"At any rate, judging from the present circumstances, it's probably
safe to assume that this was Phinis-sama's doing. I don't know the
motive behind it, but she attacked Fluga-sama, and now both of
them went missing. This being the case, the safety of the other
goddesses might also be at risk."
Finishing her words, Arca took a glance at Shiva-san. Catching her
drift, Shiva-san looked at the empty space with her mysteriously
glowing eyes.
After a while, she shrugged her shoulders, "…No good," and said, "I
tried to take a peek at the goddesses' whereabouts, but everywhere
I looked was covered by black aura and I couldn't see anything. It
appears that Goddess Phinis is interfering."
"Kh, that goddess is still as devious as always, huh. Looks like we've
got no choice but to go and check on directly," said Ophir.
"Yeah. Fortunately, Terra-sama's World Tree is close to the dwarven
village, so after stopping by the village and dropping everyone off, I'll
immediately go and see how she's doing."
After everyone nodded at my words, I transformed into Fire God
Form and had them get on my back before leaving Fluga-sama's
sanctuary.
◇ ◇
Meanwhile.
A person easily broke through the sandstorm barrier in the desert.
――Yes, it was Goddess Phinis.
Needless to say, her aim was the goddess of 'wind' Turbo who lived
in the temple beyond the barrier.
Having absorbed both Fluga and Terra, Phinis had set Terra as her
next target.
But.
"…Oh?"
Right then, Phinis tilted her head.
That was because she found three figures standing before her.
"It's been a long time… no, it's our first time meeting in this form, isn't
it? Goddess Phinis," said the black-dressed, black-haired woman
with her hands on her waist.
She was Turbo, the goddess of 'wind' and 'death'.
"Yes, it is… And you two are…"
Just like Turbo, this was her first time meeting them, but Phinis could
tell at first glance that they shared the same nature as her.
As such, Phinis curled the corners of her lips into a smile and said,
"Igniver and Sinus… right?"
They were the goddess of fire and goddess of water that she was
thinking of absorb later.
Because of the barrier, she wasn't able to sense their presences, but
to think that the remaining three goddesses were gathered in one
place…
To Phinis who couldn't hold back her joy, Igniver nodded, "Indeed,"
and said, "Goddess of the End, how dare you absorbed our other
halves. We don't know for whatever reasons you did such a foolish
action, but we will not let you do as you pleases. Ready yourself, for
we are going to have you give them back."
"That won't do… Because I can't bear a baby without their powers…"
Phinis shook her head, causing the goddesses to knit their
eyebrows.
After a moment, the goddess with a trident in her hand, Sinus, asked
in doubtful manner.
Incidentally, her body was usually several times bigger than it
currently was, however, it seemed that she was condensing her
power, leaving her with a body size equivalent with the rest of the
goddesses.
"Are you seriously planning to conceive a child in your body?"
"But of course… Then I'll be living in peace with my children…"
"…You mean peace that's built by robbing others of their peace
"That is none of my concern… After all, we got robbed of our peace
first… Isn't that right…? Olgou…"
"""...""" The goddesses fell silent.
Phinis then giggled and said with a soft smile on her face, "Now, let's
start the game… A fun, fun game…"
◇ ◇
After arriving at the dwarven village, I was trying to go to Terrasama's place as soon as possible in Vermillion Bird Form as I'd
originally planned, but—
"It's too dangerous for you to go there alone. So being the smallest
in stature, I'll be coming with you. If I hold on tightly, you won't have
to slow down your flight speed, so you can rest assured."
With Tirna's words as the trigger, a dispute was sparked among the
girls.
Because, according to her reasoning, anyone of them except for
Elma would be able to come along with"Superior Arms".
Furthermore, it'd be faster than with Vermillion Bird Form, so taking
someone with me would actually be better instead.
As such, the girls were currently promoting their suitability, but I
thought I would have arrived if I had gone there by myself at this
point…
I had a faraway look on my face, having had enough with the quarrel
unfolding before me, when Porco-san came up to me.
He said with tears streaming down his face, "This will be over if you
activate"Superior Arms"with me, right!? Come on, let's try it!?"
"..." I was naturally dumbstruck, wondering what the hell he was
saying.