chapter 40

O(I)O(I)

Although all these boys and girls looked pretty strong and ambitious they couldn't compare to the celestial being with butterflies embedded in his stomach. The being itself was all yellow while the butterflies were a multitude of red, blue and green. This being had no eyes but Mokouda's hair on his nape could feel the tingling of it staring right at him.

Was it benevolent or did it bring everyone here to be its lambs for slaughter? Nobody could have an answer but only Mokouda was afraid of its power being only semi-strong. There was something adjacent to this celestial being: a picture of a mob looking bald man wearing a yellow suit a construction worker would wear but with a cape.

"Otherworlders-you bathe me with your knowledge of your previous lives. You have all done well, better than anyone could have hoped. In your new lives you all had the potential to become kings, gods, and dare I say harem kings...or queens; lots of men love beautiful, smart girls which is what all of you are...if not handsome if your a boy. There is just one thing your transition into this other world couldn't prepare you for...letting a great disaster befell this new world while you all fight a hero."

"I won't lie; even with all of you combined the chances of defeating him are improbable. That's okay because what your there is to fight to give someone else the chance to stop this great disaster. Thank you— you have all done so well with your new lives and it is an honor to meet each and every one of you."

O(I)O(I)

Back in Saitama's apartment, the dark skinned elf girl was looking out the window staring up at the cerulean sky trying to find the sun hidden behind the clouds. While she was staring at the beauty of a world that put its faith in technology instead of magic like hers, she could hear an argument between a man and a woman.

"I don't need you mansplaining this to me!"

"All I did was give you advice; your the one being so defensive about what I say!"

"I'm not defensive!"

"And I'm only telling you what you should have done!"

Arguing. Most kids would hate to hear it especially when its between their mother and father...obviously she was insensible to it never having her parents together to experience hearing stuff like that. Instead of a mother now she had two daddies and none of them were her blood related father.

"Hey Kathienne, do you prefer white sauce or red sauce?"

One of those daddies was the bald headed man she has only gotten to known for three days; the one who called her Kathienne. The past three days he has been feeding her, walking her, limiting her indulging of manga and TV, but more importantly he has been questioning her about the experience she felt in the hospital. Even if she really knew what he was talking about, it was Genos that was there when that event occurred not him so it was harder for her to answer those questions by the man who until today she found to be a stranger.

Right now, however, all she knew was he was making her tacos and she had the choice of what to put on it.

"Red sauce."

"Never a bad choice. Could you stop staring out the window and sit in your chair? It's going to be dinner soon."

She walked into the room looking around for the sight of metal arms and blonde hair or the smell of cordite from exhaustion system installed in the cybernetic shoulders of her second daddy. He was insight which made her very curious.

"Where's Mr. Genos?"

"He emailed me saying there was a meeting on account of Tatsumaki's disappearance. He'll be there until eleven; one clock stroke from midnight. Tatsumaki is one of the higher tier-"

"I actually know who she is. She has a pretty bad temper but she did treat me better than the ones who found out I'm the daughter of the second king of Yakime."

"I remember that place. Nice and big-merchants were really helpful. The ones at the guild seemed a little overworked though. Do you prefer basil or onions?"

"Umm...basil."

She didn't know why he was asking her what she wanted, he just had to cut up the onions and tomatoes and leave out the rest for her to put on her taco herself...she was really starting to understand how to actually make food more exciting in this world other than just eating dirty potatoes and carrots in a lukewarm soup.

"So like me you were just living your life in your own world, blinked, and came to our world? Before you showed up did some hidden power awaken inside you?"

"That's a little personal, but no; I only got my powers that emanated at that hospital after getting here and I thank the goddess Lumina Mr. Genos was there to save me."

"Yeah. He's a very good hero...he's just a little bit like you?"

"How? Is he cute and going to have a long miserable life ahead of him?"

"No." He put down his pan for a moment to rub her silver hair. "He has a lot of growing to do." With his free hand he brought the frying pan to where the shells were; crispy brown meat steaming inside. "You can start by having a nice meal with me."

O(I)O(I)

In the kingdom of the gods, Baragon took a walk where all the walls were golden corrugated and ravens and hawks were flying together in harmony.

He was glad the gods decided to let him stay if only for a little longer. In the realm of the gods he never felt hunger, pain or even regret. Even though he attacked another adventurer who saved his life against the vampires, he didn't feel bad for the gods or the adventurer for his actions.

While he was residing there, the blue bipedal dog with the axe was following him around. He fell somewhere far down, maybe where the iz'ba's and Wuwon live, but his powers allowed him to teleport right back into the kingdom lickety-split

Now the dog was acting like Baragon's bodyguard...or rather he was acting like a guard who keeps young princes from accidentally stumbling into their father's dungeons or where they keep their kinky tools. Luckily for Baragon, the god couldn't keep up with the dwarf once he ignited his halberd and sped through the halls.

His veering from corner to corner led him to a veranda over a big open space of gold tiles with an insignia of nine wilted petals over one blossoming four leaf flower encompassed by the wilted flowers. It was in that spot nine gods were having a meeting, and Ghephine was the host of this meeting.

"I hope you all have calendars in your room(s) doing the soul-searching I asked you to do. Today marks the day we never thought was possible— the day we were defeated by one lone mortal human. Whether we were together or by ourselves, losing to just one human is the greatest shame that could ever happen to us."

While she was monologuing trying to get the other gods on her side, Baragon sought to find any one of them who had a striking resemblance to him only to find just one: the god who was his uncle not his father.

"As gods we have lived with regal music, good food, expensive oil paintings and all the time to live for ourselves if not finding the clarity to help the mortals when the opportunity arises— which it hardly does because most problems they have involve how their lives are unfair. Were any of our lives fair before we transcended to what we are now?"

All of the gods eyes flitted around the room, swiveling their heads around if they were close to Ghephine, they looked to see none of them could disprove what she was saying about their lives.

"What if I told you something very, very important right now? The thing about that mortal defeating us a few days ago, it continues to vex me. It's like he's here right now goading me into fighting him again, but I know if he was here he'd just defeat us as easily; having more gods on our side would hardly change that. It pains me knowing all of us cannot stop just one mortal..."

Baragon was intrigued by the way the gods looked intensely at her only for their eyes to roll to the ground as their chins slumped down no longer looking with the pride they once had.

Dwarves could be defeated at least a dozen times before they admit they didn't stand a chance against that threat; they were stubborn that way. What surprised Baragon the most was how a dwarf god was showing the same somber expression of their rout. If the younger, smaller dwarf didn't know any better it would appear the goddess was thriving on their misery.

"So nine gods at our level could neve hope to stop him. What if we become just one superior, almighty god? We could show that mortal why we stand above him and be the ones that could defeat him."

That was the most asinine thing Baragon had ever heard, and he once saw a job posting of a man asking adventurer's to convince a priest to hold a ceremony for him to marry his cow. He had hopes that these gods (especially his uncle) would see this witch-god for the deceiver slash manipulator she was and kick her out right then and there; smite her.

What happened next was something more akin to that of a nightmare. Not only were the gods not arguing with her contemptable suggestion...it looked like they were about to go through with it. They held hands together while she started emanating a bright green light over her body.

What she was saying next was a god language-Baragon had a little god in his blood which for reasons unknown allowed him to hear her spell.

"One threat that always plagues the gods...Two threats that always lead to the turmoil of gods and mortals alike...three skills hardly needed for a god buried deep in the mortal(s) hearts...we shared their ideals of building up our own lives the way we saw fit."

"Now we bind together as a singular entity and prepare our work as a multitude of different minds...one body. AGUIGHIINA!"

The whole room brimmed with the holy glow only the gods could see without their skin melting off their bodies. Baragon looked at it with fear but also excitement knowing that when the light faded there would be a being maybe even more powerful than a god.

What he saw when the light faded was neither beatific nor did it look peaceful. Baragon was left with only his lamentation.

'Why...Why didn't I stop this?'

O(I)O(I)

Saitama loved watching Kathienne eat her taco with a big smile on her face. This was like tasting something he really liked only for it to no longer be around for many months. He couldn't say food tasted good with his family, when he was job hunting or now when he was so powerful fighting was easy even in another world. It was when he first tried becoming a hero was when food tasted better.

Maybe today food would taste that good again seeing a young girl smiling at him. He held his taco tightly with one hand on the bottom and one hand squeezing the concave shell together so the meat didn't fall out as he let it come close to have a bite...

To no ones surprise other than of course Saitama himself, he was squatting in the middle of a street with an onslaught of people walking towards him nearly pushing into him, and without the taco he spent so much time making and really wanted to take a bite of nowhere to be soon.

He silently cursed his luck— he was back in King Yakime's kingdom.

"You'd think that writer would give me more than one chapter to enjoy peace in my own world."