Chapter 38 (1/2)

Pravos stared down at the world beneath her. There was a thin barrier covering the land, and she sensed the aura of the evil god coming off of it. Her allies were standing beside her, each of them holding onto their respective weapons. The weapons weren’t useful against gods, but first impressions mattered. As long as they looked like they could trounce the evil god, the evil god would be placed in the inferior position.

“Come on out!” Pravos shouted. “We know you’re down there!” The evil god was a coward, but then again, which evil god wasn’t? Adding on the fact the evil god was also a newb, it made sense for him to hide inside his barrier. But if the newb thought that was going to be enough to get them to leave, he was going to be in for a rude surprise.

“Let’s set up the signal disruptor,” Blagora said. The god of prudence glanced at Umerennost, the god of temperance. “Did you bring it?”

“Sila has it,” Umerennost said, gesturing to her right.

The god of fortitude nodded and waved her hand. A glowing white orb appeared in the space above the four gods. Ripples spread outwards from the orb, wrapping around the shielded world.

An aged voice came out of the world. “Eh? What happened to my display?”

There was a barking sound. “They cut off our signal!” A moment later, a black Labrador retriever rushed out of the barrier. She growled at the four women standing outside. “What’s your problem? If you wanted to fight, you didn’t have to cut off our signal! I was ninety-five percent done with a download that’s been going on for a week!”

The four women exchanged glances with each other. “A snack god?” Blagora asked. She held back a smile and nudged Pravos. “Your user was stolen by a snack god.”

Pravos’ expression darkened, and she pointed at the black dog with her sword. “Don’t you know hypnotizing people is something only evil gods do? I’ll give you one chance to apologize for your actions and renounce the path of evil. If not, you’ll face the consequences.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong, lady,” Karta said and snarled. She swiped her paw at the air, and the four women retreated. A cellphone appeared by Karta’s face, and the four gods felt a bit silly for taking such a defensive stance. Karta whirled around, positioned herself such that the four cardinal virtues were in the background, and took a few selfies. Then, she stowed her phone away and turned back to face the four annoyed gods. “Ahem. As I was saying, you got the wrong person.”

Pravos snorted, her face flushed red. First, she was outplayed by a snack god, her user having been stolen. Then, she was tricked into taken a selfie with the lowly god. “Nonsense! We captured the user you stole, and the traces of divinity led us here. Umerennost, capture her!”

Umerennost wrinkled her nose. “The three of you owe me,” she said and sighed. With a bang, the god of temperance exploded into a bloody mist. The mist flew towards Karta and surrounded her, trapping her in a sphere of blood.

“Hmm?” Karta looked around, but all she saw was red. “Is this the legendary bubble warfare?”

“That’s right,” Pravos said and placed her hands on her hips. “If you have any allies, you better call them out right now.”

Karta stepped towards the bubble of blood surrounding her. When she tried to break free, the laws against harming other gods prevented her from doing so. She summoned her cellphone and opened Kosmos’ portal app, but she couldn’t connect to it thanks to the signal blocker. She snapped another selfie before putting her phone away. “How dirty,” she said. “Next, you’re going to drag me to the void and release me near a titan, right?”

Pravos snorted. “Only evil gods do that,” she said. “We’ll merely keep you here until we’ve confiscated all your users and systems. Also, we’ll take your spirit stones as compensation for those you’ve hurt through your evil means.”

Karta scratched her head with her hindleg, completely unconcerned. “So, that’s what you do to gods who purchase hypnotism methods? Catch, rob, and release? Doesn’t that make you evil yourselves?”

“We’re only obtaining justice for those who’ve been harmed,” Pravos said. She shook her head. “It isn’t evil. We would never do something like this to someone who doesn’t deserve it.”

“So, no matter, what, you’ll always go after people who do deserve it?” Karta asked, her eyes lighting up. Umerennost, the only god who could see Karta’s expression, couldn’t help but feel uneasy upon seeing the glint in the dog’s eyes. It was as if the snack god was waiting for a great show to start.