A(n) (un)godly conflict

Beatrice walked through a large garden, her red hair waving as she bobbed her head in rhythm to the beat she heard through the black headphones on her head.

The sky was deep blue, with green grass tickling her feet through the sandals she wore. With a gentle smile, she stepped forth, hardly caring for the rhythm of the son. For a moment, she stopped, looking at a statue nearby. It wasn’t anything special: just a plain statue depicting what seemed like a tree of sorts. Small streams of water flowed down its branches, dividing and creating several small waterfalls flowing into a large pond around the stone figure.

‘Yberion really loves his flowers.’ she hummed at the thought, noticing a small beehive on a nearby tree. All around, on nearly every plant, there were small flowers of different colors, releasing their sweet scent into the air. Beatrice couldn't lie. She liked the smell. There was no denying that, unlike other gods, Yberion put a lot of effort into making his own space in God’s Realm look nice and inviting.

But she wasn’t there to sightsee; she could do so anytime. Right now, she was there to speak with God of Truth. Navigating between some large bushes of what she just barely could recognize to be roses, she soon entered a small, somewhat secluded territory within the garden. His own sanctum, much like Redion’s house.

It was rather large, no less than 25 meters across in a circular shape. The grass in this space was a fair bit shorter, its stumps just barely coming out of the ground, and yet, still covering the surface in a deep green color. The walls of the space were completely made of multiple tree trunks and bushes that grew between them, colorful flowers providing nectar to bees that flew all over the place.

In the middle of the place, in front of a large pond of water, sat a man. Eyes closed, he was meditating, sitting with both his feet above his ankles. His body of a light brown color was covered by a light, robe-like article of clothing in gray color, covering him from the neck down. Somewhat short, black hair was all licked to one side and didn’t waver one bit when he took deep breaths in a defined pattern, breathing in through his nose and letting the air out his half-full lips.

‘There you are.’ Beatrice thought, reaching for her headphones and clicking a button before she took them off. As she dropped them to her side, the item dissipated seemingly into nothingness. Then, she came a bit closer, standing roughly 5 meters from him Yberion before clearing her throat, “Hi, Yberion.”

“…I was not expecting to be welcoming you here,” he opened his brown eyes and turned his head toward the guest. “Beatrice Hyllen, or should I call you ‘Goddess of Fraud’ now?” he asked, forming a gentle smile and focusing on her.

“Didn’t expect that title to stick around,” the red-haired woman snickered momentarily, her eyes glimmering for a blink. “I very much prefer my original one, honestly.”

“Hmm, truth be told, so do I,” he gave a quiet reply and turned to the pond. “Well then, why did you come around? Have you decided to visit me for the first time in four centuries?”

“You wish. I came to talk about the Competition.”

“…I see,” God of Truth slowly got up from his position before turning to her completely.

He was about 180, maybe 185 cm tall, putting him a head above Beatrice. His large ears stood out from his head slightly and contrasted with his short nose.

“I’m sure you are aware you weren’t a viable candidate to be chosen, right?”

“Forget it. I wouldn't agree to even if anyone wanted me (though we know no one would)," she answered, her expression turning slightly sour for half a blink. "I came to talk with you about the rules of the Competition.”

“I understand that you found a way to bypass some again?”

Beatrice nodded. “I can’t help but wonder why Reggie made them like this. So vague, too easy to bypass, even. It feels like he didn't even proofread it. I'm one call away and you decided to not contact the person literally famous for finding loopholes in the Competition's rules."

“So, what are the issues you noticed?” Yberion asked, seemingly ignoring the woman’s rant.

‘Avoiding the issue rather than facing it head-on. Typical Yberion.’ thought Beatrice with dismay but didn’t express the feeling. Instead, she explained, “For starters, the rules of Competition stated that every god participating is allowed to give their Apostle ‘an item and a skill to boot’. I mean, why even phrase it like that? Obviously, everyone will give their Apostles ways to let them access their skill trees, even Trigal. But Redion gave his Apostle access to a unified system controlling his skills and stats. It’s not physical, cannot be destroyed, and the Apostle can’t throw it away unless he forfeits his position. By the rules of the Competition, it cannot be considered an item.”

“…are you… certain… about that assessment?”

“I have a 5-page report on that alone (took me a while to complete it, too). I gave it to Redion, and he couldn’t find any loopholes in my understanding. You’re absolutely free to check it out yourself,” she reached out with a hand to her left, and out of thin air, a few white pages of paper filled with even lines of black, fine text appeared. Without waiting for a second, she extended her hand toward the God of Truth.

Yberion accepted the papers, and shifted them in his hands, quickly reading through a few first sentences before looking up at his guest.

“I’ll review this together with Regan later. Were there any more issues?”

“There’s also a problem surrounding the nature of communication with Apostles.”

“Could you elaborate?”

“The rules state ‘communication is possible by dragging the soul of the Apostle to God’s Realm when they’re asleep or ****. To prevent exploitation, gods are not allowed to support their Apostles with pieces of advice on their current situation.’. It’s all nice and fair until you realize it’s possible to **** this system by forcing the soul back in instantly, making the body wake up basically regardless of its current state. Hell, Redion used that once to save his Apostle’s skin already.”

“Regan mentioned something about that. He said that it was stretching the rules a bit, but we allowed it because it was still in the preparation period of the Competition.”

“You mean to say you’re fine with that? I don’t believe you,” Beatrice formed a look full of suspicion.

“Rightfully so. However, as I said, it was in the preparation period.”

“So what? The preparation period is for Apostles to get used to their situation, not for gods to search for loopholes.”

“I agree, but Redion wasn’t the only one **** to use this technique. Had it been only him, he’d be already disqualified. 3 out of 13 had to do this to save their Apostles. This will be banned after the preparation period, but until then it’s allowed to save one’s Apostle.”

‘Always taking the easiest way around… both stupid and brilliant in their own right.’ Beatrice sighed lightly. "I guess Hanil's mistake reverberated," she shrugged, gauging Yberion's reaction.

"Haha, I suppose you can say that," he let out a short, heartfelt chuckle. "Though there is little we can do if it's the Apostle's will."

The red-haired woman glanced to her side for a blink.

“Also, I do have a request.”

“What is it?” he raised an eyebrow, visibly interested.

“I want to review all the rules with you and Reggie and seek out all the loopholes and fixes for them before the Competition gets out of its preparation period. And also--“

“Yberion? Are you around?” the two of them heard the tranquil voice of a woman coming from someplace near their position.

Beatrice and the God of Truth turned their heads toward the source of the noise and quickly got welcomed by the sight of a beautiful woman entering the place.

She seemed to be roughly 175 cm tall, with pristine, clear skin glistening in light like a diamond. Perfectly proportional, both her small ears were covered by platinum hair going straight to her shoulders. Small, yet graceful lips were slightly ajar as she scanned around with crystal blue eyes. Her tiny nose was perfectly straight, just barely casting a shadow over one of her thin cheeks.

She was wearing a long, white dress that hugged her waist nicely and expanded down, hiding her toned bottom but emphasizing her large breasts, which were barely covered by it, each of her girls nearly the size of her head. Plentiful cleavage was out for the world to see, just under a beautiful necklace with a hundred breathtaking gems. On her feet were small shoes, in which she walked slowly yet with a grace that could not be matched by just anyone.

The newcomer stopped in her tracks after taking a step into the place. Immediately, she shot a hateful glare at Beatrice, which was reciprocated with equal animosity.

“I was not expecting to see the infamous ‘Rulebreaker’ here,” said the goddess, standing roughly 10 meters from the two.

“I was not expecting to see the infamous bitch here,” replied Beatrice with a cut tongue, and her lips curved upward ever so much.

“Say that again?” the newcomer asked, clenching her fists with anger. The fair color of her skin began being tainted with red on her ears.

“Why? Did whatever was left of your brain flow out your ears to make more space for cleavage?”

“You little…” the platinum-haired woman’s fist shook momentarily, but she **** herself to not act upon the insult.

“That’s enough,” Yberion said in a calm but somewhat stern tone. “Beatrice, I’ll review your findings with Regan and inform you about our decision. For now, thank you for your insight. Our talk is finished.”

“So be it. Later,” the red-haired woman said goodbye and started walking away.

“Now then, Sia, what brings you here?” Yberion turned to the platinum-haired woman.

Beatrice didn’t care for the conversation that started behind her back, instead heading to an arc between trees that would take her back into the outer garden. However, as she went out of the place, she sent a mental message straight to Sia.

<You may be considered one of the strongest gods, but we both know you flaunt your tits around so much because you got nothing more than them.>

She smiled, knowing damn well that her statement connected. Immediately, she started going away between the plants. Passing by a huge rose bush, Beatrice stopped, taking a red one in her hand and sniffing it lightly. Suddenly sensing a surge of mana from toward Yberion's position, she snickered inwardly before backpedaling. Her motion was done just in time to see the Goddess of Light pass by her location, spear and shield in her hands, rushing forward with unnatural speed. Had Beatrice been any later to respond, she’d been impaled by the goddess, but she didn’t let the thought reach her, instead putting on a smirk. Immediately, she heard the goddess speak, “You take those words back, THIS INSTANT!” anger sept from Sia's tone. The pressure oozing from her twisted the air around.

“Why? Did I take up some of that precious cleavage space in your skull?” Rulebreaker didn’t even try to cover up the smile with which she said her words. Taking a quick step back at the goddess’ attack, she kicked the polearm, not bothering to block it with her hands. Spinning the rose in her hand, she separated its haulm from its head.

“You BIIIIITCH!” Goddess of Light roared, performing a flurry of inhumanly fast stabs. However, with surprise, she noticed how Beatrice gracefully used her divine weapon as a stepping platform to make her way above and behind her.

“I’m sorry, but that title is already taken by someone else,” Beatrice did her best innocent girl’s face and brought a single finger to her mouth. “I’m ‘Rulebreaker’, remember?”

Sia moved forth slightly, performing a long stab. The elf woman raised her hand, blocking the strike with the plant in her hand. The platinum-haired woman's eyes widened, seeing the wimpy stalk press against the glaive's blade. Within her only expectations, the plant should've been annihilated, but... it wasn't? In fact... it looked fine?

Sia applied further pressure but found herself unable to press the blade onward. A vein bulged on her temple as she stomped on the ground, trying to get a better foothold. However, Rulebreaker's hand remained poised. A glint of laughter emanated from her brown orbs. Her brow raised, seemingly asking a question of what was Sia's next action going to be.

Gritting her teeth, the Goddess of Light relented. 'Dirty tricks.' she mused for but a second before she made a rapid spin, a trail of light following right after her weapon's edge.

This time, Beatrice did not attempt to block the strike, instead skittering backward. As she made some distance, she raised the plant stalk lightly, redirecting Sia's attack just enough for it to clear over her head. A small strand of her hair dropped to the ground, but she was otherwise unaffected by the ****. Rulebreaker sighed before throwing the plant stalk to the ground. The rose's head was also gone from her hand.

For a moment, it appeared that both fighters had calmed down. Sia was the first one to break the silence, “You want to critique a goddess’s body when you’re walking around with a plank for a chest? Don’t make me laugh. Grow some tits before you speak up,” she scoffed, an unpleasant grimace marking her face.

“Grow some? But… I thought these were big enough?” asked Beatrice in an innocent tone, revealing her blue cloak a bit.

Underneath it, she was wearing a somewhat tight gray shirt, currently strained to the last of its ability by her breasts. They weren’t as large as Sia’s, but they were close behind.

Goddess of Light snorted with ridicule.

“A petty illusion.”

“Oh, but these are all real, so long I want them to be,” replied Rulebreaker, snapping her fingers. Within a few short moments, her chest deflated to smaller than a small handful, the size they always were at. “But understanding the life of a bimbo is not on my priority list."

Sia didn't respond at first, only standing in one spot about 10 meters from Beatrice. She might've not understood the peculiar word in the middle of the elf's sentence, but she knew it was not a compliment. Flames in her eyes nearly poured onto her cheeks. Then, her lips slowly parted, “I will enjoy ripping your limbs off your body,” she stated in a cold tone.

Rulebreaker chuckled lightly in response. “So be it,” she replied, dropping her mantle to the ground, exposing her figure to the goddess.

Beatrice's body was a stark contrast to Sia's. She was quite slim all around, from her chest hidden by a gray shirt to her bottom under black sweatpants. However, what was beneath the material was a toned, athletic body hardened by thousands of fights she’s had in her life. Beatrice was by no means weak. With Strength greater than a troll's, Endurance putting golems to shame, Agility that even to undines was but a blur, and Sense that made canines blind and deaf in comparison, she could even topple a dragon on her own. Beatrice was not a goddess, but it was undeniable that the actual gods could not treat her lightly.

But her opponent wasn’t just anyone, either. Sia’s body was not as battle-hardened, but despite its proportions, her Strength was ridiculously high. Even though she wasn’t oriented for the speed of attacks, her barrages were only a few notches below what Rulebreaker could reliably dodge. And, most importantly, Sia had a magic presence incomparable to any other god, one that dwarfed Beatrice’s ten, if not twentyfold. There was no denying that even including Casali and hell below it, there was not a single being that could match her magic power.

Beatrice reached out with her hand, and within a second or so, a greatsword appeared. It had a beautiful handle made of silver and teal metals and a wide, shiny blade, almost 15 cm at the base and slowly converging toward the tip. The entire structure had about 1,8 m in total length, which was noticeably larger than its wielder. Rulebreaker swung the sword around with ease. The vibrations in the air around the blade would inform anyone that it was not a light piece of metal by a long shot. A smirk on her face didn’t disappear as she threw something between herself and Sia.

“Let the dice decide your fate.”

“???” Sia momentarily formed a perplexed expression, focusing her attention on the small item rolling toward her.

The dice Beatrice threw bounced a few times before coming to a halt just half a meter before the goddess’ feet. On top of the six-sided thing, a ‘6’ was engraved. No, wait!

“Boo,” Sia heard that damnable trickster’s voice in her left ear. Without a moment of hesitation, she made a rapid spin, aiming to chop her head off with the glaive. However… there was nobody there.

Goddess of Light turned back to where Beatrice was previously standing, and sure enough, she was still there, fidgeting with the fingernails of one hand with the huge sword resting on the opposite shoulder. Her posture suggested that she was getting a little impatient. However, as her brown eyes shot toward Sia, only one thing was visible: pure laughter.

“What’s that? You look like you’re hearing things,” she said with a smirk before taking a stance.

‘Don’t get swayed by that fucking trickster. She’s just using Redion’s magic. She’ll suffer from the same drawbacks he does.’ Sia berated herself as she raised her polearm. “<Brilliance>,” and then, she struck the ground.

Within half a second, 4 huge ruptures appeared in the dirt of the heavenly dimension, messing up the grass around. They immediately began expanding, taking different routes toward their destination: the red-haired woman just under 30 meters away. Seeing the attack approaching, Rulebreaker began backpedaling.

“Didn’t know we were saying our skills out loud now. Times really did change,” she chuckled as she avoided the first three waves of Sia’s attack and blocked the fourth one by striking the ground the moment the rupture tried to explode in her face. “<Trick Room>,” Beatrice placed the palm of her hand on the ground.

Within a split moment, an enormous circle of magic was formed, enveloping both fighters inside. Sia raised her hand with the shield into the air in response.

“<Light’s Efficacy>.”

“Hmm, not as dumb as you sell yourself to be, are you?” Beatrice responded, noticing a large field of magic encompassing the spell she set up. Within a second or so, her magic was destroyed by Sia’s.

“<Sun Swarm>,” Sia cocked her hand before throwing Caori with incredible strength. The weapon instantly split into over a hundred copies made of light, spaced enough to cover nearly a fourth of Rulebreaker's vision upfront.

“<Absolute Artistry>,” she replied with her own skill and swung the sword in a wide arc. “<Augmentation>, <Psionic Blast>,” she pointed her other hand straight at Sia.

A red wisp appeared in Beatrice’s left hand. It grew quickly, enveloping her hand completely, and exploded violently before the first of Sia’s spears reached their mark, causing them to fly in random directions all around or outright negating their existence. But it didn’t stop there. The wave of psionic energy swept through the entire field around and quickly went through Sia as well. The goddess, unable to block the attack, only grunted lightly, feeling a momentary spike of pain envelop her body. However, her state after the attack was much better than Beatrice’s. The red-haired woman was already starting to bleed from her nose, and the grimace on her face was a testament to how much more that skill hurt her than it did Sia.

‘She’s much stronger than me, but only when considering the magical aspect. Just as expected.’ Beatrice evaluated, taking in the second of calm. ‘In terms of physical capabilities, I hold the upper hand. She might outlast me if I'm **** to constantly dodge, but she won't hit me easily.’

She fixed her grip on the sword and swiped a hand under her nose, taking the blood away. Her smirk transformed into a more neutral, calculating expression.

“100 <Mana Bolts>,” a simple attack left her palm. It was weak on its own, but numbers made up for its lackluster strength.

But Sia had a divine shield with herself. Without batting an eye, she raised it and blocked the attack completely. “<Sun’s Embrace>,” the next moment, the very same defensive weapon became offensive, covered in flames hot enough to melt away nearly any material. Heat began beaming forth, attacking Beatrice.

“<Shadow Cloak>,” Rulebreaker suddenly disappeared from Sia’s field of vision.

“<God’s eyes>,” normal stealth skills were ineffective against a god, but the one used by Beatrice was definitely a step up from a typical one. Sia could sense Rulebreaker's mana signature moving about but it was so vague that it might've as well been the wind from her own presence. Somewhat frantically, she started pointing her shield around, trying to pinpoint the red-haired woman's exact location before her ability took effect.

Somewhere on her right, her opponent reappeared, seemingly trying to circle her.

“…I really hoped you wouldn’t do that so soon.”

“Ready to apologize?” Sia asked as she canceled her skill, the weight of her voice amplified by the pressure of magic she emanated.

“Apologize?” Beatrice formed an expression that expressed a ponder for half a second. "…nah," she shrugged, raising her sword and coming at the platinum-haired goddess.

Sia jabbed a few times with her weapon and then attempted to bash at Rulebreaker with her shield but didn’t manage to get her one time. Spinning rapidly, she tried to cut at her legs, but Beatrice was too quick to backpedal at the last moment. ‘She’s baiting me.’ Sia soon realized. ‘She's **** at long range, so she's trying to suppress me in melee.’

“<Light’s Efficacy>,” Sia struck the ground with Caori, causing thousands of light spears to pour from the sky above.

Suddenly **** to concentrate on falling projectiles, Beatrice found it difficult to parry her opponent’s strikes, even allowing a strike at her right shoulder. A bit of blood spluttered from her clavicle as she hissed momentarily. Her suit began being tainted by the scarlet color. However, quite unexpectedly, she dropped to the ground and cut Sia’s legs with her own, forcing her to the ground. Yet, instead of attacking while she was on the ground, she quickly retreated to a somewhat safe distance. ‘She's figuring it out.’ she thought, putting on a small smirk. ‘Time for a little surprise, then.’ Rulebreaker dropped her sword to her side, letting it vanish into a subspace she used as an inventory. Then, she raised her hand and pointed it toward the goddess.

“<3rd Disaster>.”

“?!” ‘WHAT?!’ Sia felt her heart skip a beat as the ground beneath her turned into a swamp, suddenly swallowing her up to her knees. ‘That's... Hanil's magic!'

Overcoming her momentary surprise, Goddess of Light moved her feet to the bottom of the dirty water, and within a second or so, she jumped several meters upward, trying to get out of Rulebreaker’s skill. While in the air, she scanned the terrain around, but… where was that woman?

“You’re just like Simon, you know?” she heard Beatrice’s voice above herself. Before Sia managed to strike, she felt a blade pierce her shoulder deeply. “So~ predictable,” sinister ridicule soaked Rulebreaker's words as she quickly **** the sword out, rupturing the wound. Sia's dress became quickly stained with scarlet fluid.

“<Sublime Spearmanship, 1st Form>, <Judgment>,” Sia gritted her teeth, forcing herself to turn in the air, pushing Beatrice away as they began falling. Immediately, she threw her glaive far into the sky and barely managed to use her shield to slide on the ground rather than tumbling on it.

“Finally, an ultimate,” Beatrice seemed to almost sigh. “I was starting to think you’re not taking me seriously.”

Sia squinted her eyes but didn’t let the anger to her head. No, right now, she needed to focus. Just what else could this woman be planning?

“Alas for you, 1st form is just too--” Beatrice kept speaking, seemingly ignoring the flaming-hot spear flying at her from far above, speed beyond sound and increasing even further. “--bland. Allow me to demonstrate,” she lifted a hand.

A split second before Caori struck, some light appeared from Rulebreaker’s hand. The heat wave and brightness coming off of the divine weapon suddenly disappeared in a brilliant flash of light.

...what could it mean?

Sia rose her shield slightly, expecting an attack to come right after, but… there was nothing. The flash suddenly subsided, and the goddess of Light saw how Rulebreaker was standing somewhat idly, not even holding her sword anymore, with a look on her face that seemed to betray a bit of her anticipation and laughter.

‘That... didn’t work?!’ Sia’s mind couldn’t comprehend what occurred. She couldn’t understand. Even amongst gods, only Regan could stop her ultimate attack unscathed. Then why was Beatrice, who wasn't even a goddess, capable of doing that?! No, wait… ‘That fucker is an Illusionist by nature. It must be a skill to hide her injuries. Come back, Caori.’ she expelled a bit of mana, trying to **** the polearm back into her hand. What suddenly perplexed her, however, was the fact that she couldn’t feel her weapon. ‘…what?!’

“Looking for this?” Beatrice asked, seeing a little distressed look on her opponent’s face. Quickly, she extended her right hand to her side, and Caori suddenly appeared in it. “Tried to use it on me, and now you don’t have it. Oh, how the turns have tabled,” she chuckled lightly.

‘No… how could that be?!! COME BACK!’ however, as Caori started being pulled toward Sia, some **** unexpectedly bounced her command away, and the spear remained in Rulebreaker’s hand.

“Not so fast, bitch,” Beatrice clicked her tongue. “That’s my toy now,” she added, taking a position with the glaive.

Seeing how amateurish a position Rulebreaker was taking, Sia felt her blood boil. That was a divine artifact, and that woman treated it worse than a sparring spear?! No, actually, wasn’t she nearly treating it like a piece of scrap metal, hitting the ground with its tip?

“<Solar Flare>, <Unyielding Light>, <Sun Beam>,” she pointed her hand out, and a beam of pure, steaming-hot light escaped her palm, aiming toward her opponent. In unison, a few bright orbs formed around her before shooting forward and hitting exactly the space where Beatrice was standing.

Powerful explosions ensued as the beam of heat crossed over Rulebreaker’s position a few times. A few drops of sweat appeared on Sia’s face as she continued her onslaught for a few seconds. Weirdly enough, she didn’t feel Caori move one bit since the first attack connected. It was clearly still held by Beatrice since Sia couldn’t recall it yet, but… why didn't she dodge?

‘Even if she was hiding a severe injury from <Judgment>, there’s no way she’d be unable to evade. Just what is she planning?’ Goddess of Light quickly glanced left and right, up and down, behind and forward, but was unable to find her opponent. Moreover, her essence was still in one spot, precisely where her attacks connected. Could it be…?

Sia didn’t plan on leaving any openings. No, she'd been already tricked what, three times? She didn’t even care to count. Rulebreaker had one too many tricks up her sleeves; there was no guarantee that this wasn't another one. Goddess of Light suddenly stopped her barrage and rushed forward, shield first, going to bash straight at her foe.

However, as the dust quickly settled, Sia noticed a glint of Beatrice. From what it looked like, she was… lying down? Has she been defeated? No matter. Platinum-haired goddess rushed in nonetheless, and unexpectedly, she bounced off something. Wait, what?!

She fixed her position and focused her eyes on Beatrice as the dust dispersed. She was lying down on what seemed to be a mix between a bench and a chair, nearly butt-naked, only her breasts and crotch covered by appropriate articles of clothing, both in black color. Dark glasses hid her eyes from Sia’s hateful gaze. In her hand was a glass half-filled with some bronze liquid, pieces of ice floating in it.

“Hey, you mind doing that again? I think you missed a spot,” Rulebreaker asked, raising her hand a little and pointing somewhere around her neck.

“IS THIS SOME KIND OF A GAME TO YOU?!!” Sia yelled, slamming a fist into the invisible barrier separating her from the damnable woman. The ground around them seemed to shake slightly at the impact, but the barrier itself didn’t budge.

“Depends. Am I winning?” Rulebreaker grinned widely, bringing her sunglasses down her nose a bit.

“YOU!” Sia wasn’t even sure how, but her already boiling blood seemed to get even hotter. Focusing as much strength as she could, she took a huge swing with her shield, bashing its tip straight into the barrier, which seemed to finally give a bit. She swung again and again, hitting the surface a few times until suddenly, the invisible **** disappeared.

However, before the attack reached Beatrice, the woman suddenly disappeared as a blue whirl formed momentarily beneath her, sucking her in together with her chair.

‘Regan’s magic?!’ Sia wasn’t sure why, but she was more annoyed than surprised at this point. It didn’t even matter how she had access to other gods’s abilities. What mattered was that Beatrice was toying with her all this time. When would she take this seriously?!

“What?! How can you use spatial magic?!” she yelled, furious.

“A certain Yukari showed me a few tricks. Too bad she was occupied with an antimony of common flowers, she’d love to saw you in half, I’m sure,” she heard from about 10 meters behind her. Beatrice, now clothed in her fighting suit once more, stood leisurely, only glass with the bronze liquid remaining in her hand from her outfit just now.

“Why won’t you take this seriously?!”

“Because that’s what you want, and I’m not gonna give it to you,” Rulebreaker formed a gentle, playful smile before flipping her opponent a bird whilst taking a sip of her drink.

“You will APOLOGIZE to me, Rulebreaker,” Sia said through her teeth, calling Caori to herself again. The spear finally responded, shooting to her hand.

“Hey, chill,” suddenly, Beatrice tilted the glass she held, spilling its contents. “Here, this one’s on me,” the liquid didn’t reach the ground, instead going into another portal.

Sia suddenly felt the cold thing splash on her head, soaking her beautiful hair with its foul stench of ****. But, strangely enough, she didn’t even flinch. It was… somewhat expected at this point.

“I WILL KILL YOU,” she didn’t shout anymore. She was so angry that she couldn’t express it differently than by being… eerily calm.

“Then I guess it’s time for my ultimate,” Rulebreaker made a wider smile than ever before. ‘Finally, it’s prepared.’ “Let me show you my Master Spark.”

Suddenly, just next to Beatrice, a large construct appeared. It seemed to be some kind of a pipe laid on its side, nearly 2 meters in diameter, its walls almost a quarter of that in thickness. Its length was difficult to estimate, but Sia was sure it was about 15 meters, no more. On its end, there seemed to be some construction, but it was hard to make out its details.

Sia didn’t intend on staying around, though. Without hesitation, she threw Caori at the speed of sound, aiming for Rulebreaker’s stomach. Surprisingly enough, the projectile hit its mark, and Beatrice had a visibly surprised look on her face as she stumbled a step back, blood dribbling on the ground as she just barely managed to stop the weapon before it pierced through her completely. With a grunt of pain, she tried to move away from her current position, but Sia managed to get to her before that happened. One hand on the handle of the polearm and the other one holding her opponent’s neck tightly, she twisted the weapon in her guts, a painful grunt escaping Beatrice’s mouth.

“Apologize now, Rulebreaker, and I’ll consider letting you live.”

“S… S…” Beatrice began saying a word but seemed to have difficulty going beyond a single letter.

Noticing her intention, Sia immediately retreated her weapon and released her hold, letting her opponent breathe. Suddenly gasping for air, Beatrice took a few seconds to raise her head and look at still furious Sia.

“So, what did you want to say?” she heard the goddess ask in an irritated tone.

“W… *huff* What I meant to say was… *puff*” slowly, she straightened to proper posture.

“You got 5 seconds,” Sia said, getting a better hold of Caori. She brought the shield’s edge by Beatrice’s chin.

“Smell ya…”

“What?” Sia raised an eyebrow.

“Smell ya later, BITCH!” Beatrice got hold of the shield and, with surprising strength, yanked it inside the barrel together with the goddess of Light.

“Wh--“

*BOOOOOOOOM!*

Sia didn’t get to finish her question as a sudden, thunderous roar exploded inside the barrel. Incredible explosive power suddenly propelled a massive metal ball into Sia’s back, forcing her forward at speeds that she had difficulty reacting to. Beatrice’s face filled with a wide smile flashed in her field of view, together with her fist flipping a bird. The speed at which the Goddess of Light accelerated was just too great for her to resist for a few short seconds. By the time she was capable of getting off of the cannonball that carried herself with it, she was a dozen kilometers from the place where they fought. Slowly getting up from the ground she grunted heavily, feeling that at least a few bones were broken, and the ringing in her ears just wouldn't stop.

Was that ball that powerful? That was not the issue. Among the gods, Sia had the strongest magic but the weakest physique. Compared to even Redion or Hanil, her body was frail and speed lacking. Hell, even that damnable woman, Beatrice, was faster than her despite not reaching godhood status.

But that didn’t matter anymore. Rulebreaker was an exploiter. Perhaps it was because the Goddess of Light didn’t have her target in sight anymore, but she now understood what her opponent had been doing - just playing with her. Sia snorted momentarily, trying to calm herself down. ‘Next time you won’t be so lucky, Rulebreaker.’ she thought, slowly taking her steps away.

-Meanwhile-

‘She got me in the liver. That’s the hardest working liver around here, Sia, and now it’s got a hole in it!’ Beatrice thought, looking at how the goddess was flying away. She placed a hand on her stomach and grimaced in pain slightly. After a second or so, she focused her attention on the wound, quickly sealing it with a reality-altering spell. The pain still reverberated, but at least she no longer represented a broken blood bag. 'Well, it was my miscalculation. Seems like she doesn't feel my gift. Oh well, better for me.' she shrugged. ‘I'll have to thank Wolqa for making this piece, but maybe we should try to design a scientific railgun next time… the ringing won't stop for a while.’ Rulebreaker shook her head, glancing at the cannon. ‘What matters is that it worked.’

She looked around a little. The fight didn’t go half bad for her, all things considered. Especially when she thought about the differences between herself and the Goddess of Light, Beatrice was quite capable. She just fought an opponent more than twice as powerful as herself and came to a position that could be decided as her win. Beatrice smiled. Diverting Sia’s attention was handy when she cast a few extra, unspoken spells.

‘Second <Absolute Artistry> after <3rd Disaster> was useful. Without Regan's magic, I would’ve not been able to trap Caori at all.’ she sighed with a bit of relief. ‘That would’ve been ugly. Not as ugly as her, but still.’

That was exactly the types of fights she enjoyed the most, and there was one reason for that: it allowed her nature as an exploiter to shine the most. She liked to provoke her enemies into unleashing all their might. It gave her fights a sense of meaning.

‘And to think I started just as an Illusionist, and now I just fought off one of the strongest gods known to mankind.’ she smiled a little as she started walking in the direction of Redion's space. Perhaps her playful and provocative nature was why he chose her as his first Apostle. She didn’t know, for she never cared to ask. Well… at this point, it hardly mattered, didn’t it? ‘I wonder how far will Travis go.’ she thought. Intelligence didn't appear to be his strength, but Beatrice didn't dislike him. He appeared persistent, always looking for a way out when he got into trouble. She liked that aspect of him.

‘The underdogs grow the fastest when they face hardships. I hope he'll like my present.' she smirked to herself.

Beatrice exerted some power. Although invisible, a pulse of energy emanated from her, scanning everything in a radius. After a second or so, Rulebreaker pointed her hand in a direction, having found what she was looking for. A glint of red enveloped her hand, and her cloak shot toward her from the place where she dropped it. Putting it on quickly and locking the clasp under her neck, Beatrice swept the material, getting dirt and stray grass blades out of it. A small smile donned her face as she reached into the air and seemingly pulled at something, the head of the rose appearing in her hand. She sniffed it, feeling its scent.

‘I wonder. Did Yberion peek his head out of his garden at all?’