Y/N POV
What do I do? What should and possibly can do?
I cannot fight a being with Absolute Severance. That means all my Authorities will be cut, and the only thing I can use is pure mana! Aside from the help of my spirits... hold up, will it cut through mana, too?
A horrible realization filled me. If stripped of every supernatural power that was available in this world, would i just be an empty shell with nothing but knowledge?
Wait, no. There's something.
Zarestia kills and annihilates anything that I throw at her, which means that external attacks don't work. There are only two types of internal attacks: One, using the memory injection ability of Pure Truth, or the special ability of Ryuuhou used by Gaston.
Well, there's no harm in giving both a try, is there?
Taking up my fists, I imbued my body with the atmosphere's surrounding mana. It was a different approach than Akra, since it relied on the usage of pure mana to strengthen it throughout every muscle, vein, and nerve that I possessed.
"Memory Injection-"
Before I could finish my sentence, I was blown away by another gust of wind, slamming me into a building nearby. Patching up the holes caused by Zarestia's damage, I made my way back before launching an attack with my fully-enhanced Ryuuhou fist.
And it worked, somewhat.
The attack's shockwave got through, but Zarestia seemed unfazed overall. I leaped back in shock, only for me to get sliced in the stomach by another blade of wind. Clutching my abdomen in pain, I slowly backed away from the still raging Great Spirit of Wind.
Y/N. All the citizens are evacuated. How's it going on your side?
Chid-chan, this is an emergency. The target has mastered Absolute Severance. Code Red.
I'll send Capella and Sphinx over, is that okay?
No. Send-
Before I could relay my telepathic message to Omega, Zarestia appeared before me, and she sliced down towards me with her hand before it was suddenly stopped my a familiar wolf-man.
"Halibel!" I exclaimed in surprise before the old man gave me a smile.
"I'll take care of things from here. Get yourself out before you suffer any more damage. I fought with her before, so I know how to defeat her."
"She's insanely strong though..."
"Don't worry too much, Y/N. For an old man like me, there's nothing that we don't know about by this day and age."
I muttered a 'you'll be surprise about how much you don't know' under my breath, but nodded to Halibel before I glided down the buildings using the Flying Seal. Capella and Sphinx just happened to arrive at this time, and they looked very worried.
"Heal me a little... thanks..."
A sudden fatigue washed over my body, and for the first time in a week, I fell unconscious.
3rd Person POV
As Kararagi's strongest and the Great Spirit of Wind clashed in the sky, the Admirer sighed as he scratched his head while his clone dealt with the raging woman.
"You really are a large nuisance. Well, I think that boy has the potential to finally quell you, and perhaps, it would be the end of all of this unnecessary trouble for myself."
"Time to finish this, don't you think?" Halibel snorted as he leapt into the sky, before jabbing and hooking out a tiny piece of a bead, and crushed it to pieces as the Great Spirit of Wind suddenly stopped its rampage.
"You. You damn mutt, what did you just do?"
"I simply removed that chunk of your Light Sphere that you were using to cause destruction. As I've always done when you keep on throwing tantrums. Really, for a thousand-year old spirit, you are quite childish and feisty."
"So? Why did you stop me from chasing the thief of my power?"
"Fuu... obviously he did not have it, or else he would've beat you ever so easily. Face it, your 'Light Sphere' as Y/N called it, in stolen by someone else. So do you want us to help or not?"
"Hmph. Mortals who dare trifle my peaceful life, if you truly have the determination and wish to aid me, find me at the cavern."
With that, the Great Spirit of Wind disappeared without a trace, and Halibel looked in the direction of the spirit's path, and let out a large sigh.
Seriously, that kid... if he just had a bit more power, he might've actually broken through Zarestia's wind barrier through brute force. How scary.
The new generation is so fascinating, isn't it?
And look at him now. All surrounded by those beauties. Unbelievable. It's so ironic how that bartender called me a player. Look at this kid now.
Might as well help him achieve what he wants to achieve.
He is one who could change the world, after all.
? POV
A single space.
A ringularity.
No, it was domain of 'deities'.
These beings have existed long before the creation of Od Laguna, older than everything.
They can be called 'overseers' of this multiverse.
A single figure stepped into the dim light where the group held their meetings, and sat down in her spot, her legs crossed in annoyance.
Her name is not able to be pronounced by mere mortals, similar to another person in another multiverse, but she didn't know that.
Blue flames danced around her like tidal waves, signalling destruction, yet her fierce temper somehow manages to keep them under control.
This is the Goddess of Fire and Order.
Her two golden cross-shaped earrings waved back and forth in anticipation, similar to her own mood. This was quickly stopped as a little flying pet descended upon the sky, and she incinerated it without a thought.
"You're so mean, Pyr!" The white-haired woman screeched as she descended from the sky. Her ghosts swirling around her, she sat in her respective seat.
"Don't call me by that pathetic nickname you made up. It disgusts me." The Goddess of Fire spat back, making the woman in white shiver. Suddenly, another entity appeared with her round capsule, taking her spot around the circle.
"Tsune-chan!" The Goddess of Ghosts ran towards the new member, and immediately latched her arms around her.
The turquoise-haired girl jumped in surprise, before slowly pushing the other woman off. "You seriously need to be more mature, **********-san. It's not really comfortable knowing that you're less reliable than me, who is considerably younger than you. Also, you just ruined my music."
"Tsune-chan, I'm sorry! Can I please come into your capsule to cuddle, though?"
"Fine..." 'Tsune' sighed in exasperation, and the Goddess of Ghosts did a 'yippee!' before plunging into the various pillows and figure plushies.
Currently, only three of the seven have gathered.
The Goddess of Fire and Order.
The Goddess of Ghosts and Pranks.
The Goddess of Music and Desire.
"Where's Chaos and Code, Order?" 'Tsune' asked the emo goddess, who answered her curtly.
"Chaos is in some kind of battle, as always. She loves joining wars too much, honestly. Code is still in her domain being an useless shut-in and a recluse. The last time I asked her to come out, she told me that she'll tell Chaos to cause a universal war if I forced her. End is not here because... she just didn't come. I can't really do anything about that. And as for her... she's still missing."
"Welp... it's just us three again, huh?"
"If you count the useless pile of illusions behind you, then only two." 'Pyr' sighed before she quenched her flames and her earrings started wobbling again. "Well then, shall we discuss about the anomaly that came into our multiverse?"
Y/N POV
It was the next day already when I woke up.
Right now we're on our steam engine cart, heading towards the edge of the Great Waterfall, where Zarestia's Bed lies. Usually, nobody would even think of going anywhere near this place, since Zarestia will outright murder you. However, Halibel and Zarestia has some kind of deal, so she wouldn't slaughter us if we do go to her abode.
Seriously, how did that geezer do it?
He must've known some kind of weak spot. Or else, no way could anyone possibly defeat that monster head on. Come to think of it, Halibel did say something about spirits in the morning. Something specifically about my spirits.
And also...
Palmyra, our battalion's mage, mentioned something strange. Yesterday at the battle, she was apparently near all the wind slashes that Zarestia unleashed. However, when she was about to get hit by them along with Colette, she said the wind kind of curved away from her and just went straight back to where they came from.
I asked Echidna about this, and she said that Colette and Palmyra were both obviously special individuals with potential, or else she would've never taken them with her in the first place even if it was by my request. Wow. What a great way to divert the attention to the actual topic, Chid-chan. What is it that I can't know again?
Interestingly, despite Echidna knowing basically everything in this world, she refuses to tell me some of the things. For example, the Al Shario spell. I want to summon meteors! Why don't you just teach me?
I guess there is the possibility of me going crazy and start bombarding the entire world with meteors...
Anyways... after my long thoughts have passed, Zarestia's Bed came into view, and the entire crew was hyped, including all the kids. The only one who is mildly interested is Halibel, who seemed to be very, (very) interested in my steam engine, and started poking around it as he tried to understand the modern contraption.
We got off near the part where the grass started turning into jagged rocks, and I told Valgren to expand himself so we could get there more easily. Halibel seemed shocked that I had a hydra under my wing, but I guess everything is kind of surprising about me.
Halibel sat at the front to make sure we know where we're going, and the rest decided to admire the view of Western Kararagi. Within minutes, we arrived at the destination, where Zarestia resided.
"I see that you have arrived." Zarestia said as she emerged from the cave just as we landed, and Valgren shrunk himself to fit on my shoulder. Seeing the dramatic transformation he just performed, Zarestia scoffed but stopped quickly. "I see that you're right, mutt. He is truly an extraordinary individual. It's been centuries since I've seen a dragon, regardless of what kind."
Even though she said that in quite the praising tone, a wave of aura was immediately unleashed upon us. I immediately activated Dominator's Domain around us, greatly diminishing the effect of her bloodlust. "On what terms should I trust you all to aid me in my search for my lost artifact?"
I struggled for an answer as I tried to calm everyone down, especially Colette, who was extremely scared of the Great Spirit and on the verge of crying, since Cahya and Bayanga were very nice and caring. Wait, speaking of Cahya and Bayanga...
"Tia... we haven't seen each other in 400 years, and this is how you treat our contractor?"
"Honestly, you're just as childish as you were back then."
Cahya and Bayanga popped onto my right shoulder, since Valgren occupied the left. Glaring at the Great Spirit of Wind, it was kind of hard to imagine that a tiny pixie and succubus could possibly stop the wrath of a much older being. However, this world was known for defying my expectations, and Zarestia's bloodlust disappeared immediately, much to my surprise.
"Cahya and Bayanga?" Zarestia's tone suddenly changed, and she rushed straight into my Domain, snatching the two off my shoulder and hugging them in her bosom. As I struggled to understand what was happening, Echidna gave off a loud sigh as she facepalmed in exasperation. Alchemis also appeared, and decided to give me an explanation.
"Frakinedottir was always interested in the Great Spirits, aside from the other witches, of course. However, none ever had the intention to meet her, so she decided to advance her other two spirits (not me because Melakeura held the position of Fire), to the level of Great Spirits in hopes of having others welcoming them for their ascension."
"And they all came?"
"Of course not. Muspel never had a consciousness, so it obviously did nothing. Odglass was busy with Gusteko as usual, and Melakeura apparently didn't like it because it 'disrupted the balance of the world'. So in the end, we went to Zarestia, who happily welcomed her new equals and developed quite the intimate relationship with each other during our stay-"
Alchemis was cut off immediately sa Zarestia grabbed him and hugged him as well. I decided to let them have their own little reunion, since there was no harm in doing so.
Zarestia mentioned that the thief had miasma, but that was highly unlikely as the Gluttonies have no interest in fighting a Great Spirit. Could it be that she meant that the person had traces of miasma? Then again, who would...
At this precise moment, as if the heavens wished it themselves, Pure Truth activated and reminded me of a piece of information that I have forgotten.
Ah... if it's just an oni, and she has a part of Capella...
Then we are already well on the trail of our thief.
Let the hunt begin.
Bzzz...t
? POV (Code)
"It's almost complete..."
The lone woman tapped on her computer, trying to perfect her creation.
"It won't be ready for a long time, though. I haven't even done alpha tests on this subject yet..."
"But at least my debt to her will be finally paid off once I send this to her successor."
"If only, Frakinedottir, you did not anger a deity. Such a pity indeed. However, it's not like I could do anything against Order... she is the third strongest of us all, after all."