Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

"Huh?" Vera was dumbfounded. It wasn't like she had thrown out a great proposal or anything like that. But Zach gave off the air of someone who liked to fight. His abject refusal surprised Vera.

It surprised his comrades as well, but only until they saw the expression on his face. They recognized that devious glint in his eyes.

"Why should I?" Zach eventually asked after a few moments of awkward silence.

There it was.

Zach wasn't questioning why Vera asked him for a fight. He was literally asking why he should go along with it. What was in it for him?

Vera understood the subtext, and her eyes widened as her hammer sank slowly.

"Uh…" Was there a reason for them to fight? Didn't they both like fighting?

"I'm the Hammer of Friebel, the Goddess of Smithing. If you agree to fight with me, I'll make you a weapon," She eventually said decisively.

Zach bobbed his head to the side once, as if he were considering it. But then he helplessly raised his hands.

"I don't use weapons." He shrugged.

Vera's expression faltered but her gaze drifted to his companions, the maids standing right behind him.

"What about a weapon for one of your servants?" She asked.

Zach's lips tugged to the side.

Yanael had her own sword. The same with Alzara. The other three didn't use weapons. Well, maybe Vidri did. Zach hadn't seen her fight yet. He glanced at her, but she just shook her head. She wasn't interested, at least not in getting a weapon made for her.

Zach just shook his head with another shrug as he looked at Vera again. Not an attractive offer.

"Damn it! Just fight me!" She shouted in frustration.

One of Zach's eyebrows rose as he looked at her. If she wanted a fight that badly, why didn't she just attack him?

"Your goddess has a good relationship with other Orders, doesn't she?" He asked suddenly, stumping Vera. After a moment, Vera nodded, wondering why he was suddenly asking about that.

"Alright. I'll fight you. If you win, I'll do you a favor or something. If I win, you'll give me information. Deal?"

Vera could tell that Zach wasn't worried about what she would request as a favor if she won. He didn't think he would lose.

Vera was pretty sure Zach was cocky and underestimating her. But she hadn't gotten to her current position by making assumptions. There was a chance that Zach was as strong as he made himself seem. There was a chance that he wasn't bluffing.

After all, he had agreed to the fight easily once he figured out what he wanted.

Vera tightened the grip on her hammer. It transformed from a gentle tapper that hung easily on her belt to a warhammer with a handle as long as her arm and a brutal head.

Zach wagged his fingers at her.

He was inviting her to attack first.

Who was she to decline such an invitation?

One hand on the hammer's ankle and the other on its neck, Vera stomped forward and raised it above her head in one smooth move, bringing it down when her next step took her to Zach's face.

Vera's attack carried with it significant pressure as she brought her heavy weapon down on top of Zach. She wasn't holding back. She was using both the burly muscles covering her body and the divine energy fueling it.

Like thunder and lightning, Vera's hammer rammed into Zach's shield. The ear-breaking sound rang out at once, after which the world seemed to halt for a moment.

Would Zach's barrier break? Would it not?

Zach's eyebrows rose in surprise.

His barrier cracked like a dome of glass. It turned into fine dust and rained down around him as Vera's feet landed on the ground.

An external barrier wouldn't do much against her.

Zach raised his fists with a firm expression. Vera responded by letting her hammer continue down, though she changed the angle slightly and went at it diagonally.

Although Zach's shield had broken, it had still absorbed a lot of the force in Vera's blow. Her continuation was slow and too weak to be a threat.

Zach still stepped back to avoid the hit in case she was plotting something. The hit to his barrier had felt strange. He didn't want to take an unnecessary risk.

There was too much at steak.

It was a rare instance of Zach showing some prudence and caution.

Of course, it had to backfire.

As expected, Vera's hammer missed, but it didn't stop. Vera didn't let it smash into the ground or try and stop it to raise it again.

She let the hammer swing around like an overpowered pendulum. She recycled the blow into the next, reusing the force into the next attack. She also used the momentum of the hammer swing to pull her forward and catch up to Zach.

She was used to wielding the hammer. Her movements were smooth like flowing water and caught Zach by enough surprise that he had to raise his arms and catch the hammer head.

That had looked too smooth for it to be a one-off. He didn't want to see her go for another swing and gather even more power.

Without further fanfare, Vera's hammer rammed into Zach's braced arms.

Zach had sparred with his familiars and fought with some others.

Yanael's sword was fast and sharp. Alzara's daggers were even lighter. Soara didn't go all out against him. Mandra's magic was tricky and pervasive. Neither of them compared to the weight behind Vera's hammer. It wasn't something he was used to.

The closest to it was Ozra's strikes and the Hydra.

It was a force that cracked his barriers and sent tremors of force into his forearms that ran through his body all the way to his knees.

If he hadn't spent the past weeks strengthening his body with the world essence energy exercises, he would have been brought to the ground. Now, the only thing that happened was that his feet sank into it, making a deep impression on the new continent.

Zach raised his gaze and met Vera's eyes.

"Fighting isn't your expertise, is it?"