Ch.1251Choice and Focus

======[ Fortress of Agnita ]======

“Your Excellency! Urgent news from the dispatch unit! The reserve vessel clashed with that woman and during combat, successfully awakened the ‘Left Arm’…”

Despite Haschal’s efforts to eliminate the vampires and withdraw before Garmerlic’s forces learned of it, news of his actions spread to Garmerlic with surprising speed.

Not just the simple fact of the attack, but detailed battle information—including that the mortally wounded Erzsebet had successfully manifested Belliona’s left arm.

“The left arm… so that’s the limit for a reserve vessel? The efficiency is worse than I imagined.”

“But the proven value is significant. Though lacking in power, it proves our concept itself was not wrong.”

“That’s not incorrect. The success alone has meaning.”

This was encouraging information for Garmerlic’s forces in many ways.

It proved the feasibility of their concept: reviving Belliona by adding death power to a vessel containing divinity similar to death, thereby transforming the divinity itself.

Of course, being fanatics who still worshipped a dead goddess, they never doubted this from the beginning, but having actual proof was still cause for celebration.

—-

“So what should we do… dispatch knights to protect her or… retrieve her completely? Or should we counterattack and take the fortress while we’re at it?”

The news of Haschal’s attack reached Garmerlic before the Left Arm deployed the frozen world.

If he had immediately traveled to the battlefield through spatial jump upon hearing the news, Haschal and her army would have faced certain annihilation.

“…No, we’ll leave them be.”

Fortunately for Haschal—though whether this was truly fortunate remained ambiguous—Garmerlic had no intention of intervening in that battle.

“Leave them…? If I may be so bold, isn’t this our best opportunity? If we cross through the transfer gate now and launch a joint attack, securing the ‘vessel’ would be simple…”

“A joint attack is impossible. If only the left arm has manifested, proper consciousness hasn’t taken root. It wouldn’t even distinguish between friend and foe.”

There were three reasons.

First, intervening at this point would result in chaos rather than a coordinated attack.

“Are you saying Her arm would attack us? Us, Her faithful who have received a portion of Her power?”

“Precisely because we share the same power. Moving on instinct rather than reason, it would kill us without hesitation to replenish its strength.”

With the ‘Left Arm’ released, Erzsebet herself would certainly have no consciousness left.

What was controlling that body was neither Erzsebet’s mind nor the dead goddess’s consciousness, but simply instinct or some residual thought remaining in the divinity.

Therefore, even if they joined to help, the chances of being recognized as allies were slim.

And if the Left Arm began to treat them as enemies, unlike Haschal, they would have no way to resist.

Since their power originated from Belliona in the first place, against the Left Arm—which wielded the same power but was closer to the source—neither attack nor defense would be effective.

That was the first reason.

“Besides, intervening now would be meaningless.”

“…Pardon?”

The second reason was that from Garmerlic’s perspective, simply watching the two vessels clash was sufficient.

“Having awakened Her Left Arm, Erzsebet cannot escape annihilation even if she wins. When she perishes, the power I infused will naturally return to me. So there’s no reason to provide support.”

Erzsebet had assumed the price for awakening Belliona’s power would be death and transformation into an undead, but this was merely her optimistic misconception.

The blessing of undeath wasn’t given to just anyone, and the fate awaiting a vessel containing power beyond its capacity wasn’t as light as mere physical death.

Erzsebet’s future was already determined, regardless of victory or defeat.

A miserable end where not only her body but also her soul would completely shatter, leaving not even a trace behind—that was Erzsebet’s fate.

“She can’t win anyway. That monster is the ultimate weapon that the Saint of El-Pine… Elpinel has been forging with utmost care. How could a sword meant to fell a ‘god’ be broken by a mere left arm?”

And that was assuming Erzsebet somehow defeated Haschal. However, Garmerlic considered that possibility remote.

The opponent was Elpinel’s trump card and last resort, prepared to behead the primordial god Alfodhr.

If such a being could be defeated by a single imperfectly awakened arm—imperfect due to the vessel’s—Erzsebet’s—insufficient power and aptitude—it would have died hundreds of times already.

“…But then wouldn’t that woman steal Her divinity?”

“Indeed. She will certainly try to take that divinity. To devour Her power and grow stronger.”

“Shouldn’t we stop that now?”

The one-armed undead knight, Bedivere, tilted his head in confusion.

The current Haschal was clearly hostile to them, and her exponentially growing power had already become one of the most formidable among demigods throughout history.

The knights alone would be no match, and even if Garmerlic himself intervened directly, he couldn’t defeat such a monster with his former power.

And now this monster was set to become even stronger. For the undead knights tasked with capturing her to resurrect the goddess of death, the future looked bleak indeed.

“She’s already a formidable opponent, and if she obtains Her divinity and grows stronger, capturing her alive will become even more difficult—”

“Why would we need to capture her alive? What we intended to do after capturing that woman is precisely this.”

Garmerlic smiled softly, as if dismissing an unnecessary concern.

“…Ah.”

At that answer, Bedivere finally realized he had been fundamentally mistaken.

“Having awakened, albeit imperfectly, Her divinity will maintain its essence rather than dissolving into the vessel’s inherent power. Without our intervention, it will naturally grow alongside the vessel.”

Indeed, there was no longer any reason to capture Haschal alive.

They had planned to neutralize and capture her in order to implant death divinity within her and nurture it, completing Belliona’s vessel.

“Besides, even if we captured that woman now, we have no way to control her until Her power grows sufficiently. We could seal her completely for now, but that would make filling the vessel a distant prospect.”

They could intervene now and possibly capture Haschal.

The problem was that afterward, they would need to safely manage her until she was completed as Belliona’s resurrection.

Would Haschal, once captured, meekly submit and accept her fate?

She would obviously resist fiercely, and the current Undead Duke’s army lacked the capacity to handle such resistance.

They might capture her by exploiting a moment of weakness, but her strength would eventually recover. Even if they cut off her limbs and restrained her, a being of her power would remain monstrous even without limbs.

Yet if they sealed her completely to prevent any resistance, they would have no way to nurture the death power dwelling within her.

How could power grow separately when both mind and body were sealed?

According to their original plan, they would have used Erzsebet as a temporary vessel, maximizing the death power within her before forcibly injecting it into Haschal to trigger an immediate awakening. But that was no longer possible.

With Erzsebet’s annihilation certain, they couldn’t adopt the same approach unless they found a new reserve vessel.

Considering all these problems, Garmerlic judged it better to leave Haschal alone and wait for the death divinity within her to grow sufficiently.

Once the death power within Haschal grew enough to form its own consciousness at the moment of awakening, they could stimulate that power to awaken immediately and resurrect Belliona, even when facing a stronger Haschal as an enemy.

That was the second reason.

And the final reason…

“Above all, that woman isn’t our only enemy. We just received a request for support from Gaylord’s side. Caliburn’s werebeast army is marching toward them, accompanied by two great dragons.”

The forces opposing them weren’t limited to Haschal’s legion.

And unlike Haschal’s side, which presented various complications for immediate confrontation, this other enemy gave them no reason to be kept alive.