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"Arrrrrrh! Help! HELP!”
“Uuuuogh, he-help me. Pleas— Don’t leave me…”
“Kuuuh! Kraf! Kraf!”
54 human and beastmen followers lost
Total follower count updated. Total follower of [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]: 2575
If 75 more were to die, I might just lose the milestone reward. I can’t let this happen any further! Halo of Consecration!
A flame halo formed on my head as white flames burst from me, destroying any chimeric monsters the moment I landed on the streets. Of course, given how much everybody was already panicking, even to the point where some people were being trampled on, my sudden appearance startled everybody and made things even worse in spite of my intentions.
The first thing I had to do was to calm people down.
Remembering what happened in Caederaille, I clad my wings in white flames before releasing a wave of fire to burn away any enemies and heal any of the wounded. I jumped up into the air, taking myself as high as possible before using [Aerokinesis] to amplify my voice.
“People of Griffonpeak, the Goddess’s Champion is here with you! My white flame is the sign of my allegiance to her, so I ask of you to embrace the white grace it holds in its warmth! Move to the merchant district! Your King’s knights are creating a defensive position over there! Move, and walk in the Goddess’s light!”
[Sanctified Blaze: Halo of Consecration]’s effect activated, applying a [Sanctified Blaze] on everybody within my zone of influence. White flames erupted from people’s bodies, healing them of any wounds they received.
While they did panic at the start, my announcement and the fact it didn’t burn them seemed to have calmed them down. Their mood even turned around when the flames around their bodies jumped off to burn any approaching monster or undead, searing it to ash in a matter of seconds.
They need Stamina to run!
“Is this the fated battle, the light shines ♫
It’s blinding my sight ♫
But I’ve gotta hold on, the stage calls ♫
The cries of a thousand, the flames of war will descend ♫”
[Music Resonation (Moderate)] [Stage Fever (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
This was where my [Idol] skill shined — supporting multiple people at once with music. Among my three spellsongs, [The Will to Fight and Survive] was the best for motivating people and giving them the infinite Stamina to run away.
As the flicker of hope was regained in these people’s eyes, it quickly faltered once again as more hideous monsters suddenly appeared. Large undead land-bats and felwings appeared suddenly with a few crypt horror-like zombies coming straight out of something from ResidentXBiohazard. Just this sight alone was enough to terrify people.
Before the monsters could do anything, however, I swooped down, cleaved them like butter with my flaming glaive and shot down the remainders with its gun function. Everything had to be done with white flames right now. I had to use my status as Aurena’s champion to help these people first.
“T-Thank you, champion! Thank you very much for rescuing us!”
“Lady Hestia, please, my husband is stuck in our apartment after rescuing us! Please, save him!”
“Ahhhh, thank you, thank you! Argh, this pain… I thought I was about to die! Thank you, may the Goddess’s light be with you!”
49 human and beastmen have become your followers
Total follower count updated. Total follower of [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]: 2624
The citizens of Griffonpeak still ran away from the threats in terror, but I managed to prevent them from trampling on others, or even sacrificing each other for a moment of safety. Still, from the cries I could hear all around me, I knew my job was far from done. No, the city was too large, it was impossible for me to help all of them at once.
All I could do was to save those in front of me as I made my way to Eshe. I saw adventurers and soldiers helping out, but even then, my follower count was still falling. The situation was dire for the city, and it seemed like the knights hadn’t been properly mobilized yet.
What was taking them all so long?!
25 human and beastmen followers lost
Total follower count updated. Total follower of [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]: 2599
Dammit, some of them are regenerating now. Why? I need to burn them to cinders quickly, at least they can’t heal after some holy fire!
The threat was a mix of undead corpses along with monsters similar to the abominations Davison kept experimenting on in his basement, though the majority of the enemies were definitely the undead. While they hadn’t been regenerating at first, they were all doing it now. This enhanced resilience was making it impossible for the adventurers to hold them back.
Holy fire was the best cure for this pest. Anything burned by my holy elemental spells or flames quickly withered and stayed in the ground indefinitely. The militia and common soldiers began to hail me for my help, but the thundering roars of the giant geisenlarg king gave everybody a grim reminder of the reality of the situation.
The battlefield in the lower city was just the beginning, a prelude to the threat behind the walls.
I should be fighting there! But… Eshe has to come first! I need to make sure she and the children are safe!
Most of my acquaintances in Griffonpeak were either from the nobility or the adventurer guild, both fully capable of defending themselves. I didn’t need to worry about them yet, but Eshe was another matter. The orphanage was close to the walls, and most of the monster attacks were in the market district, not the merchant or noble districts. Even the geisenlarg looming around was a big problem, too.
94 human and beastmen have become your followers
Total follower count updated. Total follower of [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]: 2693
But I couldn’t help myself. Everybody was suffering, I couldn’t just leave them to their fate. It was at this point that I was the most thankful for the fact that I developed my parallel minds, magic abilities, and flame power the most. Saving people becomes much easier when everything could be done remotely and with ten other mes.
“Prayer!”
[Blessing of the Goddess of Light (Moderate)]inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
It was done quickly, as I only needed to give people the energy and motivation to move their legs. You could say whatever you wanted about faith and religion, but when it mattered most, using it to my advantage to push the average citizen forward was a real boon.
Experience has reached multiple breaking points. [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]’s Job [Incandescent Blaze] has risen from [Level 0] to [Level 2]
Attributes have increased due to level up
Cleansing and incinerating any enemy in my way, I eventually made my way to the orphanage. This could have been done so much faster if I had flown here. I knew what I did was the correct decision, but I was worried sick for Eshe and the orphanage, and that meant bad thoughts.
“Harrr! Flow of Sand’s Blade!”
“Sandstorm Dance!”
Monsters were swarming the orphanage, growling as they went on a frenzy, attacking anything in the neighbourhood. Fortunately, three blades sliced and diced anything attempting to enter the orphanage, cleaving through undead and chimeric flesh alike. Once they were dead, purifying light engulfed their remains, preventing them from regenerating.
Sir Alikar and Dame Anivh!
They weren’t in their [Honored, Sworn Knight] form, but they were still slaughtering everything without an issue with their khopeshes, leaving Eshe to cast [Purify] the corpses, an anti-undead spell gained from [Holy Magic Lv. 10].
After I helped out by cleaving a few monsters apart myself, I greeted them, glad to see them safe, only for Alikar and Anivh to stand between Eshe and me. They suddenly asked me how our first meeting went without any warning.
Huh? Are they testing me?
I answered them, describing the time when I first met Anivh back when I first snuck into Griffonpeak to have Aurena fix Ellaine’s issue, before meeting Alikar and Eshe at the altar room. Satisfied, they let me through. Naturally, Eshe scolded them, but Alikar used that chance to whisper, “Apologies, Lady Hestia. That morphling is an issue, you see.”
I understood his reasoning. If I was that demonkin, letting me through would have been a major issue. Sure, it was kinda a leap since I showed them my glaive and white flames, but it was better to be safe than sorry, especially if Eshe’s safety was their primary objective.
“Lady Eshe, you should go to the merchant district. The cathedral there should be able to protect you unlike at the orphanage!” I told her after hugging her, elated to see her safe and sound.
“The kids, Lady Hestia. There are too many, and Sir Alikar and Dame Anivh can’t protect them on the way,” Eshe explained. “Staying at the orphanage was the best choice in our situation.”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
That was the perfect reason. Eshe would never abandon the kids, no matter what happened.
“Then use the subspace! I gave you those runes for your safety, but I also permitted the kids to enter the [Room] so just put them inside and run to the cathedral!” I pointed out to Eshe’s surprise.
“I-I haven’t tried it out. I wasn’t sure how the runes worked, so I didn’t want to accidentally break them.”
Oh verdammt, maybe I should have told her how to use them!
“Give them to me, please, I’ll show you.” As her knights continued destroying monsters, Eshe handed me the [Room] runes and we entered the orphanage. My halo was still active; it should be supporting her knights well enough.
“Big Sis!”
“You’re safe, you’re safe! Thank the Goddess.”
The young kids ran up to me the moment they saw me, trembling and weeping as they let their stress out. I soothed them for a moment before telling them that we had to hurry up. I threw the runes on the ground, activating the portal.
“Everybody, please come in.” I guided the kids and Eshe into the subspace. Having been brought into the community area, they were pretty surprised to see such a large area for them to stay in. Even the kids stopped being scared for a moment.
“Eshe, bring everybody inside. Your knights, too. I’ll carry the runes to the cathedral, and I’ll set you off there.” Eshe, the caretakers, and I dashed out of the church and began bringing the kids into the subspace; however, the evacuation didn’t exactly go too smoothly since a lot of the kids were being a bit too selfish for my taste.
Some of them didn’t want to leave their toys or small possessions behind, especially the older kids who had jobs. The money was important for their future, and they would rush into their rooms and grab their stashes out. This significantly slowed down the process.
Only when a few monsters broke the walls of the church did the kids’ survival instincts finally kick in. My arrival seemed to have calmed them down a bit too much. After I dispatched the monsters, we managed to get everybody into the subspace. As Eshe and I were about to call her knights into the [Room], too, somebody suddenly flew over to me, calling down from above.
A griffon and gargoyle? Huh? Arcanuess and Arcaliess Helvas?
Arcanuess Helvas and his wife flew over to us with Tasianna, Saori, and Grimnir, whose armor was splattered with blood for some reason.
“Lady Hestia, have you seen my daughter or Lady Amelia?!” the Arcanuess shouted, looking pale as a ghost.
Huh?
“The servant told us that they saw a shadow of a man or something leaving the Greenveil mansion after we discovered that Ellaine and Amelia were missing!” Arcaliess Helvas informed us. “We originally thought Ellaine left to join up with your party, but when Miss Saori arrived, she told us she wasn’t with us!”
Saori continued, standing on a floating ice disk with Grimnir. “I thought she might have gone over to Grimnir to regroup with him, only to find Grimnir standing over the corpses of multiple black-robed men. Assassins, Hestia. Assassins attacked Helvas mansion, killing a few servants before invading our RV!”
“What, you can’t be serious!” I cried out.
“By Crustacia’s twin locks, lass, it’s the truth. Those damn bandits entered the RV, unaware of the subspace, so I managed to eavesdrop on them mentioning that bladdarg Hamil was their boss. I captured them, but they killed themselves before I could get any information out of them,” Grimnir explained, showing off the blood on his hammer and armor. “We ought to hurry up, the two girls aren’t in a good situation if some invader took out Ellaine.”
Scheiße, why is everything going wrong?! Ellaine, where are you?! Please, be safe…
Using common sense, Ellaine couldn’t be dead yet. The System always informed me when somebody gained my [Hestia’s Retainer] title, above and beyond what I recieved for gaining a new follower. I also get a system notice whenever one of my followers dies. I didn’t know if it was true or not, but if Ellaine had died, then it stood to reason that there should have been a message or two to inform me of it. I had to hold onto this hope. I had to.
“Lady Hestia, please, go. My knights and I can make it the rest of the way, so you should focus on saving Lady Ellaine,” Eshe urged me after seeing me look up in horror.
“W-What, no! Get into the [Room], Eshe!” In my anxiousness, I dropped her proper address. “If you walk through the city right now, you’ll only put yourself and your knights in danger! I can keep you safe while you are in the subspace.”
I couldn’t afford to lose another friend.
“No, I cannot, Lady Hestia,”
But Eshe objected.
“While I’m inside that area, I will not be able to help anybody. As a saintess, my duty is to the people. As the Goddess’s servant, I must mend their minds and bodies!”
“That’s stupid! You’re risking your lives by going through this hell! The monsters are everywhere, and you don’t know when a stronger monster might appear! Eshe, please, get into the subspace!”
“No!” Eshe shouted, putting her foot down. “While you need to save Lady Ellaine, I also have to prevent the worst for the kids of this city. This fighting… is the worst for any family. As you said, you would never know what threat will appear, but that is exactly why I must be free to act. I am a saintess of the Goddess of Light, I am there to bring hope and to banish the shadows. Every child deserves a family, they don’t deserve to live the life of an orphan, Lady Hestia!”
I was left speechless.
Family…
Eshe went back into the orphanage, picked up the runes and put them into her satchel. She then walked back to me, telling me to go. “Lady Ellaine is in danger, Lady Hestia! You need to prioritize your loved ones! Your friends! Trust in my knights to keep me safe!”
“Lady Hestia, we must go!” Arcanuess Helvas urged me. He was biting his lips in worry, causing them to bleed.
“I-I… Sir Alikar! Dame Anivh! Here, take these! Use them well!” I handed them as many holy flame grenades as they could carry, explaining to them how they functioned. “They can act as emergency healing! Please, use them liberally!”
““Yes, Lady Hestia! We shall protect the beacon of our light! May the Goddess’s light guide you through this chaos!””
“May the Goddess guide you through all of this! Lady Eshe… please, stay safe.” I hugged her one last time before flapping my wings, shooting up to join the others.
As we made our way to the red-light district, on our way to capture Hamil and retrieve Ellaine and Amelia, I suddenly realized something.
“Lord Helvas, Lady Helvas! Why are you coming with us! You need to help protect Eshe on her way to the cathedral!” I ordered them, still unnerved by Eshe’s inclination to be a hero in this situation.
“This is the second time you ask us to stay put when a child of ours went missing, Lady Hestia! Even if it’s you, this is an outright spit to our faces!” Arcanuess Helvas exploded, showing none of the calm and collected nature I was used to seeing in him.
“W-What?! Don’t you see what’s going on in the city, Lord Helvas! The city is in danger with all these monsters. Where are the damn knights?! I can’t see a single hippogryph or griffon knight descending down to help! You’re a knight of the realm, you need to help out!” At this point, I was only trying to push them away. To make sure they wouldn’t be harmed when we went down to Shaturein, but from the way I said it, it came out all wrong.
“Impertinence! Not only is our daughter, but even our son is missing right now! Jonathan was not at Lord Charleslyt’s mansion, we couldn’t make sure he was safe! And now you are asking me to calm down and ignore my family?! My children?! Lady Hestia, how dare—!”
“Andre, stop it!” Arcaliess Helvas interrupted her husband. “Lady Hestia, enough! We’ve made up our minds! Ellaine and Lady Amelia were kidnapped. Lord Duke Greenveil has sent out all available help to search for those two even while he is preparing himself to fight that abominable monster outside the wall! Parents are sacrificing themselves for either duty or their family, and my husband and I have chosen our daughter!”
Once again, the reasoning revolved around family and happiness. Eshe and the Helvas parents — both were thinking about their children in this case. I just couldn’t speak up against them. I couldn’t. Something was gnawing in my chest, something that made it hard for me to speak.
I nodded to the Helvas parents, accepting their reason. They loved their children too much. They searched for Jonathan for a whole day and night, not sleeping one bit and they even agreed to entrust us to search for him afterwards. Now, with their son missing and daughter swept away under their noses, how could I tell them off?
I kept silent and continued flying forward. Moments before we reached the red-light district, however, a sudden explosion of black mana erupted from the opposite side of where the geisenlarg king was attacking. Saori told us to stop, giving her some time to peer into the distance, noticing multiple large figures climbing up on buildings.
She couldn’t make them out, but her attention was more on the explosion. That black mana caused Saori’s fur to stand up.
“All of these undead. This can only be the work of that necromancer. I should have realized this earlier,” Saori uttered.
“But, Miss Saori, you already slew that necromancer. You disintegrated her body as you said, they can’t be alive!” Tasianna argued.
“Nay, Tasianna,” Grimnir interjected. “There are two possibilities — either this is the work of another necromancer, or what Saori actually killed wasn’t a normal necromancer, but a child who was strong enough to endure Ilsaphone’s soul extraction ritual.”
“A lich?” Tasianna’s eyes widened. Saori bit her lips, looking in the distance at the number of monsters flooding out from that location.
“Lord Helvas, do you think the nobles will still try to object to sending the knights down to the lower city?” Saori asked, frowning at what she had to say.
“The executive right to send out the knights without the bureaucracy is held by Lord Duke Lecartiglio, as the marshal of the realm, and His Majesty, our King. Both of them must agree to the decision before anything can happen, but Lord—”
“King Drangleic told me all the dukes outside of Duke Greenveil went back to their territory due to all the strife popping up everywhere. Fucking hell, did that damn demonkin plan all of this?! Is that piece of shit cardinal really sabotaging everything now?!” I roared out, feeling more and more sickened by that fat piece of shit.
“Why are you speaking of the cardinal, Lady Hestia?” Arcanuess Helvas asked.
“Lord Helvas, at the meeting inside the dungeon, we received information that criminal Hamil has been interacting with the cardinal. There were also multiple documents on nobles who dealt with Hamil. There is a chance all of this is going exactly as the demonkins want to,” Saori explained, causing the two Helvas parents to scowl.
Saori then looked back at the explosion. “You remember how I told you that necromancer was interested in my title [Watched by Edna]? I have a feeling she’s looking for a rematch. Hestia, I’ll—”
“Just come back alive, alright?” I answered. Somebody had to take care of the source of all these undead and monsters. If the damn knights weren’t helping ‘cause of a stupid, unflexible rule, then we had to do something about it ourselves.
“Got it, of course. I beat her once, I’ll do it again.” Saori smiled to calm me down. “Don’t forget, Muraina mentioned that the lycerepthors are down in Shaturein right now. If the demonkin is still among them, you will get in trouble. Also, Eithalr… avoid him at all cost, Hestia. We can’t be sure that Yanderu Eluseuss wasn’t hired by Hamil or the demonkin.”
I nodded. I wanted to avoid Eithalr at all cost after what happened. I don’t know how strong he was, and that was reason enough to not fight him if I could.
As we were about to leave, Grimnir stopped and told Saori to bring him with her, “You about to forget that I have your equipment, Saori?”
Grimnir took out two corrosive obsidian armguards, each with a large spherical hole in the middle, the perfect size to put in her twin catalysts.
“Going alone is suicide, let me come. I also need more test subjects for my new gauntlet.” Grimnir held up his left arm, showing off the power gauntlet he wore on it. As he tensed it, mana glowed blue in certain parts before steam escaped from two vents.
Did Ellaine and he finish the prototype?
When Saori nodded, Grimnir looked back at Tasianna and me. “Bring that lass back, alright? There is still much she hasn’t learned yet, and I need her back safe and sound to teach her everything my cousin knew.”
I gave him the thumbs up. “Count on it,” I said before buffing them up with my spells.
With our party once again separate, but now with two new members in Ellaine’s parents, we made our way down into Griffonpeak’s darkness.
Ellaine, we’re coming!
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“Goddess Aurena, I’ve sent the subordinate gods to their respective positions. They should be supporting the subordinates of the other Origin Gods while Kargryxmor is waiting for you at the crack.”
“Good job, Istari. Make sure to keep watch over the rest of the pantheon while I’m away.”
The trials Hestia and Aurora had to face wasn’t the only tribulation happening at the same moment, as Peolynca itself was facing its own tribulation — an otherworldly tribulation.
Aurena shut her administrator window and teleported herself in a ray of light outside her divine realm, appearing in an open area with nothing but an aurora of six colored mana. Although invisible to its inhabitants, this aurora covered the whole planet of Peolynca like a force field, protecting it from outside threats. This included the beings from the Origin God’s former dimension.
And now, there was a crack in this aurora, letting a foul wind seep into the divine realm. It began corroding the mana around it, turning it into a dark purple color before small black eyes sprouted from them. Fortunately, before it could spread, a sphere of calm wind blocked its path.
[“**//*^^^’;;.....///———**))-”] Gibberish escaped from the crack, a sound of madness filled with dark powers able to corrupt most beings' minds. Assuming they weren’t creatures already used to its insanity-inducing prose.
Suddenly, out of the crack, an amoeba-like creature burst through the crack, struggling to squeeze itself through it in a frenzy, but in the next second, floating rocks struck it, ripping every piece of its body, disintegrating it at the anatomical level.
“Haaaaa, those damn fuckin’ geezers! Can’t they just leave us alone already, or are they really that desperate to get us back for what we did?!” A small woman cried out in annoyance, shaking her head and petrified twintails in exasperation.
“Well, it cannot be helped, Crustacia.” The woman next to her, a woman with an elf’s appearance and two sets of rainbow-colored wings raised her hand. The wind sphere suddenly turned into a small tornado able to contort reality and space, sucking out multiple hideous globules from the crack. “Aurena, you’re here. Could you eliminate these pests? They’re all crowding around the crack as if there was a waiting line.”
“Of course, Elder Zephira.” Light rays shone from Aurena’s hand, illuminating the figures as they struggled inside Zephira’s cyclone. In the next moment, those rays cracked with the beings, shattering into tiny pieces and leaving behind a gaping dimensional hole for Aurena to fill up with light.
She then gathered the pieces in her hand, transforming them into a crystal before throwing them over to the giant bipedal dragon towering over these three women like an apartment complex.
“Here you go, Kargryxmor, eat it up. Anything our former gods send is most likely a lesser demon, so it should have some divine energy to satiate you.”
“Mrhm,” the giant black dragon groaned before swallowing the crystal ball whole. “Before I became a god, I would have never guessed that these demons would have divine energy like this.”
“They are like our angels and subordinate gods, Kargryxmor. You gained your apotheosis through us, so your divine powers should be similar to theirs,” Aurena explained. “What makes something divine isn’t its appearance, but the followers willing to pray to it. Now hush, you need another source of divinity as your religion is declining, so here, a buffet just for you.”
The Origin God’s former home, the dimension they came from, was currently attempting to break through to Peolynca. Former allies or acquaintances, now enemies. The Origin Gods could not allow them to enter Peolynca, for it would surely cause another disaster similar to their own advent over 2000 years ago.
However, unless the six Origin Gods were all incapacitated or unable to mend this protective aurora, there was little chance for these beings to break through it. This was especially the case if Plesia and Marsven were around to handle this situation.
“They should be inside the crack right now, correct?” Aurena asked.
Crustacia nodded. “Yeah. Those two might not be able to reach the level of their former glory inside Peolynca — there is still a long time of cultivation needed — but once they return to our old home dimension even temporarily, the energy of their followers and such should be enough to strengthen them enough to fight those idiots back.”
“Yup, our duty is to support those two. To make sure they come back home safely,” Zephira added. “Haaaa, if only Plesia hadn’t punished Danterno. If he were around and not down there, he could probably provoke one of them to have them send in stronger things to kill. If I could kill a couple of them, I might be able to absorb enough divine power to outrank Marsven.”
But their casual talking ended in the next moment, as more weird eldritch monsters attempted to come through the crack. The three Goddesses readied themselves by summoning their favorite artifacts and tools of war, fully committed to protecting their new home from any threats.
But at this moment, little did Aurena know that something was happening in her divine realm. Her administration window opened up…
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“So you are the griffon king, Assurfel.”
“Demonkin! You dare invade my home?! Are you powerful enough to traverse the tempest I have prepared for you?!”
The beautiful grassland filled with flowers was erased from existence as pillars of spiraling wind devastated everything in existence. Only a single house and graveyard were spared the wrath of this city-ruining power, protected by an equally powerful blessing of wind.
In the middle of the tempest’s eye, a four-winged griffon flew into the sky, eying down the small yellow horned man standing there, pushing the wind away with his magicks.
“Pah, of course I can. After all, you were the target all along, birdbrain. I swear on my blood, I, the Demonkin Prince of Pride shall take you down!”
A clash inside Griffonpeak’s dungeon was about to ensue. Humanity’s most threatening enemy from the demonkin was about to hit humanity in its most vulnerable state.
“Down with the Goddess of Light.” A small battle plea was invoked from outside the dungeon by a man in a suit with an eyed gavel emblem. He looked down at the city, having made up his mind on his two targets.