1261 An Ending No One Wants To See
“Is there any news from the Elun Empire?” one of the King’s asked the Pope.
“No,” the Pope replied. “We can’t get too close because there are several Pseudo-Gods guarding the place. We don’t know what happened when Ahriman’s Avatar appeared. The Pseudo-God we sent said that he no longer sensed its presence in the capital, but this might just be a trick in order to lure us into a trap.”
While the battle between William’s and Felix’s forces was at its peak, the various leaders of the Central Continent were in the middle of a high-level conference.
Only Emperor Leonidas, and Empress Andraste, weren’t present because the two of them had mobilized their armies and personally led the charge to the Elun Empire.
“Then, what should we do?” an Emperor inquired. “Should we just wait until their battle is over?”
“Yes,” the Pope answered without any hesitation. “Let them kill each other first. It will not be too late to attack once there have been massive losses on both sides.”
The Kings and Emperors knew that this was the best course of action, but they were still worried. Ahriman had the power to appear in any place in the Central Continent, and if Felix’s army decided to attack their territories, they would be helpless against them.
Sensing their anxiety, the Pope reassured them that the Holy Order would immediately come to their aid, if and when Ahriman’s forces came knocking on their doors.
What they didn’t know was that while they were meeting in the conference room and waiting for the outcome of the war between the Heir of Darkness and Prince of Darkness, the battle was already over.
Because of this lapse in the Pope’s judgment, someone was able to take advantage of the situation and lay claim to the Elun Empire, who had lost its royal family and military power.
——
Capital of the Elun Empire…
“Where finally here,” one of the Elders of Deus said with a solemn expression on his face. “Are you sure it’s going to be fine?”
“Yes,” a soft, and silky voice replied from inside the carriage that was being pulled by a Black Gryphon. “Let’s go. You have nothing to fear as long as I’m here.”
“As you command, Pontifex,” the Elder commented. “Raise our banners. We will enter the city!”
“””Yes!”””
Thousands of men wearing black robes, raised the banner of Deus as they marched towards the capital city, on where the battle had just ended.
When Astrape, Bronte, Titania, and the other Pseudo-Gods saw the banners that were approaching the capital city, they allowed them to pass unhindered.
William had told his subordinates about their ally, who had only been waiting for the Half-Elf’s attack in the Central Continent. The members of Deus had long amassed their forces, and were more than ready to fight side by side with William as they faced the forces of the Heir of Darkness.
Unfortunately, the battle that transpired had happened so suddenly, that the members of Deus weren’t able to mobilize and reinforce William in time.
Only the members of Deus who had been hiding in the Kraetor Empire, as well as the neighboring kingdoms of the Elun Empire, were able to rally under the banner of their Supreme Pontifex, who went by the name Nisha.
Seeing the destruction of the Capital City, and the countless corpses around them, even the members of Deus, who were notorious for being unscrupulous, couldn’t help but frown.
“Head to the Royal Palace,” Nisha ordered. “We will wait for our Lord’s arrival there.”
“Yes, Your Excellency!”
As the carriage trudged the path towards the Royal Palace, Nisha watched the scenery from the window of her carriage with a calm expression on her face. The black-haired teenager and her had agreed on an alliance, and one of the duties that the Half-Elf had assigned to her was the management of the lands that he had conquered.
William was someone that didn’t want to handle the paperwork, and sit on a throne supervising ministers all day long. He had decided to push this job to Nisha, who was more than capable of managing tens of thousands of people at the same time.
In short, Nisha would serve as William’s steward in the territories that the Half-Elf had declared as his territory.
Right now, the Elun Empire’s Royal Family had been extinguished, which was ripe for the taking.
However, this alliance held certain conditions as well. In exchange for Nisha managing his Domain, the Half-Elf told her that he would not allow any acts of oppression or violence under his rule.
He had known that the members of Deus weren’t the best when it came to good morals, so he stressed this point in the negotiation, which Nisha readily agreed to.
Deus might be a group of bad people, but even bad people had someone they were afraid of. If you were to randomly choose an ordinary member, or an Elder of the organization and ask them what they were afraid of, ten out of ten would say that they were afraid of their Supreme Pontifex, who was known to execute those who defied her orders.
“We’re here, Your Excellency,” the Elder stated before respectfully opening the door of the carriage.
A moment later, a woman wearing a black dress stepped out of the carriage. Her face was covered with a veil, preventing anyone from seeing her face. The only thing they could see was her curvaceous body that was enough to make the blood of any able-bodied-men, and even women, give her looks of infatuation.
“Place our flags around the city walls, and on the top of the castle,” Nisha ordered. “Let everyone know, especially that old Pope, that the city is already under our control.”
“”Yes, Your Excellency!””
Several minutes later, the banner of Deus, which was composed of four pairs of black wings, fluttered over the city walls, as well as over the highest point of the castle of the Elun Empire.
This sudden change had caught the attention of the Pseudo-God that was monitoring the city, and used his ability to display this in the conference where the Pope of the Holy Order of Light presided.
After seeing the black wings fluttering in the breeze, the Kings, and Emperors, took a deep breath because they had recognized the emblem on the flags.
They had also had their own dealings with Deus, and even asked them for a few favors in the past. All of them knew how notorious this organization was and even the Pope couldn’t help but frown after seeing the flags of their organization’s mortal enemy.
Originally, the Pope wanted to take the Elun Empire under the banner of the Holy Order, but after seeing that Deus had already occupied the capital city, the Pope became silent.
Having the power of the Alliance, and the Four Pseudo-Gods at her beck and call, the Pope had a high chance of overthrowing the Organization who had fought them in the shadows.
But, she was hesitating to do this. For one thing, the Pseudo-God that was monitoring the capital city had stated that he could sense over eleven Pseudo-Gods inside the city.
This number was quite alarming, and the Pope wasn’t stupid enough to deploy her troops and fight the existences that far exceeded the number of Pseudo-Gods under her command.
There was also the fact that William had millions of beasts serving under him, which was the same reason why the Pope wanted the Heir of Darkness and Prince of Darkness to duke it out with each other first, before they gatecrashed their party.
“Deus has occupied the Elun Empire,” an Emperor commented. “Are they the allies of the Demon or that Half-Elf? Is the battle already over? Who won?”
The other rulers had the same questions inside their heads, but the Pope couldn’t give them any answers.
The Nymphs had already fired a warning shot against the Pseudo-God that was spying on them from a distance, which forced the spy of the Holy Order to retreat to a safe location.
‘Should I ask Melody to let her Patron Goddess descend upon Hestia?’ the Pope pondered.
Using the Celestial Raiment wasn’t something that they could do very often. Just like any other artifact with Divine Powers, certain conditions must be met before they could be activated.
‘I am lacking information right now,’ the Pope thought. ‘It’s not good to be hasty. I’ll just wait a few more hours to see if there are any changes in the Capital City before I make my decision.’
—–
Somewhere in the Fortaare Desert…
Nemesis, who had been ordered to keep William safe, stared at the Half-Elf while under concealment.
She had seen how William was able to wound Ahriman with his Divinity, making the Goddess of Retribution and Revenge feel as if she needed to kill the Half-Elf in order to prevent him from killing Gods in the future.
However, before she could do this, she received a stern warning from the Primordial Goddess of Darkness to not do anything and only do what she was told.
A God Slayer was an existence that challenged the order of the Gods, and this was not a simple matter. If word got out that William was a God Slayer, even the Primordial Goddess whose power outmatched the majority of Gods in the Temple of the Ten Thousand Gods, would find it hard to keep William’s life intact if the Gods decided to launch a manhunt for him.
Fortunately for the Half-Elf, after his full-powered attack against Ahriman, the God Slayer Divinity inside him had entered a state of hibernation, preventing anyone from discovering the truth.
Only the Goddesses that had descended in Hestia, alongside Gavin, were aware of this fact. Unless one of them spread this news in the Temple of the Ten Thousand Gods, the Half-Elf’s secret would remain hidden for a while longer.
An hour later, Eros and Astrid returned to Lyssa’s side, who was currently guarding the unconscious teenager lying beside her feet.
“I don’t sense Ahriman’s presence anywhere,” Eros stated. “The same can be said for Adephagia.”
Astrid nodded her head in agreement. “I can only think of two reasons why we can’t find them. The first one is that Ahriman might have already died, so his presence couldn’t be sent anywhere, or he found a way to escape this world.
“As for Adephagia, I think the time she could stay in Hestia has run out. Maybe she’s back in the Temple, which would explain why we can’t sense her Divinity.”
Lyssa nodded her head in agreement. “Actually, I am about to reach my limit as well. It will be best if we send this boy back to his subordinates first. Let them take care of him for the time being.”
“Okay, I’ll take him back,” Eros volunteered as she picked up the unconscious Half-Elf in a princess carry. “Are you two coming with me, or are both of you heading back to the Temple first?”
Astrid and Lyssa glanced at each other before telling Eros that they would accompany her for the time being. Although they couldn’t sense Ahriman’s presence, they decided to not drop their guard and escort the unconscious Half-Elf back to his people first.
Nemesis watched them go before shifting her gaze to the distance where a little white flower bloomed. A moment later, the Winged Goddess turned into particles of light to return to the Temple of the Ten Thousand Gods.
She had already completed her mission, so whatever happened next was no longer her problem. The Winged Goddess would just let Eros, Astrid, and Lyssa handle the rest.
Nemesis knew that she couldn’t tell anyone what she saw in the mortal realm, or else her mother would become very disappointed with her.
In order to not make things difficult for herself, she was willing to turn a blind eye to the young man who was under the Primordial Goddess’ protection.
“I just hope you know what you’re doing, Mother,” Nemesis muttered as she ascended back to the Heavens. “Letting someone like him live, might spell disaster to our entire race once he has fully mastered his powers.”
As the Goddess of Divine Retribution and Revenge, she had the power to punish evil deeds, and those with undeserved good fortune.
Under her watch, no one could experience excess happiness or excess sadness.
She was like the God of Harmony that liked to let the scales always balance each other out.
Nemesis knew that William’s fate had tilted into extreme sadness and suffering. If this was an ordinary matter, the Winged Goddess would arrange for the Half-Elf to regain some sort of happiness and good fortune in order to balance things out.
However, she couldn’t do that because of William’s nature.
In the end, the only thing she could do was keep her silence and pray that in the future, the unconscious Half-Elf wouldn’t bare his fangs on the Gods that truly cared for him.
Because if that were to happen, it would be a very sad thing, and even she didn’t want to see this kind of ending.