Chapter 1.6

Stepping into the Auditorium, Záni was immediately greeted by gasps of shock followed by reverant silence. Seems she had quite the reputation among the Gods.

"If it isn't our resident troublemaker?" The snide smirk belonged to a decently tall, heavily muscled and definitely thick skulled man who had walked out of the stunned crowd. His brown hair was quite ridiculous, an amalgamation of dreadlocks and topknots that resulted in a sort of snake-pineapple hybrid that sat atop his head. "Finally decided to show up? Not running away from my challenges anymore?"

"Shut your mouth, musclehead... Or should it be shit-head now, seeing your new hairstyle? It's an improvement from your last haircut anyway. Just get out of the way Ammon, the meetings gonna start soon." Záni dismissed the insults that the pineapple guy said with a wave of her hand.

Kyousuke looked at Asclepius for answers. He sighed in response.

"That look is telling me that want the story between the two." He covered his face with one hand, shaking his head. "It's a long story, are you sure you want to hear it? Hai... Who am I kidding? Of course you do."

Kyousuke had given him the head tilt again, albeit it was less effective with her eyes covered.

"... The god with the hideous haircut, his name is Ammon. He's a younger god that turned up a couple centuries ago and since then he's been trying to gain a seat in the Council of Twelve. The organization that keeps all the other gods in check, seeing as no gods can stand up to the twelve most powerful of their own. This is where Záni comes in." He stopped to take a breath. Asclepius had been explaining for a solid minute now. "About a millennia ago, she defeated the Twelfth seat unintentionally by trial of warfare and gained the seat for herself. She didn't care much for the position, but kept it out of respect for the previous holder anyway. As it turns out, many gods had their eyes on that seat seeing as the god in question had been slowly losing strength over the past few centuries, as of now he's a minor god in the outermost ring of the Heavens, but now that a new goddess has taken his place they thought they had a chance. Especially because Záni defeated him in terms of smarts, not raw strength."

Kyousuke snickered, berating the foolishness of those few gods. Záni was far from weak, or at least in the bedroom she wasn't.

"There have been countless challenges from countless gods, all of them have been beaten into the dirt by Záni. Ammon is just the latest in a long line of hopeless contestants. Speaking of which, it seems that he's challenging Záni again." The last comment has been thrown in disinterestedly, Asclspius had probably seen enough of these challenges to have gotten bored.

"I challenge you!"

Stolen novel; please report.

"OK. Prepare to lose then." Záni cracked her knuckles, preparing to beat the shit out of Ammon, again. Kyousuke wasn't sure, but she thought she saw Ammon flinch and cover his gentals.

"Woah woah woah! I never said anything bout' a trial by strength, I challenge you to trial by champion duel. Seeing as you have one now."

Ammon pointed to Kyousuke, the crowd's gaze following in the same direction. Asclepius' startled look contrasted nicely with the bored look he had wore earlier. Záni was wearing a similar expression.

What's a champion?

Kyousuke asked Záni, completely oblivious to the fact she had just been called one.

"... You realize that she isn't my champion right? Besides what person in their right mind would fight a blind girl?"

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The AUTHOR wore a wide grin, he had noticed the little commotion at the opposite entrance and immediately noticed a familiar face.

'Oh ho! Kyousuke's found a way to reverse the false transformation? But she can't hide from me, after all I did make both forms.'

That smile grew five times wider when he saw that Záni was caught up in the mess.

'... Nice! A way to have fun with our main character and get rid of Záni!? What a miracle! What a blessing!'

"Hey Deus, I'm going to the main entrance!" And he disapleared without Deus' input, a multitude of ideas and plans already forming in his head.

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"I'm telling you, she isn't my champion."

"Whatever, send her out or your seat is forfeited!"

"And who's backing that decision?"

The AUTHOR materialised next to Ammon, his appearance wasn't that of a large floating hand this time though. A young boy, looking to be about thirteen, was his form this time.

"Me."

"..." The entire crowd including Záni and Ammon fell silent. The First seat of the Council had made a surprise appearance.

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Deus sat down, a move of resignation on his part. He knew this would happen, after all Authority had a bad habit of abusing his power as First seat. But in the end, what was power but to be used and abused? He would let it slip this time, mainly because Authority hadn't pulled a stunt like this in centuries.

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"It's decided then, Záni! The meeting will be adjourned and instead a Champion duel will take place, the prize is the possession of the Twelfth seat!"

"After this is over, I'm going to come find you. You'd better hope that your death will come quickly." A death stare that would make the Devil jump out of his seat - funny considering that he was indeed in the crowd - shot in the AUTHOR's direction.

'Yikes!' The AUTHOR involuntarily took a step back. At this point, it would seem to the casual bystander that Záni was a drunk with a penchant for assaulting teenagers. "A-Anyway, let the challenge commence!"

As if on cue, the Auditorium's walls began shifting, so that the crowd and the AUTHOR sat on large steps that acted as seats and Záni, Kyousuke and Ammon where standing in a rectangular arena roughly the size of a football pitch that was covered in tall grass.

"Send out your champions!"

Kyousuke felt someone tug at her hand. Záni clasped her hands and apologized.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen... Not again!"

She was pulled away by Asclepius, who told Kyousuke that she would need to remove her bandages if she wanted a fighting chance.

"NO! If they see, they'll tear her apart fighting for her!" Tears spilled out of Záni's eyes freely. "They'll do what they did to Him!"

Kyousuke didn't quite understand what Záni had meant, but clearly this would be something to heal old wounds or cut deeper ones. So she stepped out into the arena, slowly unravelling the bandage around her eyes but keeping her eyelids closed.

I'll be fine, Mother.