Chapter 130

130th

Whose hands do the gods of war raise?

130 – Whose hands do the gods of war raise? #4

“Look, look over there! It’s Valdes Mountain!”

Exhausted, we were able to reach the cultist’s hideout before the day ended, even before the sun set.

I had thought that a hideout would consist of long mountain ridges.

But the Valdes hideout was just a single mountain rising alone in a vast plain.

It was not a naturally formed mountain; it had the appearance of a mound deliberately created for war.

Thud, thud.

There were wooden barriers and torches lit up everywhere, giving off a rather ominous atmosphere.

“d*mn, dead ones are crawling all over the place. That area over there looks pitch black as if night has arrived.”

I wondered who had said that.

Indeed, as he mentioned, skeletons and the dead were moving around in the mountains and its surroundings, groaning from every corner.

Creak.

Clatter.

The enemies we had to face appeared to be those skeletons. However, there were not as many as I had imagined. The maximum was a few hundred.

It seemed that if we charged in with a club, we could take down one skeleton per person.

Of course, since they were heartless monsters, there would always be variables in facing them.

Despite having just run here, wearing myself out, I felt a strange vitality circulating in my body.

Could this be the blessing of the Count’s daughter, Enya?

Or maybe it was truly the effect of the Gale Combat Tactics—such erratic thoughts flooded my mind. War had a way of driving people mad.

Rustle.

At that moment, a breeze swept across the plain, rustling the grass and our hair. It was a cool wind that made the sweat on our bodies chill.

Flap, flap—.

A brown banner was raised high by a mounted knight.

“Prepare!”

At Enya’s loud roar, we lined up in a straight line in front of the dead. We were facing those terrifying beings only a few hundred meters away.

“Dorgo. d*ath is at hand. Sands of the desert, may fortune….”

“d*mn, it’s scarier than I thought. You mean we have to fight those bastards? I wonder if arrows will even penetrate those skeletons.”

Our ranks were filled with excitement, fear, and tension, unlike the procession of the dead in the distance, which showed no hint of emotion.

Clatter, clack.

Grrr….

Still, the one sensation we all felt amidst this standoff was a desire to k*ll.

Desire to k*ll, a word that would typically feel overly dramatic, but standing here with the sensation of my skin prickling, I couldn’t express it any other way.

In any case, the dead, filled with the thought of killing the living, surged towards us with an overwhelming force.

If anyone were to witness that horrendous scene, no matter how strong their heart, they would feel chills and fear creeping up their back.

Nearly a thousand soldiers were trembling with mixed emotions.

My head was filled with various thoughts, and my heart felt like it was softly caressed by a cold hand, draining me of my energy.

I felt a slight ache in my lower abdomen, as if my overly tense organs were reacting to the extreme tension.

But saying I needed to use the bathroom now would be impossible. So, I pressed down on the Lakkok point in my palm to stabilize my energy.

It might just be a simple placebo effect, but the pain in my lower abdomen eased somewhat as the focus shifted to the pain in my palm.

Clink, gulp. Gulp, gulp, gulp.

I downed the potion that Luna had given me. The sound of ‘ding-ding’ resonated, and I saw that my stamina had increased by 3 points.

Whether my stats increased or I was simply experiencing a terrible gulp like swallowing sea sand, my mind became clear.

d*mn, this is really starting now.

“Archers—! Mages—! All prepare—!”

As the sun began to set, darkening the sky, a beam of light began to illuminate the land oddly from between the clouds.

“Go!”

Enya, wielding a spear, slowly moved towards the dead following the light.

“Pluto’s cultist, or rather, the Mage Tower’s professor Anchors! Accept the challenge of Enya Sarditch!”

At that booming shout, a wave of confusion rippled through the battlefield.

“A duel? It seems Lady Enya intends to fight alone.”

“Just like a young lady. But isn’t that meaningless? Didn’t we come all this way for something?”

“Can we quickly finish and go home?”

A duel.

I had heard of duels before.

They said it was a way for warriors or knights who valued honor to determine the outcome of a war without large-scale loss of troops through one-on-one duels.

Of course, since it was my first time participating in a war, watching commanders’ duels, I was filled with anticipation.

I watched the situation unfold with a racing heart.

Over there, the knight in bronze armor standing before the army of the dead seemed quite reassuring.

As the atmosphere among the lined-up soldiers began to build oddly,

“W-what is that? Look at the sky!”

“sh*t, what the hell is that…?”

At someone’s words, we all looked up at the sky. The dark clouds that covered the hideout began to cluster and twist in a bizarre manner.

It was something eerie for a simple natural phenomenon.

It soon took the shape of a colossal black skull that overshadowed the sky.

Enya von Sarditch. The brave warrior of Minerva—

Suddenly, a thunderous noise erupted from the mouth of the skull, shaking the sky.

At that moment, the horses ridden by the knights began to back away fiercely, and the legs of soldiers—including mine—quaked.

Someone exclaimed,

“…I-it’s magic! There’s a mage in the cultist’s hideout…!”

“I hadn’t heard anything about a mage. I thought we would just need to stomp on a few skeletons!”

“sh*t, there’s a mage! There’s a mage! Eek!!”

Having received an early warning from Hippolyte, I already knew that the mage Anchors resided in that cultist’s hideout.

However, the soldiers, unaware of this, appeared greatly bewildered and fearful of the presence of a mage among the enemies.

In this world, powerful mages were treated like tactical weapons, and that was understandable.

If you imagined being struck down by ice and fireballs from an unseen distance, it truly resembled missiles. Naturally, this made mages terrifying.

Ah, the fear spreading across the battlefield. We had gathered an overwhelming amount, but still, we were nothing more than untrained rabble. Lady Enya, you must have proposed the duel for this reason.

“Anchors! Surrender or consent to the duel! You have only two choices!”

In this day and age of cold rationality, a duel. Our young lady is truly innocent. The age of heroes was just like this, I suppose. But fine. I will accept the challenge.

Boom, boom, boom. Soon, a chilling drumbeat began to resonate from the hideout. The clattering of skeletons grew louder, and slicing through the army of the dead appeared a particularly large monstrous figure.

Was it about double my size? d*mn, what did it eat to grow that big?

Just as Achilles had Hector, and Theseus had Asterius, even in the age of falling heroes, an antagonist must exist.

Creak, creak.

Chains and iron bars attached to its limbs dragged across the ground. Its half-n*ked body and gray skin revealed solid muscles beneath.

The steed of the fallen titan, Kalaya. This creature might be a match for the young lady.

“Anchors, why don’t you step forward yourself!”

My lady. Where in this world would a mage willingly step forward to d*e?

“Quite the honorless thought for a cultist! A giant’s steed is certainly no match for me, but this hardly seems appropriate! Andrea!”

At the young lady’s shout, someone stepped forward, parting the group of soldiers standing in line.

They were about my size, but covered in iron plates and wielding a huge long sword, giving them a bulkier appearance.

“That’s Andrea, the one who became a knight from humble beginnings?”

“Indeed, looks strong enough. An impressive size.”

“But still smaller than that titan’s offspring.”

“d*mn, I’m so d*mn nervous. I need to use the bathroom.”

Amidst various reactions, Andrea in knightly armor confronted the giant Kalaya.

Goo—

Simply staring at each other created a palpable tension, leaving us all in silence as we could only watch this scene unfold.

Thud.

The knight Andrea was the first to move. He drew his longsword, around the length of his torso, and swiftly slipped between the giant’s legs.

Before it could react, he swiftly sliced at the back of the giant’s Achilles tendon and shin. It was a clean, simple action, yet highly effective.

Greee!

The giant’s thunderous scream illustrated just how well that attack had landed. With its head and back bowed in pain, the giant.

The knight climbed onto its body and raised his longsword high.

“Farewell, fallen godkind!”

With a loud shout, Andrea beheaded the giant. Its massive body and head fell to the ground, convulsing and spewing bl**d.

Wow!

Perhaps triggered by their overwhelming victory, the soldiers cheered. I, too, was thrilled. Could we finally return home?

Indeed, counts’ knights were all exceptional beasts of strength.

A sound of a tongue clicking came from the clouds shaped like skulls.

The cloud made a tongue sound and spoke; truly a mystery I couldn’t grasp no matter how much I looked. Magic is extraordinarily powerful.

Yet, the young lady boldly proclaimed in the face of such a skull cloud without showing fear.

“Having triumphed in a glorious duel, Anchors, you must surrender! The reason we don’t charge now is to preserve the honor you once held as a professor of the Mage Tower!”

Honor. How gracious of you. I suppose I still had some left.

“But if you do not surrender, I will drag you out like a prisoner! You have one minute to decide!”

Ah, so merciful. However, the bl**d spilled on the ground is merely for fun. Young lady, have you ever heard of a divine descent?

“Divine descent…?”

It refers to a situation where a great god temporarily possesses a compatible human. It was just a theory passed down through lore, but I have discovered that with a bloodline linked to Anchors, the probability of divine descent increases.

“Why are you suddenly rambling?”

You will understand once you see it. Now, everyone bear witness. And bow before the fragment of the power held by the underworld! The primordial night. The finest son she has birthed…! The ascension of the incarnation of d*ath—Moros!

Swish—

As the words of the skull cloud ended, the world darkened.

A black haze like soot spread as if devouring the setting sun, and soon, the world itself seemed to plunge into darkness, the night arriving.

To put it simply, it was the phenomenon of an unannounced eclipse.

“The light of the….”

“The sun god has hidden his face. What on earth is happening!”

The people of this world, steeped in religious fervor, seem to interpret this strange eclipse in light of the gods’ authority.

Distortions of sunlight, even I found that to be a quite odd phenomenon.

『How dare you call for me, Anchors. I was in the middle of something important.』

At that very moment, a chilling male voice echoed as if sending shivers down my spine.

“Look, look at that! The corpse, the corpse is moving!”

Who yelled? When I lowered my head, the giant’s corpse, which had been decapitated and convulsing, started to re-knit itself.

『…But a contract is a contract. Regulations must be followed.』

The giant lifted its head and spoke while fiddling with its neck.

『Then let’s finish this quickly and return. You all are sentenced to d*ath. Now, split in half and d*e.』

Swish, whoosh.

In an instant, a lukewarm wind blew through our ranks. It felt like we shouldn’t move an inch, so we stood frozen in fear when—

Swish—!

I saw Andrea, the knight standing far away, get sliced in half, bl**d gushing as he collapsed. What on earth was happening? Magic?

『With a half-hearted divine descent, only one of you will meet your end. Physical intervention is faster than divine ability.』

Snap, snap.

The giant then began to rummage through the body of the fallen knight. From it, he pulled out a long bone, weaving it through iron plates, crafting something resembling a massive scythe.

『Alright, this should suffice against mortals.』

Hoo hoo hoo!

“G-great goddess of war and honor…!”

At the horrifying sight, the horses became frantic, and soon, the young noble Enya was thrown off her mount, trembling on the ground.

“Grant Andrea the courage to face the power of d*ath. The fortitude to cross the bleak valley of d*ath….”

『Oh, you didn’t faint even with me right in front of you. Quite a strong mortal. Pray as much as you like. However, no one can withstand the authority of d*ath. That is the rule. So, who’s next?』

A dreadful silence fell over the plains, once bustling with commotion. Not even a breath stirred, and the winds had ceased to blow.

An uncanny stillness as if time itself had frozen.

In that heavy silence, we all must have thought the same thing.

Simply, that it would not be me facing that bizarre creature.

『Is there no one? Then I’ll choose. d*ath’s Grip.』

The giant reached out with its scythe toward us. At that moment, something shocking occurred.

“Wha-what the hell! sh*t, d*mn it!”

My body began to move towards it as if drawn by a magnet! I thought I would literally burst from shock!

『What? You? I was aiming for the one beside you. Hmm, well, it doesn’t really matter whom. d*ath doesn’t follow a set order.』

Whoosh.

“Ugh!”

I desperately tried to resist against the strange force pulling me, but it was utterly futile. I was carelessly tossed in front of the giant!

『No point in resisting. More importantly, take a look at this-. What a peculiar karma you possess. What’s with all the paint on your face? It looks like children’s doodles.』

Creak.

The giant lifted me off the ground. Its hollow, purple eyes gazed into mine. d*mn, I felt like a mouse caught in a cat’s paw.

Once I thought my long life had come to an end, I could no longer muster any curse.

The eyes looking at me widened in surprise.

『Wait, are you…? No, I heard the youngest was a small… a small girl with pink hair…』

Swish.

The strength of the grip loosened just enough for me to breathe again.

『Ahem, are you perhaps… no, it can’t be. Maybe a male body but with a female heart…? No, is that even possible…?』

Just when I thought I was about to be squeezed to d*ath. The giant appeared surprisingly flustered, mumbling to itself. What was going on? There was no moment to ponder.

『…In any case, this is quite the situation. Mother will have my head for this.』

And then suddenly, the world began to tilt and sway. The giant, holding me by the collar, collapsed as if suffering greatly.

Boom, crash.

『W-what powerful fists! How dare a mere mortal! Ugh, ugh!』

The giant began to tremble uncontrollably, flying around in all directions. I couldn’t comprehend what was happening! d*mn, what was going on!?

Moros! What on earth is happening…!

『Cough, I can’t withstand this—! What a warrior! You’re too powerful!』

“Look, look! That bizarre black-haired one is overpowering the giant!”

[Author’s Note]

So strong!!!

I’m currently diving in the deep sea…

Holding my breath…

I’ll work hard to bake some cakes…. I’m coming out…!!!