Hey there everyone and let me wish a belated Happy New Year! Here's to hoping 2024 is off to at least a decent start to you all, but hopefully will get better in due time.

My sincere apologies for roughly the month and a half long wait between chapters. You know how it – school work, and other life obligations. Funny how when we're all so young, we have all the time in the world but don't realize it until we get older and start having a lot more either dropped on our plates or we're picking up new things to fill our time.

And on that note, God, Punishing Gray Raven has honestly become something of a minor obsession for me, ha ha. Still haven't made it too far into the story – barely chapter 12 or so by this point – since I'm getting sidetracked by all the side content and ways to level up and get new coatings that really caught my eye, but it's been an absolute blast so far and it's honestly very stress-relieving for the most part. Seriously, if you had told me several years ago that there'd be a game like this for a phone of all things, I'd have called you crazy, lol.

And not only that, but the free DLC for God of War Ragnarok had also totally taken up some more of my free time and had me captivated with how the writers had handled the ultimate completion of Kratos' character development. It'd been a long time coming and it was absolutely satisfactory and then some – Kratos had truly become wholly different from how he once was – what he had always had the potential to be but never got the chance to do so until now. It's just nuts and I loved every second of it.

But most importantly… I got a new laptop for Christmas! And it is without question an absolute GODSEND since my previous laptop, which had served me for roughly 7 years, had truly begun to reach the end of its lifespan. Roughly 5 minutes to boot up, an additional 5 minutes or so just to fully load everything so that it doesn't massively lag, battery life that used up 5% just by turning it on and going down from 95% all the way to under 70% within the hour… to say nothing of it draining even faster if I go at least a week without turning it on, even if I'd charged it to full beforehand… yeah, my old laptop had certainly developed a plethora of issues that actually made me dread whenever I had to use it, such as for writing school essays or even doing fanfic of all things.

So to have a new laptop that boots up in a split second, no lagging, a battery life that is a million times better and with all my stuff transferred over in less than half an hour from my old one… God, you guys probably could only imagine the catharsis I felt in that moment once I got it all set up, ha ha.

But will a new laptop suddenly mean I'll be updating more frequently? I honestly don't know. Certainly, now without having to wait nearly 15 to 20 minutes just to use it, I could write a lot more often in my days ahead, but unfortunately, my schoolwork has increased noticeably in this past month alone and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Sadly, this is the price of being required to take 12 units every semester yet with most of my current classes being worth 0.6 or 1 or even just barely 1.5 units, I could get stuck with doing up to at least 9 classes at once. Yeah, needless to say, it's a hell of a drain on my time and energy so chances are that my current uploading rate isn't going to be changing until things settle down in likely several month's time.

That said, I certainly hope it doesn't actually take me that damn long to finish this fic because I feel it is worth mentioning yet again that we're more or less in the endgame now. While I still cannot say how many chapters it will be until it ends, this fic should definitely be over by the halfway point of this new year, should all things go well for me.

So until such a time, I hope you guys and gals continue to stick with me.

Now, without any more rambling on my part, let's get started!

P.S. to Silverwingzz: actually, there have been a few times that some characters have referred to monsters and the like as NPCS – Non-Prayer Characters, but this is done few and far in between. The term in general tends to be seen more often in the narration itself rather than uttered aloud by the characters. Just wanted to clarify!

Chapter 28

Within the training grounds for the capital's soldiers, a veritable crowd was gathered in silence, bated breaths tightly held and with many hands clenched into fists out of sheer tension. Said crowd consisted not just of soldiers but also of many adventurers, who'd come to either test their mettle or otherwise vent some frustration. Said feeling of frustration hadn't exactly been helped by the borderline natural rivalry between the disciplined soldiers and rowdy adventurers, even with the King having given his speech just yesterday at their gathering.

However, whatever misgivings both minor and major that some members of either side held, they were forgotten about in light of what was currently happening, of what had so completely grasped everyone's attention:

A spar.

Or rather, almost like a life or death battle, with just how fiercely the combatants were fighting.

On one side, there was the enigmatic warrior from a different land, dressed not in his strange set of armor but rather in his casual clothes that the soldiers had come to associate him with. He wielded but a single blade – a rather strikingly black greatsword that the warrior had simply called the Knight's Greatsword – against multiple opponents.

Yes, multiple foes – on the other side of the field were the tall and powerfully build Heavy Warrior and his companion, the sword and shield using Female Knight, with Spearman wielding his signature weapon rounding out the trio.

Yesterday, during the gathering of the adventurers, Spearman and the foreign warrior had all but put it in writing that they'd spar and sure enough, at the start of today, they'd gone at it – and with the foreigner winning without too much difficulty.

Following his shockingly quick loss, Spearman had demanded another round, which the warrior had heartily agreed to – only for the result to be the same. By this point, the training soldiers and adventurers who'd come to brush up their skills as well had ceased in their own activities to observe with increasing amazement as Heavy Warrior had at one point decided to step in on the fun, followed then by Female Knight.

In a short time, the three silver ranked adventurers had silently agreed to team up against the foreigner, who'd also quietly accepted their team of three taking him on, with only a small yet brilliant smile indicating how much he was enjoying this.

The adventurers, despite wielding their weapons, wore none of their signature armor for their intended training session, though the looks on their faces now made it clear that they were regretting such a decision, if only for the protection it would have provided them against the foreigner's heavy and blindingly fast blows. As of now, their training wear was all scuffed up and dirtied from being smacked and thrown around so much with even the somewhat vain Female Knight looking like an overgrown child that had just got done crawling around in the mud.

Currently, the three adventurers were in a loose triangle formation with the sole woman at the forefront and with her shield at the ready. With a deep breath, she then let loose a fierce battle cry as she charged forth with shield raised.

The audience watched as she streaked across the field towards the warrior, who had simply been holding his greatsword in a loose stance before Spearman suddenly went on the offensive as well. As one who excelled in hit and run tactics that made full use of his weapon's speed and range, his sudden dash easily surpassed Female Knight's charge and he was suddenly at the warrior's seemingly exposed side.

Alas, when he went in with a thrust that would have fatally impaled the warrior, said warrior merely took a step back and maneuvered his greatsword downwards and to the side, catching Spearman's spear on the side of its tip and redirecting it into Female Knight's direction. The woman, who'd been about to attack with her famed longsword, had to instead cease her attack and brace her shield against Spearman's misdirected thrust instead. Said attack caused her to halt in place, seemingly fine, only for the warrior to deliver a powerful snap kick at her shield that utterly ruined her precarious balance and sent her skidding on her back across the ground.

At the same time he'd delivered the kick, he swung his blade towards Spearman's neck with just one hand. Spearman ducked and pulled back, trying to swing his weapon towards the warrior's stomach in the hopes that the side of his weapon's blade would at least catch his clothes – except, just as it looked like it was about to connect, the warrior brought up his knee and his free elbow down in time to stop the attack dead in its tracks. Then with just a slight yank, he pulled the weapon free of Spearman's grip and sent it flying to the side.

But Spearman, though deprived of a weapon, remained undeterred and simply slid to the side to avoid the foreign warrior's follow up slice before then throwing himself at the man's sword arm in the clear hopes of wrestling the blade out of his own grip.

However, to the spear user's evident surprise, the foreign warrior freely let go of his own weapon and instead grabbed Spearman by the collar of his shirt before pivoting around and throwing him through the air like a child's ball. Spearman sailed about for a dozen yards before hitting the soft ground, managing to roll and land in a crouching stance to mitigate the damage he otherwise should have taken.

It was at this time that Heavy Warrior finally joined the fray, having been using the time his fellow two adventurers had kept the warrior occupied to circle around and try to silently cut him down from behind. But it was as if the foreign warrior had eyes on the back of his head or something, for he swiftly turned back around and lashed out with a backhand that struck the side of the incoming greatsword. Combined with just a slight shift of his body, the warrior's blow was enough to force Heavy Warrior's strike to miss its mark and impact hard against the ground with enough force that would have felled even large, sturdy NPCS like a goblin champion.

The warrior then fully turned and threw a powerful haymaker that nearly connected with Heavy Warrior's jaw, but the adventurer managed to turn his head with the blow in time to avoid contact before trying to back off a few steps. Alas, he had no choice but to forgo his weapon in the process, for the warrior stomped onto the blade to pin it in place as he followed up with a swing of his right arm in the form of an uppercut that Heavy Warrior could only guard against. Even then, the strength and speed behind the blow lifted the large man up and sent him soaring back several feet before landing awkwardly on his feet.

The audience then watched as both Female Knight and Spearman once against joined the fray, the former rushing in with her sword in an upwards swing that the warrior only seemed to notice at the last possible instant, his brown hair hastily swishing about in the wind as he outright leapt back just out of range of her attack. Female Knight pushed on and slammed her shield, almost as large as herself, directly into the man's exposed torso.

Unfortunately for her, the warrior's posture remained unbroken, owing to him being significantly larger and heavier than her in addition to him having been able to dig at least one foot of his into the ground properly. As such, she was only able to push him back about several inches before he wrapped his massive arms around her, shield and all, and then proceeding to spin around twice before throwing her onto the ground again.

Spearman, having rushed to pick up his weapon again, now went on the attack, spinning his spear around rapidly to gather up momentum before bringing it for a low sweep that likely would have snapped anyone else's knees on impact. As for the foreign warrior, he performed a barrel roll, all but literally throwing himself over the attack and into the direction of his own weapon – only for Heavy Warrior to come in and punt the greatsword away and then throw himself atop the warrior in a clear attempt to grapple and pin him to the ground.

Several members of the audience practically gasped when this happened. If Heavy Warrior was successful in his endeavor, that would give Spearman a chance to practically thrust his weapon into the warrior's face, meaning he'd be at the adventurers' mercy, doubly so if Female Knight can get up in time to do the same, put him in check. Given that Heavy Warrior was roughly around the same height and possibly weight as the foreigner and had the advantage of being on top, this outcome seemed possible – likely, even.

However, while both the foreigner and Heavy Warrior did possess similar heights and builds, the former was still noticeably more muscular and undoubtedly much stronger. Moreover, as he now proceeded to demonstrate, he was more skilled in the art of grappling.

With a shift and thrust of his hips, the nearly downed warrior sent himself and Heavy Warrior rolling across the ground and away from Spearman who had tried to stab at the warrior's back in the process. Grabbing Heavy's Warrior's wrists, he appeared to pinch a nerve of some kind, for the adventurer cried out, seemingly dazed and leaving himself open to a punch that slammed his head into the soft and muddy ground with enough strength that he'll be lucky to get up from anytime soon.

The warrior then jumped up and off the downed adventurer in time to dodge a swipe from Spearman, then using the bottom of his boot to kick away the follow up attack that came in the form of a vicious cross-slash. Then to Spearman's surprise, the warrior charged in low and suddenly leapt up, grabbing the adventurer off the ground and performing a powerbomb of all things that seemed to shake the whole training ground.

The foreign warrior got back up promptly following the devastating attack and immediately zeroed in on Female Knight, who could only watch on in a mixture of genuine disbelief, worry, perhaps even fear. Nonetheless, she stood her ground, shield and sword held firmly in her hands, ready to counter whatever was thrown her way.

The foreign warrior smiled at her as he simply strode on over to his greatsword and picked it up with his left hand. Then he suddenly charged at her and performed a jumping overhead slash that forced her to dodge rather than even attempt to block. Unbothered, the warrior rolled forward, dodging a shield bash in the process, before swinging his sword upwards to bat away her incoming slash with her longsword, after which he deftly twisted his blade about so that the very tip of it was now directly against Female Knight's throat.

"Do you yield?" asked the warrior, his brief and quiet question sounding so terribly loud in this environment.

Female Knight could only grimace only to then let out a sigh that, if it could be measured with weight, was almost as heavy as her partner. Despite said sigh, however, she did ultimately smile as she held up her hands. "You win."

There was a brief moment of continued silence before the audience finally erupted into cheers at the good show.

"My word…" mumbled Lizard Priest, the lizardman looking almost starstruck. "Never had I imagined such a clash of strength and will such as this! You truly are a warrior worthy of praise!"

The Tarnished chuckled, all but literally waving off the compliment. "To be perfectly fair, my experiences back in my homeland had left well-prepared for battles against multiple opponents. To an extent, of course. This was not too much different."

He could recall all to well the numerous times on his journey where enemies had blindsided him from all manner of directions, in groups of several or so many more. Even after constant usage of runes had allowed him to dramatically unlock more of his body's potential, there had been plenty of times where he'd been confronted with groups of enemies that had forced him to fight extremely defensively or even outright retreat when direct combat would have proven suicidal… not that it had meant much back then given the resurrective nature of being a Tarnished.

In any case, this series of spars had been rather enlightening.

At first, when it had only been the lively Spearman he'd faced off against, it'd come down to making a move on the man before he could put his considerable speed to good use, the element of surprise having served him well. The Tarnished's much greater strength and size had also proven instrumental in pushing back against what few blows Spearman had attempted.

When Heavy Warrior had joined the fray, the two of them had initially engaged in a series of clashes, testing one another's strength and skill with their respective weapons before the adventurer had sought to fight more defensively upon realizing the difference in ability. The Tarnished, having noticed this, had made sure to press the offensive and prevent Heavy Warrior from capitalizing properly on his skill with a greatsword in such close quarters, something that the Tarnished had a fair bit more experience with due to his regular ventures into caves and other narrow passageways back in the Lands Between.

Then when Female Knight had decided to spar as well, the Tarnished had made sure to render usage of her shield as fruitless as possible by constantly attempting to trip her up or otherwise disturb her balance. Whether it come in the form of intentionally striking with a heavy blow to pin her in place to open up her guard or something else, allowing the blonde to utilize the large shield properly had allowed him to keep her on the backfoot for a time.

Ultimately, the three adventurers had silently teamed up and had clearly had no issue with fighting much more seriously, having gone for strikes that would've dealt fatal wounds on anyone else. That they could recognize the necessity of deathblows in order to seize victory even in spars spoke well of them, in the Tarnished's humble opinion. If even a quarter of the other adventurers here possessed a similar mindset, then he felt the capital may be in truly good hands.

Especially since…

"Bah, humility to such a degree seems ill-suited here! Do you not agree, master spell caster, milord Goblin Slayer?!" continued Lizard Priest.

Dwarf Shaman could only grin as he stroked his beard. "Couldn't care less about being modest or whatever, but even I can admit to being impressed when I see moves like that! And that blade of yers… oooh, been a long while since I've ever had to stand before a forge and deal with weapons but even I can see how finely made that blade is!"

"…Mm. It was well fought," spoke Goblin Slayer last.

The Tarnished smiled, making sure that none of his true feelings showed. "My thanks for such words. It's all simply the result of many battles. Given time and effort, I've no doubt everyone else here can reach the level of skill you ascribe to me."

His gaze flickered amongst the three of them, though it did linger slightly longer on Goblin Slayer.

Following the end of the gathering last night, Ranni had wasted no time in informing him of the strange feeling he'd detected from the young goblin obsessed man.

Marked in some way by the Frenzied Flame of all things… truly, not a fact to be easily dismissed. Given that the madness remained a very real threat for the time being, it was certainly a massive concern – there was all too high a possibility of this young adventurer being corrupted by it or worse… made into an avatar for the Flame of Frenzy, a so-called Lord of Chaos.

And if that were to happen…

The Tarnished banished such thoughts for the time being. "Talk of my spars aside, what of yourselves? Here to test and hone your mettle as well?"

"Hrm, regrettably not quite the case," Lizard Priest answered, frowning. "In light of whatever it is we adventurers have been gathered to fight, we've come to the agreement to focus first on making sure our supplies and equipment are properly stocked and then some."

Goblin Slayer nodded. "Preparations are half the battle," he added, repeating a phrase that felt as old as spoken words by this point.

"Very true. I take it the final two members of your party had already gone to make their own preparations?" The Tarnished spoke of the young Priestess and the positively hyperactive High Elf Archer.

"Pah! Yer not wrong, but not entirely right either, big guy – that anvil of an elf just wanted to look around the capital first," Dwarf Shaman quipped. "For one so old and 'wise,' she sure could learn a lot from our youngest member, eh?"

The Tarnished chuckled. "Perhaps. But perhaps it is sometimes best to not fret over matters too much." His answer was as non-committed as could be.

That got a light guffaw out of the dwarf. "Yer givin' that high elf way too much credit!"

"Hey, big man!" called out an adventurer from several yards away, who'd been chatting rather animatedly with a fatigued Spearman. Not too far away, Female Knight sat tiredly by a whoozy Heavy Warrior who was still coming to. "Still got it in you to fight? Cause now I want to see what you got for myself!"

"My, it would appear duty calls," Lizard Priest lightly jested. By this point, the Tarnished's role as a combat instructor for the soldiers had become known to the adventurers, hence the lizardman's choice of words.

"Regrettably, it's a duty I must put off for just a little while," he said just loud enough for the adventurer and others to hear. "The spars had run on longer than I'd thought. But worry not, once I take care of an errand or two, I shall be more than glad to indulge as many willing sparring partners as possible." He capped off his words with a smile that didn't quite match his eager gaze.

Nonetheless, it got the effect he'd hoped for, with some adventurers grumbling impatiently while others – primarily the soldiers he'd initially was going to train early this morning – sighed in clear relief.

"And not to worry, my friend. I shall save some time for a spar with you too," spoke the Tarnished to Lizard Priest, who beamed. "If you'll excuse me then."

With a rather hasty goodbye, the Tarnished left the area as quickly but as calmly as possible… all the while, keeping an eye on Goblin Slayer as best as he could.

Upon leaving the training area, he made a beeline straight for Ranni's last known location, though not before making quick use of a single use soap bar. Helped to clean off what dirt and grime he'd gotten on him during the spars.

Ranni and several other mages, all of whom were adventurers, had been tasked with using whatever magic available to fortify the capital's defenses as best as they can.

Ranni had last been told to handle the palace's defenses alongside just a few other spell casters such as the seductive woman that was partnered with Spearman. Making his way back to the palace, he swiftly tracked down his beloved, who was currently in the middle of casting a barrier spell around the structure's western end.

"Why, my dear consort. To think ye would me waiting so long. Has thy bloodthirst finally subsided for the time being?" she jested lightly.

"My sincerest apologies, beloved," he replied with a little smirk. "I'll do my best to curb such behavior in the future as to not disappoint you."

Ranni huffed as she finished weaving the barrier spell, but it was obvious from the twinkle in her sole open eye that it was in good humor.

Last night, there'd been two revelations dropped on him. Goblin Slayer being marked by the Frenzied Flame had been but the first one, courtesy of Ranni. The second revelation had come from the King himself, who'd called them to his office to inform them of some rather worrying news.

The capital's outermost defenses had gone dark, with not a single man able to send word back to them about anything.

Put another way, those afflicted by madness were making their way closer to the capital by an increasingly greater margin.

What was more worrying, however, was how this was done.

For the capital to lose contact one by one with its outermost defensive line couldn't be explained away by coincidence, the thralls of the Flame of Frenzy attacking each location in such ideal coordination by happenstance.

…Someone was behind it all, coordinating the actions of the poor thralls.

But who? How? These were questions that they unfortunately had not been able to ponder last night since they'd spent a majority of the time afterwards discussing additional actions to be taken alongside the King.

It was only now, when there was a bit of a lull to be had at the moment, that the two of them could afford the time to properly talk about the issue.

And so, with their brief moment of humor come and gone, the two got right down to business.

"Has the young adventurer exhibited any oddities?" asked Ranni as she now walked by his side down the vast hallway. They made sure they were the only two here as they talked.

"None that I've noticed so far," the Tarnished replied, having given himself the task of watching for any undesirable changes in the taciturn Goblin Slayer. "…Given just how… diminished… the mark the Frenzied Flame left on him is, I would almost dare to say we can ignore it."

'Almost' being the key word here.

Indeed, the mark left by the god upon Goblin Slayer was minor… but the fact it still lingered so persistently couldn't be ignored.

"Do you think the people afflicted with the frenzy are being pulled towards him?" he asked, worry tinging his voice.

Ranni was silent for several long seconds as she mulled over his question. "Tis possible, I suppose. The machinations of the gods can be easily discerned in some ways but in other ways remain a complete mystery." Her open eye narrowed. "However, beacon or not, that alone would not be enough to make the thralls of the Flame act so cohesively. As we've already concluded, someone is guiding them properly. Perhaps not like how a general truly would, but if nothing else, this supposed leader is making effective enough use of them."

"In that case, we now come to the next logical question: who or what could possibly control them like that?" The Tarnished grimaced as he even considered his own words.

Given how the gods of his world had impacted the Four Cornered World thus far, it wasn't outside the realm of possibility for someone, human or otherwise, to just experience an odd stroke of luck and be granted some degree of retained intelligence and even authority amongst others that were affected. Such a thing had been vaguely observed by those blood goblins who'd flourished rapidly under their newfound subservience to the Formless Mother.

But those blood goblins, for all their greater threat level than normal goblins, had still exhibited many traits akin to their kind, with their leader that Goblin Slayer and his party having dispatched having ultimately amounted to having simply been selected to spread the Blood Star's influence, not because it had won over its brethren through any wit or strength of its own. Literally any other blood goblin could have been tasked with performing such an arcane ritual.

With that in mind, this current situation was notably different since the person behind this really was acting with far more intelligence and authority than has been demonstrated so far.

Ranni sighed. "Sadly, there is no way for us to discern the truth when there are far too many possibilities to consider. It truly could be a case of one thrall happening to remain saner than the others to some extent or it could be any number of the forces of Chaos seeing an opportunity to seize control of an ever growing army to do their bidding."

Her reply elicited a grimace from the Tarnished. "Then what shall we do? I can do my best to keep an eye on our young adventurer friend, but simply committing to defense when our enemy's forces only grow and encircle us will not do us any good."

The Tarnished was seriously considering the idea of a measured offensive – send out a handful of small squads composed of elite knights or adventurers to the last estimated locations of the enemy forces and engage said forces. Not necessarily to end the threat then and there – the number of thralls must be distressingly high by now – but rather with the intent of drawing attention away from the capital and putting a halt to the enemy forces' march for a time. Then if or when the leader's identity and location became known, send out another squad to go and strike them down as swiftly as possible. Doing so would deprive the Frenzied Flame's thralls of their direction and allow the squads to begin luring the remaining forces into a huddled group and surround them instead, creating a killbox.

Alas, for all the perks that came with being the King's advisor, being able to carry out such an idea wasn't possible. He'd first have to speak to the King of it and then begin the process of preparing for it.

Ranni didn't speak, but her thoughtful expression indicated her agreement with his comment. It was but a moment longer before she tapped her staff to the floor and spoke. "…I take it that ye would like to take the fight to our enemy?"

The question was rhetorical, for her single eye twinkled as it locked onto him.

The esteemed Lunar Princess hummed. "Very well, my beloved consort. I believe thy point has been made. Shall we speak to the King then? I imagine both of us speaking of the matter in unison would do more good than thee speaking to him alone."

The Tarnished felt his mood improve from Ranni's agreement. Despite this, however, he couldn't allow himself to have so idealistic an opinion of his own idea. "We would need to consider the possibility of failure when we do broach the topic with him…"

"That goes without saying," Ranni replied. "But young as he still is, the monarch of this land is quite experienced. Moreover, he is open to new ideas. So long as we explain ourselves properly, I'm certain he will not only agree but perhaps be able to offer up some suggestions to ensure better odds of success."

The Tarnished hummed, seeing the logic in that right away.

Still, while the very thought of taking proper action was an enticing change, his well honed instincts as a warrior were quietly yet persistently telling him there were things going on that not even they can so easily account for.

Nonetheless, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

If there was at least one consolation, if he was granted permission to take charge as needed should the King approve of this idea, then he'll at least be on the frontlines to better observe and respond to whatever sudden changes do occur in the situation.

With some extra energy in his steps, the Tarnished picked up his pace.

It was time to once more take action.

"Man, it's crazy how huge the capital is! Just look at all the shops around here!"

High Elf Archer's enthusiasm was at an all-time high as she trekked through the busy streets. Her natural grace as a high elf made it all too easy for her to weave through the bustling crowds.

In comparison, Priestess was having a hard time even keeping track of her friend. And while she too was enjoying the sights to be had, it wasn't to the same extent as High Elf Archer.

"P-Please wait for me!" she cried out as she huffed and puffed, shyly pushing her way through the various people. It was practically claustrophobic.

High Elf Archer, upon hearing her, had the decency to slow down. "Sorry about that!" She was laughing a little too cheerily to be truly sorry, if Priestess had anything to say about it. "There's just so much to do and so little time! But this is how things should be though! Exploring new lands and seeing the sights!"

Priestess managed a light and tired giggle. Her mild frustrations at her own fatigue aside, High Elf Archer's mood was infectious.

"Still… was it really alright to leave the others behind?" she asked, still a little baffled by how things had come to this point.

She found herself rather regretting her words when she saw how High Elf Archer's face fell. Her long ears even drooped! "Those guys can do whatever they want," she said tersely. "Even if that means having to hang around that jerk."

Priestess flinched at the sheer vitriol in her tone. "I know you said before how wrong that blade of his felt… but should you really be holding such a grudge against him even now? I-I mean, he's here to help out the capital, right? So whatever is so different about the blade surely isn't influencing him if that's your concern."

High Elf Archer huffed. "Maybe. I'll admit to that much. But still! That sword is just wrong. And whatever he did to get it couldn't have possibly been something random."

"It's not like he uses it all the time though…" Priestess murmured.

"But he still didn't have much issue making use of it at all! And that's what bothers me!" High Elf Archer screeched, finally seeming ready to really say why she didn't like the foreign warrior. "For him to just use a blade like that all willy-nilly, like it's just another weapon at his disposal… just what the heck else does he have up his sleeve?! What else does he have that may feel just as wrong, if not worse?!"

By this point, the two girls had ceased walking about and were effectively just blocking foot traffic. People simply passed them on by without a care, but the way the high elf was yelling did earn some confused gazes from some people.

"O-Ok, I see your point!" Priestess held up her hands, wishing desperately to calm her friend down. To think Fate and Chance would turn out so poorly for her after just one misspoken question. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to upset you…"

Her good mood was plummeting rapidly and her gaze fell to the ground.

"Hey… Hey," spoke High Elf Archer in a much quieter and soothing tone. Said high elf placed a hand gently on her shoulder before letting out a heavy sigh. "No, look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be getting so worked up like this – that stupid dwarf would never let me live it down if this somehow got back to him."

Her typical comment against Dwarf Shaman got a twitch of the lips upwards out of Priestess.

"I know the guy hasn't really done anything directly to us. And he's given no personal reason to hate him. I can admit that much too… it's just that the sheer wrongness of that sword really isn't something that I can just easily overlook. And if any other elf or race that has a strong connection with nature were to see that sword, they'd react the same as me. It's… yeesh, I really can't put it into words how horrible that blade felt… but it's bad news. That he can pull it out of nowhere so easily and readily just makes me worried for… well, for everyone, especially you and the others."

At those words, Priestess actually stepped back in surprise. For the normally upbeat high elf to speak so openly like this… it was something terribly new. That this was due to the obviously holy blade the foreign warrior wielded merely added to the surrealness of the moment.

"I understand," the young blonde finally said after a moment, slowly taking High Elf Archer's hand off her shoulder and holding it between both of her own hands. She gave the hand a light squeeze. "It's really good to know that you do look out for us so much."

Her sincerity got a quick laugh out of High Elf Archer. "Ha! Aren't I always looking out for you all?"

Priestess giggled and at least some of the contentment from moments ago returned now. Still, she had to ask…

"But if you don't mind me asking… is that sword the only thing that's ever had such a response from you before?"

With things having calmed down, High Elf Archer resumed her trek with Priestess tagging along directly by her side. The skilled archer loudly mulled over the question, humming and mumbling to herself for a moment.

"…Honestly, I can't really say. At least, not before…" High Elf Archer trailed off, seemingly realizing something. But she then continued a second later after gathering her thoughts. "At least not before all this recent craziness."

"E-Eh?"

"The stupid blood goblins… those frenzied people…" High Elf Archer now murmured more to herself than to Priestess. "Yeah… those both had felt maybe just as wrong. I'd just never put much extra thought into it since we were busy just trying to pull through those situations."

High Elf Archer now had the look of someone who'd received an oracle.

"Yeah, that's it now… none of them felt the same exact way, but the sheer wrongness of it all is too much alike to ignore!" she proclaimed.

"Um, I'm sorry but what do you-?" Priestess began, only to be cut off when High Elf Archer clasped her shoulders suddenly and with surprising roughness.

"Whatever brought those Chaotic forces to these lands… he's got some kind of connection to it! I'm sure of it!" High Elf Archer declared.

The march towards the capital had proceeded smoothly thus far, Shabriri noted with satisfaction.

However, more importantly than that, the ranks of his brethren had increased considerably; more soldiers and passer-byes had joined him under the banner of the great Flame. Moreover, with their numbers now this high, being able to pass the truth on even to non-humans had become possible.

With just a quick shift of his gaze, Shabriri watched with a sense of amusement as several hounds dutifully flanked him, their eyes the same pulsing yellow as everyone else's. Moreover, by what could almost surely be labeled as a miracle, he and his forces had encountered some of those adventurers and had also converted them to the cause as well.

Now hanging further back was a mage, a short creature – a rhea, not that he knew the proper terminology – that had the bearing of a scout, a brutish man with features more commonly found on a bear – a beastman, essentially – and finally, an adult woman that had the robes one would associate with a church, likely whatever was the dominant faith of these lands.

Compared to the two warriors he'd fought back then, these four adventurers had been considerably less skilled though certainly not without some merit – they'd been able to handle themselves fairly well against his brethren to a point, even able to slay a dozen or so before sheer numbers overwhelmed them.

While his army was now just a bit smaller than it had been before, Shabriri felt the trade-off was worth it; while most of his thralls would only be able to do nothing more than blindly attack, these adventurers should still retain enough motor function to engage in combat much like how they would have before. Surely this could only be a boon, even if they fell vastly short of the high standard that the great Vyke had set during his time alive. A true shame that a warrior of such an outstanding caliber likely didn't exist in this world, but he would not turn away any new converts who held any true martial skill.

By now, they were about a day's trek away from the capital, the thick shrubbery and forest allowing his army to continue going undetected, it would seem. It helped that his forces were spread out a fair bit, preventing any would-be watchers from immediately noticing their numbers unless they were specifically looking for them.

It helped that they'd already targeted those outposts in addition to overrunning any travelers they'd come across to swell their ranks when possible.

But it would only be a matter of time until the capital did take notice, be it due to lack of communication with their soldiers or through the lull in the number of merchants and peddlers that undoubtedly visited the place on a regular basis.

If the ruler of the capital and his military forces were smart, they'd already have plenty of long-range defenses in place. That would surely prove difficult to deal with since his army lacked any means of combatting from afar save for himself through the usage of the Flame of Frenzy's incantations and now the recently added mage with his spells.

Thankfully, sheer numbers was a quality all its own with which to exhaust the capital's defenses. It would help too that at their current pace, they were due to arrive around night time, which would provide them with additional coverage. How much of a benefit that would be, however, has yet to be determined.

…

…Still.

"Something is amiss." He murmured this with a hint of confusion.

The closer he got to the capital, the stronger the feeling became.

He could still sense the one who had the potential to become his Lord of Chaos, but now with the ever shrinking distance, he could begin to detect something else. It was terribly faint due to the remaining distance in addition to his target's presence taking up most of his attention now, but it was just strong enough to make him tilt his head constantly in befuddlement.

Whatever it was, it gave him the feeling that perhaps his army's continued trek forward would not go so smoothly.

"You two, to the west. The others, to the east," he calmly commanded of the adventurers. "Take several others with you as well in small groups. Be prepared, my brothers and sisters in arms – our journey ahead may not be as uneventful as initially expected."

His commands were carried out without hesitation, the adventurers and several of the thralls moving as directed to group up. The adventurers in particular shifted their stances into something more battle ready. Though he doubted they'd be attacked any time soon, it was best to be prepared.

They had come too close to be thwarted now. He would not allow it.

As some adventurers took to sparring among themselves or even with soldiers, Goblin Slayer watched on. But while his gaze remained focused on the match between Lizard Priest and a fatigued but still eager Spearman, his thoughts were elsewhere entirely.

That disconcerting sense of wrongness that had been instilled in him by whatever that strange blast was had returned. Sword Maiden had been able to relieve him of it a great deal, but now it would appear that a faint trace or two remained of this unknown affliction.

It made his fingers twitch from the anxiety, the fear of the unknown.

Why the sudden return? He couldn't even begin to speculate on the answer, other than that he was feeling far more tense than he had at the start of today.

"Something's coming…" he muttered, with only himself as the intended listener.

…Why would he say that? Why did his thoughts, already so hard to sort through at times, now feel even more cluttered yet scattered?

The anxiety worsened as questions filled him. Just what was he to do in this precarious scenario? He just had no clue, none at all.

Grimacing in relative silence, he finally tore his gaze away from the sparring and took his leave. It felt suffocating; he needed to be elsewhere by himself, if only for a little while.

Aimlessly, he walked off, letting his instincts guide him to wherever it was.

But as he did go about his business, he couldn't help but subconsciously look off into the horizon. Given it was still quite early in the morning, said horizon consisted of nothing but bright and clear skies, contrasting heavily with the looming sense of foreboding he now had.

…Something really was coming this way…

…It was coming for him.

Yeah, not exactly the most riveting of chapters, I will say that straight away. But this hopefully does make up for me going roughly a whole month without updating plus it also serves the purpose of setting up how things will truly be kicking off in the next chapter.

Get ready, everyone, in the next chapter, that is when the action will truly begin and where all this damned build up I've been doing finally pays off as well. I just hope you all will understand the necessity of why I'm doing things this way.

Until next time, everyone. Stay safe and let's try to make 2024 a bit better than last year.