Vaishura traced the path of that sword like a flying swallow, and shot out a massive spear of compressed black flames. The hero was undaunted, however, and a slight twist of his body was all it took to dodge the black flames that whittled away at his body, then as Vaishura rose into the sky, he drew another stroke.
“Accept Your Divine Punishment(Der Ist).”
Vaishura dodged once again. The shockwaves from Ativ’s attack were not quite able to crack the barrier, but they were more than able to split the clouds.
Having judged that they would be getting nowhere at this rate, Vaishura pointed her palm to the air, and the twelve Wrath Balls gathered on her palm.
“My Tears Burn(Rebrain).”
The gathered Wrath Balls fused, transforming into a tornado that rose into the sky, raising the temperature within the borders of the barrier.
As the heated air rose, and the temperature jumped so quickly that a heat haze appeared, the air expanded, thunder clouds were called forth, and the hot air that escaped into the skies above rapidly cooled down to dye skies black.
──As I thought, it’s not just black flames.
The hero couldn’t help but narrow his eyes when he saw the God of War’s magic change even the climate.
Then the Flying Warships entered the hero’s vision.
Why would she go out of her way to make that goblin retreat? If she was certain of her victory, then that shouldn’t have been necessary. All she needed to do was defeat him, after all.
Hence, there could only be one conclusion.
She was not confident in being able to defeat him here. That’s why she allowed that goblin to escape. But could the pure gods have such an emotion? No. Already, the old gods have been void of such emotions. And the new gods were not so weak as to be led astray by their emotions.
Thus, he watched the enemy before him. From among the memories of the humans he has watched for hundreds of years, he picked out a memory. Before long, the hero reached it: the true identity of the god standing in his way. A human at the core, and someone that managed to gain enough power to become a demigod.
That narrowed it down.
A master of the flames so skilled she could scorch the heavens themselves. The Starfall(Meteor) Hero (yuusha), the Saint of Flames(Eliza Sol Rain). But it shouldn’t be just one, she wasn’t that accomplished.
If so, then another hero’s core must’ve been incorporated. If that’s still not enough, then they could have sourced it elsewhere. But would one of the five greatest mages in human history go that far?
When Ativ was sure of it, his lips rose.
“So it’s you, Eliza Sol Rain! To think you would sacrifice your friend and butter up to Altesia just to achieve your vengeance against me!”
The moment that name was called, for the first time, agitation appeared on the God of War.
“You have no right to speak that name!”
As the God of War angrily swung down with her fingers, the compressed black flames descended on the ground, and a tornado of flames shot out for the hero at an ultra-high speed to burn him and his surroundings into ashes, yet the hero’s smile refused to break as he wielded his sword by his waist.
“Go, my warships! Drive them away!”
When Ativ said that, the God of War spared a glance for the warships, then as though the hero had been waiting for that, he swung his sword.
“One Stroke of Divine Punishment(Lost Heaven)!”
“Devour it Like a Muddy Stream(Gura Orsa).”
The hero’s attack threatened to cut everything, and the storm of black flames fought back, but in the end, that single stroke cut apart even those flames. No, it did not stop there, the barrier, the God of War that cast that spell up high, and even Douhet the Flame Ryuu who was fighting with the warships were all caught in that stroke. Like glass shattering, the barrier broke, and the walls of flame vanished.
Though the God of War managed to regain her bearings and land on the ground, her exhaustion was incomparable to what she’d experienced. Even the blade of black flames in her hand was like a frail flame swaying in the wind.
But she also succeeded in hurting the hero.
The tornado of black flames may have been cut by him, but it did not weaken in the slightest and continued on its way to pour itself into him. On the arm burned by the flames of the underworld could be seen a slight burn. That wound left by the black flame was not something that would fade.
“You may be a demigod, but in the end, a god’s a god, I suppose.”
Yet the hero’s smile still refused to break. The power she had displayed had already surpassed that of a demigod’s.
She was probably the strongest hero of all time. This was no longer a question of whether Ativ could take away her will or not. Already, she was something fundamentally different.
“But this was all meaningless.”
With his sword on his shoulder, the hero turned his attention from the kneeling War God to look at the skies.
“Watch well. Because I’m going to kill all those filthy monsters you allowed to flee.”
With ragged breathing, Vaishura raised her head. The hero took that for resignation and laughed.
At the hero’s behest, the flying warships in the sky chased after Alrodena’s forces. They moved so quickly compared to the forces on the ground that it seemed foolish to even compare them. Moreover, there was a difference in the speed of those on horse and those on foot.
When the warships were right above the army, they tilted themselves and aimed their guns at the ground.
“Now, let me hear those screams!”
The hero licked his lips as he eagerly awaited that moment. Pale and the other goblin generals spread their forces to minimize their losses, but the flying warships were just too fast. After Douhet died, Alrodena had no way to defend against the flying warship anymore.
The spearhead of the magic spears where the ethers gathered could even be seen from the ground, but in that very instant where the magic bullets were about to be unleashed, a bellow shook the heavens and a storm of lightnings attacked the flying warships.
The anti-magic barriers allowed the fleet to minimize the damage, but they were still pushed back into the skies, sent back as though a current had swept them away.
“Really?”
The hero frowned his brows, displeased, but at the same time, Vaishura’s lips lifted.
Black thunderclouds covered the sky. Slithering through them was none other than he that ruled over the hammers of lightning, the Ruler of the Heavens, the Wingless Sky Snake(Gawain). One of the servant gods of the Goddess of the Underworld, and a living calamity that fought with the Dragon King for hegemony over the skies.
The two horns on him stood against the heavens, furious, while in his small hands was a jewel held tightly.
Gawain may have just attacked, but he was furious right from the start.
And his wrath was the wrath of all his servant ryuus. With a thunderous roar, he opened his colossal maw, and a composition formula was deployed. 500 ryuus and one colossal ryuu simultaneously attacked. In their various composition formulas were embodied the manipulation of calamities and all of creation, and they unleashed all of that in a furious roar.
“To those that ruined my worthy rival, death!”
Wind, water, earth, fire, and lightning. The magic bullet of all creation tore through the sky and transformed into giant spears that attacked the fleet of flying warships. The flying warships retreated once again. In the face of such massive magic bullets, they had no choice but to flee.
But while the flying warships may have been able to get away, the wyvern knights still en route were wiped out. They were able to celebrate after defeating Douhet the Flame Ryuu, but in so doing, they sealed their fate. Not only was every attack unleashed by a ryuu massive, the ryuus also attacked simultaneously, so there was no room for them to flee.
Neither the magic-resistant dragon scales of the wyvern knights nor their dragon spears that could neutralize ether and even penetrate dragon scales were of any use before the attack of Gawain and his storm of ryuus. The attack of the ryuus swept everything away and changed the color of the battlefield.
Alrodena’s retreating forces were stupefied as they beheld all of that.
“This is… Just like the Battle of the Age of the Gods… Still…”
Pale had no intention of letting up on their retreat regardless who won. The king had to be brought somewhere safe. Everything else would come after that.
When Gawain saw one of his kin suffering on the ground, he roared angrily again.
“Not only did you lay a hand on my rival, you laid a hand on my kin as well!”
When his colossal figure that was even bigger than a castle vanished into the thunderclouds, lightning fell indiscriminately from the heavens, piercing the lands, burning the trees, reducing the mountains, and sometimes, even attacking the spread out forces of the hero. Despite that, Gawain’s anger refused to subside, and after three simultaneous attacks, he overcame the flying warships and descended near where Douhet was.
Atop that rampaging Gawain was Reshia hitting his head.
“If you’re worried about Douhet-san, then let me down!”
‘This cheeky adherent,’ Gawain thought, but he still let her down beside Douhet.
Douhet was already on the verge of death, and countless wounds could be seen on his body. A ryuu he might be, but at this rate, even he would die. That’s why Gawain hoped that perhaps the adherent of the Goddess of Healing(Zenobia) would be able to do something. He wasn’t wrong, but he wasn’t right either.
Just because someone was an adherent of Zenobia did not meant they would be able to heal this much damage. It was only because Reshia was had received so much of Zenobia’s favor that she could be called a ‘saint’ that it was possible for her.
Bust as she’s done for all the wounded ones that came to her in the past, Reshia raised her two hands. With her eyes closed and lips shut tight, she was the very picture of a pious believer. It was precisely because she could call miracles upon all living beings with the love and mercy of the goddess that she was known as a saint.
The gathered mana transformed into a radiant wind and covered Reshia Fel Zeal.
“Healing to all(Heal)!”
She, who could overturn the fate of death and banish the sorrow of pain, was the very embodiment of the Goddess of Compassion.
