232 Clash (1/2)
Having returned to the mansion, I make my way over to the living room. Upon reaching the room, I immediately notice that Rossweisse has fallen asleep on the sofa.
Of course, all around her is a multitude of papers, which seems to have increased in number now.
Letting out a small sigh, I begin to telekinetically arrange the papers and stack them up on a sofa. Then, I slowly approach Rossweisse and crouch beside the sofa she is lying on.
I proceed to raise my left arm and use my finger to poke her cheek, eliciting a light groan from the sleeping Valkyrie.
Finding this somewhat fun, I continue to poke her cheek until she eventually opens her eyes and looks at me with a dazed expression.
Seeing her like this, I lean forth and kiss her cheek before saying, "You should go sleep on your bed."
Seemingly unaware of anything, Rossweisse simply places her hand against her cheek.
Looks like she is too sleepy for anything. If it were any other day, she would've 'suffered' from more than just some poking.
Shaking my head in exasperation, I reach forth and lift her body from the sofa before turning around and beginning to walk toward her room.
--
Having set Rossweisse down on her bed, I proceed to exit the room and head over to the kitchen while thinking about what to do for today.
Currently, apart from Saturnus, none of the girls in the mansion are awake. Or, that's what I thought, but upon reaching the kitchen, I find Gaia seated at the table.
"Gaia?" I say after taking the seat beside her, "Why are you here? Don't tell me that you're already done merging with this planet."
"No," she responds while shaking her head, "I tried to do it, but failed."
"Failed? You mean merging?" I say, a little startled.
That sounds remarkably serious. Gaia had previously said that she was merged with this planet, but now she can't do that anymore.
"What do you think is the problem?" I inquire.
"I was able to form a connection with a small section, but the rest of the planet is unreachable."
"I see."
A small section, she says. I wonder what is exactly considered a 'small section' for her.
Letting out a small sigh, I being to make use of Clairvoyance to check the state of the city once again.
As usual, there doesn't seem to be any issues, but that notion soon faded as I shifted my sight to the academy.
What the...
Currently, a beautiful black-haired woman is fighting against the strange group I had seen standing in front of the academy.
However, the blonde-haired girl with a tall hat is nowhere to be seen.
Anyway, from the looks of it, this battle started not so long ago. Even so, the battle seems to be more advantageous for the group than the black-haired woman.
Normally, I wouldn't care about such a battle, but seeing that it is occurring near the academy and the ones fighting are rather... suspicious, I will visit them.
As such, I bid Gaia farewells before teleporting a few hundred meters above the academy.
Looking down, I see that the woman is constantly making use of dark-oriented powers, while the one fighting against her is the leader, who is wielding an odd spear that seems to be more of a decoration than a battle weapon.
Well then, time to see what's going on.
As such, I begin to fly toward the ground at a brisk pace before abruptly coming to a halt right in between the two sides.
Both sides are surprised by my appearance, as the leader of the group cancels an attack he was about to release.
{Code detected. Unable to identify.}
"Verethragna!" the black-haired woman calls out in a gleeful tone.
What, she knows me? I suppose that settles the issue of whose side I will be taking in this battle.
"Verethragna?" the man wielding the spear says in a confused tone while staring at the black-haired woman before casting a glance at me and saying, "God of Victory?"
"This guy," a gray-haired man beside the leader of the group says, "He's our target."
"But she clearly called him by the God of Victory's name?" a blonde-haired dressed in battle attire and wielding a rapier says.
"That doesn't matter. I'm sure that he is our target. His appearance is exactly like what the devils had described."
Hearing his words, a somewhat mocking smile forms on the leader's lips as he says, "You finally appeared."
"That's quite the attitude you've got, weakling," I say to the man before turning to inspect the black-haired woman.
She has pointy ears and is dressed in a frilly dress. If there is anything that stands out about her the most, it would be the 'dark' aura she is exuding.
"Who are you?" I ask, curious about how she would react to me not remembering her.
"I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you before," she responds, "But I am Nyx, often referred to as the Goddess of Night."
"Nyx, huh?" I say, "Seeing that you already know me, I don't need to introduce myself."
"Hey!" a sharp voice suddenly reaches my ears, "Is this guy seriously ignoring us?!"
Looking over at the source of the voice, I find a blonde-haired woman dressed in battle attire while wielding a rapier.
"You lot seem to not value your lives much," I casually remark, "Daring to interrupt a conversation between gods. Who are you even?"
Hearing my words, some of the group members furrow their brows, while the blonde-haired girl raises her rapier and points the tip at me before saying, "I am Jeanne of the Hero Faction!"
The next moment, I enter a fit of laughter, baffling Nyx, and the group as they gawk at me for the next twenty or so seconds.
"Hero faction?" I say once I'm done laughing, "What's with this cringy and childish name? Now, I don't even feel like beating you up."
This time, the group takes more offense in my words as the leader slams his spear into the ground and says, "Cao Cao. Leader of the Hero Faction. Laugh all you want, God, for this will be the last time you can do so."
Sensing his emphasis on the word 'God', a smirk forms on my lips. This guy is way too arrogant.
"Wrong," I say while shaking my head, "You have absolutely no hope in killing me."
"Vereth-"
"Call me Victor," I say, interrupting Nyx.
"Victor," Nyx does as I tell her to without showing any displeasure, "I appeared here to offer my allegiance, but met this bunch that proclaimed their wish of defeating you."
"How did you know where to find me?" I inquire.
"The devils had a lot of information to share about their one true enemy," she responds with a small smile on her lips.
Hah~ The devils really are doing everything they can to take me down. I still don't understand why they are so enthusiastic to do so. Still, I'm curious about who is the one that revealed my identity.
My prime suspects would be Sirzechs and Zeoticus. Serafall Leviathan is also a suspect, but according to my analysis of her, she wouldn't do something like this.
Setting that matter aside for now, I inspect the group in front of me before adopting a curious expression and saying, "Are the rest of you not going to introduce yourselves?"
"Heracles of the Hero Faction," the gray-haired man from earlier says in a firm tone while crossing his arms.
"Siegfried," a white-haired man that somewhat resembles Kiba says calmly.
Lastly, a black-haired man wearing glasses says, "Georg."
"Where is the golden-haired girl with the tall hat?" I casually ask.
Hearing this, Cao Cao's brows furrow as he stares at me for a few seconds before asking, "Have you met us before?"
"Not at all," I respond, "But from reading a part of his mind, I saw that there are more members that aren't here today."
Seeing me pointing at Georg, Cao Cao turns his head to observe the perplexed man for a few seconds before shifting his attention back to me and raising his spear with a solemn yet prideful look on his face.
Naturally, I am bluffing. I can 'read' minds, but I have to be in physical contact with my target and it's a rather slow and arduous process.
Nevertheless, my bluff resulted in the Hero Faction to get a little fidgety, unsure of what actions to take.
Still, according to what I can tell about Cao Cao's character, he will assume that my mind reading is ineffective against him, so I had to resort to reading someone else's mind.
"Georg, do it!" Cao Cao abruptly exclaims.
Following his exclamation, Georg raises his arm before pink mist exudes from his palm and surrounds us.
Taking a glance at Nyx, I notice that she doesn't seem to be worried, rather, excitement is apparent within her eyes as the dark aura around her intensifies.
