Within a dark cave.
[It seems to have been settled for the most part. There should be no need for me to intervene.]
From deep within, a huge pair of golden eyes slowly revealed themselves, a strange gleam shimmering in them.
Sharp reptilian pupils, split vertically down the center.
They were the eyes of a dragon, the strongest and largest living creature in this world.
Gold Dragon Shurihartgen, who had manifested in his true body and had been observing the flow of energy across the entire continent, slowly closed his eyes again.
He had been prepared to intervene at any moment should an emergency arise, as Horus had asked, but fortunately, it did not seem necessary for him to act personally.
[...Though it does not seem the problem has been completely resolved.]
Since he was observing from a great distance, there were inevitably limits to the accuracy of what he could discern, but he could still grasp the general situation well enough.
The aura of the Apostle of an Outer God had definitely vanished from this world, but immediately afterward, something had changed in the aura of the Immortal King.
‘Could this have been what he was aiming for from the beginning? To use him as a sacrifice to increase his own power?’
If that was true, then in the end, the Apostle of an Outer God had merely been used by the Immortal King from start to finish.
One threat had retreated, but the Immortal King, who could be called the continent’s greatest calamity, was still perfectly intact, so Shurihartgen could not put his mind at ease.
[Still, it is fortunate that the Order’s losses do not seem too great.]
Of course, no matter how thoroughly they had prepared, the scale of the battle had been immense, and considering the nature of the power their opponent possessed, it was impossible for there to be no damage at all.
Quite a few of those who had formed the holy barrier had died or been injured, and the paladins who had stood at the front while burning away their own lifespans would need to recuperate for a considerable time.
Even so, when one considered the overwhelming power their opponent had possessed, the damage they had suffered was practically no damage at all.
Had they faced it without any particular preparation, a truly grave situation might have unfolded!
‘At this rate... we should be able to avoid the worst-case scenario. If it is those people now, then even against the Immortal King, they should be able to...’
In particular, the performance of the Hero of the Order of the Main God and the other heroes had been deeply impressive.
So much so that he had marveled at when the continent’s underlying strength had grown to such a level.
He had been deeply worried that the dragons would be unable to help during this generation’s invasion by the Immortal King, but it seemed the sacrifices made by their predecessors had not been in vain. That was a tremendous relief.
Just as Shurihartgen slowly nodded.
[Then... Kuhup! Cough—! Pfft—!]
Along with his rough coughing, blood that had surged back up poured like a waterfall from his enormous golden maw.
Drip, drip—
Splash—
Dark red, discolored dead blood splattered across the floor, and the pungent smell of blood began spreading through the cave.
[...Hoo, there truly is not much time left now. Is it time to start preparing for the end?]
After staring for a moment at the puddle of blood on the floor, he lightly used magic to clean it all away.
Still, it was fortunate that he would be able to spend his final moments by the side of his successor.
Today, if things had gone wrong, he had even been prepared to burn away all of his remaining life, and had that truly happened, he would not have been able to leave Horus his final gift.
‘I pray that child can become the hope of our race.’
The old dragon narrowed his eyes as though gazing somewhere far away, then slowly closed them to rest.
Before his final moment arrived, he had to raise his condition as much as possible.
***
After the Saint personally stepped forward and declared that the “Apostle of an Outer God” had been banished from this world.
The chaos in the holy land where a great battle had taken place also began to settle quickly.
Members of the Order moved busily, retrieving the bodies of those who had died in battle, transporting the wounded, and healing them.
It was around that time that the Saintess and the members of the Hero’s party arrived at the Great Temple of Rosellia.
“Phew, it seems we were late after all. Spatial movement magic has many restrictions in various ways...”
“What are you saying? It is all thanks to Lady Isea that we were able to travel so comfortably. More importantly, you must be tired, so please rest for a while.”
Leaving behind Isea, who sighed from the fatigue of repeated long-distance travel and battle, Saintess Riesta immediately rolled up her sleeves and joined in treating the wounded at the scene.
Since emergency treatment had already been administered once as soon as the battle ended, there were not many whose lives hung by a thread, but there were still plenty of people who needed her help.
“Mm, there are more wounded than I expected.”
“Even so, this much is a relief, Saintess. Had it not been for those who came with the Saint, the damage would likely have been much greater.”
“Ah, certainly... I suppose so. It was to the point that it felt even worse than the Immortal King...”
“...If we had not prepared in advance thanks to the Saint’s foresight, it would truly have been difficult. And the same goes for that matter with the vampire lord. If the Saint had not accepted him beforehand, he would not have helped us this time.”
As they conversed, Heinrich’s insight naturally came to be praised once more.
Considering that he had instructed the Order to prepare in advance and had taken the lead at the very front in this matter, it was only natural.
On top of that, he had also been the one to strike the final blow against the Apostle of an Outer God that appeared in this holy land and drive it away, and above all...
“Ohhh! May the grace of the Main God be with us!”
“Hohoho, a second Great Blessing! Is this not truly a joyous occasion?”
“Ahh— I can still see clearly that beautiful moment when those wings of light spread wide before my eyes. To think I would witness such a scene with my own two eyes! O Main God!”
Heinrich’s “Wings of Radiance,” displayed before tens of thousands of fervent believers, plunged many into deep emotion.
The Great Blessing of the Main God had descended at the very moment he drove the holy sword into the chest of the Apostle of an Outer God, which had boasted such dreadful power, and beautiful wings had spread wide, shining brilliantly!
Was that not a scene that seemed as though it could only appear in legends?
‘I have gained something to boast of for the rest of my life!’
‘This too is the guidance of the Main God.’
‘This must be recorded in detail. In my diary, of course, and if possible, even as a painting...!’
In fact, the painters affiliated with the Order who engaged in artistic work had already gone into seclusion to capture that scene on canvas.
Once preparations were sufficiently complete, this event would also be made into murals and passed down through the generations along with the history of the Order.
Since they had been able to witness such a legendary scene with their own eyes, for the fanatics of the Order, it could only have been a glorious moment.
“...Ah! Come to think of it, where is the Saint now? He has not been injured anywhere, has he?”
“That is not the case, Saintess. After examining the urgent patients, the Saint entered the prayer room in order to bring his new blessing under control. It seems he will need a little time.”
During the battle, he had roughly poured out his power as the situation demanded, but in order to handle the ability more efficiently, properly understanding its limits and making detailed adjustments were essential.
And this was not just an ordinary blessing, but a Great Blessing powerful enough to raise his rank by another level!
‘Good, very good. This is truly an all-purpose ability.’
A private prayer room in the Great Temple of Rosellia.
Heinrich, who had been praying with both hands clasped and his newly acquired wings spread wide, inwardly let out a satisfied exclamation.
The “Great Blessing: Wings of Radiance” contained an extremely wide variety of functions.
High-speed flight and amplification of holy power, enhancement of holy skills—those were only the basics. It could be used widely in every field, from offense and defense to buffs.
And above all...
‘It looks incredibly cool! Good heavens, a holy knight with wings of light!’
Perhaps the Main God had noticed his secret inner feelings, that he had been subtly envious of the Beoncheon Society Leader’s wings, and granted him this ability?
Heinrich stroked the beautifully rippling wings of radiance and slowly nodded.
Of course, Heinrich was not the only one to have obtained gains of his own.
Heinz II, who had immediately left as soon as the matter was over, had gained resistance to holy power through the blood of the Beoncheon Society Leader, and Harley, who had torn off and eaten a part of the wings, had also acquired fairly useful genetic information.
...However, not everyone had gained something from this big event—
“Lord Harris? How are you here... Were you not certainly on the Enamel Continent?”
“Ahaha... Is this not all the grace of the World Tree? It is fortunate that, thanks to that, I was able to lend a hand in this matter.”
When Lydia, the high elf dispatched to the Hero’s party, expressed her doubts, Harris, who had been called all the way here across the sea, gave an awkward laugh.
All he could say was to praise the World Tree unconditionally.
“Mm, that is true. This matter was that serious, after all. A follower of an evil god from outside the world, of all things.”
Naturally, there was no way she could be satisfied with such an answer, but since he had not particularly done anything wrong, she had no choice but to accept it roughly and move on.
To begin with, among the current high elves, he was the only being who had reached the transcendent level, so no matter what kind of ability he displayed, they had no choice but to simply accept it as such.
“Haha... Of course. In any case, the surrounding environment was badly destroyed because of this incident, so how about we help a little with the restoration? I think that would be good for both sides.”
“Ah, that is a good idea! Since we are at it, it would not be bad to expand the forest a little more. To be honest, every time I come here, I feel a little stifled...”
Harris naturally changed the subject and led Lydia away.
The surrounding area was such a mess that if they wanted to properly fix it, they had to hurry.
Thus, while those gathered in the holy land were each spending busy moments for their own reasons related to this incident.
“Move faster! Hey, you there, raise the temperature of that brazier! What do you think you’re going to do with that lukewarm fire?”
“Ch-Chef! We brought more meat!”
“If you brought it, then hurry up and cut it! This is war! And we’re in charge of the most important thing—supplies! Anyone spacing out gets punishment drills later!”
“Yes, Chef!”
The Third Central Dining Hall of the Great Temple of Rosellia was enjoying busyness for another reason.
“Kaah~ This is it! As expected of the Great Temple, they use good meat. I found myself thinking of this taste surprisingly often! Pahahat!”
The cause was Harley, who had headed to the Great Temple’s dining hall as naturally as if he were going in and out of his own house, boldly ordered meat, and taken a seat.
Postwar cleanup, settling the chaos—none of that mattered much to a tough real man like him.
Since he had worked out heavily and sweated plenty, consuming nutritious and delicious meat was merely part of his natural routine.
Confident that he deserved at least this much after working fairly hard this time, he swallowed meat as though drinking it and came to a rough conclusion about the matter with the Beoncheon Society Leader.
‘In the end, we drove away the guy who invaded. It should be safe to say this has been wrapped up to some extent.’
He was curious as to what had happened to the Beoncheon Society Leader after he vanished from Auterica, but there was no way for him to know what came after.
Still, considering how flashy that ending had been, the bastard was unlikely to be in very good shape either.
Perhaps by now, he was taking out his anger on Earth for no reason.
That was quite satisfying, but he could not be content with just this one victory.
‘This was only one good hit. It’s just the beginning.’
This preliminary battle had been a surprise attack made possible thanks to the advantage of home ground, superiority in information, and the fact that they had dug into the weakness of an opponent burdened with restrictions.
It was a method that could not be used on Earth, which could be called the true decisive battlefield.
‘No, Earth could actually be called his home ground, so it’ll be even more disadvantageous.’
In order to properly bring him down in such an environment, he needed even more overwhelming strength.
Overwhelming strength that could ignore any unreasonable conditions, any unfavorable circumstances, and any penalties that held him back!
‘...It’s fine. I’m doing well. I just have to keep doing what I’ve done until now.’
In that sense, this incident, in which his avatars had grown while they had succeeded in cutting down the enemy’s strength, was a very encouraging achievement.
He could not guarantee when such an opportunity would come again, but even if it did not, confidence surged within him that he would still be able to do well going forward.
‘That’s right, because that’s how it’s always been.’
While Harley, lost in thought, instantly polished off the meat on the table and was smacking his lips in satisfaction.
An employee approached, pushing a serving cart loaded with freshly cooked meat from the kitchen.
“...Um, Lord Harley?”
Then, in a voice that sounded somehow troubled, he cautiously called out to him.
“Huh?”
“W-Well, no matter how delicious it is, you should not eat the plates...”
At those words, filled with embarrassment, Harley blankly looked down at the table.
At the clean table, where there was not a single plate left, let alone any meat.
“Ah.”
No wonder the meat had started to feel a little hard midway through.
It seemed he had gotten too absorbed in thought.