Chapter 7 – Assault #2

Athalia steadied her breathing.

The tragedies unfolding across the world, the screams of the people, resounded in her head, but she fought to regain her composure.

It was a difficult thing to do.

The young god’s small, frail body was instantly drenched in a cold sweat, and helpless tears streamed from her eyes like a spring.

But still, Athalia struggled to calm herself.

She clenched her jaw and lifted her head.

“Ninety-two entities.”

That was the number of Outer Gods who had descended upon Pleiades.

Not all of them were powerful beings.

A considerable number of them had lost their worlds and their followers, retaining only the empty shells of their divinity.

Athalia re-categorized them.

At the same time, she attempted to communicate not only with the Old Gods who were beginning to reawaken but also with the Golden Dragon King residing in the far north.

The Golden Dragon King was fighting.

The Outer Gods who had descended upon the Wild Lands were clashing with the Wild Gods in a war.

The battle had only just begun, but its intensity was beyond imagination.

Though they may have fallen and grown weak, it was still a battle between beings of divinity.

“Thirty-two in the north.”

About a third of the Outer Gods had descended upon the Wild Lands.

It seemed like a random descent, but Athalia didn’t think so.

Iria’s intentions were embedded in the Outer Gods’ descent.

‘Isolate the Golden Dragon King.’

With Yuder and Cordelia absent, and considering that she herself was a chief god in name only, the most powerful divine being in Pleiades was the Golden Dragon King.

Although he was a being bound to the Wild Lands, he was the greatest threat to Iria, so keeping him occupied and unable to focus elsewhere was a rather rational decision.

And Athalia was certain.

‘She knows.’

Iria didn’t just know about the existence of the World Stones.

She clearly knew where the World Stones—the ones Athalia had split into three—were located.

The Sailun Kingdom and the Argon Empire.

There were over ten nations in the West, but the Outer Gods had descended upon only two of them.

It wasn’t just because the territory occupied by those two was larger than all the other nations combined.

‘It’s intentional.’

She was not deploying Outer Gods to lands without World Stones. This was a deliberate choice, even though the very purpose of the Outer Gods was to sow discord and create chaos across the regions.

Athalia closed her eyes and focused her consciousness.

Through the eyes of the Holy Cross Guardians stationed at the border between the West and the East, she saw the battlefield.

The Azure Dragon’s grand army, numbering well over several hundred thousand, was surging westward like a tidal wave.

It was no mere human army.

It was an inhuman legion, comprising not only Outer Gods but also the demonic beasts once commanded by the Demon Worshippers.

‘Breaking through in one go is impossible.’

The armies of the Sailun Kingdom and the Argon Empire were there.

Though the two nations were hostile to each other, they would surely join forces against the Azure Dragon’s army.

Moreover, Belkian and Fran were positioned at the border.

No matter how powerful the Azure Dragon’s army was, it would be impossible for them to break through the border in a single stroke and march toward the Royal Capital and the Imperial Capital.

Then why?

What was the meaning of this army?

‘It’s the same as the Wild Lands.’

It was to increase the number of places they had to defend.

With a massive army of hundreds of thousands bearing down on them, the Kingdom’s and the Empire’s armies had no choice but to defend the border.

Because of the rumors about the Azure Dragon, they wouldn’t be able to recall those stationed at the border back to the Royal and Imperial Capitals either.

‘She really does know.’

The locations of the World Stones.

The Royal Capital of the Sailun Kingdom, the Imperial Capital of the Argon Empire, and the capital of the Yudelia Holy Nation.

The three safest and most well-defended locations on the western continent.

Athalia closed her eyes for a moment and exhaled.

She swallowed dryly, then clenched her jaw again and looked ahead with the eyes of a god.

The reality she had anticipated, but had hoped most to avoid, was unfolding before her.

“It’s a blitzkrieg.”

Standing under a sky full of brilliant starlight, Iria spoke with a pleasant smile.

Her discovery of Pleiades was not a recent event.

She had known about Pleiades for a very, very long time.

The goddess of a broken world.

The last survivor of a broken world.

A lonely soul, left all alone after losing her world, her people, and everyone she loved.

Her discovery of Pleiades was not a coincidence, but an inevitability.

It was the result of tracing the few remaining threads of fate in her broken world. The traces left behind by one who had ascended and left the world long ago.

At first, she had simply watched.

She had even cheered for Athalia and Yuder, who rose up time and again, never giving up despite the repeated trials.

But that was as far as it went.

Watching Yuder and Cordelia, Iria thought to herself.

That she, too, wanted a happy ending.

That she, too, had to rise up to seize her own happiness.

“I will reclaim my world.”

I will make my broken world whole again.

I will fill the world with life once more.

Recalling her long-lost people, Iria looked ahead with a tearful smile.

Everything was going according to plan.

Pleiades had been thrown into chaos by the Outer Gods descending across the world, and the Kingdom’s and Empire’s armies, having sensed the presence of the great army dispatched from the East, had no choice but to deploy numerous troops and armaments to the border.

So, let’s deliver the decisive blow here.

Let’s push a war of speed and make it so Athalia can’t even begin to formulate a response.

“Three World Stones in total.”

The framework of the world, the origin of the world, exposed by Athalia’s repeated, reckless attempts to stitch the world together.

Iria stretched her long, slender fingers forward.

She unstintingly unleashed the moves she had prepared to seize victory.

It was supposed to be a day like any other.

Waking up to a dim sky where morning and night were mixed, training, washing up, and tidying my clothes before heading to the royal palace under the sunlight.

“Good morning.”

“Yes, good morning.”

After greeting Maia at the main palace, I head to the Knight Commander’s office.

Once I finish the minor paperwork, it’s already noon, and I head to the main palace for a meal.

I used to eat with my subordinates in the knight barracks, but I started taking care of Maia, who often skipped meals, so now I always have lunch at the main palace.

Because whenever I asked her to eat with me, Maia would pretend to give in and have her meal.

After lunch, I inspect the palace grounds once before heading out on patrol.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call the Yudelia Holy Nation a city-state, but it still took more than a day to meticulously patrol the entire border.

I set out on patrol with Maia seeing me off.

Today, I’m not patrolling the entire border, just the northern section, so I should be back before dinner.

-Tonight, I’ll prepare the grilled pork and honey-pickled peaches that you like, Dahlia.

A smile forms on my face as I recall what Maia whispered in my ear just before I left.

It’s not that I’m a glutton, but—Maia’s cooking is just so delicious. And the honey-pickled peaches are so sweet.

It would be so nice if the Young Lady could eat with us too. I wonder when she’ll be back. I hope she comes back soon.

Lost in thought, I arrive at the northern border before I know it.

High walls and soldiers.

His Holiness the Pope—Young Master Yuder—paid so much attention to defense that the entire border of the Yudelia Holy Nation is surrounded by a full three layers of walls.

It might seem a bit excessive, but knowing that it keeps the Young Lady, Maia, and the people of the Yudelia Holy Nation safe gives me peace of mind.

“It’s pretty.”

My eyes are drawn to a single white flower blooming a little way off the road.

It’s pure and elegant, just like Maia.

‘Maia is just so beautiful.’

So much so that even another woman like me can’t help but be in awe.

I suddenly recall something that happened last winter.

I was sitting side-by-side with Maia in front of the fireplace, chatting… and her face, illuminated by the firelight, was so beautiful that I found myself staring, completely mesmerized.

Her flushed cheeks and long, slender eyelashes truly made her look like a doll.

“I wonder if she’d like it if I brought it to her.”

The thought of Maia’s smiling face makes my body move before I can even decide.

I carefully pluck the flower, roots and all, and wrap it in the handkerchief Maia embroidered for me—

Suddenly, I snapped my head up.

An ominous feeling sent a shiver down my entire body.

At the same time, the screams and wails of my subordinates erupted from behind me.

“Commander—”

I couldn’t look back. I was thrown by a massive explosion and impact, sent tumbling to the ground.

“Haa… ugh… ha…”

Dahlia forced her eyes open.

Thoughts and memories—she couldn’t tell if they were from a dream or her own mind—forcibly connected with the present.

“Ugh… ah…”

She grimaced at the sharp, tingling pain.

Her whole body ached, and the sensation in her lower legs was dull.

Forcing her head up, she saw a piece of shrapnel embedded in her thigh, her lower body covered in blood.

“Kkheuk…”

After pulling out the shrapnel, she pressed her palm against her thigh and managed to push her upper body upright.

It was a horrific sight. The ground was scorched black, her horse and subordinates had literally melted, and infernos blazed everywhere.

Dahlia poured a potion she carried on her wound and, with a groan, forced herself to her feet.

The sky was gray.

But it was still daytime, and Dahlia knew she hadn’t been unconscious for long.

The border wall was different from before.

Instead of focusing on the collapsed wall, Dahlia turned to look in the direction of the royal palace.

Smoke was rising.

Dark, ominous black smoke.

If the Sailun Kingdom had its Ten Sword Masters, the Empire had its twelve Sword Masters.

Sara Carnot.

One of the Empire’s famed Sword Masters, she clutched her severed wrist and stared at the man before her.

She had never seen him before.

But Sara had a feeling she knew who the man was.

That was why she couldn’t comprehend the current situation.

On the blood-soaked road, the man swung his sword. It couldn’t be blocked. Just like the dozens of knights who lay fallen by the roadside, she and the others were cut down mercilessly before the man’s blade.

“The First… Sword.”

The man’s title. The fallen Sword Saint from the Kingdom who had beheaded Grand Sword Master Galahad, the one once hailed as the Empire’s strongest—no, he was a tool of the demons.

He was dead. Yuder Bayer had executed him.

And yet, that very man was here, right before her eyes.

He was simply swinging his sword as he entered the Imperial Capital.

I have to stop him.

But her body wouldn’t move.

It wasn’t just because her wrist was severed and her chest was slashed.

The man before her was terrifying.

Frightening.

She didn’t want to face him again.

Sara Carnot got up, crying. Trembling, she somehow took a step forward to block the man’s path.

The First Sword glanced back at her.

A faint smile touched his lips as he swung his sword.

With no time to resist, Sara was slashed deeply across the stomach and collapsed, vomiting a torrent of blood.

Sara had been at a distance the sword strike shouldn’t have reached, but to the current First Sword, such distances held little meaning.

Only the act of cutting mattered.

“Is this the Horizon?”

The First Sword murmured lowly and looked ahead.

He could see the massive gate that stood before the road leading to the Imperial Capital.

How high was it?

Even by a rough estimate, it had to be over ten meters.

The First Sword advanced toward the gate.

The cowards who had fled after seeing the Imperial Knights, including a Sword Master, being slaughtered had long since sealed the gate shut, but he paid it no mind.

One slash.

He swung his sword, and the gate split apart.

No, it wasn’t just the gate that was cut.

The entire fortress wall was cleaved in two.

The gate collapses.

The wall that blocked the First Sword’s path is gone.

The First Sword gazed beyond the straight road.

He looked toward the Imperial Palace at the heart of the capital, his vision layering it over the world beyond the Horizon.

A smile spread across the First Sword’s face again.

Following the straight path, the First Sword took a step.

He moved forward.

A state of emergency was declared in the Royal Capital.

Having experienced the Demon Worshippers’ assault, the Royal Capital was no longer the same as it was in the past.

Less than an hour after martial law was declared, it had transformed into a perfect fortress city.

“The enemy is coming.”

Crown Princess Daphne clenched her fists and glared beyond the city walls.

Not long after Archangel Raguel’s voice faded, Athalia’s voice had come through. That was why they were able to prepare in advance.

The Royal Guard Magic Corps, led by Prince Dion, lined the top of the walls.

The Sword Masters staying in the Royal Capital also assumed combat stances.

The defenses were formidable.

It seemed that even an army of tens of thousands—no, a hundred thousand—would find it difficult to bring down the Royal Capital now.

But the man paid no heed to such things.

He was a giant of a man.

Beside the giant man with a scar-covered body and the eyes of a dragon stood four Outer Gods in the form of beasts.

The Azure Dragon.

The one who had accepted the power of countless Outer Gods and become a Human God himself.

“For a new world.”

The world promised by Iria, the goddess of the broken world.

The Azure Dragon unleashed his power.

He made a star fall toward the Royal Capital.

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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