'Children with the same face as you'—that's undeniably what Phinissama said.
There was only one thing she could possibly refer to.
Yes, it was Iris and her sisters who were created based on Zana and
should still be in the military city of Berqua.
Furthermore, she said she'd sacrifice them to create another
"Sword Saint".
If so, Iris and her sisters must be—
"...Wait a moment. What have you done to them?" With her eyes
wide open, Zana asked Phinis-sama.
In response Phinis-sama clasped her hands and said in a joyful
manner, "I'm very grateful to you humans… Though mere imitations,
with that many " Heaven Bow " , I'll be able to forcefully raise
"Sword Demon"skill to"Sword Saint"…"
"Answer my question! What have you done to my sisters!?" Zana
asked again with a terribly menacing expression.
Yet, Phinis-sama was unfazed. In fact, she ignored Zana and gave
me a smile, "Wait a bit, it won't be long…"
Naturally Zana didn't take that kindly, "Do I look like a joke to you…!"
and she began to ready her Hallowed Sacred Treasure like Ophir.
"Zana-san, stop!?"
Magmell tried to stop her in a hurry, but her voice didn't get through
to Zana. She warned quietly, "Stand aside, Magmell. Otherwise, I'll
shoot you along with her."
"Uu…"
She was giving off a very strong killing intent.
Magmell involuntarily stepped back.
Seeing Zana acting that way, Ophir grinned and said, "Hey, what's
wrong, princess? Weren't you tellin' me to calm down just now?"
"I withdraw my words. If you want to have a go, I'll back you up.
Ready whenever you are."
"Ha, now that's what I'm talkin' about!"
"—!"
Bang! The two kicked off the ground. Unable to stop them, Arca
exclaimed, "Kh, you fools…" through gritted her teeth.
"This fuckin' goddess!"
――Whoom!
"Return my sisters!"
――Swoosh!
And so, the two launched attack at Phinis-san at the same time, but
—
――Clang!
""Wha!?""
I blocked them.
With my back towards them, I received Ophir's battleaxe with the
upper side of my gauntlet while I caught Zana's arrow from the side.
"Watcha ya doin', Exa!?"
"Why are you protecting that woman!?"
Needless to say, Ophir and Zana got mad at me. I apologized to
them, "I'm sorry, you two…" before directing a sharp gaze at Phinissama and said, "I stopped their attacks. So please take back those
'black spears' that you were trying to shoot at them."
""....Huh?"" The two widened their eyes, then they looked around
and saw it.
Yes, from the ground behind them, objects that looked like 'black
spears' were growing out, looking ready to shoot through their backs.
If I hadn't stopped their attacks, Phinis-sama would have mercilessly
turned them into skewers at this point.
It was exactly because I'd noticed the black spears that I stopped
their attacks.
"These are…"
"No way… I didn't sense so much as their presences…"
As the Ophir and Zana stared at the black spears while they were
being sucked into the ground, Phinis-sama said with a faint smile,
"You know, I hate them… Bullies, I mean… I hate them so much that
I can't hold myself whenever someone tries to bully me…"
"Yes, I get it. But you robbed them of their loved ones. It's natural
that they tried to bully you."
"But I don't kill them… Turbo is just sleeping, and I'll release the
children alive when I'm done with them… If you like, I can also
release the goddesses after everything is over…"
"…After everything is over? Do you mean after you destroy every
human and demi-human?" I asked in a stern tone.
However, Phinis-sama shook her head, "No…" and said, "I mean
after 'our baby' is born…"
""""""!?""""""
Needless to say, we were all dumbstruck, wondering what she was
saying.