Sung-Woon=Lakrak aimed at Lunda=Yubei with his spear.
“…What the!”
Lunda belatedly noticed his sudden appearance.
She quickly tried to avoid the spear, but Sung-Woon=Lakrak was quicker. From the air, he threw the spear with such force that it split the air with a swoosh.
Lunda=Yubei jumped up to avoid the spear, but it still grazed past her left shoulder. While a body inhabited by god would be stronger than steel, it wasn’t quite as invincible when facing an opponent with equal or even greater strength.
“Aaak!”
Lunda=Yubei rolled on the ground screaming in pain as blood gushed out of her shoulder.
-Master!
The brown rat, Neji, lunged at Sung-Woon=Lakrak just as he landed on the ground. However, Sratis grabbed onto a part of Neji’s flesh and lifted it into the air before throwing it down. A roar rang far and booming, loud enough that the retreating Renard and the advancing Lizardmen could hear it. The big Weasels and Cockatoos howled and cawed in reaction to the vibrations rushing through the ground.
‘We should kill the creation first,’?Sung-Woon thought. ‘Pzzt, I’ll lend you my power.’
-Just give me the word.
Pzzt rose from behind Sung-Woon=Lakrak. Spirits with Demonic Magic transferred to them from gods could give their powers to other beings, but there was something else they could do. If gods lent their Faith points to the spirits, the spirits could use the resources to wield the powers of god.
Sung-Woon=Lakrak pointed at Neji, who had gotten thrown onto the ground.
‘Burn it.’
-As you wish.
Immediately, lightning struck through the air.
Boom!
The electric current brought heat, and a hot wind swept through the wilderness. Neji’s side was burnt black from the lightning, and it drooled involuntarily, but still managed to raise itself back up. One strike of lightning bolt wasn’t enough to stop a god’s creation.
-E…even though you’re a god, this won’t stop m…
“Hmph.”
The next moment, another crack of lightning split the sky and branched off, striking the top of Neji’s head.
“Neji!”
Urrggg!
The brown rat lit up like a ball of light for a moment before collapsing. Once the light died down, all that was left was a lump of charcoal.
“You damn…”
Lunda=Yubei was about to swear, but the words got stuck in her throat. The lightning that had struck Neji struck again. Fortunately, a body inhabited by god was not only quick, but also had the keen senses of said god. Lunda=Yubei ran through the wilderness in a zigzag pattern to avoid the lightning, and the lightning always missed her by a step.
Lunda thought to herself, ‘…Okay. I should disengage Divine Control.’
She deactivated Divine Control. However, there was always a delay when engaging and disengaging the skill.
A system message appeared.
[Divine Control will be disengaged in 10 seconds.]
It was a choice that Lunda had to make. She would receive an additional penalty if she died while using Divine Control. And unfortunately, there was no other way to save Yubei.
‘Did my level already drop by one because Neji died?…But as long as I don’t die while using Divine Control, my level shouldn’t drop again.’
[Divine Control will be disengaged in 9 seconds.]
Lunda was called the Fruition God by her species. The first Small Area she obtained was Small Area: Fruit.
Lunda=Yubei scanned the bushes and found a fruit that hadn’t been there before. It was red, glossy, and appetizing-looking, and she put it into her mouth. Once she bit into it, Lunda=Yubei’s wound healed.
‘Good, just seven more seconds and… Huh?’
Lunda had been watching as Sratis and Sung-Woon=Lakrak came up to her, but then her view was suddenly blocked by a black wall, leaving her disoriented. Her vision was still obscured even when she looked in another direction, and soon enough, the wall reached up to cover the entire sky, and it was making noises.
‘…Insects!’
The wall that covered the sky was a swarm of beetles. It had approached and surrounded Lunda=Yubei in an instant. Lunda=Yubei struck them with her fist and sword before stepping backward.
[Divine Control will be disengaged in 5 seconds.]
‘These beetles aren’t meant to attack me. They’re used to block my view. I’ll die if I stay like this!’
Fortunately, Lunda=Yubei managed to catch Sratis’s shadow through the countless beetles. Sratis moved its gigantic body and was swinging its sickles-like front legs down at Lunda=Yubei.
[Divine Control will be disengaged in 3 seconds.]
‘If only I can avoid that attack…!’
Lunda=Yubei kicked the ground as hard as she could. Yubei’s body flew in the opposite direction of Sratis, but didn’t make it out of the shadow of the beetles as she thought she would.
“Here you were.”
Sung-Woon=Lakrak grabbed Lunda=Yubei by her throat.
[Divine Control will be disengaged in 1 second.]
“…Ah.”
Sung-Woon=Lakrak tightened his grip.
Crunch!
Yubei’s head rolled onto the ground.
***
Sung-Woon had summoned Sratis, took over Lakrak through Divine Control, used the spirit of Demonic Magic to make lightning strike like rain, and also summoned a large swarm of beetles. It would seem like he had used too many Faith points for one battle, but the benefits he got were unquestionable.
After Divine Control was disengaged, Lakrak got onto his Cockatice, which had followed him here, and led the Lizardmen cavalry to attack the Renards from the rear.
Hati, the king of the Renards, made the best choice available even though he knew his god had been defeated. It was to leave the least amount of his troop members behind to stop the enemy and allow the rest to run away. The ones Hati had chosen to abandon were the infantry soldiers who had lost the ability to fight properly due to stomach ache. And after that, whenever he saw a terrain that would be advantageous for them in battle, he would leave behind more troops and continue to run away.
In a single day, the Renard army of 1,100 soldiers had been reduced to 200 without putting on a proper resistance. Excluding the cavalry, they had lost the majority of their warriors.
On the other hand, Lakrak’s army fought only the stragglers and suffered almost no casualties.
The 200 Renard soldiers barely managed to go into hiding in their hometown for a guerilla war.
***
Lunda checked her level. It’d gone down.
[Divinity Level: 5]
‘I can’t believe it fell from 9 to 5.’
Lunda had thought it would at most fall to 7, and she was devastated when she saw her current level.
Then Crampus called out to her through the video chat.
“Lunda? Are you listening?”
“What? Oh, yes.” .
“What is your level right now?”
“…Level 7. It didn’t fall as much as I expected…”
When Lunda was about to come up with more lies, Crampus said, “Oh no, that’s a big drop.”
“…R..right?”
“Managing internal affairs will be difficult with that amount of Faith points.”
“No… It’s good enough,” Lunda replied while hoping that her true feelings weren’t showing.
Generally, when the Divinity Level was high, Faith points would be continuously consumed in order to maintain Miracles or creations. Lunda knew that as her level went down, all of the Renards’ orchards she had made through Miracles to bear fruit that year would become ruined. Additionally, the Renards would lose the profits that would be made from the harvest, and they would starve and lose faith in their god.
Yubei, who was the Renard priest, had also died. Young Yubei was supposed to be the next generation leader of the country after the old king, Hati, so it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the internal affairs had already been doomed. In order to turn things around, they had to give up on fighting other countries, and Lunda had to come up with a way to regain Faith points and XP.
‘I can’t ever let this be known to others.’
Not only did she have to keep it a secret to Nebula, she also had to do so with the other three species she was in conflict with, as well as even Crampus. While Crampus was an ally, their alliance could be broken at any time. Crampus could change his tune if he found out that Lunda’s power had become weaker.
To change the topic, Lunda said, “By the way, are the Satyrs on their way to attack?”
“Yes.”
Crampus checked the map and continued to say, “They began to move as soon as they heard the news that the Renards were betrayed, so the day after tomorrow, they should reach the border village. And four days after that, they will reach Automation.”
“There’s no way to get there faster, is there?”
“Hm. Automation would be empty, so we should be able to attack with the cavalry alone. Yes, that would be better actually. I should give Pav a hint. They can switch horses at the border village and deploy 150 cavalry to attack Automation in another day and a half.”
“Sounds good. I only need to distract the Lizardmen for two days and a half then, right?”
“Yes.”
Lunda decided to bet on the Renards’ guerilla warfare. The infantry had been wiped out, but their high-class cavalry remained. And unlike the other cavalry who had to ride along roads, the Renards’ big Weasel cavalry could swiftly move through any terrains without trouble.
As long as the Renards were able to hold the Lizardmen back for the promised period of time, they still stood a chance.
‘By then, I would have gained a little Faith points. If I use Divine Control again with the Faith points I gain, it’ll be more of a fair fight against the Lizardmen army. And Nebula will probably focus more on the fight to protect Automation than the fight against the Renards.’
If the opposite were true, Nebula would have to give up Automation, and Lunda thought the chances of that happening was low.
Even with their god’s support, it would be difficult for the Lizardmen army to counter the guerilla war started by the Renards. On the other hand, Automation’s chance of successfully defending against the invasion would depend on how much Faith points were invested.
‘It’s true that Nebula has used a great amount of Faith points. Still, he’ll have no choice but to focus on one out of the two fights.’
And Lunda hoped for it to be true.
‘I can’t be the only one to be defeated!’
Lunda didn’t have any grudges against Crampus, but if there was a dramatic difference in levels, the relationship between players wouldn’t be equal. Lunda didn’t like that.
Therefore, Lunda lied and downplayed her loss when she told Crampus about it, and she told him that she had another plan because she wasn’t confident in the fight against Nebula. However, Lunda’s hope was soon crushed.
“Huh?”
Lunda asked when Crampus reacted to what he was seeing, “What’s the matter?”
“Weren’t you going to hold them back?”
“What? Yes. That’s right.”
Crampus showed his screen to her in wonder. It was the scene of Pav, king of the Satyrs, being briefed. It was stated that the Lizardmen army was coming towards the Satyrs.
“…Oh.”
Lunda realized the problem. The Lizardmen had fought through the Renards’ battlefront because the Renards had lost too many soldiers. No, the problem started way before that. Due to the false information Eldar had given them, they had run into the Lizardmen army way too soon. As a result, the fight they had thought would take place in Black Scale took place in the Renard territory, and now the Lizardmen were approaching Satyrs’ land.
Crampus said, “…This won’t do. I think they’re heading towards the border village. There isn’t even a proper fortress there, so we won’t be able to block the Lizardmen. Even if it means giving up the border village, I should have the Satyrs turn around and set up camp in the capital.”
It seemed Crampus thought it was a battle worth fighting, but Lunda could predict what would happen at Deimerit, the capital of the Satyrs.
Sratis was a powerful creation. Something like it could serve as a weapon for siege. And once the fort collapsed, the battle would turn into a simple clash of strength.
‘There are only 800 soldiers in the Satyr troop. They would be at a disadvantage even if they had the same numbers as the Lizardmen, but the Lizardmen army has 1,700 soldiers. More than double their number.’
Already having fought Nebula once, Lunda knew Crampus would certainly be defeated.
‘No, this is rather good. This is my chance. I’ll leave him to be defeated.’
It happened earlier than Lunda expected, but she thought it would be a good opportunity to find a new ally.
The Renards had been actively engaging in diplomatic activities.
‘Of course, Wisdom would be good as the next ally. Even though he’s bad tempered, he’s still rational. He’ll at least provide me with protection if I provide him with goods.’
Crampus, who had no way of knowing what Lunda was thinking, said, “Then why don’t I get the support of my ally? Lunda, please lead your troops down here. It’ll be more effective if we attack the Lizardmen from both sides when they start their siege.”
“Oh, what do you think about my troop attacking Automation instead?”
“Isn’t the timing not right for having two battlefronts?”
“…I guess so.”
Lunda rubbed the middle of her brows to stop herself from frowning. It would be suspicious if she didn’t help Crampus right away, but if she did help, she would lose the few soldiers she had left. It would be good if the Renards pretended to go down south and not attack, but divine revelations given to priests had to be consistent.
Lunda was already thinking about betraying Crampus, but there was a problem since the Renards and Satyrs still thought of each other as allies.
‘Damn it, what should I do?’
What Crampus said next only made Lunda more worried.
“But I think the idea isn’t bad. Attacking Automation, I mean. Attacking Automation with smaller numbers is still possible since it would be empty, right? Why don’t you send the cavalry to Automation and support me with your infantry?”
Caught off guard, Lundar made a slip of the tongue.
“I don’t have enough troops for that…”
“What? I thought you said you had 500 soldiers left?”
“…Oh. Right.”
“You said that the enemy has lost 400 and now has around 1,300. Then 300 Renard infantry and 800 of my Satyrs combined would be enough to match the Lizardmen and secure a victory against their siege.”
“…Hm.”
“And you said that you killed Nebula’s creation, so the fortress wall should be safe.”
Without a word, Lunda lowered her head to hide her facial expressions.
‘I lied too much!’
But she still thought this was a relief.
‘I won’t be an ally with Crampus by the time my lies are revealed anyways.’
However, it turned out to be wishful thinking on Lunda’s part again.
Crampus was surprised when he saw a system message.
“Huh?”
“What is it now?” asked Lunda.
“It’s a request for a Whisper Conversation.”
“From who?”
“Nebula.”
.
“Wait, don’t acce…”
Lunda tried to stop Crampus from accepting the request, but she was too late.
Sung-Woon, the player known as Nebula to them, said, “Isn’t it time for you to consider surrendering?”
.