ch67

Beneath a dark sky where only starlight reflected its form, I sat by a crackling bonfire, feeding it newly gathered twigs to fuel its growth.

Gal and I were already beyond the reach of darkness and impervious to the cold, so there was no need to light a fire for warmth or light. Nor did we need to sleep, so moving about at night wouldn’t be a strain.

But there was no need to live by logic alone, was there?

I liked the tranquil atmosphere beneath this night sky.

“Hmm…”

“Still examining it?”

“I’ve looked over most of it.”

Gal frowned, peering at me from beyond the firelight.

And for good reason, as what I was examining was a fragment of the giant’s sword that had been lodged in Gal’s body.

The giants, surprisingly, possessed technology superior to that of humans from not long ago; the sword was made of proper iron.

Though it might not seem like a particularly high-quality sword to me, in this era, such a blade could certainly be called a masterpiece.

But no matter how much mass it possessed, it shouldn’t have been able to pierce Gal’s scales.

I ran my hand across the surface of the sword fragment.

The dark surface of the fragment was plated with lead.

The darkness seemed to be due to the lead oxidizing.

Ordinarily, there would be no point in plating a sword with lead.

But the fact that they had gone to the trouble meant there was a reason.

Rather than a functional purpose, the oxidized lead seemed to have a greater symbolic meaning, as a symbol of negativity, the antithesis of gold.

Gal was the embodiment of perfection and gold, after all.

It seemed to be something like a curse created through ideology or magic, like the Underworld King Energy I had used to try and kill Gal.

And though it was obscured by the lead plating, I could still sense the energy imbued in the sword.

The ideology within that energy was quite familiar to me.

Defiance of Heaven.

The ideology of defying and transgressing against the heavens.

It had similarities to the ideology that formed the basis of Huye Saille.

I recalled a conversation I had with Gal before.

‘Gal, what is the principle that constitutes you?’

‘Principle?’

‘I’ve heard that all the Elder Loa I’ve heard of are born with a mission close to instinct. My mother said that earth and prosperity were her innate mission, the principle that constitutes her.’

‘Is that what you mean? I haven’t given it much thought, but if I had to say, I suppose heaven and punishment would be the principles that constitute me.’

‘…Heaven I understand, but…’

‘All things in this world need to know their place. If everyone desires more than their due, balance is broken and chaos ensues. I watch over them from the highest place and deliver judgment.’

The explanation, befitting Gal’s arrogant nature, omitted quite a bit, but I could understand what she was trying to say.

‘…For someone like that, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you go out and observe the world…’

‘There was a time when I was ruled by such trivial instincts, but I realized it was absurd for this perfect being to toil for the sake of the balance of insignificant creatures.’

The conclusion she reached was, as expected, very Gal-like.

Defiance of Heaven and the negation of perfection.

No matter how you looked at it, it was a cursed sword forged to kill Gal.

‘Aside from Gal, it would just be a sword plated with lead to others…’

The problem was that the race wielding the sword was the largest of the giant race, the Titan.

It was hard to guess about the beings of the Eastern Continent without having seen them myself, but in the Western Continent, the only race that could rival the Titan was the Elves, to which I belonged.

More precisely, it would have to be an Elf who had learned and trained in martial arts to a certain level.

I didn’t know the details of their past circumstances, but from Terato’s perspective, if Gal, who had been competing with her in the north, disappeared, she would lose her most significant natural enemy in the Western Continent.

The problem was, what would Terato do if Gal died and disappeared?

It might be alright if Terato created her subordinates to more easily kill her rival, Gal, though that was a cold way to put it.

But what if that wasn’t the case?

Having taken in the Giant brothers, I knew.

A single Titan giant consumed over 200 times the resources of a human.

They were fundamentally creatures that consumed enormous resources.

Moreover, despite their overwhelming power, it was hard to believe that Gal had no role in the fact that the Titans created by Terato had been confined to the north for nearly a century, with their population controlled through extreme methods.

If Gal died and the giants advanced outward, what would happen?

El-Prigion, Ul Kanadiel, Buwon Krishaka, Gal Dragon.

The Elder Loa I had seen or heard of so far, though fundamentally different in their methods, had either made choices for the prosperity and balance of this planet or shown an attitude of indifference to the world.

But I had a feeling that Terato was different.

‘…The Elves will have to step in.’

They were beings like the Elder Loa Terato and her subordinate species, the Titan.

As I had felt in the fight with Gal, I had not yet reached a level sufficient to fight a being like Terato.

If so, my mother would have to face Terato, but could my mother really face Terato?

I had never seen my mother’s full power, but I couldn’t make any unconditional guarantees.

Even with Terato’s blessing and the cursed sword, the Titans who had engaged Gal in hand-to-hand combat and stabbed her with the sword were not enemies to be ignored.

How many Elves would die if the High Elves and Forest Keepers, including myself, stepped in?

‘…If only I had even a hundred years…’

Elves, with their talents and lifespans different from humans, were suited for late bloomers from birth.

There was an exception like me, but they were still a fledgling race on this planet, not even 20 years old since their birth.

‘So that’s why I tried to adjust the difference in time to some extent among humans…’

The opponent we needed to buy time against might not be humans, but Titans.

That was why, though I had the desire to avenge myself with my own strength as a martial artist, I couldn’t kill the wounded Gal for the sake of the Elves.

As I was lost in thought, Gal’s voice awakened me.

“…But it’s absurd. The big monkey aside, the little monkeys…”

“Hmm? …Ah, so that’s why you’ve been in a bad mood since earlier? I told you, there’s a separate ‘arrangement’.”

The campsite was located almost at our destination, Poheln.

Gal seemed to have become sharp, sensing the energy emanating from the direction of Poheln.

“…The little monkeys, as well as all the insignificant creatures on this earth, possess power that is not allowed to them. If it weren’t for this situation, I would have blown away this side, not the big monkey.”

“I’d appreciate it if you could spare them. I put quite a bit of work into constructing that.”

“…Hmph.”

Gal was arrogant, not even paying attention to things that wouldn’t affect her.

But if she was showing such a sharp reaction, then the arrangement that Aliya and I had made must be threatening enough to a being with the status of an Elder Loa.

It wasn’t a bad reaction.

I stirred the bonfire once with the True silver sword, Bullak, which I had received back from Gal.

Looking at Gal, who was frowning with a dissatisfied expression on her face that was as handsome as Demis’, I forgot about my worries about Terato for a moment, and the return to Poheln became a little more enjoyable.

◈ ◈ ◈

“…What does that mean?”

“…The King, who went on an expedition, was defeated by barbarians in the desert, and is retreating after repeated defeats.”

“…What is this.”

Aliya, the vizier of Pohelnia, stopped her work and opened her mouth in surprise at the unbelievable news brought by the messenger.

Rather than enjoying the rare sight of the vizier, who was always known for her beauty and composure, looking so disheveled, the messenger lowered his head and expressed his grief.

“Prigos… the King…?”

There was a deep sadness in Aliya’s voice.

However, the messenger could answer that question without difficulty.

“The King is safe. When the war situation worsened, the soldiers, as well as the Harmony Sword Masters, did their best to evacuate the King.”

“…Those children…”

Aliya breathed a sigh of relief.

But soon, questions arose in Aliya’s mind as she regained her composure.

How?

It was Prigos’ first defeat since embarking on expeditions.

But Aliya thought it was impossible.

They were Prigos’ soldiers, who had fought in nearly a hundred battles.

Moreover, those soldiers were humans who had been taught martial arts by Araya, who was now missing.

They couldn’t be compared to the succubi who had lived for hundreds of years like herself and her sisters, but thanks to the mysterious abilities of the martial arts created by Araya, they were elite soldiers several times faster than ordinary humans.

Thanks to the wealth accumulated over a long period, their equipment was also excellent.

Moreover, weren’t her sisters, who had also learned martial arts from Araya and become stronger than they were in the Eastern Continent, accompanying him?

Excluding the absolute beings called Elder Loa, they were superhumans who had already hunted 72 Roa, the most powerful beings on this planet.

How could humans, who were just barbarians beyond the desert, possibly…?

“…How is the situation progressing?”

“The King is gradually retreating, guiding the people of nearby cities to evacuate towards Poheln as much as possible.”

“…Have the enemies crossed the desert?”

“It seems they are taking advantage of their victory in the desert to enter our territory and plunder.”

Aliya bit her lip.

Pohelnia’s system, which was still trying to unite through force and integrate through religion and culture, was not yet solid.

If Prigos’ defeat became known, they were likely to side with the enemy or, if not, not cooperate with Poheln until the end of the war.

What had already happened had happened, and proper measures had to be taken.

As Aliya stood before the messenger with his head bowed, thinking of a plan, the outside became noisy.

“What is all the commotion outside when we are discussing important matters?”

“A priest from the Immigration Church. Harmony Sword Master Antirame has requested an audience with the Vizier.”

“Antirame?”

It was only a moment ago that she had received the situation from the messenger.

She was supposed to be helping Prigos retreat?

But thanks to this, she had the opportunity to ask her directly what had happened.

Why had they been defeated when even the Harmony Sword Master had joined them?

Aliya, who had intended to bring Antirame into the room to ask, couldn’t ask when she saw Antirame’s appearance.

As a high priest of the Immigration Church, the Harmony Sword Master’s attire, which was originally neat, was clearly in disarray.

But more than anything, the limb extending from her left shoulder, her sister Antirame’s, was missing.

Aliya stared with wide eyes at the cross-section wrapped in blood-stained bandages instead of the missing limb.

She could feel two very familiar energies from the traces of that cross-section.

One was the energy of her father, Ul Kanadiel, and the other was…

“…No way. It can’t be.”

“…Aliya, sister.”

The title that had been avoided as much as possible even in private settings since the system had been established, in order to clarify the positions of the Vizier and the priest of the Immigration Church.

Antirame, the Harmony Sword Master and succubus from the Eastern Continent, continued with a strained face and voice.

“Algul. That pig bastard has crossed the sea.”

An old, unresolved feud was once again beginning to close in on the sisters.