Chương 81: Excursion [4]

[3rd person Pov]

Inside Theia's domain, she had once again called for a meeting with the gods she trusted the most.

"The demon has already begun to send over his subordinates to Tella, and although it will take a lot of time before he can send over all of the counts, we have to prepare! Please, I beseech you to find a suitable candidate to receive your blessing!"

The goddess couldn't afford to take it easy anymore, as the demon lord had already sent over one of his counts to Kurat, who was swiftly corrupting the king to do her bidding.

Creasing his frosty forehead, Jack didn't quite see it the same way as she did.

"So, you are telling us to give away a portion of our power without thinking it through? We still have time, and there are a lot of humans below [B]-rank with potential. This isn't a decision that we can make hastily."

A slender man with a mustache made of fire also spoke up, quickly following the words of the winter god, "I agree. Thou hast allowed weakness to enter thy heart. The cycle of humans has always been one of peril and labor. Though I agree that our duty entails upholding the existence of the mortals, we must not act recklessly."

Gritting her teeth, the current ruling god couldn't hold herself back after hearing Prometheus speak, "As the ruling god, I will hereby install the first divine order I have declared during my rule. The divine order is for all the gods present in this meeting shall choose an apostle to bless before the end of the year. You may leave."

"What, no! You can't do this!"

"Someone please, talk some sense to her!"

No matter how they tried to argue her decision, it was too late. The godly decree had been made, and Theia had already begun to eject them out of her domain. It didn't take long before she was alone, finally able to relax her body as she leaned back in her chair.

Closing her eyes, she could feel another headache incoming, "What are you doing here?"

Out from the shadows of one of the corners of the room, a very familiar masked man appeared, his white mask as always covering his face. "Oh, you know, just checking in on my fellow gods. I assumed that with all of these prominent figures here, I would naturally be allowed to attend as well."

Theia still had no idea how this despicable god had managed to survive for so long, with his incredibly potent ability in making enemies. Throughout the millennia, he had held so many different roles in the divine realm and done so many things, that it was a miracle that he was still alive.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Theia just wanted him to go away, but she also knew that there was no point in kicking him out forcefully. "Loki, please, just tell me what you want."

Conjuring his black chair, he sat down as well, crossing one leg over the other to make himself more comfortable. "I'm hurt, Theia. Why do you assume that I need a reason to see my junior gods? I'm just here to help."

"Help? When have you ever helped us?"

Putting his hand over his heart, the silly god acted as if he was truly offended by her words, "Oh, my sweet Theia. Have you already forgotten how I helped to save this world from the demons 800 years ago?"

Sitting up, she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, "You mean when you used your divinity to create the [Mare] Manual? The one that almost led to the silent extinction of the mortals that we are supposed to protect?"

Waving his hand, he quickly dismissed her sharp words, "Anyway, I'm here because I need permission from the ruling god to intervene in the mortal realm in the future."

*Bam!*

Slamming her hand on the table, Theia was furious at the audacity of the loathsome god in front of her.

"Why would I ever permit you to do so?! Isn't it enough that you can already bypass the restriction of walking the mortal realm?! What is so important that you have to intervene?!"

Standing up, Loki acted as if the matter was already concluded as if Theia had no choice in the matter, "Because the debt of the past still lies in your divine blood. Now, I assume that before day breaks, I will get a message from the threads of fate that I have gotten your permission. Take care, little Theia."

And with that, he was gone.

"Shit!"

****

[James's Pov]

'They are still on the move...'

With sub-me still keeping an eye on the two beings intruding the forest, they weren't all too far away from making contact with my friends and, taking in mind the layout of the lands, their fight would probably take place in the large field between them.

Having gotten yet another good night's sleep, I was thinking about how I should approach this little dilemma. On the one hand, I could call for help from our teachers and be done with it. On the other hand, that would mean that I had to explain how I could see the intruders without them seeing me.

In the absolute worst case, this could even give them a basis to suspect me of being connected to the demons in some way, and I honestly couldn't take that risk.

Even more, I had a feeling that the two individuals might not be the strongest demons around, something I quickly concluded as I couldn't sense any mana signatures from them and, if one were to think of how the game went, it was too early for the big boys to come out and play.

Granted, the second reason was a lot less valid than the first, but it still somehow made sense in my head. Would the demons really send out valuable assets in this situation where the teachers weren't far away? Most likely, this was a way for them to gather information, while at the same time having a very slim chance of succeeding in taking Arthur's life.

Also, from the words of the demons at Ainu, I already knew that they couldn't be too high ranked, as they wouldn't be able to use that mysterious device to hide their demonic energy.

"Let's move..."

*Flap, flap, flap!*

Transforming myself into a raven, I took to the air and started flying toward my clone, making sure I would be able to keep my eyes on whatever was about to go down. However, there was an incredibly annoying feeling that filled my stomach, a sensation that I truly hated.

'Why am I even doing this...'

There was nothing for me to gain by trying to help them, and yet there was so much I could lose. Still, it didn't feel that bad, even though my reasoning was screaming at me to turn around and walk away.

****

[Arthur's Pov]

'There's something here...'

Walking around the forest, I suddenly got a very eerie feeling, familiar yet so foreign. At the same time, some sort of fire was lit inside of me, a yearning to find out what it was. Letting my eyes wander, it appeared that there was one other person than me that felt the same.

Sophie's head was frantically moving, as she seemed to be searching for something as she opened her mouth, "Guys, I think there is something weird ahead of us."

Anna's face quickly changed from her confident one, which she gained after we had gotten a good night's sleep thanks to James, to one of worry. "Something weird? Like what?"

The petite girl truly didn't like the unknown, she always had to get comfortable before she could act like her cocky self. Stepping forward, Sarah's golden hair gently rose a bit from the wind, "Should we retreat, then?

Crossing her arms, our leader fell into deep thought, and as I wanted to say I knew her pretty well already, it wasn't hard to figure out what she was pondering.

These two days had been incredibly boring for her, as the goblins couldn't put up much of a fight at all in the face of her fists. Adding to the fact that we had an incredibly efficient group dynamic, things had gone by without a hitch.

So, Sophie was most likely conflicted. A part of her wanted to rush forward and engage with whatever it was that we were sensing, while another part wanted to make sure we wouldn't fall into harm's way.

'We have to go there...'

Even though it felt a bit bad to knowingly sway her judgment, this burning emotion in my chest was more than enough for me to justify it. For the first time in a long time, I faked a smile, knowing full well that Sophie was weak to it.

"We should go. In the worst case, we can always call for help. I know that you also want to go, right, Sophie?"

Hearing my words, our two friends quickly calmed down and put their sights on Sophie, waiting for her to make a decision. "Let's go."

And with that, no more words needed to be said as we made our way into the big field of grass in front of us, where our eyes were quickly met by two strange figures. Still, there was a part of me that knew full well what they were.

'Demons!'