It was a lightless dark space.
She didn't know if there was any wall, ceiling, or even floor in the
space.
However, since she was able to walk, the space should have a floor
of sorts.
In the middle of the space, she spotted some things.
A white round table that seemed to be shining faintly and seven
chairs that were probably made of the same materials as the table.
Six of the chairs had figures sitting on them, and soon as they saw
her, the man sitting the furthest spoke, "—Where have you been?
Vixen."
The man looked solemn and he had two horns on his forehead.
"Nowhere. I was just taking a stroll."
"All the way to Ittle?"
"My, nothing gets past your eyes, as usual. You're right, I was a bit
curious about how the boy and his girlfriends were doing, see."
"Don't do anything unnecessary. Have forgotten your position?"
"Yes, yes, I get it. Still, with this, he has gathered 5 saintesses. Soon,
they'll get to meet Sinus too, the day you guys can achieve your goal
is near, isn't it?"
"That's right. After all, the last person we need is already here.
Right? 'Shield' Saintess—Shiva."
"My, I'm nothing but a fortune teller, you know? More importantly, you
still haven't found your 'Shield' yet?"
To the question of the woman, aka Shiva, the man, "Ahh," said with
his never changing emotionless voice, "after all, the 'Shields' have a
stronger sense of protection for humanity than the others to begin
with, he is probably hiding somewhere. But well, some exceptions
such as a traitorous vixen like you also exists."
"Fufu, isn't that a matter of course? I'll only ever be on the side of the
one who have the highest chance of winning. I don't want to die after
all."
"Well, I wonder how much of that is true." The man calmly closed his
eyes.
Seeing that, Shiva asked him, "So, this is the most fundamental
question, but—can you guys defeat them?"
"Naturally. It's true that all saintesses have the Holy Armaments
which are passed down to them, but at the end of the day, those
things are the creation of human. They can't possibly match up to
the 'Sacred Treasures' given to us by our mother.
"Besides," the man looked over at the other five and said, "the
physical abilities of us demi-humans surpass those of humans. As
long as we have the same skills, we won't fall behind the likes of
those human lasses. If you're not convinced, how about we try
piercing your Holy Shield that is well-known for being 'impregnable'
with my Sacred Sword?"
"No, I have to say no to that. I mean, there's nothing in it for me."
Shiva shrugged her shoulders, and continued, "Then, the only
problem is the boy, isn't it? An immortal warrior carrying all sorts of
rare skills in his body—just how do you plan on defeating him?"
"Of course, since he's immortal, then we just have to kill him along
with the trait that makes him so. And the one who is capable of that
is the 'king' whose birth we are looking forward to. The true king,
unlike a sham such as that Vale."
"I see. Then was his research of use to you?"
"Ahh. I was able to get really meaningful data even just from a single
stray mermaid. Of course, if you hadn't unnecessarily interfered, I
could have gotten more accurate data." The man glared at Shiva.
Shiva leisurely avoided his gaze, "Well, it doesn't matter, does it? I
mean, the king's birth is near."
"Humph, what a shrewd woman."
"Fufu, aren't you the same?" Shiva paused, before laughing boldly
and continuing, "Elysium-sama, the 'Sword' Saint chosen by the
Goddess of the End.