And so a day has passed since Odin arranged the fight between Amaterasu and Thor.

After what happened, Odin discussed a few things with the girls and Thor. In the end, they agreed for the battle to take place in a week in an arena in Odin's world.

The winner's prize was as stated before. If the girls win, Thor has to stay and help them deal with Hypnos. If Thor wins, he can leave and do as he pleases.

Kizuna tried to stop the fight, but none of the sides would back down. So he tried to join in with the girls, but he wasn't permitted to do so. Even though he is the captain of Amaterasu, the girls said that they picked this fight, so they would settle it with their own strength.

The following day, Aine went to visit Grace and Zelcyone in the infirmary building.

Grace had been knocked out by one of the shadow gods not long after Aine and Kizuna met up, she woke up a few hours after the fight ended, but it was better for her to rest for a little while. Zelcyone had gotten hurt while protecting Grace, so that's why she was there.

Aine decided to tell them about the fight with Thor.

"And that's basically what happened."

"N-nee-sama, are you serious?"

Grace didn't even try to hide the surprise in her voice. Zelcyone however acted in a more composed manner.

"I see. Then, me and Grace-sama, along with Quartum, Ralgrus, Hyakurath and Mercuria, shall get healed soon and join your fight."

"A-ah, no, don't hurry yourselves. Of course I want everyone to get better soon, but even if you get well before the fight, it'll still be only us from Amaterasu fighting. We didn't even let Kizuna join in afterwards, so of course we're not going to let anyone else."

"Nii-sama won't fight?"

With just that bit of information, Grace seemed to understand Aine's intention. She nodded and said "I understand. In that case, I'll be cheering for everyone."

"Grace-sama?"

"Thank you, Grace."

Although she had yet to understand, Zelcyone decided to let it pass as something between sisters.

After a few seconds, Aine stood up. Before she left, she said.

"Well, I have to go check on the others now. That's also my job as emperor of Vatlantis."

Both Grace and Zelcyone said their farewells and saw Aine leave. Aine would visiti everyone in the infirmary building before going on with her plans.

Inside every house in this settlement-world Odin created, there were the everyday necessities. Of course, that includes a bath.

While none of the houses had anything that could be described as luxurious, they still offered enough comfort for everyone.

And right now, Osiris was taking a bath. She was feeling somewhat tired from the fight against the shadow gods, so she was taking a bit longer than usual.

"Pardon the intrusion."

Osiris heard a voice and turned around. The one who came in was Yurishia.

Ever since they came to this world, Yurishia and Osiris had been sharing a house, so they were living together. Since Yurishia looked a lot like Osiris' deceased daughter, she wanted to get closer to her and, after going through a few things, they did become closer.

"Oh, Yurishia. Sorry I took longer than usual. I'll be leaving soon."

"No, I don't mind if you stay. In fact, I'd say I want you to stay a little more."

After saying that, Yurishia covered her hands with soap. Then, she started scrubbing Osiris' back while also massaging it.

"I figured you were tired, so I thought I should help you today."

"I-I see. Thanks."

It was indeed true that Osiris was tired, so she didn't deny the help.

After Yurishia finished with Osiris' back, she helped her wash her hair. Once that was done, Osiris asked to be the one to help Yurishia. Yurishia said there was no need to, but Osiris insisted on it.

"Sorry. I was supposed to make you relax, but now I'm having you do this for me."

"Don't worry about it. And… if I'm going to be honest, this kinda takes me back to a time long, long ago."

"Because of your… sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"It's fine."

Osiris finished with Yurishia's back and moved on to her hair.

She let some air out of her mouth and then said.

"It is true that, originally, I only held interest in you because you look like my daughter. Maybe I thought I could pretend you were her or something. But as time passed, I started to see you for who you are. Nowadays, I can't help but also see you as my daughter. Not Isis, but as a daughter I never gave birth to."

Osiris rinsed Yurishia's hair.

"Maybe you think I'm annoying or something, so, if you want, I'll do my best to stop that."

"… I won't lie, I did find it a little annoying at the start. You were just this random woman who wanted to get close to me. But then, Kizuna died. I was… you know how I was. And at that time, you were there for me. You were close as a friend, so I felt I could open up to you, and also gentle as a mother, which helped me so much. So, well, I don't hate it, so you don't have to stop acting the way you do."

Yurishia turned to look at Osiris, who got a bit teary eyed. Osiris wiped her eyes with her hands, but Yurishia then said "come here" and gave Osiris a hug.

They held the other tightly in their arms. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it did get their feelings across.

And because of that, Osiris felt like it was the time to ask.

"Are you really going to fight him, Thor?"

"Yeah."

"But he's a god. One of the strongest ones at that. I don't want to see you get hurt, so-"

"Even so, it's something we have to do. Both for ourselves and for everyone else. Even if we lose, even if we get hurt, it's something we feel like we need to do."

Osiris was seeing first hand Yurishia's determination. She had said not long ago that she thought of Yurishia like a daughter, so she couldn't turn a blind eye to that.

So, at that moment, Osiris made her own decision.

She got up from her position and told Yurishia to also stand up. She looked into Yurishia's eyes as she said.

"Alright then. If it is what you want, I'll support you. I'll help you and the others."

"T-thanks, really" Yurishia showed Osiris a sincere smile and got another one back in response.

Osiris then tried to change the mood.

Taking advantage that they were both standing up, Osiris gave Yurishia's butt a light slap as she said.

"Well, first things first, we have to finish this bath."

"Y-yeah. Haha."

Yurishia laughed at what Osiris did. Then, they finished their bath.

Hayuru had finished her bath not long ago and was getting dressed. Her roommate, Sylvia, had just come out of the bath as well.

They were both silently getting dressed. There was no need for one to say anything to the other, they both knew what they should do and why they were doing it.

Hayuru finished getting dressed first. She then waited until Sylvia was finished.

"Sylvia, are you ready?"

"Yes desu."

With both of them ready, they left their house and went to where they needed to go.

They headed for the Vatlantis Imperial battleship. Although the ship wasn't being used for transportation, it was still being kept here in case they needed to escape all at once, it also functioned as a command center.

They entered the ship's command room. Since the person they were looking for wasn't there, they asked about her whereabouts and headed to where they were told to go.

However, they had a surprise meeting on the way.

"Oh, so everyone came."

"I guess we all had the same idea."

The ones Hayuru and Sylvia met were Yurishia and Aine. Hayuru and Sylvia had talked this over, that's why they were together, but Aine and Yurishia apparently also had the same idea. What a coincidence.

Since that was the case, Hayuru told the other two to come with them. They would meet this person together.

And so they did.

On the ship's deck, Odin was there, as if waiting for them.

"I had a feeling about this, but you all actually did come. I know what you're going to ask, but let's hear it."

Odin had her back turned to them, but then she turned around and faced them. Then, the four girls from Amaterasu stepped forward and said all at the same time.

"Odin, we would like it if you could train us for the battle with Thor."

"I refuse."

"E-eh?"

Odin's near instantaneous response surprised the girls. It's not like Odin had any obligation to help them, but they also didn't expect to be turned down so easily.

"Don't get me wrong, you all got the right idea. But I want to stay as a neutral mediator until the end. Besides, I'm the one who taught that boy how to fight, so you'd have a bit of an unfair advantage over him if I helped you all."

What Odin said made sense, and if she said she wanted to stay neutral until the end, there's nothing they can say about it. The girls could only give up.

"I see. We're sorry for disturbing you."

After Aine said that, they were all about to leave, but then Odin called them back.

"Wait. I said you all had the right idea, didn't I? I'm not the only one here that can help you."

The girls then turned back to look at Odin again. Odin then said "come out already" and they noticed there was someone behind them.

It was Osiris. She appeared once Odin called her and her face looked a bit annoyed.

"No no, I see how it is. All four of you prefer Odin over me. Really, and I even told Yurishia I'd help you all. I thought she went to call you three, but you were all taking so long that I went to check what had happened and look at what I find."

The first thing that happened was that the three other girls directed their eyes to Yurishia, as if asking why she didn't tell them about this, Yurishia answered saying she didn't think that's what Osiris meant.

They then looked at Odin again. Before they said anything, Odin told them "I once battled with Osiris. It ended in a draw. So I'll leave calming her down to you four" which only made the girls swallow their saliva.

Yurishia was then pushed forward by three forces of mysterious origin and certainly wasn't pushed forward by her teammates. There was no backing down now.

"O-Osiris, c-could you help us prepare for the battle with Thor?"

If one peeked into the girls' hearts, they would see they were scared no matter what the answer was.

"Of course. I said I would, didn't I? Don't worry, I'll roughen the four of you enough that no god will be able to put a dent on you. Come on, we're starting right now. We only got a week after all."

Osiris started walking right after saying that. Although the Amaterasu girls has smiles on their faces, their hearts were completely taken by fear.

Luckily, they survived the training… or at least managed to get to the day of the battle.