“No!” Maven cried out, the word coming out horrible screech as it ripped its way out of her throat. She had no clue what was up Kurga’s sleeve, but, judging by the blood curdling aura coming from the curse he just slammed into Ela, it couldn’t be anything good.

“This should ensure the Seed blooms beautifully.” Kurga said contently, eyes gleaming in satisfaction as he watched his pitch black curse sink into Ela’s milky skin.

The second that distilled essence of human suffering made contact with Ela, she collapsed like a like marionette with its strings cut. Luckily, Maven still had an arm wrapped protectively around her, allowing her to grab Ela before she hit the floor.

“Ela? Ela! Ela?!” Maven shouted as she shook the collapsed elf princess. “Wake up! Please, wake up!”

Unfortunately, no matter how Maven jostled or called out to Ela, the beautiful elf didn’t so much as twitch. She was so pale that Maven almost thought she was dead. Only the powerful life force she could feel from Ela’s body assured her that she was still alive. Though, judging by the turmoil Maven could feel in Ela’s soul, Maven could tell that there was a great battle going on just beneath the surface.

Knowing that she didn’t have the knowledge or experience to help, Maven turned her attention to the god standing smugly just a few steps away, staring at him poisonously.

“What did you do?!”

Maven pressed the two gods as she held Ela tight. Intense waves of divinity radiated off her body, carrying a fierce aura of boiling rage.

“Just something to help that little elf, I pinky promise! She’s been squandering her talent…… We just want to make she grows up big and strong. How kind we are! You should really be thanking me, not staring at me like a wild animal.”

Kurga performed a grand bow as he grinned mockingly. He clearly knew that his answer was no answer at all, but didn’t seem inclined to share any real details.

“What about you, chuckles?” Maven asked as she turned to Lidar, who had remained reticent thus far.

Unfortunately for her, the wayward god of space didn’t so much as glance at her. Instead, he was just idly clawing open tiny rifts in space with his fingers. As if the entire situation had nothing to do with him and he was just waiting until he could leave.

“Let’s go.” Lidar said to Kurga, his aura reflecting his impatience. “If we’re not taking the elf, then we’re done here.”

“Tch,” Kurga clicked his tongue in disappointment before saying, “Here I was looking forward to playing with the little Saintess. Why are you in such a hurry to leave? This is a perfect opportunity to test yourself against the goddesses too.”

Lidar, robotic android that he was, merely shrugged his shoulders and turned to the side. With a flick of the wrist, he opened a jagged rift in space - clearly signaling his intent to leave.

“We came to check on Nikol and the elf girl. That has been completed. We’re not getting either of them right now, not without a fight. A fight neither of us is sure we’d win. You successfully dyed the Seed. That’s good enough. I’m leaving, you’re welcome to stay if you want.”

Lidar, not even waiting to hear a reply, moved to step through the portal. The suddenness of his actions having dumbfounded both Maven and his own companion, he managed to walk halfway through the portal before anyone managed to react.

“You’re not getting away!”

Maven shouted as she tried to prevent the slippery god of space from getting away. Not having much time to react, she fired off the first spell that sprang to mind. What shot out of her hands was the simplest spell of them all - a pure ball of condensed divine power.

That divine power thundered through the air with the velocity of a speeding bullet and slammed into Lidar’s shoulder right before he could completely enter the portal. Ripping through his body like wet cardboard, the bowling ball sized attack managed to completely separate his limb from his body.

“Ahhhh!”

Lidar’s pained scream echoed out of the portal as he disappeared from view, arm shooting out violet smoke rather than blood as it tumbled through the air.

Startled by the sight of his compatriot’s utter defeat, Kurga lost his nonchalant air as his eyes shot wide open. Not wanting to give Maven a similar target, he preemptively abandoned his human form and became a nebulous cloud of pure curse energy.

“I’ll take that as my cue to leave. Though it pains me to abandon such lovely ladies, please take care of the elf for us. We’ll be back for her!”

Leaving those ominous words behind, a black cloud wormed its way into the portal Lidar had left behind. When Maven attempted to take care of Kurga the same way she had Lidar the orb passed through the fog powerlessly, only managing to take a few particles of his power with it.

The two gods successfully made their escape.