The beautiful elf with short silver-white hair leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, tapping one finger against her arm again and again as she stared resentfully at the dog sitting on the floor.
"Beta, don't be angry. I don't think Delta did it on purpose. Let's not blame her this time."
Another elf with long black hair, who had just woken from unconsciousness, watched the scene and cautiously stepped forward to speak to Beta, hoping to smooth things over.
"Mm, mm, mm. Gamma is right. Delta really didn't mean to..."
Seeing Gamma plead on her behalf, Delta, who was crouched on the ground, hurriedly nodded along. But the gloomy look Beta shot her made her shut her mouth at once. Her tail drooped, and she turned her head away.
"Hah, Gamma, it isn't that I care that much about Delta's mistake. But this was a mission Shadow-sama personally assigned to me. How am I supposed to explain this to Shadow-sama...?"
Beta let out a breath, no longer interested in having a staring contest with Delta. She turned to look at the collapsed high-rise outside the window, her face troubled.
"Shadow-sama ordered me to capture Eta, but now Eta has disappeared because of Delta. How am I supposed to report this to Shadow-sama when the time comes? What if Shadow-sama is disappointed in me? What if Shadow-sama doesn't want me anymore...?"
By the end, Beta did not even know where her thoughts had gone. Her hand tightened unconsciously, crushing the window frame.
"Um... Beta, I think you should calm down first. I'm sure Shadow-sama wouldn't want to see you looking so dejected."
Beta glanced at Gamma, but she still looked listless and let out a miserable groan.
"Sorry, Gamma, but I really have too many things on my mind right now. It isn't just Eta attacking you. There's the unrest all over the world, and Shadow-sama's plan..."
Remembering the commotion from earlier, they should have counted among the few who had not been pinned down and rendered unable to move by that divine might filling the sky. But that was exactly what confused Beta.
I know I'm weak. Even with everything Shadow-sama arranged, I still mess things up. But Shadow-sama, I still want to know what really happened. You would never destroy the world. You are the god who led us from darkness into light. I know you must...
"In any case... this concerns Eta."
A cool, mature voice sounded. Beta looked at Gamma, who had returned to her usual self, then thought for a moment and shook her head.
"I don't know. I'm not sure how much of this Eta is involved in. Before Shadow-sama sent word telling me to take Delta away, I didn't even know you were unconscious."
"But this definitely has something to do with Eta, right?"
Leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, Gamma ignored Beta's uncertain tone, a flash of wisdom passing through her eyes.
"Since this has something to do with Eta, won't we understand once we find her?"
"...Can you find Eta?"
"I'm not sure, but I believe whatever Eta did using Shadow Garden's power while I was unconscious must have left plenty of traces. If we investigate them one by one, we'll definitely find out where she is."
After a moment of silence, Beta looked at Gamma with some surprise. Their eyes met, and both of them smiled in tacit understanding.
"All right. I'll go gather the records."
"I'll go find Nu and the others."
"No problem. Oh, right. If I complete the mission Shadow-sama gave me, I'll tell you some good news, Gamma."
After quickly deciding how to divide the work, the two split up to complete their respective tasks, leaving only Delta behind. She stayed in the corner, lowering her presence as much as possible, as if Beta and Gamma had forgotten her.
"Guh..."
Realizing no one was paying attention to her, Delta sat there and thought for a while, then bolted in a certain direction. She opened a window, waved to Kuroka Toujou, who was running across the rooftop outside, then jumped out and landed silently.
"Delta-sama, why are you alone? Wasn't Cid-sama with you?"
After looking around and failing to spot Cid, Kuroka Toujou asked curiously.
"Boss? Delta doesn't know."
"Uh..."
The corner of Kuroka Toujou's mouth twitched slightly. She had expected as much the moment she saw Delta alone, but hearing that answer still felt absurd.
Letting Delta, a fool with tremendous power and an immature mind, run around as she pleased. Only someone on Shadow's level could do something like that.
After sighing inwardly, Kuroka Toujou heard Delta already starting to make impatient noises and smiled.
"Then is there anything you need to do now, Delta-sama? If Cid-sama didn't give you any instructions, why not keep coming with us? Vali and the others are going to get revenge on Cao Cao's group."
"Guh..."
Delta nodded, then shook her head, and looked back at the Mitsugoshi Company office building behind her.
Saying she had nothing to do would not be right, since Cid had ordered her to follow Beta and help with her work. But saying she did have something to do was not right either, since she had already messed up the task Beta assigned her. If she kept following Beta now, she would definitely be punished. So...
"Mm. Delta is going to find Eta!"
That was right. Delta had figured it out. As long as she found Eta, she could make up for the mess she had made. Then she could eat what she wanted, drink what she wanted, and do whatever she liked.
"Huh? Eta is..."
Kuroka Toujou was about to ask who Eta was, but before the words could leave her mouth, she saw Delta lower herself and run off like a dog let loose.
Kuroka Toujou scratched her head with a headache. In the end, she sent a message to Vali and the others, telling them to start without her and that she would catch up afterward, then hurried after Delta.
There was no helping it. Whether out of affection or duty, Kuroka Toujou could not just abandon Delta. If no one watched Delta... things would really go wrong.
...
Seriously... it's been a long time since I had such a satisfying fight.
After tossing Eta and Sherry onto the sofa, Cid stretched, then grabbed some clothes and headed for the bathroom, feeling rather uncomfortable.
Even for Cid, today had definitely been a bizarre day.
First, he followed a Fallen Angel and found a very cool evil base, where he encountered a mysterious agent. Not only did he maintain his mysterious image, he also raked in a huge amount of money.
Up to that point, it had been a wonderful day. After that, things started feeling a little off. First came some inexplicable mob-character crisis, then some world crisis. Fortunately, thanks to his superb acting, he had barely managed to bluff his way through it all.
The sequence after that was just like a proper monster-hunting adventure. Right after he defeated the Four Heavenly Kings, Kokabiel, out came a Demon King, Aži Dahāka, and in the end, even a supreme combat force, another version of himself, appeared.
Ah... Not only did it satisfy every fantasy Cid had about classic heroic story beats, even the final boss's strength was truly heavyweight. Aside from that "Billionfold Sensitivity" being a little weird, the rest of the combat setup was seriously high-level.
And at the very end, he even got to indulge in a classic reenactment, cosplaying as a great villain and Jesus, the Holy Son from biblical mythology.
Just look at how perfect the coincidence was. The God of Light facing a crisis where the world's light and darkness were collapsing, and in the mythology of that God, there was a Holy Son who died bearing all sins. He also happened to have two troublesome aliases, "Child of God" and "Child of Light." This, this, this... it was simply too perfect.
Not only could he cosplay as the Holy Son from mythology, he could also blow up the troublesome alias that had been giving him headaches, and on top of that, he could make Xenovia and the others all leave. That was three wins in one!
Here, he had to make one thing solemnly clear. Although the scene had made him look like he was about to destroy the world, he had been saving the world from beginning to end.
At most, all he had done was provide a voice-over for that unconscious natural disaster and take the blame for destroying the world onto himself. To save the world, he had even actually punched two holes through his own hands.
Of course, the advice he gave after saving the world was also completely sincere.
There were all sorts of reasons, sure, but who knew how he had felt when he saw someone declaring he would rule the world as a dictator charging at him with a Genki Dama in hand?
Ah... The fight had been incredibly satisfying, but those moves had been more ridiculous than the last. The one that deserved special criticism was Great Bliss: Billionfold Sensitivity, Slaaneshi Utopia. If he had not blocked it, this world would probably have turned into an R-18 world by now.
After going over everything that had happened today and once again marveling at how bizarre the day had been, Cid stood up from the bathtub, washed himself clean, then picked up his clothes and walked toward the door.
"Yo, Eta. You're awake."
After putting on his clothes and opening the bathroom door, Cid poked his head out and happened to see Eta, who seemed to have just woken up.
"Hi, Master."
Eta greeted him weakly, struggling to sit up as she looked at Cid, who was rubbing his hair with a bath towel.
"Since you're awake, let's talk."
He spoke in a calm tone. Under that steady gaze, Eta, knowing that everything she had done was already within Shadow's expectations, sighed helplessly and nodded.
"I know, Master."
Cid, who had really only wanted to ask why Eta had been inside another version of himself, froze.
"Oh. Looks like you already know. Then can you tell me how much you know?"
Stay calm. I have no idea what's going on, but right now I just need to act like everything is under control.
"There are plenty of things I'm not sure about, but does that matter? I already lost. Knowing those things won't change anything. A genius doesn't waste time on unnecessary things."
"How could it be unnecessary? If you don't know where you lost this time, how are you supposed to win next time, Eta?"
Oh, oh, oh... from that tone, Eta got outplayed by someone in some kind of contest and is about to give up on herself? Even Eta has days like this? Who was that strong?!
"...Master, how much do you know?"
"I only know what I should know."
Sitting upright on the sofa, Cid covered the two holes in his hands with white gloves and spoke indifferently.
"Hah. Everything, then? I really was completely crushed.
Well, that's only natural. After all, it was you, Master."
Eta seemed to have imagined something on her own and gave a bleak smile. Although her body was weak, she still sat up properly.
Why do I feel like I don't understand a thing anymore?
Avoiding Eta's gaze, Cid made himself a cup of tea with a stiff expression. For some reason, he felt like he and Eta were not having the same conversation at all.
"So, Master, what do you plan to do? If possible, please make it quick.
It's just a little regrettable. In the end, I still couldn't touch even the slightest trace of godhood..."
Now I really don't understand anything!
Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead as he listened to Eta's endless flattery and riddles, Cid thought for a moment and made his decision. He would stop worrying about all of it.
Professional matters should be left to the professionals. He would just toss Eta to Beta, then talk to Sherry tomorrow and send her away.
"If we say too much, it ruins the fun. This incident involving you has caused me quite a bit of trouble. Finish this cup of tea, sleep for a while, and handle the rest with Beta and the others yourself. Remember to get along properly with Alpha and the others."
Patting Eta on the shoulder, Cid walked briskly toward his room without looking back. Because he was moving too fast, he even stumbled and nearly fell.
The only thing that could be called fortunate was that Asia had somehow gotten caught up with people from the Church and would not be back for a while, so he did not need to think too much about her.
That's it?!
Behind Cid, Eta's pale purple eyes stared blankly at his retreating figure.
To be honest, Eta had already prepared herself for the worst, but she never expected it to simply... end like this.
Yes, it was over. Before she had truly tried to kill any of the Seven Shadows against their will, no matter how angry Beta was, Beta could not possibly kill her. At most, she would place more restrictions on her in various ways afterward...
What kind of situation was this?!
Veins bulged on the hand Eta used to grip the cup, and her face darkened in a way it never had before.
If Master had hit her, scolded her, or even killed her on the spot and crushed her soul so she could never reincarnate, she would have only felt a little depressed. After all, there was nothing to say when her skills were inferior. But what was this complete disregard supposed to mean?
A terrifying thought slowly surfaced in Eta's mind. Could it be that... Master had treated her like an NPC?
"Crack!"
The teacup was crushed in her hand, and scalding tea spilled all over the floor, but Eta did not notice at all.
If that was the basic logic behind everything, then what did that make the titles she took pride in, "the person closest to god" and "inheritor of Shadow's wisdom"?
Was this not a world with only two players, Master and herself, but rather a world with Master as the only player and an NPC who mistakenly believed she was a player?
Heh. Hehehe...
Damn it, I can't take this anymore. I'm activating it right now...
"Woof!"
Just as Eta's thoughts scattered further and further, even beginning to turn dangerous, a black figure knocked the door open and burst inside.
"Eta, found you! Delta is taking you back right now!"
"You hateful beast..."
Looking at Delta lying on top of her, Eta struggled with all her strength. But her weakened body did not have a single tool on it, and the brute strength Eta usually looked down on now held her firmly in place. She could only watch as Delta carried her away.
"Huh? This smell... Boss is in heat!"
After being slammed hard onto the ground, Eta heard those words and looked at the excited Delta. A bold idea surfaced in her mind.
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