"Sveothirllo! Check up on what's with Krantha! I will take care of them all."

"But... urgh! Yes, sir!"

Kirissu ordered, remaking her darkness blade and looking around with a tense expression, to which the curly-haired woman agreed after a second of initial defiance.

While the vice commander of the Ghosts of Bellcephora swung her monster arm to the ground and caused the darkness to spread around like roots of a massive tree digging into the ground, Sveothirllo walked over and kneeled by the howling comrade.

"Shut up already! What they could do with water? Boil it? It can't be that ba... OH, FUCK!"

The curly-haired woman groaned at her comrade and complained before actually taking a look at the wailing woman and jumped away with fear and disgust as she felt actual fear for the first time in centuries.

Krantha's body was melting – her entire front, face, arms, and what was left of her chest, stomach, and legs, were a mass of sizzling darkness that was disintegrating more and more.

If it wasn't for the fact that their bodies were comprised of darkness mana, there was no doubt that Krantha's muscles and even bones would be exposed by now by the attack – especially the near her face where her cries were coming out of a hole that was supposed to be mouth.

"VICE COMMANDER! THEY GOT SOMEONE FUCKING WEIRD AS FUCK HERE! KRANTHA IS MELTING!"

Sveothirllo roared getting as far away from her wounded comrade as she could.

"What...?!"

*SPLASH* *SPLASH* *SPLASH* *SPLASH* *SPLASH* *SPLASH* *SPLASH*

Kirissu gasped in shock and dodged the oncoming attack despite originally intending to block it like the highly pressured one at the beginning.

*KSHHHHHHHHHH*

The warning from Sveothirllo came just in time because as it turned out four out of seven attacks turned out to be the strange neon pink acid that began melting everything upon contact regardless of the composition of the material.

Snow, earth, mana – it all began sizzling and disappearing once the neon-pink liquid touched it.

"VICE COMMANDER! DO SOMETHING! TRANSFORM OR WHATEVER TO CONFUSE THEM!"

"BITCH! DO YOU THINK THEY WOULD BE USING FUCKING FOG IF THEY WERE RELIANT ON SIGHT?!"

Sveothirllo screamed in panic which made Kirissu snap back in powerless anger.

The vice commander of the Ghosts of Bellcepora bit her lips so hard she bit through exposing the jet-black mana that replaced her flesh.

What they could really do? In a direct fight with opponents who knew what to expect and had ways to counter whatever they threw at them, while all of their spells were best suited for assassination... Things simply could not work in their circumstances! Assassins like them were like sitting ducks...

The outcome was already set in stone

*crack*

Kirissu didn't even say a thing when her darkness blade froze over and broke apart again just like every single attack or spell she or the other two used in the snowy plains.

They had a chance...?

Did she really think that at the start of the encounter?

Water sage who literally cannot run out of mana, an odd snow-like ice magician who can freeze mana and cut off the source of their power, and another magician or two with unknown melting attributes who also affects mana even more than material tissue!

The white-as-snow girl might have said she was shoehorned in on the job, but it was more than obvious to Kirissu that the group they were facing was handpicked to perfectly counter and overwhelm the three of them.

The question was, how could anyone predict that to such a degree? Even with Elsby's betrayal, could a bunch of brats really figure out which Ghost would survive the god-like attack and who will be in the range of her protection so they...

"...wait...!"

Kirissu flinched and tensed up in realization, gasping in disbelief.

God-like attack...?

If she still had a normal heartbeat, the one-handed woman would have her heartrate skyrocket at the moment of realization.

She did feel the trace of the presence's power in the attack that engulfed and killed almost all of her group before teleporting the rest.

Yes, most definitely - she even pointed it to herself before they got attacked...!

Could it...

Could it be that the closest being to god that their world had was actually interfering with them?! After so long?! What was her purpose in doing so now?! She did play with time a few times, but never actually dared to affect the Ghosts directly in any way...!

Regardless of that – it was the most likely explanation – presence interfering with them would explain why neither she nor her two comrades could communicate with the rest of the remains of their group...!

*SPLASH*

*WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*

"!!!"

The sound of both the acid attack and the pressurized water stream coming her way jolted Kirissu from the depths of her own mind.

"Hmp... h-hmmm...?"

The vice commander was about to dodge but then found herself barely able to move as her body slowed down to a nightmarish sluggish tempo.

[This is it for you, Mrs Kirissu.]

A voice of a sad and scared child resounded within Kirissu's mind together with an odd light that had no place there.

|P-presence...?! But...! W-weren't you scared of us...?!|

Kirissu's mind was pierced by the cold blade of fear as she saw in slow motion the two attacks coming at her simultaneously.

[...I am scared of you... but... even a mouse will try to fight for her life when cornered by a cat... although this is the first time I dared to interact with you to this extent... I... I really hate you...]

The scared child was definitely shaking from fear as if shocked by her own actions – but the meaning of her words was more than obvious.

The being closest to god has personally chosen the Ghosts to die on that day.

"...Cupcake..."

*SPLASH* *SPLASH* *SPLASH* *SPLASH* *SPLASH* *SPLASH* *SPLASH*

*WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH*

*crack*

Blobs of concentrated acid rained down on the petrified one-handed woman and dug into her body just to have the stream of highly pressurized water tear her apart into tiny charred pieces that got frozen over and shattered into fine icy dust in the wind as she whispered the nickname she used to tease her husband with...

"VICE COMMANDER?! FUCK! SCREW THIS!"

Sveothirllo shouted in panic when she witnessed the death of Kirissu and just bolted it through the mist leaving the half-dead Krantha behind without a second thought.

*grab*

"GHFIIIIIIIIIIIII?!"

But before she could get away farther than a few steps, a hand clenched around her face, blocking her mouth and she got incapacitated by the dark-blue-haired man while standing.

"You like water, don't you? Here you are then."

Benevirau said with an indifferent expression, causing a momentary confusion in Sveothirllo.

"GHUWHU-GLUBGHLUBFGHLUBFGHGHGHLUBGHGUHGUGH...!"

Before she knew it, the member of the Ghosts of Bellcephora got clear water pouring out of her nose, ears, eyes, and mouth causing her to go into a seizure.

"Whoa...! A joint attack?! You really are going above and beyond to make me feel accepted, mister Benevirau~!"

Metavicero who tried to stay as close to the water sage since the beginning cheered out as she trotted through the fog and touched Sveothirllo's forehead, turning her into an ice sculpture within a second.

"It's easy to accept capable people such as yourself, Miss. And speaking of..."

The dark-blue-haired water sage shrugged his shoulders indifferently and his head to the side, causing the surrounding fog to dissipate back into the ground where it ascended from.

"GHJUEGHUEGHUE... Ughue...? Ah..!"

By doing so he revealed the maskless acid magician throwing up copious amount of neon pink acid and pouring it onto the quickly disintegrating remains of the third and last Ghosts they had to deal with on the snowy plains.

"D-don't tell lord Benevirau about what I just did! Okay?! Please!"

"And don't tell lady Espine either!"

The acid magician flinched and hurriedly put her gas mask back on while crying out pitifully using two different mannerisms one after the other.

"Miss Mirienne, Miss Roiso, calm down. I didn't see a thing and Miss Metavicero is already your friend. And... hmm...?"

*crack*

Benevirau assured the panicking girl and waved his hand dismissively, leaving it hanging in the air. The moment he let go of Sveothirllo's frozen solid body, it shattered and turned into dust just like Kirissu's remains.

But that wasn't the reason why he stopped talking – instead, Benevirau closed his mouth because he felt something brushing off against his palm.

"Miss Metavicero...?"

The young-looking sage raised his brow and asked, he didn't know what expression the white-as-snow girl was making at the moment, but he was sure that she just snuck her way under his hand and got herself a headpat.

"...Metavi is fine... lord Banemor calls me that anyway..."

If Metavicero could blush, she would be bright red just about now.historical

The scene also looked quite interesting from Roiso and Mirienne's perspective – Metavicero was taller than Banavirau, so to get a headpat she was leaning down quite a bit, looking utterly adorable with the bashful expression on her face.

"Speaking about lord Banemor! I know that the plan had worked, but weren't we supposed to be sent much closer to the palace? I thought that king has told us that he doesn't have enough mana to actually teleport everyone more than a single territory away..."

The acid magician showed off Zoemi-level of cluelessness and walked to the other two speaking in a bothered voice.

"...haaah... your point...?"

Metavicero breathed out in annoyance because of the disturbance and asked.

"My point is this is definitely Perserios territory. Look, we can literally see the mountain where the free tribes settled!"

The acid magician rolled her eyes and pointed out north.

"...hmm... that definitely should be much farther than the king lead us to believe was possible for him... He must have been humble and just went all out when the actual time came."

Metavicero reluctantly straightened her back and nodded, but wasn't as bothered as Roiso and Mirienne.

"We should get back to the castle – it might be that we were sent so far away because we were the only ones who got to be teleported."

Benevirau declared with a serious expression and turned towards the south.

"Umm... sure. In a few days, unless we will find a light magician to teleport us, you mean?"

Roiso took control over the body of the acid magician and asked rolling her eyes.

"Are both of you good with heights?"

The dark-blue-haired man asked without looking their way or acknowledging the comment.

"We don't mind them."

"I quite like enjoying the views... ah! I mean...!"

Roiso shrugged her shoulders and answered for herself and Mirienne while Metavicero answered all fidgety but then flinched and stuttered worried about her phrasing.

"Good, then. Miss Roiso, Miss Mirienne – make sure to not melt me. Metavi, if I may."

Benevirau nodded, satisfied with the answers, and turned around, grabbing both girls around their waists and...

*WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH*

Launching himself in the air by shooting water jets from his feet.

-------------