CHAPTER 37

At the vast and low snowy plains in the world of Blissia, suddenly, the little Nassus popped out from the calm snowy blanket. He glanced around to look for his male companions. Sadly, Miro and the other guys were nowhere to be found. In turn, the young Nassus became sad and he started to cry like a lost child. Sooner or later, Senku emerged from the snowy blanket nearby,

"Pu-hah! Geez Aron, next time don't act like a mankid...".

As he glanced around the huge white plains, his eyes witnessed that the young Nassus was on the verge of crying, so he went near to the little kid. Then, Senku made a friendly smile and said to the youthful Nassus to boost his hopes up,

"Hey! C'mon don't cry, we'll find Miro and your Goddess Otorine soon. Your big bro Senku is here to help you.".

There after, Senku touched his own chest to prove his words were strong and true to tell. As the little Nassus noticed that Senku was trying relieve him, Nassus had stopped crying. Young Nassus looked up at Senku and Nassus made a determined nod. While for Senku, he was still boggled over the term he had used from before,

"Big bro...Urgh...okay that sounded kinda off.".

After a while, Senku looked around far and wide, although there was only a thick blanket of snow over the horizon. Thereon, he felt a little pissed, while he was deep in his thoughts,

"I wonder where are we anyway.".

Since, he was at his wits end, he took out his smartphone and fiddled with it. While he was looking at it, he sighed with a stressed look and he expressed his complaint,

"Awww great, no INTERHAVEN SIGNAL, really Ieva's reconstructing world is the worst.".

It appeared their smartphones can't function properly without a good signal, just like what you'd see in a modern phone. Sooner or later, he had complained more and more,

"I wonder how's Liliath able to withstand this cold...".

Since little Nassus was growing bored of doing nothing, he looked around the place. There was a gigantic white diamond crystal at the nearby vicinity, so he grew curious and went near it. He grabbed the wooden stick next to giant crystal and then he poked the red orb that was embedded in its center. As he kept on poking its ruby-like orb, it was jiggling like jelly. Thereon, he had continued poking at it, since he was fascinated by its reaction. Senku was moving around the snowy barren place, while he was raising his smartphone up to the sky in order to catch a faint signal. A little while later, he felt some kind of strange presence,

"Hm?".

He turned around and saw that the giant crystal had levitated. Its orb-like crimson eye glared intensely at the little Nassus. It seemed the strange object was readying its fire at Nassus. Due to Senku's quick wits and heightened instinct, he exclaimed at the innocent-looking Nassus,

"Nassus, look out!".

Before the monster could release its powerful searing hot laser beam straight at the kid, Senku pounced and grabbed Nassus away immediately. In turn, the monster was just able to hit the snowy plains and miss its target. Thereupon, the little Nassus was saved from utter destruction. Senku put the youthful Nassus to a safe zone away from the reaches of the said non-organic creature. Afterwards, Senku snapped his fingers. Suddenly, he had magically brought out a grandiose flamethrower gunblade.

The flamethrower gunblade was a customized weapon that has the length of a longsword. Though, in-between the sharp blades made of indestructable otherworldly steel, there was a shockproof obsidian metal barrel that burst out infernal flames. Lastly, its grip or handle was similar to a magnum revolver in which it has a trigger that shoot out the flames from its shock resistant barrel. In turn, it looked like a formidable and flexible weapon. Since, it can be used as a melee weapon, while it can also roast a group of enemies at quarter range. To think a hero God has this kind of bad*ss weapon.

As the cube-like monster noticed the threat that Senku posed, it let out a screeching sound. Soon enough, the other similar smaller cube-like creatures arose from their sleep and locked their sights at Senku. As Senku was convinced that the otherworldly monster had summoned reinforcements, he made a determined grin and said,

"Hmph! Thought so...".

Senku took a deep breath. The next moment, the monsters burst out their searing laser shots at Senku, although Senku was quick on his feet, so he was able to dodge them fast. Though, the mob continued to shoot him down with lots of lasers. Thanks to his heightened reflexes, he was just dodging them like they were nothing. Although, since, the monster were bursting out in never-ending succession, he can't counter back.

"Tch! This is just annoying. D*mn it Ieva, you're giving me a hard time here! You and your odd-cubed summoned monsters.",

as he expressed with an annoyed look. It appeared that these monsters that he was fighting were the monsters that Ieva had summoned into her world. For some reason, Senku was familiar with Ieva and Liliath. After a short while, the monsters had stopped shooting their lasers, it appeared they needed to regain their lost energy. In turn, Senku made a devious grin, as he can now counter back. He seized the opportunity and made his move. Although, his counter attack was very unconventional, as he gripped his weapon and pulled the trigger. Afterwards, his trusty weapon burst out searing flames of crimson red and spiritual blue.

"Ahhhh...that feels really good.",

It seemed when Senku was bursting out his flames from his faved weapon, he likes it. In a split of a second, he dashed his way to the mob and he was swinging his blade at them. Moreover, the other nearby monsters were also roasted by the flames it was spewing out. Through the distance, the little Nassus was seeing Senku like he was a destructive and bloodlusted warrior. Since, Senku was crushing the monsters into smithereens as well as burning along the battlefield too. The infernal hellfires were everywhere, as Senku was razing the whole area like a madman. As the young Nassus was seeing the scary persona of Senku, little Nassus trembled in fear,

"S-s-scary...".

After a few hours have passed, the only ones left were Senku and the giant crystal monster. Though, Senku was huffing and panting, as his magical energy was almost depleted. Thereon, he was engrossed in his irritated thoughts,

"D*mn it! This is why I hate CORPOREAL FORMS! These forms weaken our mana reserve! ".

It appeared his amazing weapon's bursting flames drains his magical energy too much in which it was very incompatible to his current weakened form. Sooner or later, the cube-like menace had regained its lost energy, and started blasting at Senku again. As usual, the monster's shots missed, since Senku's movements were like the speed of light. As he had seen a short opening, he ran straight to the levitating diamond-like monster. Then, he swung his sword with powerful force, cutting down the monster. Although, while he was on the process of slashing down the monster, his blade got suddenly stuck, as it had contact the gelatinous crimson orb of the monster. Senku tried to remove his sword but, the monster's hold on it was tight. In turn, he was very much pissed-off,

"Tch! It's stuck...".

Although, he replaced his problematic look with a demonic grin and he just said complacently,

"Oh well! Time to roast this creature!".

Sooner or later, he pulled the trigger and a burst of searing hot flames was released. Since the blade was stuck on its dead eye center, the hellfires had also destroyed its red core. Thereupon, the monster was destroyed to ashes, since that crimson orb was its weak spot too. Senku hid his weapon using his Godly magic. Senku's friendly and charming persona had returned back. Then, he went back to the little Nassus. For some reason, the youthful Nassus was still trembling in fear, even though the monster was already gone. Suddenly, Miro called unto them from a short distance,

"Oi! So that's where you two are..."

Suddenly, the little Nassus rushed back to Miro. Then, the youthful Nassus hugged Miro like he was a real big brother for little Nassus. Nassus's look of worry was gone and he felt relieved. Miro patted young Nassus's head to ease him more. The next moment, there was a strong burst of a radiant beam coming from a short distance. Senku crossed his arms and told his companions,

"I guess we'll just follow that light beam.".

Miro replied,

"Okay.".

Afterwards, the three of them traversed the cold and pure white plains, in order to reach the source of the light beam. On their way, they had fought lots of non-organic looking monsters that were formed from minerals and rocks. As soon as they were getting near to the light source, they could see the city that was encased in a transparent glass dome. Miro was convinced and he mumbled to himself,

"I guess that must be the place that Goddess Ieva was talking about...".

Senku asked Miro if there was something bothering him,

"Hm? What was that Miro?".

"No, it's nothing.",

as Miro replied. Although, he was deep in his thoughts,

"If I care for a Goddess's sake huh...".

Somehow, Senku was feeling suspicious of Miro. Since, as they were running, Miro looked like he was staring into space. Later on, they've arrived at the entrance of the winter wonderland city. There was a guard that noticed Senku, Miro, and the little Nassus were running towards him, so the guard commanded them,

"Halt! Show me your—.".

In a split of a second, Senku rushed to the guard and he just jabbed straight through the guard's stomach. In turn, the guard was knocked out cold. Young Nassus and Miro were surprised and looked at Senku. Though, Senku replied back immediately,

"Hey, don't look at me, we just need to save those Goddesses. Clear?".

The two just nodded and the three of them entered the city inside the glass dome. There were lots of cabin-like homes, museums, statues, and some landmarks. Though, the place looked deserted, as if it was dead. Senku felt that his phone was vibrating for some reason, so he took it out. As his eyes were glued to the screen, he told his companions to pause for a moment,

"Hang on, there's a signal here...so now we can find those three Goddesses with my smartphone's GPS app working again.".

Miro didn't reply back but, he just said,

"Those smartphone thingies are so convenient...".

As for little Nassus, he tilted his cute head and asked with a dumbfounded look,

"What's a smartphone?".

Soon, Senku commanded them to go westward, since that was the information given to him by his smartphone. They've entered the resident area filled with lots of cabin lodgings. Soon enough, they've arrived at a house that looked-like it was made of huge candy and long chocolate bars that looked pleasing to the eyes. Miro looked disturbed, as he had seen something from a fairy tale book about a house made of sweets,

"That place looks kinda silly to me.".

Senku insisted him,

"Well this is the place that my app is trying to show...".

Miro just made a huge sigh,

"This world is bizarre...".

While for the little Nassus, he looked-like he was kinda mesmerized over the sweets house. That sudden moment, he had a flashback.

Following the events after the adult Nassus had met light Goddess Otorine and dark Goddess Yumine for the first time in the world of Uminoya, they were now traversing an ascending hilltop. The sky was clear and the winds were calm. There were lots of pink and blue tulips along the area. Nassus and Otorine were chatting and talking about small things. It's as if they were already close to each other for just a short time travelling together. Moreover, the adult Nassus wasn't filled with regrets or worries anymore for some reason. Not only that, he was understanding more and more about the new world he was in, deep in his thoughts,

"So there's an empress or ruler who proclaims herself as the real Goddess of this world and these two Goddeses lost their powers. While I find it absurd before but, when I asked these two about Goddesses, they know Goddess Ira and they know a lot. Not only that, they explained to me some other things about this Celestia Heavenly system of other Gods and Goddesses. It took a lot of time for me to understand it though. I just wonder how they lost their powers.".

It seemed this was the first time that Otorine and Yumine had explained to Nassus that there were other worlds beyond his and theirs. Behind their back was Yumine, who was almost going to pass out, since she was already exhausted of treading along the hill,

"T-time out guys...I'm feeling tired...".

The three of them sat at a bench made of stone. Somehow, they were also travelling a route that was famous for adventurers alike, since there was just a bench nearby, how convenient. Otorine tried to use her Goddess magic but still, it wasn't working, so she just brought out a small glass vial from her sleeve. Funny thing is, inside it has only plain spring water. She gave it to Yumine. Yumine thanked her. Yumine popped its cork and drank it down until to the last drop.

"FWAH! That hits the spot.",

Yumine expressed, as she was totally refreshed. Then, she asked Otorine,

"Oh and Ori, do you have some candies?".

Otorine replied,

"Yeah, I have some."

From her sleeve, she took out assorted candies that were spherical in shape. Afterwards, she gave half the number of candies to Yumine. Yumine was filled with joy,

"Yay! Thanks!".

Somehow, Nassus looked interested on those candies,

"Candies huh...".

Otorine was noticing that Nassus was taking a sudden interest on the candies she was holding. Thereon, she asked him, while she was offering the remaining candies,

"Do you want some too, Nassus?".

Nassus responded with an unsure look,

"Uhm, I guess I'll take one...".

He took one, although as they had touched hands by accident, the two of them felt that they were in a sudden sweet trance. Their hearts were racing fast, as the petals were breezing around them and the flowers were blooming. The two of them were locked into each others unexplainable stares that was filled with pink licorice. Though, they had broke up eye-contact, as they were already feeling embarrassed and flustered. As for Yumine who was seeing a budding relationship, she was making a teasing grin,

"Hmmmmmmmm...".

Then, Nassus just grabbed the piece of candy and ate it. The next moment, he felt a sudden sweetness filled with an aromatic scent of strawberry. As he continued eating the candy, he expressed his opinions about the candy,

"This candy's sweet and delicious. This is the first time I've tasted something like this."

Yumine suggested him, while she was pointing her finger up,

"Yeah they're good but, if you ate too much you'll get a sugar rush or even a toothache. Also, the latter one hurts like hell.".

Otorine wasn't looking at Nassus but, she told Nassus, while her cheeks were blushing like a teenage maiden,

"Say ummm Nassus, if you want more...then here...".

Otorine gave another candy but, it looked-like it has a color combination of lime green and chocolate brown. As Yumine had her sights on that odd candy, she felt tense all over. Not only that, she felt worried for both Nassus's and Otorine's sake,

"O-ori...".

Sadly, Nassus just ate it without any second thought. Yumine gulped as she had a bad feeling about the said candy that Otorine gave to Nassus. For some reason, Nassus was liking the unusual flavor of the candy. Thereon, he made a satisfied smile and said,

"I like it! It tastes different but it's sweeter too.".

Otorine's serene looking maiden face was filled with joy, as Nassus liked the candy she gave him. Her pink feelers were twitching too. Afterwards, she opened a small conversation with Nassus about candies, the odd candies that is. While Yumine was noticing that the two were opening up to each other more and more, she was feeling that these two were compatible for each other. Even though the topic of Otorine was kinda odd. Soon enough, Yumine was absorbed in her optimistic thoughts,

"Now this is something. Sigh...to think someone was on PAR with ORI'S WEIRD TASTE BUDS...and this is the first time I've seen Ori being excited like this.".

Yumine butt-in and interrupted their happy conversation,

"By the way, I hope you two aren't forgetting something here.".

Otorine replied back,

"What is it Yumi?".

Yumine pointed at Otorine, while Yumine was making a seedy-look,

"Aren't we gonna take down that ambitious empress who proclaims herself as the REAL GODDESS of OUR world?"..

Then, she pointed at Nassus next,

"And you're going to help us right, HERO?".

Nassus responded casually,

"Yeah yeah, I haven't forgotten about that...".

Afterwards, Nassus had stopped diving in his earliest memories. He was back in his child-like form, while he was with Senku and Miro, standing in front of the house made of sweets. The next moment, little Nassus ran to the house and chomped the candy-cane looking window grills without any hesitation. In turn, Miro and Senku were widely flabbergasted,

"—?!".

Sooner or later, they tried to pull Nassus away from biting the window grill. Sadly, they were having a hard time, since the kid's hold unto the window grill using his teeth was super strong.

"Nassus that's not food!",

as Miro tried to reprimand Nassus.

"Guuuuh...This is one of the reasons why I don't wanna have a kid...",

as Senku expressed himself. While for the petite Goddess Shunya, she heard a commotion from outside. She went to look at the window. Her eyes noticed that the youthful Nassus was chomping on the window grill of their cozy cabin prison, while Miro and Nassus were trying to pull away the little Nassus. Soon, she called her other Goddess friends,

"Ori...Yumi...check this out.".

Otorine and Yumine went to her and they glanced through the window as well. From there, they had seen Miro, Senku, and little Nassus. Otorine felt relieved and she made a thankful yet, funny smile, while she was deep in her thoughts,

"Thank goodness, so they did come. and Nassus did really eat a weird food...Oh Nassus.".

As for Senku and Miro who were struggling upon pulling out the little kid, the two of them decided that they should pull at the same time. Later on, Miro and Senku relaxed themselves and then they pulled out the little Nasus with all their might. The young Nassus was successfully removed as well as the part of the candy grill too. As Miro noticed that little Nassus was biting the part of the removed candy grill, Miro was utterly surprised,

"The hell?! Just how strong is this little kid's jaws?"

It appeared the candy grill was really made out of hard candy. Soon, they went around the candy house. There, they found an iron door that was so out of place from the theme of the whole house. Senku made an honorable and respectful gesture to Miro,

"Care to do the honors? Hero?".

Miro just replied looking uninterested,

" 'Kay.".

Miro went in front of the door. He made a deep breath and took a fighting position. The next moment, Miro punched the iron door with powerful force. The iron door was unhinged and it had smashed into the cabin, due to Miro's superb strength. Soon, Miro felt that his knuckles were jolting in pain due to the aftermath, so he told little Nassus and Senku to go inside first,

"I'll catch up with you soon, my knuckles are feeling funny.".

Senku nodded in return. The Goddesses who were inside the sweets house turned white, as they were all shocked by the destroyed iron door. While for Aron who was sleeping near the fireplace, he got up from his nap and saw that there was ruptured metal door lying on the corner near him.

"THE F*CK?",

he expressed with a mix of frustration and surprise. Senku and little Nassus entered the candy house. They noticed that the place was something that you'd see from a cozy cabin. Young Nassus looked around and he was filled with immense happiness as he saw Otorine,

"Ori onee-chan!".

He started running towards her. Then, he hugged her like he was happy little kid. Otorine returned the favor by caressing his head like an adorable puppy. Senku crossed his arms and greeted the Goddesses and the captive Aron with a friendly smile,

"Hey there girls!".

Although, Shunya wasn't happy to see him and started reprimanding him, although it was quite funny to see, since Senku looked-like he was being scolded by a little girl,

"Geez! Next time give us a warning. We could've turned into a sandwich!".

Then, she pointed at the destroyed iron door. Senku just laughed and scratched his head,

"Haha...I guess so...".

A little while later, Miro entered the cabin. When Miro took notice of Goddess Yumine he waved and greeted with a cool smile,

"H-hey there Goddess Yumine.".

Although, Yumine felt butterflies in her stomach and she started to blush like a tomato, as her knight-in-shining armor came to save her. More so, her feline ears and tail popped out as she had seen Miro. It appeared, Yumine was infatuated by Miro's charms and chivalry once again, making her to feel funny.

"Mi-Mi-Miro?",

she called onto him while she was stuttering due to her embarrassment. Though, Miro just replied back normally,

"Yeah, it's me, Miro. Also we're here to err...we're here to save you...".

Yumine made an awkward smile, while her cheeks were like a red beet,

"T-thank you...Ehehehe I guess...".

There was an awkward passionate air around the two afterwards. As for Aron and Senku, the two of them were being reprimanded by the irritated small Shunya, since the two hero Gods were reckless on their rescue. Although, Senku and Aron just laughed at their own mistakes, making Shunya to be even more irritated than ever before. A little while later, Otorine's smartphone rang. She brought out her phone and answered the call,

"Hello?".

Then, head Blade Goddess Mara's voice was heard over the phone,

"I'm glad that the reinforcements were successful on their mission, atleast. Now, I'm going to tell you something crucial.".

It seemed that Mara was overseeing and monitoring the whole case somehow, since she said that the reinforcements had arrived. Rather, Otorine and her company were being watched again by the Celestia Heavens Gods and Goddesses above. Although, Otorine didn't mind their audience, instead she asked Mara regarding the latter,

"What is it, head Blade Goddess?".

Mara sighed and replied,

"First, put it on loudspeaker mode, so everyone could hear it.".

Otorine did as she was told. Then, she called unto Shunya, Yumine, Senku, Aron, Miro and little Nassus, since their head Blade Goddess Mara wanted to tell them something important. Sooner or later, Mara's voice was overheard by the phone,

"We all know that this may sound cruel but, all of you should destroy this remaining city.".