Ch.162 Apostle of the Goddess of War
Two days had passed since departing for the main church of the Fire Cult. The road gradually beca rougher. It was humid, the jungle was dense, and it was full of insects and ferocious beasts.
"Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho! Even insignificant creatures receive the whip of the Goddess of War! Make way!"
Arwen, at the rear, threw stones to chase away wild beasts while shouting.
"The beasts won't be able to approach beyond a certain point anyway due to the protection of the Goddesses, so why do you keep exerting strength? You?"
Kaia asked in an annoyed tone. Arwen was purely happy that a Goddess had spoken to her.
"Of course, because I want Lady Kaia not to be disturbed!"
"Hm?"
"And slling the stench of beasts is unpleasant as well."
"But I like wild beasts? I enjoy the splattered blood and chaos after they hunt."
"Eh?"
Kaia sighed and resud walking. Arwen's face turned pale as if the blood had drained from it.
"Ugh."
"She's not even a child, yet. nesia, why on earth such a child…."
The Goddess of Wisdom felt ashad of her own apostle.
Sion climbed up the mountain path. It was said that the Temple of Fire was hidden deep within the dense jungle. Finding it by sensation alone was quite difficult.
Only now did he understand why the Fire Cult insisted on staying in such a place.
'It's a natural fortress. They surely would never allow an intrusion.'
[Sion's thoughts are correct. When the Goddesses first built temples on this land, Agnia changed her perspective.]
'Thanks to that, she built an unparalleled and independent force.'
[It is also the reason why the claws of the Evil Gods did not reach this place.]
Ah!
Suddenly, a sound ca from behind. It was Arwen again.
Thinking it was another nonsensical remark, Sion tried to ignore it, but seeing Kaia stop as well, he turned his gaze.
"Look at this! It's so beautiful!"
Arwen laughed as she looked at a habitat of red flowers.
Kaia narrowed her eyes.
"This is…."
Sion also recognized the red flower. He had received it as a gift before.
"The one said to be found only in the territory of the Fire Cult—"
"It is the Red Daffodil."
"Red Daffodil?"
Sion asked. Kaia explained as if asking, 'You don't even know that?'
"It is known to have hallucinogenic and paralytic effects, usually."
Sion nodded. He himself had eaten this in the Holy Kingdom to recover his exhausted and injured body. The effects were certain.
"Usually. Yes."
"But the truth is not that."
"Then what is it?"
Arwen also approached quietly and began to listen attentively.
"The more you eat it, the more it transforms an ordinary flesh into a holy body."
"What?"
"W-wa-huh?!"
Arwen dropped the stone she was holding. It was a stone she had intended to throw to chase away a monkey watching from a tree.
"How is that possible? If that were true, by now the believers of the Fire Cult would be…."
"Listen until the end."
"Yes."
Kaia satisfied Sion's curiosity. With a childlike face, she spoke like a serious scholar.
"In terms of origin, the Red Daffodil is Serine's tears."
"Serine…."
"The, the Goddess of Water! I've always wanted to see her blue hair once!"
As soon as Arwen heard the na of another Goddess, she shouted.
Ignoring Arwen, Sion and Kaia continued speaking.
"Tears. Ultimately, they are no different from a holy body. Absorbing the flesh of a Goddess turns one into a holy body. In the very distant past, priestess and apostles were selected in that manner."
"Really?"
Achille, standing nearby with her arms crossed, agreed.
[First, human bodies were too fragile to accept it. Quite a few humans died.]
"So Eru prohibited it. But for so reason, Serine beca obsessed with creating holy body humans and created the Red Daffodil while hiding from the eyes of various Goddesses."
Sion asked.
"Did Lady Goddess Eru just watch silently?"
"She had no choice but to watch. Serine established a good justification."
Kaia spoke, and Achille appropriately interjected to add an explanation.
[She argued with good words that it was a dicine to make humans forget their pain, so even Eru's heart softened.]
"Serine wasn't exactly un-cunning, you see."
The two Goddesses of War and Order were imrsed in nostalgia as they recalled ancient tis. Talking about the past like this had beco a fond mory.
"Anyway, as ti passed, the effects of the Red Daffodil have mostly diluted by now. Nowadays, it's probably used rely as a painkiller."
Sion nodded. Arwen also focused on Kaia's common sense lesson. Her academic passion was evident, trying not to miss a single word.
Slide.
Sion stroked the Red Daffodil. The scent was nice, and it was beautiful to look at.
There was a reason rchants across the continent sought it with burning eyes. It was a flower lacking in neither scarcity nor beauty.
Sion said,
"Since we found a cluster of Red Daffodils, it seems we are almost at the main church... Hm?"
Kaia and Arwen simultaneously held their breath. Sion also glared in the sa direction as the two.
Swish!
Without anyone leading, they skillfully blended into the surrounding terrain.
Shortly after, Fire Priests appeared.
"Today we'll only pick three stems, so it should be quick."
"Isn't three stems of red herbs still a lot?"
"That is true. Originally, harvesting even one flower a week was considered a lot."
The priests sat near the cluster of Red Daffodils.
'So they call it red herbs. I guess they don't know the exact na?'
[They probably wouldn't tell ordinary believers anyway.]
'I see. What should we do?'
[I leave it to your judgnt.]
Sion nodded. He intended to follow them to find a way into the main church.
Sion quickly sent a signal to Arwen. Achille directly conveyed the strategy to Kaia.
Sigh.
Kaia wore an expression as if she still couldn't understand why she was doing such things here.
For soone who was once an Evil God, current acts like this were re child's play. Kaia's style would have been to walk straight forward without hiding like the weak and force everyone to their knees.
However, she was now human. Even though she was a holy body, she had to adapt to the human lifestyle.
Sion moved.
'Here starts another damn mission.'
[Work hard, Kaia.]
'…Get lost.'
Kaia swallowed her resentnt alone. Achille sneered at Kaia's appearance, looking utterly annoyed. She added that the current effort was nothing compared to the karma she had to repay for a lifeti.
'Geeeet loooost!'
[Aha-ha-ha!]
***
Sion exchanged glances with Arwen.
They confird the entrance the Fire Priests were entering. It was a secret passage covered in ivy.
"It's secretive."
"I heard everything has many secretive and hidden corners. Seeing it in person, it's even more so."
Arwen paused for a mont before asking. The careless apostle, excited thinking about the Goddesses, was gone. Here stood the Apostle of Wisdom, deadly serious and reliable when doing her main job.
"What shall we do? Sion."
"Hmm, attacking and rushing in imdiately is an option, but…."
Provoking on too large a scale didn't seem very good. Damage and variables would increase accordingly.
"First, there are two objectives. Neutralizing the Fire Cult. And retrieving the fragnt from Goddess Agnia."
"The fragnt is the core, right?"
"Yes."
Neutralizing the Fire Cult was actually sothing Kaia could handle alone. Since the Goddess was manifesting, if she used her power, most problems would be resolved.
'But, Lady Kaia has not yet fully adapted to the human body. I don't know what might happen if she uses her power again.'
There was already a precedent. It was an incident that nearly led to a great disaster. Sion wanted to avoid using Kaia's power as much as possible.
"Do not worry about . I have already adapted."
Kaia noticed Sion's worry and interjected.
"Hmm."
"Do you not trust ?"
"Yes. Naturally."
Sion's answer was as fast as if prepared. He knew Kaia would feel her pride hurt.
"Grrr. That was truly a mistake back then."
"I know. Even Lady Goddess Kaia can make mistakes. Mm-hmm."
Kaia's pupils trembled. Even though she knew Sion was gently scratching her pride, she felt hurt nonetheless.
"I shall prove it. Give
the mission."
"Oh?"
Sion raised his eyebrows.
"Really?"
"Yes. I dislike your attitude of ignoring . I'll show you clearly this ti. Just how capable the Goddess of Chaos… no, Order is."
Sion cheered inwardly.
"To cooperate this easily. As expected of the Goddess of Order."
"Well—it's not difficult anyway. I just want to finish everything quickly and go back to rest."
"Of course."
Sion smiled kindly.
For so reason, Achille got goosebumps at the familiar situation. She had been treated like that by Sion before as well.
It was a technique of gently scratching one's pride to make them do tedious work.
[Seeing it firsthand makes it even more frightening. This devilish apostle!]
'Hehe.'
Sion spoke to Kaia.
"Then, Arwen and I will enter, and once the commotion starts, will you step in?"
"Do I just need to hold the others back?"
"Yes. I'd appreciate it if you could buy us one hour with ntal domination."
Kaia grumbled but nodded.
"That… much is easy. Leave it to ."
"Yes."
Sion gave a thumbs-up. Kaia rubbed under her nose and averted her gaze.
Arwen and Achille watched this in astonishnt. They wondered if a Goddess was really such an easily manageable existence.
"Then I will hide and wait."
"Yes!"
Whoosh!
Kaia leaped onto a tree. It seed she was the type to complain and act annoyed every day but get the job done when the ti ca.
[To think such an obedient child fell and beca the Goddess of Chaos. It's still hard to believe.]
'Was she originally that kind of personality?'
[She valued laws and principles more than Eru. Before that child, madness and rage could not raise their heads.]
Achille smiled as if recalling a pleasant past. Sion could not quite grasp the fact that all Goddesses and evil gods were originally sisters.
'Where did the relationship start to go wrong?'
Sion closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
'Let's focus. A major battle is about to occur.'
He had to negotiate with the Fire Priests and survive Agnia's flas.
It would be a tough fight.
"Arwen. I'm counting on you."
Sion spoke to Arwen.
Arwen, who was concentrating in her own way, was slightly startled and stuttered.
"Huh? Y-yes. I-I will do so."
The reason Arwen was startled was separate. She was in the middle of receiving power from the Goddess of Wisdom.
Soon, the shape of a laurel wreath appeared above her head.
"Oh? What is this?"
"It is the Crown of Wisdom. All my actions from now on will strive for the best."
"That's good, isn't it?"
"The pinnacle of intellect. The authority of truth. I will not lose!"
Arwen clenched her fist tightly.
anwhile, Sion glanced at Achille. His eyes held an expectation, wondering, 'Won't my Goddess give
sothing too?'
Achille glared once at nesia due to the sudden competitive atmosphere.
[That's dirty. Bestowing the Crown of Wisdom. Are you provoking ? nesia.]
[This battle essentially signals a 'real' civil war. We must prepare properly.]
Achille snorted 'Hmph', then turned to look at Sion.
The Goddess of War thought internally.
[I bestowed Bashu, the Cloak of the Fighting God, before.]
Achille also wanted to showcase sowhat flashier equipnt. These days, the power of the Goddess of War was nearing its pri.
It wouldn't be bad to demonstrate the church's strength through her struggling apostle.
[This will essentially be our official coback match.]
Achille smiled and reached her hand out toward Sion.
[Co. War Sword.]
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