3rd Prince Ricardo witnessed it.
The phenomenon of distortion that screamed in the atmosphere.
“……”
The gazes of thousands of monsters aimed at Ricardo and his party all turned upwards.
Two gigantic griffons were descending, carrying four people slowly.
───Flash.
As they descended, a fierce light burst forth like a star giving birth in the sky.
A colossal crescent moon poured from the sky to the ground, engulfing the horizon.
The crescent moon struck down with rapid speed.
Sword Qi.
The deadly strike originated from Bell’s sword, who had become the ‘Apostle of the God of War’.
Swoosh─
The sound reverberated throughout the entire land.
A white deadly strike swept through the monsters like a black wave.
The black blood of the monsters scattered, overlapping with the crescent-shaped deadly strike.
Bodies were slashed diagonally and began to tilt.
It was the strike of a Grand Sword Master, enhanced by the protection of the God of War.
As the Apostle of the God of War, Bell could manifest the effect of the god’s protection at nearly 1.5 times its original strength.
The party of the 3rd Prince stood in a daze, watching the monsters swept away in an instant.
Boom.
What fell from the sky this time was the 6th-circle lightning magic, Thunder Light.
Cloney cast the magic from atop the griffon.
Thanks to Duke Yuma’s blessing, [Protection of the God of War], the amassed magic power fell straight down.
Boom──!
Three successive bursts of energy erupted.
Three waves of light turned the world completely white.
Burning black, they turned to ash and slowly scattered.
Ragnak, the knight following 3rd Prince Ricardo, maintained an aura on his sword. He watched the enemies disintegrate in an instant.
Sweat dripped abundantly from his gripping hand.
None of this situation made sense. But one thing was clear.
At this moment, the entity that had halved the nearly 2,000 enemy troops in an instant was not the enemy.
Among the two entities that launched intense attacks, Bell handed the reins hanging from the griffon’s neck to Cloney and threw herself into the fray.
Bell’s hair flew wildly like a lion’s mane.
From her toes to her head, she was enveloped in a blue protective energy.
Bell’s body was wrapped in a brilliant blue light, descending like a meteor.
The meteor dropped squarely into the midst of the enemy ranks.
Splosh…! Splosh!!
As the thick dust settled.
Swish…
Drawing the sword that had struck the ground, she raised it once more.
Where Bell landed, a massive crater had formed.
A gigantic crater had formed in the ground.
Rock fragments were swept up and soared skyward from the strong currents of energy emanating from Bell’s toes.
Among the monsters, those with enough intelligence to gauge the enemy’s strength were dreadfully reluctant to advance toward Bell and came to an abrupt halt.
However, many were so far gone they couldn’t even make that judgment.
Kugugugugugugugu──!
A multitude of monsters charged at Bell from the cliff.
Bell stomped the ground fiercely and shot off like a bullet.
Enemies all around.
Not a single one could be spared.
In fact, it was a battlefield where it had to be that way.
Unrestricted, Bell began to rampage in earnest.
What could not be called a sword strike sliced through the black monsters in an incomprehensible slash.
Cloney, meanwhile, continued to cast magic while riding her griffin.
Swaaaaack─
One griffin landed in front of the cave where 3rd Prince Ricardo and his party were holding their breath.
Duke Yuma and the Holy Maiden Ermel dismounted from the griffin.
Ermel, dressed in pure white holy robes, approached someone with her golden hair flowing.
It was none other than the golden-haired 3rd Prince, Ricardo.
Despite being the one who amplified the light magic using the torch held by the mercenary Camille to signal their location, she was dumbstruck by the situation.
Ermel approached Ricardo.
Though Swordmaster Ragnak awkwardly stood beside Ricardo, he couldn’t bring himself to aim his sword at Ermel, whose radiant brilliance poured forth from her.
The Holy Maiden Ermel slowly opened her mouth while looking at Ricardo.
“I am Ermel, the Holy Maiden of the God of War.”
Ricardo stared blankly as he listened to Ermel’s words.
God of War.
He instinctively understood who the God of War mentioned by the Holy Maiden was.
An essence exuding a tranquil white aura.
Though it clearly appeared human, it didn’t feel human.
“O blood of Valkares, may I ask your name?”
“…Ricardo of Valkares… I am the 3rd Prince of the Valkares Empire.”
Ricardo provided his identity rather accurately.
Ermel smiled brightly.
“Good to hear. The royal blood of a nation bears more significant power than one might expect. As long as the bloodline survives, the Empire is full of potential to become great again.”
Ermel passed by Ricardo and walked toward where the mercenaries had gathered.
Her gaze shifted to a shield-bearer lying wounded.
Hestia, who stood beside Ermel, stepped forward to dispel her doubts.
“I will heal you.”
The mercenary had deep scars that crossed diagonally across his upper body and even dug deep into his pelvis.
Just from the looks, it was a serious wound.
Ermel placed her hand on the mercenary’s upper body without hesitation.
A brilliance sparkled from her right hand.
S…s…swoosh—
Flesh regenerated, and the gaping wounds stitched themselves up. The mercenary’s face slowly began to show signs of life.
Duke Yuma took a step forward, walking slowly.
His thin black coat fluttered.
Kraaaak──!
A massive ogre, lost in a frenzy, charged at Yuma with glowing red eyes.
Thud.
The sword Balmung wrapped in divine power struck the ogre’s fist at an angle.
Boom──!
The ogre’s body exploded. Large chunks of flesh flew in all directions, mixed with dark red blood.
Yuma slowly opened his mouth.
Channeling his divine power.
So that it could be heard throughout the Valkares Empire.
[I’ve come to catch the bugs.]
[Since I noticed you were here, don’t you dare run away.]
Yuma’s reason for coming down here wasn’t just for the torch.
A presence.
A faint sensation of divine power.
He recognized it as the deity of the Intermediate World, because [Goddess of the Dead Bones], Angelica, and [Goddess of All Beasts and Alchemy], Gulan were desperately hiding their divine powers.
[If you thought you could avoid me, you shouldn’t have come down in the first place.]
Yuma planned to make the hunters feel like prey.
“Divine Domain Announcement.”
They were a bit too massive as hunters, though.
“Life-and-Death Battle Ground.”
From the point where Yuma stood, a white domain began to spread out.
The realm moved forward like a wild beast opening its jaws.
Originally, it was a circular area of 500m from where Yuma stood.
Now that there were no enemies behind him, he designated a 500m range in front of himself as his divine domain.
Ssss…
A battlefield of life and death where they had to fight—
The territory of the life-and-death battle ground spread wide, crossing over the mid-slope of a mountain.
Giant swords appeared above the heads of all the monsters, beasts, and golems belonging to the two gods, except for the survivors of the Valkares Empire and Yuma’s group.
Shapes of white light swords.
They also appeared above the heads of Angelica and Gulan, who were hastily trying to evade upon noticing Yuma’s presence.
“Damn it….”
Angelica, unlike a god, spat out a thick curse.
Then, she moved forward, her elegant black hair flowing. The massive golden golem god, Gulan, moved with earth-shaking force beside her.
The divine power emanating from the sword shape hovering over their heads was overwhelming for them to simply endure without revealing themselves.
After all, Duke Yuma’s current divinity was already full, even overflowing.
He hadn’t even finished gathering the divinity of the four gods before needing to stockpile.
The time limit for their life-or-death battle was 5 minutes.
If they did not attack Yuma within 5 minutes, the sword shape hovering above would pierce the physical bodies of all beings Yuma deemed enemies.
KRAAAK!!
The ground shook violently.
Thud— thud—! Thud!
Even the monsters engulfed in madness rushed towards Yuma.
The beasts sensed it instinctively.
If they didn’t attack that inhuman presence far away right now, the massive white sword shape floating above would completely tear apart their physical bodies and destroy their souls.
KRAAAK!
Bell, surprised that the monsters and beasts facing her turned their heels towards Yuma, widened her eyes and unleashed a sword strike at their necks and hearts.
Kwahk!
Bell’s pupils shone as her feet moved endlessly.
‘You dare—.’
She couldn’t allow those monsters she was already facing to swarm Yuma, who had enough on his plate.
‘Don’t annoy Yuma.’
Bell planned on sweeping away all the monsters within her range.
The golden thunder continued to pierce the sky above.
Cloney, still casting magic from atop her griffon, had similar thoughts to Bell.
The monsters rushed towards Yuma desperately. The dead beings under Angelica’s command—the Death Knights and the bone-reconstructed Bondragon, the giant black serpent, Ouroboros.
Kwahahaahh!!
They trampled the ground mercilessly as they advanced.
Thud thud thud— thud thud—!
The hundreds of massive golems, belonging to Gulan, the God of All War and Alchemy, also charged toward Yuma.
Szzrung—
Yuma drew Balmung.
An army surged towards him.
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