Chapter 189

CHAPTER 24 A Borderline Invisible Goddess “Pfffaaah!” I crawl out of the spring in a stupor after Rosalie threw me in. My dress is soaking wet and ends up being far more see-through than I expected. On the bright side, I’m wearing underwear, unlike Rosalie. Nevertheless, my relief is short-lived, as Rosalie has been sneaking up on me from behind. “Goddess! Let us remove your underwear to save the world!” “Wh-what?! No! My clothes are already see-through enough!” “It is still nowhere near enough!” Rosalie fiercely grabs onto my undergarments and begins trying to peel them off. Naturally, she grabs onto my boobs like they’re stress balls. “R-Rosalie, stop!” “Hurry up and show him your sopping wet breasts!” “No…!” I plead with her, tears in my eyes, but Rosalie remains pressed up against me without even a hint of ever letting go. Her inhuman strength denies my body any resistance. S-somebody…! Helllllllllp meeeeeeeee! Meanwhile, both Cerceus and Slauri are depravedly grinning by the spring in spite of my distress. “Hee-hee! Two women in wet tops wrestling? Now that’s more like it!” “Ha-ha-ha! You have good taste, old man.” “‘Good taste,’ my ass! Cerceus, when I get over there—!” But the moment I begin to scream, I suddenly hear a snap…as Rosalie rips my bra right off. “Eek?!” “Please, Goddess! Move those hands and show the world your glory!” “I told you no!” “Forgive me, Goddess…!” Rosalie then mounts me while trying to peel my hands away from my chest until, all of a sudden, Seiya, who has been quiet this entire time, asks with his arms crossed: “Slauri. How’s the HP?” “I have more than enough now.” “Okay. Rosalie, down! Good girl. Come.” “Yes, sir!” Rosalie gets off me as ordered and dashes straight to Seiya’s side. What is she, his loyal dog?! At least it looks like I’m safe now, and Slauri seems to be satisfied after watching our half-naked wrestling match… What a pervert! “All right, Slauri. It’s time you teach me your Invisibility move.” “Very well. But before that…” Slauri suddenly begins to approach me. “What now?! You better not try anything weird!” But his expression is that of a gentle sage, completely different from only a few moments ago, and he hands me some linen clothes. “Put this on.” “Huh?” “Make haste. A young lady such as yourself shouldn’t be dressed obscenely like that.” “…?! It’s entirely your fault I’m dressed like this!” I’m about to punch him right in his stupid face when I notice a refreshing, sky-blue aura around him. “Wh-what is that?” “Your HP has transformed my heart into one that is clear and serene. I no longer have any interest in your alluring figure. If anything, it’s an eyesore.” “I’m this close to knocking that head right off your shoulders, old man! Stop acting like you’ve changed just ’cause you got your rocks off already!” “R-Rista, relax. Don’t forget you’re a goddess, you know?” “‘Relax’? After you guys saw my butt and I was molested?! Eat shit, Cerceus!” I scream. Slauri, however, shakes his head. “Oh my. It appears you’re still far from learning Invisibility.” “Excuse me?!” “Invisibility is greatly affected by the user’s mental state. Losin’ your composure will negatively affect how transparent ya are.” After taking in a deep breath, Slauri reaches out and places his palm before my face. “Allow me to share my aura with you.” “Y-your aura? You mean to turn invisible?” “Yes. Only after receiving some of my aura will ya be able to turn invisible through extensive training.” I can feel the refreshing light-blue aura flowing out of his hand and spreading throughout my body. This is the aura of Invisibility? Slauri then does the same thing to Seiya, Cerceus, and Rosalie. “Now wish to become invisible while ridding yourselves of all worldly desires. It sounds easy, but actually doing so is not. Clearing your mind of distractions is surprisingly difficult.” “Y-yeah, whatever! I can do that!” “We have time, and perhaps this is fate. I shall teach ya in detail how to do it.” And that’s how Slauri’s training begins…or so I thought. “Am I doing it right?” …Because Seiya has already disappeared before Slauri’s training has even begun. Slauri is even more surprised than I am. Just when I’m enjoying the peace and quiet, he opens his eyes wide under his long hair and shouts: “What in the—?! All I did was give ya some of my aura! I still haven’t taught ya anything!” “Yes. And yet, I did it.” A-a-amazing! Seiya has always been a quick study, but he’s getting even quicker! “W-well, that was unexpected. You’re even maintaining your invisibility…” Seiya continues to go back and forth between being visible and invisible after that until he eventually stops as if he’s satisfied. “You all give it a try as well. This is probably the easiest move to learn so far. Empty your mind while strongly wishing to become invisible. That’s all you need to do.” After taking in a deep breath, I start to strongly wish to become invisible just like he told me, but nothing happens. Seiya’s face clouds over with obvious disappointment. “That’s strange. Rista’s usually hard to notice most of the time, so I thought she would easily be able to turn invisible…” “What’s that supposed to mean?!” Cerceus, on the other hand, boastfully claims: “I don’t know. I feel like I can do this.” S-seriously?! But Cerceus is the God of Swords, so maybe things like this are easier for him to understand?! Mn… I don’t want to lose to him! But after a few moments go by, the color of Cerceus’s arms and face fade as he gradually becomes transparent! “I—I did it! I’m invisible!” shouts Cerceus in utter bliss. His head and torso are, in fact, invisible, but I can clearly see the rest of him from the waist down. “Cerceus?! I can still see your lower body, and it’s freaking me out!” “What?! Really?!” “Tch. Stop fooling around, Cerceus.” “I’m not! But why did my upper body disappear and not my lower body?” “Hmm. It is probably because your lower body is packed with lust, divine one.” “Could you please not make me sound like some sort of creep?!” Heh! I was getting worried for a second there, but it looks like Cerceus is still having trouble mastering the move! Now’s your chance, Ristarte! Don’t worry. Even Cerceus was only able to make his upper body invisible! You can do it! After firing myself up, I close my eyes while focusing on my sole desire to turn invisible. A few moments go by until I eventually open my eyes…and hold out my right hand. “M-my right hand is gone! I did it!” “No, ya didn’t. Only the right side of your body is invisible.” “Huh?” I rush over to the spring and look at my reflection in the water to discover that the left side of my body is completely visible. It’s as if I were sliced in half right down the middle. Cerceus walks over to me and shouts: “Ew?! Disgusting! I can see your organs if I look at you from your invisible side!” “Cerceus?! Stop looking at me like I’m some sort of science project!” “Stop messing around, Rista.” “I’m not! I’m trying my best!” Meanwhile, Rosalie is quietly muttering as if she’s chanting a spell, with an extremely serious expression. “I want to be of help to the Hero. I want the Hero’s… Oh, Hero…!” “You’re nothing more than a bundle of desire, human. Not even a single part of ya has started to disappear.” “That can’t be…!” Seiya almost immediately mastered the move, but it looks like the rest of us are going to need some time. That’s when I suddenly realize that he’s talking to Slauri. “…Is that possible?” “Hmm… It would probably be difficult for anyone other than me.” “I want to give it a try.” “Ya have potential, seeing as ya mastered Invisibility so easily. Very well.” I didn’t hear the first part of their conversation, but it sounds like Seiya wants to learn a move he can use while invisible. Soon after that, Seiya—well, technically, the rest of us—officially begin training. Day one. Cerceus, Rosalie, and I are sitting in the lotus position while meditating by the spring under Slauri’s instruction. Seiya, on the other hand, is apparently inside Slauri’s hut. I wonder what kind of training he’s doing in there, since he already mastered Invisibility… Ack! Bad, Rista! I’m never going to be able to turn invisible if I don’t clear my mind! I have to focus! “Hey, Rista! Check it out!” I turn in the direction of Cerceus’s sudden voice, but he’s nowhere in sight. “Ha-ha-ha! I really am the God of Swords, huh! These kinds of things just come naturally to me!” I’m pretty shocked, to be honest, but after a closer look, I notice Cerceus isn’t completely invisible. Unlike last time, his lower body has disappeared for the most part, but…the part that men pride themselves the most on is still clearly visible. “Apparently not naturally enough, Cerceus! I can clearly see your crotch!” “What the…?! Why?!” “Obviously because you can’t get your mind out of the gutter! It’s just like Slauri said! All of your desires are concentrated in your lower half! The only thing that comes naturally to you is being a creep!” “Ack! Fine! How about you turn invisible then if you’re so much better than me!” “Fine, I will! Pay close attention because you’re about to see the true power of a high-level goddess who has saved two parallel worlds of the highest ranks!” I take in a deep breath then slowly exhale. It’s time to completely sharpen your senses, Ristarte! Clear your mind… Yes… Imagine a slowly moving creek during spring! I put all my focus into clearing my mind until I eventually cut out all the noise around me. “Hmm…?!” Cerceus is so surprised, he can’t even speak. I slowly open my eyes and look down. My upper body, my lower body—not a single part of me is visible. “Heh. You like that, Cerceus? This is Invisibility.” But he wildly shouts: “Except for the fact that your face is still entirely visible!” “What?! You’re joking, right?! Th-that can’t be right!” “Your floating head is creeping me out! Cut it out already!” “Oh, shut up, you crotch-flashing pervert! I feel like I’m talking to a crotch when I’m talking to you!” It’s probably an extremely eerie sight seeing my floating head argue with Cerceus’s crotch, but before I even realize it, Slauri is standing by our side and nodding with evident satisfaction. “Heh-heh-heh! I see y’all are improving. The rest of your bodies are completely invisible.” “R-really?!” “You’ll be completely invisible by today or tomorrow at this rate. You two are naturals.” “Did you hear that, Rista?! We’re naturals!” “We are, aren’t we?!” Slauri may be a pervy old man, but his praise makes us genuinely happy. Before long, though, Slauri’s grin slightly stiffens. “Maintaining your invisibility is the hard part, though. Losing your composure will make ya visible again. But it doesn’t look like you’re gonna have to worry about your Hero in regard to that.” “Yeah… Where is he, by the way?” “He’s training hard, but I can’t tell ya exactly what kind of training that is. He told me to keep it a secret from ya.” “A-again?! Why is he always so secretive?!” “Heh-heh. But he’s doing it for all of your sakes as well. He is…quite the cautious Hero, isn’t he?” Slauri leaves us with those words and heads back to the hut. Day two. “Rista! How’s my crotch?” “There’s not even a hint of it left! What about my face, Cerceus?” “It’s completely gone!” …While our conversation may sound bizarre, Cerceus and I end up mastering Invisibility just like Slauri said we would. We can turn completely invisible after finally getting the hang of it. I look into the spring water to see for myself, and I can’t see anything. But the moment I rejoice with a “Yes!” I become visible once more. Ack! He was right. I might finally be able to turn fully invisible, but maintaining it is way harder. Losing my concentration for even a second makes the spell wear off. It looks like I need to train a little longer. Regardless, our training is going well. However… “Dammit!” I hear someone with a frustrated voice stomping the ground at our side, so I look over to find Rosalie grimacing. Not even half her body is invisible yet. “Getting frustrated is just going to make it harder, Rosalie.” I’ve been keeping my distance from her ever since she tackled me, but I can’t help worrying. “Goddess…” She looks at me, then awkwardly lowers her head to me. “I deeply apologize for the other day. I was so focused on my desire to save the world that—” “Don’t worry. It’s all in the past now. Besides, Slauri wouldn’t have helped train us otherwise. Anyway, you should probably take a break, okay?” “Yes… I suppose you’re right…” Rosalie and I take a seat by the spring. We quietly gaze at the clear water while Rosalie calms down. “Goddess, what was I doing in the world you came from?” Rosalie suddenly asks. She doesn’t seem to clearly understand the concept of warped worlds, but it seems she somewhat recognizes that Seiya and I are from a slightly different world than the one she knows. After giving it some thought, I decide to answer her truthfully. “You were living with Mash and Elulu in Roseguard.” “Th-the Dragon Lord and I…?! And Elulu…! The Seraph’s physical body is still alive?!” “I’m guessing you don’t believe me, seeing as what happened in your world.” “N-no, if the Goddess says so, then it must be true. Besides…yes… Perhaps things would have been different if Elulu were still alive.” Rosalie seems to reflect for a few moments before asking: “Is my father still alive?” “Huh?! O-oh. The emperor—” “Be honest with me.” B-but there’s no way I can tell her that he became a demon and Seiya killed him! “H-he apparently passed away due to illness. But I hear his last moments were peaceful.” His last moments were actually peaceful. After the emperor’s battle with Seiya, Rosalie watched over him until he peacefully took his last breath. Rosalie adjusts her eyepatch as she nods with deep emotion. “Fate truly is a mysterious thing. It sounds like a dream, but I am sure the me in that world is far happier than I am.” “Rosalie…” The quiet air fills the void between us until Rosalie suddenly stands back up and sends me a smile. “I think I can turn invisible now.” “Really? Give it a try!” Some time goes by, but Rosalie is actually able to faintly turn transparent. Surely it’s only a matter of time before she is able to master Invisibility as well. “Thank you, Goddess.” She gently smiles. We finally make up.