At this point, anger wasn't even the right word for what Blanc was feeling.
If you asked her to describe it, you wouldn't get a coherent sentence.
All you'd get was a frustrated scream of grief and anguish — raw, guttural, and unfiltered.
And that's exactly what Vinaya got, without even needing to prompt it.
The scream tore out of Blanc's throat like a war cry. Hammer raised high, eyes blazing with cold fury, White Heart charged straight at the lioness like a freight train with nothing left to lose. No strategy. No hesitation. Just pure, unfiltered rage.
Exactly what Vinaya wanted.
The Sin of Pride didn't even flinch. Her sultry grin sharpened as she waited until the last possible second to move out the way.
Blanc's hammer came down with earth-shattering force, missing its mark yet again. Not because she went wide, but because said target- Vinaya's face, simply wasn't there anymore
Alongside the rest of the VPU.
With superior speed that bordered on unfair, the lioness slipped to the side in a blur of white and red. Watching Blanc's hammer smashing into empty pavement and sending cracks spiderwebbing outward.
Before White Heart could even recover, Vinaya was already gone — a white streak rushing straight toward Neptune. Hell, the smaller goddess couldn't even move her eyes fast enough to track where Vinaya had gone.
Right for the Main Character of the franchise, Neptune.
"Shit—!" Purple Heart yelped. Wooden katana raised in a desperate guard, bracing for the impact of the cocked back fist Vinaya was coming with.
Staring down into Vinaya's eyes, Neptune saw a predator glaring back, whose focus was all-in on the still-in-base-form goddess. At the last moment, Vinaya pivoted.
Turns out that guard wasn't even needed.
It would've missed anyway.
Vinaya pumped faked the shit out of the female main character. Getting right up to her face, close enough for the patron deity to pick up a feint smell of perfume, before hitting a 90 degree turn. Hips swaying with that mocking catwalk grace even when swiveling like she grabbed an invisible pole with how fluidly she turned mid-sprint.
Like a bullet, she shot toward Vert .
"Guh-" Meanwhile Purple Heart, who didn't even get hit, landed square on her ass. Tripping over nothing after Vinaya had already swapped targets.
Green Heart's eyes widened. Luckily she was already mid-cast — an elegant SP skill charging on the tip of her spear, golden energy swirling dangerously.
What the heeeeeelllll??! OH MAH GAWD no way~ay~ay!
Gotta be Verde cuz Vert did mo~oove~!
"Not this time!" Vert declared, thrusting forward with pinpoint precision.
The skill fired—
But Vinaya was faster than the projectile.
Like an Olympic ice skater, the VPU leapt through the air, twirling her body as her heeled feet left the the ground. That glowing projectile bypassed with contemptuous ease as Vinaya proceeds to pull off a cheat gainer whilst spinning like a top.
The golden beam screamed past her, whizzing just close enough to evaporate a sweatdrop that was forming on her cheek— and slammed directly into the figure materializing behind her.
Plutia.
Iris Heart had been sneaking in from the flank for a perfect surprise attack, riding crop raised and sadistic smile already forming. Instead, she took Vert's SP skill square in the chest. The impact sent her flying backward with a sharp, surprised yelp, crashing into the side of the Basilicom wall in a shower of sparks and dust.
"Plutia-!" Neptune cried out.
And of course, Vinaya sticks the landing, continuing her pursuit as if nothing had happened. Not uttering a word or even looking back at the very least to check on if Iris Heart was out for the count.
A machine, dressed in white and dripping with elegance, The VPU closed the rest of the distance unhindered.
Rain in the Sahara dried up slower than Vert's ranged options in that moment, seeing as she didn't get the time to conjure another skill. Hell, she barely had the time to raise her already poised spear in time to keep the enemy's hands off of her.
That would be if the redhead didn't lunge at the blonde like a certain one eyed pirate fox.
At least she tried something. It didn't work, but it beats just standing there like her braincells went on vacation or something.
From the sheer force of impact, Vinaya knocked the patron of Leanbox down to the ground, grabbing her arms and pinning them above the blonde's head at the same time.
"Oof~!" Green Heart huffed as the air left her lungs on impact.
With the Leanboxian right where she wanted her, Vinaya kept up on the offensive. Continuing her combo with a final blow.
"Mwah" The sin smooched her. Casually and quickly.
Giving Vert ZERO time to react, the lioness leaned up to her face, planting her cherry red lips onto the goddess's for a second before pulling away and sitting upright. Still keeping the woman pinned.
Then again, even if she did have time to react, what could she have done with her hands and torso pinned like that? Kicked her?
Over with Green Heart herself, she looked like she just got slapped, or someone burned her favorite BL story right in front of her. Those are both very similar expressions after all.
Actually I take that back, that spontaneously manifested fire truck red blush would never come across the blonde's features for the latter.
"Wha-!" She tried exclaiming something, but her own shock cut that shit short. Making her release what sounded like a startled squeal more than anything else.
Speaking of cut short, the only other two goddesses left in commision, Neptune and Blanc, stopped dead in their tracks. With White Heart straight up dropping her hammer in sheer confusion.
"What the Nep was that?!" Neptune, the first to recover, pointed both hands at Vinaya while staring dead on at the camera with eyes wide as saucers. "She's just doing whatever at this point, how the Nep do we even fight that bullshit?!"
Let's check on Noire:
"..." She's still using a lamppost as a pillow as she silently fought off the coma she was feeling starting to set in.
That's what I thought...
"I have absolutely no clue, Neptune. None at all." Second to lose the 'stunned' status effect, White Heart spoke truthfully and bluntly, grinding her teeth at the fact that she managed to get played what? 3 times now?
There was that initial insult, then getting tricked, and now getting shown she was simply not fast enough. Vinaya wasn't getting on her last nerve, she was already there before. But now she'd simply ran out of nerves.
Back to the latest Vinaya victim, she was still frozen. Half out of Fear, but just as much out of spending her mental resources on piecing together what the point of that last move even was. Because she didn't feel any different. No injuries to be felt. At least if you don't count her shattered pride as a Goddess.
Physically she was fine. Mentally she was fine...ish. Was it really just a kiss for kissing sake?
"Yeah, kinda." Vinaya, who was still very straddling and pinning Green Heart, piped up with a smug grin, chuckling to herself. "Leanbox is my favorite Nation after all~"
What?
The collective question of everyone currently in earshot.
Unluckily for the CPUs- and luckily for the plot, Vinaya found herself suddenly looking a bit... faded.
More like translucent.
At the same time, the number above her head, previously a bold two, ticks down to an ominous and angry zero. Which suddenly switched from matching the font of the previous numbers to a much more serene and calm blue comic sans.
She didn't look above her head, she never looked up there the entire fight now that the subject is brought into the forefront. Almost like she knew it was there, silently counting whatever caused that numeral to tick down in the first place.
"You won, girls. Good job." The lioness stated casually
The sin turned to stare off into the distance, Leanbox's direction specifically, as her clothing began falling apart and disintegrating like paper in a washing machine. Revealing a toned and tanned body, rippling with well developed muscles and a shapely figure.
At the same time, the villainess began standing up, her smug grin still stapled on her face as her physical body followed her clothing's tracks the instant they fully disappeared. Leaving the goddesses with no answers to the questions they were going to ask.
Mostly because of how much stunlock they'd found themselves in for the umpteenth time this chapter alone.
With the threat gone, the mood instantly shifted. Getting back to a more lighthearted feel. Allowing a lot more room to think and move for everyone involved. Including Purple Heart, who started trekking over to Black Heart. And White Heart, who stepped over to Green Heart.
"I swear, this bitch was a fucking stun merchant..." Blanc, left with nothing more than her thoughts and peers to ponder with, kept glaring at where Vinaya once stood, as if that'd somehow respawn that raid boss of an opposition and instantly defeat her. "Tch!"
The Loweean went up to her fellow Goddess and reached a hand to help her up, which Vert took after a second. As you guessed, because she was still reeling from getting kissed.
"My... first time..." Green Heart mumbled ashamedly, her face still burning as the phantom contact of their brief smooch kept assaulting her senses.
Walking over to the most physically injured of the three attacked CPUs, Purple Heart stretched a hand towards Noire, who'd moved a grand total of zero centimeters since she got turned into roadside scenery by Vinaya.
Her hand shaking like a leaf in a hurricane, the Planeptunian found herself sighing heavily in relief when her quivering digits landed on Black Heart's still transformed chest. Powerful, , the feeling of consistent thumps greeted the main character's appendage.
"Neptune are you okay?"
"Okay?! We just watched Vert get sexually assaulted by some strange giant of a woman after she made you blow out Noire's back and toss her aside like a plastic bag! And in-between those two was whatever she did to Sadie! Then the woman just loses her clothes and disintegrates in front of us to top it off! No, I'm not okay, Blanc, I don't think any of us are after that." Neptune answered in one breath, her face momentarily burning with fury before beginning to dissipate with a deep breath.
"Uh..." The loli was too stunned to speak.
"Know what, at least we won. We were saved by the plot, but we didn't lose." She added, sounding more discouraged than anything for a bit, taking a seat beside Noire's frozen frame.
"Ballin, but at what cost?" Black Heart chuckled weakly, powering through the seering pain running up and down her spine to spit out a joke. An attempt to lighten the mood if not by at least a little bit.
An endeavour that earned the Leanboxian a giggle from her closest ally.
"Really, Noire?" Was all Planeptune's patron had to say at that moment, fighting the urge to let out an actual laugh from the sudden quip.
"Really." Answered the tsundere before falling asleep. The adrenaline crash smacking the daylights out of her faster than even the injured woman saw coming.
Eyes closed and laying on the floor still, Black Heart looked rather peaceful, if not a little homeless.
"Nep it, Noire," Neptune chuckled, officially out of the slump she was starting to fall into. For now at least. "Alright, let's crash at my place, none you guys look like you can go back home right now."
As she said those words, Plutia walked over, well, flew over. She would ask what she'd missed, but had already heard Purple Heart's little speech on her way over, so didn't bother asking for now.
With another sigh, the CPU decided to pick up her fellow deity the only way available: Bridal style, before heading to her residence. Well, it was that or like a sack of potatoes. And Neptune was 80% sure Noire was not in good enough shape to handle getting tossed over her shoulder. And like that, she went into the main entrance and took the elevator up.
Over with Blanc and Vert, they were already flying to the Basilicom's top floor. After all, Vert's damage was more psychological while Blanc straight up didn't get hit once. As well as Plutia, who had already recovered most of the damage she had sustained over the two encounters with that lioness she'd had.
Once inside and upstairs, the five all instantly chose a point to crash on.
For Neptune, she chose her room, gently resting Noire down on one side of her massive bed before plopping herself and closing her eyes. That adrenaline hitting harder than Nyquil.
Vert just went onto the couch and collapsed like a cave in at a mining site.
Blanc found herself using the Futon that laid right next to it, folding in on herself like a black hole the instant her smaller frame touched the pillowy surface.
Iris Heart barely made it to the guest room she was staying at before shutting down. Her adrenaline crash delivering an asswhooping so viscious her form almost missed the guest bed.
Unanimously, the four goddesses who were still transformed, all return to their base/human states. Too tired and drained of their shares to maintain their HDD forms.