“I won’t let this go the way they wish it to. As a god, I must set these humans right.”
“…Muah hah hah. You’re a real one—a true human-hater, eh?”
“Hm? Oh, I love them? That’s why I embrace them…even as I thrust the dagger in.” Vicius raised her silver cup of wine, and overturned it, sending the precious liquid spilling like blood over the pure white dining table. “Humans must never forget their chronic condition—that they are all creations. They must never lose sight of that fact. They must hold it in their hearts forever that they are inferior beings to the gods. I suppose I will accept a little arrogance at times, a little spice to enhance the tragedy that will eventually come. But I will not allow them to become too big for their boots! I truly detest inferior beings that do not understand their place. They are a blot upon this world—vain, self-important eyesores.”
“Hyeh hyeh hyeh, you’re one scary Goddess.”
“Do not laugh in that condescending manner.”
“Hyeh, hyeh! Hyeh, Hyuh hyuh hyeh!”
“Hah. You have always been this way, Worm… You never listen. I’m tired of telling you…sob, sob…It makes me so sad… Waaah.”
“Heck…” said Wormgandr. “On the whole I don’t think them humans are all that great. I’m down with what you’re sayin’ about them bein’ inferior too, y’know? But the chief deity and Lokiella…they’re standin’ in our damn way of gettin’ our opinions through.”
“I will annihilate the chief deity, and gain control of all of the heavens’ resources. Then our plan can move on to its next stage,” said Vicius.
“Eh? Next stage?”
“The world that those Heroes from Another World came from… Doesn’t it interest you?”
“Hyeh, hyeh, seriously? You’re gonna send our stuff over there? Ain’t nobody in the heavens has ever managed to do that before.”
“Well, that is why I am doing it.” Vicius arched her mouth into a smile—but her eyes weren’t smiling. Wormgandr put his arms on the dining table, entwined his hands together, and began playing with his thumbs.
“Muah hah… Then let’s get back to the near future, eh? What’s next?”
“Ohoh hoh, nothing much. Soon the Holy Eye will be destroyed, and we will use that gate to enter the heavens—that is all. Simple, no? Are you intelligent enough to comprehend what I am saying?”
“What happens if the blacksmith and his buddies make it here before the eye goes down?”
“Then I destroy their play—ruin the way it is supposed to end.”
“They’re humans. We’re designed to fight divines, ain’t we?”
“Oh? Are you suggesting you might lose? You may be more suited for combat with a divine, but even so—they should pose no threat.”
“Sure. Maybe… But I wonder. That Lord o’ the Flies—”
Craaash—!
With a lightning-fast swing, Vicius destroyed the dining table, splitting the antique passed down from generation to generation of Alion royalty into two splintered halves. Thick chunks of table flew into the air, elegant cutlery and plates were bent and broken, and finely prepared platters of highly technically complex dishes were overturned onto the carpet, soaking into the floor with the rest of the wine.
Vicius put a hand on each side of her head.
“Oh nooo! The precious table of Alion royalty, passed down from generation to generation! This was my favorite table! Gyaaah!”
She slipped her hands behind her back, folded them together, then leaned forward and began to hum. Where she had been pale and screaming a moment ago, she now wore a joyous smile.
“Hmm, hmm, hmm. ♪ Hmm-hmm, hmm. ♪ Hm-hm-hmm! ♪ Hm-hmm and a hmm. ♪”
She paced around, suddenly carefree—hopping like a stone skimming the surface of a calm river. She might have been dancing, careful to avoid the fragments of table, plates, and puddles of wine as she made her way over to Wormgandr.
“Hmm hmm. ♪ Hmm-mm. ♪ Hmm. ♪ Hm-hm-hm-hmmm. ♪ Hmm, hmm, hmm—there we go!”
Vicius spread her arms wide, as if she had just hopped a river and made it to the other side. She stood directly in front of the chair in which Wormgandr was sitting.
“Can we be done with talk of him now, Worm? That foul fly? I will kill you.”
“…”
“The Holy Eye will have been destroyed by the time of his arrival, in any case. The blacksmith and his pitiful friends will arrive to find this castle completely deserted, and will no doubt stamp their feet in impotent rage.”
Vicius checked her device again, confirming that the Holy Eye was still operational.
“…Tch.” She softly clicked her tongue.
My northern eucharist army is moving slower than I’d anticipated. Good grief, what are they playing at?
But Vicius plastered another smile upon her face.
“Well, even if they do arrive before the eye is destroyed, all we need do is buy time. What can Yonato do to oppose us, after all? We need only to remain holed up in this castle and wait for the Holy Eye’s eventual demise. Ohoh hoh… I do like to prepare, so I have made arrangements to delay them here, of course. Oh, and on the off-chance that Nyantan has leaked the existence of my underground anti-divine eucharist army or the gate activation machine… Well, as long as I am safe, the device’s destruction will pose no issue at all. I have made certain of that. How many years do you think I have spent preparing for this day, exactly? Yes, everything is proceeding exactly as planned. And so, you see—”
Wormgandr gave her a deep grin.
“Can I remind you not to bring up unpleasant topics that are likely to upset me?”
“Hyeh hyeh… Hyeh, how did’ya know what I was gonna say, Goddess?”
“Nevertheless… All the more unfortunate for them if they do manage to make it here.”
Vicius narrowed her eyes.
“In the unlikely event that we do come to blows…I wonder how many will die? I should like to have as many as possible captured alive so that I might play with them, torturing them and forcing them to kill each other, but I expect a great deal would die in battle… My, my. I would have let them live much longer if they’d only obeyed me. How sorry I feel for them now! It would be a blessing to them if we manage to make it up into the heavens before their arrival, I hope they understand! They are being ever so foolish.”