Ah! My Goddess Manga/Oh My Goddess! Manga
ああっ女神さまっVolume 41 Chapter 254

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Belldandy has her wind barrier up, but Ebony has made it inside, thus is safe. She reveals this to them and is about to take Belldandy out when Glühen Desherzen (DH uses the name Glühende Herz for the record) swings itself over Belldandy’s head, causing the taller Ebony to have to duck. After Glühen Desherzen explains this, Ebony attacks using ultrasonic waves, which Belldandy counters with song. Ebony moves to Belldandy’s rear, only to discover that Belldandy has a regular barrier up, stopping Ebony’s attacks.

Ebony acknowledges Belldandy’s skills but figures that Belldandy can’t keep singing forever, at which point Ebony will defeat her. Keiichi comes up with a plan to blind Ebony and enlists Glühen Desherzen to carry out the plan. Ebony doesn’t know what was said but sees Belldandy and Keiichi become blurry for a moment before Belldandy stops singing. Before Ebony can attack, Belldandy splits herself into eight chibi forms with Keiichi in the center.

Thoughts/Review: Last chapter, I had remembered the Mara story when Belldandy attempted to protect Keiichi from Mara by erecting a barrier, only to fail because Mara was already inside the barrier. I wondered if Fujishima-sensei might do something similar in this current chapter and sure enough, he did. He doesn’t explain how Ebony got inside, but I don’t suppose that matters. The important thing is that she dodged Belldandy’s attack and got in the center.

Glühen Desherzen’s swipe at Ebony ended up being more than just a means of saving Belldandy, but also gave her space to erect a defensive barrier that didn’t have Ebony within its confinement.

So, just what the heck is Keiichi’s plan?

If I recall correctly, each chibi-Belldandy will have 1/8th the power of the original (assuming there are only eight). I seem to remember Belldandy splitting up multiple times before, but I can’t remember why. ^_^; So I’ve no clue what purpose this would have other than to maybe let one of her chibi forms go covert somehow.

There’s also whatever Keiichi spoke to Glühen Desherzen. No clue what the plan there is so I suppose I’ll just have to wait and see like everyone else. ^_^;

So, we have a chapter where not much happens to break the stalemate until the end when presumably, whatever plan K1 has hatched gets started.