Cloney stood before Duke Yuma.
The monsters appearing before them were something Yuma shouldn’t have to deal with; Cloney was more than capable of handling them herself.
She didn’t want Yuma wasting his energy on pointless tasks.
It was a bit ironic for her to say that while constantly receiving [God of War's Blessing], but still!
Vroooooom!
Sixth-circle magic, thunder rain, fell endlessly.
Cloney’s mana reserves didn’t easily dwindle, even at the midway point.
A swirling red fireball flickered atop her staff.
Fifth-circle fire magic, Incendiary Orb.
Kwooooorrrrk!
The heatwave of that Incendiary Orb burst apart the gigantic monster drooling at the entrance of the cave.
“…Light.”
Cloney conjured a point of light atop her staff.
The clear glow chased away the deep darkness within the cave.
Inside, a wall built like a stone barricade stood, and rustling sounds could be heard beyond it.
“Are there survivors? We’ve come to rescue you.”
At Cloney’s words, a head popped up over the stone wall.
It was a girl with brown hair, matted after days without contact, but her black eyes sparkled brightly.
“Real people! Not monsters!”
At that, the heads of several boys and girls bobbed up as well.
“People.”
“It’s people!”
Thus, the rescue operation for survivors on the Silmaria Continent began to unfold step by step.
Not just for the Valkares Empire, but also for survivors from surrounding countries.
With Celestial Beings, Lycanthropes, and Elves scattered across the Silmaria Continent, swift rescues were inevitable.
*
The crumbling palace of the Valkares Empire.
The rubble from the destroyed buildings hadn’t been properly restored yet.
Instead, temporary tents lined up in rows.
Duke Yuma walked toward the tent in the center.
As he entered the central tent, he caught sight of the 3rd Prince Ricardo sitting down.
Ricardo slowly lifted his head.
Then he jumped to his feet.
“You’ve arrived.”
“Yeah.”
Yuma gestured for him to sit.
After seating Ricardo again, Yuma sat down in front of him.
“Is the stabilization plan going well?”
Ricardo replied weakly to Yuma’s question.
“Yes, thanks to you, it’s progressing steadily.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll help you from the Ghergeng continent dimension where I’m settled.”
Not national support, but continent-level support.
Ricardo’s heart raced uncomfortably, but he didn’t show his embarrassment strongly.
He already knew that Yuma’s words weren’t lies.
Even now, elves and lycanthropes, which couldn’t be seen on the Silmaria Continent, were milling about the tent.
Every time he saw the scene of the gigantic, fearsome bipedal wolf beasts moving materials necessary for the palace’s restoration, he found it hard to adapt.
The children of the empire fixed their eyes on the beauty of the elves, who they were seeing for the first time. The elves didn’t really care since they often felt such gazes when with humans.
When Yuma stood up from his chair and tried to leave the tent, Ricardo spoke up again.
“God… You’re a god, right, Yuma?”
Even without emitting any divine power, Yuma didn’t seem much different from a human.
Yet Ricardo was very clear in recognizing Yuma as a god.
After all, he was the one who had eliminated the two transcendent beings who had invaded Silmaria and ruled the continent as a living calamity.
The war of the gods.
Ricardo could never forget the sight that had unfolded before his eyes.
Originally, gods had nothing against proclaiming themselves as gods.
They were beings born as gods and had lived as such.
However, Yuma’s case was different. A human who suddenly became a god. It was something that shouldn’t normally happen.
Though it was somewhat forced.
“A god.”
Only now, after quite some time since awakening his divine status, could Yuma finally put on a poker face.
He could now call himself a god, not a human.
“God of War Yuma. May that name be widely known.”
Patricia.
The names of gods and the myths spread.
The myths generate awe, admiration, and fear.
And those intangible feelings are converted into tangible mythic power.
Yuma’s desire to raise the mythic power of the Intermediate World as quickly as possible was why he had grown so brazen.
Ricardo responded with a determined expression.
“Yes, understood. Temples will be built everywhere.”
“…Yeah.”
Yuma endured the growing discomfort.
*
The Goddess of the Dead Bones and the Wealth of All Armies and Alchemy had died.
Accordingly, there were currently three gods remaining in the Intermediate World.
[Fiery Destruction]
[God of Steel and War]
[God of the Wobbly Mace]
To be precise, all of them wished to return to the Divine Realm, but they were the gods who could not return.
Apart from [God of Steel and War], Duke, the other two gods were in the same place.
Yeigel Continent.
Fiery Destruction, Agneth.
God of the Wobbly Mace, Morg, were looking at each other.
Fwarrr—
Agnet, who was made entirely of blazing flames, spoke while looking at Morg, who resembled the legendary ‘Yeti’.
“…Duke, that guy still hasn’t shown up. He’s still not thinking straight… We can only win if all three of us attack at once.”
Agnet continued speaking while sitting on a chair made of flames.
“God of War Yuma, he’s an outlier. Among the gods, he’s exceptional… You wouldn’t believe he just became a god with that level of divinity. It’s a transcendence of hierarchy.”
Morg let out a deep voice from his gorilla-like face.
“Grrr… I still can’t believe that guy’s power.”
“Whether you want to believe it or not, you have to. The mythical power flowing through this Intermediate World… You can feel it, can’t you?”
“Grrr.”
Morg frowned as he looked down at the ground.
A colorless current flowed from the ground.
Mythical power.
Even though the number of humans they killed on this land surpassed ten thousand, the mythical power was still flowing. That didn’t sit well with them.
What angered them more was that they hadn’t even managed to wipe out half the continent.
Compared to Angelica and Gulan of the Silmaria Continent, they had only occupied a mere third.
Fwaark…
Agnet twisted his mouth.
“I can’t believe how the hell those Join Tribe bastards devised that barrier.”
Morg grunted hoarsely.
“Grrr, the first holy ground dedicated to the God of War was the Join Tribe kingdom, Purma, on the continent of Gehergen. They’re likely to be the survivors from there.”
“Tsk, because they nearly got wiped out by the gods, they might’ve come up with a barrier to fight back against us.”
“…That’s highly probable.”
Morg had a habit of considering countless possibilities, contrary to his appearance.
He had a habit of thinking.
Thinking in angles that couldn’t be seen within the category of criminals.
“Grurur, and the Duke was originally the type to respond immediately to the Holy Transmission. He had a communicative nature when it was necessary. But for the past week, it felt as if not just the connection to the Holy Transmission was cut off, but communication through divinity itself was blocked. I ordered my one-eyed subordinates to scout Bretten Island, where he used to be, but there wasn’t a trace left of him. Perhaps….”
As Morg dragged his words out, Agneth spat out a ball of flames.
“Perhaps?”
“Nothingness. I suspect Eltnis has found a way to grant the Duke a power unimaginable to us… and that he’s planning to execute that method. There’s also the possibility that he could become a pawn to buy time until that method is completely executed and successful.”
“…What?”
Fahrururr!
The flames rising from Agneth’s body intensified.
“If that’s a possibility, it should be granted to me, not that… bug that knows nothing but blood and war!”
Though Agneth was expressing intense anger, he knew well why it was more likely for [God of Steel and War], the Duke, to receive the boon rather than himself.
Agneth and Morg were 2nd-tier.
The Duke was a 1st-tier god.
If there was a need to mess around with divinity or physical body, it made logical sense to choose the Duke, whose rank and physicality were a bit sturdier.
“A discarded pawn… how dare you, me?”
Agneth rose with a dense cloud of flames.
“Let’s go, Morg. We need to wipe out those Join Tribe bastards and take complete control of this continent.”
“Grurur…”
Morg lifted his massive body.
‘He’s too strong.’
I knew this from the moment I killed the titan Barbatos.
‘Damn crow bastard.’
Yuma, who defeated that Barbatos, couldn’t possibly be in normal condition. He must be dying.
Morg hated the vicious deity of cursed construction, Malphas, who spread such rumors.
If he hadn’t been deceived by his words, he wouldn’t have stepped into the Intermediate World.
‘I’ll return somehow. To the Divine Realm.’
And I’ll tear the crow’s mouth apart.
Thud─
Morg set his resolve as he took a massive step forward.
The two gods began to struggle within the ominous clouds.
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