Ah! My Goddess Manga/Oh My Goddess! Manga
ああっ女神さまっ Chapter 292

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

The lake goddess desperately tries to slip the bonds that tie her there as Keiichi futilely tries to get her to stop. Despite the pain, the goddess breaks free, but her clothing immediately sends new strands back to the lake. This time, the bonds do not break and will not allow her to progress beyond a certain distance from the lake.

Seeing an old ax in a tree stump, the goddess attempts to cut the strands that bind her, but to no avail. Realizing she needs a sharper ax, the goddess tosses the old one into the lake. She then enters the lake, submerges, then emerges with the original ax as well as a sharp, new ax. Performing the same test she’d used on the bard, she asks herself which is her ax. Naturally, she answers correctly and for being honest, rewards herself with the sharp, new ax.

She severs the bonds to the lake and begins walking. However, a voice warns her not to continue. She says she’s going to the sea anyway, so the voice tells her that it won’t work as she can no longer fulfill the bard’s wish. The goddess questions if this voice is God’s and she passes the boundary. Immediately, she’s set upon by bands. The voice tells her that she was a goddess as long as she was connected to the lake, the source of her power. However, now that the connection has been severed, she’s no longer a goddess.

Thoughts/Review:

I had to ponder this chapter for a bit. The grief the goddess is experiencing is pretty severe for her to go through the pain of tearing the bonds to the lake, then cutting them with an ax. I figure it was rather like cutting off one’s limbs.

I also think about Belldandy, experiencing things through the eyes of this goddess and wonder what she must be thinking.

For Keiichi, it must be frustrating to not be able to get the goddess to stop her destructive actions.

Regardless, it appears that this lake goddess is going to die if she’s been stripped of her goddess status and is now under attack.

Also, if the voice communing with the goddess isn’t “God,” then who is it?

The table is set for whatever bad thing is about to happen. I hesitantly press forward to read the next chapter.