YM778.TV Chapter 63: Sol vs. Saat; Goddess of Sin.
"No."
"But-"
"I said no," Renia gave Darla a side glance with her brows furrowed.
"How exactly do you think the world works, your highness, do you honestly think money in this warring and shrinking world amounts to anything, do you think that having the title of princess grants you the right to make demands of any and everyone and to dictate who someone chooses to spend the time and life with?" She asked putting the girl in a state of shock at how she was being scolded.
"I refuse to, nay, I would never even dream of it, whatever the reason, I do not care much, Ikaris and Sol are beautiful together, they are each others\' strengths and cornerstones, to tear them apart would be to end the world for them and everyone else."
" I do not expect you to understand what love is, you are young, and by this conversation you are extremely naïve." Renia gathered her robes and stood.
"The next time you interact with Ikaris ask her this: \'What is Sol Vestic to you, and why did you choose him\', and watch her eyes light up, watch her cheeks flush and listen to her praises of that man, who in their right mind would try taking her entire world, are you not supposed to be looking out for her best interests?"
Renia took several steps away from the dumbfounded princess and opened a gate through the wall leading to the advance army. "Please excuse me, your highness." She gave her a small nod and stomped through without looking back.
"I do not understand," Darla Vermon raised her hand and pressed her palm against her forehead, leaning back in her seat and stretching her legs in a very un-princess like manner.
"First Arla refuses to break them apart, Dina showed no confidence in doing it, and Eris along with Usami both claim that they consider Sol to be some kind of relative rather than a love interest and show no interest in breaking them apart.
And that moron of an aide I paid and appointed to snatch her from the weakling is saying he wants to retire from the army and has already sent back the money, what the devil is happening here?"
"Is Ikaris so scary that nobody dares to approach Sol Vestic?"
[True Goddess Ikaris is heavily conflicted]
[The goddess of war is staring intently at the two of you]
[The god of destruction is curious]
[The goddess of beasts is staring in frustration]
[The goddess of love is sharing a tragic expression]
[Saat, goddess of sin: Sloth]
"Slave... Hm?" Sol stared at the window. "And I can\'t exactly back out either, a forefeit is considered a loss," He looked pass the window at Saat with a crooked smile that was slowly turning into a frown. "There\'s no such thing as a just god in this world after all, the first challenge after hiatus is no better than a trap." He grimaced.
[Godslayer is active, divine mana is at 98%]
She truly was a skinny woman, her collar and pelvic bones sharply poked at her shoddy dress, and her breasts were small and hung under her garments, her cheekbones were prominent in her face, and her limbs were barely thicker than a skeleton.
She didn\'t look like a god at all, she just looked like a tall malnourished woman.
[You accepted the challenge without the rules even being announced, who\'s fault would that be man?" Saat asked lazily scratching her messy hair.
"I don\'t have the energy right now, using sloth is the least taxing and helps me relax, with you around I could just use you to do whatever I want whenever I want, I\'ll promote you to a pseudo-god right away so you can enter the heavens and visit me when I call-]
"Are you saying you\'ll win easily?" Sol asked narrowing his eyes.
[You do not stand a cha-] Saat sucked in a breath of shock when she felt an oppressive force cling to her as Sol grabbed his hammer with one hand and turned sideways. [Did I imagine that?]
"Ikaris-" Renia barged into the tent with her and the other heroes, just as they wrapped up the meeting.
"Renia," Ikaris greeted her with a hand raised, not even looking her way as her eyes and ear were locked on the challenge. "I\'ll only say this once, Renia." Ikaris balled her greeting hand into a fist while everyone tuned into her words to see what she was so bothered about.
"If this turns into another betrayal, if I am unable to make sense of these plans, I\'ll destroy everything, I\'ll personally, destroy, everything." She continued watching.
"I don\'t stand a chance?"
"That\'s not for you to decide!" Sol took his first step toward the goddess, and a frame of a second later she was folded around his hammer after he closed the distance and swung it.
Sol realised three things in that instant; She was far stronger than Diablos and Psiko, she was a weird fighter, and his hammer was a wrong weapon choice.
Sol watched the goddess staring lazily as a single finger pressed against the hammer while she folded around it; that single finger was enough to prevent her from getting harmed as she used her much lighter weight to move at the same speed as his attack rendering it ineffective.
[Ugh, why would you swing at me unannounced?] Saat spun under the hammer and stopped her momentum with a crooked pose. [I have to at least get ready so I do not use more power than I need to~] She smiled at him.
"I\'m being toyed with." Sol released the weight of his hammer and raised his left hand to his chest aiming his palm at her.
[Fire-bolt]
It was a simple fire-bolt attack, but with the divine amplification of [Godslayer] active it expanded into a massive comet-like projectile as soon as it was cast, and Sol watched shocked as Saat raised a hand and swatted it upward with the most nonchalant gesture.
"She\'s playing with me!" Sol growled and released his hammer completely.
[Godspeed]
He vanished from her sight for a brief moment, appearing at her side with a punch aimed at her ribcage but by the time his punch was halfway to her body Saat was already turned to him, staring at him with an annoyed expression.
[GODSPEED...?]
"What...?"
It felt like slow motion, despite him using [godspeed] it still felt as if he was moving in slow motion compared to the speed she was moving after using the same skill.
"This...!!"
Sol\'s face contorted in anguish when Saat mimicked his punch and delivered a blow to his side, smashing his armour in a single hit and sending him flying through several of the moon\'s mountains in an uncontrollable crash.
"She just used [godspeed]!!" Sol finally righted himself, practically standing horizontally as he cast [regenerate] on himself and coughed up a mouthful of blood. "How did she use my skill...?"
[You think you are strong, you are not] He heard her voice behind him and a moment later he lost his balance again when she grabbed his leg and tossed him toward the ground. [You truly believed that a mere human could battle against the gods, how dare you?] Saat appeared next to Sol after he landed on his feet, punching downwards at him.
"Guhh!" Sol raised his hands and tanked the blow, but let out another pained cry when the muscles in both of his legs were suddenly torn by the unbearable weight of her hand, and his arms broke, not even on Atla had he ever felt this specific pain, it was a shock that woke him up.
[Regenerate]!!
Sol recovered as quickly as he was damaged and leapt outside of her reach.
"Is the Tarnished retreating, are you ready to forfeit?" Saat asked straightening her back as her complexion started changing. [I have the honour of the pantheon to restore, I will not accept your shameless retreat!] She crackled her knuckles as her once skinny self rapidly underwent physical change.
Her messy black hair combed down neatly, her dead eyes became alive with golden divine light, and her figure fleshed out into the body of an athlete.
"Run?" Sol landed steadily on his reformed legs and flashed the blood off his hands. "Me?" He asked.
"Forfeit!?" Sol ground his teeth, seeing the new title of the goddess. "Just what the hell do you take me for?!"
[Saat, goddess of sin: Pride]
[You do not stand a chance mortal!] Saat took a single step and closed the distance, bypassing his defences again and grabbing him by his face. [GODSPEED] She took off, dragging Sol through the moon soil and smashing him into the ground repeatedly as she ran.
[Clockwork]
Saat\'s movements slowed down to a crawl, and Sol reached for her hand and broke her fingers freeing his face and then stepping out of her reach and deactivating the technique.
[What just happened?] Saat looked to her peripheral and tried turning but kept crashing after quickly realising that her legs were gone.
"Let\'s make this a fun battle!" Sol suddenly started laughing as he threw the legs of the goddess to the ground while she grew new ones and stood, confused.
"If you\'re going to ask, it\'s called [clockwork], a technique I honed after learning spacial magic, it seals time and space to a specific place giving me sovereign over the area.
[How dare-]
"I was about to say the same," Sol cut her off.
"You\'re trying to separate me from Ikaris, aren\'t you even after what happened with Diablos?" Sol asked, staring at the goddess as she looked at her legs beside him.
"I can\'t think of anything else, a slave? Me?" He ground his teeth. "And to add insult to injury, you dare rely on something as shallow as pride to punish me, as if I\'m some kind of weakling!?" Sol summoned a new set of light armour and approached the goddess punching upward while she exploded into action and punched downward.
Their fists were supposed to connect, Saat was sure she felt her fist collide with Sol\'s, but again it was only her who was sent spinning when his fist collided in her chin and threw her into the air.
"Let me tell you, my pride far outweighs yours!" Sol grabbed her by her legs and spun in the air releasing her back to the ground.
[Is he getting stronger?] Saat hit the ground and stared up in shock just a split second before Sol\'s fist collided into her shocked face and her body contorted around him.
"Come on," Sol raised his hand and blocked her sneak kick from her contorted body. "Let\'s take this fight seriously, you made this personal so I\'m gonna make sure to savour my victory and burn defeat into your mind for the rest of your existence!"
[Godslayer: 30m remaining]
[Divine mana is at 70%]