Ch.286Chapter 286 – Preparing the Counterattack

I faced the worst situation I’ve ever encountered.

The demonic deity, the demon god that the devil cult worshipped, had been resurrected.

The only fortunate thing was that the demon god was currently too busy fighting Cheon Hyeryeong to pay attention to us.

“Lady Eterna. Can you handle that demon god alone?”

“No. It’s impossible.”

Eterna immediately expressed that it was impossible.

“Even if it’s an incomplete resurrection, a demon god is still a demon god. The very idea of mortal beings like us facing a divine entity is extremely reckless.”

Seeing her shake her head firmly made me newly appreciate how extraordinary Cheon Hyeryeong was, fighting the demon god single-handedly.

From where they were fighting, explosive sounds like bombs detonating could be heard continuously.

Without Cheon Hyeryeong, we would have likely been annihilated trying to fight the demon god.

“First, we should contact each religious order and request them to send their elite forces.”

“Would they be of help?”

“We holy knights have been trained in techniques to combat powerful singular enemies for situations like this.”

He looked around at the holy knights gathered here.

“But with these numbers, we won’t be able to inflict significant damage on the demon god. Our techniques become more powerful with greater numbers.”

Hmm, so the holy knights from each order have preparations for situations like this.

“We need more priests as well. With our current numbers, we can only create a barrier that might withstand one attack from the demon god.”

Wait a minute.

“I think even withstanding one attack from the demon god would be remarkable.”

“Hahaha. You think so? Well, blocking even one attack is no easy feat.”

—BOOM! KABOOM! CRASH!

“The battle is intensifying. We shouldn’t waste any more time.”

“Agreed. We must request help from each order’s headquarters. Now is the time to fight for everyone’s survival rather than considering the interests of individual orders.”

Amidst the chaos of explosions coming from all directions, the priests and holy knights were discussing with each other.

At first, their opinions seemed to diverge, but they all began to agree on opposing the demon god, their common enemy.

“Does anyone have a means of communication right now?”

“I have a crystal ball for regular communication with our order’s headquarters.”

“That’s fortunate. Please quickly request them to dispatch their elite holy knights and priests in large numbers.”

“Understood.”

I could see priests from each order beginning to contact their headquarters using the crystal balls they had brought.

They were conveying the current situation as quickly, concisely, and clearly as possible into their crystal balls.

“The demon god has been resurrected! We must launch a joint attack!”

“We need many elite holy knights and high-ranking priests.”

“With the demon god’s appearance, everyone must cooperate!”

“If we don’t stop the demon god here, we’re all finished! Everyone must unite their strength!”

Perhaps it was because of the desperation in the priests’ voices as they reported the situation?

[Understood. We will dispatch all holy knights and priests within our order.]

[We’ll send personnel to your location as quickly as possible through the teleport station.]

The leaders of each order recognized the gravity of the situation and immediately agreed to send reinforcements.

I couldn’t just stand by either, so I contacted Sister Regina.

“Sister. Are you available to talk?”

[What’s the matter? Why the sudden communication?]

“Actually…”

I explained to Sister Regina what had happened here.

How I rushed here after hearing about a demon’s appearance, defeated the demon, destroyed the barrier, and how the demon god had been resurrected, albeit incompletely.

[Hmm, so you need support. But the academy students are too weak to send out.]

“I know that.”

[The situation here is serious too. I’ve heard that monsters are rampaging across various regions because of the demon god’s resurrection, and the Empire doesn’t have the capacity to help your side.]

“What should we do then?”

If the Gelebrio Empire was also in trouble, Sister Regina was the only one who could help us.

Perhaps the Empire was in such a serious situation that they even needed Sister Regina’s assistance.

[The academy students are currently being organized into teams and deployed for actual combat, and I can’t move freely from here either, so this is quite difficult…]

“That’s really serious…”

I was troubled by the fact that even Sister Regina couldn’t move freely.

Should we resolve this problem without Sister Regina’s help?

[Ah! Come to think of it, I have that equipment the dwarves left behind. Should I send that to you at least?]

Sister Regina was referring to the reinforced exoskeleton that the dwarves had made for me.

The dwarves, remembering that my physical strength hadn’t fully returned, had created a tool to help me lift my hammer.

It was currently in Sister Regina’s subspace, and I hadn’t imagined it would still be there.

[I’ll send that to you for now. I’ll join you as soon as I finish things here, so tell Cheon Hyeryeong to hold on a little longer.]

“Cheon Hyeryeong is already fighting the demon god alone. She’s probably trying to buy us time.”

[…I see. I’ll join you as soon as possible. I’ll drop the equipment near you via teleport.]

“Thank you.”

As soon as my communication with Sister Regina ended, the exoskeleton made by the dwarves appeared.

When I picked up the exoskeleton and put it on, it transformed to fit my body.

Why did I put on the exoskeleton? Obviously, to not fall behind when fleeing from the demon god.

Or perhaps to use it when drawing the demon god’s aggro appropriately with the pistol in my possession.

“But for that…”

I obviously need this thing. With my ordinary human physical specs, I wouldn’t even be able to keep up with them without the exoskeleton.

“Huh?”

At that moment, a memory from the past suddenly flashed through my mind.

The image of students taking tests with weapons I had used my ability on.

‘Back then, they said their attacks were much stronger than usual.’

There was even an incident where the test had to be temporarily suspended because of the extraordinary power of the attacks they unleashed.

‘Why am I only remembering this now?’

If I had understood my ability in more detail and used it more frequently, I would have realized this sooner.

Even Cheon Hyeryeong, the leader of the Cheonma Order, had broken through her limits and reached her current level thanks to my ability, hadn’t she?

I ran to the priests and holy knights.

With my ability added, the people here now could be enough to face that creature!

“I have something to tell you!”

“Hmm? What is it, Marquis Severio?”

“Actually…”

I explained another aspect of my ability to the priests and holy knights.

That weapons fixed through my ability could help unleash stronger power than usual.

And that this also applied to people.

“Is that true?”

“Yes, it is.”

“If what you’re saying is true, it would be an enormous help!”

People cheered in unison. If my words were true, it meant that even the people gathered here now could somewhat hold back the demon god.

“Then let’s hurry. Shouldn’t we move quickly to help your fiancée?”

“We must swiftly eliminate that pretender who has blasphemed against the gods!”

“I will inform everyone of this news. Marquis, please prepare to use your ability as soon as possible!”

“Understood.”

The priests and holy knights rushed out to spread the news to everyone before the full-scale counterattack.

Meanwhile, Eterna approached me.

“Didn’t you use that ability on me as well?”

“Actually, I had forgotten about it until just now.”

“Ah. That’s possible.”

Eterna readily accepted my flimsy excuse. It was as if it wasn’t particularly important.

“Please use that ability on me too. In my current state, I’m too weak to face the demon god.”

“…Alright.”

Eterna also showed her willingness to receive a buff through my ability. Was it her sense of duty as a saint that was greater, even though it hadn’t been a week since she was injured and recovered?

How could I stop her when she showed such determination to fight the demon god?

“Then let’s prepare.”

“Yes. Everyone should be gathering now. If Lord Pathos uses his ability, we’ll go out and fight with all our might.”

Why hadn’t I realized that the means to deliver a blow to the demon god was so close at hand?

“Let’s defeat the demon god and restore peace to this world.”

There was still hope.