by Fujino Omori
“That child, Bell Cranell, is immune to our Charm! Don’t you want to know why?”
Freya’s thin shoulders jumped in surprise. Just behind her, Tammuz’s second foot landed squarely on an intact slab of the garden’s stone floor.
“Should that be true, it makes him even more alluring. Now I want him even more.”
Freya’s eyes smiled, getting caught up in her own fantasy for a moment. Meanwhile, Tammuz held his breath as he quickly but silently snuck up behind the goddess.
“However, there is no need for me to hear it from you.”
Freya took another step forward. Tammuz chose that moment to strike.
I win! Ishtar screamed to herself, a malicious smile on her lips.
Just as Tammuz’s hands were a mere heartbeat from Freya’s neck—she calmly turned to face him like she knew he’d been there the entire time.
Ishtar’s poor follower was hit by the full force of Freya’s beauty. Taking it all in at once, Tammuz came to a sudden halt.
Ishtar watched in horror as Freya stepped toward her prized child, slid her fingers down his cheek, and smiled back at him.
“Ah…ahhh…!”
Tammuz collapsed to the floor.
Cheeks blushing and slack-jawed, the human looked up at the silver-haired goddess with glistening, quivering eyes.
The man who had received every bit of love Ishtar had to offer had been Charmed by Freya in the blink of an eye.
“Would you give us some privacy?”
Nodding over and over at Freya’s request, Tammuz climbed to his feet and drifted away from the two deities as if walking on a cloud.
Time stood still for Ishtar.
Her man had just been stolen. It happened right in front of her eyes.
He had sworn loyalty to her, been overwhelmed by her beauty, and still that woman had been able to nullify her love. Tammuz had been Charmed to the point he should have been her devout servant. There wasn’t enough humanity left within him to be Charmed by another.
Despite all that, Freya stole him.
Her Charm had been overwritten.
In other words, it was undeniable proof that Freya’s beauty exceeded her own.
Ishtar’s pride snapped, crumbling into nothingness.
“……hhy.”
Whispered sounds weren’t strong enough to become words.
Fingers clenched into fists; molars ground against each other.
Her tan skin, her luscious, curvy body, every feature of her face shook with anger and humiliation.
“WHY?!”
Ishtar howled at Freya, her skin flaring red.
Men who prized beauty above all else went to Freya, not her.
Just a moment ago, she had seen her own Charm erased. She could steal anyone from her.
They were both Goddesses of Beauty, so why was this possible?
Freya took another step closer, causing Ishtar to lash out once again.
“You and I—just what the hell is the difference?!”
“Essence.”
A clear assertion.
“”
Petrified, Ishtar fell silent while Freya laughed at her in jest.
“Nothing else makes sense now, does it?”
A moment of silence.
Followed almost immediately by one deity’s tormented scream.
“UHH—UwwAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Her mind burning white, Ishtar charged Freya with all the ferocity of a wounded bear.
The image that triggered Argonaut, the hero Issen Douji.
Despite his small stature, the legendary samurai from the Far East had fought a horde of over a thousand ogres in order to protect one little girl.
Gathering strength using one of Haruhime’s favorite heroes, Bell braced the broadsword against his shoulder.
“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”
Directly in front of him, Aisha’s war cry ripped through the air as she slammed her massive wooden sword into the stone flooring at her feet.
The gallant female warrior used every muscle in her body to trigger her Magic.
“Hell Kaios!”
An immense crimson shock wave emerged from the point where the tip of her weapon pierced stone.
Magical energy poured down her sword and followed the shock wave onto the battlefield. The energy spike grew larger, like the dorsal fin of a colossal shark emerging from the surface of the sea. Crimson wave engulfing the Floating Garden, the blade of energy careened at Bell.
Bell met it head-on. It had grown to twice his size by the time it came within range of the glowing broadsword. Bell stepped forward and put his entire body into one overarching swing.
A five-second charge.
The chimes of Argonaut filled the air as Magic collided with Skill.
“GEH—UUAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Crimson energy and white light detonated at the point of impact.
Flashes of crimson and white illuminated the Floating Garden under the moonlit sky.
—The charge wasn’t enough.
Not enough power, not even close. Bell’s feet were pushed backward by the crimson onslaught.
The heat of the magical energy singed his skin. CRACK! Several lines snaked their way through the blade of the broadsword.
Bell’s eyes shot open as wide as they could go—but he refused to give any more ground. Thinking of Haruhime, he gritted his teeth and started to push back.
Mikoto had entrusted him with her mission. He had promises to keep, the resolve to see this through. And there was a girl’s smile he wanted to see.
Power flowed back into his limbs. His spirit bellowed. His Status flamed to life.
Bell drove the broadsword through the crimson blade with all his body.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!”
BOOM! A blinding flash filled the night.
The two energies offset each other, dissipating into flickering specks of light as they faded into nothingness.
“Canceled it out…?!”
Aisha spat in anger as she watched her Magic disappear. However, the right corner of her lips was still curled in a smirk.
Hell Kaios dissipated along with Argonaut’s energy. Only the moonlight and the soft glow of lunatic light illuminated their standoff. At the same time, the explosion had triggered a burst of wind and a thin cloud of smoke—through which the white-haired boy charged with all the speed he could muster.
“!!”
The broadsword overwhelmed by Argonaut’s energy, Bell threw the broken weapon to the side as he closed the distance.
The sight of an empty-handed opponent rushing toward her made Aisha’s smirk turn into an all-out grin. Tossing aside her own weapon, the Amazon set her feet.
—Too slow!!
The toll of Argonaut.
Executing the Skill required a great deal of physical and mental energy. Mind and muscles taxed to their limit, the boy’s body was a far cry from peak condition.
Aisha could see it. She carefully watched his movements, including the absurd amount of sweat flying off his body. She saw her chance and prepared to unleash a reverse roundhouse kick.
In range.
“GIEH—”
The incredible reach of the Amazon’s leg allowed her heel to hit Bell on the side of the head before the boy had a chance to defend.
She felt the impact, his head bending down. Her grin opened wider, feeling his hair on the back of her foot—slide under.
The boy was still moving forward.
Bell’s momentum carried him even closer to Aisha.
Bell hadn’t tried to defend. Instead, he focused all his remaining strength into attacking.
All the energy not sapped by Argonaut, all the energy left in every cell of his body, was poured into this strike.
Aisha watched helplessly as Bell’s fist had a clear shot at her exposed stomach.
Ruby-red eyes shining with determination, the boy put everything he had int
o one punch.
“UWAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”
The white rabbit’s “vorpal fang.”
“GuUUH!”
Aisha’s body bent under the force of the blow to her gut.
Although her feet left the ground for a moment, her Defense was strong enough to withstand the hit. However—
Bell wasn’t done.
“FIREBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLT!”
Point-blank range.
“GAHHHhh!”
A bolt of magical energy surged forth from the fist still buried in her abdominal muscles.
Aisha’s body was launched skyward by several flaming lightning bolts.
Bell had committed his entire store of Mind to unleash every ounce of firepower his Magic could produce. The backlash in this explosion of energy through his weakened body erupted into the air as well. A quick flip, and he landed on his left hand and feet, sliding backward in a cloud of dust.
The boy’s right hand was burned to a crisp, smoke still rising from his clenched fist.
The jagged electrical burn marks jutting out from Aisha’s stomach were much more severe. Wide eyes hidden by her long bangs, a small smile grew on her lips as she fell through the air.
A smoking comet over the moon, the Amazon landed flat on her back and remained silent.
She had been defeated.
“UhhUUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
The roar of a Goddess of Beauty echoed through the dark evening sky.
A sudden gust of wind ripped through her private garden as Ishtar launched herself at Freya, her face warped into a visage unbecoming of a deity. As for Freya…
…she calmly stepped out of the way with a small twirl.
“?!”
Long locks of silver hair and the silky white skin of her opponent’s shoulder blades flashed before Ishtar’s eyes. Her momentum carried her past her target like a boat riding a raging river past its dock.
The steep cliff behind Freya came rushing into view. The pupils of her eyes shrank to nothing but dots as Ishtar slammed her feet into the stone flooring in a desperate attempt to stop herself. A small cloud of dust rose into the air at her feet as she came to a halt with less than a celch to spare.
However…ker-tap, ker-tap.
“HYE—”
Thin high heels echoed behind her. Panicking, she spun around, only to feel a hand hit her square in the chest.
Freya stood there, ice in her eyes, and gave Ishtar a push.
Her heel was off the edge. There was nothing between her and the cliff. Nothing to save her.
Ishtar stretched up her body in a desperate attempt to avoid falling into a dark abyss that spread out beneath her at the base of her palace.
“Wai—”
Wait, Freya.
Those words were abruptly cut short.
SLAP.
Freya’s hand left a red imprint on Ishtar’s cheek.
“—a.”
A silent plea that fell on deaf ears. Body twisting, Ishtar lost her balance and fell off the edge.
Freya peered over the side and watched from the very top of the palace as the other deity became smaller and smaller.
She enjoyed every moment of the look on her former rival’s face before she fell out of sight. It brought a smile to her lips.
Until finally—THUD!
The cracking of divine bones shattered the silence.
Arcanum activated at the moment a fatal wound had been inflicted on an immortal body.
Ishtar’s divine power sprang to life in the form of light more beautiful than anything ever before seen on Gekai—which violated the rules of their game.
Freya watched with glee and snapped her fingers the moment that Arcanum’s light reached her eyes.
A heartbeat later, countless glowing orbs descended on the spot where Ishtar fell—BOOOM! A new, deeper explosion shook the Pleasure Quarter. A pillar of light took over the night sky.
A bridge of light that signaled a goddess’s return to Tenkai.
Any deity who lost the game could never return.
A cruel smile appeared on Freya’s lips as she watched her rival on Gekai meet a permanent end.
“Hopefully you’ve learned not to antagonize your superiors. Either way, it’s too late now.”
With one last grin, Freya turned her back on the pillar of light.
The score was settled.
With Aisha defeated, Bell stumbled his way toward Haruhime, kneeled, and braced her upper body against his knees.
A sudden pillar of light rose to the heavens right in front of his eyes, the sonic boom pushing against his skin.
“What is that…?”
No way, he thought to himself as he looked upon the celestial light in awe.
A deity had been sent back to heaven.
The boy had never seen anything like this colossal beacon in his young life. He wasn’t the only one to behold it for the first time, either. Other citizens of Orario looked out their windows with their own eyes to see the gigantic pillar dominating the landscape.
The songs of fairies that had been passed down through tales of heroes and mythical stories, or perhaps the roars of ferocious monsters that shook the land under his feet, were the only things that could rival the mythical light before him at this moment. All were seared into his memory.
Bell’s breathing slowed as he watched the pillar part the clouds and continue on beyond the sky. It was as if this new light were illuminating the whole world at once. The shaking that accompanied the pillar suddenly stopped like the stillness after an earthquake. A sense of calm descended over Gekai.
Putting his arm around Haruhime to support her shoulders, Bell sat in silence for a few moments.
His mind wandered as he looked off into the distance. Gaze shifting, a certain divine being came into view.
“…A goddess?”
She was standing on the roof of the main tower.
The Floating Garden wasn’t quite as high as the main tower, but Bell could clearly see the deity standing close to the edge.
Even at a distance, the goddess’s perfect body was mesmerizing. There was a different aura to it, compared to Ishtar’s beauty gone too far. Yes, a tranquil beauty that he could look at until the end of time, almost magical. Her silver hair flowed in the breeze, sparkling like the stars in the night sky.
The goddess turned to face Bell, who had lost all concept of time as he stared up at her. That’s when the boy realized she was smiling at him.
And also, he felt a jolt!
A foreboding wave of cold sweat ran down his spine.
He knew this feeling. He’d felt it many times before. The feeling of being seen—a gaze that didn’t hold anything back.
The boy was speechless as his eyes registered the deity’s lips moving. While her voice didn’t reach him, their meaning washed over him like rolling thunder.
“I love you.”
Each one of the silent syllables echoed through his mind.
—It’s her.
Bell was sure of it. Every time he’d felt the strange twang of an intense stare, she was the one behind it.
The nervous beating of his heart pounding in his ears, Bell stared in fascination at the being looking down from above…when she suddenly disappeared. As if awakening from a dream, Bell took control of his quivering lungs and came back into the moment.
“Nhh…”
At long last, the eyes of the girl in his embrace started to flutter.
Her green pupils emerged moments later and she looked up toward his face.
“Master Cranell…?”
Her green eyes met Bell’s ruby-red gaze.
The girl was slowly but surely waking up. Bell watched her eyes clear for a moment before he gathered the girl’s long golden hair and laid it over his right arm. Ignoring the surprised look on Haruhime’s face, the boy put his right hand behind her head and pulled her close into his chest.
Haruhime’s fox ears and tail twitc
hed nervously, her cheeks blushing bright pink.
With Haruhime’s body braced against his, both of Bell’s hands were free. His fingers ran down her thin neck.
And slipped beneath the black collar still attached to her. CRICK! He grabbed both sides of the magic item and pulled. SNAP!
“Ah…”
Realizing what just happened, Haruhime cautiously brought her right hand up to her neck in disbelief.
The black curse of a leash that had restrained her for years had finally been lifted.
Her eyes jumped up to the boy’s face. Just one look at his bloody, wound-riddled visage told her all she needed to know. Tears flooded her eyes, making them sparkle in the moonlight.
What are you supposed to say at times like this again…?
Supporting the sitting Haruhime with both his arms, Bell’s mind went to work.
Thinking through all the heroes the girl liked, Bell desperately searched for the right words.
Then…in the end…
He found the simplest, right words to say:
“I’ve come to save you.”
The first tear rolled down Haruhime’s cheek, followed closely by a smile as radiant as a beautiful flower blooming in the early morning sun.
The distance was gone. Her real smile had finally surfaced. One look at her and Bell couldn’t help but do the same.
“Thank you…my hero.”
Those words made Bell’s cheeks turn pink. A carefree, almost childlike smile grew on his lips.
Bell shared a moment of joy and happiness with the crying yet smiling renart.
“BELL!”
“Mr. Bell—!”
The two basked in each other’s warmth until the boy’s family came to meet them.
EPILOGUE
IF SURROUNDED BY KINDNESS…
Two days had passed since Freya Familia’s attack on Ishtar Familia.
An uneasy fear still gripped the city in the aftermath. The utter destruction of Ishtar Familia and the Pleasure Quarter had numerous far-reaching effects for many residents of the Labyrinth City.
Adventurers, familias, merchants, the Guild, the gods and goddesses—too many to name.
““““Why’d you have to go and do that, Lady Freyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…?!””””
The regular customers of the Pleasure Quarter, mortal and deity, were particularly distraught after Ishtar Familia’s downfall.