AURORA BOREALIS:
The Warrior Captain, Gazef Stronoff, and I took cover in one of the houses, alongside several of his men. There wasn't enough room for all of his men, over forty in total, so they had split up and also taken cover in other houses. The villagers were mostly within the Chief's house and a couple of others. I had covertly summoned Archangel Clandestines, fourth-tier angels specializing in stealth, and stationed them at the houses. Judging by the apparent strength of the surrounding forces, they ought to be more than enough to defend the village. Gazef was currently contemplating the information I had relayed to him.
I had to admit, I liked Gazef. From Amon and Londes's descriptions, he was a proper rags-to-riches story, a simple farmer who one day picked up a sword and discovered his aptitude for it. He trained until he caught the notice of a retired adamantine adventurer who took him for an apprentice. He eventually surpassed the old man and entered a martial arts tournament. He won in a climactic finish, earning the King's praise. Since he was not born of nobility, the King was unable to grant him knighthood. In what sounds like the only bold decision the king has made during his reign, he made up a new title on the spot, Warrior Captain. Since then, Gazef has led the Warrior Band and served as the King's bodyguard.
The Warrior Band was a ragtag group of fighters hand-picked by Gazef himself. Instead of being honorable knights clad head-to-toe in metal, wielding swords on foot and lances on horseback, the warriors each selected their preferred equipment. As I glanced at the men in the room, I saw a variety of weapons and armor. The only thing in common was every man held a sword and their faces were visible. Beyond that, each man was unique. Some wore leather armor without plate, some wore chainmail, and some wore light plate armor. I saw maces, javelins, crossbows, daggers, stilettos, bows, and flails. If I saw them without any prior knowledge, I'd presume them to be a bunch of sellswords or perhaps well-equipped bandits.
This was a common complaint amongst the nobles, according to Londes. They despised the lack of unity, claiming it was undignified and crude. These complaints were often silenced by their impressive track record. These men worshipped practicality as their god instead of aesthetics, and it showed on the battlefield. Out of all of the military units of Re-Estize, the Warrior Band was the group with the highest quality. That wasn't to say that they were the strongest. For example, three thousand Re-Estize knights would easily overwhelm the hundred or so members of the Warrior Band with pure numbers. But if the bodies were equal, one hundred members of the Warrior Band would easily prevail against one hundred members of the Re-Estize knights. Superior equipment and variety of equipment weren't the only advantages the Warrior Band held. Where knights have a code of honor and rigidly practiced battle tactics from over a century ago, the Warrior Band was flexible in how they fought. They weren't above surprise attacks, hit and runs, and poisoned weapons. Where a knight sought to honorably prevail in combat, ideally in a duel, a warrior sought to kill their foes by any means necessary. The more I heard about them, the greater my respect rose. Seeing them in person only solidified the respect I harbored. I turned my gaze to Gazef.
Gazef was a large beast of a man, with rippling muscles bound by metal plates. His short dark hair, intense eyes, and neatly trimmed beard only added to his image. If I were to describe him in one word, "Warrior" would be perfect. Despite being a man of the upper class, living and working at a castle, he remained kind and humble. His lack of hesitation to kneel in respect and gratitude left a bigger mark on me than I imagined. An honorable man. He stared out the window, examining the approaching forces.
Figures dressed in black robes stalked toward the village, each keeping an even distance from the other. Not an inch of skin was visible and each man was identical to the last. White belts with bandoliers and other such knickknacks were tied around their waists. Small white capes were tied around their necks, extending to their lower back. They wore matching boots and gloves. Strange white cloths covered their entire heads. An abnormal circular visor was in the front of the cloth, reminiscent of ancient scuba diving suits. Accompanying each man was an archangel flame.
Archangel flames were third-tier summons, the third summons of the fire archangel line. In order, archangel embers, archangel fires, archangel flames, archangel blazes, archangel firestorms, archangel infernos, and archangel conflagrations. Archangel embers were a first-tier summon, while archangel conflagrations were a seventh summon, with everything else correlating to their tier. Another division among them was low, mid, high, and grand. Summoned creatures that could be summoned by any first to fourth-tier spell were considered low-tier summons. Summons of the fifth to seventh tier were considered mid-tier summons. Summons of the eighth and ninth tiers were high-tier summons. Summons of the tenth and super tier were considered grand tier summons.
Racial levels often had daily charges of summon skills. A powerful summoner who specialized in summoning could bring forth hundreds of low to mid-tier summons with at least a dozen high-tier summons. Grand tier summon skills were extremely rare, and often had drawbacks such as requiring XP. While my racial classes weren't geared toward summoning, I still had a few summoning skills. However, I couldn't innately strengthen my summons like others could. I had a guild mate by the name of Omael. Omeal specialized in summoning, bringing forth armies of angels to combat against our foes. If I were to pit my archangel flame versus an archangel flame summoned by Omael, his angel would win ten times out of ten. Honestly, his archangel flame could probably beat three of mine. My summons only had the base stats, which was considered extremely weak.
As part of my five "Harbinger Empyrean" racial levels, I had fifty charges of low-tier angels, twenty charges of mid-tier angels, and five charges of high-tier angels. Unfortunately, I had no charges of grand tier angels. If I were to reach level ten in "Harbinger Empyrean", I could greatly expand my summoning abilities, but the powers I wanted from the racial levels were limited to the first five levels. Further leveling in that part of the racial tree was redundant. The summons I gained were a nifty bonus in YGGDRASIL, but nothing truly special. But in this New World? It dawned on me that summoning could be a truly powerful ability to possess. Even a single mid-tier summon could threaten the surrounding nations, perhaps even destroy them beyond recognition. My musings were interrupted by Gazef.
"So, the Slane Theocracy themselves have come for my head now? It seems I've made quite the list of enemies." He joked. He seemed quite well composed, given the danger looming before him. He was underequipped, didn't have enough men, and had no viable plan. While I didn't doubt his composure in the face of death, I imagined he still had a trump card he wanted to obtain. He turned and looked at me with a hopeful look in his eyes.
"Lord Borealis, would you be willing to let me hire you?"
I didn't answer immediately. Instead, I held his gaze.
"Name your price and I shall meet it."
I withdrew a trio of rings from my inventory and held them in my palm before Gazef.
"The bronze ring removes the need to eat, drink, or sleep for the wearer. The silver ring provides the wearer immunity to disease and immunity to all except the most powerful of poisons. The golden ring grants the wearer immunity to third-tier spells and comparable physical attacks."
Gazef's eyes grew wide at the first description, and his shock only grew with the rest. Gasps and whispers were audible amongst the men in the room. I continued.
"If I were to auction any or all of these rings, how much do you think I would receive for them?"
Gazef hesitated before answering.
"While I'm not an expert on the subject of magic items and the such, I can say for certain that the gold ring could be sold for… an excessive amount of platinum. More than I could ever hope to have. Countries may even be willing to go to war over such an item. The other two would also sell for a lot."
"Material wealth is not exactly something I hold a large desire for. And if I did desire it, I wouldn't exactly have trouble obtaining it. No amount of coin could persuade me to get involved any further in a national conflict between two sovereign nations."
"I see," Gazef said. He hid his disappointment from reaching his face, better than any of his men, but I could sense it nonetheless. "Legally, I could conscript you, but I feel that would be the worst decision. We would all die before leaving this building."
He turned his head, looking out the window once more.
"Thank you, Lord Borealis, for defending this village." He turned to me and began to kneel. "This is presumptuous to ask, but please grant these people your protection once more."
"You have my word that I will not permit a single villager to be harmed once more this day."
With my word given, he breathed a sigh of relief—a good man, caring for the lives of the innocent even with his own life forfeit.
"Thank you." He rose to his feet and began walking to his Vice-Chief.
"Vice chief, gather the men. We ride out at-"
"Gazef Stronoff." I interrupted, drawing out the words as I spoke them.
"Yes?" He replied, turning back to face me, uncertainty painted on his face.
"I said that there is no amount of coin that you could give me to convince me to help you. I still stand by that statement. However, I am willing to offer my aid, as a favor."
"A favor?" He asked, still uncertain.
"Yes, a favor. I do this deed for you today, and then you do a deed for me in the future." He opened his mouth to respond, but I continued before he could speak. "Consider the situation further. With the deaths of you and your Warrior Band, Re-Estize will greatly weaken. The noble faction will be able to act with impunity. Open rebellion will be an open avenue for them. Baharuth will no longer fear fielding champions on the battlefield. The collapse of the kingdom as you know it may occur within as soon as a decade, with complete conquest by Baharuth occurring within two and a half decades at the latest."
Gazef's eyes narrowed in displeasure at my grim prediction. I continued.
"It would not be a stretch to say that the events of tonight, the very survival of you and our men, shall decide the continued existence of the Re-Estize Kingdom. Consider that as you consider this favor. For the debt you shall owe me will not just be for the lives of you and your men, but, by proxy, the future of Re-Estize."
I let my words hang in the air. Gazef understood what I was saying. This wasn't just a simple tit-for-tat. My interference would not just be saving his life, but saving the very kingdom itself. What he would agree to would be beyond just his life as compensation.
"Well?" I asked, sticking my hand out. "Are you willing to owe me a debt equivalent to the future of your kingdom?"
He didn't answer immediately. He couldn't just give a yes or no. He had to seriously consider this offer, imagine, and go through all of its implications. While he was puzzling over his decision, I decided to drive the final nail through the coffin.
"If my request would require you to betray the King or country, or seriously challenge one of your values, then you may tell me why and refuse." There. I couldn't imagine him refusing this. His priority would be his duty to the crown and his morals first, and then to me second. Saving his country without compromising his own values ought to be an instant affirmative. In return, I would gain a debt from a prominent figure who had the ear of the Re-Estize King. While the King didn't exactly seem like the best monarch, he wasn't actively malicious, just mildly incompetent. And Gazef is an honorable individual. He wouldn't simply shirk the debt. He would fulfill whatever I asked of him with his full effort.
While this arrangement seemed to favor Gazef, eliminating the Sunlight Scripture was an easy task. The information I received from Londes described the captain, a zealot by the name of Nigun Grid Luin as the most powerful one. The most powerful angel they had fielded was a single principality of observation. This suggested that they had him and him alone as the only fourth-tier caster. Even if he could use fifth-tier magic, cementing him as the most powerful these humans could get, he wasn't a threat. Even a sixth-tier caster, rumored to be more myth than fact, wouldn't be able to harm me. The only thing I was wary of was him possessing an item descended from the Six Great Gods. If they truly were players who guided and protected humanity, then they probably had inventories filled with spare gear and consumables. It wouldn't be surprising if they had spread around their junk items.
Gazef stared at me, his eyes jumping from my outstretched hand to my eyes back and forth. It didn't take innate empathy to see that he was struggling with a lot of emotional turmoil. Fortunately, I had innate empathy so I could detect his internal struggle. I felt one side give in, and he sighed. Then he accepted my hand.
"Very well, Lord Borealis. Grant us your aid, save our lives and kingdom, and I shall owe you a grand debt." We shook hands. I could feel the relief radiating through the room, not just from him but also from his men. Despite no magic being involved, it felt like a pact bound us. Without preamble, I summoned forth the Ichos Sphere.
Scry
The village appeared within the crystal ball, a bird's eye view showing the entire village and beyond. At the edges of the view, you could make out the casters and their angels approaching the villages from all directions. From the southeast was the largest group, about a dozen men with the principality of observation watching over them. Surrounding the village in a circle were about two dozen casters, evenly spaced apart. Every caster had an angel summoned. Four groups of three casters were arranged east-northeast, north-northwest, west-northwest, and south-southwest. Like the tips of a pentagram, they were grouped to strengthen the integrity of the cage. If the warriors fled in any direction, one of the casters would use magic to delay them, or perhaps delay just Gazef, while the surrounding groups would join the fight. The groups of three would allow for moderately powerful reinforcements to join quickly enough to prevent the caster from getting hit and run. I understood their plan of attack and our countermeasure.