Proofreader: Xemul
At that time, Lapis was perched on a branch in a grove of trees, looking around the forest that had become the battlefield.
As a priest by profession, participating in the battle in a forest at night, where it was difficult for humans to have a clear view was not a choice for her. Of course, she had the confidence and ability to slaughter enemy soldiers better than anyone else in the forest, but if she did, she would be looked upon with suspicion even if she called herself a priest.
Priests were not the type who go into battles in the first place, and even if they did, they would rarely be on the front lines.
“In this situation, an ordinary priest wouldn’t be able to protect themselves.”
The most obvious choice would be to flee if you couldn’t fight, but Lapis couldn’t run away while Loren was staying here, so she thought it would be safer to temporarily avoid danger and move to a place where no one would be chasing her.
However, from the way she climbed up the trunk of the tree as if she were running up it, and how she chose to sit on a branch that was long and thin, it was clear that her body movements were too well-trained for a priest. Fortunately, there would be no one to find faults with her actions in this darkness, and even if there was, she would have insisted that she was very light.
It was precisely because Lapis was looking down on the battlefield from above that she was able to quickly notice the change in the atmosphere. But by the time Lapis became aware of the alarm bells ringing in her head, some kind of presence had surged forth from a corner of the forest, and she judged that there was little time left before it triggered some kind of fatal phenomenon.
“Loren! Just a minute please!”
Lapis knew exactly where Loren was. That was why she immediately jumped down from the branch on which she was sitting to Loren’s side, and before he could say anything, she placed her hands on his shoulder and pulled him down to the ground at once.
Loren was startled by Lapis’ hand on his shoulder and the pressure he felt from it, but he didn’t complain when he realized that there must be something going on, given the strange atmosphere he had been feeling and Lapis’ behaviour. He grabbed Gula, who was nearby, by the shoulders and pulled her down to the ground as well.
“What da hell?!”
Gula, perhaps not noticing anything, shouted a protest at Loren’s sudden action. But in that moment, their field of vision suddenly changed from darkness to a deep crimson.
“Hold your breath!”
An unfamiliar tone from a familiar voice. Loren closed his eyes and held his breath, wondering what had made even Lapis feel that her life was threatened.
With Lapis and Gula seemingly covering him with their bodies, Loren still felt the heat on his skin as if the air around him was on fire, and he was caught in the thought that he might die.
If that much heat was in the air, Loren, a human, would not be able to stand it. If one’s throat or chest burned, it was inevitable that one would die in agony.
However, the heat that burned his skin quickly receded.
When he opened his eyes, he could see Lapis and Gula covering him, but the scene beyond was still the same: a world where everything was dyed a deep crimson.
Loren did not know whether to be thankful or surprised that he was not yet dead in a place where no human being could possibly survive, but what caught his attention more than anything else was the way Lapis and Gula were looking in the same direction, their eyes grim.
One must breathe to speak. Breathing could have been a fatal act in a place where everything was dyed red by what was probably a blaze, but he somehow had a feeling that it would be safe. And he would not be able to hold his breath forever anyway. With such thoughts in mind, Loren spoke.
“What the hell just happened?”
Lapis, with her gaze still fixed somewhere, replied in a voice that sounded as if it were squeezed out of her mouth.
“I think something… extraordinary has arrived.”
Her tone of voice had returned to normal. Gula continued.
“I’d like to know why you are here.”
Gula’s tone was stern.
Loren was thinking that something that dangerous must be just in front of them when he suddenly noticed that Luxeria was not around.
The chance that Luxuria was dead was extremely unlikely, but that didn’t mean he could remain unscathed in a situation where Lapis and Gula couldn’t afford to let their guards down. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Evil God defied his expectation and was completely fine though.
Just then, he heard the voice of a girl that seemed to be in her teens.
“What for? Do I have to answer that? Gula, as usual, you are a very annoying person. And why aren’t you on fire?”
Loren tried to raise himself up from the position he had been dragged down to, thinking that although the voice was that of a girl, the way she spoke was somewhat like a man’s.
“Please don’t get up. It happened in an instant, so the barrier I set up wasn’t too big.”
Lapis, noticing Loren’s attempt to raise his body, warned him.
Loren nodded and gently pushed Lapis and Gula, who were still on top of him, out of the way as he half-righted himself, and then he saw what was on the other side of the red-tinted space.
It was a girl, just as he had sensed from the voice.
She had golden hair that reached down to her shoulders and a slender body. She was wearing a knee-length brown plaid skirt and a dark blue vest over a white shirt. Over this was a frilly crimson cloak with a large brooch that fastened above her chest, giving her the appearance of a girl for whom the word ‘lovely’ was apt. However, the arrogant smile on her face was far from lovely, and the look she gave Loren and the others was not the look one would give to a living creature.
“Gula, do you know her?”
“I thought you would guess it somehow, Lapis-chan. I do know her.”
Gula answered Lapis’ question without taking her eyes off the girl.
“She is the Evil God of Wrath, Rage Satania. She’s just a little kid, but she has a lot of offensive power, and is one of the top Evil Gods. As for the reason why she attacked us out of the blue…”
As he listened to Gula’s explanation, Loren’s gaze swept around his surroundings.
Loren did not know the reason behind this situation, but the area around them was still covered in crimson flames. The trees that formed the forest were in the midst of being consumed by the heat of the flames.
Naturally, both the Kingdom and Empire armies that had been fighting among the trees were engulfed in the flames, and here and there, black chunks of what might have been human bodies could be seen falling to the ground through the flames.
“You didn’t join the Kingdom, did you?”
“What if I say yes?”
The girl bent down a bit to look down at Loren and the others with her arms folded in over her chest. Despite being amidst the flames, her clothing, as well as her body and hair, did not appear to be affected by it. This was proof that this girl was the one who caused the current situation, but Loren could not link the disastrous scene around them with the smiling girl.
“Are you an idiot? I don’t know why you joined the Kingdom’s side, but that blow has brought down not only the Empire’s soldiers but also the Kingdom’s as well.”
Loren looked around, horrified by Gula’s remark. He tried to ascertain how much damage the girl’s blow had caused, but the surrounding trees had all but disappeared, and it could be seen that a considerable area had been burned down in an instant. It was understandable to assume that the Kingdom’s soldiers would have been caught up in the same way as the forest was engulfed in flames, unless there was something that could have carried all of them away at once.
“She burned her allies down?”
“Allies? Where are they?”
To the mutter that Loren had let slip, Rage said in a tone that sounded like she truly wondered about it. As Loren became speechless, Rage continued from above him as if he was a fool.
“My Grandeur is the only one on my side. The Kingdom’s army is just a tool for me to accomplish my goals, and if they prove to be a nuisance, what’s wrong with burning them down?”
“Well, we are called Evil Gods, so we can let that slide. But why are you on the Kingdom’s side? According to the information we have, the one on your side seems to be a survivor of that country that made us what we are. Do you know that?!”
“Oh, yes, that. That’s what he called himself, so I’m sure it’s true.”
Rage casually acknowledged Gula’s words.
Gula’s eyes widened, and she was at a loss for words at Rage’s response, but the other girl found her reaction funny somehow and burst out into a throaty laugh.
“I’m not interested in whether that black guy is a survivor of that country or not.”
“What?!”
“I’m only interested in living a fun life, and I’m cooperating with that black guy because he offers me that.”
Loren, thinking that despite her appearance, she had quite a good personality, spoke to Shayna, who was probably watching the situation from inside his body, while keeping his body half-raised. The space outside of the barrier that Lapis had quickly put up was still dyed red, and it was not a situation where one could just rush out without any countermeasures.
[‘Is there anything you can do?’]
[‘Not that there is none, but… I don’t think it will hold her for long. I feel a bit uneasy dealing with that Evil God.’]
Despite Shayna’s hesitant statement, Loren, without much thought, asked her to play a card she had. Whether they could rely on that move was still a question, but even if they couldn’t, it would still be much better than being left with nothing to do.
[‘Whether the flames are physical or magical, they should be able to diminish somewhat with Energy Drain, and if you protect your body with defensive magic…’]
[‘That’s enough. Either way, we can’t even get out of here without doing something about that girl.’]
[‘Even so, it won’t last very long, because that Evil God’s power won’t disappear.’]
[‘If we can get her attention, Lapis or Gula will take care of the rest. Probably.’]
Loren thought that this approach relied too much on others to work, but he had no other ideas about how to break through the current situation. They couldn’t run if there was no way to run, so there was no other choice.
Loren hoped that Lapis or Gula would make some kind of move, but in the meantime, it was his job to buy some time. He listened to the ongoing conversation between Gula and Rage while putting strength into the hand that held the greatsword, waiting for the right moment to stand up.