Chapter 139: The False God
At the border between Yamato, the northernmost country, and the Belkudo Empire.
An unusual messenger had arrived at the Imperial Fort.
“Well, Honoka-kun, it’s been a while.”
“Eh, Lloyd-san!? Why are you, who are crucial to the defense of the Imperial Capital, here…? Don’t tell me, you’re here to reprimand me…?”
“No, it hasn’t been found out that you’re intentionally not conquering Yamato.”
Honoka looked distressed as Lloyd spoke with a faint smile.
She was a formidable warrior, far surpassing even Lloyd the Swift. Lloyd was convinced that if she were to use her full strength, she could conquer the north in an instant.
“Ah, by now, only Misha and I are aware of it. The weak cannot fathom you, and the other strong ones are only interested in themselves.”
“By now, you say…?”
“Yes. Because Marquis Ignat has passed away.”
As Honoka lowered her eyes sadly, murmuring “Ah…”, Lloyd pressed his temple with a bitter expression and said, “Today’s business is a different matter.”
For Lloyd, who was always mindful of appearances, to show such a loss of composure—she held her breath, wondering just how troublesome this matter was.
“Um, how much do you know about the Chief God?”
At the unexpected question, she tilted her head. “The Chief God, you ask?” But she began to list the facts she knew.
“――――――――――His place of birth was Belfast, but now He resides in our land of Belkudo, correct?”
As she laid out her knowledge, those words came out, and Lloyd interjected.
“Yes, about that god, it seems he’s going to manifest.
The Pope himself apparently stated that because Belfast declared they would draw their bow against the god, the god became enraged and decided to personally dispatch troops to the battlefield.”
“Huh…?” she said, looking confused, as if she couldn’t quite grasp it.
“Well… how should I put this, but haven’t there been others who made similar statements before? Why is He so enraged this time…?”
“Who knows? More importantly, here’s the main issue. His Majesty the Emperor has decreed that all of us generals are to join the campaign against Belfast, which is the main target of this subjugation.”
“What? You’re telling me to abandon the defenses here now?”
Although she had slacked off, disliking the invasion, she had defended this place to ensure the Empire was never breached. To be told to abandon it made her show a look of displeasure.
“Yes. It seems the god will take care of the defenses here. Honestly, I’m not sure how to feel about it myself.”
“Is that so? By when must I return…?”
“Immediately. It’s an Imperial Edict to rush to the Imperial Capital in three days. That’s why I’ve been tasked with this role of a messenger, something usually done by subordinates.”
Hearing the Imperial Edict, her face turned pale, but she opened a desk drawer, pulled out a list of supplies, and quickly began to check it.
“There are many things that need to be procured, and even if we leave as is, considering the speed, five days would be difficult.”
“Indeed. That’s why you and I will go ahead. We can just tell the other generals to bring their troops and come as fast as possible. Even then, we won’t have much leeway.”
If that was the case, it was at least possible, Honoka sighed, replying, “Then let’s depart as we are.”
“Are you ready? If we go all out, we could probably waste about half a day, even being generous.”
“I don’t need it. I’m a woman who’s lived her life in a Dungeon, you know?”
“Ah, right. Your current appearance is so distinguished, I keep forgetting. In any case, it’s helpful that we can travel with some time to spare. Well then, shall we go?”
And so, after Honoka gave instructions to her adjutant, the two of them set off running towards the Imperial Capital.
Honoka and Lloyd arrived at the Imperial Castle in the Imperial Capital.
Though it was a familiar place, they stopped before the gate and looked up at the sky.
“Is that… what it is?”
“No, I don’t know anything.”
Floating in the sky above was a smart, pure white giant, humanoid but clearly not human. The sight of them forming ranks in the sky looked bizarre, even knowing they were called Divine Soldiers.
However, both knew they couldn’t speak carelessly, so they kept their mouths shut and passed through the gate.
The two of them hurried to the Emperor’s location.
“War God Honoka-sama and Lloyd the Swift-sama have arrived.”
A short while after the soldier’s voice, the door opened.
Beyond it, besides the Emperor and Prime Minister Hyde, the Pope was also present.
“Oh, you’ve come! Did you see them? Those divine figures outside!!”
The Emperor, looking overjoyed, questioned the two.
“Yes, of course. Are those indeed divine…?” Lloyd asked.
“Yes. It has finally come. This moment!”
“Um… being in the north, I have no grasp of the situation at all, but what do you mean, ‘the time has come’…?”
Honoka, still utterly confused, asked with a tense expression, slowly looking at the faces of the three.
“Hohoho. At this very moment, not even Honoka-dono, but only we of the Church and His Majesty the Emperor understand. Hyde, explain it to her.”
“Yes. The era when the god will once again guide us directly has arrived! It is regrettable that we could not offer Belfast ourselves, but we can even participate in a holy war that will be etched into posterity! We must be grateful for this good fortune!!”
He was so excited that his explanation was hardly coherent.
However, Honoka recoiled at the sight of Hyde, who always maintained a stoic expression, now passionately speaking with a hint of joy.
“Honoka, don’t make such a face. You will understand soon. It’s almost time. Soon, it will begin…”
The Emperor, a triumphant smile on his face, stood up as he finished speaking and said, “We are moving. Follow me,” as he walked towards the balcony.
By the time they had moved, just when Honoka was beginning to give up on understanding what on earth was happening, the form of a person larger than a mountain—no, reaching to the very heavens—appeared in the center of the Imperial Capital.
Simultaneously, the Emperor, the Prime Minister, and the Pope dropped to their knees and prostrated themselves.
While bewildered by the impossible situation, the two of them followed suit. Then, a colossal old man in white robes and a feathered haori, so enormous he seemed to reach the heavens, turned his palm towards the earth and opened his mouth.
『Listen, people of the earth. I am the god of this land, God-King Nagira.
This time, I have decided to bring down the hammer of judgment upon the fools who dared to bare their fangs at me.
This is originally trivial work for you all. Therefore, those of you confident in your strength shall join the war and fulfill your duty.
If your efforts are deemed worthy by me, I promise to guide you henceforth.』
She didn’t know if it was the god’s way of speaking or because the respectable-aged men were weeping with joy, but Honoka looked around and naturally let out a sigh.
Just then, a human figure of similar scale appeared next to the god.
『Hey, hold on! I didn’t say to show me!
Huh? I have to do it? Because you’ll give me cue cards?
Well, it’s an emergency, sure… Alright, I get it!』
“Wh-Why… is the Prince of Belfast next to the god…?”
“Wh-What did you say!? You’re saying that’s the Prince of Belfast’s form!?”
The Emperor pressed Lloyd, who had muttered this, for an explanation, but Lloyd just shook his head, saying he had no information beyond the similarity in appearance.
The situation progressed while their confusion remained unresolved.
『Um, first of all, this person is not a god. He’s human.
This is just an image; anyone with the right tools can use it.』
『S-Silence!! You insolent fool, there’s a limit to your disrespect!
I will not forgive you anymore! Divine Soldiers, bring down the hammer of judgment upon this fool!!』
King Nagira, interrupting his words, turned his palm towards Belfast as he gave the command, and the Divine Soldiers drew their silvery swords and took flight.
Just as their figures were about to disappear beyond the Imperial Capital, countless lights rained down from the heavens, and a number of Divine Soldiers equal to the number of lights plummeted.
They crashed, trailing smoke, clearly shot down.
“Eh…?” The one who muttered with a dumbfounded voice was the Pope, who usually wore a mature poker face and a smile.
However, the one who called himself a god wore a similar expression.
『Wh-What?! How can you output that much power at once!
Wh-What?! And yet, the Ark isn’t moving this way?!
Y-You! What did you do!』
『No, no, if you’re calling yourself a god, shouldn’t you know without asking?
You’re basically announcing publicly that you don’t even understand the capabilities of a mere human like me…』
『Guh… You’re on the side of the gods too, aren’t you?! You fool, defying me, the King of Gods!!』
While they were arguing back and forth, almost all of the Divine Soldiers, who should have numbered two hundred, had been defeated.
“G-God… What should we do…?”
God-King Nagira, in his giant projected image, turned his gaze towards Hyde, who asked with a deathly pale face.
『Hyde. Advance on Belfast at once! With all your forces!』
『Don’t do it. You’ll just die, you know? Don’t be fooled by this lying old geezer, okay?
Let me make this clear: whether you’re being deceived or not, I’ll kill every last one of you who invades my country.』
This time, Rui’s voice interjected over him, sending a great shockwave through the Imperial Army soldiers.
“He said he was on the side of the gods… Does that mean we’re supposed to fight a god in person…?”
“I knew something was off! That monster slaughtered thirty thousand in a single blow!”
“There’s no way a mere human could do something like that…”
“Does that mean the Prince of Belfast is really a god…?”
There’s no way we can win. We’ll just die in vain. Such words filled the whispers from those around.
『I’m not, okay? I’m just a normal person!』
Such a voice echoed, but no matter how you looked at it, he was anything but normal. No one believed his words unquestioningly, and the shrewd ones took advantage of the chaos to silently disappear, thinking they’d rather not die by getting caught in a battle between gods.
『That’s right, that’s right. If you don’t want to die, you should run. King Nagira, you understand, don’t you? Now that your Divine Soldiers are useless, you have no path to victory.』
Those who had been attempting to flee, moving from shadow to shadow to avoid being seen, looked up at the sky in shock. As if their innermost thoughts had been laid bare, they felt a chilling fear and, trembling, quickened their pace of escape.
『Hmph, I see now! That high output must have a limit, doesn’t it? I say again! This is a divine command! Advance at once! This is a Holy War!!』
At King Nagira’s thundering voice, the Pope and Hyde shot to their feet as if jolted and raised their voices.
“Temple Knights, do not be swayed by the enemy’s words! Now is the time for the Holy War!”
“These are the words of our god! Honoka-dono, Lloyd-dono, take your soldiers and advance immediately!”
At those words, the Temple Knights, who had been lined up below in simple attire, began to advance with great urgency, but Honoka and Lloyd, though they stood up, remained rooted to the spot. Doubts had arisen because the man claiming to be a god had behaved in a way unbecoming of one, and because the Prince of Belfast had appeared at the same colossal size. Their gazes turned to the Emperor, their leader, but he was still in a crucible of confusion.
“Not a god, you say? Even though I personally struck down my own father, who lacked faith? Hahaha, impossible! Is he not, in fact, reaching to the very heavens?! No, but then the Prince too… Kgh! If only the Prince of Belfast weren’t here, I wouldn’t be this conflicted!!”
“We cannot depart without His Majesty’s decision. For now, let’s go speak with the other generals,” Lloyd said, making eye contact with Honoka, and then quickly led her away from the spot.
“Lloyd-san, are you really planning to go out in this situation?”
“That all depends on His Majesty the Emperor. Well, to be honest, this whole thing stinks to high heaven, so I just came out to buy some time…”
“I see,” Honoka said, showing her understanding, as they trotted off towards Misha’s location.
They had heard that Misha was lining up soldiers in front of the barracks, but she wasn’t there when they arrived. Instead, they saw a scene of sparsely lined-up soldiers looking down anxiously.
“Hmm, in that case, we’ll have to look for her. This is rather convenient, isn’t it?”
As Lloyd murmured this and they headed towards Misha’s residence, several pillars of light shot up once more. These pillars of light moved towards the Imperial Capital at tremendous speed, then abruptly stopped just short of the town.
“Could it be… that light just now was an attack on the Temple Knights…?”
“Judging by the timing, yes. There’s no doubt they’ve suffered near-total annihilation…”
『Now you understand that there are no limits, right? By the way, I’ve annihilated the Knights who came out.』
Normally, these would be unbelievable words. But Lloyd, who knew that the Divine Soldiers had been defeated earlier and was aware of the Prince’s strength, frowned, thinking, “This looks tough even for us.”
“Yes. The worst part is that we don’t even know what to hit to make it stop.”
“No, even before that, we’re within his range, so he can crush everything before we even strike. Depending on his Magical Power, that is…”
“Ah… right. If we go out and can’t finish this quickly, we won’t have a place to return to, will we?”
“Indeed. If he can keep firing those lights, our complete defeat is all but certain. Even without that, with the Divine Soldiers fallen, the tide of battle is strongly against us.”
Honoka had also heard the story of how thirty thousand soldiers were lost to a single blow from the Prince of Belfast, and how a unit led by a general had no choice but to flee back. However, for her, who had faced desperate situations as a matter of course, her spirit was not broken.
“For now, shall we go to Belfast and capture the Prince? That would be the quickest way.”
“…That’s unexpected. After all, we’re just hired hands who were forcibly promoted. I’m already planning to abandon my position. To be honest, this job as a General is boring.”
Hearing that, her expression softened. “Ah, right. It’s not like we have anything we need to protect that badly, do we? Lloyd-san, why are you still single at your age?”
“There have been… various things… But still, where should we go…?”
“My family has meddled in affairs in both the north and south, you know. Shall we head west for now?”
“West from here would be the Ignat Territory, huh? I hear the Strange Disease there has subsided, so it might be a good place to lay low for a while.”
Once that was decided, Lloyd immediately used an aide to send a messenger to his own troops, informing them of the current situation and his intention to abandon his post.
“What about your unit? Shall I have my men help if needed?”
“Thank you very much. But I don’t really care about them. They’re directly under the Emperor, and they hold no loyalty to me. They’re the type who think I’ll obey any order as long as it’s a ‘royal decree’.”
While expressing gratitude for Lloyd’s consideration, her face twisted as she grumbled.
“Hahaha, that’s just like your gentle self, isn’t it? If it were any other general, anyone who misspoke like that would disappear by the next day.”
“I’ve lived my whole life just wanting not to die. I don’t like killing.”
“No… I said gentle, but that’s actually normal. Yes, we’re the ones who are strange. This country… no, the people in power in this country are insane. It took me a lot of effort to get used to it.” He laughed with a bitter expression, adding, “If I hadn’t had power, I probably would have died too.”
“My parents were like that too, you know. Just because I’m the child of a concubine, would you normally lock up sisters in a Dungeon together? That kind of thing is a boy’s role, isn’t it?!”
“Well, gender doesn’t really matter for that… but yes, it’s a common kind of atrocity you hear about. Most die, and even if they succeed, they’re resented, so it’s a foolish act that leads to nothing good. Well, you were also quite something for not realizing you could leave until you’d accomplished the absurd task of reaching the very deepest part, though.”
Lloyd glanced at her. She seemed to bristle at his remark and retorted, “Hey, I was only five years old! Even my eldest sister was just eight! After that, constantly risking our lives, it became our vow to reach the lowest floor no matter what! And when I thought I’d finally avenge my dead nee-sans even a little, our house had already been crushed…”
By the time she returned, her family had already been ensnared by political rivals and condemned for High Treason, with the entire clan punished. Though she still harbored smoldering feelings, she realized they had strayed from the topic and composed her expression.
“So… since you’re going along with this, you’ll look after the troublesome stuff, right?”
“Hahaha, I’ll handle the petty, troublesome matters, but I’ll be relying on you for the martial aspects.”
“Eh, there’s no one Lloyd-san would need to rely on, right? Ah, you mean if Belfast attacks…? Leave it to me! If it’s okay to run away, then it’s a piece of cake!”
Saying that, she climbed into the Beast-Drawn Cart, and Lloyd followed. And so, the two of them abandoned the Imperial Capital and set off to the west, unaware that an event that would shake the world was about to occur.