The silver and golden armor of the Guardians shimmered under the bright sunlight. Four thousand of them marched across the forest leading to the Cragian Mountains in orderly ranks.

Areithous was at the front of the combined army of the Fortieth and Forty-Seventh Orders. Halius walked beside him with a skip in his steps. It had taken them some time to gather every Guardian in the two orders, but they were finally ready to complete their orders now.

Someone was approaching. Areithous saw a figure in the distance and signaled for the army behind him to stop marching.

A man stopped some distance away from Areithous and Halius. It was one of the tribesmen who called these mountains home—a barbarian.

"Halt! I assume you people are from Yukretia. What is the meaning of bringing your soldiers here?" The barbarian asked while looking at the army of Guardians.

"We have a message from the First Priestess of Yukretia," Areithous replied.

"What message? If you have something to say, you can pass it on to me. Your people must not step one foot into these mountains, or we will take it as an invasion of our land."

"It is the will of the First Priestess to have her message personally delivered by us captains. Take the two of us to your king. The rest will remain here."

The barbarian narrowed his eyes. "Speak your message or leave. I cannot take you to our king."

Areithous was about to answer, but he sensed an intense killing intent and glanced to the side.

Halius was looking at the barbarian like a child would look at a toy they wanted.

"Halius!" Areithous warned. The killing intent vanished, and Halius grinned.

"We come as envoys from Yukretia. Let us talk to your king." Areithous repeated.

"If you're envoys, take your soldiers back to your country and come back just the two of you."

"Ahh. I can’t take it anymore!" Halius suddenly screamed and drew his daggers. He lowered himself into a stance similar to that of a wild predator. The barbarian looked at the boy in alarm and confusion. However, since he was far away from Halius, he didn't think the boy could reach him. It was a fatal mistake.

Halius leaped into the air, and in the eyes of a regular person, he seemed to have vanished. With a splatter of blood, the barbarian’s head was cut off in one clean slash.

Halius caught the falling head and bowed as if he had just completed a stage performance.

"What are you doing? Hailius. I wasn’t done talking to him." Areithous said.

"Eh? I’m sure you know. There’s no way these barbarians will understand the magnificence of our gods. They may have muscles, but they don’t have the brain."

"That's not for you to decide."

Areithous had his own thoughts about the First Priestess' order, too. However, he didn't let his thoughts affect his actions. In the temple, it was believed that the First Priestess could see the threads of destiny and read the future to some extent. He thought that there was a hidden purpose behind her orders, even if they seemed meaningless.

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"Maybe. But the First Priestess chose the two of us, you know?" Halius said.

It was true that the First Priestess had specified the two of them, even though there had been plenty of captains at the main temple. She knew Halius’ personality very well, and yet she had still chosen the crazy boy for the task.

Was Halius trying to say that the First Priestess already expected this to happen?

But speculation didn't matter. Areithous only wanted to complete the task given to him.

"Now that you’ve made a mess, clean it up yourself." Areithous said.

"Of course," Halius replied. Ariethous wasn’t talking about the blood spilled onto the ground. The barbarians had come in a group. They had probably been cautious after seeing the army of four thousand guardians. Only one of them had come to talk to Halius and Areithous. The rest had hidden themselves far away to observe. Now that Halius had killed one of them, the rest were probably going to run and spread the news.

Halius gathered mana.

[Divine Arts Chapter 1: Holy Spear]

A golden spear made of mana formed in his hand. He took a stance and threw the spear. It vanished into the distance at a speed far exceeding that of a cannonball being launched.

The Guardians of Yukretia used magic spells called the Divine Arts. There were eleven chapters. The first seven chapters included combat spells, while the other four chapters were utility and tactical magic spells. The Holy Spear was a simple spell to create a spear made of mana.

Areithous couldn't see where the hidden barbarians were. However, he knew that the spear had found its mark. A muffled sound came from far away.

"There you are." Halius accelerated in the direction the sound had come from. After a while, he came back holding two bloody heads.

"One of them got away," Areithous said.

"It can’t be helped. He ran away right after I killed the first one." Halius shrugged.

Areithous knew that Halius had intentionally let one of them go. It was impossible for the boy to lose track of his prey. "Fine. Make sure to come back before the sun sets."

"Yay! Hunting time." Halius rejoiced.

The smell of burning wood and flesh permeated the air.

Areithous was in one of the small villages of the mountain tribes. Or at least it had been a village until recently.

Areithous had tried to talk to the barbarians, but like Halius said, they'd vehemently rejected the First Priestess' offer.

There was only one conclusion waiting for those who had turned their backs on the hand of salvation. Areithous had ordered the Guardians to burn the whole village to the ground and kill everyone without exception. A huge pile of dead bodies was the only thing that remained of the villagers.

"Eh?! You didn't wait for me!" Halius arrived at the scene holding a severed head. Judging from the facial expression on the head, there was no doubt that the barbarian had died a gruesome death at the hands of the crazy boy.

"That's your own fault." Areithous said. "Come. Let's head to the next village."