Chapter 8 – Escalation

As Athalia suffered, sensing the events unfolding across the world, Ayria spun around, a bright, beautiful smile on her lips.

First, cause chaos in various places, then deploy her strongest pieces to the locations of the World Stones.

Then, seize the World Stones in one fell swoop and finish the job.

By the time Yuder and Cordelia returned, everything would already be over.

“You’d better hurry, Athalia.”

Because simply watching a world shatter is a truly terrible thing.

Ayria lowered the hand she had raised high toward the sky, drawing a long line toward the ground.

Like the stars that had poured down on the royal capital.

Ayria smiled brightly once more. She hugged herself, reminiscing about everyone in her broken world.

Just as Dahlia had thought, Yuder’s defenses were excessive.

The Yudelia Holy Nation was protected by a triple-layered wall, and each wall was fortified with powerful barrier magic.

The royal palace was the same.

The palace itself was guarded by even more barriers than all those protecting the walls combined.

With elite knights in exoskeletal power armor and 9th-grade angels also stationed in the palace, its defensive power alone was by no means inferior to that of the royal or imperial capitals.

But that did not make them absolute. They were barriers destined to break before a greater power.

“Help me!”

“Kyaaah!”

“Mom!”

Amid the screams and wails, the Outer Gods let out cruel laughter as they collected souls.

Mechanical beasts and elite knights fought desperately to stop them, but it was a futile effort.

The triple-layered walls and dozens of barriers were no different from paper before the explosion of divinity.

They had a few mindless Outer Gods self-destruct to demolish the walls and barriers, then sent their forces through the wide-open gates.

From there, it wasn’t difficult.

The Yudelia Holy Nation was plunged into chaos in an instant, unable to mount a proper response to the tragedies erupting throughout its lands.

An Outer God.

One who shared the will of Ayria of the broken world.

A former main god who once had his own world, who had been revered by countless lives, but had now fallen.

He had dark blue hair and was one-armed, and in his single hand, he held a sword.

A fragment of a world of which only shards remained. A weapon forged from that very fragment into a single sword.

Having lost his own name, the Outer God known simply as the War God advanced toward the royal palace of Yudelia amidst the tragedy.

Ayria had promised.

That she would accept the War God once she restored the world. That she would let him live as a god once more in the new world.

The War God advanced toward the World Stone, recalling his own world that was now gone.

And then, a woman came into his view.

Not into his physical eyes, but into his clairvoyant sight, imbued with divine authority.

A young, beautiful woman with long, ash-gray hair.

Her beauty was exceptional, but that wasn’t why she caught his eye. It was because of her location.

“Too late, Athalia.”

Too late to move the World Stone elsewhere.

Deep in the palace underground.

The War God raised his sword and pointed it at the place where the woman—Maia—was located.

He unleashed the divine power that had shattered the walls.

[Maia, you must protect the World Stone.]

The voice came suddenly.

While the royal palace’s head chef was preparing a whole roasted pig, Maia had borrowed a corner of the kitchen to bake a pie.

It was an apple pie, Dahlia’s favorite.

Dahlia always pretended otherwise, but she had a great fondness for sweets.

However, that didn’t mean she liked things that were just mindlessly sweet.

The perfect level of sweetness that Dahlia loved most. Knowing that taste better than anyone, Maia smiled as she baked the pie, thinking of Dahlia’s face when she returned.

When will the Young Master and Young Lady return?

When will that new romance novel I ordered arrive?

As Maia was lost in such thoughts, staring at the oven, she was startled by the voice that suddenly rang in her head. She looked up, and at that moment, a tremendous shock struck the entire royal palace.

“Kyaaah!”

The floor, and indeed the entire building, shook as if in an earthquake.

Cooks and maids tumbled to the ground, and the sound of shattering plates filled the air.

But that was only the beginning.

Just as Maia, having struggled to her feet, was about to ask if everyone was alright, a second shock—this time closer—engulfed the palace.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

They were distinct explosions.

Not the rumbling of an earthquake.

[Maia, you must move the World Stone.]

The voice echoed in her head again.

It was the voice of a young girl.

Then, the shouts of knights filled her ears.

“Flee! It’s an enemy attack!”

“Kyaaaahk!”

The maids and cooks screamed and fled.

Maia pushed back her disheveled hair, trying to remain calm.

A knight who had shouted from a distance recognized her and yelled.

“Chamberlain! Get to safety!”

He was right.

If an enemy had invaded, she had to flee.

There was an evacuation plan the Young Master Yuder had prepared. If she hid for a while in the bunker located in the palace basement, everything would be alright.

Forcing herself to be calm, Maia took a step.

The knight had already run off again, as if he had no time to look after her.

What in the world was happening?

Who had invaded?

Was Dahlia safe? She had gone out on patrol to the border.

As the commander of the palace knights, was she fighting right now?

Her heart pounded relentlessly.

Her hands trembled with fear and worry.

[Maia!]

The girl’s voice filled her head again.

And Maia understood.

The young god, Athalia.

A being the Young Master and Young Lady had once spoken of.

The main god of our world.

The gracious one who had provided the key to ending the repeated tragedies.

Maia clasped her hands and was about to kneel in a posture of prayer.

But Athalia stopped her.

This was not the time for that.

[Excluding Yuder and Cordelia, only you and Dahlia can access the World Stone in the Yudelia Holy Nation.]

[Yuder made it so.]

[Maia, you must move the World Stone.]

[There should be a transport device prepared next to where the World Stone is stored. Use it to move the stone.]

At the urgent flood of words, Maia gasped for breath and nodded.

It was a frightening and terrifying task, but it was a command from her main god.

Carrying it out quickly was what mattered most.

But there was still something she had to ask.

Athalia had said that in an emergency, only Maia and Dahlia could access the World Stone.

Then why was she giving the order to Maia?

Dahlia—

“Dahlia… is Dahlia alright?”

[She is still alive. Hurry, Maia!]

Kwagagang!

Another roar and explosion erupted.

Swallowing a scream, Maia steadied herself against a wall and caught her breath.

The word ‘still’ was attached, but she had heard that Dahlia was alive.

So it was okay.

Right now, she could only think of the main god’s command.

Maia ran.

Calling out in her capacity as Chamberlain, she stopped several of the knights who were rushing about and had them follow her.

For now, she didn’t even think about what was happening.

The roars and explosions.

The screams that sounded like auditory hallucinations from the distance.

“Young Master. Young Master. Young Master.”

Maia called Yuder’s name, holding onto her fragile sanity.

She ran down into the basement, heading for the room where the World Stone was hidden.

It was the room Yuder had shown her before.

All I have to do is go inside. Open the door, carry out the main god’s command, and—

\———————!

The sound erased all other sound.

As the deafening roar erupted, Maia momentarily lost consciousness.

An explosion.

No, it was the effect of some power that the word ‘explosion’ was insufficient to describe.

“Ah… ugh…”

When she barely managed to open her eyes amidst the debris, tears streamed down her face unknowingly.

An immense pain shot through her leg.

Debris from the wall.

Her left leg was crushed.

Her entire body was covered in wounds from flying shrapnel.

“Ah… sob…”

Swallowing her tears, Maia bit her lip.

She tried to push away her fear and clear her head, but the pain and the situation wouldn’t allow it.

She was near the room where the World Stone was hidden.

A huge hole that hadn’t been there before had appeared in the wall.

Light streamed in, even though they were underground.

Was it connected to the outside?

How could a hole like that suddenly—

“Chamberlain, are you alright?”

At the sound of a familiar knight’s voice, Maia forced a nod.

Ralph.

One of the paladins of the Cordelia Church who guarded the royal palace.

He and two of the other three knights were getting up, but the last one was nowhere to be seen.

“Hic… sob.”

Maia swallowed her tears and tried to force herself to stand.

She had to carry out the main god’s command.

Ralph came over to help her up, and the two knights who had just managed to stand turned to look at the newly formed hole.

And then, the two men’s heads were severed.

To be precise, a dark blue something shot out from the hole, passed between the two, and their heads subsequently dropped to the floor.

It was a monster.

A monster the likes of which she had never seen, with four arms. It looked humanoid, but all four of its arms were swords, and an insect-like carapace covered its entire body.

Ralph turned toward the monster and drew his sword.

The monster charged at Ralph.

Maia saw what happened next.

Ralph’s waist was severed.

Sliced simultaneously through his arm and waist by the monster’s massive blade, Ralph was cut in two and slammed into the wall.

Maia collapsed to the floor again.

The monster looked at her.

With a face whose expression she couldn’t even discern, it took a step toward her.

The Goddess of Nine Heavens and Nine Gates had said:

[Cordelia cannot fully wield her divine power. Her soul is here, but the true vessel of her spirit and body is in Pleiades.]

Yuder understood.

Archangels like Cordelia were beings whose spirits and bodies were combined.

Therefore, to wield their full divinity, they needed their archangel bodies, the true vessels of their spirit and body.

[But you, Yuder, are different.]

Yuder, too, had left his original body in Pleiades.

But the Goddess of Nine Heavens and Nine Gates saw their cases differently.

This was because the paths they had taken to reach the realm of divinity were different from the start.

“Nine Heavens and Nine Gates.”

It was not a simple martial art, but a method of spiritual cultivation prepared for the ascension of one’s being. A path to transcendence.

To elevate one’s realm in the Nine Heavens and Nine Gates, not only spiritual growth but also the growth of the body to support it was necessary.

But that was because the practitioner of the Nine Heavens and Nine Gates was still a being bound to a physical form.

The true, highest realm of the Nine Heavens and Nine Gates was to become a transcendent being through the ascension of the soul. If one reached the same realm as the Goddess of Nine Heavens and Nine Gates, it was possible to wield complete divinity with the soul alone.

Moreover, it was crucial that the Nine Heavens and Nine Gates was not bound to any world.

The source of the gods was, after all, the worlds to which they belonged. If the gods were gardeners, their worlds were the gardens where they resided.

Therefore, the power of the gods was bound to weaken drastically the moment their connection to their world was severed. Just like the Outer Gods.

‘But the Nine Heavens and Nine Gates is different.’

The divinity of those who became transcendent through the Nine Heavens and Nine Gates was not based on any specific world to begin with. They made the practitioner’s own soul their world, so one who acquired divinity through it could wield that power without being restricted by any world.

But Yuder couldn’t immediately welcome the goddess’s words with a bright expression. He himself had opened the Nine Gates, but that was as far as he had gone.

‘There is something beyond the Nine Gates.’

Simply opening the gates was not the end.

To gain the advantages of the Nine Heavens and Nine Gates just listed, he had to reach a higher realm.

The proof was that the current Yuder was not a true god, but merely a demigod.

[You are right. At your current level, it is impossible.]

[But I will help you. With my help, you will be able to do it.]

Yuder felt both pleased and bewildered by the goddess’s proposal.

The Goddess of Nine Heavens and Nine Gates had always shown him great favor, but it felt like there had always been a line.

But this assistance crossed that line. It was a task that required the Goddess of Nine Heavens and Nine Gates to exert her own divinity.

Why? What was the reason for her sudden, active involvement? He was curious, but now was not the time to question it.

Nor was he in a position to be picky about help.

“I understand. I will accept the goddess’s will.”

After replying respectfully, Yuder relayed the words of the Goddess of Nine Heavens and Nine Gates to Cordelia and the Witch, who had been fidgeting, unsure of what was happening.

“I see, I understand what you mean. If you, Yuder, can wield your divinity—and if we can give you the proper acceleration at launch—it seems you’ll be able to reach Pleiades in time.”

To put it simply, it was like building a rocket that would fly using Yuder’s divinity as fuel.

Yuder nodded and looked at Cordelia. She squeezed his hand tightly and said, “I’m counting on you. But don’t overdo it. Okay?”

“Alright.”

Yuder gave a deliberately playful smile, kissed Cordelia, and then closed his eyes.

There was no time to purify himself and prepare for a ritual.

Even if it was rushed, he had to wield his divinity right now.

“I will begin.”

Yuder spoke softly and began to open the gates of the Nine Heavens and Nine Gates one by one.

The First Gate.

The Second Gate.

The Third Gate.

The Fourth Gate—

With each gate he opened, an aura of jet-black energy surged from his entire body. It was the power of the ‘Black Moon,’ Yuder’s essence.

And when Yuder finally opened the Ninth Gate.

The Goddess of Nine Heavens and Nine Gates unleashed her divinity.

She guided Yuder’s soul to a higher realm he could not yet reach on his own.

Yuder could see it.

A jet-black moon, sitting alone in a starless night sky.

And within it, his own true divinity.

The essence of his being.

Yuder’s own soul.

Yuder reached out his hand toward the Black Moon.

His essence, residing within the Black Moon, reached back to him.

The release of his true divinity.

The jet-black energy that erupted like an explosion swallowed the Witch’s forest.

---

Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

Please do consider subscribing to my Patreon or donate to my Ko-fi if you like this work or to get early access to chapters