How long has it been?
The last time I was completely swallowed by "darkness," when I lost my freedom entirely…
How much time has passed since then?
"I really don't want to think back on those memories."
Not long ago, she had been the Goddess of Beauty who stood at the very pinnacle of Orario, radiant, immaculate, and in control of the strongest faction of the age.
Unfortunately, now she was trapped amid a sea of ruins.
Her cheek felt slightly damp.
It wasn't tears born of fear.
It was blood, already beginning to dry.
She couldn't move.
Even shifting a finger was already her absolute limit.
"If it weren't for that child, I'd definitely be dead by now… forcibly sent back to the Heavens."
Freya knew this fact very well.
With her innate ability of Charm, she was practically a bug-level existence in the Lower World.¹
But even so, with her divine power sealed, she was nothing more than an all-knowing yet powerless ordinary person.
So when she and the Babel Tower, shattered by that destructive purple light, fell together from the sky… after surviving such a calamity, it should have been impossible for her to still be alive.
No, truth be told, Freya knew she had already died once.
She had been saved by that child's ability, revival cooking.²
And now…
"Crack~"
Above her exquisitely beautiful yet fragile body, the massive fragments of rock, pressing down on her, restricting her movement, barely holding together in a semi-stable structure, began to loosen.
The tremors around her hadn't stopped even once.
Clearly, the colossal monster that had destroyed the Babel Tower was still alive… still rampaging.
Honestly speaking, if it were anyone else, they would probably be terrified, afraid that the aftershocks might steal away the life they had barely survived with.
But Freya smiled instead.
She knew…
That child, who wasn't truly related to her by blood, had already come to save her.
Once again.
Twice in a single day.
When Renjiro (Aether), using the detection effect of Elemental Vision, precisely locked onto Freya's position and safely dug her out, there was still a wooden spike, about the length of a recorder, embedded in her lower abdomen.
It seemed to be a fragment from one of her formerly luxurious pieces of furniture, shattered and scattered everywhere.
Her right leg was bent at an angle so unnatural that just looking at it made one's scalp tingle with pain.
And yet, when she met Renjiro (Aether)'s gaze, those violet eyes, capable of seeing through the true light of the soul of Lower World beings, narrowed slightly.
The elegant Goddess of Beauty still maintained her composure, smiling faintly.
Renjiro (Aether) honestly hadn't expected his usually pampered goddess-sister to be this tough.
She could still smile in this state?
If this were before his transmigration… certain people would probably scream their lungs out from nothing more than a scraped finger.
Forget it. No point thinking about that.
Renjiro (Aether)'s gaze shifted downward, landing on the wooden spike in Freya's abdomen, nearly as long as a forearm.
Emmmm~
"Sis, let me ask you something."
"Hmm?"
After such a hard-earned reunion, seeing that Renjiro (Aether) didn't seem particularly overjoyed upon seeing her again, only letting out a sigh of relief before casually asking a question, Freya felt both slightly annoyed and somewhat puzzled.
"What is it?"
"Do you like sexy or do you prefer macho men?"
"Huh?"
The Goddess of Beauty froze in utter disbelief.
And right at that moment,
"Shhk~"
Renjiro (Aether) moved with lightning speed, having Paimon directly collect the wooden spike as an "item."
At this instant, although Freya didn't have to endure the pain of the wound tearing open again, the sheer abruptness of it all,
"Hiss, "
"Alright~ one serving of Mint Jelly coming right up. Cool and refreshing."
Just as Freya instinctively tried to cry out, her mouth was immediately stuffed with a blue-green, semi-solid substance.
She, Freya, the supreme goddess of the Freya Familia, had avoided being forcibly sent back to the Heavens today, only to be force-fed instead?
This brat… truly had nerves of steel!
And so, what followed…
"Hey, hey, easy, easy! Damn it, we can talk this out! Don't hit my face!"
The Goddess of Beauty, who had ruled from on high for years, was now puffing out her cheeks like a hamster, performing the unprecedented act of flailing her tiny fists, no correction, tapping him on the forehead in protest.
The gap mode was honestly a little lethal.
And amidst this playful scuffle, all of Freya's injuries were completely healed.
Even her fractured right leg had fully recovered.
When this brief interlude finally came to an end…
"Come, come, be good now, have a bite of this Sweet Shrimp Sushi as well. One of the revival dishes."
"Oh~"
The former "queen" who had ruled Orario for over a decade now looked exceptionally obedient.
And it was precisely at this moment,
"Lady Freya."
The newcomer's dash speed was astonishingly fast.
In almost the blink of an eye, before Renjiro (Aether) could even register where he came from, a black-haired catman was already standing beside him and Freya.
Holding a long spear and wearing light gear, he was clearly a fast-assault type warrior.
"Long time no see, Mr. Allen."
Renjiro (Aether) glanced sideways at this not-so-familiar vice-captain.
"I heard that you and Mr. Ottar are responsible for my goddess-sister's daily security."
"Looks like that job isn't an easy one, if even a Lv.6 plus a Lv.7 couldn't handle it."
For some reason, his mood was extremely poor right now.
His tone was nothing like his usual easygoing self.
As for the listener,
"Huh?"
Allen, this cat, this man, had always been proud and unruly by nature.
You could be the sworn kin of his goddess for all he cared; piss him off, and he'd still throw hands.
Of course, he wouldn't go for the kill.
That said, for Renjiro (Aether) as he was now, a mere Lv.6 wasn't someone he was completely helpless against.
If they really fought…
"That's enough. Let's stop here."
Freya regained her usual authority.
Ahem, if she brushed off that lone grain of rice stuck at the corner of her mouth, it'd be even better.
Renjiro (Aether) silently pointed at the corner of his own lips as a demonstration. Freya paused, then calmly removed the rice grain as if nothing had happened.
"Aether, Allen is Syr's bodyguard. My safety is Ottar's responsibility."
Freya spoke gently, like she was soothing an unruly child.
"Earlier, it was also my order for Ottar to intercept that monster…"
She casually pointed toward the colossal being still rampaging through the city and continued,
"So this incident wasn't anyone's fault."
"It was my misjudgment."
As her words fell,
"I wouldn't dare."
Allen bowed slightly. His attitude was respectful and willingly lowered, yet neither servile nor arrogant.
As for Renjiro (Aether)…
"Sigh~ as long as you're safe."
He let out a helpless breath, then turned to the black-haired catman youth beside him.
"Mr. Allen, I was rude just now. I hope you won't take it to heart."
"Mm."
Since he was his goddess's sworn kin, Allen, cold on the outside but warm within, was willing to give him that much face.
After that…
"There's still a lot of trouble to deal with next, but… my goddess-sister's safety comes first."
Renjiro (Aether) turned his gaze toward the massive monster in the distance.
Clearly, that thing wasn't the true body.
Just like the one that appeared near the Large Tree Labyrinth's border before, it was a Antares-type existence.
If they wanted to deal with it…
"We'll have to ask Barbara to come over again… huh?"
Just as the thought of using the same trick again crossed Renjiro (Aether)'s mind, his brows furrowed.
Because at that very moment, Lumine's side also sent over the intelligence she had gathered about the situation elsewhere.
To sum it up,
"They want me to recover my mana as soon as possible?"
"And they need Barbara over there too?"
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100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter
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