"Eris-chan?"
"Oh, who's this new friend, Rista?"
"Ah, please forgive my rudeness," Eris said, bowing politely. "Greetings, miss. My name is Eris, goddess of fortune from the ******** pantheon."
"A pleasure to meet you," Ariadoa replied gracefully. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Goddess Ariadoa of the ****** pantheon. My divinities revolve around sealing."
After this a slight silence descended upon them, Ristarte feeling this chill broke the ice, "Eris-chan, Seth had just left. He heard his shipment of crafting stuff had just arrived, so he just bolted from this place to start it."
"Thanks, Ristarte-chan, but still, do you know where Seth went?"
"Not a clue." Ristarte shrugged.
"Hmm… I think we do." Ariadoa suddenly said out loud.
Ristarte and Eris turned towards Ariadoa, "Moments ago Seth had just left due to a waitress informing him of certain matters. So we could just ask her about it."
Eris touched her lips, "I see! Thank you very much Goddess Ariadoa!" Eris bowed.
"You're welcome, also since it's come to this, can we come along Eris?"
Ristarte and Eris turned their heads to Aria.
"Can 'we' come along? You mean?" Ristarte pointed at herself.
"Yes, you too Ristarte, I think we had enough of our fill in this cafe, why don't we take a stroll together for our food to settle?" Ariadoa directed them to their finished plates and cups.
Eris and Rista turned towards each other,
"..." Rista was unsure how to react.
Eris on the other hand, "...Sure, you can?"
"Great!" Aria cheered a bit, "Don't worry, we won't hinder—"
Ristarte immediately pulled Her friend over, "Aria… What's going on!?" she whispered.
"Oh, Rista, don't look so suspicious," Aria laughed softly, "You hardly ever spend time with others back in the pantheon. I thought it would be nice for you to spend more time with Eris here," she said in a friendly, almost motherly manner.
Ristarte squinted more; this sudden suggestion felt off.
Usually, you'd just invite her to join us at this table, since we're in a cafe and all. But this?!
"You hiding something Aria! Should I know what's going on?"
"You're overthinking it Rista. I thought you'd like the company, that's all."
"Ugh…" Ristarte had nothing to refute about that. In the end, Ristarte and Ariadoa did joined Eris in her search for Seth.
—
"Ah, That's where they entered." Right now all of them were next to the time chamber.
Numerous Gods and Goddesses have been queuing in front of the time chamber. All happily discussing how to beat our hero down.
Seth said he would make Seiya's training a big exclusive event. But to think it became this popular….
If she counted correctly, their numbers reached the hundreds, reminding her of how big the organization was, especially given that only a small fraction of the gods had reached the minimum combat-related skills required to participate in this event.
For the majority who did not fulfill the combat-based requirements, they placed a huge screen on the horizon, televising Seiya and Seth at their every moment. And yes, from it the space around the chamber turned into a festival-carnival place of some sort.
The place transformed into a festive plaza—a vibrant open space reminiscent of a grand sporting event—where townsfolk gathered on chairs, all eager to catch the live spectacle. But in this, the townsfolk are gods across the multiverse, and the live spectacle is a gruesome war with my hero as its raid boss. Plus… they're PLACING BETS ON HIM! She thought as she saw a betting stall on the side.
An android with a monitor for a head is taking on all their bets. From how many bottles of potion Seiya would drink, how low his HP or MP would get, how many sword slashes he would receive, and what moves or tactics he would use.
"Rista! Over here! We found a table!" Aria called her.
"Oh finally!! Coming!" The place's too full. She had been standing for hours and her legs almost gave up.
When she came near she recognized another face beside Aria, "Cerceus?"
"Ooh! Goddess Ristarte!" A muscular man jolted in his seat.
"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Seth and Seiya?"
Looking sideways, he answered, "Uhm… how should I put it… after constantly fighting Seiya with many others, I decided to take a break. "
Ristarte tilted her head, "Can't you do that inside the time-altering thingy?"
"I would have done so if it WEREN'T for the fact that the chamber was filled with those war-liking gods!" His mouth twitched.
"All they talk about are how to beat Seiya, fighting strategies, testing skills, and more! I may be a god of swords but I don't enjoy fighting and HEARING about them 24/7!"
"Wouldn't it be odd for a sword god to not like talking about fighting since you know… swords?"
"Rista, a god of something means he is an expert at that said thing, to be passionate about it or not is another matter. For example, even though I'm our pantheon's sword god, and I DO love swordsmanship, I also like more relaxing activities, like cooking!" Cerceus harrumphed.
Ristarte was surprised, she didn't expect this at all.
Ariadoa chipped in. "It is true Rista, that's why I said you need to socialize more."
Ristarte wanted to refute, but she couldn't since she stood corrected right there.
Now that this hit her in the nails, she realized something.
"Cerceus, you said you have hung out with Seth for a while?"
"Yes, ever since he was introduced to our multiversal self-improvement club, we have been bros ever since."
"There's a multiversal self-improvement club?!" Ristarte raised her voice.
"Good thing you know about it now, ristarte~" Ariadoa teased.
"I get it! " there's a small puff on her, "Back to the question! You know I've been assigned with him to save a world right?"
"Yeah, Gaeabrande. A S-class world."
"This has been bugging my mind for a while, do you have any clue what Seth's a god of?"
"Hmm?" Cerceus and Ariadoa didn't expect that.
He leaned in, "Why this all of a sudden?"
"First of all, I was never informed of this partnership. I only knew him only yesterday and I was never briefed at all about his identity."
"Odd and interesting." Ariadoa nodded her head.
"I have been hanging around him for a day, yet now I only know superficial things about him. As future coworkers, I should have known more, hence the question."
"Hmm… getting inquisitive huh?" there's a snark on Cerceus' tone.
"I'm not asking more subjective like what is he like since I feel that would be rude. That's why I asked that, it's more professional. " Ristarte gestured with her hand.
"Good for you Goddess Ristarte," Cerceus praised, "but too bad, about his divinity, I have no clue too."
"Whuh? You serious?"
"Yeah, that's why he joined that club in the first place, hoping he could find something out."
"Then? there should be at least something?!"
Cerceus held his chin and beard, "We only got approximations at best, is that fine?"
"Yes! Very much! Then what's your best guess?"
"Our best guess is that it's related—but not the quote 'a jack of all trades, master of none'."
"You mean like a generalist?"
Cerceus waved his hand in disagreement, "Not exactly, rather than say he's a generalist, I'll say it first, he could be a master of many things. It's more like everything he becomes good at has that skewed feeling. I'm not saying it's broken or a dud, but there's something off about it. That's why he went to our self-improvement club, it's a gathering of people around the multiverse helping each other to better themselves."
"Can you explain about it more? I still don't get the picture." Ristarte inquired.
"I don't think I… Wait how could I forget!" he knocked his head a little, "I remember something! A super smart guy in the club did find something about Seth."
"What is it?!"
"He hypothesized that Seth's ability to learn and master anything did not come from his divinity, but a byproduct of it. That's why I said his mastery and skills feel off!"
Ristarte and Ariadoa became curious, urging Cerseus to continue.
"This is the example the smart guy gave us: a god of forging could create a sword so magnificent that it could only be titled as the 'sword that could only be forged by the god of forging'. Now for Seth, here's the kicker: Seth could master forging to the level of the god of forging, BUT any sword he made—no matter how magnificent—could never earn the title 'sword that could only be made by the god of forging'. Because, at his core, Seth's not a god of forging. Seth's sword will still be at the top of its class, but you get the drift!" Cerseus smiled at the matter.
Listening to this both goddesses nodded in understanding, the explanation was vague, but they understood the core of the matter somewhat.
"Thank you Cerceus, although I didn't get my answers, what you said has opened some stuff for me."
"You're welcome—"
"HOOOOAAAH!!!!" cheers were heard throughout the place.
"Eh! What's going on?!" Ristarte was befuddled.
"Looks like it started," Cerceus commented.
"What started?!"
"The next war against your hero." Cerceus pointed at the giant holographic screen on the horizon.
From static white, it changed to a video.
Seiya stood alone in the middle of the ocean on a tiny boat.
The moon illuminated him while mists swirled around his vessel, and looming waves rocked his only platform. In this serene state, he simply waited.
Ristarte, watching intently, asked, "Cerceus, what's going on? Is this video you know?!"
"Pretty much," Cerceus replied. "Although this battle happened ages ago in the time chamber, we're premiering it now."
"Hold it! Did you say 'ages ago'?" Ristarte pressed.
Cerceus nodded.
"So you know the ending of this fight?"
"Yeah, I'm in it," he smiled.
"Then can't you just bet based on—"
"Seth got that loophole covered. Anyone who enters the time chamber must sign a non-disclosure agreement. The vetting is brutal—zero tolerance for leaks!"
Plunk! They turned their attention to the giant video.
A sudden splash sounded behind Seiya, and he immediately unsheathed his swords.
The moment his blade rose above his head, a shower of black rain descended from above.
Ristarte gasped as a wall of water formed over Seiya's head. Then it suddenly froze solid, transforming into a makeshift barrier.
"WAIT! Wasn't his magic type FIRE!? How could he cast WATER and ICE MAGIC?! THEY'RE POLAR OPPOSITES!"
[TRRRRRT!!] Insurmountable arrows struck the frozen roof, nearly cracking the ice. Without hesitation.
[BOOM!!!] A mushroom cloud erupted, pushing the mists aside and reverberating a quake across the ocean.
A cacophony of desperate shouts filled the air:
["AGH! CRACK! HELP!!! THE SHIP!! IT HURTS!!! ABANDON SHIP!!! IEH!! IT'S SINKING!! GET THEM OUT! HEALER!!! CURSES! HURRY, YOU IDIOTS! URGH! MY ARM!! UWEHH!"]
From the mist, two warships crumbled into pieces—masts shattered, flames ignited, and demons' anguished cries echoed. It was the first blood in this brutal conflict.
Immediately after, A giant magic circle materialized Near Seiya's boat, spreading across the ocean's surface until it covered an area as vast as a baseball stadium.
Zeng!!, sixteen towering pillars of water surged upward in a perfect circle around him—each pillar dozens of meters thick and hundreds of meters high.
In the blink of an eye, a blue light flashed, and the pillars transformed into ice.
[BOOM!!! BOOM!!! BOOM!!] Explosions erupted at the base of each pillar.
Seiya moved with uncanny agility, wall-jumping from one pillar to the next and reaching their summits in seconds. There, he unleashed a tremendous pushing force on each pillar, tilting them toward the surrounding mist.
Everyone watching knew a travesty was about to occur. The pillars began to tip, and as each succumbed to gravity, their falling momentum signaled imminent death.
With a shuddering crash, forty warships sank beneath the waves.
The collapsing pillars generated such immense air pressure that the mist was hauled away, revealing hundreds of silent ships—each one a testament to the destruction wrought.
The air pressure from the pillars hauled the mist away, revealing the remaining hundreds of ships, all silent by this manner of destruction.
Yet before they could process further, Seiya landed on one of the floating rubbles.
"WHOOOH!!!" The crowd erupted in cheers.
My goodness!!! Ristarte thought.
Cerceus observed with a wry smile, "You've got a smart cookie here, Rista. At first, he only had that lone, fragile vessel for a platform. But now, with sixteen towering pillars of ice, transformed into giant, lumbering logs and floating wreckage from over forty ships, he's created an entirely new battleground for his feet!"
He clapped his hands. "Not only has he paved a route toward the enemy, but he's opened up multiple positions to strike from."
"RISTA!!!"
"WAGGGH!!!" Rista jumped from her seat. Ariadoa and Cerceus also reacted with shock.
"ERIS!!! WHAT THE FU–"
"No time! Come with me! We have an emergency!" She turned towards Cerceus and Ariadoa, "Apologies for the inconvenience, but Rista is very needed now! Please enjoy the show." Eris yanked Rista out of her seat, bringing her away from the public.
"OUCH! ERIS?!" Ristarte yelped in pain.
"Sorry Rista! Seth needs our help!"