The cronies were still shooting at Me for some reason. The Plos really have never been good at picking up on how things are going, have they, Sister? And indeed, I was in a savage mood at the moment. History certainly does rhyme.

I was feeling very, very peeved indeed.

The poor Academy building didn't deserve all this, but I saw no alternative.

Floating through the window, I was unsurprised to see that there were guards inside, too. I wondered if they would dare to fire enchanted weapons in...yes they would, alright then. They really were profoundly stupid. They've done more damage to themselves and "their mayor's property" than to Me. And they're still firing. It's breathtaking.

I stood and thought as they let their angst out. Where would I be if I were a self-important usurper? The headmaster's office, I supposed.

Seriously, when were they going to stop shooting at me? These weapons were valuable! There were no blue mages left! And they were going to burn the Academy down!

Should I leave to try to spare the Academy damage?

I stopped and pondered for a moment once again, their attacks bouncing off Me as uselessly as ever. Did they have even the faintest idea how powerful My shield was when I made only one, of human size? I could protect the entire population of Rokesha from Oscanion's final attack. All of that power was on Me alone, right now. These little trinkets were never going to do anything.

It seemed that they never did replicate Izena's magic, not in 1000 years, not even close. I cackled.

I finally came to a decision.

"Can you stop shooting for a moment? You're going to burn your 'mayor's residence' down, and I think it should be clear now that a Goddess will not be stopped by the likes of you."

Repeating that I was a Goddess seemed to get through to them. I could see the gears cranking in their heads. Go on, you can do it if you try: "Oh, that's why she's untouchable!"

Or maybe it was the part about the "mayor's residence?" Doesn't matter, they did finally stop shooting at Me.

I had concluded that it was worth trying to see if I could spare the Academy, but I was too highly irritated to allow them to use it as a hostage to escape justice, so I decided to let them choose their fates, speaking with My ethereal soprano Divine Decree voice.

"I offer you the opportunity to choose your fates."

I raised my left hand.

"Option 1: you resume firing at Me, I stand here exasperated with your lack of intellect and mock you for a while, then I destroy you and everything you stand for."

I raised my right hand.

"Option 2: you don't resume firing at me, restore the traditional Assembly, and release all ill-gotten wealth and property to the public trust. In exchange, you live."

I lowered my hands.

"I will give you one minute to decide."

I shielded every resident of Ezenta who wasn't near a charged enchanted item while I was speaking. It made My shield weaker, to the point that it might have been shaken by Oscanion a little, but that difference was meaningless considering the level of My opposition.

I snickered.

There was probably a bit of a scene happening in the city--work camp--right now. A Goddess of Light flies over the wall, breaks into the Academy, then every worker suddenly receives a liquid light shield?

I snickered again, then the light show resumed.

Option 1 it is, then. I wouldn't have offered it if it didn't work for Me. It's too bad that I'll have more repairs to do before I can continue searching for Izena.

As they fired pointlessly, I honored the first part of My pledge.

"Hmmm, can I make a small guillotine out of solid mana? Would it cut on the first swing? Izena's would, but My mana is not as good at cutting."

The thugs were still really going at it. When people are in unquestioned absolute power for a long time, they really do lose the ability to respond rationally to entities that they can't control, don't they?

"Oh, Sister! I solved the puzzle! They picked Option 1 because they believe that I won't actually follow through, even if it turns out that they can't kill Me! They think I'm some delicate Goddess of Forgiveness and have never taken out the trash Myself before, that I won't have the stomach for it. Their expectation for the worst case scenario is that I will set up tribunals that they can bribe or intimidate or something."

I shook my head theatrically.

"They could easily verify from the history books that they're too stupid to read that I served with distinction on the frontlines of a war they can only imagine, for years, and yet somehow they think Me squeamish? Forgiving to My enemies?"

Actually incredible stuff, but it gets worse.

"But that's beside the point, because they've forgotten something else that's even more important..."

I shook My head in regret.

"Wow, they are so stupid that I feel bad for the comparison that I made to the door. The door did not deserve that. At least it managed to mildly inconvenience Me."

I walked toward the aforementioned door from the inside, opened it, and looked out across the city.

"They've forgotten that's it not My forgiveness that they need."

While I was standing around in the Academy, the oppressed had realized that they were currently invulnerable, and their oppressors were not.

I headed toward the Corza home to make sure that it was spared damage as much as possible. The usurpers had better things to do now than bother Me. I just needed to make sure I didn't doze off while the fight...one-sided completely unfair savage beatdown continued. A Goddess providing direct divine intervention in support of a cause did tend to provide a significant advantage.

As it turned out, My guillotine did work consistently on the first try. The liberated were very enthusiastic about it. I suspected that I would have a new Temple to visit in the future.

If the one in Rokesha was the Temple of the Sacrifice, what will this one be? The Temple of the Liberation? I made plans to put them in touch. The Rokeshans have good taste.