The special unit and Gi Zu’s thousand-demon army have been cutting through the enemy forces, but they suddenly stopped.
“──The hero’s enemies shall be destroyed.”
A small girl blocked their way, but this was no normal girl, for she had with her the ability to stop a warrior as experienced as Gi Go. A smile surfaced on her as she swung her sword.
Gi Go did not see it. His body merely responded to the unexpected threat, and the moment their blades clashed, he was sent flying. Gi Go tumbled several times on the ground, but he quickly picked himself up.
“Who are you?”
“I am the hero’s sword. That is all. Now, die.”
There was no will in her eyes, so it wasn’t even possible to read her emotions. With vibrant green hair and frail, slender limbs, she did not look at all like a swordsman.
But… She was strong.
“──If you intend stand in my way, then I will have to cut you down.”
As Gi Go exhaled a thin breath, he faced his opponent with great focus. However, the girl alone couldn’t have possibly stopped their attack.
Someone too appeared before Rashka; it was Rasdir of the Iron Bull Knights. He was already big for a human, but now he was even bigger. The armor he wore incorporated Blue-Silver Steel(Srilana), which excelled against magic and blades.
The weapon he held was a short spear that’s been blessed by a spirit.
“You’re… from that time?” Rashka said.
With a simple step, he took on Rashka’s blow from head on, then he laughed.
“Behold, monsters! Fu ha ha ha! This is power. The power to restore my motherland, the power to exact vengeance on you!”
As winds clad his short spear, a wind of blade sliced Rashka. Shock surfaced on Rashka as blood spurted out of him, but Rasdir took another step and sent him flying.
“Ku ha ha! Very well! It’s been awhile, but you got my blood boiling, human!”
“Die, monster! Die and know of the power of the hero!”
Rashka laughed viciously, but Rasdir laughed just as ferociously and clashed with him.
Now that someone appeared on the side of the hero that could contend with two of the stronger goblins from Alrodena, change finally appeared on the battle lines, but that was only a given.
After all, the side that was pushing was suddenly forced into a defensive position and now had to endure the rampage of their enemy. Alas, this was not something that could be dealt with by relying on tactics, as it was a move akin to that of a tactical surprise attack from a powerful weapon.
All the more so when that attack came from the sky.
“A flying warship!? Damn it, so you were the enemies all along!”
Douhet the Flame Ryuu made the connection as soon as he saw that ship. Immediately, he focused his attacks onto it. He still remembered seeing that ship more than once during the War of the Gods. Though he only saw it from a distance 400 years ago, he still recognized it as an enemy.
With a power that could dye the skies, hollow the earth, and transform the terrain, Douhet called forth spears of flames.
12 spears all in all.
That was the strongest attack that the fire ryuu could muster, an attack conjured without regard for the consumption of ether, one that could burn down all the armies on the ground if it were to fall. That was the sort of attack that shot out for that flying warship, but the 12 spears vanished before they could even reach the ship.
“Anti-Magic Barrier!? But──”
Douhet was shocked, but he still tried to shoot again; however, the magic cannon set its sights on him. The mana stored in the dragon’s eye flowed into the jewels for the magic cannon to use. When Douhet shot out his fire spears again, the magic cannon fired at the same time.
The powers of ryuu and dragon clashed, scattering the clouds and shaking the air; so great was their clash that the aftermath could be felt even down below. When the disorienting explosion ceased, all that was left was Douhet’s wounded self.
“Damn it…”
Not only could he not harm the flying warship in the slightest, 200 wyverns lifted off from the back of the flying warship.
In their hands was a legendary class weapon called Dragon Lance. A weapon made from dragon fangs, designed to be able to cut any magical barrier. Even dragon scales could not come out unharmed in the face of its edge.
With his posture broken and his wounds worsened by the army of wyvern knights, the battlefield was completely flipped over.
◆◇◆
That was a memory from long ago.
A memory back in the days when the forces that served the Goddess of the Underworld(Altesia) and the forces that served the Ancestor God that Birthed Nations(Ativ) fought on the land for supremacy.
The forces led by the Goddess of the Underworld were strong but few in number.
A one-eyed snake that wielded black flames that lived through many battles and came to be known as the ‘Portent of War’ or the ‘Harbinger of War’, ever standing at the head of the battles. A wingless sky snake known as the ‘Ruler of Thunderclouds’ that fought with the dragons to contest for the authority to rule the skies.
A twin-headed water snake known as the ‘Lord of Decay’ that traveled the seas as though there was no one there, and the Earth-Devouring Serpent that crushed mountains, changed the terrain, and waged war with the giants.
Then were the various races that obeyed the goddess.
The forces of the underworld that fought with the forces above ground in the first War of the Gods were no longer possible, for the armies that poured out of the underworld came to be entangled with the struggle for survival as they took life and reproduced above ground.
Unlike the time of the First Goddess of the Underworld(Deetna), the forces of the underworld were few because the underworld didn’t have many soldiers in the first place. Those that served Altesia were that same army that accompanied her as the Goddess of Courage to invade the underworld.
There were heroes too. And sages as well. In fact, it was with great men, sorcerers, and many others that Altesia attacked the underworld, and only upon paying a great price did she manage to make the First Goddess of the Underworld(Deetna) fall.
That’s why the underworld did not have many soldiers.
According to the legend of the humans, it was out of jealousy that Altesia took up her sword, but the reason the humans became the main force during the second invasion of the underworld was because the war turned into a battle of survival, and the elves and the demihumans were dragged into it.
As the Goddess of the Underworld led her servant gods to battle, the forces led by Ativ deployed divine beasts and humans that possessed superhuman powers known as saints.
It was not because the gods underestimated Altesia that they did not send out heroes then. There simply were no heroes. Since Altesia, the goddess that ruled over courage, rebelled, no matter how brave a warrior was, they could not become a hero, for they could not have her approval.
Heroes (yuusha) were a special existence. They would receive the divine protection of the Goddess of Courage and lead the people.
That’s why after the ancestral god, Ativ, sent the Goddess of Courage into the underworld, there were no more heroes, and Ativ’s forces struggled. It was then that the divine beasts and the saints appeared.
It was Gurdiga, the God of Magic and Weapons, that made them.
He made all sorts of weapons from swords to spears to axes, but it was to construct a living weapon that he devoted himself to. And in his quest to create the ultimate weapon that did not choose its wielder, the answer he found appeared in the form of divine beasts and saints.
Divine beasts that trampled over the battlefield, and saints, humans that possessed power beyond men but could not disobey the gods.
The scent of charred flesh, the taste of gushing blood, but above all, the rising will to fight; Verid the Harbinger of War opened his eyes.
“…”
When he raised up his head, the supreme goddess that ever watched over them was there.
“Are you going?”
“The time for my oath has come.”
As the goddess nodded, she looked at this ever faithful servant of hers with gentleness.
“Then I shall give the command.”
The goddess stood from her throne with majesty, and the embodiment of black flames, the one-eyed snake, prostrated himself.
“Though held captive by the form of the snake… Though into the depths of the underworld did you sink… Not once did your ways change. My faithful servant, the spearhead of my vanguard, my Harbinger of War!”
As the goddess’ voice resounded clearly, Verid, who prostrated himself, began to change.
With long black hair that reached to the waist and an eyepatch over one eye, the form revealed was neither that of a snake nor a man but a woman. That appearance that knelt piously on the ground as though to offer a prayer was the same figure of a human once hailed a hero or a saint.
Though little armor covered her, the short sword by her waist was a divine tool that’s slayed many of the goddess’ foes. Her eyes remained closed, yet even then, there was no denying the beauty she radiated. Her toned body carved with scars spoke of her tales as an accomplished hero (yuusha), but even the scars could not harm her beauty. If anything, they merely accentuated her nobility.
“Raise your head, my beloved daughter.”
With the dazzling golden-hue of her eye, the servant god looked up at her beloved master with an eye full of resolve.
“Now, go, my daughter. In my name, I hereby command you! Return to the land above once more and make known our war!”
“In the name of the oaths of old, in the name of the proud──God of War(Vaishura), I pledge to bring you victory!”
The Goddess of the Underworld knew that this servant of hers would never return, but she still watched her back as she left.
And so, the God of War announced the War of the Gods begun.
