Chapter 77

Chapter Prologue How Dare They Eject Mineself Twice! Gods’ Games We Play 1 The sun rose in the sky, reflecting off the buildings of the Ruin skyline and making their dull silver glow. The time? Seven AM, an hour when most of Ruin’s citizens were at home getting ready for the day, leaving the town suffused with silence… “Grrr! Now they’ve gone and angered me—the Undefeated!” Silent except for a voice that bellowed from the Arcane Court building, a voice that was like an explosion and a child throwing a tantrum all in one. It was so terrible that it passed straight through the building’s concrete walls and shook the glass of the private residences in the vicinity. What had happened? The answer to that question lay in the Dive Center beneath the Arcane Court. “To think! I dove in there to play the gods’ games with Tiny Human, and they booted me out! How dare they?!” In the Dive Center was a Divine Gate, a statue shaped like a dragon’s head, and on top of the Divine Gate sat a girl with her arms crossed in front of her. She had a captivating face, with large ruby-colored eyes. Yes, she was so lovely that one might describe her with words like enthralling or enchanting, but beyond her looks, her most distinguishing feature was her outfit. Specifically, her T-shirt, on which the word Undefeated was scrawled in enormous letters. “Well, I am undefeated! I guess I can’t really blame them for ejecting me out of sheer terror. But that means I can’t take part in Tiny Human’s game! Oogh, who did this?!” She clawed at the solid wall of the Divine Gate, grrr’d again, and then frowned. Suddenly, she snapped, “Human!” “Y-yes, Lady Uroboros?!” Chief Secretary Miranda said, straightening up when the god-girl addressed her. Miranda might have run the entire Arcane Court branch office, but at that moment, she was thoroughly outranked. The silver-haired girl sitting on the Divine Gate was a bona fide deity. And not just any deity: She was the Undefeated God Uroboros, who for so long had instilled fear into humanity as one challenger after another attempted her game and failed. Charming, sweet, and adorable she might have been, but if she really got angry, she could level the city in a matter of seconds. When she wanted something done, people did it. “Wh-what do you need?” Miranda asked. “This Divine Gate kicked me out. From what I saw, it was the doing of four different gods, and I want to investigate the perpetrators. I’m going to list the things that I need for my ritual, and you’re going to get them for me.” “A ritual?! I m-mean, uh…what do you…?” Miranda asked with a gulp. Whatever Uroboros wanted, it was something important enough for an all-knowing, omnipotent god to specifically request. Obtaining it would no doubt be a monumental challenge, a Herculean labor. “What shall I prepare for you, ma’am?” “Two pizzas with extra cheese and five chocolate bars. Also, a choco-banana crêpe sandwich, and some salted-seaweed potato chips. To drink, I’ll have a ginger ale!” “……” “……” For a very, very long moment, Miranda didn’t speak. Finally, she simply said, “…I’m sorry?” “Arrrgh! Did you not hear me, human?” The girl, who had begun studying the Divine Gate intently, turned around once more. “Two pizzas with extra cheese, five chocolate bars, a choco-banana crêpe sandwich, and salted-seaweed potato chips. Plus a ginger ale!” “May I ask, uh, what for?” “For my lunch, of course!” “Er… Oh.” Uroboros sounded quite serious. Miranda stared at her, as confused as one could be when confronted with the supernatural. “I didn’t realize spiritual beings needed to eat, too.” “We don’t.” “Then why…?” “Because I am undefeated!” This wasn’t getting them anywhere. It dawned on Miranda that gods didn’t operate by human logic, and she decided to just go along with it. “That makes perfect sense,” she said humbly. “Doesn’t it, though? After all, I am undefeated!” Uroboros was very pleased with this conclusion. Miranda bowed to her, then took out a communications device and called one of her staff upstairs. “It’s me. I’m going to list a few items. I want you to get them for me right away, no questions asked.”