"Fufu, that's enough, thank you."
"O-okay…"
Ryugu gave me a pleasant smile, and I let go of her and heaved a small sigh.
"Why did you also ask for a hug from Exa anyway?"
Just as Tirna pointed out, I'd been hugging Ryugu just now.
"Well, let's not be so stiff. There is no need to make a mountain of a molehill."
But of course, there was a reason for this.
Having heard that Arca was pregnant, I'd instantly gone on to hug her.
Or more accurately, my body had moved on its own to hug her.
Arca had then, as a matter of course, hugged me back gently, and the atmosphere had become very heart-warming.
But well… we might be hugging for a bit too long…
The other girls, who were at first all smiles while watching us, had then begun to complain that it was unfair only Arca got a hug, so in the end, I'd had to give each of them a hug as well.
Of course, this included the goddesses. Turbo-sama had grumbled, "W-why do I have to join…" as I was about to hug her, but despite her complaints, she had surprisingly hugged me back quite tightly.
After I was done hugging the girls and the goddesses, Aetia raised her hand, also asking for a hug as though it was only natural, which was followed by Ryugu with "Fufu, seems fun," That was how I'd ended up hugging her.
For some reason, Patty had been looking at us with an envious look, saying "How nice~. I want to be hugged tightly too~," but let's put that aside for now.
"All right, let's get started."
To fuse our powers, we joined hands and formed a circle.
Ophir then said happily, "Gotta say, now that things have turned out this way, we've gotta quickly beat that old man and then get ourselves pregnant too, 'aight?"
"Yeah, we can't just watch as Arcadia gets ahead of us," Zana said.
"Mm. I want to finish this quickly and go on a honeymoon with Exa." Tirna nodded.
"My, that's a good idea. Then, why don't we take a leisure trip around the world by ship?" Shiva proposed.
"S-ship… pig… great disaster… ngh!?" Elma opened her eyes wide.
"W-what is the matter, Elma-san? You look pale…" Magmell asked worriedly.
Setting Elma aside, the conversation seemed to have boosted the morale of the girls quite a bit. They were already thinking of what came after we defeated Elysium.
And it appeared so was the goddesses.
"Hm, I thought as a god I never would have anything to do with giving birth and raising a child, but just imagining it surprisingly makes my heart pound," Igniver-sama said.
"Hmph, just so you know, I'm a little fussy when it comes to raising children," Turbo-sama declared.
"You're fussy when it comes to everything…" Fluga-sama retorted.
"Fufu, then when the time comes, shall we ask Turbo to teach us the know-how?" Terra-sama suggested.
"Agreed. After all, matters like this will be the first time for us. I'm worried if I'll be able to hold my child properly." Sinus-sama said.
—Boing.
"Hey, Sinus… are you being sarcastic…?" Phinis-sama asked.
Even at this moment, before what may be our final battle, everyone seemed very relaxed.
Or rather, I doubted Sinus-sama had meant to say that she was afraid she couldn't hold a baby properly because her breasts were too big, but yes, her breasts were almost double the size of Phinis-sama's.
It was kind of understandable (?) why Phinis-sama would think that way…
"Anyway," I said, looking at everyone, "Now we have another reason why we can't afford to lose no matter what. I'm sure you all feel the same way. So let's quickly beat that bastard, save the four demons remaining here, then we can take things easy and spend our time peacefully."
『*Nod*』
After all of them nodded with smiles, I said, "Well then—let's go!" and finally activated our strongest fusion form—'Susanoo Kamui'.
◇
"Everyone, this way, quick…"
Meanwhile.
Kaya continued to climb up the mountain path while occasionally looking down at the town of Magrid which was being engulfed in flames with a sad look on her face.
There were many people around her, ranging from children to the elderly. They all looked exhausted.
But it was only natural.
After all, they had been driven out of their hometown by the horde of monsters that had suddenly attacked.
Furthermore, since the ships, along with the port, were destroyed early on, they had no means to escape from the island. The islanders were forced to seek refuge in the temple, the only place where they could hide themselves.
"…"
Why is all this happening? Kaya took another look at the town as her heart ached at the weeping of the people.
『Gigyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!』
There, the monsters were still spreading as much destruction as they could.
How terrible… Kaya urged the people to hurry while trying hard to hold back her tears that were about to overflow.
The vigilante corps had already been annihilated—the adventurers who were visiting the island had also united and tried to fight back, but there was nothing they could do in the face of the sheer number of monsters, and most of them had ended up losing their lives.
Thanks to their effort, however, the islanders managed to escape the town, but at the rate things were going, it was only a matter of time before the monsters found them.
Even if they managed to make it to the temple and holed themselves in it, the sea was so rough due to the bad weather.
It was unlikely, to say the least, that rescue would come for them.
With that being the case, the only thing they could do, assuming that they would make it to the temple, was to listlessly wait for the monsters to break into the temple and make a feast out of them one day.
If that were the case, we might as well die sooner…
"—!?"
At that point, Kaya suddenly regained her senses. She shook her head to dispel her stupid thoughts.
The gentle Exa would surely be sad if she died.
That was why she must not bear such a thought.
Even in this situation, as long as she didn't give up until the very end, he would surely come and save—
Just then.
"—Gugyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"
『!?』
Misfortune struck. A large dragon-type monster—Fafnir—found Kaya and the others. It rushed towards them with its jaws wide open.
『Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?』
As the islanders were frozen in fear, Kaya—face paled—clenched her fists, forced her trembling body to move to the front of the islanders, and spread her arms protectively.
『Kaya-sama!?』
"Gigyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"
But of course, the Fafnir didn't stop its momentum. It headed straight for Kaya, spraying its saliva everywhere along its course.
Scary, scary, scary, scary—
(Exa-sama…)
Closing her eyes shut, Kaya's body stiffened in anticipation of the pain of death that would soon hit her, but…
"—Don't worry. I won't let you die no matter what."
"…Huh?"
—BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!
At that moment, the Fafnir before Kaya, as well as the dark clouds hanging in the sky instantly scattered away.