Back in the Surface World, battles between William’s forces and the Holy Order of Light were occurring on a regular basis.
In order to prevent any loss of manpower, only the Four Pseudo-Gods, and Belle, would attack the borders of the Ainsworth Empire, in order to draw out the Guardians that protected it.
“This b*tch!” Loxos grumbled as she sent countless silver arrows, that had been fired by Opis, towards the black-haired beauty who had been getting on her nerves.
Belle smirked as she urged Aethon to dodge the attacks that were coming her way. The little Wren, that had transformed into a Roc, flapped its wings and distanced itself away from Loxos’ attack that was meant to take Belle’s life.
The black-haired beauty only smiled at the approaching barrage of arrows, before a barrier appeared in front of her, blocking the attack completely.
“Does that Nymph have a vendetta against you or something?” one of the Pseudo-Gods that specialized in defense asked.
“Mayhaps,” Belle replied with a smile. “She sure is something. Is it time for us to retreat?”
“Yes. We have collected enough data for now,” the Pseudo-God replied. “It won’t be long before we’ve analyzed all of their attack patterns, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. It is only a matter of time before we take them out one by one.”
Belle nodded as she lightly patted Aethons’ back, telling it to fly to their temporary base.
Seeing the Pseudo-Gods of the Order of Light retreating, Loxos snorted in disdain. She didn’t know why, but as soon as she saw Belle’s face, she disliked her with every fiber of her being. This was why she would always aim their attacks at her at any opportunity she got with the intention of ending her life.
Unfortunately, Belle was a Peak Pseudo-God, and was more than capable of protecting herself from her attacks. This left Loxos very dissatisfied. It was as if there was an itch in her back that she couldn’t scratch because she was unable to reach it.
“It seems that Nisha is right,” Astrape said as she hovered beside Loxos. “They aren’t fighting us seriously. They are just focused on dodging and blocking our attacks.”
“Do they really think that they will be able to beat us using this method?” Opis commented. “Thanks to Nisha’s advice, we are limiting ourselves and not using our full powers everytime we clashed with them. However, I still feel anxious for some reason.”
Triton, who was now the temporary commander, nodded his head. “I’m sure that they know that we aren’t going all out. Still, their attacks are becoming fiercer and bolder with every day that passes. I’m afraid that soon we will not have the chance to fake our attacks, and be forced to take them seriously.”
“Don’t worry, we outnumber them,” Loxos replied with confidence. “My Sisters and I are confident that we can keep them at bay. As for the other Pseudo-Gods, you guys will be able to handle them just fine.”
Triton sighed. “I hope you’re right, Loxos.”
The former King of Atlantis looked at the retreating backs of their opponents. Although they had not lost a single skirmish against them, he felt that it was only a matter of time before they reversed the outcome of the battle.
Nisha had also told them that the longer the battle continued, the more adept their opponents would be in fighting against them.
As the Supreme Leader of Deus, the veiled-beauty perfectly knew what the Pope was doing, and was also in the midst of devising a plan that would deal the old hag a crushing blow.
They had been fighting in the shadows for many years, so Nisha already had an understanding on how ruthless the Pope could be to both her allies and her enemies.
The other Kingdoms, and Empires in the Central Continent just sat on the side and spectated.
After the war ended, they had suffered a decrease in military power because they had lost many men in the conflict between Felix’s and Ahriman’s forces. This was why they were happy to see the Holy Order of Light suffering losses each time they fought against the Half-Elf’s minions, because this weakened the Pope’s army in turn.
Due to Emperor Leonidas’, and Empress Andraste’s efforts, the various kingdoms and empires were assured that Williams didn’t have any plans on expansion. Because of this, they decided to just leave him alone, and rejected the Church of Light’s call for help.
Little did they know that the Pope didn’t really care whether they helped her or not. She was only doing this to fool their enemies into thinking that they needed additional manpower in order to stamp the Half-Elf’s empire from off the face of the world.
“Lady Nisha, we have finally found the location of the Palace of Light,” one of Nisha’s subordinates reported, making the veiled-beauty smile in her heart.
“Is this news confirmed?” Nisha inquired.
“Yes,” the subordinate replied. “I went personally to check its location four days ago to ensure that the information was the real deal.”
Nisha lightly tapped the armrest of her make-shift throne. “Good. You did well. I will make sure that you and your men are rewarded generously for your efforts.”
“Thank you, Your Excellency.”
“You may go. I need to draft a plan for our counterattack.”
“As you wish.”
After Nisha’s subordinate left the room, the veiled-beauty continued to read the scroll in her hands. Drawn on it was the location of the Palace of Light, as well as the number of forces that were protecting it.
“As expected of the Palace of Light,” Nisha muttered as she placed the scroll on her lap. “This will not be an easy battle. Will, I wish you were here.”
The veiled-beauty thought of the Half-Elf who had gone to the Underworld to reunite with his wives.
‘That Peak Pseudo-God is a pain,’ Nisha mused as she read the information about Belle. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the painting of the black-haired beauty whom she felt was a hindrance to William’s rise to power.
‘If we can capture her then the offensive of the Holy Order will surely decrease, or even cease completely,’ Nisha thought. ‘Too bad Will isn’t here. If he was then I would just ask him to corrupt her, and make her become his servant. That way, we can launch a full-scale attack at the Palace of Light and finally bring an end to the Pope’s ambition for World Unification.”
Unfortunately, William wasn’t there to help Nisha capture the black-haired beauty who had been giving them a hard time as of late.
The Half-Elf was still in the Underworld and was busy in collecting the necessary Hell Credits that he would need in order to go to all the Layers of Hell. According to his estimate, it would take him at least one more month before he reached his target.
He was unaware that while he was busy collecting the credits he needed, the girl whom he had given his heart to in his past life, was busy making things difficult for his subordinates, who were hell-bent to protect the territories that belonged to him.
