Back in Rathe’s realm, she’d used the cowardice of the Fiends as an opportunity to bolster her forces. All of her minions that had been defeated were quickly replaced and even multiplied. Now the room was practically swimming with copies of herself, waiting to drown her enemies upon their return, all building up speed to overtake them even more. She’d made a few bigger and warped clones in an attempt to ambush her ungrateful children and catch them off-guard, having studied the way they attacked as the fight had drawn on.

But they sure were taking a while—too long for her liking or patience. The days for her usually rushed by like they were nothing, and she wouldn’t even notice months or years tick by. Now that something interesting had happened in her existence, though, the seconds had come to a crawl. Every moment she sat idle was grating on her nerves, and though she’d been isolated since the birth of the new world, the fact that the Fiends were entirely ignoring her was an insult she refused to suffer.

So she made her spawn attack the various furnishings that were scattered around. Their bearer might think them invincible, but nothing truly was, not even the demigod herself. Enough force just needed to be applied, likely more than she wanted to use, but she just couldn’t sit around doing nothing. Rathe would either break into the boxes and force the insubordinate irritations to come out and face her, or she’d at the very least rattle the domain they were hiding in to the point that they felt the need to escape. Either way, she’d get what she wanted.

And as a bit of extra punishment, she’d made holes in the floor and walls next to the fitments that weren’t hovering in the air and planned to push them in, wanting to bury them and get them out of her sight without ruining the sanctity of her open space. It likely wouldn’t kill any of them, because they’d have the same amount of room as the furniture they were hiding in. But a few of them might suffocate if they weren’t rescued in time. More entertainment and chaos.

And her various thralls were working to push all those that they could into their new confinements. But even budging them was proving to be tedious. It quickly turned out to be more effort than it was worth, yet the demigod remained stubborn. The choice to do so was made in haste, but she’d follow through. However, no single piece had been moved more than a few inches when suddenly and simultaneously every wardrobe had their doors flung open at once.

Fiends flew out with bursts of speed, zooming across the room in every direction. A few had trouble adjusting to their new velocity and weren’t particularly effective during their first trial run. Mainly, they tried to avoid crashing into a wall, or one of their coworkers, or one of the many pointy sets of claws that were trying to skewer them.

But a few took to the new power like they’d always had it, making full use of the ability to fight like never before. Hundreds of Rathe clones were destroyed in the blink of an eye, making the observer on the throne squirm slightly as she witnessed the terraforming slaughter.

Yet all she had to do was provide a little power, and the massacred number was instantly replaced. Even though the demigod was able to keep up with stone-hating genocide, she was starting to feel the pressure, since she’d swiftly lost the advantage in the battle. Her divine energy was being drained faster than ever before, and any damage she was inflicting earlier had all but halted. But it was still far from over.

“Tize, what do you say?” Jaid held out her hand to the man when they happened to converge during laps of their respective gauntlets.

“Of course,” the soldier agreed, grabbing The Paladin’s gauntlet and then dissolving. 『Synchronization Rate: 96%』 Just as before, Jaid’s body became fully armored with Tize covering the spots that were previously unprotected. But then something unexpected happened.

『Error』 『Unable to incorporate Divine Relic. Host’s fealty has changed. Gift of flight has been rescinded.』 『Overwrite Relic to new divine entity?』

“Err, yes?” Jaid gave the approval, though she wasn’t quite sure what she was agreeing to. Perhaps if she’d known what would happen, she’d at least have given it a second thought. The visor on the back of her head, woven into her hair, the gift passed down from her mother, it abruptly changed.

Though not a drastic difference, it was forged into a new piece entirely. The winged tips that rested just above Jaid’s eyes morphed. It roughly retained the same overall look, but instead of fine feathers, the ends became sharp thorns.

But that wasn’t the only part that was altered. Since the relic had changed, the armor had to match with it, to become a proper representative of the new deity she’d sworn to follow. The plating covering her torso morphed, becoming a lot sleeker and darker in color to match their demigod, and then came the titular thorns, though they were closer to short spiky studs. Ultimately, the outfit came out looking more like an edgy biker’s garb rather than that of an elegant knight.

Though the woman couldn’t really complain about the results. 『You’ve placed your trust, and now you will be rewarded. Accept this gift of adaptability. Thorn’s Herald!』 The studs in her armor shot out like vines, some wrapping around the Rathe’s that attempted to ambush her during the transformation, while others used their sharp tips to skewer her foes and kill them instantly.

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More then flew to the ceiling, piercing into the rock, and reeling their host skyward. Though she could no longer fly, in such a situation, no maneuverability was lost. In fact, she had even better control and protection, no longer vulnerable up in the air. And it extended to every clone she made as well, abruptly becoming her own elite squadron of Thorn’s divine soldiers to rival Rathe’s own minions. And that wasn’t even the end of it.

『Potential catalyst for new Divine Relic identified. Warning: Item would become irreversibly changed. Would you like to attune your sword to Thorn, Demigod of Nurture?』 【Well that’s new…】 Even Tize was caught off-guard. 【I had no idea I could do that.】

But such a drastic change required more thought. From the sounds of it, her sword would be forever altered. And while she could stomach a cosmetic change like with her visor, though it was something that would take getting used to, her weapon was everything when it came to a fight. If it were to radically alter, her skills would rapidly deteriorate until she came to understand it and retrained herself. Was it really something she could risk in the heat of battle?

The Paladin found her eyes wandering over to her king in the midst of his own battles, who to her surprise, was glancing back at her, wondering why his divine power was suddenly being called upon. Yet he clearly thought it about less than she did, giving Jaid a decisive nod before refocusing his attention.

The system then inquired again. 『Divine entity has given their blessing. Would you like to attune your sword?』

“Yes,” the knight committed with no more reservations. She nearly dropped the sword in her hands when it began to glow, but then tightened her grip, never letting it go. Not too much changed aesthetically. Around the top of the hilt, black vines grew and solidified into an ornate pommel. They then travelled upwards, embedding themselves into the flat of the blade on both sides with thorns protruding outward in the metal, though never quite reaching the sharp edge.

The imbuement was also smart enough to recognize the split in the middle, not stitching closed the gap that needed to form in order for the wielder to operate the railgun. Frankly, there was little difference in the design besides its theming, but when Jaid swung it for the first time, the sword presented its new power.

Right after the weapon clashed with its foe, the blade extended not just forward but outward, sprouting metal branches in all directions, carrying the same force that Jaid had applied until a long hedge of bladed bramble had bloomed in a line before her, slaughtering every foe caught up in its wake. Yet oddly the sword didn’t feel any heavier, and when the knight tried to pull it back, the egregious extensions vanished immediately, and her weapon reverted back to its original state and size.

Then after a few more test-runs, of which the knight found the resulting destruction absurdly potent, Jaid recalled any pre-existing clones and respawned a new set, equipped with every blessing she’d been provided. With the speed boost from Gatrim, her new armor and upgraded sword, along with the ability to make endless copies of herself, she became an unrelenting force, truly living up to her Curse’s name—Army of One.

And The Paladin used that power for its purest purpose, helping her king. Despite the shift in the tide of battle, and regardless of their new ability to move at blazing speed, Drim had still found it difficult to properly make it to Rathe.

Since the demigod could feel herself weakening due to the increased workload of spawning minions at such a staggering pace, she’d gone to great lengths to protect herself, constantly rebuilding a legion of protectors dedicated entirely to keeping her safe. And Drim and anyone else attempted to break through, even powerhouses like Kada and Xard, found their output lacking compared to the stone soldiers innate ability to immediately reproduce. They also kept their grouping so tight that there wasn’t a spot of footing big enough for Phon to move her brother into place.

But Jaid carved the path. A dozen clones pulled themselves down from the sky, slamming their swords into the ground in a tight formation. The thorned blades rushed forward, creating a rippling tsunami of metal that shredded all in its path, trailing right up to Rathe’s feet on the throne. And then the pointed tips dug in, preventing any new divine clones from spawning on the spot.

The others took advantage of the opening, wiping away the rest around Rathe, giving their leader a proper foothold to face her. And then Jaid removed her swords all at once, leaving a straight runway forward, right to the demigod.

Drim dashed ahead, arriving directly at his destination, now staring up at his greatest enemy, his creator, his mother. The Slayer readied his blades, preparing himself for their climatic confrontation.

“So it’s come to this, has it?” Rathe sighed as she refocused all of her attention at the man in front of her, letting her endless spawn run on auto-pilot. “And you actually intend to face me with those sad mortal weapons? This just goes to show how much you still have to learn. To think you’d choose a direct attack over any of your powers.”

“It’s served me well enough until now,” The Slayer couldn’t help but comment. “And they’ve slain every other monster they’ve faced.”

The rocky demigod grimaced at the comparison, but attempted to remain unphased by the insult. “Very well,” Rathe rose from her throne. She then extended her fingers into long claws, blades of her own. “I will play your game. But I hope it’s one you won’t regret.”

“Do you really believe that your friends will be fine while you’re sparring with me? While your attention is elsewhere, they’ll be all on their own. You better pray that they have the energy to outlast me, because the moment they slow down, it will be their death. And you won’t be able to save them.”

“It’s not them I’m worried about,” the king refuted. “I have full trust in their abilities, and I’ll be relying on their help to take you down. The real question is how long can you keep this up? Do you have what it takes to endure the full might of the Fiends For Hire, or would you like to surrender now?”

That drove Rathe over the edge, unable to stomach such a flagrant insult, that her own son would deem her weaker than mere humans. She swiped her claws downward, clashing into Drim’s waiting blades. And at last, their fight, their final showdown had begun.