Chase the Blackdolls

Now that we had a new addition to our party, that is the 'Shield'

Saintess Shiva-san, we once again sorted out the present situation.

Needless to say, the biggest problem was Phinis-sama, but there

were also other matters of concern such as the saints she had

blackdollified (coined by Arca) and Elysium, so we were going to

solve them one by one.

"First of all, regarding Elysium, you say he was able to survive even

under such situation? I suppose I should say as expected of him,"

Shiva-san remarked, nodding.

"But he doesn't have Sacred Treasure anymore, right? And he must

have been cursed by Phinis-sama like Shiva-san…" Magmell said

with concern.

"Ha, ya don't have to worry 'bout 'im. I mean, he was able to handle

the other saints at the same time even in such a situation. Not to

mention, he even basically told us to find a way to stop the goddess

in his usual condescending tone. He'd definitely appear before us

out of the blue again." Ophir said.

Tirna nodded, "Mm, I think so too. That person is uselessly

tenacious, after all."

"Haha, that's kinda harsh. But I also think that wouldn't be the last

time we saw of him. As such, let's deal with the other problems first

until our next meeting."

Everyone nodded to my words.

Meanwhile, Arca asked Shiva-san, "So, got any clue where Phinissama and the saints might be?"

Shiva-san shook her head, "Unfortunately, I can't see anything about

Goddess Phinis. But I can see the figure of Goddess Fluga together

with Goddess Igniver, so it looks like she's been safely rescued."

"I see… Thank goodness…" I patted my chest in relief.

But Shiva-san then continued, "By the way, I can see the figure of

the 'Sword' Saintess by the side of the goddesses."

"Huh?"

W-why was Elma there!?

C-could she be the one who rescued Fluga-sama…?

No, there's no way that's the case…

As I made a complicated face while crossing my arms, Shiva-san

giggled like she found me funny and said, "Getting back on topic, the

blackdollified saints are moving on their own separate ways. If I have

to take a guess, I think they're heading to each of their respective

village."

"To each of their respective village… could it be that they're ordered

to attack their own villages!?"

"Yeah, that's right," Shiva-san nodded quietly to the shocked Zana,

"looks like Elysium has made Phinis to be really mad this time. The

eradication of demi-humans seems to have become her highest

priority."

"Kh, we have to stop them somehow… what are their races again?"

To my question, Magmell touched her lips with her index finger and

said, "Err, they should be minotaur, elf, dragonfolk, and werewolf."

"Fumu, since they're heading to their villages at the same time,

we've no time to leisurely visit the villages together. What should we

do?"

"In that case, I'll fly at super high speed in Vermillion Bird Form while

carrying only the minimum number of people. One of them will

definitely be Shiva-san as she can see their location, and the other

one will be someone with Holy Armament that can handle its Sacred

Treasure counterpart."

"So it'll be me, Shorty, Spear Ogre, and Princess, eh."

When Ophir said so, voices of protest flew over from the three

people whom she had called.

"Oi, who's 'Spear Ogre'? The only ogre here is you, isn't it?" Arca

exclaimed.

"I'm not Shorty. Despite how I look, I'm a perfectly fine adult lady,"

remarked Tirna.

"Well, it's a fact, so I don't particularly mind being called 'Princess'…"

said Zana.

"S-speaking of which, what would you call me and Shiva-san!?"

Magmell asked. Looked like the conversation had sparked a strange

curiosity in her.

"Ha? Ain't that obvious?" Ophir then pointed to each of the two,

saying, "'Big Masochist' and 'Shield Hag'."

""...""

After the two blinked, stunned, they started to silently equip their

armor. Ophir then hurriedly apologized, "T-that's just a joke!? Don't

take it so seriously!?"

I mean, 'Big Masochist' I get, but 'Shield Hag'…

◇ ◇

Anyways, the closest place from here was the werewolf village, so

we decided to head there first.

The werewolf—Shangarula was the 'Fist' Saint.

Which meant, the one who would be up against him was the 'Fist'

Saintess Tirna.

Having the other girls wait at the inn for the time being, I flew at high

speed toward the werewolf village carrying Tirna and Shiva-san in

my arms.

Werewolf was said to be a race of demi-human famous for its rough

temper—Shangarula being a prime example.

Whether they would cooperate with us remained to be seen…

No, even if they don't cooperate with us, we'll just stop Shangarula

by ourselves—that's it.

As I renewed my determination, something came into our view. It

was—

"Smoke is rising over there!" Tirna shouted.

"Kh, we didn't make it…?" I muttered.

—the sight a village with black smoke rising over it.

"No, it's too early to give up. Let's hurry," said Shiva-san.

"Yeah, got it!" nodding, I hurried to the village from where screams

could be heard from afar.