Gate Guardian - Song Of The Frozen Soul

So for some reason, we had ourselves in front of a mansion that looks like it came from the medieval ages. There are a lot of maids scattered on the manor grounds, sweeping, watering the flower plants, and even was.h.i.+ng the windows. It"s the Teronette Residence in Heightsburg City, a few kilometers away from the shrine.

There"s three of us. Emily, Rikkun, and I. At first, I wanted to go by myself because I had the feeling that Rikkun would be rude again just like what happened when we visited Naomi"s house. But he told me that he wanted to go, and he will try to convince Zenaida to borrow the G.o.ddess Core of Hel.

Hel is the Norse G.o.ddess of Death, which means that she is immune to the concept of death itself. If Lord Hel will be on our side, then the probability of defeating Helena will be higher. Also, we"re talking about a G.o.ddess Core here. It will be needed once I sing the .

The maids led us to the main office of the manor where Miss Zenaida was staying. When we entered the room, I was astounded that the very office contains lots of eerie artifacts such as ram skull that has a looping horn, plywood that contains a pentagram drawn with blood, and a bookshelf that contains latin-named books on how to summon a demon. I don"t want to comment on her taste… But I"m quite scared.

"Fwahahahahaha!!! I didn"t know that you have the courage to show your face here in my office." The gothic princess-like woman laughed at our pink-haired m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.t maid. "You didn"t even have the guts to fight me last Christmas."

She"s Zenaida. I"ve seen her base form for a couple of times, but now she"s quite different. She"s wearing a dark frilled princess dress, and she"s equipped with some gold chains and weird-shaped rings on her sharp fingers. Her twin ponytail is swirled to make her look a lot cla.s.sy.

"M-Master Zenaida…" Emily mumbled. "I-I was about to fight you during the Christmas Raid, but our late Master Jeannette shuffled the teams."

"Yeah, I remembered that." Zenaida said with a threatening smirk as she looked to Rikkun and I. "Those two live bugs you brought here, they are the ones who beat me."

I forced a smile. But Rikkun just returned a cold glare.

"So…" Zenaida continued to speak. "What brings the glorious Aether Crusade here?"

"We want to borrow your G.o.ddess Core." Rikkun went straight to the point.

"Look, I am grateful that you returned me to my original self," Zenaida said as her brown eyes revealed her cross sigil. "But I won"t give my treasure easily. It"s the most powerful G.o.ddess Core in Norse Mythology, and it is said to be more powerful than Odin. I won"t give this to someone that"s not worthy."

"Me!" Emily raised her hand.

Rikkun and Zenaida continued the conversation, completely ignoring poor Emily.

"There is someone worthy of that G.o.ddess Core." Then Rikkun turned to me. "It"s her."

"W-WhWhat, m-me!?" I pointed myself. "T-There"s no way I can handle that G.o.ddess Core!"

"You can." Rikkun smiled brightly. "There is no other person who can fight as valiantly as you."

Hearing Rikkun praise me makes me blush. It also makes my heart beat fast. I can"t believe Rikkun is putting so much trust in me.

But Emily is still on the background, shouting "Me! Me! Pick me!".

Zenaida made a frown as she scanned me from head to toe. "I"m sorry, I won"t lend my G.o.ddess Core to that shrine maiden."

"B-But why!?" Rikkun exclaimed.

"Her mind is too pure to control the powers of Hel. She won"t be able to utilize the power of a dark G.o.ddess. The one who must wield it must have some sort of twisted mind." Zenaida said. "And besides… I don"t want to give my powers to the one who excessively beat me up to a pulp during the raid."

A brief recap: Back in the Christmas Raid, Rikkun was our tactician, Heushac with Key"s was our fire support, and I"m the main attacker. I actually went overboard during the fight since Heushac"s last spell already rendered her unconscious, yet I even made the finis.h.i.+ng blow.

"I-I-I"m sorry about that, Miss Zenaida!" I immediately bowed.

"Fwahahahahaha!!! You really are interesting, shrine maiden of the Kozukata Shrine!" Zenaida said. "But I"m sorry, the G.o.ddess Core is not compatible with you."

"Me! Me! I"m compatible as Hel"s vessel!" Emily jollily shouted in the background, and I"m the only one who is not ignoring her.

"Hmmm…" Rikkun held his imaginary beard. "Why won"t you just help us even for just one fight? You join the Aether Crusade, with double the pay if you wanted to..."

Zenaida laughed like an evil princess. "You guys are so desperate! Do you really need to defeat Helena that much? But I really can"t help you in your battles. I still have some anti-curse sessions in order to make sure I won"t turn into a Cursed Guardian again."

"That"s…" Rikkun had his jaw hanged. "That"s really unfavorable… I really can"t think of someone else to carry that G.o.ddess Core…"

"Me! Me!" Emily shouted.

"I doubt the male members of my group would like to handle the G.o.ddess of Death… Maybe I"ll ask Key to inherit it." Rikkun muttered.

"Me! Me! Meeeeee!" Emily shouted.

"U-Ummm… Rikkun…." I pinched the blonde guy"s shoulder and pointed at our adorable maid.

Rikkun finally recognized the existence of Emily, but his response is way worse than we all thought. "For Pete"s sake Emily, SHUT THE h.e.l.l UP!!!"

BAM!!!

"Pwah!" Rikkun cried as he held his bleeding nose. I"m sorry, my fist accidentally flew to his face! It"s all his fault for being so rude at our poor adorable Emily!

"Give Emily a chance, Rikkun!" I cried. "It"s her idea to borrow the G.o.ddess Core in the first place!"

"Y-Yeah, Master Alaric!" Emily happily pumped her fist full of guts! "I think I can handle Hel"s powers! If you are looking for a woman who has a twisted mind, I"ll be the perfect vessel!"

There was a long silence. Even the gothic princess Zenaida was speechless with that sudden punch I made to our leader. She must have been reminded of some kind of deja vu.

Rikkun slowly stood up while holding his bleeding nose. He engulfed himself to deep thought in just for three seconds and finally gave his decision.

"Fine… You think you can do it, Emily?"

"Yes! I"ll do everything for you, Master Alaric!" Emily replied happily with sparkles on her eyes.

"Fwahahahahahahaha!!!" Zenaida who is silently watching this scene finally intervened. "I told you guys that I won"t give this G.o.ddess Core so easily! Especially with my b.a.s.t.a.r.d half-sister over there! She"s nothing but a nuisance!"

"You may be right on that last sentence…" Rikkun smiled. "But Emily will show you what she"s capable of! So lend us your G.o.ddess Core!"

"Kyaaaaah!!! Master Alaric is now trusting me!" Emily shouted. Then she turned to her gothic half-sister. "If you"re still not convinced, Master Zenaida… Then let"s settle this on a Teronette Duel!"

Zenaida"s surprised expression is unprintable. After a while, she chuckled like a witch.

"Fwahahaha… Fwahahahaha!!!" Zenaida"s eyes widened, and her irises gave us a death threat. "You clearly got some spikes on your tongue, mongrel. Fine. We"ll settle this in a Teronette Duel. If you win, I"ll give you the G.o.ddess Core of Hel. Permanently."

"And if you win…" Emily continued the conversation. "I will serve as your pig for eternity!"

"FWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Now the gothic princess laughed like a madman. "This will be interesting!"

Rikkun and I looked at each other and we started to whisper to each other.

"What"s a Teronette Duel?" Rikkun asked.

"I-I don"t know... Anyway, what does she mean as being a pig for eternity? I mean, I"ve played as your dog a couple of times before, but I never tried being a pig. Is that a new kind of kinky play?" I asked back.

Rikkun made a heavy disappointed sigh as he facepalmed again. "I don"t have any idea what"s going on."