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"Godō" - Regular Speech
'My Everyday life…!' - Thoughts
"God Slayer!" - Heretic God/Powered Up Campione speech
"Fire!" - Magic/Authority Use
Beta'd By BigCC
Chapter 26: Three-Way Deadlock
Later that Night
Mariya Yuri's Dreams
With a gasp, the Hime-Miko with Glass Eyes suddenly became aware of her surroundings. Looking around in puzzlement, she suddenly 'eep'd in embarrassment as she discovered that she was currently completely naked...and that she wasn't the only person present! Fortunately, she recognized those accompanying her.
"Erica-san? Liliana-san? Ena-san? Hikari?" she questioned as she quickly covered her breasts with one arm and nether regions with her other hand.
"Oh my, Mariya. I never knew you could look quite so lewd." the blonde Italian teased, standing completely unashamed at her own nudity, positively flaunting her body for all to see; especially in front of the group who were her master's fellow Mistresses.
"Erica Blandelli...this is somehow your doing, isn't it?" the silver-haired Fairy Knight glowered at her rival. One eyebrow twitched as she saw that out of all women present, she was only larger in the chest department than the pre-teen Mariya Hikari, and given her older sister's prodigious (for a Japanese girl anyway) size, it was highly unlikely that that would remain the case once she had time to fully grow!
"Don't be so shy, Yuri!" Ena, the Hime-Miko of the Sword, encouraged her friend and fellow Hime-Miko. "You have to be bolder if you want to take your place as Ō-sama's first mistress!"
"H-how lewd!" the more demure of the two 'Top Hime-Miko' exclaimed, face bright red.
"Onee-chan, where are we?" Hikari asked, looking around in puzzlement and seemingly unbothered about being naked around a group of older girls. "And how are we walking on water?"
That question made the assembled girls snap out of their usual antics and look around. They were currently standing amidst of void of pure blue, beneath their feet was a vast expanse of water as dark as the sea under a moonless night while a paler blue sky stretched above them, all spreading outward into the horizon. Other than the girls and the water beneath them, there seemed to be nothing else there.
"I...I think this is some form of dream, or perhaps a vision?" Yuri said at last. "I've had waking dreams before, but I've never had anyone else accompanying me in them! Not even Hikari!"
"Shared dreams usually require some form of close, physical proximity in order to work." Erica nodded slowly. "I clearly remember crawling into bed in my own condo, can I assume the rest of you were in your homes before falling asleep as well?"
"I was." Liliana nodded sharply.
"Ena was too." the black-haired beauty agreed.
"I went to sleep with Onee-chan at the Mariya Shrine." Hikari put in.
"For all of us to be drawn into the same dream, despite being so far apart…." Ena muttered as her eyes once more explored the surrounding void. "This must be the work of at least a Divine Ancestor, if not-"
"Look!" Liliana pointed towards a section of water nearby that had suddenly began to roil and bubble. All four older girls almost instinctively moved to place themselves between Hikari and the violent water, as if to protect her, much to the younger girl's chagrin.
Emerging from the water was a large stone statue of someone that all five Mistresses of the 7th Campione instantly recognized.
"Jean Campbell!" Yuri gasped.
Indeed, the statue was of the newly crowned Eighth Campione, dressed in the outfit that she reportedly wore when she set out to combat Heretic Gods and intimidate lesser mages. The statue stood atop a rough outcropping of rock, barely large enough for the base of the statue to stand upon. One thing that drew the eye of the beholder was, funnily enough, the eyes of the statue itself; they seemed to be made of two pieces of crystal that shifted colours between various shades of blue and green in a constant and unpredictable pattern.
The girls began to back away slightly as even more points of roiling water appeared in a circle around both Jean Campbell's statue and the girls themselves. The first to rise was a beautiful golden trident, glowing with radiant divine light, and surrounded by four other objects; a crown made of sea coral and surrounded by sea mist, a pair of bracers crackling with lightning, a belt that seemed to radiate an air of violence and rage mixed with the scent of broken earth and rock, and a set of greaves engraved with numerous galloping horses across their surfaces.
In a flash, they appeared on Jean's statue, the crown perched on her head, the belt around her waist, the bracers and greaves on her arms and legs respectively and the trident clasped firmly in her right hand.
"Definitely Poseidon." Erica murmured, eyeing the adornments warily. "That will certainly make things simpler…if we can even remember this when we return to the waking realm."
Next to emerge from the bubbling seas was a cutlass. It was impaled upon a massive mound of rotting driftwood and bloated corpses that were gathered together into the vague form of a ship, a pale, luminous green fog floating around the entire thing. Yuri instinctively moved to conceal her sister's eyes so she didn't have to see the drowned dead, much to the younger girl's frustration.
"Davy Jones." Liliana whispered, quickly recognizing the Legend that had birthed the blade. "It is odd that all of her Authorities seem to take the form of weapons, armours and accessories?"
"Every Campione expresses their claimed Authorities in their own way, I suppose this is merely Jean Campbell's." Erica responded, eyeing the ghostly blade warily. A power born from the cursed lord of the drowned dead; such a thing would be very dangerous indeed.
As the two Great Knights spoke, the blade and its foul mount began to glow, before flashing over to the statue. It reappeared, hung on Jean Campbell's belt and sheathed in a scabbard.
"Next would be..." Yuri offered hesitantly, eyeing the roiling waters. As she looked on, a gorgeous banner arose from the water, pennant flying brightly, a single fleur de lys glowing golden on its white surface.
"...Jeanne d'Arc." Ena finished for her friend. "And the single flower likely represents Rebecca Gardener, correct?"
"If what she told us of that Authority is true, then I'd say it was a fair guess. And given she displayed power beyond what even a Great Knight could call upon while wielding it, I am willing to believe her." Erica confirmed with a nod.
The banner flashed over to be held in the statue's left hand, the pennant fluttering, seemingly caught in a non-existent wind.
The next to emerge was a floating black ripple in the air that seemed to flicker in and out of existence every other moment. It too glowed before joining the statue, multiplying as it did so and appearing as a small swarm of carved ripples floating in the air behind the Scottish Campione's statue.
"Azazel, the Fallen who taught man the way of crafting weapons and armour for war." Ena identified that one as well. "I would wager that it was that Authority that allowed Her Majesty to create those weapons that Rebecca-san and Yue-san were wielding."
"That matches what Princess Alice told us." Liliana confirmed.
Next to emerge was a brightly burning flame, sitting in a stone hearth. It pulsed with life and seemed to radiate a feeling of safety and homeness that nearly put all five at ease.
"Hestia." Erica said with a swallow. This was the representation of the Authority that had been gifted to Jean Campbell by the Grecian Goddess of the Hearth after being fatally wounded by Athena.
The fire, hearth and all glowed and flashed over to join the rest. This one connected to the base of the statue with a nigh-soundless grinding of stone-on-stone. The rock beneath it rumbled and shifted as it expanded to be beneath the new section as well.
The last to emerge was a familiar shield, golden and bearing a snarling Medusa head, with three golden wings on its circumference.
"The Gorgoneion...Athena." Liliana hissed. She did not like the Wisdom Goddess, she hadn't ever since Athena had taken to stalking her Lord and Master. Still, with the Heretic Goddess having fallen in battle and now reduced to a mere Divine Ancestor, she was likely going to join Kusanagi Godō's group of women once her soul was reborn and matured enough, so the Fairy Knight supposed that she should have to learn to get over her dislike for the woman.
The Gorgoneion flashed over to hover around the head of Jean's statue, the medusa eyes now rubies set into the statue's face.
"Six Authorities. Two [Sea] Authorities granted by Poseidon and Davy Jones, two [Steel] Authorities from Azazel and Jeanne d'Arc, a [Fire] Authority from Lady Hestia and a [Serpent] Authority from Athena." Yuri listed quietly.
Erica frowned as she eyed the collection of powers the woman who would challenge her lover possessed. "Which means [The Warrior] could at best shut down Poseidon and Davy Jones, or Azazel and Jeanne d'Arc, in quick succession."
Restructuring Verethragna's Divinity-Severing [Golden Sword] in order to strike down more than a single Heretic God or Authority was never an easy feat. Not only was it an it an extremely energy intensive feat for even Godō's Campione-level reserves, but it was also limited to those that Divinities that shared the same or a similar Domain.
"What, what's that!?" Yui yelped, pointing at a dark figure rising out of the water in the distance. It appeared vaguely feminine even from the distance and far taller than an average human.
"That is likely the next Heretic God that King Campbell will be facing." Ena guessed, her eyes locked on the figure. "But…I can't make anything out about them."
The air around the vague figure seemed to ripple for a moment before it vanished, replaced with two new figures, ones that the collected Mistresses quickly recognized and had them wishing they had their arms and armour, rather than being stark naked.
"Guinevere and Lancelot!" Liliana snarled, remembering how the false Heretic God of [Steel] had basically reduced Kusanagi Godō to following his instincts, as well as every single time the two had interfered in their lives and sent fake Heretic Gods after them.
"Wait...they must be behind the next Heretic God attacking King Campbell!" Erica deduced. Seeing the dark figure disappear only to be replaced by that dratted Divine Ancestor and Shadow of [Steel] was far too coincidental.
"Should we warn her then?" Yuri asked worriedly.
"I'm afraid that it's far too late for that." a female voice offered. Emerging from the darkness in-between the statue of Jean Campbell and the looming figures of Guinevere and Lancelot, a girl a couple of inches shorter than Yuri appeared. Her long lavender hair was tied up into twintails and she wore a pure white dress that seemed to shine with an inner light.
The sheer presence of the woman hit the assembled magic users like a hammer. Erica and Liliana had the urge to kneel before her, gradually doing so against their will, while Ena, Yuri and Hikari automatically fell to their knees, completely unable to resist.
"This...this pressure...!" Erica managed to choke out. "It is beyond that of even a Heretic God!"
"Oh, I assure you that I am no Heretic, dear child. I have always remained true to my own legend." the woman padded forwards until she was right in front of the group of women. "I am Pandora, the Ever-Giving Woman. Controller of the [Circle of Usurpation], Wife of Epimetheus, the Titan of Afterthought. And, certainly not least of all, Adoptive Mother to the Eight Campione."
That revelation alone was enough to make all five young women tremble slightly. A True Goddess was talking to them in their dreams, and all of them were naked, unarmed, powerless and helpless. Not a situation any sane mage would desire to be in.
"You need not fear, children; I have no ill will toward one my sons' mistresses. I have merely come to offer information on what is happening elsewhere in the world at the moment, and to pass on a warning." Pandora offered with a gentle smile, taking in all five girls. "Though I must say, my youngest son certainly has fine taste in women. Powerful, dignified young ladies like you five are just what a Campione like little Godō needs to keep him on a straight heading. Though, I'd advise you to try and lessen the influence that sister of his seems to have on him, it'll make your married lives far easier."
"We're...working...on that." Erica managed to get out, barely. She had been granted the power of Godō's [Youth] Authority more than the rest of them, so she had a slight edge in resilience towards this kind of pressure.
"Well, I'd hurry it up girls; take some advice from a married woman, pulling your man out from under a controlling relative's thumb is best done as quickly as possible!" the All-Knowing Woman smiled cheekily. "Oh, and if Godō ever does have his fight against my darling youngest daughter, I'd advise you not to interfere. That boy needs to accept that he's a Campione now and if he refuses to do that on his own, then his newest sister will be more than happy to beat the idea into his stubborn head."
"If...if our Lord...is assailed...we cannot...stand aside!" Liliana protested ardently, showing admirable will in front of a True Goddess.
"My son is lucky to have someone as devoted as you in his service." Pandora offered the silver-haired knight an approving smile. "But sadly, even if you are his mistresses and sworn Knights, a sibling quarrel like this is something you cannot intervene in. My youngest is also the type that will enter every battle she faces with complete seriousness, she will face Godō as one Campione challenging another and will refuse to underestimate him like others have in the past. And unlike Doni, Voban and Luo Hao, Jean will know everything there is to know about Godō's Authorities thanks to her own wife. Most importantly, she will know that you girls are how he makes use of [The Warrior], and thus my cunning little girl will likely make preventing you from interfering one of her first priorities."
That had the older girls swallowing a lump. Hikari didn't have to worry about it, as she was still too young to stand on the battlefield with her Onii-chan. She was only his 'Mistress' to protect her from other people trying to claim the Miko of Disaster Purification as their own, or that was her older sister's hope. But she did have a legitimate pre-teen crush on Godō, and she was prepared to wait until she was at least as old as her sister currently was until she was able to be his Mistress in truth.
Perhaps seeing that in her mind, Pandora smiled at her and patted the young Miko on her head. "If you have the will, then you can make it come true, little one." she said with an encouraging nod before standing back. "Now then, you had all better return to the land of dreams. I'm borrowing the power of a good friend of mine to communicate with you all, and I don't want to overstay my welcome. Sweet dreams...and remember my words."
Before any of the girls could say anything, they fell back into the dreams they had been having before they had been assembled in the dreamscape. They would vividly remember the dream and its contents, with Yuri demanding to know what Pandora had talked with Hikari about, the younger girl feigning ignorance.
When word came of the happenings in Mongolia, they knew they had to tell their King of their shared dream, and their meeting with Pandora.
Hours Earlier
Golden Ones Ger, Outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
"Elder Sister...!" Jean breathed. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you right now."
Behind her, Jean heard the sounds of both Khulan and Khangal quickly kneeling on the ground before the Ruler of the Martial Realm. Sensible enough, given the fact that Luo Cuilian was rather well-known for lashing out whenever she believed that she was being disrespected, but they simply did not have the time for that kind of thing right now!
"Of course you are; my arrival is as timely as my countenance is pleasing to look upon." Luo Hao returned seriously, not a hint that she was joking or teasing in her voice.
Right, her eldest sister had a very large case of 'middle-schooler' syndrome.
"Sister, may we dispense with the need for the non-Campione to bow and scrape? As we speak, three Heretic Gods grow ever closer to descending upon us, and we shall need every moment to ensure that we are properly prepared. Agreed?" Jean asked.
"Mmm. It is so agreed, you may rise and speak freely for the moment, Golden Ones." the Ruler of the Martial Realm agreed, and Khulan quickly went over and helped her uncle to his feet. "Now speak, sister. What foes dare threaten you this day?"
"Sorcerers." the redheaded Campione replied with a scowl. "They attempted to order me to leave Mongolia under the threat of 'or else' a couple days ago. It seems that calling down three Heretic Gods to wreak havoc on Mongolia is their idea of 'or else.'"
"Impudent wretches." the cold tone from the oldest of the female Campione was enough to make Khulan and Khangal flinch. "They dare to try and command a Campione, one that this one claims as a sister? These fools are in dire need of a lesson on how far they have overreached themselves."
"Peace, sister. The enemy will come to us in due time." Jean cajoled the older Campione. "For now, though, we have to worry about how two Campione are going to face three Heretic Gods."
"And who claims that only the two of us are here?" the beautiful Chinese Campione responded smugly. "Cast out your senses, little sister."
Blinking in confusion, Jean did as the elder Campione bid, closing her eyes and felt reached out with her immature magical abilities. She really should train up her skill with sensing non-Heretic God Magic, but in this case she didn't even need to. Aside from her own blazing beacon of power, and Luo Hao's own, there were four more large beacons in the vicinity. Three beacons were far weaker than a Campione and were obviously the three summoning ceremonies the Sorcerers were conducting.
The fourth beacon, however, was just as powerful as a Campione, and was moving. It was heading straight for where she and the others were standing, even!
"This power...another Campione is in Ulaanbaatar." Jean muttered after a moment. "And this feeling...it's one I've met before...Doni."
"The Campione of the Sword is here?!" Khulan gulped, paling slightly. Lord Salvatore Doni was infamous for how impossible he was to persuade about anything, particularly when it came to not destroying things in the vicinity of him and his target, and Ulaanbaatar was chock full of priceless magical artefacts and sites of irreplaceable cultural, historic and magical significance. The loss of anything within the city limits would cripple the Golden Ones irreparably.
"Khulan, be a dear and stand outside to let our brother in when he arrives." the redhead requested mildly. "No point in having him break the ger's enchantments by just barrelling in like he always does."
"Disciple, you are to accompany her." Luo Hao ordered the silent Lu Yinghua.
"As you command, Senior Sister." he bowed before following a worried Khulan out through the tent flap.
"At least we have some good ideas about what pantheons the grimoires are likely from." Jean sighed as she grabbed a chair and sat down, her currently-flaxen hair fluttering as she moved.
"How so, Your Majesty?" Khangal asked respectfully.
"These Sorcerers are Nazis. Fascists who look down on anything not Aryan or broadly Germanic; I sincerely doubt they were able to gather anything outside a select few pantheons using their former allies' resources." the sneer on the Scottish girl's face was full of contempt for the Thuleorden. "That means that the old Proto-Germanic Pantheon are high possibilities, along with the Alpine Pantheon from the Swiss area of Europe, and the pantheon that is more famous than the Proto-Germanic Pantheon that created it, the Norse Pantheon. At a stretch, they might have acquired a grimoire from one of the old Roman Pantheon. There's no way in hell they'd use any from the old Slavic Pantheon though."
"Hmm...there is sense in what you say, little sister." the Ruler of the Martial Realm acknowledged. "Though, this one must admit that she knows little of those pantheons."
"There is not a lot known about Proto-Germanic Pantheon these days, with only fragmentary bits and pieces of knowledge available due to how long it has been since they were worshipped." Jean mused. "The major pantheons known in Europe are mostly derived from the Proto-Germanic Pantheon. The Grecian Gods of Olympus, the Slavic Pantheon, the Norse Gods of Asgard...all of them find their roots in it. Given that their Legends have all been mostly forgotten, they've likely lost a lot of power outside their connections to the gods that were based around them. According to the Witenagemot's records, there's been no sightings of one of their ilk descending or being summoned in the last thousand years, I sincerely doubt that even a Grimoire could have survived that long and retained enough power to summon a Heretic God."
"I was under the impression that the Greenwich Witenagemot was under two centuries old...?" Khangal offered with a frown.
"They are, but since their foundation, the Witenagemot has been nigh-religious in their attempts to investigate and chronicle the various histories of both Campione and Heretic Gods in order to deepen their knowledge. As such, they have uncovered and compiled a great deal of historical knowledge." the Scottish Campione responded. "Anyway…the Alpine Pantheon is likewise a lesser known one to this day, but several of its figures are still well-known in certain circles. I know at least one of its numbers is deeply associated with the Wild Hunt."
"That would be troublesome...the Fae are never to be underestimated." Khangal muttered worriedly.
"As for the Norse and Roman Pantheons...well, Jupiter and Odin's broods have become fairly well known in the current era thanks to various games, books, films and TV programs." Jean finished. "They are also the one that have appeared most numerously as Heretic Gods in the last century alone, I would assume that more than a few of them have had Authorities stripped away and made into Grimoires."
"One of my Authorities, [Terrible Metropolis], is taken from a Roman Heretic God." Luo Hao mused. "Saturnus, I believe he referred to himself as. Aside from one or two little tricks, he was not really anything special. I shall forswear going after another Roman Heretic God if one appears; they are not enough to place dust on my clothes, let alone entertain me."
"Very well." her younger counterpart nodded. "It is unlikely that remnants of the Thule Society would come into the possession of a Roman Grimoire anyway; their focus was always on Norse mythos and magics. I would be willing to bet a substantial sum that the Heretic Gods we will be facing will be Norse in origin."
As the former Thule Society had been acting smart and cautious so far (aside from their latest bout of stupidity by needlessly antagonizing a Campione for whatever reason), Jean had mentally given them some leeway in what they might have been able to take with them when they fled from Berlin in 1945. Assuming they had the prescience or caution to stash some useful items outside of Berlin, in a secret cache, deposit box or just buried in a random part of the German countryside anyway.
Just then, the flap opened and Salvatore Doni, the Campione of the Sword, strode in, his usual confident, if not cocky, smirk on his face. And, for whatever reason, he was still dressed in a similar, if not the same, loud shirt that he had worn when last Jean had seen him. Khulan and Lu Yinghua followed in behind him.
"Wow, I was only expecting to find Jean, but you're here as well, Luo?" Doni said with a grin. "This is gonna be fun!"
"Doni, have you been following me?" Jean raised her eyebrow at her older adopted brother.
"Well, I heard that you've beaten a load of Heretic Gods and wanted to know if you got that defensive Authority you were hoping for?" the Italian man pouted.
"I have one defensive Authority that is more to do with protection from ranged Authorities, brother." Jean sighed. Was she only mentioning a part of it? Yes. Was it the only way to move things along without getting into a fight with the King of Swords? Also, yes. "Look, we're in a spot of bother here. Three Heretic Gods are going to descend soon. I'm up for fighting them, as is our sister. Are you in?"
"Of course!" Doni's eyes were practically sparkling with enthusiasm. "No way I'd walk away from a good fight!"
"Very good to hear, Doni." Jean smiled. "We have a little under three hours before the Heretic Gods are summoned. Ordinarily, I would attempt to disrupt them, but I am leery of the kind of backlash that might cause; particularly since these summoning rituals are being fuelled by Sorcery."
The usually affable Italian's face twisted slightly at that revelation. "Sorcerers...those guys suuuuck. Couple of 'em show up around my place every so often, like once every couple of years, working on some kind of bad juju. Copper Black Cross and Bronze Black Cross are usually enough to take care of them on their own, but every now and then one proves sneaky, smart or just plain mean enough that I have to step in and deal with them."
"I too have been forced to dirty my hands with more than my fair share of these lowest of vermin in my time." Luo Hao nodded her agreement with Doni's assessment, her arms crossed under her perfect bust. "Twisted and foul, those degenerate fools always seem far too eager to forget their place in this world."
"Your Majesty?" Khulan asked, noting that Jean was frowning.
"Mmm? Oh...remember how I told you that my wife made use of an Authority I granted her a couple of days ago?" the Scottish Campione said with a jerk of realization. "Rebecca knows not to use such an Authority carelessly or without suitable reason; moreover, it can only be invoked by her when she faces a Campione or Heretic God-level opponent. I still haven't received any word about exactly what happened back home."
"There hasn't been an announcement from the Witenagemot in the last couple of days." Khangal put in.
"Princess Alice must be waiting until this mess is over before releasing anything." Jean guessed. "Dammit, I can see why she'd do that, but not knowing what happened is almost as bad as knowing!"
"Can you sense the Authority you left with her?" Luo Hao asked.
"Yes, but..." Jean worried her lip in aggravation.
"Calm yourself, xiǎo mèimei." the Chinese Campione said firmly. "If you can feel her still bearing the Authority, then she is likely unharmed. You can interrogate her all you like once you return home. We must focus on the here and now so we might get to the next day."
The redhead sighed before straightening herself out. "Right, you're correct, of course. My apologies, Jiějiě."
"I have seen many newly-weds in my time; to be apart a scarce few weeks after wedding one another would cause any couple grief." Luo Hao smirked and waved a hand airily. "A Campione you might be, but you are still so very young, even by the standards of mortals. Such passions are easy to forgive. Now, we should divide up between ourselves which Heretic God location we should each be at when they descend."
"Well...do either of you have a problem with me having first pick? I was first on the scene, and these Sorcerers have gone out of their way to annoy me." Jean said with a scowl.
"I have no issue with it; first come, first serve." the oldest Campione in the tent shook her head.
"Sounds fair enough to me." Doni agreed.
"Very well. I shall take the northern Heretic God." the redhead nodded. "It is near the Ikh Korig, the forbidden area near the Burkhan Khaldun, one of the sacred areas of Mongolia, and I currently hold the record among Campione for the least amount of property damage caused during my battles; with luck, I should be able to prevent any great damage to the area. That leaves the western and eastern Heretic Gods to be divided between the two of you."
"I'll take the western one." Doni volunteered. "Ever since I took down Perseus when he was weakened, I haven't had much luck with eastern things."
"I have no preferences, so I suppose I shall take care of the one to the east." Luo Hao nodded decisively.
"OK. Doni, your opponent is at the westernmost area of Songino Khairkhan Düüreg; Jiějiě, yours is at the easternmost area of Baganuur Düüreg." the redhead directed her fellow Godslayers. The two districts she'd just named were the two furthest apart areas of Ulaanbaatar, being the western and eastern districts of the city respectively. She doubted that such a thing was a coincidence. Baganuur was even technically a separate city, for crying out loud.
'No...whoever planned this wanted me torn between where to go and who to defend. Even if they suspected Luo Cuilian would arrive in time, that still means one of these blasted Heretic Gods would have gotten to run rampant; nobody could have accounted for Doni following me here, because he is practically chaos incarnate.' the Scottish Campione felt a chill going down her spine at the sheer callous disregard for human life that these actions suggested. 'These sorcerers are truly the type of utter monsters that only humanity can produce.'
Yes, Jean was convinced, thanks to her studies of history, that the greatest monster in the world was in fact humanity itself on occasion. All the wars, crusades, and every instance of hatred towards one section of humanity for whatever inane reason the instigator could come up with (religion, gender, ethnicity, etc., etc.) just proved that to her over and over again.
She wasn't enough of a misanthrope to hate all of humanity or even most of them. A couple of bad apples don't ruin the entire harvest, it was just that the worst always tended to stand out the most. It was simply becoming unsurprising that a crew of Nazi-remnant Sorcerers (two very bad things mixing together) would produce this kind of monstrosity.
"Before we part ways and head out for where our chosen prey will emerge, I have gifts for both of you." she said, shaking off her melancholy. Smirking slightly at the intrigued looks she was receiving; Jean grabbed a penknife from the nearby table and carefully nicked a cut into the tip of one finger. As a few drops of crimson fluid seeped from the cut and started to drip onto the ground, she started the chant to Azazel's Authority.
"From forge and flame, their secrets he learned. From earth and iron, their powers he taught. And through this knowledge, bloodshed was born. Let all arms born upon this crimson forge answer their master!" Jean commanded. "Emerge, Juéshì Zhànfàng! Rise up, Eversteel!"
The small droplets of blood splattered across the ground converged and then separated, forming two small circular puddles on the ground. Those puddles then turned black before expanding to the size of dinner plates, way larger than such a small amount of blood should be able to create. From one, a beautiful jian emerged, red tassel fluttering in a non-existent breeze, while from the other, a hand-and-a-half longsword emerged.
Once they finished emerging, Jean gestured to her adopted siblings. "Luo Hao, Doni, I think you can both guess which blade belongs to who."
The Chinese Beauty elegantly plucked the jian from where it hovered, holding it as if she had been born with it in hand. She hitched one elegant eyebrow at her younger sister. "'Peerless Blossom'? An interesting name for a blade, xiǎo mèimei."
"I'm afraid I'm not all that familiar with Chinese naming sense when it comes to entitling blades, Jiějiě. And in order for my Authority to finish working on the blades, I have to give each weapon a name." Jean shrugged with a blush. "Anyway, yours is a fairly powerful, albeit generalized, set of enchantments; never needs to be sharpened or oiled, rust isn't something to worry about, it's highly durable and minor nicks, scratches and even snapping the blade in half will just regenerate if you feed it a bit of magical power. It's also highly conductive to magical energy, so you can focus your spells through it. Consider it a gift of my esteem to you."
Luo Hao finished her inspection of the blade and nodded. "It is a gift that an emperor would have been honoured to receive. I shall accept it with grace and honour." Luo Hao said with a flourish of her blade.
"Well, this is a nice sword, but I already have one." Doni mused as he held the longsword in an easy one-handed grasp.
"Ah, but this one is at least as good as Il Maestro and Cuore di Leone, if a bit hyper-specialized." the Scottish girl said smugly, causing her elder brother to blink at her. "Unlike Luo Hao's weapon, I focused all of the power of my Authority at two key points with Eversteel; its durability and ability to regenerate. It's going to be almost impossible to break through exertion of brute force, and if you do manage to break the blade, so long as the hilt remains intact, it'll regenerate the blade from almost nothing. It gobbles up magical power like a glutton though, so only a Great Knight at the very least could wield this sword. Take it as an apology for me not getting back to you sooner."
"Whoa! This is so awesome!" the blond Italian exclaimed in delight. "Do you know how many swords I go through on a monthly basis?! This'll replace all of them! Dude, I so owe you for this!"
"Try it out during this fight and see how it goes." the youngest Campione present said dryly. "I have no clue how it'll interact with [Rippling Arm of Silver]. If it breaks, I'll whip something new for you."
"Cool! I'll let you know how it does after this fight!" Doni said happily.
"Khan Khangal, can we count on your Mage Association to take us to where we need to go?" Jean asked.
"Of course. Khulan, summon transportation for the Honoured Campione." the Khan directed.
Nodding tersely, the Shaman pulled out her phone and made a call, rapidly summoning members of her Mage Association to the Ger. "Transportation for Lord Salvatore and Her Eminence shall be here momentarily. I shall take Lady Campbell to her destination myself." she reported.
"And I shall accompany you both." Khangal said firmly. He grabbed a satchel of some kind that Jean hadn't noticed in the tent and slung it over his shoulder. "Lead the way, niece."
Throwing an uneasy glance at the satchel, as if it held a bomb or something, Khulan headed for the Ger's exit.
"Have good fight, Doni." Jean said with a smile before saluting Luo Hao in the Chinese style. "May you emerge victorious, Jiějiě."
"You as well, xiǎo mèimei." the Ruler of the Martial Realm replied, giving Jean a regal nod in acknowledgement, which was more than 99.99% of the magical population would receive in reply most of the time.
Jean would take what she could get. Doni was too busy rhapsodising over his new sword to pay attention. He really liked Eversteel, huh?
Later
SUV, En-Route to Northernmost Edge of Bayanzürkh Düüreg
"So what's inside of that bag that's making Khulan act like you're toting around a nuke?" Jean asked the Khan as the Sports Utility Vehicle that was apparently Khulan's car raced through the streets of Ulaanbaatar.
"A Grimoire that has been handed down from Genghis Khan himself, the Grimoire of the Sky-Father." Khangal answered softly. "Only the Khan may use it, yet my body and magic are both frail. Invoking its power even for just a handful of moments will likely prove fatal to me."
"But why are you even going to try to use it? I'm the one going to fight a Heretic God." the Campione pointed out.
"Because something tells me that these Heretic Gods, summoned as they are, will not be the only threat that will face us this night." the old man replied. "I will stand guard over you, to ensure that nobody interferes with your battle. If nothing happens, I will have no need to use it, but should someone, be they the foul Sorcerers or some other miscreant, try and cost us this battle, you may fight knowing that I will not allow their interference to risk my country's safety."
"And what happens afterwards? What will become of the Golden Ones if you...?" Jean trailed off, unwilling to say the consequences aloud.
"My successor...is not one of my choosing, but she is capable enough to handle what comes afterwards." Khangal grimaced, before sending Jean a sad smile. "I have been alive longer than nearly any other non-Campione men and women on the planet, Your Majesty. If it comes down to it, allow me to go out being useful, rather than wasting away in a bed like a useless old dotard."
Jean noticed Khulan's hands grip the wheel tightly as she focused on getting them to where Jean's senses were telling her the Heretic God would descend. It wasn't any wonder that she was upset, really; if the redhead was reading the situation correctly, Khulan and Khangal were very close, most likely mentor and student in addition to whatever familial bond they shared. He was likely her favourite uncle, and she was someone he was very proud of in turn.
Sadly, even if he did make it past today how long did the man honestly have left? A year? Perhaps two? Likely even less if all the signs Jean was spotting were any indication. Had there truly been no one capable enough to replace him in the last twenty years?
From the way he spoke there was, but Khangal obviously didn't approve of them for some reason, and so he stayed on.
How sad.
"If that is your wish. Just...don't do anything unless you judge it to be absolutely necessary." Jean said at last, before lowering her voice. "For the sake of Khulan, if no one else."
"As you wish, your majesty." the old Khan agreed with a bark of laughter.
As the car passed outside of the city limits, Jean focused on her Hime-Miko power. [Divine Sensing] was like an unruly brat throwing a temper tantrum whenever she tried to exert any kind of control over it. However, recently she'd thought to try a…different approach then she usually preferred. Usually she liked to keep an iron control of her powers through force of will, but that was obviously not working well with the gift granted to her by her Hime-Miko ancestry.
So instead of wrestling to control it, she instead tried to gently guide it. Instead of using her will to try and grasp at the power and force it to do as she wished, she instead gently reached out and tried to guide it towards what she was seeking.
And it worked! Gently nudging the power toward the area where the Heretic God she was going to fight was to land in, she was hit by a precise time that the Heretic God would descend at…exactly one hour from now.
"Damn those sorcerers!" she cursed under her breath. "I don't know how, but the time left before the Heretic Gods are due to descend has dropped from three hours to one!"
"How is that possible? Attempting to accelerate a ritual on this scale while its already in motion is just as likely to destroy whatever control has over it! It is pure madness!" Khulan exclaimed as she put the pedal to the metal.
"You forget, my dear niece, we are dealing with sorcerers this day; madness, narcissism and a god complex are all common traits such fools share. More than that, they likely simply do not care." Khangal responded with a snort. "They do not care for what damage their ritual does; so long as the Heretic Gods are summoned, they will immediately seek out and attempt to destroy a Campione once they sense them and thus their mission will be accomplished. As for 'how', I would wager they've finished culling their apprentices and whatever sacrifices they managed to gather, and are now their leaders are culling their weaker brethren to further feed the ritual. Selfish, twisted monsters to the last of them; they would gladly burn the entire world to ashes to satiate whatever twisted desires dance in their minds."
Jean mutely shook her head in a mixture of muted horror and disbelief. Taking an apprentice shouldn't be like that. It should be a responsibility to teach someone responsibly. Back in Oban, people did take apprentices still, mostly joiners and other such trades, and they always treated it as a responsibility. Jean just couldn't understand someone callously killing an apprentice like that.
The SUV screeched to a halt ten minutes later at the foot of the northern mountains surrounding Ulaanbaatar, Jean smoothly exiting the car along with Khangal and Khulan.
"Your Majesty...exactly how effective are you going to be?" the Khan asked her. "My understanding is that your first Authorities are focused on being used around the ocean."
"True." the redheaded Campione replied, her eyes locked on one particular outcropping of rock a hundred or so meters away. "My water manipulation and storm manipulation Authorities are useless here, as is half of Davy Jones' Authority. I have a horse manipulation Authority that's all but useless in combat, and I will not use my earthquake Authority, not here. Jeanne d'Arc's Authority, as well as Hestia's Authority, are also useless to me here. I am bereft of many options, but those I have remaining will suffice, I can assure you."
The fact that she could, realistically, only make use of [Tríaina], [The Curse of Jonah's Jinx], [Black Armoury] and [Gorgoneion Aegis] in this battle was more than slightly worrisome; she was bereft of [Master of the Oceans], [Stormbreaker], [Lord of Horses], [Dead Man's Chest], [Luminosité Eternelle, la Bannière de la Pucelle d'Orléans] and [Prytaneum: The Flame of Olympus], over half of her Authorities.
Granted, [Lord of Horses], [Prytaneum] and [Luminosité Eternelle] weren't exactly combat Authorities to begin with, so they weren't exactly a big loss, but the rest were some of her most powerful and flexible Authorities. For a friendly spar against a friendly adopted sibling, Jean was willing to risk it, but for a battle against a Heretic God? She was weaker right now than at any other time during her second life as a Campione.
Another surge of power made Jean stiffen up. "The ritual just got another boost! Less than ten minutes left! Khulan, withdraw with your uncle to a safe distance with the car. This is a battlefield as of right now."
"By your command, Your Majesty." the Shaman bowed. "Best luck in battle."
"Well, with a cute girl wishing me luck, I can't help but win now." the Scottish girl laughed, making Khulan blush and Khangal laugh in amusement at his great-niece's embarrassment.
As the two Golden One mages withdrew via the car, Jean sucked in a breath, held it in for a moment, before expelling it in a long exhale. Time to put on her 'Campione' face.
"Oh weapon of mine, Golden and invincible. Come forth, so we may do battle with our foes!" she chanted softly.
As the [Tríaina] took shape before her, Jean reached out and grasped the haft, feeling the divine might flowing into her body as the Authority activated in full. No matter what foe she faced, with the power of this golden trident in her hands, she knew without a doubt that she would triumph.
As the timer ticked down, a thrumming sense of power started to register on the senses of every mage in the capital of Mongolia. Three sources of Divine Power, descending from the Domain of Immortality, shone like beacons to every magical sense in the city.
And against them stood the Ruler of the Martial Realm, the King of Swords and the Campione of the Raging Tides.
When the Heretic God in front of Jean descended, it was as if no one was there in one moment, and the next, an inhumanly large, amazon-like woman stood stop the rock outcropping. Tall, statuesque, with long flowing blond hair, ice blue eyes glowing with power, a golden crown atop her tresses, with an equally golden necklace clasped about her throat. A long dress fluttered in the wind, belted at the waist with a sword hanging from it. A cloak of bird feathers hung from her shoulders, and a pair of cats sat by her sandal-clad feet.
"Who dares summon Freyja to the mortal world?!" the Heretic God thundered.
"You were summoned by sorcery most foul, hoping to use you as a weapon against me, Goddess of the Vanir." Jean replied, frowning internally. Freyja, or Freya to use the modern spelling, was the chief goddess of the Vanir, the rivals-turned-allies of Odin's Aesir. Just typical that she ended up drawing what was likely the strongest of the three. "I would ask that you return to the Domain of Immortality, though I know that you likely have no intention of doing so."
"Usurper, I cannot, as well you should know." Freya replied, one hand dropping to her sword. "First I shall smite you, then I shall teach the varlets who dared to call me forth like an attack dog what happens when you dare to treat the Queen of the Vanir as a weapon!"
"As you wish. Let us begin, Freya!" the Campione of the Raging Tides replied, assuming a stance with her weapon.
Elsewhere, Luo Hao confronted a proud woman wielding a bow and a spear while mounted on skis, while Doni happily faced off against a powerful man in Viking attire wielding a sword and clasping a golden horn in the other hand.
The Battle of Ulaanbaatar was about to begin.
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Next Chapter: Heretic Goddess Freya
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