"Fuhihi, so you're going to erase me from existence now? I don't think you are capable of doing so, however. I mean, look at these perfectly healthy young children protecting me. For me, whom they hold dear, they will gladly sacrifice themselves."
"Hah, more like forcefully be made to sacrifice themselves! Not to mention, they're already dead, ain't they!? I can just take 'em all down along with ya!" Ophir shouted, taking a stance to make a big swing with her battleaxe.
Yet, Tougen, in response, curled his lips into a faint and eerie smile and said, "Ah, yes. These children are, without a doubt, already dead. But I have resurrected them with my superpower. Though they have no wills of their own, their hearts are beating, their bodies not rotting. That is to say, they are, in a sense, 'alive'."
"Wha…!?"
"You may ask the goddess to confirm the truth of my words. After all, she has been covered from head to toe with the insides of that boy. Fuhi, they have not the cold of the dead, do they, Goddess?"
"..."
Ophir directed her eyes toward Turbo, who—amid the swirling windstorm—answered, "Yes."
"You gotta be kiddin' me…"
"Fuhihihihi…"
Then how do we take him down, Ophir bit her lips, but—
――SLASH!
""—Wha!?""
At that moment, the children's heads flew off all at once.
――SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
And a beat later, blood spurted like a fountain.
As Tougen was literally drenched in blood, stunned, Turbo, who had fired the wind blade, coldly stated, "But what does that matter? Regardless of how you twist your words, it won't change the fact that they are already dead. What you are doing is simply desecrating them. Were you thinking you might use them as shields? Because they had blood running in their veins and were young children?"
"Grgh…"
"For a measly demon, you are quite bold for playing such tricks before me. I am the god who governs over 'wind' and 'death'. At one point, I created the world as Goddess Olgou, and following Olgou's division of herself, I have been known as the incarnation of 'death'. Yet, you dare to talk about 'death' before me… learn your place!"
――SWOOSH!
"Aaargh!?" The sudden gust that hit him made Tougen unable to stop himself from screaming in pain, and he fell to the floor with a thud.
Needless to say, his shields—no longer alive—only left a pool of blood in their places.
Turbo, in the meantime, slowly walked toward Ophir and said, "I detest humans. They are selfish, they always throw themselves into meaningless fights, and they exploit others without batting an eyelid—that's why I despise them. However, there's one kind of human that I wholly trust. And that is, human children. I find their selfishness—born from their immaturity—to be truly pure, lovely even. This idiot being the prime example."
"H-hey!? W-whatcha doin'!?" Ophir blushed upon receiving a headpat from Turbo out of nowhere.
As Ophir tried to recall when was the last time Turbo had patted her head, "Yet…" Turbo laid her fury bare and said, "Merely for your own desires, you toyed with them—and killed them! As such, I will absolutely never forgive you! The world will be better off without you, fiend!"
"Gh, don't get ahead of yourself, you old wench! You may now target me, but it will be futile if you can't land a direct hit! I will turn you two into my puppets! –Hear me, my meat-puppets! With my body as the core, become the supreme puppet!"
Gugyuri! As if responding to Tougen's scream, the bodies of the children scattered on the ground flew off to gather with him in the center.
So did the contents of the capsules in the laboratory. Once all the flesh under his control congregated, they fused into one.
"—Roaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrr!!"
And so, appeared before Ophir and Turbo a giant white baby with a body texture similar to that of a statue.
However, the baby's shape was somewhat abnormal, and though it appeared like a baby, it was born with a full set of closely packed teeth.
"Still playing pretend to be a child at your age…? Ophir!"
"Y-yeah, what's up?" Ophir replied obediently, overwhelmed by Turbo's vigor.
Turbo said with a straight face, "I hate to admit it, but I'm currently slightly lacking in power to erase that thing without leaving a trace. So, I will lend you my power."
"No, how would you even do that…?"
"My body is formed of energy. And regardless of how vexing it is, our bodies are now connected through that man's 'crest'. With that being the case, it should be possible for us to become one."
"Y-you mean, like goddess version superior arms or something?"
At the confused Ophir's question, Turbo gave a deep nod, "Yeah, that's right," and said, "No enemy can withstand our combined power. Wield that tremendous power and return that fiend to nothingness!"
"Hell yeah! I don't really understand, but it's finally my turn, right!"
Swoosh! Ophir proudly swung her battleaxe to heft it onto her shoulder.
Following that, Turbo's body began to shine faintly.
"Let's go, my idiot daughter!"
"Sure thing!"
WOOSH! Amid the raging windstorm, Ophir wore her, creating a new combat form.
""Goddess-Armed—Infinite Goddess!!"
It was the ultimate combat form that would allow a saintess to be the strongest, and at this point, no one was aware of how it would later affect "Superior Arms".