. We’ll be done for.”
“You cunning little bastard...”
Goddess Vesta was on the ground in tears, her hair completely disheveled in a state utterly unbecoming of a goddess. Her hair should've maintained its dignified shape despite any turmoil, blessed by her divine power, but it seemed to be no use against a fellow god.
No, a being superior to her.
‘I'm gonna die... I'm gonna die!’
She trembled, unable to collect herself in the face of a fear she'd never felt before. She had not seen such a turn of events coming, not in a million years!
Every time the terrifying goddess reached out toward her, an excruciating pain swept through her body, as if she were being crushed from all sides.
“Kyaaah! I'm sorry!” she wailed. “Please let me go!”
Dignity as a god? The One True God?
That kind of talk wouldn't work on the beings she was at the mercy of. Vesta hadn't known at first, but she later on grew to understand that the boy and girl who’d brought her there were beings with abilities vastly superior to the pitiful divine power she possessed.
‘This can’t be! I’m the one and only god. Why are there superior beings?!’
Screaming internally, she desperately begged for her life.
Then, the blue-haired woman, who had been sitting quietly with her eyes closed, slowly approached and gently wrapped her arms around Vesta in an embrace.
Willow whined, “Goddess! Please, don’t stop me.”
Vesta was utterly bewildered.
The fierce goddess, who looked ready to smash anyone who tried to stop her, talked politely to a mere apostle. The only power she felt from the blue-haired woman was definitely that of a simple apostle. She didn't look like someone such superior beings should be showing reverence towards.
Of course, Vesta, who had been arrogant since birth, made yet another mistake that worsened her situation. She tightly wrapped her arms around the girl and cried out, “Yes! Uh... Hurry and cover me while I escape! Protect me! Be my human shield! If you're an apostle, save... save me!”
Willow and Neltarid both gaped at her.
“This... this crazy bitch!”
The one who exploded next wasn't the girl, but the boy.
Thwack!
A shapeless force seized Vesta’s neck and hoisted her up.
“Gah. Grrrgle.” A goddess didn't need to breathe to survive. Yet for some reason, the tighter her throat was squeezed, the more she felt her divine power screaming in agony.
“I could be generous and let it slide the first time, but you dare be rude to her twice?”
Willow abruptly switched roles, turning around to be the one holding Neltarid Mk II back. She shouted, “Hey... hey! You said we couldn't kill her!”
“Senior, let's just kill her. She's from that incomplete dimension, anyways.”
Neltarid, radiating a fierce aura, was ready to kill her.
Snuggle...
Yet, the blue-haired goddess removed his power and hugged Vesta tighter while shaking her head.
The two gods made rueful smiles and sighed.
“Haah.”
“Aaah.”
[Stop it. She's a child who doesn't know any better.]
The original Goddess Freyja wouldn't have cared about such a thing at all. Fortunately for Vesta, the present incarnation of Goddess Freyja was different.
After all, she was a goddess who'd gained emotions.
“Haah. You’ll forgive her just because she doesn't know better? Ugh.” Willow, feeling her guts burn, beat her own chest. “Goddess. Are you going to keep protecting that woman? Is that right?”
She quietly shook her head to confirm her dismissal of violence. Willow felt frustrated by her selflessness. She asked, “Seriously, why’d you create a mess like that?”
That was the part she found hardest to understand: why she had suddenly created a dimension right then, and why she had the dimension birth that brat who didn’t even recognize her as the parent.
Facing her question, the Goddess quietly held Vesta close and slowly spoke up.
Her voice, not the tablet, rang out. “Since the creation of all things, everything shall circulate, and a child that is born unwillingly cannot choose to be unborn.”
Taking a moment to consider her words, Willow and Neltarid were finally able to grasp her fundamental reasoning.
“Waaahhh. Hic, hic!”
Goddess Vesta, who was crying loudly, wasn't born by her own will.
Goddess Freyja had created the bubble dimension where Vesta existed for some reason, surely. The rapidly growing dimension couldn't fully mature, which was why Vesta was so ill-mannered.
Recognizing that, Goddess Freyja embraced her with an open heart. That was her will.
“No matter how dumb she is, what that crazy rascal did is something a goddess shouldn't do!”
The more recklessly Vesta used her power, the faster the lifespan of her home dimension.
The bubble dimension, born much later than the others, likely did not have as much potential as the other dimensions.
Even Neltarid spoke firmly. “That's right, Goddess! If you want to achieve a proper state, this Goddess Vesta shouldn't be allowed to exist.”
Listening to their argument, Vesta learned that her only way to survive was to cling deeper to Goddess Freyja and elicit sympathy from her.
She thus desperately pleaded, “I'm sorry! Please forgive me! I won't come near you again!”
Goddess Freyja gently stroked her wet cheeks with a calm expression.
“Huh?”
The red eyes of Vesta, who had been sobbing, widened slightly. Through Freyja, whom she'd considered a mere apostle until then, she saw a fragment of something she couldn't even dare to imagine.
Realizing that she wasn't some mere apostle, instead a being she couldn't even raise her head to face, she hiccupped and stammered, “W-wha... What in the...”
“Argh! Haaah.”
Ultimately, Willow and Neltarid declared defeat against her stubbornness.
“So what are you gonna do with that rascal?” Willow bluntly asked.
The Goddess didn't answer. She just comforted Vesta.
Alas, the peace was destined to be brief.
Crack. Creak.
“Oh...” Realizing what the sound meant, Willow cried out,“We're screwed... Goddess, save us!”
“S-Senior!”
The two surprised gods hurriedly tried to stop the intruder.
Whoosh!!
Two hands suddenly shot out of the cracked space, smashing the space and creating a rift as if forcibly prying open an elevator door.
Crimson eyes flickered from the darkness beyond.
“Where is this god damned bitch?” Visibly furious, Davey finally appeared in the sanctuary, destroying the space.
Goddess Freyja silently held Vesta close, and the fledgling goddess shook tremulously, turning pale from the gruesome aura beyond what even Willow and Neltarid had shown.
“Dad! Calm down,” she advised.
He simply responded, “Willow.”
“Yes?”
“Quiet.”
Recognizing the implication in that chilling remark, she hiccupped and backed away.
Davey then strode forward and drew an energy sword. It carried a dreadfully heavy force, imbued with divine power and the power of Predatory Assimilation.
Vesta momentarily sank into thought as she looked at the being in front of her. The one embracing her was akin to her singular parent and caretaker. She was the truly omnipotent, unique God whom she couldn't even dare to look upon.
‘Since that being is protecting me...’
She looked to the side, eager to talk her way out of it.
Slash!
A few strands of her hair abruptly fell to the floor. If she hadn't instinctively turned her head, her neck would've been severed while still being held by Goddess Freyja.
It seemed the crazy bastard in front of her didn't care about a thing, consequences and considerations be damned.
She went wild and shrieked, “Kyaaah! I-I don't wanna die! Save me!”
Him being here probably meant that the heroes of the hall couldn't stop him after all.
Well, saying they couldn’t stop him was a bit ridiculous, but all in all, Davey was here.
“I went to heal the dimension because of Solomonia, but... things turned out to be real shitty.”
Vesta realized that Davey was the one who visited her dimension and killed the lowest ranking apostle.
She also realized how insignificant she was.
“Goddess. Let go of that rascal.”
At that, Goddess Freyja shook her head with a deliberately stern expression.
[Stop.]
The tablet floated around her, displaying the words.
“I can tolerate everything else, but not this. Even that crazy Destruction or Thanatos didn't do something so ignorant.”
Seeing Davey’s cold smile, Goddess Freyja’s mouth twitched as if pleased, but she soon put on a stern expression again.
[She's a child who didn't know anything yet.]
“Does not knowing get rid of her mistake? Her divinity and core won't change. If you let her live, she'll cause trouble again.”
Vesta cried and screamed, “I-I'm sorry! I won't do it again!”
“Yeah. You did wrong, and you shouldn't do it again,” Davey agreed.
Her face lit up with hope. “T-then—!”
“But that's for later, isn't it? Though, I don't know if there'll be a ‘later’ for you. Your dimension is going to die soon anyways, so there should be no problem in killing you now.”
Davey found Goddess Freyja to be a complex puzzle. She was both a benefactor and an enemy, a mother figure and a romantic love all at once.
Most importantly, Davey implicitly followed Goddess Freyja. Willow instinctively knew that, whether the Goddess intervened or not, Davey was moments away from tearing Vesta apart and grinding her soul into dust.
Neltarid Mk II was at a loss. “Uuuh. Senior, what can we do?”
“We're useless in this scenario, so let's just watch.” She opened her Pocket Plane, took out a small piece of candy, and tossed it into her mouth. Then she offered one to Neltarid. “Want one?”
“Aren't you... being a bit too nonchalant about this?”
“I already told you, we're useless.”
Regardless of their antics, Davey's aura grew even more ferocious.
“Goddess.”
[Stop.]
He resolutely answered, “No, I can't stop.”
Her eyes quietly closed for a moment.
Vesta looked up at her, sobbing. Witnessing her tearful plea for salvation, Goddess Freyja quietly opened her mouth. “Davey.”
“Ugh?!”
“Stop.”
There were various reasons why the Goddess used the tablet to communicate, but the essence was that, as the Primordial God, her voice contained too much power.
It was apparent from the way Davey’s expression crinkled after the single word she spoke out loud, unlike when she’d told him to stop through the tablet.
When he clenched his fist and shattered the sword, Vesta was horrified. “Gyaaah!”
Her divinity was whittled away in chunks with each fragment that touched her.
“Davey.”
Once her clear, divine, and beautiful voice came out again, he trembled violently.
“Haah. Understood.”
Since she had bound him with divine spirit, there was nothing he could do.
“So, you're really going to let that bitch live?”
Not even Vesta could believe it, still shouting, “Save me! Save me!”
[She's a child who needs to be healed. She's not complete yet.]
It was Goddess Freyja’s mistake, creating a small variable that could arise because she gained emotions. It wasn't a simple problem to fix. Vesta could be expected to experience growing pains in the transition to full godhood, but the scope and intensity was larger than expected.
Davey couldn't say anything, because he was the one who made Goddess Freyja into the emotion-feeling being she’d become.
[Vesta.]
“Yes... Y-yes!”
Seeing Vesta answer like a terrified new recruit standing at attention, Freyja silently patted her on the head.
[I'm sorry. I caused you to blossom in an incomplete state.]
For some reason, tears rolled down Vesta’s face. She didn’t understand why she was crying, but nonetheless wiped the tears with the back of her hand and began to wail.
Eventually, she muttered, “This is strange... Why... Why do I keep...”
Soon enough, black aura began to leave her body.
The sight was truly divine. Freyja intended to unify her with the dimension again, putting her dimension back into a recovery phase so it could return to being a complete dimension. It might’ve been difficult in the past, but after the partial awakening she had following her transfer of the authority of sacrifice, it didn't seem particularly challenging for her.
Vesta, instead of begging to be saved like before, didn't resist her power, as if she knew instinctively what was happening.
[Wait.]
The goddess raised her tablet higher.
[Have something to eat before you go.]
“Pardon? Ah. I...”
[Have some.]
Watching Goddess Freyja lovingly stroke her head, Davey had a blasphemous thought.
‘Is she going to make me cook again?’
Yet, it was different from what everyone thought. Freyja flicked her hand and transported everyone somewhere else. Once they came to, a savory scent wafted over, stimulating everyone's sense of smell.
However, the scent was strangely familiar. In fact, it was too familiar, to the point of being unsettling.
Freyja sat Vesta in a chair and set red rice cakes down in front of her.
“W-what is this? Mother...”
[Enjoy. Don't leave anything remaining on the plate.]
Although Vesta had evolved beyond the need for food as sustenance, she nonetheless enjoyed the pleasure of taste quite a bit, so she did have a craving for delicious things.
Yet, even so, her actions were cautious.
“Dad! That!” Just then, as Willow flinchingly tried to shout more, Davey covered her mouth.
“Something Mother made...”
Looking at Vesta, the arrogant and cruel side of her was nowhere to be found. The woman was a goddess who shouldn't have existed originally. She should’ve remained as part of the dimension itself, but Vesta was the problem that emerged when the dimension grew arrogant.
In other words, she was the dimension’s avatar, and the dimension was her.
That was why she had used her power so recklessly, as well as the reason her divine status was significantly low.
Accepting the goddess's invitation, Vesta slowly picked up a fork and put the red rice cakes into her mouth.
Her eyes widened, and all color drained from her face. Her gaze trembled uncontrollably, but the goddess calmly raised her tablet.
[Eat it all.]
“Hmph?! Hmph!!”
Her peaceful appearance, which had just been purified, was gone. She struggled desperately to survive, but her body betrayed her will. The more she ate, the more her eyes violently trembled like a breakdancing bee.
“It sure has a great effect,” Davey muttered with a pale complexion, and Willow shuddered.
“That... That's Evangeline's cooking, right? I'm sure I remember this smell...”
Her cooking had surpassed the level of mere cuisine. It was so mysterious that one couldn’t help but wonder how it worked, both physically and magically.
It wasn't like the serenade of hell Super Ribbon had shown in the past, where something was fundamentally wrong.
It wasn’t like all of her cooking was like... that. A few specific dishes Evangeline made were a mystery all their own.
“Hey, hey, Neltarid, what's the principle behind that?”
Watching Vesta writhe in agony before disappearing, Neltarid Mk II muttered in a hollow voice, “Maybe... it's the influence of the ancient dragon Eclipse. But, good lord...”
Perhaps it was related to ancestral memory.
Willow was surprised to hear that name again after so long. “From Eclipse?”
“According to ancestral memory, it seemed she was like that too.”
Freyja embraced Vesta lovingly, but her final act was actually the greatest revenge.
It was quite a sight to see Vesta, who still possessed divine status despite being incomplete, reduced to such a state.
* * *
At the same time, Solomonia pondered how he could draw the power out of Kouna.
Besides the first dimension, Davey had several other dimensions he needed to resolve quickly, so time was essential. Alas, he’d never expected the Goddess of the first dimension to lose her mind and invade Tionis.
Still, he figured things would somehow be resolved since Davey had stepped up.
“Oh... No!” Solomonia cried out.
He watched the necrotic dimension tremble violently and decay.
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