ch68

‘…Algul crossed the sea?’

Since Antirea’s visit, Aliya had been in torment.

Algul, the Einherjar of the Orcs, born from Bwon Krshaka.

A parricide who killed his own father and seized his flesh and power.

And the enemy who, along with his brother, the Einherjar of the Imps, Gadiak, killed their father, Ul Kanadiel.

In the Eastern Continent, he was the leader of a race that had fought for supremacy with his brothers for hundreds of years.

‘…Has something changed in the Eastern Continent?’

It had been twenty years since they had endured so many sacrifices, managing to save only seven succubi, including herself, from the many they once were.

They had no means of obtaining information about the Eastern Continent.

‘…That’s unlikely.’

There was no way the chaotic situation in the Eastern Continent, which had lasted for hundreds of years, could have been resolved in just twenty years.

Aliya remembered the place where Antirea’s right arm had been severed.

And the aura that remained on the stump.

It was an aura she could never forget.

The aura of her father, Ul Kanadiel. The aura that was their origin.

But it was an aura that had been greatly corrupted from its original form.

Ul Kanadiel was an Elder Loa of Night and Death, but he did not possess such a malicious aura.

‘…Father’s last will.’

In his final moments, Ul Kanadiel had unleashed his power, cursing the hostile beings that were present at the time.

The remnants of that power had lingered for so long that the aftereffects of the aura, carried from the east by the stellar convection, had even caused Araya, a High Elf, to emerge from the forest.

Gadiak, who had received the full force of that powerful curse, had his body fester and suffered a significant blow to his status. It didn’t matter much since he was going to die at the hands of his brothers anyway.

Algul, who was nearby, must have also received the full brunt of the curse.

‘But he’s still alive after twenty years, and he crossed the sea to defeat my sisters.’

Gadiak aside, was it because he had inherited the power of Bwon Krshaka, the mighty Elder Loa from whom their father had to flee all his life?

He had not fallen to the curse their father left behind, and instead seemed to wield the power of the curse as if it were his own.

‘If that’s the case, then what he’s after is… Father’s core?’

Aliya could guess how Algul had managed to cross the sea to the Western Continent.

The humans of the Western Continent were unaware of the existence of the Eastern Continent, and the existence of the Western Continent was nothing more than an old tale in the East.

In the first place, if she had had another option, she would never have gambled the fate of herself and her succubi on crossing the sea.

There was no reason for the Orcs, a vast force as a thriving race in the Eastern Continent, and their Einherjar, Algul, to take such a gamble.

Especially not someone as cunning as Algul.

‘He sensed the pull of the aura.’

After suppressing the curse left by her father, he must have noticed the aura that was still felt across the sea.

That somewhere across the sea, there was a remnant of Ul Kanadiel.

From Algul’s perspective, Gadiak, who originally shared that power, was already dead at the hands of his brothers, and no one knew about the existence of Ul Kanadiel’s core that he had taken with him.

Except for Algul, who had survived the curse of his father.

And he must have thought that rather than engaging in meaningless infighting with similar beings in the Eastern Continent, if he crossed the sea and monopolized Ul Kanadiel’s core, he could reign as the new Elder Loa of the Eastern Continent.

And that judgment was not wrong.

‘…But Father’s core is no longer a problem.’

Fortunately, Ul Kanadiel’s core had merged with the power of the World Tree’s incarnation and the 72 Roa of the Western Continent, and the Deus Ex Machina that she and Araya had created was nearing completion as a single law.

The power that protected all of Pohln was a power that even Bwon Krshaka in his prime would have difficulty overcoming, let alone Algul.

‘Even so, the situation is not good…’

What good was it if only Pohln was safe?

The world that Prigos and she wanted to create was one where humans could build a better future.

In fact, Pohlernia was expanding its territory and flourishing with each passing year.

And in time, the Western Continent would become a paradise full of hope, unlike the already devastated Eastern Continent…!

She didn’t know what relationship the barbarians coming up from the south had with Algul, but if Prigos’s army continued to be defeated, Pohlernia would collapse.

More than anything, even if they were not occupied by the barbarians, if other cities began to question Prigos’s power, it would be unstoppable.

‘…If that happens, it will be back to before I met Prigos, or rather, the Western Continent might become like the Eastern Continent.’

The Orcs were a race created by Bwon Krshaka to torment Ul Kanadiel.

They did not cultivate nature, did not farm, revered violence, were hostile to all other races, were faithful to their desires, and were merely locusts that only consumed.

If the Orcs were to arrive in the Western Continent, it would be a terrible disaster for the Western Continent, which had only just begun to sprout.

Aliya closed her eyes tightly, remembering the end of the Eastern Continent, where beings were born and died indiscriminately.

More than anything, her heart ached at the thought of Prigos being chased by such a being as Algul.

‘But I don’t have the means to defeat Algul yet.’

If it were a battle between humans, Prigos’s army, which had been taught martial arts by Araya, was undoubtedly stronger than any other human force.

Whether it was a struggle of nature or a war of humans, being strong did not guarantee victory, but Prigos’s army would be superior to the barbarians from the south.

But there were other factors.

Succubi were not a race suited for combat.

In contrast, Orcs were a race specialized in slaughter, with strong bodies, excellent reproductive abilities, and brutality, and Algul was a being who had even accepted the power of Bwon.

She didn’t think she could stop Algul even if she stepped forward.

‘…I wish I could use the Stigma…’

The Deus Ex Machina was created using the power of Ul Kanadiel and the Roa, combined with her own power as a succubus, which involved the mind and dreams.

The Stigma was a function that allowed the power of the Deus Ex Machina to be bestowed upon the humans who needed it, provided they had a unified faith in the Immigration Church.

‘It’s still too early.’

But since it involved connecting to a collective consciousness, there was a possibility of self-destruction before they could even fight if something went wrong and it went out of control.

Control was still incomplete, and unless it was someone like Araya, it was impossible to use that power safely.

‘…If Araya were here…’

She felt resentful of her absence, a being like an incarnation of force who seemed like she would never be defeated in battle.

More than anything, if she knew the history of the Eastern Continent, she would have taken the lead to deal with Algul without her even asking.

As one of the seven leaders of the High Elves, who valued the harmony of the world, and a priestess revered as the messenger of God in the Immigration Church, she had left to investigate the sudden increase in Wandering Giants in the north with the Divine Generals, the Giant brothers, and had gone missing after fighting a being presumed to be an Elder Loa called Gal Dragon.

In addition, Silb, the younger of the Giant brothers, who was a valuable asset, was in a state of being an expensive burden until he recovered from his serious injuries, and they were barely preventing the information about Araya’s sudden disappearance from spreading.

As if the past few years of smooth sailing had been a lie, all sorts of misfortunes had descended upon them this year.

‘…Wait. There were powerful beings who could actively move in this situation.’

She had forgotten because they were busy with the spring expedition that was currently underway, and she had minimized contact with them as much as possible to avoid conflict due to the impression she had when she first met them.

Aliya raised her head sharply and said to the attendants who had been bowing their heads and remaining silent while she was pondering.

“I will head to the Great Temple immediately, so inform the temple.”

Antirea also stared at Aliya, her eyes wide, as she spoke with a suddenly bright face.

But Aliya’s mind was busy with various thoughts as she organized the words to persuade those she would meet at the Great Temple.

There was.

A force that was not as good as Araya in terms of quality, but might be better than Araya in terms of overall aspects.

A strong-willed being who, like Araya, valued the balance and harmony of the world, and who had boldly told her in the center of Pohln that if she used the Deus Ex Machina in a foolish way, she would erase all the humans.

Currently, there were three High Elves, Araya’s brothers, and eighty Elves in the Great Temple.

‘Just wait a little longer, Prigos. I will definitely come to help you.’

Aliya, leaving the room with her attendants, headed to the Great Temple with a determined face.

◈ ◈ ◈

When Aliya arrived at the Great Temple, she was puzzled by the noisy atmosphere around her.

If you were to name the place with the most reverent and orderly atmosphere in Pohln, everyone would say it was the Great Temple, the sanctuary of the Immigration Church.

For such a Great Temple to be so noisy without any special events…

‘Has the news of the defeat in the war already been conveyed?’

When Araya was present, the Great Temple was a place that possessed the information power of the Merchant Guild, the Stonemason Guild, and the Thieves’ Guild.

But since Araya’s absence, that information had been conveyed only to her, excluding the Thieves’ Guild, which was unfriendly to her and Prigos…

Aliya was led by a priest who was reluctant to her visit to a certain place, and she opened her mouth and froze on the spot because she encountered an unexpected figure.

“…Araya…? What is this?”

“Ah, Aliya. I apologize for arriving late without contacting you. But could you wait a moment? There’s a slight problem.”

There was Araya, who had been missing.

Her green clothes from before were nowhere to be found, and Araya, dressed in resplendent golden clothes adorned with precious items that emitted a radiant glow, was looking at one place with a troubled expression.

No, not only Araya, but all the priests and Elves who were staying at the Great Temple were looking at that place.

‘One is High Elf Pallas, who you said was Araya’s brother. But who is the other Elf…?’

An Elf adorned in golden clothes like Araya, with an indifferent expression, and High Elf Pallas, wearing the same green clothes as Araya had worn before, were facing each other with murderous expressions.