It was a day to be reckoned with, a day of judgement. In the wake of a fierce battle spanning almost 10 days, the combined Human army had fought viciously to make it to the entrance of the Demon Lord's castle. Both sides had experienced heavy losses, and the battle itself created huge amounts of Spatial damage to the surrounding area. Had the Demon Lord's army attacked any of the states beforehand, the outcome would have been far worse.
"It was quite clever of us to make the first move here.", King Louis remarked on the battlefield. Surrounding him were craters of varying sizes, hills turned into flatlands and dust polluting the air. It had already been a few days into battle as he led his troops into position to face more of the Demon Lord's countless soldiers, a mixed ambiance of terror and agitation dispersing into the atmosphere.
The Human army directly faced towards their enemies, building up the courage to fight and live to see the next day, or to perish in the honour of battle.
As the gust of wind subsided the two armies roared into battle and clashed with one another. Following the first wave of swords and shields being struck at, multiple instances occurred in which the uproar of the fight became deafened with the sound of multiple explosion spells being cast amidst the chaos.
'CLANK! CLANK! THUD!'
Many of the battle tactics studied upon were quickly utilized and soon became commonplace strategies with the many confrontations the Human soldiers had found themselves in. By that point, it had become a matter of who would be left standing victorious by the end through sheer determination, strength and will to survive.
"King Louis!", a soldier by the name of Gust called out to his emperor, "We need to clear a path for the main army in order for our Exterminators to enter the battlefield!" He was the king's most trusted soldier and messenger, having been given the title ofTHE HAWK OF BELZERGwith his ever-so reliable information and immaculate accuracy with a bow and arrow.
His words have never failed to convince the emperor to react appropriately, especially up to this point. Once the right course of action was suggested, the Human troops were soon being signalled to withdraw for a bit to make room for the offence.
"Archers! Mages! Make sure to concentrate your fire on those big monsters first!"
Luckily for them, the Demon Lord's soldiers didn't happen to possess equipment strong enough to protect themselves, being left defenceless against a barrage of enchanted arrows and flaming rocks crashing onto the mobs one by one, permanently eliminating a mass amount of them and decreasing their numbers little by little.
"Soldiers! Spear formation! Charge full force ahead!". Multiple platoons armed with spears and shields directly marched forward through the cleared path, making sure to clean up the remaining stragglers on the field. The mages and ranged fighters followed in their footsteps, whilst the Crimson Demons provided lightshow disturbing enough to break the opposing army's formation and scatter them from afar.
The Exterminatorswere soon launched as the platoons kept marching onward, with their horses speeding through the battered land. What they least expected was for their enemies to strike back by releasing multiple Titans onto the field.
With the sudden onslaught of titans on the loose, the Human army was forced to retreat for a bit and hold off their offence troops. Just as they were switching to a more defensive approach, one of the titans began lunging itself onto the carts at the back of the Human's side, aiming to crush their reinforcements. Thankfully in the nick of time, a strong wave of energy swiftly struck him from below, sending him flying back towards the Demon King's army.
That particular well-timed counterattack was courtesy of the King himself, his sword shining white as it faded due to the heat discharged from its hilt. He whispered to himself, "Not today."
Whilst all this was happening, the citizens occupying the carriages could only hear a faint, loud noise coming from nearby.
"Did you hear something, Eris?", Nisha anxiously asked her companion.
"Indeed, Nisha. In fact, I saw it with my own eyes. I knew King Trevor was strong and all, but if my memory serves me right, I've never actually seen him THAT strong before! That wasGod-like!", Eris remarked in astonishment.
"Verily, the royals themselves are quite the mystery. It's been rumoured that the sword he's wielding has been passed down through multiple generations, a weapon bestowed onto one of his ancestors by the Gods themselves. They say that once his hands grasped the sword, his entire body became entirely solidified.", Helene described the legend as if it were a fairy tale story.
This knowledge completely blew Eris away, her eyes gleaming as she clenched both her fists up to her neck, filling herself up with excitement.
"Do you believe in the Gods, Helene?", Eris naively asked.
"Well, personally I'm sort of neutral when it comes to all these Gods watching over us, and a lot of people do in fact put a large amount of their faith into them. I do believe that miracles can actually happen, like with those hot springs they have in Arcanletia. They certainly are capable of healing people who bathe in it, even if no one can explain how it's exactly possible. They just know that it can cure all kinds of illnesses, and that the water never becomes stale."
"But why is it you're asking about something like this all of a sudden, Eris dear?", Helene responded with another question.
"I just… I just feel like we'll need their help for what's going on out there as of right now."
Eliot softly chuckled in reaction to his companions ongoing discussion on celestial existence.
"Come on, guys. Whether God can help us or not, we'll find a way to win this, no matter what.", He surmised as he stared intensely into Eris's eyes, "Right now all we will have is each other to look out for, so don't hold on to any fear from here on out."
They nodded as they proceeded to head out towards the attack upon the Devil King's castle.
Eliot held out the map provided to him via scouting troops; although the credibility of it can't be assured as it was drawn out more than a century ago, way before the current Demon Lord even came to power.
Danik and Storm decided to put their own cents into the conversation. "So, you think we'll be able to reach the castle by following this passage?" Storm asked in a concerned manner.
"Well, I'm kind of certain that we will.", Eliot replied confidently.
"Huh? What makes you so sure about that?", Danik raised an eyebrow in response.
"If you haven't noticed already, this place is relatively well lit for a natural cave, don't you think?", Eliot remarked as he brought attention to their surroundings.
"Which means that this place would definitely have used quite recently, then.", Helene concluded.
"Well, that makes sense.", everyone nodded in agreement, all except for one particular member.
"But Eliot, this could also be a trap as well, right?", Eris brought up as a valid theory.
"There is a high chance we might be walking into one right now, but this path is our only way as of now, Eris. So, for now, let's just pray that the God of luck is on our side for this one.", Eliot tried to make his reply sound reassuring with his optimistic Words.
"I guess so, if there are any. Although, it does seem kind of weird to me that they have a God for luck, of all things. It makes it sound like it's not really important for the other God's to handle.". And thus, the group went on ahead as they casually argued with one another about the ideal jurisdictions brought down upon through the Divine beings.
After walking through a continuous passageway for a while, they eventually came across a part of the dungeon in which the pathway is disconnected into two separated tunnels.
"Which way should we go now?", Eris asked as she glanced over Eliot's shoulder to take a peek at the map in his hands.
"Hmm… this area here has a green marking on both ways, but they have a different insignia marked on each of them."
"What does that even mean?", Nisha muttered through her exhaustion.
"Perhaps both of them lead to a dead end, but we need to activate some kind of switch on both sides at the same time to unlock the right path.", Eris suggested.
To which the team nodded in favor of her hypothesis.
Immediately afterwards, they quickly devised a plan for how they could signal each other if they were to stumble upon some sort of mechanism, as well as a way to warn the others in the case of which a trap is set off. Their main strategy was to either avoid or swiftly deal with the weaker and slightly strong monsters, all so that they can pass through the traps as quickly as possible. They'd only need to engage if a threat just happened to be dangerous or lethal.
They quickly revised the route on the map one last time, as well as double-checking the layout for the plan they drew up using the dirt on the ground.
They then split up into 2 separate groups, with 5 people on either side. Fortunately, they had five of the finest soldiers from the battlefield accompanying them, carrying along their stealth tactics and useful support spells for the group to utilize.
They proceeded to head their separate ways, taking each step with precaution and anticipation for any hidden booby traps or ambushes.
None of which actually transpired like they thought, due to their assumption being proven false as they reached a gate with separate insignias on both sides.
The only hurdle they'd had to overcome was a minor group of small monsters and goblins ambushing them from the shadows. Thankfully, the 2 groups handled them with ease and very little injuries.
"Hmph, that was way too easy.", Nisha said as she felt displeased whilst folding both her arms.
The two groups communicated with each other via echoes as they reached the gate.
On one side Eris, Helene, Danik and two royal guards stood patiently, awaiting for the rest of team and the other three guards to respond to them on the other side.
As they pressed the buttons on each side simultaneously, the insignias that each side held flew right out of their palms, magnetically attaching themselves to their respective gates, creating a loud thud in the process.
"I have quite an ominous feeling about this.", Eris nervously commented as she clenched the dagger in her hand.
Both teams headed on through the gate, finding themselves entering a well-lit and open room. Its size was that of a great hall, with its distinct attributes being its gloomy and dusty atmosphere. As they walked in, a menacing voice could be heard in the distance, along with the sinister sheathing of a blade. Before they could even react, the Demon King himself jumped down from above with his great sword. With a height of at least 4 feet tall, and without any warning, he swung a deadly blow.
The war itself had been going on full blast at the same time outside, a constant power struggle that had equal odds stacked against both sides. That was until a sudden shockwave shook throughout the battlefield. The ground trembled for a few seconds whilst everyone turned to look towards the castle that the Demon King resided in. The Humans in the carriages calmly prayed for their allies; for those who are still alive in the battlefield, and for those who made the brave effort to sneak into the castle and confront the Demon Lord head-on.
Back inside the castle, the Demon King stood menacingly over everyone in the room, with his sword now resting on his shoulders, and a large cloud of dust beginning to swirl inside of the large room.
That first strike was intended to finish off everything in its trail. The attack itself burned everything to a crisp and left behind a massive cloud of dust.
The stealth team had barely managed to dodge the blow, but got swept away to the side in the process, toppling over one-another as a magic barrier was placed around them.
Elliot quickly got onto his knees to examine himself and the others, uncertain of their own survival. For a few moments he went into a state of shock until one the guards screamed, "Incoming!", triggering him to get back up on his feet.
Dozens of monsters suddenly jumped down from above, and undead skeleton warriors rose up from the ground.
"Shit, it was a trap.", Storm snarked in terror.
As they all tried pulling themselves back together, the enemies began surrounding the weakened group. Instead of attacking the team head-on, they resorted to lunging onto them in an attempt to pin down the soldiers in their unarmed state.
Elliot quickly managed to dodge an incoming skeleton brute with his swift reflexes, slamming the monster head-first onto the ground. During which, the Demon Lord began charging up another attack, this time with the intention of making sure that all the intruders would be definitively wiped out in just one powerful move. His hands began shaking whilst his blade started glowing with energy waves made up of purple and dark matter.
This fierce display of power forced the humans to jump back onto their heels in a panic.
They understood that getting caught up in the blade's attack would result in not only immense pain, but potentially a gruesome death. Unfortunately, neither one of them possessed anything that could help ensure their survival from the assault. The hair on their body rose, alarming them to switch into a fight-or-flight mode of thinking. They unanimously decided on the latter idea and rushed towards the exit via the freshly cut path that the Demon Lord's attack had made. His henchmen chased after them at the same time; some having tried surrounding them from the front, but Danik promptly cleared through them with his flashy lighting blade.
Despite running as fast as their bruised legs could take them, the Demon lord had inevitably unleashed his massive attack after completely charging it. They quickly swiped off to the side at the last possible moment, right before reaching the castle gates. In just a mere second or two, a violent torrent of flaming purple energy came hurdling from behind them.
This time the attack was so powerful that it completely destroyed the ground around them and charred up everything in its path, leaving behind nothing but dust and rubble. In the wake of this, a faint shadow taking the shape of a bulky creature loomed over the dust cloud outside the castle. A single stomp from the creature not only dispersed the smoke out into the air, but also sent small shockwaves across the battlefield, a heavy roar being heard all throughout.
The Demon King had finally been let out into the war. With just one loud roar, the Demon Lord had internally froze everyone on the battlefield, the sounds of clashing metal and magic attacks having been immediately halted in the process.
He called out towards King Trevor as a sign of provocation to draw him out and face him one-on-one.
In the midst of this, King Trevor was steering around on his stallion, fending off a horde of golems with the assistance of the soldiers following him. He too felt the tremors from across the war zone. It was only a matter of seconds until the Demon King's roaring and proclamation immediately kicked in and reached his earlobes.
"Lord Kiramada!He has arrived!", the entire demon army stopped in their tracks, whilst the human troops quickly switched into a more orderly stance, as if to clear a path for their king to confront the Demon Lord.
The king's trusty soldier Gust pulled him aback to warn him. "Sir, this might as well be a trap you're walking into."
"Then you already know what to do if that were to be the case. If I were to fall in combat, fire everything you have at him once the opportunity strikes. By then I should've been able weaken him enough for our Banisher Canons to finish off that brute."
Immediately after issuing these orders, King Trevor then marched on forward to face the Demon Lord himself, Kiramada.
Soon enough, the two of them stood in front of each other, meters apart. Kiramada spoke out first, "I think it's time we end this little farce, Trevor. Your head will look mighty fine in my trophy chamber, along with all the other fools who dared challenge me. That sword of yours could also make for a good back scratcher, now that I think about it."
To which the king replied in an exasperated tone, "Even if I were to lose, I have faith in that humanity will still prevail, and that you will be finished off for good this time.", he remained fearless and composed within his position and voice. A tranquil silence resonated between the two enemies for a brief few seconds. What followed soon afterwards was a high, deafening eruption of sound, followed by a complete shattering of the ground. This meant that their blades had made contact.
It was so quick that most of the onlookers on both sides couldn't even tell who had struck first. Some could only recall seeing Kiramada moving his blade first in retaliation.
'That seemed like quite the deadly blow to any normal individual, such as myself.', Gust thought to himself apprehensively. It was hard for him to watch his king fight for his own life, let alone keep track of every minute action. His initial fears, however, were slowly relieved of as he saw Trevor narrowly block every single one of the Demon Lord's attacks with his own blade, creating an equal playing field for both duelists.
The demon army, on the other hand, had been ecstatically roaring and cheering for their lord and savior; but as the dust settled, only one leader remained.
During the clash, King Trevor had made the clever move to deflect all of Kiramada's attacks onto the ground below them, eating up all of its power and leaving the Demon Lord with just an ordinary sword to fight with.
As the sun glinted above them, a ray of light emitting from it landed on King Trevor's blade. He skillfully redirected it to blind Kiramada in the eyes, taking the opportunity to vigorously kick him in the guts and sent him flying back in the air. The Demon Lord coughed up a hint of blood in mid-air, but managed to instantly flip his body back into position, making a recovery landing.
He used his left arm to brush off the blood on his lips whilst he switched into a more defensive stance. He slowly realized that despite being massive and built like an entire small house, he can be prone to making very fatal mistakes due to the quick nature of his thinking. He understood that if he keeps on going for the offensive play, it could result in the final move he'll ever make.
Kiramada glanced at his blood-coated hand, aware of the fact that it was shaking heavily, much like the rest of his body. He looked towards the Human Leader with a piercing gaze and formed a small grin, muttering to himself, "The stronger the prey, the more it's worth killing."
Both of them charged once more at one another, hellbent on killing the other once and for all. There was no hesitation from both ends, One after another blows were exchanged. Every maneuver was used to get an advantage in this death battle, whether it be rolling, ducking, dashing. Meanwhile
THE DIVINE PLANE CENTRAL PALACE
All of the deities were gathered at the observatory chamber in the Divine Palace. The major Gods sat keenly above as they observed the battle taking place within the mortal realm.
The other minor Gods were surrounded around the stands. The great portal from which they observe the humans was placed below onto the ground.
Concurrently somewhere else in the divine plain, a Goddess could be seen busy toiling around on the walkway.
"Huhhhh, it's soooo boring today. There's hardly anyone around to play with.", she said dejectedly. She then continued to loiter about until one of her peers happened to pass by.
"Hello there, Aqua. What order of business could you be having here? Have you not heard of the gathering promptly taking place in the Observatory today?"
"What about it? Is something important happening right now?", Aqua asked indifferently.
"Well, you see… currently at this very minute there is a war taking place between the legion of demons and the human army down there in the mortal realm. It's sort of a final closure for the Demon Lord problem they've been faced with for centuries now. Everyone there is watching to see how it all ends; hopefully King Trevor and his forces have managed to triumph against Lord Kiramada by now.", She quickly hurried away shortly after providing the Water Goddess with the intel she received.
"Wait, they're having a gathering over there and didn't invite me to it? Who do they think I am, a useless Goddess?! Hmph, well I'll show them. But first; I do think I'll need to snack on some apples real quick before I head on over there."
Aqua proceeded to do as she said aloud before finally heading towards the Observatory.
Meanwhile In the monitoring chamber, everyone there was busy watching with worry over the tide of battle taking place presently. The Great, Holy Trinity had been busy discussing about whether or not they should lend their help over to the human race.
God Brahma spoke up and declared, "It seems that the tide for this battle could go frankly anywhere. The demons they're facing are quite strong, no doubt about it, but the humans, meanwhile, have shown great resolve in the wake of this confrontation."
"Even we as deities are too bound by some laws to be able to offer any form of support. A direct intervention on either side of the battle will only cause a great imbalance. The demon army might become restless and attack not only the humans, but us divine beings aswell. Doesn't help that we've already provided these humans with enough advantages in the form of the heroes we send down and the divine weapons we bless them with.
Times like these are when they need to depend on just themselves alone."
The Goddess Styx agreed, "Brahma is right. Even if it seems like the light of hope has become evidently bleak, the indomitable willpower of the human spirit will still burn on like an eternal flame. We've seen this before, so let's hope that it occurs once more."
At the same time while the conversation kept going on, the Goddess of Water Aqua barged in with a huffed breath and a worn-out expression. It seemed like she had come there via running the entire way.
Some gazed curiously at her sudden arrival, some gave her an irritated glance, whilst others didn't even acknowledge her presence. Whispers started flying around.
"Seems like she's late again, as always. That dummy."
Aqua quickly bowed down in the face of the elder Gods. Ishtar reciprocated her polite gesture with the proper permission for her to come in. The Goddess of Water keenly shoved her way through to perch herself onto the front stands, joining the others as they looked straight down, surveying the battle taking the place at that very moment.
The two leaders were concurrently engaged within a one-on-one duel to the death, brawling with utter ferocity and torn
armor. Aqua leisurely pulled out an apple to eat, utilising a rather simple knife to slice it into pieces.
'Welp, this thing here looks like a total snooze fest, as always. I should eat an apple slice in the meantime.', she thought to herself as she tried to cut open the apple she brought with her. Unfortunately, her knife clumsily slipped out of her hands and fell down. Down towards the portal that lead straight into the human world. "Oops.", she said, trying to act as though nothing had just happened.
In the midst of the constrained battle taking place down below, the knocked out stealth team had started regaining consciousness again, somewhat shocked at the fact that they've remained alive. They had narrowly avoided any major harm done to them by the Demon King himself haphazardly through sheer luck. Eliot, meanwhile, was busy pulling his teammates back up onto their feet. Once they did, they proceeded to glance outside to marvel at the intense duel taking place at that very moment.
"Incredible.", Eris remarked in astonishment. "Shouldn't we try to find some way to support Lord Trevor in his time of need?"
"It will only get us hurt in the process. Besides, his highness has been fighting out there for our sakes. Bringing attention to ourselves will only hinder his resolve to take down that creature.", one of the royal guards advised.
"But we can't just sit here and do nothing!", Eris loudly protested.
"Calm down Eris. He does have a point; although for your sake we can try attacking him from behind at just the right time, to distract him from the battle.", Storm said, putting a hand over Eris's shoulder.
Kiramada carried on attacking with a barrage of overhead strikes, eventually able to pin down Trevor onto the dirt ground below. The attacks were perceived similarly to a wrecking ball, a force so strong that it left the Human Leader with his back facing the ground. Despite this, he still held up his sword to block all his repetitive attacks. With each strike he sunk deeper and deeper into the ground, just barley managing to redirect the blowback caused by the sword's impact.
Trevor somehow pulled through and managed to perform a backhanded sword swing, connecting his blade with the Demon Lord's belly.
This lethal attack led to Kiramada reeling back for a bit to recuperate. Blood could be seen dripping out of his freshly-open wound.
Upon witnessing this, Eliot shouted out, "This is our chance!", and rushed out towards the weakened Demon King, with his fellow comrades tailing behind him.
Of course it wouldn't be quite that easy to charge through behind Kiramada's back, as his minions were quick to halt them in their tracks with a barrage of flaming arrows. However, humanity itself would not allow this chance to go to waste; as the soldiers on the other side finally stopped observing from the sidelines, and commenced their assault once more.
Danik and Strom casted out some of their binding spells to hold down the Demon Lord in his place. But unfortunately, he was able to shake it off with ease. It was then that Eliot charged at him with his trusty sword in-hand, and struck at his knees. But unfortunately yet again, it seemed to do nothing as Eliot's blade broke into pieces once it came into contact with Kiramada's knees. The Demon Lord promptly wiped off the broken blade around his knee and proceeded to laugh it off like a deranged lunatic.
He savagely swatted off Eliot like a fly, sending him back tumbling and rolling. Helene then unleashed a massive flame spell in retaliation against Kiramada, and along with some of the royal guards they had made a sizable barrier, enclosing the flame around the massive monster, and turning it into a rather unpleasant flaming tornado.
It seemed to have been working as they listened to the Demon King's cries of pain and anguish, but shortly afterwards he swiftly broke through the barrier with a mere several severe burnt marks etched across his bricked-up body, standing proud and cynical. He suddenly lunged directly at Helene with his claws out. It was way too fast for her to react in time, so she couldn't even get out of the way as The Demon Lord swung his arm.
All that could be heard was Helene crying for help, yelling out in pure fear. All she saw afterwards was a decapitated hand floating above the ground in front of her. It was then that King Trevor soon landed down in front of Helene, immediately picking up the dismembered limb. she stood up. King Trevor was standing in front of her. He had been able to sever Kiramada's left hand clean off as a result of their distraction.
The Human Leader turned around towards Helene with a reassuring look on her face. She could tell that his eyes were chock-full with a mix of expressive kindness in regards to her, whilst keeping his fiery resolve in the heat of battle intact.
Eris, meanwhile, had been anxiously standing nearby, her legs quaking as though she were freezing, the young adventurer's mind urging her to run away from where she was at. here. But she quietly argued to herself that if she were to try escaping from there, it would only result in a more gruesome death on her behalf. As she steadied herself back into a proper position, she clasped onto the dagger in her hand, which had been covered in dust due to the ambush she was involved in earlier.
It had a gold platting swirling around its encompassed base, mixed in with a strange silver pattern, and forming some sort of tree at the bottom. This design held a minor, yet noteworthy significance to her, as though whenever she would glance at its design, it would remind her of what she was fighting for; her friends, her family, and the love that she felt for her fellow companion, Eliot. Soon enough, she had been able to charge up her small blade with a hefty amount of magical energy imbued into it. She then took up the courage to charge into the fight, and directly went ahead to attack the Demon King as he was recovering. Sadly for her, though, he had seen it coming beforehand, and was able to swiftly clench onto her small body with his other massive hand.
"Little girl, haven't your parents ever taught you to refrain from getting into the business of others?", he remarked quite menacingly. In response to this, Eris tried using her dagger to stab him in the arm, but all it could ever do was only scratch him. Kiramada laughed once more, squeezing her down in an attempt to crush her entire body.
Eris frantically looked around to find anything that could help her in this dire situation. That is, until she spotted a nifty little knife radiating a certain divine energy below her. And soon enough, she lifted the knife off of the ground using her nimble feet, catching it with her open hand and swiftly using it to stab him enough, it was just a minor stab, not even deep enough, yet the demon lord released her from his grasp. He held up his throbbing hand as a sign that he was suffering an actual great pain, both on his remaining arm and on the rest of his body. The small stab had caused him to discharge a size-able amount of smoke right through his burning skin.
King Trevor then used this opportunity to quickly stab Kiramada through the throat, pushing his sword deeper and deeper into him until he could reach his internal guts. All the while Eris and Helene began running away.
"Tell all of your friends to run!", he yelled out towards the fleeing duo. And soon enough, all of the soldiers in the area had begun sprinting away from the scene. All that remained was the Human King, the rest of the Demon Lord's army, and Kiramada's own restless body. He soon jumped back up from the ground, forcing Trevor to pull away with his blood-stained sword in hand.
Just as the Demon King tried recuperating after having been fatally wounded in the gut, a sudden massive explosion went off behind him.
Massive shockwaves could be felt throughout the battlefield; multiple beams of light having been shot out and landing dead-center onto Kiramada's vulnerable backside, finishing off what remained of his strength and endurance.
Smoke could be seen coming out of the small canons that the humans had used a few moments ago. "We have hit the target, I repeat, we have hit the target.", Gust proclaimed aloud with a confident, yet sombre tone. As the Demon Lord fell down to the ground once more, he took in to the fact that the threat that was Lord Kiramada had once and for all been ultimately eliminated, killing off their most dreadful adversary after a long, hardening battle.
At the same time, meanwhile, all of the gods and goddesses that had been viewing them in the Divine Realm had started to cheer and hug one another, so much so to the point that the Holy Trinity had to inevitably stand up and gesture for everyone to calm themselves down.
"As we can all clearly see, humanity has once again prevailed against all the odds stacked up against them. The Demon King's rule, as well as his own self, has finally come to an end. After a long, drawn out battle that left a hefty amount of soldiers from both sides dead, he has finally been put to rest and slain. I know many of us had our own doubts as to whether or not these humans could even pull through and survive in the end, but time and again now they've shown us their true strength, as well as the real reason for their existence in the first place. Today, we have seen not only their bravery in the face of extreme difficulty, but additionally their willingness to push on despite these hitches. It goes to show how important strategy and luck is to any hardships we may face in the current present, as well as in the near future."
"Perhaps it's time. We have decided to grant one of these mortals the honor of becoming our new Goddess of Luck, to remind themselves about the importance of divine fortune in their lives."
"So, who will it be? Who here should take up the mantle of finding and recruiting our new Fortune Goddess?", Ishtar asked.
To which everyone in the room eagerly raised their hand up.
"But it has to be a mortal human being, alright?", to which all of the deities in the room started arguing around and fussing about who they should choose to take the place of the Luck Goddess.
Ishtar slowly scanned the room with exasperation, only to find that the only person who remained joyful with excitement there was a certain blue-haired Goddess with a half-eaten red apple in her hand.
"Ah! The Goddess of Water herself, Aqua. Perhaps you will be the perfect one to pick out our new Goddess. This task requires someone with an excellent judgement of character, and I trust that you will take your time with it and end this discussion with a worthy candidate in mind.", Ishtar gleefully asked with a smile plastered onto her face.
Aqua stood there confused for a moment and answered. "Well, I had only seen this battle right as it was getting more intense, so I don't really have that many humans to choose from. But I assure you, Lady Ishtar, that I won't fail to complete this task as best as I can. This time, I will prove my worth as a Goddess here and make you proud."
"Your earnest enthusiasm is surely admirable, Lady Aqua. You can go right ahead and sort out who you want to pick. But remember, this decision has a chance of bringing in some changes as to how we operate as divine beings. May you take this decision with the finest of your wisdom and judgement.", Lady Ishtar, as well as the holy Trinity, gave their Blessing to her with an inclined nod given to Aqua as a response.
Aqua rushed out towards her sacred headquarters, preparing to use a portal to jump down into the mortal realm. All the while she could only hear the echoes of her peers snickering and criticizing the Water Goddess for her lack of intelligence.
"Well, I do still need to get that knife back. But then after that I'll show those harlots how much of a non-dumbo I am! I, the Goddess of Water, am already beautiful the way I am, and now I must prove myself to be smart during times like these; to establish my rank in the Divine Realm, and to earn the Holy Trinity's respect. Maybe I'll even get a promotion on the side!Hehe!'These were the only things going through her mind as she hastily drew up the teleportation run, and ascended upwards into another world.
All that remained now was King Trevor standing firmly on top of Lord Kiramada's corpse, having successfully put him to rest after all was said and done. Multiple demon troops had either been captured or fled the scene altogether, a sign that meant that the demon army had already begun to collapse.
King Trevor, along with all of the other stealth team members, collapsed onto the ground out of pure exhaustion. The adrenaline they had previously felt eventually subsided, giving them time to take in all the pain that had started to set in. During which, Eris and her group were trying their best to help stop the bleeding coming from their injured limbs. They smoothly bandaged their arms and legs with a cloth, and tied them all together in a knot.
Once they all looked towards each other, all they could feel in that moment were tears of joy reflecting through their eyes. Barley was the first to eagerly stand back up and start hugging his fellow comrades. The others followed suit, beginning with Eliot helping to pull King Trevor back up onto to his feet. Despite the condition he was currently left in, the only concern left on Trevor's mind were those pertaining to the well-being of the adventurers who'd helped him in his time of need.
"Are you all alive and well?"
"We're all fine, your highness. We appreciate you for your concern.", the Human King smiled as Eliot walked off to rejoice with the rest of his party; all of which were ready to depart once the support carriages had arrived.
Unexpectedly out of the blue, a female figure had suddenly appeared right out of a portal nearby in the sky. Slowly but elegantly, she smoothly made a soft landing. Within seconds of arriving, she immediately started walking towards the group whilst holding on to not only a pink hagoromo she wore around her body with one hand, but also holding on to a divine, glamorous staff with her other hand. As her silky, sky-blue hair fluttered around in the air, she carefully trudged across the smudged landscape.
Concurrently at the same time, even the toughest of guys standing there were shocked by her beauty. In their eyes, she looked to be quite a regal figure of elegance.
Eventually once the Human King caught a glimpse at her with his own eyes, he proceeded to move forward, bend down onto his knees, and gently put down his sword as a show of gratitude and respect. "My, what a wonderful day. The Gods have finally graced us with their presence."
The Goddess of Water herself, Aqua, came across the area in which Kiramada's severed arm remained lingering on the ground. There she spotted a wounded soldier desperately trying to re-adjust his disfigured hand. She steadily went ahead and gently took in his impaired limb, softly lifting him back up to his feet in the process.
"O' brave and noble hero, you have fought valiantly with honor to aid in helping to defeat the Demon Lord, your courageous deeds having helped end his tyranny. I, the Goddess of Water Aqua, shall gift you with long-lasting blessings as a reward for your actions."
A faint, visible yellow light materialized on the soldier's arm, healing not only his injured hand, but also the rest of his aching body. It was as if he had been purified of all agony throughout his physique.
This show of power caused everyone around her to bow down to her knees as if it were an involuntary action.
Aqua then moved forward, standing firmly on top of the terrain around her. "Okay, I'll try to be as straightforward as I can with all of you. My fellow peers and I had been observing everything that's happened down here from start to finish, and we're proud of what you all have managed to achieve here. Therefore, we've decided to pick one of you here to become our new Goddess of Luck. So uh… is anyone here worthy enough to take this chance?"
What she had expected to see was a wave of curious expressions, followed by a lengthy silence. Instead, all she could ever see were numerous confused looks directed towards her, flattening her conviction and ruining her spiritual aura in a matter of seconds.
During which Helene had quickly begun whispering into Eliot's ear. "Hey, are you sure she's even a Goddess or not? It doesn't really seem like she's very God-like to me, at least."
To which Eliot had promptly shushed her in response. "Hey, don't say it like that, she may as well be talking that way because she wants us to understand her better."
Aqua then proceeded to cough in a rather awkward manner, swiftly clearing up her throat as a means to drown out the sound of their whispers. As she was about to speak once more, she noticed something that caught her perky little eye: a young girl standing there amongst everyone in the crowd, clasping on to the knife she'd dropped prior. Upon seeing this, a couple extra gears had started working like clockwork inside her head, giving her the chance to come up with a competent enough plan in mind.
"She looks quite young despite her frail appearance. In fact, I do remember seeing her pick up my knife during that battle just now. She used it to help save herself from that monster's clutches, as well as helping to injure him enough so that Trevor could finish the job afterwards. She's certainly one lucky gal, that's for sure. Hmm… maybes he could be the perfect choice for our new Luck Goddess. Hahh… okay then. Remember, Aqua: presentation is impression."
"Uhmm… you know what, I was only just joking here with you guys. The truth is, we've already decided upon who to choose for our new Luck Goddess. Hey you! The girl over there with the silver hair and the knife! Indeed,You Have been chosen to become the Goddess of Luck." She pointed her finger straight towards Eris.
To which everyone there, including her own comrades, became dumbfounded in response to this revelation. "S-Surely you must be mistaken. Eris here she is just a normal kid like us, looking nowhere near the age of 20. I mean, she can sort of handle high-level monsters on her own, but it's quite a leap to assume she'd be worthy enough to become a high and mighty Goddess and rule over an entire land.", Helene remarked, interceding herself into the conversation with a worried tone. Eliot then immediately began rubbing her shoulders as a means to get her to calm down.
"Are you sure you're not mistaken, Miss Blue-Haired Goddess? You might be referring to someone else who just looks like her."
Aqua seemed to have been irritated at the name she'd been embarrassingly given, so much so that felt like she should just outright correct the young boy's remark on her. "The name is Aqua, by the way. Y'know, the Goddess of both LifeANDWater.", She calmly declared whilst trying to maintain her composure.
"I'm sorry to interrupt like this, but maybe I could alternatively volunteer to become a deity in this girl's place, o' gracious one. She is so young and yet to enjoy life. I'm on the other hand, huh I think am relieved of my kingly duty. Sure the other Gods will come to understand the change in plans.", King Trevor briefly spoke out.
"Your kindness is truly admirable, Sir Trevor, but the decision has already been set in stone; this girl here will ascend to the role of a Goddess. The Holy Trinity themselves have chosen her with the utmost of wisdom behind their selection. It's quite derogatory to assume that their premonition could in any way be wrong. Indeed, humanity will still need strong leaders to guide them.", Aqua disclosed aloud. It had been sort of hard to keep up the wise and mighty act on her part.
Ultimately it lead to Eris stepping forward to speak her own mind. "So if I were to take this offer of yours, it would mean leaving behind all the people I care about here? What might happen if I were to decline your offer?"
"Well, if the Gods have decided upon choosing someone as a new Goddess, then if said someone were to decline upon asking, we would have to wait for a while until we could appoint for another person to become the same Goddess later on. I'm personally not in any position to change their minds; if anything I'm just the messenger here. Only the Great Goddess Ishtar up there knows about this kind of stuff. It's up to her to convince the higher-ups into reconsidering their decisions. If anything, they wouldn't have even settled upon choosing a Goddess for luck if they didn't think it was needed in the first place. Needless to say, you have a chance at not only becoming one of the few mortals down here to have been granted the status of a divine Goddess, but to also become our one and only Goddess of Luck. All in all, the choice is yours to make, young Eris."
The adolescent girl took a hard look around her surroundings, taking in the aftermath of the massive battle that had taken place, and understanding first-hand the spoils that war can bring. Her eyes gaped at the sight of countless dead soldiers from both the human and demon side of the conflict, as well as noticing the barren and destroyed land beneath her.
'If this be my destiny, then so be it. I swear on my life that I'll find a way to save as many people as I can; I'll try my best to prevent things like this from happening again. So in that case-'
"I've made up my mind now, Lady Aqua. I will come with you and accept my new role as a divine being.", Eris proclaimed with sheer determination in her eyes.
Her party members, particularly Storm, Danik, and Nisha toppled over her in an attempt to hug her frightened body. "*Sniff, if that's what you want, Eris, then we'll support you all the way.", Nisha whimpered as Helene and Eliot just stood by, looking on with sorrow in their hearts.
"Young Eris, if there are any last words you wish to say to your close ones, now's the time to tell them. Meanwhile I'm just gonna… y'know, start the return spell.", Aqua said, notifying Eris of her current predicament.
Eris went ahead and softly returned her friends's shared hug. "I can't really think of much on my mind right now, but I just wanna say that you all mean the world to me, like an entirely different family than the one I'm used to. I don't know if what I'm doing will help people or not, but I'll try as hard as I can to make others happy in the same I was when I started adventuring with you all. *Sniff* I'm so sorry for all that I've d-done wrong, and I hope you'll all forgive me for my shortcomings one day. Leaving you guys bring me nothing but p-pain and sadness, of course, but I hope you guys will understand why I'm doing this in the first place."
Helene came forward and rubbed her hand onto one of Eris's cheeks. "Eris dear, you've always been nothing short of kind and caring, making sure everyone felt happy with the way they were in life. I believe you'll do great and make all the right choices once you become a literal Goddess. Although, it does still hurt a little to see you go.", to which everyone agreed.
"By the way, Eris, I think it's about time you tell Eliot the truth, then.", Helene slyly nudged at Eris's shoulder, the girl having confusion written all over her face initially, until finally understanding the implication behind her friends's statement. She then began blushing a bright shade of red and turned her mind upside down with a barrage of spiraling thoughts going through her head.
"Mm-hm. Y-Yes, Helene, I do think it's time. It's time for us to reveal that YOU have been secretly in love with Eliot all this time! You even fantasized about wanting to start a family with him at one point!", Eris smugly turned around, shooting a grin right back at her friends's. surprised face.
"W-W-What!?", Helene had never been this flabbergasted in her life. "N-No... that's not what I me*hic*nt.", She hiccupped whilst defending herself.
"So you're saying that you don't love him at all?", Eris retorted aggressively.
"I… I guess I do, but that's not what I was talking about at first!", Helene tried desperately to prove her own innocence, but ended up verbally speaking a confused truth. It was only when she stared into her friend's consoling eyes that she caught on to what she was trying to do. Indeed, this was Eris's last wish. Eris without even saying a word said thousand things.
"It appears that Helene won after all this time.", Nisha thought to herself, whilst Danik and Storm were busy congratulating their friend for coming out with a confession.
Everyone then turned towards Eliot in anticipation for his response. He could sense an immense amount of expectation pouring out from his comrades's facial expressions. Even the king himself got in on the drama. "Wait are you waiting for, young lad? She seems like quite the fine and strong woman. If anything, I would personally oblige in your position."
"Well, the Demon King has just been defeated at last, after all. And Helene, I do have to admit that you yourself look quite beautiful, in my opinion. Add to the fact that I've been thinking about retiring from this whole adventuring thing for a while now; which means yes, I would love to spend my entire life with you, Helene.", Eliot declared, trying his best to sound remotely romantic at all.
Subsequently afterwards an entire crowd of people watching them from afar had decided to suddenly burst out into an eruption of joy, their glee having only been intensified once Eliot picked up his new girlfriend into his arms in an attempt to stir up a certain emotion from both Helene and the audience.
All the while Helene could only process her initial shock from his response, as well as having realized that she has to live with the real truth behind the situation for the rest of her life. She was happy to see that Eliot had finally accepted her love for him, but at the same time felt a lingering sadness knowing that Eris sacrificed her chance at happiness for her.
"Well, If it's a yes then… I too do openly admit that I've always dreamed about being together with you.", Helene boldly proclaimed, reaching out to his hand as a way to put a strong front in the face of all the spectators around her area.
"Then I'll have to make sure that the two of you's wedding will take place within the capital city, with all the royals there treating you all to a fancy ceremony! After all, each and every one of you here helped in bringing down Kiramada and his army, which reasonably makes you all heroes by default. Consider it as a token of my gratitude.", Trevor solemnly offered.
"Hey, no fair! I wanted to get married in the grand hall too, y'know?" Nisha whined whilst stomping her foot in exasperation.
"I think there'd be better suitors waiting for you in the ogres's den.", Storm and Danik snickered at the cynical response made by the former.
In which shortly afterwards the two of them began running away in a goose chase manner to avoid the wrath of the enraged Nisha.
Concurrently the humans nearby could only survey the outright lunacy of the events unfolding in front of them.
As they all finished saying their goodbyes, Aqua took it as an opportunity to intrude at the last minute. "Young Eris, it's about time now. We have to leave."
"Hahhh, yes, I'm ready now." Eris followed in the Water Goddess's footsteps, placing herself on top of the return portal rune as it was being enchanted by some sort of spell to help bridge their departure. Soon enough, a portal had spawned in from the sky above.
Once they had started levitating, Eris, in her afloat state, waved farewell to all of her friends as they watched her slowly ascend up into the heavens. They all started shouting, cheering and wishing the best for Eris in her new life.
"Helene! Eliot! Don't worry! I'll make sure to extend my blessings on to your guys's marriage and soon to be child! I'll try my best to be there for… umm…"
"Pardon my curiosity, Lady Aqua, but once I turn into a Goddess will I be granted permission to attend their wedding any time soon?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're allowed to. Just don't make it a habit of staying down here for way longer than you need to, okay?" Aqua answered to her politely.
"Hey, what about us?!" Danik, Nisha and Storm screamed out loud in unison.
"Hehhhh… don't worry, friends, I'll come crashing down here from the heavens whether you invite me or not.", Eris giggled to himself in amusement as continued to ascend upwards.
This was it. She was leaving behind the love of her life, and bidding farewell to her normal life as a mortal human being. Eris could only glance down with a hint of intense tears dripping below her face. She then wiped it off, content with just the sheer gratitude of having lived the life that she had in the first place. All the while a certain dark-haired boy could only think to himself as he held on to his significant other.
"If this is what you want for us, Eris, then I too will try my best to make sure this girl lives the happiest life that she can in Belzerg. God, I didn't even know that youharbored such feelings for me in the first place. But in the end, I guess I'll have to respect this decision of yours. To sacrifice something you truly kept holding dear to your heart, and to give it away to someone who's been pursuing it as much as you have; my, you truly are an amazing girl at heart, Eris', Eliot tearfully looked on, attempting to wipe away the visible tears in his eyes.
"Maybe I shouldn't have listened in on the two of you talking on the balcony the other night.", Eliot accidentally let out as an intrusive thought.
"What did you just say?", Helene glanced towards Eliots's panicked expression with confusion.
"Nothing!", he swiftly replied.
"Hahhh… oh Helene, you too have become such a strong person for everyone's sake; and for that I shall humbly repay you by loving every ounce of you for the rest of my life. And Eris, please promise that you'll watch over us as we grow older together, okay?', simultaneously Eris was also busy thinking to herself as she eventually disappeared from her everyone's field of vision.
"I know this isn't how I would've wanted my life to go, but seeing you two get together at last leaves me with such content that I feel like I can die peacefully now. Forgive me for lying like this in the end, but hopefully the life you two will live might make up for it later on."', she sighed to herself as the portal finally closed, clouding her vision with white as a way to signify the end of her mortal existence.
The rest of the soldiers had finally arrived onto the scene, with Gust leading them in to survey the area. He was relieved to find his King still alive, and got down to playing slap him on the shoulder. "I see that you're still alive, your majesty!", he lightly joked as he pulled Trevor into a sweet and innocent manly hug.
"Indeed I am, Gust; all thanks to the delightful grace of the Gods.", he explained briskly, earning a befuddled look from his trusty soldier. He breathed deeply, preparing himself to further elaborate on what he had been going on about.
"Believe me for when I say this to you: the Gods have truly given us a blessing on to this wonderful world."