(MC POV)
The competition, as Tianya had called it, was held in a remote location in the forest near the city where I first met this goddess.
This competition itself was similar to our World's Sect Showcase Festival where in this case, it was these divine families trying to show off who had the strongest divinity.
Apparently, they had agreed to use this place as it gives no one a home field advantage.
Tianya and her group of resistance goddesses were moving through the forest on foot to get there while I rode the Qilin alongside them.
Now that I think about it, I bet the Long family had been intending to capture both Iris and I to bolster themselves just for today. Though now I'm wondering how they're dealing with it since Iris pretty much handed their ass to them.
At least we returned their sanity back to them but everyone looked properly traumatised after that. It kind of made me wonder just what Iris did to them while I was gone.
"So I have to ask…" I nodded at Tianya, getting her attention. "I met Aesi and the 'help' she wanted was for me to… Well… Liberate them in the sexual sense. I… Don't suppose all of you also wanted the same help?"
Tianya grimaced, "I apologise you have to find out that way, All Creator… But I believe you know by now that us Gods are not united in the way of governing this World."
I nodded, "I figured when all of you are acting differently from her."
"Yes… I assume All Creator is aware of the challenges the mortals can undertake from us?"
"I have been made aware, yes."
"It started out as a way of encouraging the mortals to improve themselves where we would challenge them in feats of combat or performance. But then there's the other Gods who saw mortals as an outlet to satiate their own desires and they made their own set of challenges as well. The mortals then gravitated towards the other side because the prospect of having sex with a Divine was much more attractive. Thus their society started to shift towards such ideals."
I blinked at her, "And the rest of you?"
"What could we do? There were more of them than us… Then the mortals beat them at their own game and even stole their Divinity, leaving us in this state. We had wished for help but… To be honest, we never thought Dad-- I mean, All Creator would answer us."
She almost called me daddy there but let's just pretend I didn't hear that.
"So actually, what kind of help were you hoping for? I could easily just reverse everything for you if you want it you know?"
"Ah… No… That's not what we wanted help with, All Creator… Umm… This World was granted to us so it's our problem to fix. We aren't shameless enough to ask All Creator to solve this problem for us…"
That confused me a little, "Then… What do you need my help for?"
That made Tianya suddenly shy, "Umm… Umm… We… We were hoping… That umm… Umm… All Creator could let us… Participate in that umm… Battle Royale too…"
I stared at the goddess that was poking her fingers together in embarrassment.
"That… That's it?" I asked, feeling a little bewildered. "I mean… You do know that I'm not the one organising it right?"
She gave me a look of surprise comparable to mine, "E… Eh? All Creator is not? Even though you made that World?"
I shook my head, "I'm not, it's the supreme gods that are doing it."
That revelation prompted the other gods to start chattering excitedly amongst themselves.
"That means we can go!"
"We can really go to the Vacation World!"
"We don't need permission!!"
"We have to go now!!"
Tianya clapped her hands together, "Quiet! Remember why we are here!"
That seemed to calm the other goddesses down and they returned to their previous serious look.
I couldn't help but point out one thing though, "Umm… I'm also not sure if you know this but… They restricted participation to Origin Wielders only. Since the last time they held it, the gods did too much damage and now they're only allowing Origin Wielders to represent the gods to battle in their stead."
Tianya nodded, "We are aware, All Creator. That's why we have to go and search for Origin Wielders that still do not have a God to represent. There are still a number of them out there and we have to find them before the other Gods do and lay claim to them."
As long as they are aware of it I guess… But seriously, there are that many Origin Wielders out in the universe?
Actually… I suppose there would be considering how big the universe was…
With the Goddesses back on track, we continued our journey towards the location of the competition.
As we were nearing it, a group of people suddenly flew overhead us noisily. The goddesses instinctively hid themselves while I remained where I was, watching the group of people, whom I guessed were from one of the Divine Families, fly towards the competition area.
I wasn't too worried about getting spotted since I already removed any Origin of that possibility happening.
The goddesses came out of hiding once they were sure it was safe.
Tianya turned to her followers, "Come on! It must be starting soon! We have to get ready!"
Picking up the pace, we hurried through the forest until a large structure appeared in front of us, the shape reminding me of a colosseum.
It didn't even look like they cleared the land to build this structure. It felt more like they had built it before dropping the completed building right here on top of the trees and flattened the area.
Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if this was how this building came to be.
"Remember now… Wait for them to start fighting each other for real before we jump in. Target the ancestors before targeting the family heads. Do not take more risks than you have to."
The other goddesses nodded.
Tianya turned back and started climbing the walls of the building and the others followed suit.
I was expecting the Qilin to follow them but it gave a snort and started trotting away.
Everyone looked at me in confusion but I quickly waved at them, "You girls go ahead! I'll… I'll see what the Qilin wants!"
The Qilin then leapt back into the forest before the goddesses could give me a response.
Ok, what now? Where else could this Qilin be leading me? Are you telling me there's something much more important away from here or something?
Guess we'll find out…
