Chapter 209
The military encampment in southern Carpe.
In the large tent where the supreme commander resided, the Queen was reddening her eyes as she looked over reports covered with maps and parchment.
The stacked parchments were not only battlefield reports but also mixed with several petitions.
The general content of the petitions went like this:
[Due to the oracle, the soldiers' morale has hit rock bottom. They hold the just cause while we are forced into battle, making it unfit to lead the army.]
[The empire's alliance was long dissolved due to the Gray Traitor, and even the small nations of the continent have received oracles and are searching for the Gray Traitor, making the entire continent our enemy.]
Is it right to continue fighting this war?
Would it not be better to hand over the Gray we harbor and plan for the future?
If things continue like this, the nation is in danger.
That was roughly the nature of the content.
Clara set down the petition and covered her face with both hands.
The one she thought was dead was alive.
That alone had brought vitality to Clara's face, who had升华 her sorrow into rage and taken to the battlefield.
In a brief battle, her swordsmanship exerted great power on a large-scale battlefield, and her mind, blessed by God, fully comprehended battlefield tactics and maximized efficiency.
Though only defending in small-scale battles with the duchy, she achieved continuous victories.
But now, things seemed slightly different.
"The just cause belongs to them, and an oracle has descended for them to unite as one, so simply defending won't be enough."
Until now, only small-scale battles had occurred, and they had won without much difficulty.
The south was equipped with terrain suitable for defense, and the Golden Lions protecting the south.
It was because the Luidren family guarded the border like an iron wall.
Even with a hundred thousand troops of the duchy, they could not easily pass through Carpe's southern border.
Originally, the terrain of the south, formed with various gorges, was perfect for ambushes, and passing through it meant the enemy had to be prepared to give up their lives.
Even thirty thousand soldiers had the advantage of being able to face a hundred thousand troops.
Therefore, they couldn't easily move their forces either and were just watching and waiting, so the war was naturally headed for a prolonged engagement.
"A prolonged war is what we desire."
"That's right. Securing rations to feed a hundred thousand troops is a great burden for them."
For the defending side, a prolonged war was exactly what they wanted. Unlike the duchy, which faced risks in transporting military rations, Carpe did not.
"How is the food supply in the south this time?"
"It's an abundant harvest. You don't need to worry about food."
"Good."
But the Queen's expression was not so good. If they fought a prolonged war without worrying about food, the duchy's grand army would gradually grow exhausted.
If they couldn't come up with a proper solution, breaking through the southern defense would be difficult.
However.
'The oracle is the problem.'
Originally, it was a strategy where they could exhaust the enemy through a prolonged war and then pursue the retreating forces to achieve a great victory.
But that damn oracle was the problem.
Even if they fought a prolonged war, there was a high possibility that others would join them.
"They say the empire has already declared that the Emperor is hostile to us."
"We won't be able to receive the army they were going to lend us as is."
"But then again, we no longer need to hand over the saintess. Either way, it's the same in giving them a just cause."
It was then.
"Urgent report!"
"What is it?"
"The, the Golden Lion of Luidren!!"
"What about the Golden Lion!"
"He has fallen in battle!"
* * *
Northwest of the continent.
South of Lumpard appears the Forest of Wandering Eyes. It is a massive birch forest stretching across Lumpard and other small nations.
The name was given because the knots in the birch trees inherently resembled human eyes.
Wandering eyes.
The forest, normally quiet, was noisy today because of the fear-inducing eyes.
"It's him! For sure!"
Pilgrims surrounding a man passing through the forest each drew their weapons.
"Hey, is that guy really the one?"
"Positive. The Gray Traitor. The one spoken of in the oracle is definitely him."
"He's not gray, is he?"
"Gray refers to his eyes. Look. At those ominous eyes."
The man's eyes that faintly appeared within his robe.
They were indeed gray.
"He's the one."
"Oh God. Your disciple has found the protagonist of the oracle."
"We shall carry out God's command."
Swish.
The weapons drawn from each hand reflected the sunlight, revealing their ominous edges.
Spears, scythes, crossbows, and so on.
"Huaaaap!!"
A spear exists solely for thrusting.
Suddenly, the pilgrim's legs and arms transformed into those of a beast. It seemed to be a spear with that kind of unique ability.
The man slightly twisted his body to dodge the thrust and twisted the spearman's neck.
Crack.
"Colin!! You bastard!!"
Thwack, thwack!
When the crossbow was fired, he lifted the dead spearman to block the arrows.
"My arrows aren't that easy!"
Thud, thud!
He tried to block them with the spearman's corpse, but the arrows pierced through as if it were futile.
However, the man paid it no mind.
Clang, clang!
"The arrows!"
They bounced off.
He seemed to be wearing gray armor under his robe, likely because of that.
The man who threw aside the spearman picked up his spear and dyed it in his own color.
"T-Traitor!! Gack!"
Boom!!
He hurled the spear at the shouting crossbow man.
With a single throw of the spear, it pierced through him and sent him flying, pinning him to a tree where he met his end.
"Die."
A scythe-wielding pilgrim who had covered his mouth with cloth and enveloped the surroundings with black smoke, brought the scythe down toward the man's neck.
The moment he tried to behead him in one stroke.
"M-My body!"
Suddenly his body wouldn't move.
Before he knew it, gray chains rising from underground were binding his entire body.
"You son of a bitch using cowardly sorcery!"
It was then.
Clatter!
Hooks attached to chains flew out from the dense thicket.
When the man's figure disappeared, the hooks pierced and tore through the body of the innocent scythe pilgrim instead.
"That's a bit harsh."
"It's you, right? Traitor. Stop playing with the kids and play with me instead."
Rattle, rattle.
A knight walking casually while holding a three-pronged hook.
He seemed to be a paladin of the hook.
He certainly exuded a stronger aura than those who had appeared before.
The man picked up the scythe of the torn and dead pilgrim. Then, black smoke erupted around him and filled the surroundings.
"You used a spear earlier, and now a scythe?"
An absurd fellow.
But precisely because of that, he was also dangerous.
"I think I understand why God told me to kill you. You are someone who must not exist."
A being whose very existence would cause chaos.
The hook paladin judged so.
A forest filled with darkness.
The moment he was about to throw the hook toward the sky from that place.
Swish.
"I just want to live too, you know."
"?!"
The moment he was startled and dodged, surprised by the figure that had approached without him noticing.
"Ah..."
His body and head separated and fell.
"When...?"
"Just now."
Thud.
As the fallen paladin and the darkness lifted, the man's figure appeared once more.
Only after collecting the scythe, spear, and crossbow did the man remove his hood.
Black hair and gray eyes.
The protagonist of the oracle and the public enemy of the continent.
The man said to have destroyed Lumpard, stolen the Holy Armor, and fled.
It was Callius.
"It's surprisingly inconvenient."
Even while holding the scythe, the status window doesn't appear.
That alone made it quite inconvenient.
Leaving aside the fact that he couldn't objectively see his own status, he couldn't see the abilities of his sword or the status of other items either.
'Was it indeed God's arrangement after all?'
Status window. Quests and so on.
Considering they were recovered, it meant all of this was originally God's arrangement.
"Did they try to raise me as a challenger?"
Probably something like that.
If not, it was also a matter of facing the fact that the path they desired and the path I walk had diverged.
'It can't be helped.'
What has already been taken away. It can't be helped.
It's just a bit inconvenient.
Everything else should be the same.
"Are they trying to maintain some kind of fairness? I really don't understand what these gods here are thinking."
One month since leaving Lumpard.
Those who pursued him after receiving oracles were mostly pilgrims or paladins.
If not them, then forces dispatched at the national level.
Originally, he could have summoned the Ashen Legion as the Iron Lord and swept them all away, but he deliberately didn't do so.
First, because he needed to reveal his location.
Those who didn't know his location would naturally turn their attention to Carpe.
That was to prevent it.
And second, because he wanted to test his newly acquired power in various aspects.
Now it was no longer limited to just the sword.
Spears, crossbows, hammers, scythes, and so on.
He could use various weapons and fully draw out their power.
Of course, only the sword and armor were subjugated, but being able to fully use the power of other weapons was undeniably powerful.
However, since Callius still had little experience using weapons other than the sword, he was wandering around gaining experience using various weapons.
"I need to divert their attention too."
In the current situation, there was nothing good about going to Carpe.
All sorts of crazy people on the continent would threaten Carpe and himself, claiming an oracle had come.
If that was going to happen anyway, drawing aggro and roaming the continent would be better for both Carpe and himself.
And honestly.
[I don't know what to do~]
"......"
[Suddenly being hated by all the gods at once. It's not even a fall, you know.]
It wasn't a wrong statement.
It was quite a sudden event.
He didn't know that acting based on a moment's realization would cause such a change.
He even wondered if he had done something pointless.
But it was already spilled water.
There was nothing he could do but accept it humbly.
[What are you going to do now? How about just falling like me while you're at it...?]
"Shut up. You've got quite the nerve to keep talking. I've decided what to do."
[What is it?]
"I'll find a volcano."
[Are you trying to drop me in there?]
"There's no need for me to fall in, is there?"
A woman who chattered annoyingly every time he forgot about her.
First, he'd deal with Rebecca and then think calmly. That wouldn't be bad either.
[You're joking, right? If you don't have someone like me to talk to, you'll be so bored. Someone who's been hated by God and started being hated by the whole continent—without me, you'd have no one to talk to, you know? You left behind people who seemed like comrades and are traveling alone.]
She was talking about Helena and Cedric.
After rescuing Helena and Cedric, who had been buried in the snowfield of Lumpard, treating them moderately, and explaining the situation before leaving.
He couldn't stay long.
Because he was the one who had half-destroyed Lumpard, and because he had incurred the hatred of God.
"The closest active volcano is probably Kuula. No matter how corrupted a soul, if it touches Kuula's lava, it dies."
"How about thinking about it one more time? If you kill me, it's really war with the duchy!"
"By now, they're probably already at war. It's nothing different. Besides, showing them a princess in this state would only make them angrier. Is there any difference?"
Ignoring Rebecca's chattering, he was about to head toward Mount Kuula when.
A faint light glowed from the corpse of the dead pilgrim.
"Divine grace? Now of all times?"
The divine grace that should have originally glowed silver.
But this time, the light of divine grace was glowing with a pale golden hue.
The corpse of the paladin who had been holding the hook, his head severed. Callius hesitated for a moment before reaching his hand toward the corpse.
An ashen aura enveloped the corpse, and soon the paladin's corpse transformed into armor and was grasped in Callius's hand.
Not a sword, but the divine grace of armor.
It felt quite unfamiliar, but divine grace was divine grace. The paladin's memories seeped into the armor and into him.
"Divine grace..."
Along with the changed situation, had divine grace also changed in some way?
The divine grace that had made Callius who he was until now.
How else had divine grace changed?
Callius needed to know.
'The system parts seemed to have disappeared now.'
Did that mean divine grace was not part of the system?
If so, what kind of reward would he receive upon completing divine grace?
A little expectation rose, but he could only predict that the outcome wouldn't be that good.
"Shall we go for now."
The man was a paladin who served the hook.
What he desired at the moment of his death was one thing.
The life of an old man in some cave.
Should he save him?
Or would it be better to leave him alone? Whatever he chose, he needed to meet him first...
[I will dedicate my entire body and soul to satisfying you, Lord Callius!]
Callius tore off the necklace and threw it into his subspace.