"Take that!"

These monsters looked uglier than people I had to fight in the Saipole arena but posed less of a challenge. I got stronger since, even without Geddu's aid, or at least that's what I wanted to believe.

When Addas explained how the power of the slain monsters lived on in the victors I was skeptical. But the young human girl's theory made it easier to understand. Still, we had to face so many, and they weren't the minotaurs and harpies we encountered so far.

Some looked like animals I'd see in the forests near Sanctuary. Others resembled sea creatures, or amorph, oversized, and mutated monsters. They didn't carry weapons, but often had more than two arms, causing us nasty surprises. It was easy to get surrounded by the barrier.

"Don't overextend, Lizzy," Cath warned me, elegant and devastating like always. Her falchion lobbed off heads and limbs like it was nothing.

These creatures had no survival instincts or common sense. They threw themselves at us even if victory seemed impossible. Most of them died before landing a single hit, and with each kill, I could feel myself becoming stronger. Most of my former victories came due to the possession, and I had to remind myself not to depend on Gadurien.

"I'll cover your back." Emi offered, fighting barehanded now. She was less elegant than my paladin, but almost as devastating. And she was so young, or at least the face she inherited into this world.

I couldn't believe she was the Black Cat's little sister, they looked nothing alike. If it was true, Nati wasn't like this in her previous life. She inhabited the Goddess of Luck's body, but her original was a human from another world. It made me wonder if her two lives had anything in common since she was a real oddball.

"Don't let your guard down. They aren't strong but can overwhelm you before you realize." The paladin always found time to educate me. But she was right, I had to concentrate on the task ahead.

She fought with the same vigor even when the trickster god didn't answer her prayers. I couldn't tell how much of it came from the leveling as Nati's sister called it. She was devastating without Remmol's miracles too.

Her strikes found their marks, leaving a mountain of corpses behind. A mountain surrounded her petite frame, and she didn't waste her energy. Whenever I looked at her fight and win like that, my heart would skip a beat, urging me to fight even harder. But that seemed to upset her, always keeping an eye on me.

"I can fight too." I attempted to convince her, but she had to step in and save me from a flanking attack a moment later. "Thank you though."

"It looks easy, but we never finished your training, so be careful." She asked, her voice softer than I'd expect in such a chaotic battle.

Was she always this dependable, and I didn't see it until I had to rely on her strength? I could no longer imagine my life without her aid, or her near me. But I had to reign in those thoughts before I got hurt. Everyone did their part, whether it was huge or small.

"How long until that last rune?" Ember asked. The catgirl in red funneled most of the monsters into a narrow corridor ahead of us with her flames. "If he resurrects them again with the corpses around us, I can't set them on fire. Not without endangering the rest of you, so better hurry."

The Black Cat, the orc witch, and the shaman worked on that dragon toy. They only fired off a spell to get an easy kill when they ran low on mana. This whole massacre felt almost comical, calculated, and meaningless. But it was my best chance to get on their level. I couldn't trail behind Cath forever, nor did I want to rely on a rogue goddess.

"If you have mana to spare, feel free to contribute," Omerta told the Fire Witch, looking exhausted. They couldn't take full advantage of this ritual, and whatever they worked on took a toll on all three.

If we ever survived this encounter, I hoped this newfound power remained with me on the surface too. I could face the Elder like this, without searching for allies. But there were no guarantees. The monster horde alone could defeat us, then there was the minotaur threat. And the Dragon God himself, who started to lose patience.

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"Prove your point in a duel." He challenged our stuffed toy deity. I couldn't hear her answer in the chaos, Nati's sister yelling into my ears.

"If someone sees a weapon I could use let me know," She asked jumping past me. She dispatched a creature with red skin and tentacles, her sword gone long before her stamina. "My fists look disgusting."

She was no more than a child. Her clothes mimicked something from her world but enchanted by the Goddess of Luck. They acted as her armor against the monsters. Her body could also withstand serious injuries, making her run head-first into battle.

"Be more serious!" Nati shouted, striking at a creature flanking her, but we couldn't afford her to slow down with that rune.

At least my sword was in a good shape. I killed a beholder with it before, but most of the work was Geddu's merit. She lent me tremendous power and her miracles, but I felt much better now that she was gone. She referred to Emi as a golem, which explained her recklessness.

With every strike, I felt more confident with the sword in hand, so I resisted the urge to offer her to use it. I couldn't thank Cath enough for teaching me edge alignment first. I didn't damage the blade even after cutting down dozens of creatures in the last few minutes.

Emi used her brute force instead, whether she held a weapon, or through her bare hands. It was effective, but nowhere near as elegant as the paladin fought. She looked human, but her behavior was crazy.

Gadurien in her new host wasted a lot of time talking, her argument with the Dragon God getting out of hand. When Addas had enough of her, he launched a fire attack in his human form. If the orc shaman hadn't raised a barrier before, it would have wiped us all together with the stuffed cat.

"You are no longer entertaining. I want to play with your companions instead." Addas told her, blunt to the extreme. Geddu never had an issue finding offense in words and didn't delay her response.

Since the dome protected her, she could concentrate on attacking. She forced the other deity on the defense, but her spells never reached him. The counter strike almost broke the force field, wiping out the creatures we intended to kill. Emi complained about them right away.

"Hey, those were mine!" She yelled, avoiding the fire at the last moment. We didn't strike out too far, but the situation heated up fast and forced us to retreat under the orange dome.

"Get that god-toy out of the barrier," Aoi demanded, trying to raise another defensive field. "She will get us all killed."

"How dare you? If I didn't help you, you'd all die long ago." Geddu protested, ignoring another purple beam from the Dragon God. It shattered the blue-robed princess' wall. "Be thankful someone powerful like me fights Addas for you. You couldn't hold a candle to his minions."

Aoi wiped out the monsters in the first round, but her strength wasn't on the same level as the shaman or the Black Cat. When she clashed with the minotaurs, she couldn't match their brute strength. Geddu was our strongest ally, but the Dragon God was too much for her head-on.

"You are cheeky if you think you can turn your back on me," Addas warned her. He sent another attack, forcing the shaman to focus only on the barrier. Even then, it looked like a losing battle, his green skin glistening with sweat. And Gadurien didn't care about it.

Whatever her intention was when she possessed me, she didn't mind if we got wiped out during her duel. It was another reminder not to trust deities, no matter whose side they were on. Disconnected from the world, they couldn't perceive the same meaning or threats.

Their goals felt unfathomable. They were immortal, and everyone else seemed expendable in their eyes. The only deity that didn't act like this was Alexandra, who happened to be the first one I ever met face-to-face.

I understood why the Inquisitorias wanted to prevent them from entering the continent. And this duel was mere bickering between Addas and Gadurien. If things turned serious, the whole castle would crumble. Or they could destroy the entire dungeon.

"Don't hide behind your minions." The Dragon God taunted her, and Cath and Aoi yelled almost in unison, protesting against it.

"We have nothing to do with her!" They claimed, and as their eyes met, their hostility against each other flared up. Yes, our team was closer to bickering individuals than a proper fighting force. External factors pitted them against the same foes, but we had no other connections.

"We can't keep up the barrier like this," Gitaut commented, upsetting Geddu even more. What a useless goddess, I couldn't believe she almost took over my body for good. And if Nati didn't bind her to that cat toy, I would take those terrifying attacks from Addas head-on.

"You slaves should pull your weights too." The plushie scoffed, preparing another attack, but Nati had enough.

She pointed her staff at the toy and unleashed a spell without a warning, that knocked her out of the orange dome. She deflected most of the force but flew at least a few dozen yards. The monsters caught in the waves of energy became ash, disintegrating in front of our eyes.

Nati became stronger with every moment. The silence following her hasty actions cut deep into the chaos of battle. The button eyes expressing surprise, the Gadurien-toy remained silent. The Dragon God laughed, clapping his hands.

"I wish we could face each other without all this annoyance, that girl has potential." He noted, raising a barrier around the other deity. "If only she didn't waste all that energy on runes that she's too afraid to use. Wipe out the monsters and you might become stronger than your aide."

"I didn't waste my energy. I ensured that everything will work as intended when you're right where I wanted you to be." Nati answered, her voice more confident than ever before. Her staff pointed at the Dragon God now, her other hand holding the stuffed toy. "Try to resist this!"