Chương 566: Chapter 511
I held the branch of the Fae Tree in my hand as I walked towards the supposed 'Government' building that the humans here created.
The Branch was actually... well, it was of value to me right now because I was working out a new spell, and this filled a spot I wasn't sure how to do so previously. Scáthach uses an Ash Tree's branches to make duplicates – lesser versions, admittedly—of her spear.
For the spell I'm devising, this branch would work perfectly since it has such an absurd vitality to it.
The same tree that had been supplying its own vitality to ensure the longevity and health of thousands of humans for centuries.
Without doing so, it could have probably lived for several hundred thousand years. Yet its branches were withering from what I could tell. It probably only has a few centuries left of life in it.
It wasn't a simple matter of giving away one point of vitality and letting a human absorb one point of vitality.
To push it out into the form of fruits that contained such pure life energy... it probably had to sacrifice ten or twenty times the same amount of its own vitality to create those. And that was more of a conservative estimate because what it was doing was not something normal or natural.
If it were possible to easily do what it was doing, the world would be a much different place.
Hell, the closest approximation are literal divine fruits.
Regardless, I have a debt now to repay. I made a promise that I would take them back if they wanted to go, and I was going to uphold it.
Unnulf walked next to me as we approached the amphitheater-like building. He didn't ask me about the Fae Tree dropping me a bunch of fruits or the branch. Honestly, the amount of trust they had in the tree... well, I couldn't even find it in myself to fault them for it at this point.
It truly cared for them like a mother.
There were no guards; frankly, there were no real guards anywhere.
For the first time since coming to this realm, this was the first time that I considered a place a sort of 'paradise' by any stretch of the imagination. Did the people want to be here? I would say absolutely not, but at the same time, it was extraordinarily peaceful on this little island, and I genuinely questioned if there even was any crime or things of that sort.
There were several dozen people inside as I walked in; a lot of arguing was going on.
It took a few moments for them to notice my presence, but they gradually quieted down, looking at me.
"Unnulf, why did you bring the outsider here? We're not done discussing." A man, Greek in origin, had a bit of a belly, and he even wore a toga with noticeable sewed edges as if it were fixed many times over the years.
"Eh, I just followed; he came here himself." Unnulf sat down, drinking a bit less aggressively, but he hadn't stopped drinking since I'd given him the barrels of alcohol.
"I'm leaving; we're leaving. We can't waste much time here; we have our own plans and objectives." I decided to cut right to the chase.
The Greek one furrowed his brow. "We haven't decided what to do with you all yet."
"And you are..."
"Kallipides." He said it with pride.
"Right, Kallipides." I nodded. "Let me make something clear: we're not beholden to you all. We came here out of good will, but that's it. As someone who's half-human and identifies with my human half, I sympathize with your situation. Thus, I'm offering you all a chance to leave this realm and return to the human world."
Someone pushed past him, one of the Vikings it looked like based on their attire. "You do have a way out?"
"And you are...?" I repeated it once more.
"Chief Hrodi." He grunted, much less flamboyant and self-gratifying compared to the Greek. "You claim to come from outside with a tale of invasion."
Ah, they didn't quite believe us.
"A group of monsters." A derivative snorts from the back.
"How do we know you're telling the truth?"
"Could be a trap."
"Demons, the lot of them." Someone dressed like a cardinal huffed.
I'm once more impressed by the breath of cultures represented that are somehow getting along.
"I understand." I held my hands up to quiet down their arguing. "Your skepticism is warrant; it's kept you all alive this long. Allow me to provide you all with some proof."
They went silent, as if to wait for me to provide said proof.
I release my spiritual pressure, pinning all of them to the ground, shaking the entire building and the island.
Even the tree above began to sway noticeably.
"If I wanted to, I could kill you all right now without a problem." I spoke calmly as my spiritual pressure receded.
I admit, I loved having learned this little trick; it's rather handy and imposing.
Some of them recovered better than others. Some of them were real warriors; others were their equivalent of politicians or leaders without any combat experience or strength to them. Other than what they've passively obtained over the years.
For the older ones, of any on this island, I don't think there are any below a 'Mid-Class' in status.
"I can speak on behalf of all your gods." I segued into the next topic. "If you're willing, the gods you worship will be waiting in some part for your return. Asgard will welcome the warriors out of time. Olympus will accept those who have stayed loyal. Takamagahara will gladly accept brave warriors from the past. And Heaven will accept all its believers back with open arms."
It's actually kind of funny that I—someone who is still technically mortal—have that kind of connection.
And truthfully, I think their 'faith' is one of the few things that's kept them going through these years.
"Blasphemy!" the cardinal-looking figure breathed out.
I flicked my hand, and the True Longinus slammed into the ground in front of the Cardinal. The Holy Power was radiant as it pulsed out, calm and welcoming to them.
"I said this before; maybe it wasn't quite understood. The world is a much different place than your times. Heaven and Hell recently agreed to peace. The Youkai—my people that have come here—participated in the peace meeting, and we have agreements with Heaven."
The Cardinal was silent, gulping as he stared at the Spear along with the ones who seemed to be of the same faith or derivations thereof.
"Ragnarök recently occurred." I continued as no one else was speaking.
"Ragnarök?" A faint whisper among the Vikings and Nords.
"I participated." I revealed. "In order to overturn the destruction of Asgard, I sat upon the throne and was momentarily the King of Asgard. They're currently rebuilding and will happily accept honorable warriors among them as comrades. And... I'm also Blood Brothers with Odin."
"Can you prove your words?"
"I can only offer my pride as proof that I wouldn't lie about such a thing. If you want to call me a liar, I will draw my blade, and we can fight as warriors." I said pointedly.
Sometimes, it was much easier to deal with these sorts. One's blade arm spoke louder than words in a lot of cases.
The pride of a great warrior was usually enough to back up tall tales, even if they sounded ridiculous.
No one stepped forward to call me a liar.
However, there were a few whispers between them—the whispering of godly names.
"The result of Ragnarök is that there are new gods among the gods of Asgard. One of them is currently within this realm. You can pray to Jinn—the Goddess of Magic, Knowledge, and Homestead." I found myself smiling.
"You are Japanese?" An older gentleman wearing regal-looking Japanese attire from an older period asked with a very polite tone. "I am Kiyabu Taro. But an old man without an ancestral home any longer. Can you speak for the Kami we pray to? Will I be able to meet my ancestors and beg forgiveness for not being able to rebuild our clan? They may not know, but you ask of us to trust Youkai."
"I was born Shimoda Takao. My mother was Japanese, and I lived and grew up in Japan until I became an adult. The Leader of the Youkai is Yasaka, A Kyuubi-no-Kitsune, and Miko for Amaterasu-no-Okami. I have a certain... relationship with Susano-no-Mikoto. And if you're willing to believe me, I'm currently... courting Izanami-no-Mikoto. I can guarantee your acceptance by Takamagahara."
Taro went quiet, clearly contemplating what I just said.
"What about us?" The Greek Kallipidies asked softly; his earlier bravado was diminished. My display of power clearly has an effect on him.
"I've met Hades on a few occasions, and I can reach out to the Gods of Olympus. I have no reason to believe they'd reject you all." Of course, they might try to frame it as a favor towards us in doing so.
However, there is no faction in the world that would reject humans that worship them with the strength they show.
It's easy for me to be dismissive of their strength earlier, but generally, they're already far beyond the 'average' strength of the supernatural world.
Considering that the average military person in the Underworld for Devils is low class, anyone above that is considered an asset big or small. It's doubly so impressive for humans because they have such low 'starting points'.
The humans here were silent.
It was probably hard for them to accept the casualness in which I just spoke about the gods they worship.
The unreachable thrones for their belief, yet for me, it's usually a rather mundane experience. I've had dinner with Hades and his wife. Izzy, there's not much that needs to be said there. Odin, I've literally kicked him off a building before.
Still, while they were speechless, they weren't normal humans any longer. Perhaps they've never met their objects of worship, but they've lived in this realm for years.
"You will take us out of this realm?"
I looked at the one who spoke, a younger man—though that might not be a case considering. "Immediately, no. We're currently an advance party looking for the path to cross this ocean and to acquire ships. If you're willing to wait, within a month, I'd say at a maximum."
"I heard stories about our home." He said quietly.
Ah, he was one of the ones born here, it seems.
"I intend to gather our people and leave rather soon." I said, crossing my arms. "You need to make a decision quickly. However, we have set up base on a nearby island. I can't say I know the directions from here, but it should be easy for you all to find if you know these parts."
"I'll go with them." Unnulf spoke amid their silence. "We got a little bit of time; they're doing their fighting; I can check things out and see if it's true." He said, taking a swig of his drink.
"Unnulf is trustworthy." One of them muttered.
"Aye, Unnulf could have been Chief. His words will bring no doubt." The Viking chief nodded, and they seemed to come to a silent agreement. "Thank you, brother."
"It's my duty." Unnulf said shamelessly.
Shamelessly, because I knew him for hours at this point, and I knew for a fact he volunteered because he knew we had more drinks.
I didn't reject it because it didn't interfere with our goals in the slightest.
If it set their minds at ease, so be it.
I pat Unnulf on the shoulder. "I'm heading back to the ship; be there within the next quarter hour."
He probably had some quick words that needed to be exchanged privately, and I left them to it as I left the building.
"Nurarihyon." I said quietly.
"I'm here." The Youkai leader entered my perception at my side.
One of the few beings that, despite my strength, could go undetected by me. "Ready to head out?"
"Not much for us here to keep us preoccupied." He grunted. "Give me one of those fruits."
I shrugged, handing one over out of my ring. "I'm surprised you didn't steal one... or a few."
He happily accepted it, munching down on it with vigor, licking his lips of the juices. The wrinkles on his face decreased noticeably. He still looked old, but there was a newfound energy to him, his back a little bit straighter. "Oh boy, that's a rush. My Touki nearly burst out for a moment." He stretched his back for a moment. "I feel twenty years younger." He let out a breath, glancing at me. "I considered it, stealing a few. Probably was going to do so, but I snuck in on that little meeting you had with the tree. Lost my motivation after that."
I felt my eye twitch after hearing that he snuck in on a mental meeting with the Fae Tree.
I wanted to say plenty of things to that, but I decided it was better for my sanity to just ignore it for now.
@***@
"Watch the star there." Unnulf pointed up towards the sky. "It moves; we use it to track the time of day."
"Fascinating." I replied, looking at the star in question. "And the one next to it is the point of reference."
"Aye, that one never moves." Unnulf nodded.
The ship of ours hit the waves quickly. We made a short trip back to the island to drop off our acquired boats, then we immediately set sail again.
"Human brat." Nurarihyon appeared next to us, startling Unnulf. "Got a question. How come you all haven't left yourselves? Surely you could have found a passage out of here. If so many of you accidentally stumbled into this place, there has to be equally as many exits."
"Ah…" Unnulf scratched his beard. "Elder, you speak the truth. However, this realm is not forgiving for humans. We live on these waters because they are the safest. But equally so, there are no known exits within them. Every group of ours that ventured out from these waters, they returned with heavy losses or not at all." He said quietly.
"Have you left this ocean before?"
"Aye, I was among a group that tried to push out, to raid some of those cursed things's homes for revenge." He shook his head with a hint of melancholy. "Eventually, we lost all desire for revenge and only wanted to survive."
Thankfully, Unnulf knew the location of the 'exit' to the other side. The exit that put us right into the main territory of the Winter Court.
A few hours of sailing, and the temperature started to drop, so I could feel we were getting close.
"Tell me about the exit." I asked. "What kind of defense should we expect?" It was a good idea to either scout it now or secure the exit properly.
"They have no people guarding it, but something much worse. We call it the ice mirror valley." Unnulf said taking a drink. "Large glaciers of ice, crystal clear that you can see your reflection."
"Dare I ask what's wrong with it?"
"Don't know." He took another drink. "The only survivor died before being only to explain. Only said that death awaits us there. Every party that went to investigate never came back."
I would have to see it for myself.
But there's surely a limit to what they can 'copy'.
"Something we should be concerned about?" Nurarihyon looked at me.
"I'm honestly not too concerned." I shook my head. We could handle what came our way.
Before I could say something else, I felt a small tinge of cold as I looked up and saw snow falling from the sky.
Less than a minute, and it picked up heavily, making me frown.
"We've been discovered." I said, voicing my thoughts as I let a falling snowflake land on my finger.
It was made of pure magical energy.
Every single one of the falling bits of snow was made of magical energy. I questioned the purpose of it until I realized it was drowning out my senses.
Clever.
Something I hadn't considered before, but it made sense. If you blasted your magical energy in front of someone, it was nearly impossible for them to sense a point of magical energy somewhere else.
This accomplished the same thing in that a snowstorm spawning on top of us was basically drowning out my perception.
I could disrupt it, but the amount of magical energy... it would simply reform in moments.
There was no point in using a dragon shout every breath for hours on end.
"I see something ahead!" A shout came from above.
The little Youkai with the single eye that could see even further than me was pointing forward.
I summoned my sword and swung it forward, cleaving through the storm in front of us for just a moment so I could see clearly.
Right, when he said Glaciers, he wasn't lying. They were massive and numerous. Each one like a skyscraper. But beyond those, I could see the climbing pillar of light from the lighthouse, it seems.
Rather quickly, the snowstorm covered up my sight as it became difficult to see a few dozen feet in front of us.
Still, it was somewhat peaceful, as nothing happened. It only took a few minutes for the ship to float up to them.
There was no 'going around' these glaciers, it seemed, either; they surrounded the lighthouse protectively.
As the ship slowly advanced forward, it nearly brushed up against the side of a glacier, and I stepped towards the edge to get a good look.
I put my hand on the side, the crystal-clear ice, my reflection doing the same, as you would expect from a reflection.
However, as soon as I put my hand on it, my eyes widened in realization. "Uh oh."
"What?" Nurarihyon was quick to snap his head to me.
"These glaciers are made of crystallized magical energy." Different from Dust, but functionally the same.
And they're massive and numerous...
I couldn't notice until we got this close because of the snowstorm.
"Brat!" Nurarihyon raised his voice.
I looked over, and the reflections of the crew were different.
They pushed against their side of the 'glass' so to speak, and like ice sculptures given form, they materialized and took shape, landing onto the ship, looking at their counterparts.
Even one of Nurarihyon popped out, and its aura was no less than the old man's.
The glaciers' positions were intentionally arranged in a grand ritual, and the glaciers themselves were made of magical energy.
There were no guards here because this place was one big trap.
I looked back at the reflection of myself, and it was looking back at me, crossing its arms.
The snowstorm distorted and dispersed abruptly, with an intense wind whipping around.
Just as quickly, the vast majority of the glaciers disappeared.
…as if they were consumed.
My reflection stepped out.
I could feel the sheer amount of magical energy it contained. And it was rather easy to put two and two together to know where the crystallized magical energy from a moment ago went.
Glaciers of crystallized magical energy arranged in a grand ritual to fuel a doppelganger creation.
I caught one last snow flak and came to the realization that it wasn't only used to obscure my perception but also used to investigate us thoroughly.
I heard a faint but cold laugh across the chilling winds.
Well, it was far from the first time I've fought a mirrored version of myself.
The fake me looked around, at me, then down at his arm as a very familiar Red Gauntlet appeared on it.
[Alright, now it's personal]. Ddraig chimed in. He's just bluffing regardless. [I don't feel any Dragon presence from that thing, so it's a fake through and through.]
I cracked my neck. "Alright, let's see what half-assed copying you've got."
My copy smiled smugly and spoke in the same voice as myself, holding the Gauntlet up. "I who am about to awaken..."
...suddenly, I don't think he's bluffing.
@***@
A/N
If you want to read 10 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
I also have a boosty if you can't use the above.
We got a Kunou chapter, a Cyclops chapter, and two Arachne chapters up there ahead of the normal releases.
Chương 567: Chapter 512
I'll be honest, it happened so suddenly.
Despite telling myself I was being cautious, perhaps I was arrogant from how easily things had been going so far. We can say we invaded the territory of the Winter Court, yet we did the equivalent of taking a bite out of the very edge.
Ddraig said he sensed no Draconic Aura; well, I felt that was irrelevant at the moment because the sheer amount of magical energy this thing was putting off was insane.
I almost wanted to call it a pale imitation of a Holy Grail in output.
Did it fall short in comparison? No doubt, it was still absurd that this amount of magical energy could be gathered and solidified into shape. Absolutely.
How many millennia did it take those 'Glaciers' to form from constant accumulation?
No wonder there were no 'guards' around here. When enemies became their worst opponents from trying to breach deeper into the Winter Court's territory, there was no need to station physical guards.
Gods stayed away from the Fae Realms.
And it wasn't only because they were alien and hard to navigate and enter.
This thing before me, in sheer power output, breached the realm of Gods by a large step.
However, it didn't feel like a living thing – rather obvious if you look at the pieces forced together. But with this kind of power, it was still impressive to get some kind of 'construct' to this level.
And obviously, I wasn't going to let it finish its chant to activate Juggernaut drive.
Before it could utter another word, I used Shunpo to move behind it and stabbed forward with my sword.
However, it also moved.
It moved almost the same as my Shunpo except… "You teleporting bastard." I huffed, chasing after him.
It teleported to mimic my Shunpo.
That answered one of my questions. Shunpo utilizes Reiatsu; it can't 'copy' my Reiatsu as it's something so foreign to it; therefore, it copied the application in that it simply teleported to achieve the same results.
"I am the Heavenly Dragon that has stolen the Principles of Domination from God—" It continued with that annoying little smirk before thousands of illusions burst out of him, rather impressively cast.
What made it annoying was that it had no differing aura about it. No Draconic, no Divinity, no Reiatsu, no Demonic.
All of them were magical, so I couldn't immediately pinpoint it.
I had no time to pay attention to the Youkai who had engaged their own counterparts.
Nurarihyon also seemed to be meeting his match somewhat.
However, a familiar "Boost" resounded from the corner, and I snapped my head for a "Penetrate" to follow it up.
I summoned my own Boosted Gear. "Boost, Penetrate!" And in quick succession, I copied my copy, and the two conceptually penetrating abilities collided.
What happens when two immovable objects collide…They cancelled each other out after running out of power.
But I found my copy this time and moved with my fastest speed; my Divine Lightning wrapped around my legs, and I used my Shunpo to my max. It still was able to react, but not enough to escape as my sword cleaved through the arm that held its copied Boosted Gear.
" – I laugh at the Infinite, and I grieve for the Dream."
The one whose arm I cut off, it dissipated, and I quickly turned around, dodging a blast of lightning.
Clever dick!
Clearly, this thing wasn't a mindless construct!
It imbued one of the illusions with its copied power to trick me.
All my swords flashed out through the air, slicing through the thousands of illusions in the blink of an eye. The confirmation of the 'real' one was when it had its own swords emerge and collide with my own.
I became annoyed.
It copied my swords – albeit, I could tell at a glance they were hollow copies. But those were mine, and I detested the thought of someone else having them.
I took out the Staff of Magnus, my 'copy' following suit.
We had covered enough distance that the ship was now a fair distance away, so I wasn't concerned about collateral damage.
Spell Circles appeared by the hundreds. My copy also mimicked my action as the world filled with lightning.
However, my lightning was Divine.
It couldn't copy my Divine Power.
"Shield of Asgard!" It changed tactics, slamming its staff down on the snowy glacier that remained.
I rushed forward and held my palm out as the air crackled with lightning. "Hadō #88, Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiko!" I swung my palm forward right in front of his shield as the gigantic lightning dragon emerged with a roar of thunder, bursting through it and slamming into the copy.
"Bakudō # 81, Danku!" My copy called out; without Reiatsu, a substantial amount of magical energy converged to create a shield, and my lightning crashed into it like an oncoming wave. "Boost, Transfer!" It copied further, enhancing the shield.
I ignored everything else and pressed it; the important thing was to prevent it from finishing the chant. I admit I was concerned as to what would happen if it succeeded, as that was its immediate goal.
Not giving it an opening was a priority.
"I shall become – "
I shunpo'd around the shield from the side, Mirage in hand, and magic circles swirled around the blade. "Ether Cannon!"
It raised the boosted gear up as a makeshift shield as its 'swords' flew in front of it, also alleviating some of the damage.
My 'copy' took the brunt of the hit, getting blasted down into the water.
I grabbed my Sword of Destruction out of the air and pulled on my Demonic Side through the Hogyoku and released a powerful slash imbued with my Power of Destruction straight downwards to where it was sent, splitting the ocean, destroying everything in its path.
The copy was forced to roll to the side haggardly, but still far from defeated. It, however, didn't sit there and wait; within the blink of an eye, it had released countless spells in return.
It seemed to be able to forgo some part of the normal casting procedure.
Unfortunately for it, it didn't inherit my Magic Resistance so I could ignore the vast majority of those spells, and I shot downward onto its body, my leg crushing into its chest.
I was a fairly noticeable amount 'stronger' physically compared to a few weeks ago.
The fruit gave me a small but noticeable boost. The slaying of Hanuman also gave me a bit bigger, if still somewhat small, boost.
Every bit helped and showed.
The copy silently screamed; perhaps it doesn't feel pain but still mimics the effects appropriately.
I gathered my Power of Destruction around my hand and moved to slam my palm down onto its head.
"Fus Ro Dah!" My copy bellowed, and a magical mimicry of my Dragon Shout rippled out, and I moved to brace myself and forgo the attack.
It was enough that the falling walls of water were blown away and my feet dug holes into the ocean's floor after bracing myself from the blowback.
"– The Red Dragon of Domination. And I shall sink you to the depths of—
I let go of the sword I was currently holding and let Mirage fall into my hand again, and I moved before he could regain his momentum.
Swallow Returns!
The copy jerked its body abruptly, trying to dodge, but it was futile. If it couldn't properly copy things like my divinity or my spiritual powers, my usage of the kaleidoscope must have been a complete blind spot for it.
The first blade was dodged; the second pierced through his back.
It still moved with my blade through it, however. And I pulled Mirage free and used a burst of Shunpo to move out of the way as his haphazard attack missed me.
Myriad Slash.
Its head fell down to the ground, and its body followed a moment later.
I let out a breath, exerting my power a bit still so the walls of water around us didn't come crashing down just yet.
[Something is wrong.] Ddraig spoke up, verbally acknowledging a strange feeling I also had in my gut.
If it was copying me, shouldn't it have been... stronger? Even if it could only mimic my stuff through a bastardized usage of magical energy, I didn't have to push that hard.
The power it held was easily God level, but... that was a rather easy 'fight.'.
"—Crimson Purgatory." My head snapped towards the source of the words; the fake Gauntlet on its arm lit up despite being a headless 'corpse.'.
[We've been had.]
I wasn't the target of the copy.
"Welsh Dragon, Juggernaut Drive."
The world turned crimson.
@***@
POV – Angelica Lathas, Reporter for Devil News Today
"Quick, Greg, set up!" I waved at him to get the camera going.
He got a lot quicker recently for obvious reasons.
I quickly fixed my hair as best I could, but it was an effort in futility at this point. How long had we been in this place? I hadn't had a proper bath in what felt like an eternity.
An alligator with the mouth of a chicken tried to bite me when I found a small river to bathe in!
And that wasn't even the weirdest thing that's happened to me since coming here!
I felt like I'd aged a hundred years in the span of a few days.
Even my clothes…. I was lucky that one of Lady Yasaka's attendants took pity on me and patched up my attire; otherwise I'd be running around in rags!
I did not prepare enough for this.
Greg held up his fingers, counting down.
"Hello everyone, it's Angelica Lathas here with Devil News Today!" It wasn't live, thankfully, in that regard. But all the unedited footage is basically shown as soon as it's brought back.
Despite any embarrassing moments.
"For all of you tuning in now, here's a quick recap. Lady Yasaka and her fellow Youkai have so far claimed over forty miles of territory as per our last airing. So far, twelve different 'lords' as we've come to know them have either surrendered or have been killed as her forces have pushed forward at unbelievable speed. However, it leaves this reporter questioning the thoughts of their enemies, as they have yet to show any real resistance to the invasion."
I took a deep breath as shouting and the sounds of armor clanking were heard not far away.
"Right now, we've stepped away from Lady Yasaka's primary army, as you can see behind me – " I gestured to Greg to get a good view with the camera. "We're currently situated with not the Youkai, but their surprising allies—the Pendragon Family. Yes, you heard me right: the one infamous enemy of all Devil-kind, dating back to the time of the legendary King Arthur, is currently preparing for battle."
I subtly nudged my head to Greg to keep looking out towards the Knights.
"While much smaller in numbers, I've been told that every Knight you see here – "of which there were roughly a thousand." Is at least comparable to a Mid-Class Devil. That's right, a thousand human Knights, all Mid-Class or above!"
Wasn't that surprising?
I didn't think humans could pull off that kind of thing.
"As you can see, Lady Artoria Pendragon is meeting with a certain Fae – some kind of Knight themselves?" I wasn't really sure; a lot of them rode horses and wore armor. " – as both sides are at a standoff. We're lucky to be able to see the Pendragon family in action soon."
Because it was a cold day in hell if one of these bastards actually surrendered without a fight.
All the ones who 'surrendered' previously did so after a thorough beating.
They were still talking, no action going on. Better distract everyone with something.
I gave Greg the signal for him to zoom in on the woman in charge.
"As you can see, Artoria Pendragon has become a somewhat focal point for quite a few people since her appearance in the peace conference. There are rumors that despite being broken, she possesses the complete Excalibur, a weapon comparable to an Archangel!" Of course I didn't outright say that's true, but those are the popular rumors. "And not only that, but it's been confirmed that she's part of a harem of our very own Wilhelm Schweinorg, the Devil that's on everyone's lips recently."
Most people will eat that up; they want to know more about him. Sure they want to see the fighting, but you can't always show just fighting.
A good reporter knows how to keep the audience interested with different hooks!
And anything about the son of Lucifer is going to get a lot of attention.
Well, it also helped that she was simply beautiful. How many would-be nobility would want a chance to take her into their own harems? A harem was more than just a relationship; it was a status symbol!
However, the thing was, there was barely any information on Artoria Pendragon from the dossier that Lady Leviathan gave me.
Just the barest details that honestly sounded more like rumors.
In that case, let's make her mysterious the focal point!
"We know very little about Artoria Pendragon ourselves. Only that she appeared recently with a complete Excalibur, and every member of the Pendragon Family pledged their loyalty to her without fail."
"There are – "
"What's this, who are you?"
"Eh?" I found myself cut off as a woman with blue water-like hair walked over, pushing herself in front of me.
"Devils? You shouldn't be here. Hmph, I'll just kill you and save everyone the trouble." She raised her hands up, and while I was no magician, I could tell when magic was about to be cast.
I felt my eyes widen until a mist emerged from the ground, eating the magic that was developing.
"They have permission to be here from Lady Yasaka. Please refrain from causing them harm." Our savior arrived!
Thank you, Soma!
The strange woman frowned but stopped. "Fine, I guess it's not my place to say anything." She huffed.
Soma nodded and disappeared again.
"What's this though?" She walked up, ignoring me, and pushed her face into the camera. "Oh, a crystal structure inside. Some kind of mechanism I don't recognize. Ah, it's recording images? Not just images, sound too! How novel I don't remember anything like this back when I was more active in the human world."
Greg looked at me, but I didn't know what to say to the woman who so flippantly was ready to try and kill us.
"Um... excuse me... miss?"
"Oh!" She pulled away. "Devils, hmm. I guess you're harmless."
Why did that sound like an insult?
"I don't like Devils since they killed my Arthur. What are you doing with this, hmm? She grabbed the camera out of Greg's hands, playing with it.
"…That's a camera; it's…." Did she really not know? We were still recording too... "It's recording everything, and it's being sent back so the whole Underworld can watch the Invasion."
"The whole Underworld?!" She exclaimed. "I take it back; that's more than novel! I feel like I missed out on a lot of things!"
"...thank you?"
"Hmm." She dropped the camera, seemingly losing interest, and I winced.
I quickly regained my composure. "And who might you be, miss….?" I glanced back as Greg picked the camera back up.
"Oh, I'm Vivian, the Lady of the Lake!" She announced proudly.
That, Vivian!?
Who didn't know that name if they knew absolutely anything about the legendary figure associated with it!?
"What did I say about running off, you idiot!" A knight came stomping over; she looked rather similar to Artoria Pendragon, who was leading the Knights here. "Negotiations could end at any minute, and you're making me come all the way over here to drag your ass back."
"Wah, unhand me, you traitor! Hooligan, betrayer!" She whined as the female knight grabbed her by the arm.
"Yeah, yeah, come on, Mom, we got work to do." The girl sighed.
"M-mom!?" She squeaked. "W-who said you could call me that!? Even if you're much cuter compared to him…"
The female knight rolled her eyes. "Do you think I want to be related to that French adulterer through you either?"
"Don't talk about Lancelot like that; he was a good child!"
"He was a cunt." She replied expressionlessly before turning to us. "Sorry about this. Father said you were coming. Can't say I care either way what you're here for, but this one wasn't supposed to come over and bother you."
"T-thank you?" I said I was not sure how to react again, but once more, my expertise as a reporter shined through. "Miss, can you please comment about what's going on currently? And can you also introduce yourself for our viewers at home?"
She looked annoyed but relented despite the struggling woman in her grasp. "Name? I'm Mordred Pendragon. Father is currently trying to negotiate a surrender of Fae you see over there. Not going to work obviously, but it's how things go. Got to give them a chance to surrender before you ram a sword through their chest." She shrugged. Besides that, there isn't much to say. Once we clear up this small force…" She paused, squinting her eyes. "About two thousand of them, if I'm not mistaken, then we're pushing up the West while our allies are pushing up the East."
"Thank you for your insight… Sir Mordred." That was how you addressed a knight properly, wasn't it? She looked pleased, so I think I did good.
Mordred turned to the Lady of the Lake. "If you keep struggling, I'm gonna poke ya." She said, pulling out a…dangerous-looking and feeling lance.
"K-keep your Divine Lance away from me!" She whined further.
Divine Lance!?
"Come on, Father is heading back." She dragged the woman off with her back to the formations of the Knights.
Lots of things just happened; I have no context for any of them.
Thankfully, we were recording most of it.
"As you can see, it appears as though conflict is inevitable!" It didn't take a genius to see both sides were prepared. The two from before rejoined everyone else, disappearing from view. That was until the side of the Knights moved forward, horses neighing and the sound of feet hitting the ground.
However, at the forefront, I recognized the armor as the girl who had just been with us.
Wreathed in lightning, at the proverbial spear tip, she charged into the lines of the enemy Fae.
Like a car running over an ant, they couldn't be stopped.
Particularly in the case of that Mordred, she utterly decimated the front lines with her first hit; Red Lightning danced everywhere, and the other Knights quickly followed, tearing into them without hesitation.
Hundreds fell quickly, but I don't think I picked up a single knight that fell along with them. There were also several dozen magicians in the rear, providing support. It seemed like as soon as one of the knights was about to receive a decisive blow, there would be some sort of magical effect appearing to protect them, be it a blast of magic at the enemy or a shield to protect the knight.
I was by no means an authority on warfare, but wasn't the side with the higher numbers supposed to have the advantage?
Why did it seem like an adult handling a toddler?
...are they really humans?
@***@
A/N
Hey guys, if you didn't know, I was busy with a very stressful and difficult move the past week or so. It involved things like the service elevator at my apartment not working when I lived on the 7th floor. But we're back to normal now, and I'll try to have antoher Cyclops and Arachne chapter out this week.
Also, Fae Arc is over as of this p.a.t.r.e.o.n chapter, finished with a chapter over 10k words. Next big arc is a new world! We also have 2 Arachne chapters ahead over here and another Cyclops chapter.
If you want to read 10 chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
I also have a boosty if you can't use the above under the same name.
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