The more time passes, the more disadvantageous it would be for us…
Whips smiled with a lecherous smile as if she could sense our thoughts.
"Hahahahaha! What? No matter how hard you try, you are nothing before the power of God! Just die quietly!"
"Nyaa!"
"Wha…?"
Then, taking advantage of Whips' high laughter, Stella approached her again and attacked her.
But Whips dodged the attack in a split second.
"Tch… Know your place, you fucking beast; you're annoying me to no end!"
"Stella!"
"Nyaa!"
The attack of the god soldiers was focused on Stella.
However, Stella let out a single reassuring cry and continued to dodge the attacks of the god soldiers smoothly.
Watching Stella like that, I suddenly realized something.
Why did she dodge Stella's attack?
I think that out of all of us here, the only one who could use Divine Authority to Whips' knowledge was Iris-san.
That's why she would be wary of other humans' attacks, but Meiko's attacks did reach Whips from time to time.
However, there was no pretense that Whips avoided those attacks.
Well, Divine Authority emitted a rainbow-colored aura, so as long as she was careful with it, it might not be too difficult to keep track of who could use it…
Besides, it would be to say that it was a reflex to avoid her… But I had a strange feeling of uneasiness.
When I tried to find out what that strange feeling was, my eyes fell on a certain spot on Whips' face.
It was the scar that Stella had inflicted on Whips' face.
The hole in her chest that I had pierced was closed, but why hadn't the wound on her face healed?
After thinking about it so much, I came up with an idea.
Could it be possible to defeat her by using the Power of Existence?
The Divine Authority attack was also effective, but it only slowed down the healing of the wounds, and it did not remain like the wounds on that face.
If that was the case, then the only possible reason for that wound to remain was the Power of Existence.
Ouma-san and Kuuya-san also said that if I could use the Power of Existence, I would be fine, but how did they know that?
…No, that's not the point now.
If it turned out that way…!
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!"
I took out the Absolute Spear again and threw it at Whips with the Power of Existence.
Whips' face contorted as the Absolute Spear flew by at a tremendous speed.
"That spear again? How can it be in the same move over and over again?"
"Wha…"
Whips swung her whip, and it wrapped around the Absolute Spear, slowing it down.
"Here, I'll give it back to you!"
She threw it back at me.
"Kuh!"
I caught it and put it back in my Item Box.
No, she was already on the lookout for the Absolute Spear and the Omni-Sword…
Then…!
"Formless Bow!"
I took out my invisible bow and silently aimed it at Whips.
"What? No matter what you do, your attacks won't work anymore!"
Whips smiled victoriously.
Ignoring her, I fired an invisible shot.
The arrow I fired went straight through the god soldiers and pierced Whips' body.
"Gyaaaaaahh! W-what is this…!"
Whips shouted as the invisible arrow pierced her body.
Also…
"W-what the hell… why won't my wounds heal! What the hell have you done to me!"
The wounds from that blow, imbued with the Power of Existence, still did not heal.
But Whips, completely alarmed by this, turned all her god soldiers on me.
"I will never forgive you! You guys, kill him quickly!"
The god soldiers came like a tidal wave.
If I dealt with them normally, I would not be able to escape.
Then…!
"Heavenly Whip!"
I also took out my whip and swung it as hard as I could.
At that moment, the tail of the whip increased countless times and wrapped around the bodies of all the attacking god soldiers, crushing and breaking them as it did so.
In an instant, all the god soldiers were defeated, and Whips was stunned as if in disbelief.
"W-what is this… what is this… oh, n-no, I have to run…"
And Whips, realizing that she had no chance of winning, tried to flee the place.
But…
"…I won't let you escape."
"Wha… Irissssss!"
"───!"
Iris-san, who had gone around before Whips used her Divine Power, slashed Whips in two with a single swing.
It was a terribly sharp sword… reminiscent of Sage-san's attack.
That was… an idle strike!
Despite my surprise, Whips, who had been cut into pieces, disappeared like sand.
＊＊＊
Around the time Yuuya was fighting Whips,
At the Ousei Academy──.
"Kaori! Please──marry me!"
Surprisingly, Kaori was proposed to.
The sudden situation made Kaori's eyes turn black and white, and she quickly let go of the hand that had been taken from her.
"Jo-Joshua-sama?"
The man who had suddenly proposed to Kaori… Joshua was the crown prince of a certain country, which was related to the school Kaori's sister Kasumi attended.
The sudden appearance of such a man was a surprise, but the fact that he also asked Kaori to marry him confuses her.
Then James, the butler who had been standing behind Joshua for some time, opened his mouth softly.
"Your Highness. I think you are rushing into this. Kaori-sama is also surprised."
"I-is that so? The marriage between us has already been decided, so why should she be surprised?"
"Huh?"
T-the marriage had been decided?
Kaori was even more confused by this completely new situation.
Then James came to her aid with a stunned look on his face.
"Hah… Your Highness. The marriage is not decided yet. Kaori-sama has her own thoughts and feelings."
"What are you talking about? Kaori will accept to marry me, of course, right?"
"N-no, I have no intention of getting married, but…"
"Why?"
Joshua's eyes widened because he hadn't expected to be rejected.
He immediately grabbed James.
"W-why is that? Kaori won't accept it!"
"It's too sudden, and Kaori-sama doesn't know much about you either. It's only natural."
"No way!"
"Besides, she might already have someone in mind, you know?"
"…What?"
Joshua raised his eyebrows at James' words.
"Who is that guy?"
"It's just a hypothetical. If there is one, you can't force…"
"I won't accept it, I won't accept it!"
Interrupting James and shaking his head, Joshua turned back to Kaori.
"Kaori! Do you have someone you have feelings for?"
"Huh!?"
Kaori, who had been completely left out of the conversation, opened her eyes at the sudden mention of someone she had a crush on.
At the same time, the image of Yuuya came to Kaori's mind.
"Th-that's…"
Seeing Kaori's reddened cheeks and subdued voice, Joshua knew exactly what she was thinking.
"N-no way… You left me here for another man?"
"Your Highness, please give up. You should be quiet here in her homeland──."
"──Who is it?"
"Huh?"
"Who the hell is that man?"
Joshua shouted and turned back to Kaori.
"Kaori. I'm serious. I came here to marry you."
"E-Even if you say that…"
"You see? I am a prince. I will succeed to the throne and become king. I'm saying that I want to take you as my wife. Are you saying that you'd rather be with some random guy from who-knows-where than the wife of the king?"
"Yu-Yuuya-san is no good-for-nothing!"
When Kaori shouted, Joshua narrowed his eyes in surprise.
"I see. Kaori's love interest is named Yuuya, huh?"
"Ah…"
"James, I want you to find out more about this Yuuya person right away."
"…Understood."
James looked a bit surprised, but Joshua's orders were absolute, and he bowed his head reverently.
Then Joshua turned to Kaori.
"Kaori. I'm going to retire today. But I will show you that I am better than this man. And when that happens… you will be mine."
With that, he got back into his luxury car and drove away.
Kaori watched in bewilderment.
"W-what am I going to do…?"
When Kaori decides that this is too much for her, she immediately called her father, Tsukasa.
＊＊＊
There was also another movement on Earth──.
"──As expected, that woman has awakened."
In the sky above Japan, a person in a white robe opened his mouth softly.
These robed humans were the gods who once ruled the Earth, and they were searching for the whereabouts of Saara, who was sealed in a coffin.
Then, another human in the same outfit followed.
"What on earth are you doing? If the seal was broken, we'll have to go through the same thing again."
"No, I think we'll be fine."
"What?"
One of his friends, surprised by his unexpected words, continued.
"I think everyone feels it, but the resurrected woman's sign is very weak. We should assume that the influence of the seal was inevitable. We have been preparing for this for a long time. It would be no small feat to deal with a weakened opponent after all this time."
"Hmm… I suppose that's true."
"But we can't just leave it at that. Let's send in the god soldiers to take care of her."
"And what about us?"
"We will go back to the Divine Beast. If we continue with our plan, this planet will be ours──"
The white-robed humans then silently disappeared from the sky over Japan.