(Athena’s POV)

  Human is a weird and interesting creature.

  They can be weak, vulnerable yet from time to time, they’ve conquered so many mountains one must questioned their true strength.

  They can achieve the impossible just by making the right decision at the right time, yet they’ve also done the complete opposite, leading them to mass destruction and disastrous consequences.

  In other words, human on a good day is the epitome of peak; and on a bad day however…

  “Argh!”

  They’re beyond saving.

  In front of me, a tanned woman in a Spartan armor tried to cut me with a dagger, but with simple head tilt and then a palm strike to the jaw, I send the woman fly away.

  This is the second time I’ve done that to her, as previously, I punched her in face. She may have dodged that hit, but the impact still sent her away to the water.

  “When will they ever learn…” I thought to myself.

  Just from the first gnce, I can already smell something fishy from her, or should I say who she’s working for.

  A terrorist organization led by a man who thinks the solution to everything is chaos, destruction and absolute control. They’ll kill anything they deemed “unsuitable” and as for the “chosen one”, they’ll cage them under their so-called “utopia”.

  It didn’t take me too long to realize how bad the situation I’m in and of course, I’m not a big fan of it at all.

  “Woah, with just two hits…”

  “I know right? That woman won’t stand a single chance!”

  Then again, there’s still hope, as I’m not the only one who’re against this stupid idea.

  In a surprising twist, Tiamat, who all thought are still being sealed away, somehow escaped and now, she’s watching me demolish my opponent with a girl. What also surprises me is how happy she is.

  Last time I checked, she had lost her hope on humanity, to the point of never wanting to help or protect them anymore. Yet, she’s here, cracking jokes and enjoying this moment with those she once abandoned.

  What happened to you? What made you leave behind all of that hatred? Who possess the power to change a goddess’s mind?

  “Huh, I see…good for you then Tiamat…”

  And that’s when I realize the root of it all.

  There’s a boy lying next to them unconsciously with nothing on him but pants that’s ripping apart. There’re healing wounds everywhere on his body, suggesting that he just went through a tough battle with who I assume to be the so-called [Apocalypse Warlord].

  However, what caught my attention…is the bond he has with Tiamat.

  That kid…he possesses an enormous amount of mana…and they only link up with one single individual: Tiamat. Without a doubt, they’re connected through [Summoning Magic], and that kid…he’s the master.

  “You don’t have to stare at me like that Athena, you can have the full story once we’re done with that little annoying woman. How’s that sound to you?” Tiamat asked.

  “Splendid, then I shall finish this fight as fast as possible.”

  “Hey, don’t you dare ignore me!”

  My opponent shouts at me, drawing the attention back to her. I only hit her like twice, but her mouth is already bleeding out quite a lot. Her body also took some damage from the impacts, but overall, she’s fine, for the time.

  “What is she up to this time…” I whispered.

  Contrary to my thought, she doesn’t seem to be mad at all. Of course, she’s still approaching me with killing intents, but for whatever reasons, she’s hiding them.

  “How about you show me something interesting, then I’ll consider.” I provoked the woman.

  “Oh, I’ll give you just that, Athena…” she whispered.

  Not long after I challenged her, she switched her armor to match with the modern era, which includes tactical shirt and pants, complete with protection pads all across her arms and legs, a concealed bulletproof vest and a base cap.

  From the first look, you may think that she’s about to go all out on me, but as expected, that’s just another fa?ade she made to hide something else than just killing intents.

  “YOU SAID YOU WANTED SOMETHING “INTERESTING”? THEN HOW ABOUT THIS? [SCROLL OF ABSOLUTE CONTROL]!”

  Shouting at me, the woman takes out a scroll from her pants pocket and spreads it out. The moment she pours her mana into the multiple small magic circles, a bigger one appears right below me; follow by a pilr-like cage surrounding me.

  “Huh, this really is interesting…”

  As I’m locked inside, or should I say letting the cage locks me, it creates multiple arms and immediately, they start grabbing my arms and tying me up, with one particur arm covering my eyes while another two are penetrating my brains through the ears.

  It’s a good thing that none of the arms try to go into my mouth, or else Tiamat might want to cover the girl’s eyes just like what these arms are doing to me.

  “You know, this thing actually took us months, and trust me, you have no idea how much we invested in this. So please, be a good girl and submit to my obedience.”

  Smiling in triumph, [Apocalypse Warlord] slowly approaches me. I can still see through the arms, but I’ll pretend I don’t see her holding a Glock 26 pistol on her hand in case I escape.

  “Not bad woman, you manage to tickle me. That’s quite impressive…” I whispered.

  As graphic and disgusting as I described, this whole process is…meaningless.

  This little “cage”…if it meant for normal human or any other species, it might work, but for gods, for higher celestial beings…

  You’ll have to try harder than that, woman.

  “Huh, what the…”

  I free both my arms by pulling them. After that, I tear up all the mana arms surrounding me one by one, including those trying to insert me. Eventually, all that’s left is the cage, which is a bit trickier to handle.

  But first, before I complete my prison break, I decide to toy with [Apocalypse Warlord] a bit by watching her reaction. At the end of the day, there’s nothing more fun than seeing the arrogant slowly and painfully realize their actual pce in the food chain.

  “No, but that’s…THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE! THOSE ARMS HAVE TO CONSUME YOUR MIND BY NOW, HOW DID YOU ESCAPE THEM SO EASILY?”

  [Apocalypse Warlord] shouts in disbelief as she’s witnessing everything. As I expected, she’s pointing the pistol at me, ready to shoot at any time. Unfortunately however…

  “Hmmph!”

  With just a stomp of my feet, I destroy the magic circle. The cage surrounding me slowly disintegrates into little purple particles right after that. I then snap my fingers and those particles disappear into thin air immediately, leaving my opponent in shocking state.

  “Tsk, you damn…DON’T YOU DARE MOVE A SINGLE INCH, OR ELSE I’LL BLOW UP THIS PLACE! IF I CAN’T HAVE YOU, THEN NOBODY CAN!”

  After kicking the scroll away, the woman continues her shouting, this time with even more rage and desperation.

  Her pn is failing, followed by many consequences in which she’s the center of everything. Needless to say, she’s pissed.

  As the result, she starts leaking out a furious purple aura all over her body, including the pistol.

  Her eyes are also raging fire as well, like a beast wanting to devour its prey. The only difference, however, is that this beast still hasn’t realized it’s actually just an ignorant but weak and powerless prey.

  “When will you ever learn…Let me break it down to you woman: I will, and proudly going to, move every inches I want, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Do you know why? Look around you woman: Your army has fallen, your enemies are all gather here waiting to have a piece with you, and I’ll get the biggest one out of you. Don’t believe me?”

  To further prove my point, I approach her, slow and steady. A move forward from me is a move backward from [Apocalypse Warlord]. Eventually, she stops at the edge of the isnd, while I still continue, like a never-ending parade of nightmare and hell.

  The closer I get, the more I can clearly my opponent’s facial expressions: a mix of panic, fear anger, and calcutive. But that’s just her face. Her entire body however remains unshaken. She’s still aiming her gun at me, never losing a single ounce of her focus.

  Despite everything are basically going against her, she’s still trying to keep herself as calm as she can, and she’s doing a good job at it. Honestly, I give her credit for not breaking down easily, and that shall be my next quest.

  “I see…then it’s settle: I’ll drag you to hell with me! Prepare yourself Athena, as I shall deliver a fight you’ll regret getting into!”

  [Apocalypse Warlord] shots two bullets at me. Those bullets are covered in a thick mana yer, meaning they’ll deal even more damage than normal ones. But as I always say even since being summoned…

  “Swoosh!”

  It just doesn’t work on me, as I easily dodge the first one and then catch the second one just for fun.

  “Hargh!”

  The moment I crush the second bullet and drop it down the ground, [Apocalypse Warlord] comes straight at me with two knifes on her hands. Just like earlier, I easily dodge her first strike, and she immediately follows up with multiple hacks and sshes after that.

  “Swish! Swoosh!”

  Compare to her previous efforts, this is a big step up. Speed, power, flexibility…she wasn't kidding at all when she said she wanted to drag me to hell with her. The worst part is: she can clearly do more than this.

  Even if I’m allowing her to toy me, she’s still able to make me somewhat struggle. For the first time in this fight, that woman is having the upper hand.

  “Hah!”

  [Apocalypse Warlord] jumps right at me in an attempt to cross ssh me. I roll forward, successfully dodging the lethal attack, but that’s not the end of everything.

  “Take this!”

  The moment I turn around, [Apocalypse Warlord] has changed her weapon, this time into a M134 Minigun. Holding the six-barrel rotary machine gun like it’s feather, she fires at me aggressively.

  “If my little friends aren’t enough for you, say hello to the bigger one!” the woman shouted.

  I dash around, follow by the multiple bullets coming right at my tail and the crisp firing sound they makes. At some point, I even stop and cut those bullets in half by myself with my sword.

  Since this is a machine gun, I try my best to make the bullets focus on me, not those inside the cave. As for why…

  “Hey Athena, I know this is pretty selfish and out of blue but…can you be her main and only target? Like everything she throws at, you’re the one receiving all of those.”

  The same moment I turned around, Tiamat contacted me telepathically. I was a bit surprised, but regardless, I still gave it a listen.

  “May I ask the reason, Tiamat?”

  “I know you already knew it by now but…there’re spectators right inside this cave, and unfortunately, there aren’t much protections that could guarantee safety for them. I could make one, but then I thought: Should I just ask her to take on everything? And here we are.”

  “Is that the best you can come up with Tiamat? I thought you’re better than that?” I asked.

  “Oh, and yeah my Master doesn’t like killing so…if he woke up on a pile of fleshes and dead people, I might just have a tea time with Lucifer by that time.”

  “I see, that kid really changed you huh…”

  That’s what I’ve been thinking during the fight: the impact that kid made on Tiamat.

  “Yasutaira Waka…Just what kind of person he is…” I thought to myself.

  From the outside, he looks like your average teenager who spends a lot of time working out, yet somehow, he manages to live up to his name and forms a contract with a goddess, essentially becoming her master. Such impressive feat is not something you would expect from “your average teenager”, so that kid…he must be special, in some way.

  I want to…no, I need to know more about this Yasutaira Waka kid.

  “Hmm?”

  After a while, the bullets rain suddenly stops.

  Not having to deal with them anymore, I also stop at a safe pce for a quick cave check. Good news is, everyone is still fine. The bad news however…

  “Boom! Boom!”

  [Apocalypse Warlord] throws two poison grenades at me. Using my sword, I easily cut both in half, releasing all the gas inside in the process.

  “Huh, purple really is her signature after all…”

  Somehow, the color of the gas is the same as her hair color. The poison however does nothing on me, so I can just inhale as much as I wanted. Eventually, the purple smoke clears out.

  “So woman, is there any more spectacur toys I’ve yet to see? Or is that all you have in stocks?” I asked jokingly.

  “Oh just be patient, dear Athena, the fun is about to begin…”

  With two daggers on her hands, [Apocalypse Warlord] quickly dashes towards me. Once again, she’s going for close-range attacks, but this time, there’s a major twist.

  This time, instead of just dodging, I decide to have some fun and dance with her.

  “Hah!”

  After avoiding the first cut, I create a knife and begin my counterattack with a ssh aiming at the face. Despite the immense speed, she manages to react and dodge the fatal attack, but it still leaves a shallow cut on her right cheek.

  After that, we’re putting ourselves into a cycle of attacking and counterattacking each other: She slices me, I block her attack and get one back. Dodging my hit, she then rolls to the side and throws multiple shuriken covered in mana at me.

  “Cng! Cng!”

  With just some simple moves, I dodge most of the shuriken and deflect the rest. If my counting is correct, that’s about a few hundred shuriken missing their target.

  Of course, that’s not the end of everything.

  “[Shuriken Maze]!”

  The moment I notice the smirk on her face, I immediately look around and to my surprise: all the shuriken are floating around me. With a flick down of a finger, all of them start flying towards me simultaneously.

  Being hit a few hundred times might not be that painful, but it’s definitely annoying nonetheless. To prevent that from happening, I created [Mana Shield] before those shuriken can even think about touching me.

  “Cng cng cng!”

  As a result, instead of the sound of weapons piercing through human flesh, we’re having the sound of weapons failing to penetrate the simplest yer of protection.

  “Damn, it’s raining fire in here…”

  The more shuriken falling down the ground, the less they’re aiming at me. They make a pretty interesting sound, but eventually, it all comes to an end. I admire the effort, but too bad it’s still not enough.

  Or so I thought.

  “Huh…Woah!”

  All of sudden, I’m covered in a purple aura .The ground around me starts levitating, dragging me up in the process. The boulder is also covered with the same aura as mine, meaning this is the woman’s doing.

  I was quickly to learn that [Apocalypse Warlord] also has [Gravity Control], which she had previously demonstrated through [Shuriken Maze]. It’s definitely a troublesome ability, but countering it is possible.

  “I guess this is the fun she said…”

  Once again, I decide to let my enemy enjoy her fun and not free myself from this. She’s been brainwashed into thinking those beneath her are just pure rubbish. The best way to break her spirit is to let her deliver “the fun” only for her to realize how worthless her effort was.

  Without a doubt, what she needs is a reality check.

  With that in mind, I stay completely still right in the middle of the boulder. It’s a bit shaky, but I still manage to keep my bance with ease. I quickly look up to see where my “nding zone” will be.

  And that’s when I notice something bad above me.

  “Crack!”

  The stactites are falling down on me from the cave ceiling. None of them are too long to fall naturally, so the only expnation is that [Apocalypse Warlord] had broken them.

  “Well, I’d better get out quick…”

  I easily break the gravitational control on me. As for the boulder, I quickly jump off it, leaving it crashing with the stactites.

  “Not so fast Athena!”

  As I’m still floating mid-air, multiple poison and normal grenades are flying straight at me, with even more [Mana Bde] following behind them. Those bdes are filled with various magical elements and effects, making it way harder to deal with than ever before.

  “Alright woman, my turn. [Divine Spear]!”

  I create a giant shining spear and throw it directly at the weapons. You can probably guess from the name, the spear is made of [Divine], an element human has never and will never be able to tap into, let alone master it.

  Depending on its target, its effects will vary. If the target had pure heart, it’ll become a useful tool and another boost of power. As for those with evil intentions, what [Divine] will bring to them is punishment and total destruction. Don’t believe me?

  “Boom!”

  After I safely nded on the ground, the grenades touch the spear, multiple explosions roar in front of my eyes. The grenades are all gone, but the spear is still there, continuing its journey down.

  “Cng! Cng!”

  Those [Mana Bde] meet the same fate with the grenades. They hit the spear, only to be disintegrated immediately after that. Of course, they did zero to none damage to my spear, and the spear keeps on flying towards its next targets.

  “Im…Impossible…”

  Seeing all of the effort has turned to dust, [Apocalypse Warlord] can only awe in shock and bitterness. Despite that, she still remains somewhat calm, but now, there’s a bit of deterrence mixing into her feelings.

  “Tsk...[Gravitational Fortress]!”

  From modern-looking uniform, [Apocalypse Warlord] changes into a full-on Roman armor with horned Corinthian helmet and a scutum with a giant two-headed bck phoenix embedded on it. Immediately, she thud the shield down, creating a purple gravity fort surrounding her.

  Above it, multiple purple spikes are formed, facing each other diagonally. With [Protection] and [Mana Dilution], they serve as the fortress’s first protection yer and attacking force. Right behind them are other protective shields varying in sizes, shapes and efficiency.

  “Crack!”

  In some ways, the spikes manage to successfully do their job.

  They broke up into pieces as expected, but not without some results, as the spear actually slows down a little bit and the damage has also reduced, but not by much.

  “Huh, that’s quite troublesome...”

  Those shields...they are a combination of different spells and together, they became her guardian angels. The spear might destroy all of them, but the speed and damage are also decreasing little by little.

  "Hurgh...Come on, keep it together...”

  The good news is, despite that, [Divine Spear] is still going strong and eventually, the spear hits the fortress. As it’s slowly penetrating the purple fort, [Apocalypse Warlord] raises her hand to pump more mana in hope of maintaining her final defensive line.

  I know for a fact that she’s not keeping it for long, and normally I would just stop her right on the spot, but at the same time…I want to see the outcome of this. I haven’t used [Divine Spear] in a while, so letting it shine is a great way to see whether I’m rusty or not.

  And the shining spear doesn’t not disappoint.

  “Boom!”

  Giving everything it has to defend its creator, the fortress finally gives up and turns to purple particles, leaving [Apocalypse Warlord] behind taking all the damage. As the spear hits her, it creates an explosion, followed by a golden pilr.

  Despite everything is under my control, the impact from my attack is making the ground shake a lot and as the result, everyone almost lose their bance.

  Not only that, the wind also starts blowing fiercely, with dust flying all around in the air. The explosion alone already makes it hard for everyone to see, and the dust is not helping at all.

  Lucky for them, since everything is still according my calcution, nothing else has colpsed. Uneccessary colderal damage is quite annoying, even if the enemies are all there. It’s best to find a way to avoid that while still teaching them a lesson they shall never forget.

  On the other hand, beside me and Tiamat, the two teenagers and [Apocalypse Warlord] are the ones experiencing the impact the most. My opponent is at the center of the explosion, so needless to say, she’s not coming out in pieces, and as for the kid…

  “Hyahh!”

  As she’s standing up to watch our fight, she’s going through one of mankind’s’ oldest and most gruesome scenarios: having her skirt being lifted by the wind.

  Lucky for her, she pulls it down very quickly, so at least no one has a chance to peek. Well once again, except Tiamat.

  “Huh, pink…”

  “Eh, huh…Wait, no! Don’t look!”

  “Sorry kid, too te, already in my mind, can’t unseen it.”

  “No…Nooooo!!!!”

  The kid screams in pain and miserable as she’s down on her knees. As much as I wanted to cheer her up, I find it quite…comedic actually.

  What just happened is quite a common trope in anime, and as much as I don’t want to talk about it, we can’t just ignore it.

  Unlike Tiamat here who had been sealed up for a few hundred years, we gods have always been keeping an eye on human, meaning nothing, no matter how weird and obscure they are, escapes us. It’s a blessing and a curse at the same time let me tell you.

  I can go on and on about how we feel about what human has done good or bad, but first, there’re still a few businesses I need to do finish.

  “Oh my, that doesn’t look good…We’ll talk ter, there’s a butterfly wings I need to rip off first.”

  “Heh, looking forward to it, my dear.” Tiamat responded.

  A few minutes after the explosion, [Apocalypse Warlord] has finally reappeared among the dust, heavily injured from it.

  She can barely stand, with the broken shield being the only thing stopping her from falling down. Her helmet is completely destroyed, and as a result, I can have a clear look of her bleeding face and dishevelled hair.

  The body armor also barely survive, as it was also broken in half like the shield, exposing the right half of her body. The left shoulder pte and the belt are the only things still intacted and the same can be said with the wollen tunic, although it’s quite torn.

  “*puff puff* Haha, is that all? I’m still standing...”

  Even with the multiple wounds, [Apocalypse Warlord] still challenged me. It’s quite a bold move coming from her, but consider her current condition...

  “Swish!!!”

  I don’t think she’ll st long.

  With that in mind, I once again summon the [Cosmic Sword]. It was only used once as the opener, so I thought that it’s a nice touch to let it be the closer of this fight.

  “I believe you’ve met this bad boy before. Don’t worry, he won’t bite, but he will tear you apart in the most painful way. Are you ready, woman?”

  I threaten [Apocalypse Walrord] while pointing the sword directly at her. She had her fun, but everything must come to an end, and I’m happy to be the one doing it.

  “Ohoho, I’m ready Athena…Ready to send you to hell!”

  Still being imperturbable, she stands up and once again changes her battle armor. This time, she’s covered in a thick purple mana yer, swirling around like a sphere. Lucky for everyone, the wind causing by her transformation isn’t as fierce as [Divine Spear].

  “Rargh!!!”

  Letting out an aggressive roar, the sphere reshapes into a purple pilr, accompany by a loud booming sound. Immediately, the pilr starts disappearing slowly in a circur motion, revealing my opponent in a brand new form.

  “Hmm, interesting…”

  In this new form, she’s donning the all-bck dragon scale armor with spikes protruding from the shoulder, arm and leg ptes, alongside a horned helmet. Other details include two small purple dots on her palms and of course, who can forget the [Rising Phoenix] symbol on her chest.

  Speaking of purple, the aura surrounding the suit is also in that color, and it’s not just raging fire, it wants to devour its enemy, chew it and spit it out like a gum. She wasn’t lying at all when she said she would send me to hell!

  “Thud!”

  With eyes full of killing intent, [Apocalypse Warlord] gets into fighting position with shield and javelin in hand. There’s no hesitation or fear, all that’s left is determination and an iron will.

  “Hargh!!!”

  Letting out a battle cry, she jumps up and charges her javelin. [Gravity Control] is quite a versatile ability, as it can be used offensively and defensively, and in this instance, she’s using it to maintain herself mid-air, or in other words: she’s flying.

  “This is my payback for [Divine Spear]! Take this, [Gravitational Comet]!”

  In a simir fashion, [Apocalypse Warlord] sends her weapon directly at me just like I did to her previously. Only this time, it’s not a shining spear but rather… a dark and purple light streak.

  It’s flying at me with a speed pretty hard to catch up in every means, but that only applies to normal human. To me, it’s still miles away from being considered “fast”.

  “Swoosh!”

  I sheathe the [Cosmic Sword] behind my back then lean my body back to the right to catch the javelin with the, you guess it, my bare right hand. Immediately, it covers me in a purple yer of mana. As it’s doing it, my body feels a bit heavier than usual and when I try to move change my pose, it’s like I’m wearing weighted clothes measuring in trillion tons.

  The longer I’m holding the javelin, the stronger those effects are. Not only that, the moment I caught it, multiple small elemental explosions started bursting within my palm, but I quickly crushed them all with just a squeeze.

  “Hah!”

  I neutralize the javelin and immediately, it changes to a shining golden color. As the result, all the effects are lifted up and my body starts feeling lighter again. Honestly, I could have just kept it like that and she still doesn’t have a single chance, but if the easy way is already avaible, why not taking it instead?

  “Hmm, quite troublesome I must say…but it’s still nothing.”

  It seems like her pn is to disable and destroying me slowly but painfully, or at least that’s what she wants me to think. There’s no reason for her to repeat the same move as the opponent during the same fight. Even with a twist, it’s still quite a letdown if this is her finale.

  And she doesn’t disappoint.

  “Hargh!”

  Same with the javelin, [Apocalypse Warlord] charges up her shield and instead of throwing it, she’s flying towards me with the shield being held in front of her.

  "Crack!”

  I break the javelin in half, only using the one with the tip. As I’m slowly pouring [Cosmic] element into it, I also take out the [Cosmic Sword] once again, essentially turning myself into a dual wielder.

  It’s a good thing that this cave is quite big, meaning I have more than enough space to fight, even if we’re on an isnd. Not to mention that Tiamat is also here to make sure those on nd are safe and sound.

  Now, the only thing left to do is taking my enemy down once and for all.

  “Alright, let’s see what this baby can do...”

  After a quick swinging to warm myself up, I summon a light body armor with wings attached to it. The moment they spread out widely, I quickly build momentum and take off right after. All of that happened in a motion so fast only Tiamat could catch up to it.

  And speaking of catching up...

  “[Cosmic Cross].”

  I swung my bdes right before we collide with each other. A loud sound of metal cnking echoes through the pce, followed by a windbst mid-air. The impact from the csh did boost my flying a little bit, but I easily hit the brake and stop myself from going higher.

  I look down the ground to see where my opponent is, and unsurprisingly, she falls down on the ground near the water. She then rolls a few more rounds before hitting the water, submerging herself down there.

  During that time, she also lets go of her shield, which is now broken in half due to [Cosmic Cross]. Her armor however remains unbroken with only a few scratches here and there.

  “Huh, I wonder what she’s up to down there…”

  After safely nding on the ground, I retract my wings get into defensive position. I can sense her, and according to that, she still hasn’t resurfaced at all.

  With that in mind, I start walking around the isnd, waiting patiently for her next action. There’s a chance that she’s not just going to head straight at me with everything she has, and I want to make sure that it’s true.

  “*puff puff*…”

  Not too far from where I’m standing, [Apocalypse Warlord] has finally risen from the water. She’s not as soaking wet as I thought due to [Gravity Shield] around her, and her breathing…it may seems like she doesn’t have much left in the tank, but in reality…

  “Hargh!”

  She still has plenty to offer.

  In a surprising twist, she’s coming at me without any additional weapons at all. Building enough momnetum, she jumps up and delivers a punch aiming at my face.

  “Boom!”

  I block the attack with both of my sword, and as the result, a small explosion errupts, creating a windbst following it as well. Luckily, the impact isn’t as big as the previous ones, meaning it’s not affecting anyone but the two of us.

  “Hargh!”

  After struggling for a short while, I finally cross swing my swords, making my opponent fall back a bit. However, that’s not the end of everything.

  "Photon Bst!”

  From the palm of her left hand, [Apocalypse Warlord] shoots out a purple ray of beam. I once again block it with my swords, but the bst still manages to push me back a little bit.

  “[Gravity Prison]!”

  All of sudden, the beam attack stops. Repcing it however is a purple sphere, trapping me inside of it. A purple aura is also covering me as well, and when I try to neutralize it, the aura still pops out again.

  "Huh, this isn’t good...”

  The same thing applies to the sphere. I break it, it forms back to its original state. Even if I'm not doing it too seriously, it might bring me a lot of troubles if I keep it that way.

  "Eh...Woah!”

  And it did just that.

  Still haven’t figuring out a way to disable [Gravity Prison], I’m suddenly being dragged to [Apocalypse Warlord] and the moment I get close to her, she kicks the sphere, making me fly up in the process.

  Unfortunately for me, after that, it’s just a series of me being knocked around mid-air with multiple kicks, punches, sshes and bsts throwing at me. The sphere is not a protective shield obviously, so whenever she hits it, the impact also transfers to me and sometimes, the attacks just cut through the sphere and hits me instead.

  To make matter worse, those blows are actually in high speed, meaning there’s no room for me to neutralize the prison and dodge the attacks simultaneously despite my opponent’s abilities shortcomings. All I can do during this is let her rag-dolling me like a pinball.

  At least on the bright side, the damage I’m taking is of course little to none. Thanks to that, all I have to worry about is finding the right moment for a counterattack.

  “Hah!”

  And that moment has finally arrived.

  As I’m flying towards [Apocalypse Warlord] ready to be hit again, I cross my arm and charge up. After gathering enough power, I swing my swords and break the prison, and before it can even reform...

  “Swoosh! Swoosh!”

  I cross ssh [Apocalypse Warlord] one by one. The fast pace combines with the element of surprise makes her fall back in shock. Following the double attack, she also rolls back a few rounds.

  “Cng!”

  I quickly ssh her with my left sword, but she manages to get up just in time and block the cut with her right arm. Of course, she’s not just going to let me dominate her, as she immediately aims for my face and punches, but I easily dodge it.

  “Hah! Hargh!”

  Not giving me time to breathe, she comes in with another punch. I dodge it, only to be met with a ssh from her newly-made photon sword. The moment I use my sword to block it, she uses my body as a unch pad and delivers a backflip kick.

  "Not bad woman...”

  Once again, her effort did no damage to me, and I recover as quickly as her combo, but that doesn’t stop me from admiring her, and that smirk she’s showing me after getting up from the kick is the living proof.

  “My turn.”

  I head back to the fight and immediatly, I whip out various sword combos at her. To my surprise, she’s actually keeping up with me and manages to either dodge or block most of my attacks.

  “Kargh!”

  But of course, I still successfully nded a couple hits on her, including the ssh to the chest I just did and as a result, she falls back a few meters. Not only that, she’s actually lying on the ground holding the chest in pain, leaving me just enough time and space to think of some sort of pn.

  “Hmm, should I…yeah I don’t think it’s satisfying enough…”

  In that time, I also start noticing her a little bit more to see if there’s anything to be exploited than those deep cuts on her armor. My opponent still hasn’t got up yet, so I can reconsider all the choices without worrying too much.

  Speaking of cuts, with both of my bdes are dripping blood, I also decide to whip it clean. People would love the idea of bathing in your enemy’s blood, but to me, taking care of your own weapon is way better.

  “Took you long enough woman.”

  My train of thoughts stops as I witness [Apocalypse Warlord] slowly standing up. She’s still holding her chest, but she shows no sign of giving up at all. Despite how outmatched it is, her eyes say she’s willing to continue no matter what and if that’s what she wants, then the best I can do is grant it to her.

  But of course, she’ll lose.

  “What’s the matter? Out of steam already? Where’s all the energy you dispyed earlier?”

  And to make sure that’ll happen, I decide to throw in some mind games as well. She can’t be too cautious or act too recklessly, or else she’ll lose the bance and eventually, lose this battle entirely.

  “Oh no, not at all Athena, in fact…I still have plenty of them in me! Take this!”

  Endure the pain; [Apocalypse Warlord] hits me with another [Photon Bst]. As the beam is flying, I quickly cross my swords and block the attack.

  “Tsk, it really is annoying…”

  The impact from the bst creates multiple light rays, pushing me back in the process. Of course, finding a way to deflect the beam is a must, however…

  I’d prefer to nullify it.

  “[Absorption].”

  I grab the [Cosmic Sword] a bit harder and immediately after that, it starts devouring the beam. Eventually, the multiple light rays disappear along with the bst. With the fight still going on, I put the javelin back to my own inventory and quickly get into defensive position.

  “I’m not done yet! Rargh!!!”

  [Apocalypse Warlord] dashes at me with a sword covering in purple aura. She swings it horizontally to the left, but I easily lean back and dodge it.

  “Swoosh! Swoosh!”

  Not letting get the upper hand, she continues to attack me. As usual, either I deflected them all or none of the sshes hit me. However, that’s not the end of her rampage.

  “[Gravity Cut]!”

  Not too far away from me, [Apoclypse Warlord] swings her sword and from that, multiple purple sshes comes out and flies straight at me with immense speed.

  "Tsk, this is even more annoying...”

  It didn’t take me too long to learn just how lethal these cuts are: Much like the name implies, when it makes contact with something, in this case my sword, they also push the object to their flying destination. As the result, when I try to deflect it, it feels way heavier than a normal [Mana Cut].

  It’s like these cuts are fighting against me.

  Luckily, I'm a goddess, so it’s not much of a problem neutralizing it. And even if it successfully hits me...

  “Tss!”

  The best they can do is leave a shallow cut on me, which heals immediately.

  “[Cosmic Shield]!”

  I sm my sword down, creating a white shield in front of me. When the cuts touch it, they immediately disappear, one by one.

  “Alright, let's spice it up shall we?”

  Spread out my wings once again, I fly up from the ground. Unsurprisingly, she immediately follows me and once she catches up to me...

  “Hargh!”

  We continue our fight.

  With a wider space, we can freely show off our powers, but it also comes with the fact that people below us are endangered of being hurt as well. Like I once mentioned, I have a promise to keep, and even if it’s a selfish one, it still need to be done.

  “Cng! Cng!”

  I fly down and strike with two sshes, but she blocks them both. After that, she comes in with a sword combo, and I dodge them all.

  “Swoosh!”

  [Apocalypse Warlord] sshes horizontally to the right, but I evade the strike by flying up. Using the momentum, I quickly swing down my sword with immense speed.

  “Cng!”

  My attack was blocked, and as the result, it creates a small windbst. It might seems like I’m struggling, but in reality, [Apocalypse Warlord] is the one. In fact, she’s barely holding it.

  “Crack!”

  Eventually, I broke her sword. Immediately, she flies to the side to dodge the aftermath. She then tries to make it up with a punch, but I quickly sheathe my weapon and catch her arm with ease.

  “Argh!”

  I punch her face back in return. I hit her so hard that her nose actually starts bleeding. In retaliation, she hits me with multiple [Photon Bst], but I either safely dodge the bsts or deflect them all. Of course, I try my best to not let the bsts hit anyone else, and my effort pays off hugely.

  “Boom!”

  [Apocalypse Warlord] raises both her hands at me and fire two bsts from their palms. As the light rays are flying straight at me, they join together to create an even rger, more powerful beam. Seeing that, I also raise my left arm and block the beam with it.

  “Quite impressive woman, however…”

  I slowly close my left hand. The moment I finally clench my fist, the beam disappears entirely, leaving [Apocalypse Warlord] in shock, disbelief and somewhat fear for what’s to come afterwards.

  “Let’s see how you handle this shall we?”

  Whispering that, I disappear into thin air, or at least that’s what I wanted my opponent to think. In reality, I just teleport to right behind her. It didn’t take her too long to realize that, and the moment she turns around…

  I punch her in the face.

  “Why you…Argh!”

  Before she can let out her rage, I follow up with a second harder hit. The sheer brute force from it pushes her back quite a bit. Using that, I start sending her fly around with punches, kicks and sshes. It all happens too fast for her to even react, and even when she does…

  “Swoosh!”

  It’s too te, as with just a ssh, she crash-nds down to the ground. Of course, I’ve calcuted for that fall off, so in other words, it’s not hurting anyone but her, and to make sure it stays like that, I decide to fly down as well.

  The impact from the fall made the ground shake a little bit, and with that comes the dust flying around that area. It’s still happening even after I touch the ground, but that’s not stopping me from approaching my opponent.

  “Huh, I guess I hit her a bit too hard…”

  After the dust is cleared, I can finally have a closer look at my opponent, who’s struggling to stand up with severely injured on her body. Not only that, her armor is also broken in some pces, notably her left leg ptes and the entire helmet.

  Despite that, she’s still not giving up at all. With eyes of a tiger, she’s getting into defensive position, only this time, she’s just raising her bare hands, and it’s for a reason.

  From both palms, two purple light balls start forming, bigger and more powerful as time goes. Eventually, they morph together to create an even more powerful light ball.

  “Oh my…”

  The wind starts blowing stronger than ever, accompanied by the sound of the beam being charged. All is set and done with only one target in mind: me.

  “Alright, let’s do this…”

  As the climax is right around the corner, I hold on to my [Cosmic Sword] tighter than ever. I’m also powering up for the final attack, but unlike my opponent, it’s just me raising my sword up.

  Gather enough strength; I close my eyes and get into the attacking position. I already have a pn in my mind, and even when I’m only half serious, which is right now, it’s more than enough to take her down.

  “[Doom Cannon]!”

  [Apocalypse Warlord] fires a giant purple beam at me, followed by a loud booming noise. It may just look like a bigger version of [Photon Bst], but it’s beyond that. That’s her mana with various abilities adding on, most notably [Gravity Control] and [Nuclear Burst].

  They all combine to create a deadly bst that’ll disintegrate anyone on and at the end of its way, which in this case am me. By firing that, her message is clearer than ever: she wants and possesses the tool to kill a god. Unfortunately for her…that’s never the case.

  “[Cosmic Absorption].”

  To spice things up, I made the decision to enhance [Absorption] even further with something rather special: [Cosmic].

  To put it simply, [Cosmic] is the energy of the universe. Only gods or celestial beings can access to it, human on the other hands doesn’t have the mean to even dream about it.

  In terms of power and efficiency, it’s at least ten times better than human’s mana. To further prove my point, as I’m dashing into the beam, I swing my sword to block it and as the result, it’s sucking up the energy from the beam, essentially carving a path for me to continue.

  “What the…that’s impossible! Hargh!”

  Shocked by how easy I’m dealing with her lethal attack, [Apocalypse Warlord] pours more mana into the beam, making it even stronger than when she fired it. Despite that, it’s not stopping me from approaching her at all, and as for the beam…it’s still being absorbed.

  “No way, this can’t be…how is that even possible…?”

  If there’s something I can give her credit for, is that she’s actually slowing me a bit with that effort, but that alone isn’t enough. I’m still here, I’m still standing and most importantly…I’m still coming at her.

  “Cng!”

  Eventually, the inevitable happens: [Doom Cannon] has completely been neutralized, and it ended with a sword swing down to the right. Immediately after that, I face off with my opponent and before she can even react, I swing my sword once again, this time aiming for the small dots on her palms.

  “Argh!”

  [Apocalypse Warlord] screams in pain, followed by her arm ptes being completely shattered from my attack. Not letting her have a chance to bounce back, I quickly dash around and ssh her. With every hit, her armor start falling apart piece by piece until eventually, there’s nothing on her but the torn bck jumpsuit.

  What’s also falling apart is her will. Despite putting everything she got on that beam, it still wasn’t even close to being enough, and that’s the final straw. After going through all five stages of grief, all she can do now is accept her fate with gssy eyes and pale expression.

  “[Cosmic Burst].”

  I approach [Apocalypse Warlord] with no difficulty at all. I quickly charge up my sword, making it glows up with a white color. With my opponent losing all her fighting spirit, I ssh her right in the chest.

  “Boom!”

  The moment my bde touches her, it creates a white fshing light, followed by an explosion immediately after that. The impact from it pushes her back to near the temple, but lucky for her, I held back, so she’s not going to die any time soon.

  “Now woman, would you mind waking up for your st words? I have business to do you know?”

  I slowly approach the unconscious body I just took down while the dust is still clearing up. As we’re surrounding by it, I take my sword and aim it at her throat as the ultimatum.

  Despite that, she’s not having any sign of getting back up, meaning there’s no final words to be said, and most importantly…

  “Very well then, I shall finish my job now.”

  There’s no second chance to make it right.

  “Cng!”

  Or so I thought.

  “Huh, now that’s a plot twist.”

  As I’m swinging my sword down, I suddenly hear the sound of someone running towards me from behind. I quickly turn around and unsurprisingly, I’m met with a sword aiming at my face, and I successfully block it.

  “Boy, what’s the meaning of this?”

  That someone is none other than Yasutaira Waka, who in just a few minutes ago, he’s still ying on the ground unconsciously. However, it seems like he’s now back in full strength; and that raging blue aura surrounding him further proves my point.

  “Well, I know this is a crazy thing to say but…what if I told you there’s a better option than killing her?”

  Now that’s quite the first impression he’s making right there.

  The person who almost killed him is just a few steps ahead of him, and she’s about to pay for what she’s done. Yet this kid…he’s not letting that happen. Not only that, he’s about to give out an offer that I might not be able to refuse.

  Just what the kind of master is this huh Tiamat? Where the hell did you find him?

  “Alright kid, I’m listening.”

  With that, my attention has entirely shifted, and deep down in my mind, I know that this is the best decision I have and will ever make in this cave.

  (Yasutaira Waka’s POV)

  Right now, I’m having a face off with yet another goddess.

  Fortunately, I manage to make her listen, and soon, we’ll draw our bdes back and talk. In order to do that, I need to be careful with my words, as one small mistake could lead to a catastrophic ending to all parties involved.

  Of course, every ending needs an opening, and in this scenario, let’s rewind the clock to around fifteen minutes ago.

  “Huh, what the...what’s with all the noise...”

  I slowly open my eyes.

  At first, I thought that I’m in hell or something, given the st thing I remember was a bde piercing through my body.

  “Wait a minute, where is it...”

  However, as I’m gradually getting up, there’s a few things I've noticed: I’m still inside the cave, more specifically, there’s a boulder in front of me. I can’t find my shirt anywhere and my wounds...they’re all healed up, especially the hole on my stomach.

  “Wait, if I’m still alive, then that means...”

  After a quick check up to make sure I’m not dreaming, I look around to find my sword. Luckily, it’s right beside me, so I immediately grab it and put it in the sheath.

  “Ah Master, you’re finally awake.”

  I get up and slowly walk to the left. Immediately, Tiamat notices it and approaches me with a bright smile on her face. Takenada-san is also behind her as well, and her reaction is well...a bit different.

  “Ah hey Tiamat, nice to be ba...Woah woah, what the...”

  Before I could even say anything else, Takenada-san jumps at me and gives me a hug. The surprise “attack” almost caught me offguard, and despite my body is still a bit heavy, all my strength hasn’t left me yet, so I manage to catch and carry her without any difficulties.

  Since I don’t have my shirt on, I can feel the smooth and softness of her skin more than ever. It might sound weird and perverted but...this hug really warms me up a lot. We both care deeply about each other, and even if we switched pce, I’ll do the same.

  “Sheesh kid, Master just came back you know? Do you seriously want to put him into another coma?”

  “Ehehehe...”

  We don’t have much time left on the clock, so Tiamat quickly separates us. After that, she reaches into a newly-made portal to take out the Hawaiian shirt from my room and give it to me.

  “Here Master. Your lower half is fine for now, but the shirt…until you gets yourself a new one, this should do the job.”

  “Ah thanks a lot Tiamat.”

  I grab the shirt and wear it. I then stretch my body and start air-punching a bit. I know there’s a bigger concern out there, which I’ll address soon, but first, I need to prepare myself for the worst.

  “So, I’ve been meaning to ask but…what happened when I was unconscious? I heard a lot of grumbling and booming noises.”

  “Well Master, instead of giving you an answer, how about you go and take a look for yourself?” Tiamat responded.

  She then points her finger to the isnd. I turn sideways and quickly enough, the answer is clearer than ever.

  “[Cosmic Shield]!”

  The woman with white hair creates a shield to block the purple sshes heading to her. What interesting is that the moment those cuts hit the shield, they disappear immediately. After that, she spreads out her wings and flies up high, making her opponent do the same.

  “She’s fast…” I whispered.

  I look to the sky to have a glimpse of her strength, and what I’m receiving is not just that. The speed, the agility,…they’re all way out of my league, to the point of not being able to catch her movements with my eyes.

  I even considered turning on [Super Strengthen Magic] just to keep up, but that might arm both of them and leave me out of gas again. In the end, I decided not to do it.

  “Yeah Master, that’s Athena, the [Goddess of War] herself. Currently, she’s fighting, or should I say dominating, [Apocalypse Warlord] with little to no effort at all. Soon or ter, that woman will run out of steam and toys, meaning…”

  “She’ll die.” Takenada-san continued Tiamat’s words.

  Normally, people will be very gd to hear that news, but as for me, it’s not entirely the case. Not that I’m not a fan of killing, but the aftermath…that’s what I’m more concerned about.

  “Hmm, what’s the matter Master? You look a bit unease.” Tiamat asked.

  “Oh, ah well...What I'm about to say might be the dumbest thing ever, and I might forever be haunted by that for the rest of my life but...you don’t mind listening to it Tiamat?”

  “Well Master, whatever floats your boat, I’ll be there.” she responded.

  “Thanks. I’m thinking...maybe we should convince Athena to spare her enemy’s life.”

  “Ehh?”

  Takenada-san is the first to be surprised. If anything, [Apocalypse Warlord] almost took my life not too long ago, and now I want to let her live when her life is on the line. Any sane person would react the same way she did.

  "Wait wait wait, are you serious Yasutaita-kun? Even after what she did to you? Remember the hole on your body?” she aksed.

  "I mean…sure death might be the fitting punishment for her, but then...what's next?”

  “I’m...not exactly following you there.” Takenada-san said.

  “Let’s just say her life ends here in this cave. She’s a [Chaotic Seven], and when such an important member has gone missing, they’ll start to suspect. Even with all these soldiers to get information from, it still might not be enough for the “war” that’s about to come. I say we keep her alive, at least until we take down [Rising Phoenix] for good.”

  You might think I haven’t thought about this enough, but in reality, it’s quite the opposite.

  Kill her or let her live, no matter what I choose, it all leads to one thing: the inevitable csh between [Rising Phoenix] and [Knights of Tomorrow]. People will get hurt, or even worse, die.

  However, if there’s one thing I’m known for, is that I don’t like killing, meaning despite how impossible it is, my stubborn self will still choose to spare the life of the enemies.

  Not that I think all of them shouldn’t die but…I just want them to face the consequences of their actions and maybe…just maybe…they’ll have a second chance to fix what they’ve done. Yeah people can say I’m old-fashioned or a coward, especially those on the internet, and honestly, I don’t really care.

  As long as I’m still an idiot who believes in redemption and the good side in everyone, then I'm not letting anyone control me like a soulless puppet.

  “Huh, I see Master...”

  Tiamat’s reaction is more on the neutral side. She knows exactly what kind of person I am, so whenever I make such decision like that, she’s not showing much of her emotion beside concern and consideration.

  “Well then, if that’s what you want, then I’ll follow through, but I must warn you one thing: in terms of stubbornness, she’s quite up there with you, so be careful Master.”

  And as usual, she still stays by my side.

  “Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind, thanks for the warning Tiamat.”

  Tiamat then created a portal for me to get to the isnd. After that, I was patiently waiting for the right opportunity to jump in, and that led us to this moment.

  As expected from a goddess, she blocked my attack with ease. Not only that, my arms and sword start to shake a little bit, which is a bad sign that I won’t be holding it for long.

  “Well then, let’s skip through the fighting part shall we?”

  “With pleasure.” she replied.

  We both take our swords back. After that, we slowly walk to the temple, leaving [Apocalypse Warlord] behind. During that time, I shut off [Super Strengthen Magic], making the blue aura around me disappears as well. It’s a good thing that [Regeneration] worked wonderfully, or else my body would colpse again.

  After that, I briefly expin to Athena-sama about my situation with Tiamat and why are we here in the first pce. While doing that, I also take a look back to [Apocalypse Warlord], who’s lying on the ground. Athena then reassures me that although she’s in critical condition, she won’t die.

  "I must say boy, you’re quite strong. Not that you can go toe to toe with that woman over there but...if we’re strictly talking about here, then she’s no match with you.”

  She then touches the middle of my chest. I was a bit surprised to hear that, and as the result, there’s a slight blush on my face. On the other hand, Athena starts chuckling seeing my reaction.

  So far, everything seems to go on the direction I wanted: I made a good first impression, she showed her interest and respect for me. Little did I know, that’s just the beginning.

  “Which leaves me with the question: Are your words just as sharp, boy?”

  Both of us stop right in front of the temple. Just from the look on her face, I can tell that she’s not fully convinced just yet, as I haven't said much to change her mind.

  Tiamat told me she’s quite stubborn, so let's put that to the test shall we?

  "You and I both know that woman over there has committed some serious crimes. As far as I’m concerned, she’s also the one that almost took your life, right? Tell me boy, why should I spare such a pathetic life like that?”

  As we’re facing each other, Athena-sama begins to question me, starting with a direct “attack”.

  “Those crimes are the reason for that, Athena-sama.”

  “Oh please, call me Athena, no need to be too formal. Now back to the topic, what do you mean by that boy?”

  “Well…I know what you did was to punish for her “stupidity”, but if it ended there…then I don’t think it’s going to be the definitive “ending”.”

  “Eborate boy.”

  “Not just she, others and I are all a part of something bigger and grander. Her death might trigger an entire chain of reactions that none of us are capable of controlling and anticipating. But, if we let her live and somehow… we made her talk, maybe, just maybe…we can end things with least bloodshed as possible…”

  “And what about her and those crimes? What will it be then?” she asked.

  “I guess we then can finally find a fitting punishment for her, or better, give her a chance to turn around and switch sides…”

  I said those words with my voice going lower as time went on. A part of me inside has already doubted whether this is a good idea or not, and frankly, I can’t quite tell. Regardless, I won’t give up that easy, not when I have friends I can trust.

  “I see…but that woman…are you really sure it’s worth it? And not just her, with [Rising Phoenix]…as far as we know, they think they’re some omnipotent god but in reality, they’re way too far from that. Can you handle that?”

  “Well, I can’t guarantee that…but I, no we, can try. After all, I’m just a kid who believes there’s good in everyone. If we managed to change their hearts, then even if death sentence is inevitable, at least they’ll go out knowing they’ve chosen to do the right thing.”

  I answered her, more determined than ever. My ideology might not be perfect, but if that’s something that motivates me to become good, then nothing can back me down.

  “Well said boy. I have high expectation for you, and you didn’t disappoint!”

  Athena praises me while also padding my left shoulder. Judging from the look on her eyes and smile, she seems to have a lot of interest in me, but that doesn’t mean my words have got through to her.

  After all, this is a goddess we’re talking about, and as far as my experience with them, you can’t expect them to listen to you without doing some crazy stuff for them.

  “However, I’m not quite satisfied with how the fight ended, so in exchange of letting that woman go, you’ll be her repcement.”

  “Her…repcement? Doesn’t that mean…”

  “Exactly, you and I will have a fight. Don’t worry boy, I won’t kill that woman even if you lose, so just go all out.”

  “I…I don’t think that’s helping me, Athena…” I said jadedly.

  The worst scenario has finally happened. In just a few months, two goddesses have challenged me, and st time I checked, I almost died. I was lucky enough to gain just the right skill to save me in the st minute, but this time…I don’t think that’ll happen.

  “Then maybe I can Master!”

  “Huh?”

  From behind, a familiar voice interrupts our conversation. I turn back and find out that it’s none other than Tiamat. Just from hearing what she said, I can already imagine what she has in mind for this.

  “We can always use [The Void] Master. After all, there won’t be any problem if you two fought there, plus we’ll have some interesting spectators too!”

  “Spectators? What do you mean by that?”

  “Well Master, take a look for yourself.”

  Tiamat then points the finger to right behind her. I do what she said and in a surprising twist, Takenada-san and Kariuda-san are also here as well. More specifically, Takenada-san is waving at me while Kariuda-san doesn’t show much emotion other than a slight annoyance.

  “Wait, both of you too?”

  “Of course Yasutaira-kun, I’m your best friend, how I can leave myself out of this?”

  “And how did we get to this point, Yasutaira-kun? Is dragging yourself into the worst trouble possible your personal trait or something?” Kariuda-san said jokingly.

  “Ahahaha…”

  Both of them are showing their excitement and somewhat nervousness about the upcoming battle. I may have already mentally prepared for this, even though it was against my will, but for them, it’s a first.

  “Wait, Kira…he’s not here. Is he still with the rest?” I asked.

  “Ah yeah, he told me that he would help John guard the soldiers. He thought that since we’re all gathering here, at least one must stay in case things go south.” Kariuda-san expined to me.

  “I see…”

  I won’t say it’s quite unfortunate that he doesn’t get to witness how a mere mortal will go against a literal god, but at the same time, I’m not forcing him at all. He doesn’t need to show up all the time to be a part of the journey. All I ask from him is to overcome his past and be there when the time comes.

  “Well then Master, shall we go?” Tiamat said.

  “Yeah about that…just what do you think you’re doing?”

  Before we even know it, Tiamat is already carrying [Apocalypse Warlord] on her shoulder. No one even notices that until now with the exception of Athena.

  “Eh? Wait, isn’t that…”

  “Yup, this is your personal trait Yasutaira-kun…”

  Of course, we’re all surprised and shocked. I did not ask her to do that, and I didn’t even consider it at all. If she’s doing it just for trolling, I might lose my mind before I lose my upcoming fight.

  “It’s alright Master, trust me on this. I have a pn for this woman over here, and in order to do it, she has to be in [The Void].” Tiamat said.

  I was going to ask her one more time just to make sure, but considering how serious she is, I decide not to do it. I can’t read her mind, but I’m sure she has thought of this thoroughly enough, so there’s no reason for doubting at all.

  “If you said so…then go ahead and do whatever you need to do, just do not harm her in a way that’ll make them suspect. We can’t risk our lives going into a war we can’t win just yet.”

  “Got it Master, I’ll go prepare the portal right away!”

  As she’s doing it, I take a deep breath. It’s going to be a long night, but at least after that, I can rest assure knowing that our mission has somewhat completed.

  “Alright everyone, let’s go!”

  With the portal opened and ready, we all walk through it, ready for yet another battle of survival.