Shalnar’s month of fire, eleventh day~~
An old clan village hidden in the Gazzetta mountains.
The “village” looked more like a small fortress than a village, and stone buildings were neatly arranged around the environs. At a first glance one could mistake it for a secluded mountain village.
In this small group of buildings, one house set itself apart from the rest, as its disposition was more akin to a shrine than to a simple building.
“Hey granny, still alive and kicking strong, I see.” (Young man)
“And look at you, all grown up. You’re so tall now.” (Village priestess)
The young man was familiar with the village priestess since he was a baby, so after exchanging a friendly chatter the two moved onto the main topic.
“What kind of a revelation have you received this time?” (Young man)
“Mhm… the Evil God has descended.” (Village priestess)
“Hmm? Him again, what kind of fellow is It now? An ancient monster or a progenitor of the four great gods (四大神の祖)?” (Young man)
“His body is similar to that of the progenitors. I think he’s probably a variation of a man.” (Village priestess)
The peaceful atmosphere from before had disappeared as the young man listened carefully to the priestess’s revelation.
This descent granted the clan’s most desired wish. In ancient times (EN:A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…), the evil god that descended to Kaltcio had become the source of prosperity for the white clan, although this evil god had also lead their clan to their downfall. This evil god had called himself [Wizard] and had a body of a man (as opposed to that of a beast).
“He has descended in Fonclanc.” (Village priestess)
“A human, eh? Then maybe this time he will destroy the prosperity of the divine arts users?” (Young man)
In the world that was controlled by the white clan, those with ability to use strange arts were a minority and they were treated as second rate citizens and mockingly called [colored]. The [colored] worshiped the four great gods who, they believed, had given them their powers. The evil god himself, however, had called that power [magic].
The [colored] had called themselves the [divine arts users] and gradually rose to power. Finally, the white clan was driven off to this region.
“This, I don’t know. However, I saw that his hair was jet black.” (Village priestess)
“Hmm… I guess there’s no other way… I, myself will go and confirm it.” (Young man)
Another humanoid evil god that had descended before the [Wizard], was a monster clad in human flesh. This monster had culled the [colored] with his power, reducing their numbers to a dwindling minority and providing the white clan with their chance to flourish.
The monster’s statue, enshrined in the shrines of the [artless] all over the world, was based on the shape of this creature.
According to the mission that was passed on to every king of the white clan since the ancient times, when an evil god descended, the king himself would have to go and confirm the existence of the god. Now the evil god has descended, and his image was close to that of the black statue. The young man left the priestess’s shrine and returned to his castle to immediately start the preparations for his journey.
“Do you really have to travel alone?” (King’s aide/concubine)
“I have to, this is a king’s mission.” (Young king)
“But… if something were to happen to the body of your majesty’s…” (King’s aide/concubine)
The king’s aid and concubine objected. The king touched the belly of his worried partner to calm her, as she insisted him to at least take a guard with him,.
“It is too late. Besides, my heir is probably already within you.” (Young king)
“B-but, we don’t even know if the baby is a girl or a boy.” (Kings aide/concubine)
As his lady said that, he calmed her down with a kiss and set out towards the lands of Fonclanc.
***
Zalnar’s month of fire, 2nd day~~
“Impossible. Is that guy really the evil god?” (Young king)
After receiving surveillance reports on the movements of the Blue Garden troops, he decided to invade Paula and ordered the troops to gather up. While the troops were gathering in a town near the country border, a small scout unit was sent towards the ruins of the Gearhawk fortress and the main force was relocated by separating it into smaller groups so as to avoid detection.
“Your majesty, what are you going to do regarding Risha sama?” (Someone close to Shinha and Rishause) (TN: she was called Risha in the webnovel)
“Risha’s father is long dead, she is now but a bird in the cage. We are going to free her together.” (Young king)
The queen had inherited the late king’s dream, even if all she had managed to do was to protect it in the miniature garden that was named Cofta. But even that city would be eventually taken by the supreme commander of Paula. When that happened, the queen’s protection would not be able to extend to the salvation of the [artless].
“Being a queen, she will probably be unable to accept our help” (Someone close to Shinha and Rishause)
“In that case we will free her through sheer force.” (Young king)
Carrying his silver greatsword, he advanced towards the queen’s army that had taken up a defensive position in front of them. He charged forward, defying the inferior position he currently was at, as the defensive wall stood atop the slight slope on the plains. [Artless] soldiers, who were the descendants of the white clan, were the masters of armed combat. Their charge towards the defendants with weapons prepared in both hands was truly a frightful sight to behold. Faced with it, the divine arts users just barely held their positions with their pride and loyalty of being the queen’s army.
“Mrhm, it’s regrettable” (Zeshald)
Zeshald climbed up on the wall and was observing the battle from the upper part of the defensive wall. Just as he began to think of whether he should send the divine arts militia, who was coordinating the evacuation of the refugees, to cover the queen’s forces, a string of light has stretched from part of the fortress towards the vanguard of the queen’s army and a bright light began to envelop the vast area around the fortress.
The next moment only the beads of light remained dancing in the air and at the same time a huge wall appeared separating the queen’s army from Gazzetta’s forces.
***
Gazzetta’s soldier’s pace was slightly disrupted by that huge wall, which suddenly separated them from their foes. Shinha looked over his shoulder towards the advancing Fonclanc army as he ordered his army to circle around the wall so as to not halt the advance completely.
“Yuusuke!” (Shinha)
There was quite some distance between Shinha and Yuusuke’s darkness god corps. Moreover, the knight corps, led by the fire god corps knights, were in between them. Yuusuke’s main guard squad numbered at around twenty soldiers.
If a squad were to branch off from the main force to interfere with the divine arts, they would have a hard time evading the knight squads in the rear and would incur unnecessary losses.
“Read guard, prepare for battle!” (Shinha)
Shinha chose to use a more reliable method and used his triumph card.
[“Well, Yuusuke, how will you respond do this?”] (Shinha’s thoughts)