Yuma looked at the two men standing before him.
They were Ragnak, a knight of the Valkares Empire, and Argyle, who had come along with Bel and Haven.
The two had quite a handy amount of power.
They had enough potential to be recruited as members of the God’s Legion.
If they were going to do it, they might as well do it right.
Since becoming a god, Yuma had been trying to keep that thought in his mind.
There were words that could simply not be uttered unless he was determined to do it properly.
“Give me your strength.”
It was the right time to say such words.
“You’ve always possessed great power. By receiving strength from me, you can surpass the limits that are inherently within you.”
As Yuma continued speaking, the two silently knelt and listened attentively.
Ragnak had witnessed Yuma’s divine form in person.
And Argyle, during his ascent to the capital on a griffon, had heard Yuma’s name through Bel and Haven’s mouths over and over again.
Ragnak opened his mouth.
“Are you saying you’re giving this all to us…?”
He cautiously asked, trailing off at the end.
Yuma slowly shook his head.
“No.”
How could that be?
He just wanted to plant the seeds before harvesting everything.
“The Silmaria Continent will stabilize just like this. I’ve decreed it as a holy land.”
Yuma continued.
“You will help drive out the gods who are occupying the rest of the continents in this Intermediate World.”
Ragnak’s eyes went wide.
From Ragnak’s perspective, having witnessed Yuma wipe out two gods at once, he couldn’t comprehend Yuma’s words.
“Do you… need help?”
The scene had been overwhelmingly astonishing.
It didn’t even occur to him that Yuma, with such power, would need his assistance.
“The gods must die.”
Only he could kill those gods.
“But there are many remnants they’ve left behind. You’ve felt it too.”
Gods leave behind hundreds or even thousands of followers.
The first task was to gather talent to deal with those followers.
No matter how many powerful gods were amassed, there simply weren’t enough.
Of course, Yuma wasn’t just gathering warriors with brute strength for the sake of purging the Intermediate World.
Long-term planning was behind it.
To create an army that could easily defend the Intermediate World should the gods invade again.
That was the second reason.
And, if possible, to take some of those warriors with him as resources for when he invades the Divine Realm later on.
That was the third reason.
Yuma cast [Divine Protection of the God of War] on Ragnak and Argyle.
Argyle and Ragnak’s eyes widened at the surging energy they felt in their bodies.
“Oooooh….”
With the power overflowing from his entire body, Ragnak stood up without realizing it.
Ragnak unknowingly rose to his feet.
It felt as if his muscles were being regenerated.
“….”
Argyle sat still, slowly savoring the immense power that had suddenly settled upon his body.
“Training in this state will help you level up.”
Having already confirmed its intense effects with Bell, Yuma spoke with quite a bit of confidence.
“Now, try to move your body.”
At Yuma’s words, Argyle also slowly stood up.
The two, in a state of uncertainty, followed Yuma’s instructions and moved their bodies.
And with their mouths agape, they continued their training. As Yuma said, their physical abilities had noticeably increased, and the quality of their mana had improved as well.
“In this state… let’s have a spar with the blessing from Yuma!”
At Ragnak’s words, Argyle, a mercenary, bowed his head.
“That’s a great idea.”
Ragnak’s sword clashed repeatedly with Argyle’s spear.
As they exchanged weapons, Yuma felt a piercing gaze directed at him.
It was Bell’s gaze.
“…. ”
Bell wasn’t focused on the two men skillfully depicting flashy trajectories in front of her. Instead, she was clearly staring at Yuma from behind them.
In a rather ominous way from the tent’s gap.
Eventually, Bell opened the tent and walked towards Yuma.
Swish─
And she drew the sword from her waist.
What was she suddenly drawing her sword for?
Yuma felt a cold sweat trickle down inside.
Bell slowly opened her mouth.
“Let me show you my swordsmanship after a long time.”
“Oh, sure.”
Surprised that she was charging at him with the sword, Yuma sighed in relief on the inside.
He moved to the training grounds.
Along with Bell.
Bell raised her sword high.
She brought it down with great force.
Swoosh!
The sound of slicing through the air.
Yuma watched as Bell’s sword moved ominously, fanning out like a storm.
In Yuma’s mind, as he scrutinized her techniques,
Naturally, not much came to mind.
Only the remnants of knowledge that echoed the critiques reflected by the Ego Sword, Balmung, remained.
There was no way Yuma, whose knowledge of swordsmanship was just beginning to stack up, could give Bell any advice.
Yuma listened attentively to the voice resonating in his head.
– Indeed, it’s Bell. Unlike Yuma, she’s showcasing a nearly perfect sword path.
The extreme praise echoed in his mind.
– Her talent is on an entirely different level compared to Yuma’s. Seeing it again confirms that.
Yuma lightly tapped his sheath with his fingertip.
It was a signal to shut up and give Bell some useful advice.
Balmung, not wanting to experience the void of the otherworld, immediately yielded to Yuma’s signal.
– When making a horizontal slash, it might actually be better to condense the sword energy rather than spread it out… Other than that, I don’t have much to point out.
Yuma echoed those words.
“Uh? Got it!”
With Yuma’s words, Bell nodded vigorously.
She accepted Yuma’s words without a hint of doubt.
“Actually, there might be situations where it’s better to use your swordsmanship broadly depending on the circumstances. With your talent, you probably already know what those scenarios are. You’ve surpassed the stage of needing to learn from someone else.”
The days of being swept up by others were long gone.
At Balmung’s voice, Yuma added one more thing to Bell.
“Now, trust your sword path. Your decisions in swordsmanship and combat are mostly right.”
Bell’s eyes went wide at Yuma’s words.
“Really? You think so, Yuma?”
Her pink eyes sparkled.
“Yeah.”
Bell stretched her arms up high, stretching her body.
“I know I’m better at sensing battle than others… so I’ve always pondered more. What’s the optimal sword path? How can I kill the enemy quicker and more decisively?”
The problem was that the opponents Bell envisioned in her mental training were no longer just mere humans; they were demigod-level foes that Yuma had faced.
If she had imagined foes of roughly equal power, she could have steadfastly trusted her sword path. But contemplating how to defeat opponents that were vastly stronger than herself led her to unnecessary overthinking.
The walls she encountered during those reflections were not shattered but instead faded like an illusion through Yuma’s advice.
So that she wouldn’t need to worry about them any longer.
“Becoming more powerful from here on is something we need to do together, now that you’ve become my apostle.”
“Got it.”
Bell nodded slowly.
“For now, we just need to focus on eliminating the three remaining gods in this Intermediate World… and their subordinates.”
“Understood.”
Swoosh!
Bell swung her sword again.
Yuma watched her, lost in thought—not about Bell, but about the three gods he had just mentioned.
‘Their locations aren’t showing up.’
As the deity of the Intermediate World, Yuma couldn’t identify where the invading gods of the Intermediate World were.
To be precise, only one wasn’t showing.
The location of the “God of Steel and War” wasn’t visible.
‘The other two are clearly showing up… but why?’
In the Eiegel continent, the “God of the Perilous Hammer” and “Flaming Destruction” had their locations clearly visible.
However, the “God of Steel and War,” whose location had been visible until he defeated Galua and Gulan, was nowhere to be found.
‘He can’t be dead.’
It’s just that his location wasn’t showing.
His existence was clearly displayed on the left side of the map interface before Yuma’s eyes.
Since reaching the divine level, Yuma had never worried about his memory. His cognitive abilities had sharpened enough to recall even the jokes shared by his companions in sequence.
Still, there were certain crucial things, like the remaining gods’ locations, that he had written down to never forget.
He took separate notes on the matters.
Duke Yuma pulled out a notebook from his spatial pocket.
‘The last confirmed location was definitely Brenton Island, located at the lower right of the Yegel continent.’
Checking the notebook, it was indeed Brenton Island.
‘Was he hiding himself, or does he have a god aiding him?’
What was certain was that it probably had nothing to do with the two gods whose locations were clearly visible.
‘If he has the power to hide, he would have hidden himself.’
Duke Yuma concluded that one of the five remaining [Evil Gods] still left in the Divine Realm was aiding the [God of Steel and War].
‘If one is hiding, we might as well take down the visible ones first.’
*
On the Yegel continent.
In the northern part, two-thirds of the way up the continent, was the Zepharos Kingdom.
There were groups camped in front of the kingdom’s massive walls.
These were the Join Tribe, living in contact with humans from various nations on the Yegel continent.
A being with a bird-like head and human-like arms and legs was sitting in a chair.
It was the tribe leader, [Kregel-Eger].
On either side of him stood a total of five hundred Join Tribe members, standing tall with their staffs planted firmly in the ground.
They were exerting their strength to maintain the barrier created to ward off divine powers and invasions.
“…How long do you think we can hold out?”
At Kregel’s words, the tribe’s elder and magician, [Balthun-Eger], sighed heavily.
“Three days is the maximum.”
At those words, worry deepened in Kregel’s eyes.
At that moment, someone rushed in with urgency.
Thud! Thud!
“Chief!”
It was Samer, the tribe’s great warrior.
Samer hurriedly lowered his massive frame and reported to Kregel.
“The first knight order of the Zepharos Kingdom is approaching.”
Kregel furrowed his brow. What on earth was that supposed to mean?
“Reinforcements?”
Samer shook his head.
“Right now… it seems like beings that look like gods are invading the continent, or perhaps they are specifically targeting our Eger tribe, and the continent has unfortunately been caught up in it. They probably found out about the destruction of the Purma Kingdom on the Gerhagen continent.”
“…Huh.”
A resigned sigh escaped Kregel’s lips.
“That kind of nonsense…”
It was true that survivors and descendants from the Purma Kingdom had interacted with the Eger tribe.
But the fall of Purma and the current invasion were two separate stories.
Kregel could assert that.
“Do they still not know who is keeping the continent standing right now?”
Kregel was furious.
Those humans who dared to point blades at them without knowing gratitude.
From beyond the tent, a massive sound of movement was heard.
“…They seem to have arrived.”
Samer gritted his teeth and lifted his heavy body.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
It was the sound of armored knights marching from the kingdom.
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