"We got the second Book!" Cecily ran towards the camp we temporarily settled at.
"...And we saved dad?" Nelly pointed out another, arguably more important bit of news.
"I mean, that too." Cecily pouted.
"You still mad that I didn't let you fight with Meil?" Grim chuckled.
"Maybe a little bit." She refused to even look at him for the time being.
It seems these three are alright, after all. Geez, when they ran off on their own, I was certain things were gonna end up going horribly wrong, but thankfully I didn't jinx anything. Then again, Grim is looking a little weak, judging from the fact he's being carried by both the girls.
"Meil, on the other hand..." Nelly looked down worriedly.
"What happened to him?" I added.
"Don't worry, he'll be alright." Grim reassured everyone, "Cecily said he was fighting two girls and the old man when he tossed her the Book, meaning it's gotta be those two. I fought all three of them, and honestly the old man was the only one worth being afraid of. He'll win."
Wait, so if he's still fighting for his life over there, regardless of the enemy team's roster, shouldn't we be rushing over there to help him? And that blind faith that nothing will go awry... I don't like it at all. Grim's really raising some serious flags here.
"...What?" Grim turned to everyone that had a serious face on them, "Why's everyone looking at me?"
"You look like a dead horse, amigo." Shaid explained it in brief yet effective terms.
"When I found him, he couldn't even stand." Cecily revealed.
"Honey~!" Grim blushed.
"Is he hurt?" I ran over to the rock they had him sit down on.
"Just tired. I'll be good as new once I take a short rest." He assured us, "Actually, you're never gonna believe how I got like this! Peep it, Ed—I Wielded a crazy powerful new Iro Ability, and-GHLK!?"
"Mhm, all good..." I muttered as I stuck a stick in that loud mouth of his for the check-up, "Alright, now turn to the side and cough."
Confused, he tilted his head naively before ultimately obliging. Damn, who knew it was this easy to get this guy to shut up? Heh, this is gonna be fun!
"Alright, now follow my finger. No, not with your head, just your Eyes." I gave him my strongest medical advisor act, "Good, now stick your tongue out."
"Whath doth thith habe anyhhing to hoo hith mai helf?" He asked.
"Nothing, I just wanted to see you make a fool of yourself in front of everyone." I threw the dirty stick away, "Good news is, your teeth are sparkling White."
"You asshole!" He shoved me, though it was all in good fun.
"Geez, Ed only makes jokes during serious situations when Lune is around." Anna slouched.
Is that the case? I never noticed all that much, in fact I'd say I'm the same around Grim as I am with anyone else. Well, maybe that wasn't the case when he was dead, but that's different.
"Never mind that, amigos. Topic at hand." Shaid made himself apparent with a loud cough as he pointed to the Books in Nelly's and Cecily's hands respectively, "With these, we may yet be able to beat Olya without any bloodshed."
"I still think we should just burn 'em." Grim reclined on his rock, repeatedly flicking the Spark in his hand as one would a lighter, "They're way too powerful for any person to handle. Realistically, they only cause harm to those around them."
"And we will. I promise you, amigo." Shaid replied, "But why not put ourselves in a more advantageous position first before we do?"
Yeah, this was the logic he used before when we were about to burn the first Book. From Nelly's and Lune's words, it appears these Books can basically grant any wish the user writes in it, so long as you know the prompts. Olya used them to become immortal, as well as revive Schnell and Shaid. Essentially, we now have all that powerful for ourselves, hence why he was so against us just tossing it away. A smart play, but I can't help but feel a sense of suspicion, seeing as the idea comes from Olya's supposed friend.
"Anyone have a quill with some ink?" Shaid looked around the area.
"Uhh, I have a pen. Will that do?" Nelly took it out of her back pocket.
"Can it write?"
"It can, but I'll be doing the writing." I yoinked the Book as well as the pen from Nelly just as she was in the midst of handing them over to Shaid.
"Ed?" Anna looked worried.
"It's alright, I wouldn't trust me neither." Shaid knew immediately, "So long as Olya is dealt with and brought back to his senses, I don't mind whoever writes in it."
The crowd glanced at him before giving me a bit of a judgmental stare. They're obviously fond of the guy, and so am I, but they can't seriously just hand such a powerful and important item to a potentially dangerous guy who could turn on us at any moment. Seriously, what's with the glares, he said it was fine!
"Then, what're we writing in?" Grim started naming things off, "A cannon, or maybe a giant sword? Ah, I'd prefer not to use firearms, but I guess they'll do in a pinch too."
"Can't you Materialize like most of those yourself?" Nelly asked a reasonable question, "Think in a grander scope, dad. We need something that'll change the situation."
"Yeah, like powers." Anna jumped up from her rock all excited, "Super strength, invisibility, teleportation, the whole nine yards!"
"Nope. Out of the question." Shaid immediately shot the idea down.
"Ehh? Don't be a buzzkill!" She frowned, "Why not?"
"Have you forgotten the story I told you before, amigos?" He elaborated on his decision, "The Gods attacked the three of us for abusing the Fortune's powers. If you wish to use it, keep it low key."
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
What's even the point of using it if it'll just put us on the Gods' hit list? This guy isn't making any sense, though I gotta appreciate the fact he warned us about getting overly ambitious with it.
"Then what do you suggest we put in?" Cecily asked Shaid, a tad ticked off like the rest of us.
"Nothing permanent. Nothing too overpowered." He explained, "A small and temporary power boost will do, or in the case of Olya—A small but significant power decrease."
Suddenly, his logic started to click in everyone's heads. This guy knew Olya in and out, it was obvious that he would have the best idea out of all of us now that I think about it. Right, the issue isn't that we're weak, it's that Olya's unkillable. So then, weakening him, even if it's for a short moment, will allow us to actually deal some real damage in for a change. Alright, time to write!
"Then, let's-!"
"Ah, maybe don't do that." Aru's voice could be heard nearby.
Great, perfect timing. This is like when my parents called me over for a grocery run just when I was about to have some fun with Anna. Same feeling of disappointment and blue balls, just without the milk and eggs.
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***
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"Who said that?" Everyone looked around, "Hey, did anyone hear a little girl's voice just now?"
Oh, brother! Just when I finally started to think I could do something productive, even if it was to write a couple words in a Book, she just has to show up and be annoying. Well, I say that, but if she's here, then that means those two are as well, at the very least.
"Alright, who cares." I shrugged, threatening to write in it anyways.
"No!" The little Goddess voice cracked, "Wait for a minute, okay!? This guy's running as fast as he can over here!"
"When are you gonna be here?" I asked, threateningly holding the Book and pen in my hands, "I can't wait all day, my arms are getting tired."
"Then leave the Book on the ground until we get here, brain." Auros' voice too uttered.
"Mn, so I was right..." I nodded.
"What, what's up?" Anna worried, "That voice, doesn't it belong to Aru?"
"And Auros too, yes." I nodded, "But we can't hear their voices because they're within earshot, since they're not yelling."
"Then how?" Cecily asked.
Turning to everyone and pointing to my glowing Brown Iro, I revealed the trick behind how they did it. Indeed, as the Gods of this world, they stated before how they "obviously" have every Iro Ability and then some. Talking to someone telepathically is one of the Abilities Brown Wields, and when coupled with their Omniscience, it practically allows them to see, hear and talk to us from anywhere in the world.
"Look, we'll be there in a few minutes, until then—You absolutely mustn't write anything in that Book." Aru warned, "Trust us, you don't wanna be the reason this whole thing goes bad."
Is that distrust I hear? It should be as simple as writing "Olya lost his immortality" and it's a done deal. Honestly, it'll be a question of if he'll even survive by the time we get there, given he's already old as shit and all. Well, if it's their request, I guess we don't have a choice but to be a bit more patient.
"You sure it's smart?" Nelly agreed with my sentiment, "Every second we wait could be prove fatal for Meil."
"He said so himself—He'll be fine." Dad smiled, patting her gently on the head, "After all, he's not alone."
"He isn't?" She tilted her head.
"He said so himself."
"Oh yeah?" She gave him a deadpanned stare, "The schizo guy told you he's not alone. Am I getting this right?"
"A-Ah, wait..." He backtracked, "N-No, but Lem should be nearby, right!? He and I were fighting together a bit before Meil showed up, so they should be together right about now!"
"Mhm, yes. Meil and Lem working together." Nelly kept nodding, "Now I'm even more worried about Meil when you put it like that."
"And Lem will be just fine?"
"Well Meil's not the one who wishes death upon him every single day, now is he!?" She fussed, "Geez, just hand me the Books, okay!? I know how to use them without messing anything up, so...!"
Thankfully, a large quake of the earth below us signaled the arrival of the two Gods. Within the blink of an Eye, those two were standing before us, with Auros crossing his arms with a menacing frown on his face, and Arun and Issei sitting atop his shoulder.
"...Oi." He waved at us from above.
"Where the hell were you?" We asked.
"Oh, around." He teetered around acting naive, "Like Hell, for example."
"Y-" Grim jolted, "You were in Hell?"
"You're surprised by this?" Nelly nudged him.
"Hey, that was uncalled for!" Issei shot back.
"Never mind that. You two, what's the deal?" I raised the Books above my head so the Gods could get a good look at them, "Meil and Lem are over there fighting for their lives, so why did you stop us from helping them?"
"Sigh, if we were dealing with just basic immortality, then sure." Auros clicked his tongue, "But sadly we're dealing with a World Wonder."
"In other words, the only reason we haven't put a stop to that idiot's shenanigans." Aru shrugged with a little smirk, "It's not that we don't want you to write it, rather writing it won't at all have an effect on him."
"It won't?" I asked, "How come?"
"World Wonders are the one constant of this world, and any other one for that matter. Well, apart from us." Auros explained, "Like an impenetrable wall, your wish to weaken him will just bounce right off. If you then faced him head on like you were planning to, well, let's just say you'd be wishing you didn't."
Hey now, isn't that kind of unfair?