The Hollow God - 21 Blanta the Manta

“Y-you, you filthy creature of darkness! You come into my territory and try to intimidate me with your size? Do you think a bird will fear a fish in the sky?!” As she said this she shot out a powerful gust of wind that concentrated together into the shape of a light green bird that flew at incredible speeds towards the mantas forehead. She then flew to the side putting some distance between them as she tried to bring the fight away from her city.

The bird shaped wind attack was so fast that the large manta could barely react! All he was able to do was lower his head slightly making the target miss but it was still moving straight towards his back!

He had thought of defending with gravity itself but revealing he had this element to an unknown divine might not be a good idea so he hesitated. Fortunately there was someone who didn’t hesitate at all. As the little crab saw the attack coming towards his back a small distance from where she was, she quickly waved her little claws and her small house disintegrated like water. The sand moved quickly like a wave over the mantas back covering it in a thin layer of earth.

As the attack was about to reach his skin the large manta was already wincing in pain. Once the bird finally smashed onto his back the small thin sand like armor rippled like the surface of a lake when a rock was thrown into it. The sand completely sucked out most of the momentum from the attack leaving only a small amount of blunt damage to reach his skin which was negligible for a creature with such a large body.

The large manta was surprised at how sturdy her sand armor actually was, but the person who was the most shocked was the blue bird that turned around to see her attack be completely ineffective. Only now did she notice that it wasn’t one divine, there was two!

“Y-You brought another divine with you!? Shameless! Coward!” The big bird pointed angrily at the duo as her eyes nervously switched between them and her city. The people underneath were in complete panic as they finally noticed the huge black manta in the sky. They started to run around without a destination like headless chickens.

“Wait! Stop! We aren’t here to fight you! we are new divines and just wanted to ask some questions!” seeing as things were getting out of control he decided to quickly clarify his intentions before things got any worse.

As she heard what he said she looked at them in suspicion. Now that she thought about it she indeed has not heard of any black manta or golden crab divines before.

“Since you came here with your real bodies means you don’t know all the rules yet, but my city is pretty far inland from the sea so how was it the first one you came across?” she asked suspiciously.

“We obtained some information from a human village that we passed after we left the sea. They told us about your city and that you worked with information gathering so we decided to come here to ask some questions” the large manta responded slowly trying to calm the situation.

The large blue bird slightly frowned. Their story made perfect sense and she was inclined to believe them but for two divines to be born at once and move together was very unlikely.

“Fine, i’ll believe you for now. You can come into the city however, you must be in your human form. That is non negotiable.” As she spoke the bird flapped her large wings and started to move towards the city before she heard an excited shout from behind her.

“O-our human forms!?? You mean we can turn into humans?!” the large manta exclaimed

The large bird turned and stared at the duo for a few seconds before asking doubtfully “You two are really new divines huh?”

“Yes we are!” the large manta answered as the small crab on his back nodded her head.

….

“Fine, make a clone and come with me. You can make clones at least right?”

The large manta answered by having a small black manta come out of his body and float quietly in the air. The little crab however looked a bit troubled but she decided to give it a try and pointed her small claws towards the sand on the mantas back. After a few seconds a small crab made of dirt crawled out of it with awkward movements. It was missing a few legs and its body seemed a bit blocky but it was very good for her first try.

Noticing how the little crab was having such a hard time moving her small clone, the manta controlled his own to pick hers up with its tail and put it on his back before moving towards the bird.

Seeing the interaction between the two the blue bird gave them a strange look before flapping her large wings and moving slowly towards her city so the small clones could keep up.

The people on the ground also calmed down when they noticed that there wasn’t going to be a fight between the godly beings, they let out a sigh of relief before they went back to what they were doing.

The city itself was full of people but it looked very clean and beautiful. The people seemed to have taken the love for the color blue as they used it for almost everything except for the buildings themselves which were pure white.

As they moved forward the duo found that they were moving in the direction of a large white tower situated right at the center of the city.

When they got close enough to the tower the blue bird also released a clone from her body which gestured to them to follow her, while her main body flew to the top of the tower where there was a large nest before she sat down comfortably and closing her eyes.

The blue bird’s clone flew into the white tower through its many opened terraces and as she reached the ground her body shone a golden color. Her shape quickly started to change and when she finally touched the ceramic floor the bluebird clone had become a beautiful woman around her thirties with blue hair wearing a fancy blue silk dress.

Inside the tower there was already a person there waiting for her with a small tray that contained some fruits and a cup of wine. She looked surprised as she noticed the manta clone with the small crab clone following right behind the beautiful woman into the tower.

She of course wasn’t the only one that was surprised. The small manta clone stared at the woman that the bird clone had turned into with a fervent gaze. Even the little crab was also staring at her in interest.

This woman picked up the wine cup from the tray before slowly making her way towards a fancy couch that faced the duo’s clone before sitting down elegantly. She smiled as she noticed their gaze and started to speak.

“I am Edyta bluebird of the wind, of course since you are also divines you can just call me Edyta, what should i call you two?” She spoke calmly before taking a sip of her wine. Such a simple question yet it left the two speechless.

‘Now that i think about it i still don’t have a name in this lifetime! It wasn’t necessary when it was just me and little gold but we definitely need one now! Maybe I can use the name from my last life?’ However before the manta could say anything he heard that same sweet voice coming from his back.

“My name is little gold! And he is ..he is … .. big black!!” The small crab on his back said while feeling very proud of herself for thinking up a name for the manta on the spot.

Seeing the strange stares from Edyta and her servant the manta clone started to explain himself. “They are nicknames! We lived in the sea so there was never really a need for names” he said feeling a little embarrassed.

The blue haired woman looked at them with interest “How about i help you choose some then? I have lived on land for dozens of years and met many people. I believe I could come up with some good ones, what do you think?”

The manta agreed with her as she knew much more about this world than he did. The name from earth might seem strange in this place so it’s better to have her help. Just as the manta was about to agree the little crab shouted from his back.

“I.. I can also think of a good name for him!”

Edyta and the servant both smiled at the comment.

“Ok how about this. You think up a name first and we will see if he likes it, if he doesn’t it will be my turn and i’ll make a suggestion until he finds one he likes, what do you think?”

“Ok!” the small crab quickly responded

“Alright so since you get to pick first, you can start”

‘D-don’t I get a say in this?’ The small manta thought helplessly.

“Um.. bla…mant.. .. …” the small crab constantly mumbled a few random words under her breath before she looked up and spoke in full confidence.

“Blanta!” she looked very proud of what she came up with, and looked at the manta with an expectant gaze.

‘Blanta the manta? …..’

“Cough cough… how… how about we hear Edyta’s suggestion first before we make a decision?” The small manta clone suggested. The two women giggled in response as little crab crossed her small arms and Harrumphed in annoyance.

“Ok. let me think. How about, Alek?” the blue haired woman said after taking another sip of her wine.

‘Alek the manta of darkness? That’s pretty good.’

Seeing as he didn’t deny it outright, Edyta let out a small smile as she looked at the little crab teasingly.

“Wait! It’s my turn now! Umm .. man. … Malik! What about Malik!?” the little crab suddenly shouted.

‘Malik the manta of darkness that’s also pretty good!’ He knew she had only changed Edyta’s suggestion slightly by mixing it with manta but it came out surprisingly well, the name just rolled off the tongue.

As everyone stared at him waiting for him to make his choice the little manta clone finally let out his opinion. “I think .. i think Malik is a good name.”

Once he made his choice the little earth crab made a victory pose happily while the bluebird woman made a sulky look with her face.

“Fine fine i guess i lose. Now the little crab is the only one missing a name, should i think of one for her as well?”

“Ahem, no need i already have a name for her. Mina the golden earth crab.” the small black clone said.

“Mina? It’s simple but it’s still a pretty good name, looks like you are pretty good at this” She was genuinely surprised as she assumed his naming ability would be like the little crabs.

“Well I guess it just came to me” He said embarrassingly. He definitely would never say that it was the name that he gave his imaginary girlfriend from his last life!

“So what do you think little gold? Do you like it?”

The small crab on his back quickly nodded her head a couple of times before saying “I like it! I like it!”

Seeing the interaction between the two Edyta lips curled into a small smile before she decided to get to business.

“So you came here because you wanted to ask some questions right? Well that is exactly what we work with here at my divine wind city! But you have to remember that this is a business, give and take. So Mina, Malik, what did you bring to pay for the information that you need” She said with a teasing look.

“uhh…”