"Sob, sob..." Yuuki just sobbed while giving Elena a grievance gaze. Her extreme ice-cold ability had been put under control, thanks to Elysia's help.
"Hm? Please don't give me that look. I just made an offer, and you just accepted it. Why don't you look down and be proud, Yuuki? You managed to freeze the Sea God and those black slime-like monsters. You created an ice island in just seconds. Amazing." Elena gave a light applause.
"Hmph!" Yuuki just snorted and curled up in Elysia's arms. For some reason, the towel covering her body felt so warm and comfortable.
"Anyway, good job, Yuuki." Elysia gave a slight compliment.
"En." Yuuki just nodded. At that moment, she was reminded of her white robe. When she transformed into a snow fox, her robe was left down there, right?
The little snow fox stuck her head out to look down. Her robe couldn't be seen anywhere, including her new Space Bag. All her possessions just disappeared!?
"My robe... My new Space Bag..." Yuuki sobbed once again at a loss.
"Are you looking for this, Yuuki?" Elysia showed a white robe and a white Space Bag to the sad little fox.
"Eh? En, so, nothing is lost..." Yuuki wiped her tears and heaved a sigh of relief. As it turned out, Elysia retrieved her only possession for her.
"Here." Elysia gave that white robe and Space Bag back to its owner. Yuuki hugged them and snuggled back into the towel.
"Please stay here while we're going down to check." Nell announced while facing everyone. Then, she gave Elena a look. "You will also come with us. Let's go."
Nell gave the nod to her big sister before she flew down from her magic carpet. Rhea and Elena just followed closely behind.
"Ehm, you're all fine, right? Did the effects of Yuuki's extreme ice hit you?" Elysia checked the condition of her friends and the others. Even though she knew they were doing well, asking just to be sure was justified.
"Thanks to the Goddess of Light's barrier, we weren't affected by any cold, Ely." Ella replied with a tender smile.
"En, it seems, the barrier is still here." Evelyn reached out to examine the invisible wall in front of her, but it was no longer there. "Well, it looks like it's no longer there. So, only the barrier around the magic carpet protects us from the cold."
"We came to save Sea God, but Yuuki just froze everything. That's a good job, you little fox. Hopefully, he won't hold grudges because you freeze him, Yuuki." Sylvia smirked at the little fox. Then, she rested her chin on her hands to watch what the Goddesses would do down there.
"Eh?" Yuuki just realized that fact. It was clearly a bad sign that the Sea God was going to take revenge on her.
"That's the Goddess of Light's fault. Ane needs to take care of everything." Yuuki muttered under her breath in protest. But, she felt that Elysia would protect her. So, everything would be fine.
Elysia just smiled wryly and watched what was going to happen down there. She was a little relieved that no battle would take place in this mysterious ocean.
Elena landed on a foothold of golden light. She didn't want to put her shoes on the cold ice just like that. "Where are we now? You said earlier that we were affected by a dimensional leap? Someone warped us here?"
"En, I can say, I believe in my conjecture. I also have no idea where we are now. The Sea God likely already knew of our presence because my little sister kept emitting her divine aura. He expects our help. That's why he came to us shortly after we got here." Rhea nodded and landed on Elena's golden light foothold.
After that, they drew closer to the little blue creature.
"This little blue creature is you, Sea God Oceanid? I didn't expect that you made yourself this weak just to fight back against the curse energy. It seems you have more difficult circumstances than I can imagine." Rhea sighed and put her hand on the lump of ice with the little blue creature inside.
"Big sister, let me free Sea God from the shackles of extreme ice. Please save your magic energy because you just sixty percent recovered." Nell put her hand on her big sister's hand and suggested gently.
"Mm, fine." Rhea nodded with a tender smile. She took three steps back and stood next to Elena.
"Hmm..." Elena folded her arms and prepared for what might happen next.
Nell took a deep breath and looked at the Sea God within the chunk of ice. She needed to free him immediately, but she couldn't use magic that might risk hurting him. After all, the God before her now lacked the endurance of a divine.
Thus, she simply stretched her hands forward and cast her spell for holy magic with extra precision. "I summon divine light to bless you. Holy Light."
White-gold light shone from Nell's palms, and she began to melt the extreme ice carefully. She started from the outer side, then became super careful as her hot light magic got close to the little blue creature.
Simultaneously, Elena put up an additional barrier just in case. She was pretty wary of those frozen black slime-like creatures.
*Crack* *Crack*
Nell patted the ice chunk lightly with her finger and cracked tiny cracks everywhere. She was like carving something, but in the end, the ice shattered into pieces.
The little blue creature fell, but Nell used her magic just in time to make the Sea God float.
"Phew... Perfect rescue." Nell wiped her non-existent sweat.
"Sea God is the embodiment of water, and his body is frozen too. Let me help you with my magic." Elena offers a favor. She simply made a blanket of warm light to wrap around the frozen little blue creature.
*Shiver* *Shiver*
The little blue creature shivered and curled up. He turned to the three divine girls before him with a grimace. "It was a terrible welcome."
"Who told you to ignore my signal since yesterday. It was you who used a dimensional leap to pull us to this place, right? And again, why did you bring your swarm of contaminants toward us?" Nell laughed blandly. She just replied to the complaint with another one.
"Hmm..." Elena put her hand to her chin. She looked closely at the half-fish-man, all blue as a collection of seawater. This little blue creature had hands like a pair of underwater wings, and his body size was only three times bigger than Nell's.
Elena continued to give the little blue creature a warm glow until the pitiful Sea God no longer shivered. She then threw a few questions like a superior. "Are you one of the Sea Gods, Oceanid? By looking at your current state, I presume you're already fine. Now, can you elaborate with us about your situation and what is going on here? Where are we now?"
"Hm? We're already in the soundproof barrier?" Oceanid looked around. He realized that he and the three Goddesses before him were in an invisible protective barrier.
"Hmm..." Elena just waited for the answer to her question.
"Okay." Oceanid nodded and turned his attention to the three Goddesses, the mint-green and golden ones, then to the floating little Goddess. "I know that you are Nell, the Goddess of Blessings. But, who are the Goddesses who came with you? This is my first time seeing them. Are they newly ascended divines?"
"Let me introduce them to you. This one is my big sister, and this one is the Goddess of Light." Nell showed her palm to the person she mentioned to introduce.
"Hello, long time no see, Oceanid." Rhea waved her hand.
"Oh! So, you are Rhea. Yes, it's been so long... I'm glad you're well and safe. Is your mother, the Tree of Life, safe too?" Oceanid ventured to ask.
"Mm." Rhea only replied with a subtle nod.
"Then you are the Goddess of Light? Are you a newly ascended Goddess?" Oceanid looked at the Golden Goddess curiously.
"Hmm..." Elena didn't want to answer. She didn't like it if her questions were simply ignored.
Nell looked at Elena and Oceanid a few times. "Uhm, Oceanid, it's not a good attitude to ignore the question. The Goddess of Light has already thrown an important question at you."
"Oh, the previous question about my situation? Sure, I'll share whatever you guys want to know. I need help after all, but one divine isn't enough for that. Now you've come up with three. Thank you very much, Nell." Oceanid gave his appreciation by placing one hand on his chest.
"Well then..." Oceanid spun in the air and checked the condition of the contaminated creatures. He simply sighed and returned before the Goddesses.
"I think the dimensional gap I left managed to bring you here. We are in the black ocean, a deadly place far east of the Aquatic Ocean. As you can see, I was chased by the contaminated me because they wanted to make all of me like them." Oceanid loosened his shoulders as he recalled his dwindling numbers.
"Are you still around fifteen hundred like last month?" Nell asked curiously.
"No, twenty of me have fallen to the side of darkness. Only one thousand four hundred and seventy-eight of me remain now. It's only a matter of time until I'm exhausted and contaminated." Oceanid sighed sadly.
"Are you the core being?" Nell pointed towards Oceanid's chest. She could see with her magic vision that the real Sea God's blue transparent core was there.
"Indeed. That's why the contaminated me chased me at all costs when they spotted my existence. If I was contaminated, then there would be no more Sea God." Oceanid shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.