Chapter 6 – Invasion #2

Pleiades was being invaded by the Outer Gods.

The news was so unimaginable that Cordelia felt her heart plummet.

“Dahlia.”

It wasn’t just Dahlia’s name that came to mind reflexively.

Her father, her sister, her brother, Amber, and Aiden.

The names of her loved ones instantly filled her mind.

They were in danger.

All of them were facing an unprecedented crisis.

“Calm down, Cordelia,” Yuder said.

Yuder was just as shocked by the fact that Pleiades and everyone living there was in danger, but he controlled himself.

-Always maintain your composure. Do not forget the victory conditions.

Alexei’s teachings were still valid.

Yuder pulled Cordelia into a tight embrace. Feeling the frantic beat of her heart, which throbbed with anxiety and impatience, he shared his warmth with her.

“It’ll be okay.”

The time they had spent on Earth was only about five days. Even accounting for the different flow of time, at most, only about ten days could have passed. The Outer Gods wouldn’t have invaded the moment they left, so the actual invasion had likely been going on for a week at most.

So it was fine.

Pleiades was not a world that would fall in just one week.

“It’s okay. It’ll be okay,” Yuder said to Cordelia and to himself.

At the same time, he recalled various reasons to support his own words.

“Not every single Outer God is on par with a Demon Lord or an Archangel.”

The giant whale monster that had devoured a horde of demons was also an Outer God. But while it possessed divinity, its strength was not comparable to a Demon Lord’s. It was weaker than a Demon Prince.

They bore the name of gods, and while they were certainly powerful beings, they were not absolute.

“Athalia is there. And she’s not the only one. You know, don’t you? The old gods of Pleiades who began to reawaken after the Cycle of Chains ended.”

The old gods of Pleiades, including Varuna, the God of Secrets and Veils.

Cordelia’s breathing and heartbeat gradually began to stabilize.

Yuder hugged her tightly once more, then smiled and said, “And we have our master, don’t we?”

The Hero of the Sun.

The invincible warrior we can always trust and rely on, no matter where or when.

“May the muscles always be with you.”

Cordelia chanted it like a spell, and surprisingly, it had a considerable effect.

“Yeah, that’s right. Landius is there.”

Just thinking of his name brought her a sense of calm.

Landius is there.

The Five Heroes of Paragon are there.

Cordelia let her shoulders slump and leaned against Yuder, who gently stroked her back.

“Feeling calmer now?”

“I’m calm. Thank you.”

Cordelia whispered, then straightened up and forced a bright smile.

The Girl of the Sun.

The sun god who brightly illuminates Pleiades.

Yuder kissed her forehead and immediately continued.

“First, we need to gather more information.”

While he and Cordelia were talking, Yuder extended the Aura of the Black Dragon like a tentacle to capture the demon that had been sizing up its chances to flee, but in truth, he no longer expected anything from it.

Cordelia seemed to notice Yuder’s intention. She cast a magic resistance reduction spell on the captured, fallen demon and nodded.

“I know what you mean.”

It wasn’t just that she understood they needed information.

The source of the information.

The person Yuder and Cordelia needed to meet right now.

One of the few beings they could trust and rely on in a Hell teeming with demons.

“Kkieeeek!”

As the demon let out a shriek from the energy flowing through the black dragon’s aura and went limp, Yuder smiled faintly and said, “Let’s go see her. It’s been a while.”

“Okay.”

The one who had been a reliable ally in the fierce battle against Asmodeus.

The one who had chosen to remain in Hell even after the war with the Demon Lord ended.

“The Witch.”

The Witch of the Deep Forest.

They had to meet her.

Finding the Witch of the Deep Forest was easier than expected.

This was because she had established herself in Asmodeus’s domain from the start.

Moreover, she was not alone.

“The Witch’s domain?! Why would I—Gaaah!”

The demon had been defiant, but after Yuder and Cordelia took turns “persuading” it a few times, it became a very obedient guide and began spewing out information they hadn’t even asked for.

“The faction led by the Witch of the Deep Forest is still intact. The Outer Gods who descended into Asmodeus’s domain are relatively weak or more beast-like compared to those in other territories, so they couldn’t see through the Witch’s barrier. I understand that quite a few demons have sought refuge with the Witch’s faction to escape the Outer Gods.”

When Yuder and Cordelia had waged war against Asmodeus in the past, they had not fought alone.

The Witch of the Deep Forest and her close friend, the demonic master craftsman Cassius.

The Seraphim Manael, who had wandered Hell alone, continuing his solitary war.

And even the demonic slaves who had rebelled against Asmodeus and pledged their loyalty to Yuder and Cordelia.

Yuder and Cordelia had led a faction against Asmodeus, and that faction remained intact even after the war ended.

-Leave it to me.

Unlike Yuder and Cordelia, who had to return to Pleiades, the Witch of the Deep Forest had no need to do so. She was a witch who was already, it was no exaggeration to say, half-demon.

“Doesn’t it look bigger?”

“I think so, too.”

Looking at the vast forest spread before them, Yuder narrowed his eyes slightly. Just as Cordelia had said, the forest had indeed grown larger.

Was it because the Witch’s power had grown stronger, or had her faction expanded, claiming the ownerless land while they were away?

Either way, it wasn’t a bad thing. Yuder and Cordelia tossed the demon, who was begging to be released, to the Triant gatekeepers of the forest and quickened their pace.

“A path is opening.”

It was just as Yuder said.

As if they had entered the dwelling of the Fairies, the surrounding scenery changed rapidly with every step they took. The Witch of the Deep Forest was clearly summoning them.

And then, in an instant.

The rapidly changing scenery came to a halt.

Intertwined branches blotted out the sky, and the trees were incredibly tall. Moss covered the ground beneath them, and a breeze carrying the scent of water blew from somewhere.

And before them stood a great throne.

“It has been a long time.”

A beautiful woman sat upon a tree that had not been carved or cut, but had grown into the shape of a throne on its own. Long, black hair flowed down like silk, enveloping her entire body, and between its strands was her pure white, naked form.

Her languid expression was punctuated by moist, violet eyes.

“Uh… Lady Witch. You didn’t happen to have a class change or something, did you?”

Like to a Succubus Queen?

Seeing the Witch, whose aura of decadence was far stronger than when they had last met, Cordelia covered Yuder’s eyes and asked. The Witch, as always, replied with a languid smile.

“That is not entirely incorrect.”

“Eh, really?”

“Yes, but that is not a story for now. There is something far more important, is there not?”

A smile still graced the Witch’s face, but Cordelia could feel it.

The Witch was not in a normal state.

The damage to her body and soul seemed considerable.

“Five days have passed since the Outer Gods’ invasion began. Many things have happened in those five days. But stories have their priorities. First, I wish to tell you what you need to know most.”

A sprout seemed to shoot up at Yuder and Cordelia’s feet, and in an instant, it grew into a thick tree, forming the shape of an elegant chair.

Yuder gently pushed away Cordelia’s hand that was covering his eyes and looked at the Witch.

He didn’t need to use the clairvoyance of the Nine Heavens and Nine Gates to tell that the Witch was not in good condition. Perhaps she had already fought a fierce battle against the Outer Gods to protect her forest.

‘It’s also bothering me that I can’t see Cassius or Manael.’

But as the Witch said, everything had its priorities.

Instead of saying anything, Yuder assumed a listening posture. The Witch, as if noting he hadn’t changed, gave another languid smile and spoke.

“As I said before, the Outer Gods appeared in Hell five days ago. But I believe they appeared in Pleiades a little earlier. After all, it was right after Pleiades was sealed that the lost Outer Gods descended upon Hell and the Heavenly Realm.”

It was the same context as the story they heard from the demon.

But for the Outer Gods to have descended not only upon Hell but also the Heavenly Realm…

Just how many Outer Gods had flocked to Pleiades for this to happen?

“First, I must explain to you about the Outer Gods.”

Outer Gods. As the name implies, gods from outside.

Divine beings from a world other than our own.

“Just as there are many kinds of gods, there are also many kinds of Outer Gods.”

The surrounding scenery changed again.

In a dark, violet universe, small starlights emitted a pitiful glow.

“A world is a garden, and a god is the gardener who tends it. Therefore, a god’s power comes from the world itself.”

It was a fundamental principle, a fact that Yuder and Cordelia had already learned through experience.

“That is why gods rarely leave their own worlds, unless they have special business. Therefore, unless it is a god from a neighboring world like Pleiades, Hell, or the Heavenly Realm, witnessing an Outer God is by no means an easy task.”

In fact, even the gods belonging to those three worlds mostly remained in their own realms, rarely revealing themselves directly in another world.

“But there are gods who are not like that. The Outer Gods. Those who have lost their worlds. Pitiful beings who have lost the believers who would have faith in and serve them.”

Just as vengeful spirits who have lost their bodies crave and covet the flesh of the living, the Outer Gods desired a world. They yearned for believers who would once again offer them faith.

“Having lost their foundation, they are bound to weaken and be forgotten with the flow of time. That is why they wander through various worlds to gather power, so as not to be forgotten, to replenish their depleting souls.”

They would either make contracts in exchange for souls, much like demons, or directly devour souls, like the whale monster that had charged the demon horde.

“Outer Gods rarely form groups. But this time, they have formed an unusually large group. Moreover, an unconventional Outer God, one with enough power to seal an entire world, has also intervened.”

Why did something like this happen?

Who on earth caused all this, and for what purpose?

“I do not yet know who that Outer God is. But it is clear that this Outer God is the one who summoned all the others to Pleiades and sealed it to block any new outside intervention.”

Yuder grasped the context of the Witch’s story.

It meant that, in the end, there was one ultimate enemy.

An Outer God with enough power to seal a world.

“Is there a way to enter Pleiades?”

At Yuder’s question, the Witch took a deep breath, slowly closed her eyes, and began a new story.

Not all Outer Gods possessed a physical form.

Not all Outer Gods possessed the power to seal a world.

Most of the Outer Gods who descended upon Pleiades simply wanted to run rampant and sate their hunger, but there were others who did not.

The Outer Gods who had decided to align themselves with Aylia, the Goddess of the Broken World, began to act in their own ways to help her.

Those with physical forms descended directly into the world, while those without sought a proxy in Pleiades to carry out their will and power.

And one among the Outer Gods found a certain soul.

A soul that shone with a breathtaking light amidst the murk.

A soul that should have already died and vanished, but was defying the natural order through its powerful yearning.

An Outer God approached the soul.

Drawn to the incredibly tempting soul, other Outer Gods gathered as well.

An Outer God spoke.

I will give you a body once more.

I will grant you life again, even if it is a false one.

The soul responded.

Reason began to dawn in the murk that had been nothing but desire.

It was a strange soul, more twisted and hideous than one could imagine, yet it held a vast purity.

For that reason, the Outer Gods showed even greater avarice for the soul before them.

The gathered Outer Gods laid out their sweet contracts.

-I will give you the power to shatter the heavens.

-I will give you a body that will never decay.

-I will give you powerful mana.

-I will give you…

Countless authorities and special powers.

The powers of the Outer Gods, any one of which could plunge the world into chaos.

They were things anyone would covet.

Offers that no one would refuse.

But the soul, having gained reason and become self-aware, showed an unexpected reaction.

“I have no need for such things.”

Authority and special powers only cloud one’s vision.

Such things only clutter the path to the Horizon.

He knew from experience.

He could declare it with certainty, for he had seen his foolish self make the same choice in every given opportunity, only to lose his way.

A fool intoxicated by demonic power, reliant on poison, lost in powerful mana, who had lost sight of the path he truly needed to walk.

He rejected all authority and special powers.

He simply rose from death and grasped a single sword.

And the man saw.

The path he had walked.

A path that stretched straighter and more beautifully than any other, yet had been severed midway.

And the man saw again.

What lay beyond the broken path.

The Horizon of Swords he had yearned for ever since he first held a blade.

“I have no need for such things.”

All that was needed was the will to move forward.

The same kind shown by the incomparably steadfast successor to the Holy King.

The man let out a laugh.

And he took a step.

Towards the Horizon.

Following the straight path he had lost.

Rune Proud.

The First Sword.

He raised his sword once more.

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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