PHASE 76 - EVERYBODY HATES THAT OUTDATED SONG

“Ooooh…” Helena smirked as she swung her blade left and right. Then she jumped from the corridor of the second floor, only to land in front of me. “Bold words for a woman in a beheading range.”

Helena’s seven God Cores versus my powers as a Demigoddess. I don’t have the slightest chance of winning in one-on-one. But, my allies are here to back me up. I know that the four goddesses are waiting on the other side of the dimension.

I was about to open a Gate with my fingers, but then Rikkun, through the earpiece, stopped me.

“Tiara, wait!” Rikkun’s tone is mixed with slight anger. “The four goddesses are not in a position yet!”

“E-Eh?” My eyes widened and my jaws hanged.

“Eliseo is busy coloring his face with makeup, Asumi is still distributing shrine flyers to the children, and Key is in the middle of a ranked game! Those idiots…” Rikkun’s voice is trembling with wrath. “Tiara, buy some time. Whatever happens, don’t let her open a Gate just yet!”

Then the communication went chaotic as I heard the king scold the goddesses. Inaudible noises can be heard on the other side.

Meanwhile…

I was left dumbstruck.

“E-Eeeeeeh?” My jaws hanged and my eyes opened wide. This… This is my end!

“You look like you just have made a fatal mistake.” Helena chuckled.

So it all comes here! I have to hold her until the goddesses are ready after all! There’s no way I can survive past a minute!

Suddenly, Helena’s body started to glow with colorful bright lights. Immense prana gathered around her as she channeled the energy of all the God Cores in her disposal.

“!!!”

There was a deafening roar as a rainbow pillar of light ate the sword princess. When the tower of colorful brightness faded, she revealed her true form as the strongest Cursed Guardian alive.

A blue-haired woman with a severely-damaged skinny dark armor stepped on the ground. She has this red tattered cape that formed like wings on her back.

This form of hers is the simplest transformation she had made, but there is this vacant and empty expression on her crimson eyes. It’s glowing bright red like a flare, leaving trails of light whenever she moves.

This amount of prana coming from her is enormous. If she continues to keep those seven God Cores in her heart, she’ll explode. She won’t be able to last more than a month in this case.

“Helena-senpai…” I held my aching chest.

I will never let her self-destruct! She may have killed a lot of people, but there is still a chance for her to come back! Just like what happened to my twin Diadem, I’ll bring her home for sure! With determination, I will never give up!

“Let’s see what you’ve made off!” Helena readied her sword stance, the broadsword pointing at me.

Now I really do have to buy time!

“W-W-Wait!” I shrieked as I begged for my own life. “H-Helena Senpai! I’ll let you see what I have! Don’t attack yet!”

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“Huh?” Helena was dumbstruck, but she has an uninterested look on her face.

I searched for something beneath my dress and revealed it in front of her face. It’s a ballpoint pen I used in my secretary job in the shrine.

“Look! I have a pen!”

“Huh?” Helena is still unimpressed.

Then, I searched at the back of my dress. This is supposed to be my snack after the operation, but I have to use it right now! I showed Helena a fresh green fruit.

“I have an apple!”

“Huh?”

Then, I stabbed the apple with my pen as I started to sing and dance. “Oooh! Ap- Eeeeeek!!!!”

BLAM!!!

There was a sonic wave that shattered the place. The ground broke open, making a wide fissure all the way to the earth’s mantle. Good thing I managed to evade Helena’s sudden sword attack! So scary!

“Singing that outdated irritating song makes me want to kill you more, Tiara.” Helena commented coldly.

This is not good! I don’t know how long I have to hold Helena! I can seriously say that I can die just by taking one normal hit from her!

“!!!”

Helena charged her sword to her back, and it elongated and enlarged itself into a truck-sized crimson blade! Then, she smashed it to my direction with full force!

“!!!”

Ten layers of astral shield protected me from that attack! But all of my barriers got shattered! There’s no way for me to block her second attack!

“!!!”

Helena’s mechanical arm shaped itself into a giant spear and it launched to my position!

“!!!” I buffed my body with ten times electricity to boost my reaction speed and caught the flat side of the spear with my bare hands just before it touches my stomach. And then, I used to absorb the stored energy on that very spear!

When the spear’s energy has been depleted, Helena pulled her shapeshifting robot arm, and readied for a next attack!

“!!!” Helena’s sword is coated with snow and electricity as she swings it, aiming for my neck!

Still using the residue energy left from my tenfold , I quickly ducked to evade the field-wrecking attack! The buildings and the trees behind me were chopped sidewards by the shockwave of combined ice and lightning.

“Kuh!”

The after-effect of that attack is so strong that made an implosion from behind, sucking me away from the sword princess like a vacuum. The air was filled with positive and negative charges, electrifying me for a split second.

“Kyah!” I rolled on the ground. I have suffered lots of bruises and cuts on several parts of my body, as well as a broken rib.

“You know, I could try to split the world in half with my normal attack. But that won’t be favorable for my baby brother…” Helena muttered nonsense.

I wiped the blood from my lip as I stood up with the help of my shaking toes. Considering that I’m already beaten up just by taking a shockwave of her sword spell, it’s possible that she’s not bluffing about destroying the world. She has the power of seven gods after all.

“Let’s try the full power of the seven gods,” Helena said as a black antler-looking bow materialized from her hand. She charged it with overwhelming energy as he shouted: “!!!”

Aether Blast Approved...

God Cores unleashing all energy...

Zeus.

Odin.

Vishnu.

Mercury.

Mars.

Freyr.

Neptune.

All God Cores decided to eliminate the target…

A long golden sword materialized and loaded the antler-bow.

“Goodbye, Frozen Soul!!!” Helena shouted with all her might as she unleashed the arrow.

A blinding flash emerged.

Everything was white.

I didn’t feel any pain at all.

I couldn’t hear anything.

Is this… my end?

“Tiara!!!”

It was Rikkun’s shout.

When the light faded, I saw the back of the man I eternally love. He’s holding a platinum sword that is glowing with silver particles.

My senses finally came back.

There was a loud beam of light surging a meter just beside my left and right. Rikkun is shielding me, splitting the gargantuan blaster with the !

“Rikkun!” I shouted. But it’s no time to feel sentimental! I have to help him repel the attack! I formed an X with my fists. “!!!”

Using the energy of the , the shell barriers I projected managed to withstand the energy of seven gods. The blaster finally faded, only leaving V-shaped wide canals.

But as a result, Rikkun and I fell down on our knees. We’ve nearly depleted all our energy just to survive that attack. And yet, Helena is unfazed.

Rikkun and I panted, grasping for lots of oxygen. After a few moments, he smiled at me.

“Are you okay?”

“Y-Yes!” I happily nodded.

“Good,” Rikkun muttered. Then he touched the earpiece on his left ear. “Commencing Aether Crusade Operation Second Phase.”

Four Gates immediately emerged in front of us, transporting me, Rikkun, and the Cursed Helena to the alternate dimension called Yami. And it finally gave an entrance to the four goddesses.