Orario.
As expected, the Beast quickly sensed me and soon appeared before me, smiling with all her razor-sharp fangs.
- "You kept me waiting, Romani," she began, then turned around to show off her appearance. "Well, what do you think? Do you like it? And it's all thanks to you."
- "Too little clothing. That just multiplies feminine charm by zero," I shrugged and looked where I sensed the remaining gods. "I thought you would deal with them much earlier."
- "I just wanted to see what they were like," Beast smiled. "In any case, after everything you've done for me, I owe you a debt of gratitude. What do you want, Romani? Just say the word, and I'll do everything in my power."
- "Owe me?" I raised an eyebrow. "Strange choice of words for Beast."
- "Of course," Beast nodded. "It would be fair, wouldn't it? An eye for an eye."
As soon as she uttered those words, I suddenly froze, and my brain was struck by a sudden realization.
- "Everything in this world has a price. That is the law not only of humanity, but of the world, and that means it applies to me too," she continued. "And just so you know, I won't leave until you tell me what you want."
I didn't react much to her words, because my brain had formed a logical chain that could answer the main question.
An eye for an eye. These words came from the Old Testament and, in summary, expressed fair payment for any action, not only evil, but also good.
Of course, this didn't really fit with 'Corruption', the sin she embodied, but if you thought about it far ahead, everything became... strangely logical. After all, in addition to sin, the Beast also embodied 'love'.
She adopted Draco's trait, where she considered the flesh of the fruit to be most 'delicious' just before it began to rot. That is, if we transfer this to humanity, the moment in history when it needed only one step to meet its own fall. It was an extreme, where the boundaries of morality were slowly erased, and the price for this was death.
And if we take this into account, then the Beast's 'love' for me consisted in humanity being destroyed while it was still 'humanity'. It sounded strange, a little far-fetched and somewhat simplistic, but quite logical.
However, all this did not take into account the Beast itself. Specifically, the part where it had its own desire to live.
Goetia and Tia were guilty of the same thing, but now they had their own lives and that very desire to live. They found meaning in their existence, but the Beast before me did not. Plus, the circumstances of her birth were very unusual. And that meant it was possible to act a little differently.
I looked down at the entrance to the Dungeon, and then at the Beast, who was watching my actions.
- "Well, what are you..."
She didn't have time to finish, because in an instant a magic circle lit up in front of her, which at the same time released a concentrated golden beam. And since the attack was unexpected, the Beast was dragged to the very place where the gods were.
-0-
Hestia covered her eyes from the cloud of dust that rose and coughed, and a couple of seconds later, when the dust settled, she was horrified to see their enemy standing right in front of them.
- "What an ill-mannered man," muttered the Beast under her breath and brushed off the dirt, while the gods instantly took up their fighting stances and prepared to use their Arcanum again.
- "What shall we do, Ouranos?" whispered Loki. "We've managed to recover a little, but victory is still out of the question."
She didn't get an answer, because out of nowhere, Romani appeared in front of the Beast, standing relaxed in the face of a global threat, his hands in his pockets.
- "Romani!" exclaimed Hestia, while the other gods calmed down a little and quickly broke the distance to give the Beast and Romani space to fight. "You..."
Hestia wanted to apologize to Romani, because she was worried about his life and felt guilty for telling the other gods about him. But she was not given the chance to do so.
- "Now is not the time, chibi!" Loki interrupted her and, grabbing Hestia, dragged her back to the others.
And, as if waiting for them to move to a safe distance, the Beast stretched and looked at Romani.
- "So? Why did you bring me to these weaklings? I'm sure we could have done without them," she asked with slight bewilderment and incomprehension, and then, after a couple of seconds, grinned. "Or did you come up with a way to make everything more interesting and fun?"
- "Partly," Romani shrugged and, pulling his hand out of his pocket, opened it, revealing a sword that had suddenly appeared, which drew everyone's attention.
It was elegant and masterfully crafted, even Hestia could tell. A pristine blade, unknown inscriptions on the blade, a golden guard, and a blue hilt.
Everything indicated that this sword belonged to someone important, perhaps a hero or even a king, but right now, Hestia could tell that it was... empty. As if something was missing...
Some key component without which it could not exist... like divinity in Falna...
- "Amazing..." whispered Hephaestus next to Hestia. "Exquisite work... But something is missing."
- "That's... the language of the fairies?" added Freya in surprise.
- "Should we be afraid?" asked Ganesha.
- "I hope not," Ouranos finally said, without taking his eyes off the action for a moment.
- "Another Noble Phantasm?" asked the Beast, tilting her head to one side. "And an incomplete one at that."
- "I know. I made it that way on purpose," said Romani, plunging his sword into the ground. "You keep your word, don't you?"
- "Of course."
- "Then I want you to use your strongest attack," Romani said calmly, causing the Beast to stare at him in surprise and the gods to open their eyes in shock.
- "Hey! We're still..." Loki was about to say, but Freya immediately covered her mouth.
- "Do you really think you can survive her?" asked the Beast.
- "Do you really think you can kill me with just one attack?" Romani smiled in response.
The Beast looked thoughtful for a few seconds, then looked at Romani and grinned, clearly accepting the challenge.
- "As you wish, Magician," she said and raised the cup above her head, and then...
...everyone felt it.
A black and red stream of energy burst from the cup, rapidly striking the sky and coloring it with its ominous color. Once again, a storm of scarlet lightning, black clouds, and howling wind arose, but this time it was even worse.
Hestia fell to her knees and began to cough, spitting out a small amount of blood and a black, viscous substance resembling mud.
It seemed to her that not only her body, but also her core, was covered in a wave of 'dirt', causing a feeling of disgust, weakness, and wrongness to grow and grow, just like a whirlwind in the sky. Her lungs seemed to be filled with this very 'dirt', which caused pain and seemed to eat away at Hestia from within.
She wanted to scream in pain, but she couldn't, because every uncontrolled attempt made the pain even worse.
Her whole body seemed to be melting, and her senses were rapidly weakening and threatening to fail.
And this fate befell every god who was strong enough to resist. The rest died in the first few seconds, which made the situation even worse and more hopeless.
Hestia gathered her strength and slowly looked up at Romani, who... stood impassively in place, then placed his palms on the hilt in a ceremonial gesture, and then...
…another light shot into the sky. But this time it was the color of pure gold. Pure, majestic, and warm.
The sword, which was the source of the pillar of light, began to emit waves of power in all directions. And each of these waves, touching Hestia, healed her, made the pain go away, and gave her the peace that she and the other gods so desperately needed. This truly miraculous phenomenon allowed them to get back on their feet, and seeing this, Romani nodded slightly.
- "This sword is unfinished, but only it can defeat her," he began. "And the last component that will allow it to become so is hope. Not magic, not Arcanum, not anything else. Only hope."
As soon as he finished, Hestia felt the waves begin to weaken. It was as if his energy was draining away, while the Beast's was only growing stronger.
- "Hope for all the good that could happen to anyone, be it a god, a human, or a monster. Hope for a future without pain or suffering. A future worth living for," Romani continued. "And now I need your help. Not only the help of the gods, but of the world itself..."
He paused and looked toward the center of the city.
- "And here's the question... will it answer me?..
...
..
.
And it answered.
-0-
A/N: How's the chapter? Give us your opinion. You may well be able to influence future chapters.
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