Chapter 92: Cyrraia

Deep in the ###### God’s domain lived an eternal thorn on his side. Luckily for him, said eternal thorn preferred to shut herself indoors, kick back on a couch, and snack on junk food while watching reruns of her favorite shows.

Her memories about the various brands of junk food back on her world weren’t too clear, and so the labels printed on the foil packages she summoned were often garbled and nonsense. At least it tasted the same!

Whatever happened to divine dignity? Nope, none of that here. She was on the frontlines of keeping the ###### God from making rational decisions, so things like dignity took a backseat. She was just a minor goddess, anyway, and her followers had been steadily dwindling for a few centuries now. Give it a bit more and she’ll disappear from the known pantheon entirely.

Well, being a “goddess below” didn’t sound so bad.

Actually, did anyone even still know her true name anymore? She hadn’t heard her name spoken by anyone anywhere for a long time, now. Sure, she still had a few Priestesses here and there, but Three tells her that they were all “Priestess of Love” and not “Priestesses of Cyrraia.” Much of the lore they knew also remained the same, so…why’d just her name get erased?

She shot up on her feet, realizing it was probably—no, definitely petty payback by the ###### God for annoying him this whole time! The guy must have erased her name somehow. No idea how, but that was the only explanation!

Ugh, so annoying—and she just wanted to kick back and relax today, too!

Woe be the ###### God, for the couch potato has just now become a regular potato.

She picked up a bow and quiver, flicking a switch on the quiver from “love” to “explosive.”

These were all the trade tools she needed. It was time to get some counter-payback!

Before her hand went for the door, however, the room lit up with a brief flash. She turned around, expecting—and finding—her regular visitor.

“Going out?” Three asked.

“Oh. Weird.”

“What’s so strange?”

“You visiting, obviously. It hasn’t even been a year!” Cyrraia looked away and cupped her mouth, muttering in contemplation, “Wait, it’s just been two weeks…” She looked back at Three with glee and surprise. “Whoa, did you actually miss me? The mysterious demon goddess lady has feelings!”

Cyrraia began to dance in place and pump her arms. Three sighed. She didn’t have time for this. “Be Overseer,” she said—and that successfully put Cyrraia on freeze.

“Huh?”

“Be Overseer.”

“H-hey, wait, wait!” Cyrraia marched up to her, stricken by panic and predictions of a hassled future. “Where’s this coming from! I thought we agreed that I’ll just be happily harrassing this dumb guy in my backyard for the next 100 years!”

Three rolled her eyes. Cyrraia had actually been illegally tresspassing on the Overseer’s domain before the ###### God took it over, so it was sort of amazing that she just called it “her backyard.”

“The situation’s changed,” Three explained. “The intruder’s forced a way past the quarantine, and he’s already transmigrated a few demons down there.”

Hearing this, Cyrraia swept away her usual behavior. Things were getting serious, and she wasn’t so irresponsible that she wouldn’t at least be 80% responsible when confronted by something like this. “Huh? Then shouldn’t that mean I should stay here instead and press the attack?”

It was a rational thing to do. The ###### God was using this place as a staging ground for the Anti-System’s incursions into Gaia, so attacks here would profoundly hurt the enemy campaign in the physical world.

However… “Gaia’s pantheon has been without an Overseer for too long,” Three said. “We lose more in the long run like this.”

“But why me?” Cyrraia frowned. “I’m a no-good goddess who only knows how to shoot a bow.”

“Three reasons,” Three said. “First, you’re already here. With your stealthiness, you can find the Heaven Key here and turn it right under the intruder’s nose. It’ll be your final act here.”

Cyrraia nodded. Taking away even the tiniest possibility of the ###### God of usurping Overseer authority would surely annoy the guy even more. It would be the ultimate harrassment.

“Second, the other goddesses can’t argue that you will abuse your Overseer authority. The worst you can do is make the world a more ‘liberal’ place” —Three eyed her closely— “and we all know lust is just a tiny part of your job description. The worst you can do can’t be more unbalanced than whatever the intruder’s doing.”

Cyrraia nodded. Although she couldn’t discard the possibility that she might just max out the world’s lust levels just to see what would happen, she wasn’t interested in keeping it there at any length of time that would matter.

“Third, and most importantly, you can’t be charmed.”

Cyrraia…knitted her eyebrows. “Why does it sound like you’re expecting me to get exposed to that stuff?”

In the first place, Cyrraia was one of the stealthiest goddesses in the pantheon. Assuming she could even be found, she usually kept her domain very small and very dense, which made it nigh-impenetrable, even to the Goddess of War’s standards, so it was unimaginable for her to even be in a situation where the ###### God’s virulent magic would even find her in the first place.

“Oh? Did you image you’d just be kicking back and relaxing up here?” Three grinned.

‘Up here’? Wait… Wait! Was she expecting her to descend to the physical realm and actually use real legs to move around?! “You wicked woman!” Cyrraia lightly slapped her on the shoulders, alternating her attacks, putting very annoyed huffs behind them. “Why! Whyyy!”

She collapsed on her knees and slammed the floor—all very dramatic, but she wasn’t outright rejecting it. If Three was saying so, then it had to be for a very good reason. Still hated it, though.

“You’re safer down there than up here.”

Three’s sad tone made Cyrraia look up at her. Even though Cyrraia refused to act seriously 95% of the time, that was just an act. The people around her, especially these days, were all always so on-edge.

There used to be happier times, but they were slipping away. Still, she refused that phenomenon, fought against it, taking it upon herself to remind the others that those times hadn’t completely disappeared.

She stood up and held Three’s hand. “I understand,” she said. Sweet words would do nothing here. Taking the other person seriously when they clearly wanted seriousness was the only way forward. “Where do I descend? After turning the key here, anyway.”

Three nodded, thankful that Cyrraia had some tact left in her. “Either Lyrica or Deramin. Both of them still remember the old pacts, and I can see them forming an alliance soon—ah, I recommend Lyrica. Minimine is already incarnated there, and the nation is already rallying under her name.”

“Lyrica and Deramin?” Cyrraia thought about it for a while. “I’m not sure if I’ve been going nuts these past few years, but I think I heard someone say my name somewhere around there.”

“Oh?” Three was genuinely surprised, but it didn’t even take a second before she remembered a particular conversation between Kalender and Page. “Ohh!” —her reaction surprised both herself and Cyrraia— “I meant, yes, I think I know who said it. Minimine had summoned a Champion from outside Gaia, and he and his friend were having an…intimate conversation somewhere.”

Cyrraia squinted at her. “You can eavesdrop on people from the Archive?”

Three rightfully squinted back at the Goddess of Love, the greatest stalker in the world (part of the job).

Cyrraia lost and looked away.

Three chuckled. “The man’s name is Kalender. I don’t know how he knew your name, but he means no harm.” Three paused. “Aside from being cursed with the strongest Blessing the intruder could throw at him, and being constantly surrounded by the most powerful people alive, I think you and him will get along like normal.”

That…seemed reasonable. Unreasonably reasonable, but somehow reasonable on a vague level.

“I suggest you seek his and his group’s aid,” Three continued. “Minimine also shadows him, so don’t forget to talk to her when you see her.”

Cyrraia nodded. “Sounds like I’m heading for Lyrica, then. Anywhere I can land close to their place?”

Three hummed, looking for a description that Cyrraia would understand. “Do you still remember that one Hero who fought Lyrica, Deramin, and Artemia at the same time? Sometime around 500 years ago.”

“Oh! That guy.”

“Yes, that guy.”

Indeed, that guy. Even among the goddesses, he was something of a minor legend.

“I’m sure you remember the last place he settled in,” Three continued.

“I do, I…unfortunately do.” Her Priestess there at that time had many interesting stories about the Hero’s adventures with his lovers. Cyrraia, the Goddess of Love, generally welcomed diversity, but wow that was just something different.

… Wait up. Cyrraia stared at Three. “Hey, weren’t you” —

Three, face flushed red, covered her mouth with one hand as she covered Cyrraia’s eyes with the other. “You know nothing!”

“I wish I didn’t!”

This wasn’t the first time they’ve had this exact same exchange. Three kicked Cyrraia out of her own home before proceeding to teleport back to the Archive.

Cyrraia chuckled. Silly people would always be silly. She kept that feeling close to heart as she entered the withered town. If she followed the town to the castle, she would get to a withered garden, then she’d have to figure out a way to sneak around its defenses and find a discrete entrance to the castle’s dungeons.

If there was an upside to this situation, it was that she was heading in the complete opposite to where the ###### God himself resided.

Somewhere up there, in the castle’s spire piercing the clouds, was the ###### God himself.

She just had to turn the Heaven Key and make a run for it, right? Alright. You can do this, Cyrraia! Hype, hype, hype, hype, hype … she copiously thought as she jogged towards the castle.