"Aaaagh!!! Goddess!! The monsters… The monsters!! Arghhh!! My arm!! My arm!!!"
"Urk… XXXX"
"Sob… It hurts… Goddess! I… I can't hold on…"
"Eat the potion, you idiot! The one I told you to prepare!"
"Y-Yes…!"
"Why… How do you still have points!? And so many!?"
Melt was utterly shocked. The ten goddesses had an enormous amount of points, enough to make already powerful boss monsters evolve further, causing her hero to lose an arm.
"Oho, getting emotional now, huh, Lady Melt?"
"What's that? It's the rules, isn't it? We're playing by the book!"
"Yeah, we're following the rules! What's the problem!?"
"Haha! That's the face, Rulekeeper Melt!! Keep making that face!"
"By the rules? How is that possible!? All your points should've…"
"Been gone, right~?"
Normally, when a hero dies, all the points held by their goddess vanish, or some are taken by the goddess who sent the monsters to kill them. Melt could hardly believe this was happening.
"Want to know a secret, Lady Melt? We… entrusted our points to other goddesses before our heroes died!"
"How is that possible!? Why would they agree to…!?"
"Still don't get it, huh? Hmph… Besides your arrogance, maybe there's some stupidity in that head too."
"Who'd like you, Lady Melt!?"
"Maybe the points we have were even gifted by those others!"
"Yeah! I remember having only 1700 points before my hero died. Now I've got over 10000, thanks to everyone's cooperation!"
And so, the hero-less goddesses revealed the truth: they got their points through the collaboration of other goddesses…
Goddesses who hated Melt but didn't want to show their faces…
"You lot!!!!"
"What's wrong, Lady Melt? We're playing by the rules! Rules are rules!"
"Yeah, rules are rules!"
"G-Goddess… Goddess!! Sob… Goddess!!!! I… I can't…"
"You idiot! Don't stop moving! Dodge and wait for the potion to heal your arm!"
"Sob… Urk…"
Over ten high-level evolved boss monsters, plus hundreds of buffed, evolved minions, relentlessly swarmed Melt's hero. No matter how strong, well-equipped, well-trained, or agile the young woman was, the confined space and attacks too numerous to finish quickly meant only one thing: her strength would keep dwindling.
"Oh, so satisfying! Look at our Lady Melt's face!"
"Keke! Haha!" x9
"Who knew sending points without worrying about our own heroes would feel this good?"
"Totally! So thrilling!"
"Think those others want to see this themselves?"
"Ugh, no way! No one wants to get hit back by monsters this tough! Right?"
"No way! We're the ones spending the points!"
"Exactly~ No one's complaining, even though tons of those tough monsters got killed. That means they weren't sent to attack anyone else!"
"So satisfying~!"
Normally, during the Blood Festival or the 100-Day Festival, points amplify attacks significantly. But if you attack directly with too many points and the opponent survives, the counterattack hits the heroes of the goddesses who sent the points. The more points pooled together, the harsher the counterattack, risking the death of their own heroes. So attacks are usually broad or server-wide rather than targeting individuals…
It's a simple but effective rule for normal situations…
But what if hero-less goddesses get points and attack directly!? The result is a one-sided assault with no fear of counterattacks from killing those monsters…
The aura-less goddesses, seeing the mighty Melt in a state unseen for over 5000 years, felt immense satisfaction.
"Goddess… Thank you… for always being with me…"
What am I doing…? Don't I have power in my hands?
"What are you saying!? XXXX, you can't give up now!!"
The young woman, fighting with only one arm, no allies, and facing relentless high-level monster attacks, was nearly spent. Her body slowed down…
I just used… my power, my authority, to help XXXX… No… No, did I talk to her too much and let feelings get in the way? She's just… a pawn… Losing this time doesn't matter… It's just… just…
"I feel so happy… Arghhh!!!"
"You idiot, stop talking and focus!!!"
The young hero's body started taking hits. Even with HP, these evolved monsters' attacks were so dangerous they could bypass HP and hit the body directly… like her arm.
There's no way out. She's just a pawn… In 90 years, I'll just play a new game…
"Cough, cough… Haa, haa… Thank you for always being by my side…"
"Shut up!!! The potion's healing you! Focus…"
Just giving false hope to a worthless human… No need for me to stoop to helping…
"I can't hold on anymore, Goddess… Goddess…"
"You idiot!!! If you stop, you'll die!!"
The young hero's body slowed further… and further, until monster attacks began grazing her clothes and hair.
The radiant, majestic goddess stood still amid the laughter of ten others. Though her face remained expressionless, her clenched fists were unmistakable…
"Haa, haa… Goddess…"
Stop calling me!
"Don't give up and die like an idiot!! Have you forgotten your dream!? …Don't you want to… go back to that person, the one you wrote about every day!? So stop giving up!"
"Haa, haa… Goddess…"
Stop calling me!
"Stop calling me, I said!!! Focus on dodging!!!"
"Goddess…"
I told you to…
"I told you to stop calling me, you idiot!!!!"
"I'm not calling… Haa, haa… I'm just answering…"
"?"
"That person… is you, Goddess…"
???????????????????????????????????????????????
Thump… Thump… Thump…
"Huh?"
Slash!!!!
And then, one of the young woman's legs was severed from her body…
"Aaaagh!!!! Sob… Goddess!!"
End of Chapter 101
That Person Is You, Goddess