Izayoi-san get back!"
Kuro Usagi tried to cover for him, but Izayoi's sharp glance stopped her.
"What the hell are you talking about? The one who needs to step back is you Kuro Usagi. I'm the one who picked this fight and he accepted. If you interfere I will crush you first."
The tone of his voice was dead serious. Kuro Usagi bit her lips, realizing there was nothing she can do once the Game had started.
The Serpent God responded to Izayoi's words.
"I applaud your spirit. On that account, if you manage to survive this blow, I recognize this as your victory."
"Don't talk nonsense. A fight doesn't end by deciding the winner. It ends when the loser is decided."
The winner was already clear.
Hearing Izayoi's insolent words both Kuro Usagi and the Serpent God were speechless.
"Phun, ... Those words will be your last!"
Responding to the Serpent God's roar, the water from the river spiraled upwards. Tornado like whirlpools swirling even higher than the Serpent God were sucking up hundreds of tons of water.
There were three whirling pillars of water. Each of them roared like a living being and moved like a serpent.
The power that could call forth storms and even destroy whole environments.
The power of the ones with the Gift of [Divinity].
"Izayoi-san!" shouted Kuro Usagi.
But it's already too late.
The swirling pillars of water ate into the riverbank, twisting and tearing the trees around, enveloping Izayoi's body.
"....Haaa.....Don't be cocky!"
It was a sudden occurrence. An attack exceeding the power of the storm. Izayoi inside the raging currents brushed aside the storm with one swipe of his hand.
"No way!?"
"Impossible!?"
Their voices were filled with shock. That power far transcended the limits of human capabilities.
The Serpent God let his guard down when the attack he poured all his power into got deflected so easily, but Izayoi did not miss this opportunity.
He landed on the ground with a merciless laugh.
"Well ... You were pretty good."
An explosive noise like the ground is breaking apart sounded from under his feet. Izayoi jumped up to its upper body and hit the Serpent God so hard that its huge body flew upwards, then fell back into the river. The impact forced the water to overflow, flooding the surrounding forest.
Izayoi returned to the shore looking annoyed.
"Shit. I get wet a lot today. Kuro Usagi, you will at least pay the cost of cleaning, right?"
Izayoi's joking words didn't even reach Kuro Usagi.
The inside of her head was in disarray, that was the least of her concerns.
(A human.... Defeated a Divinity? And with only raw strength? This kind of nonsense....!)
Then she remembered the words of the Host that provided the Gift that was used to summon them.
"They are without a doubt ... Among the most powerful Gift Bearers of humanity, Kuro Usagi."
Kuro Usagi was sure those words were only lip service.
They were said by a trustworthy person, but she doubted their truth even when she passed them on to Jin.
(I can't believe it.... But if they really possess such powerful Gifts....! The revival of our Community could be more than just a dream!)
Failing to control her excitement, she felt her heartbeat quicken.
"Oi, what's up with you? If you don't watch out I will grope your breasts or legs or something."
"Eh? Kyaa!"
Izayoi moved behind Kuro Usagi and used one hand to reach for her voluptuous breasts from under her armpit while using the other to place it somewhere between her miniskirt and garter socks and made the gestures to touch her thighs.
Kuro Usagi's moment of excitement was frightened out of her and she immediately pushed Izayoi away as she hopped clear of him as she yelled:
"Wha-, du-, du-, are you a dummy!? You intend to defile my chastity that I've protected for 200 years!?"
"The chastity you protected for 200 years? Uwa, I so want to defile it."
"Are you a big dummy?! No, you are a big dummy!!!"
She changed her question to a statement as an intended insult.
The Rabbit species was like someone somewhere packed all his tastes and preferences into it, beautiful face, innocent, indomitable spirit. Because of that the number of ruffians targeting her was like the number of stars in the sky.
So far no one was able to get close enough to touch her without her being able to react, never mind letting some big dummy - or rather, pervert - run his hand from her armpit to her breasts, almost touching them.
"Well, it's fine for now. Let's keep this for future enjoyment."
"I-Is that so!?"
This laughing long awaited new recruit could very well be Kuro Usagi's natural nemesis.
For a moment she had a distant look in her eyes.
"B-By the way, what will you do about that Serpent God? Is he alive at all?"
"I didn't go as far as taking his life. It was fun to fight him, but it wouldn't be any fun killing him. Once I've taken a look at the waterfall at the [Edge of the World] I will return to Little Garden."
"In that case, let's receive the Gift at least. No matter what the Game details were, Izayoi-san is the winner. Serpent God-sama shouldn't have any complaints either."
"Hm?"
Izayoi looked at her with a perplexed expression. Then Kuro Usagi added like she remembered something.
"When you compete with a deity in a Gift Game, you normally choose from 3 basic methods. The most popular ones are [Strength], [Knowledge] and [Valour]. When you choose a contest of strength usually a suitable opponent is prepared, but in this case you defeated the deity himself. We will undoubtedly get something wonderful! With this Kuro Usagi's Community can become more powerful than it is now♪"
Kuro Usagi approached the Serpent God with steps like she was about to break into a dance.
But Izayoi was looking at Kuro Usagi seemingly unsatisfied.
"......"
"Wha-What is it Izayoi-san? You have a scary expression, did I offend you in some way?"
"...Nah. What you say is right. The winner gets something from the loser, Gift Games work like that. I have no problem with that, but... Kuro Usagi..."
Izayoi's playful tone and expression was gone entirely. Similarly, Kuro Usagi's expression became tense too.
"You are hiding something critical from the get go, aren't you?"
"....What could you be talking about? If it's something about Little Garden I promised to answer all your questions, similarly anything about Gift Games too--"
"Not that. What I'm asking you about is you lot, .... no ... I will ask questions I'm pretty sure I know the answer to. Why was it so important for you to summon us?"
On the surface Kuro Usagi's expression did not change, but inside she felt intense turmoil.
And that was because Izayoi's question was exactly about what she tried to hide.
"That is... just as I said before. For you to enjoy and live here merrily..."
"Aah, that's right. At first I thought it was purely out of someone's goodwill, or just a joke. I was having an extreme bargain sale of boredom and the other two must have had good enough reasons to come to Little Garden, seeing that neither of them protested at the least. So I didn't concern myself with your situation, but.... To me Kuro Usagi looks desperate somehow."
That was the first time Kuro Usagi let her distress show.
Her eyes trembled and looked back at him like he just hit her where it hurts.
"This is just my hunch, but .... Isn't Kuro Usagi's Community a powerless - or due to some circumstances - a declined team, or something along those lines? So you called us to strengthen the organization. If I assume that this is the case, then your actions right now and that you seriously got mad when I refused to join your Community all makes sense. .... So? Bullseye right?"
".......!"
Kuro Usagi bitterly clicked her tongue in her mind. Having that fact come out at this point would be very inconvenient.
Powerful assets they managed to summon after much hardship, she wanted to avoid letting them go at all costs.
"And you hid this fact from us. Judging by that, we should still be able to choose a different Community, am I on the right track?"
"........."
"Your silence tells me everything Kuro Usagi. If you keep quiet at this point the situation will only get worse. Or is it alright with you if I go to a different Community?"
"No, i-it isn't! Wait a moment please!