Chapter 215
Chapter 215
Chapter 215
Opening of War (4)
Gabriel, who had been observing the change in Rudian's expression, continued speaking.
—Is it a name you know?
"A little..."
For now, this was the best answer he could give.
Rudian asked Gabriel.
"What did Berus do after bringing Abel?"
—Nothing in particular, really.
An unexpected answer came back.
—Lord Berus merely had him attend the Seven Great Gods' council meeting. He didn't do anything special. Just revealed his name.
"How did the other gods react?"
—Not much? They were certainly quite flustered, but no one would dare say anything about Lord Berus' actions. He is an absolute existence, after all.
"......"
Whatever the case, it seemed certain that Berus was involved in Abel's appearance.
However, Rudian's expression wasn't particularly serious.
'It's too late anyway.'
He had come too far to pass the role of 'saving the world' to Abel.
If Abel wanted to help Rudian, he would gladly welcome it, but if he chose to be hostile, then even if he was the 'protagonist' Abel, he would be nothing more than an enemy that needed to be broken.
"Are there any other unusual matters?"
—This is just my speculation, but...
Gabriel's following words were quite something.
—It seems the goddesses of fate protested to Lord Berus and were confined for it.
"...? Why?"
—I don't know either. I can only speculate based on seeing them convey some will to Lord Berus, and immediately after that, the space they resided in was sealed off.
The three goddesses of fate.
They were essentially treated as equals to the Seven Great Gods, but they fundamentally didn't reside in the Pantheon.
They were beings who dwelt within a secret barrier in the very outskirts of the heavenly realm, agents of causality who were said to be versed in all the secrets of this world.
However, after hearing that they had closed their eyes due to the previous Rudian's existence, they had been beings he didn't pay much attention to, so he hadn't expected to hear news of them in this way.
'Their closing their eyes was equivalent to a declaration of refusal to make prophecies anymore. But in this situation, why would they...?'
There were suspicious points to simply view it as punishment for protest.
"Gabriel, could you open the place where they're confined?"
A reluctant response came back to those words.
—It's not impossible, but it would consume enormous power. As you know, we too are in a position of preparing for 'the task'...
Heaven's Fall.
The archangels' plan to rebel against the heavenly realm.
Naturally, since it could be ruined by a single mistake, it had to be thoroughly equipped with both secrecy and thoroughness.
"You don't need to use the angels' help. I just need to know if it can be opened at my and my companions' level..."
Gabriel frowned and calculated.
—Hmm, it doesn't seem impossible. No matter how much it's Lord Berus' seal, it's not comparable to the one that protected the middle realm.
"Then that's fortunate."
The three goddesses of fate could only read causality and make prophecies, having almost no direct combat power.
But perhaps Rudian had an intuition that they might somehow be helpful to him.
"Let me give you some advice."
—Speak.
"It would be better to advance the plan if possible."
—Why?
"If my prediction is correct, Berus knows about Heaven's Fall."
—...!
Gabriel's expression hardened rapidly.
—That's absolutely not something I can ignore. Tell me your basis for this.
"Basis... I can't tell you the exact reason, but let me say that guy Abel is the basis."
Gabriel glared at Rudian.
But that didn't change anything.
"It would be better not to take my advice lightly."
—...Fine, I'll consult with the archangels.
"I wish you good luck. If you get through this matter safely, I'll provide considerable help too."
Just the angel forces Gabriel had supported already accounted for about 10% of the total forces.
Since the archangels were sharing the burden of the causality of their activities in this world, even though it was a war caused by Gabriel's own fault, the debt couldn't be denied.
—Damn bastard.
Gabriel cut off the communication with those words.
Rudian let out a brief chuckle at his hysterical reaction.
"Well, now I need to handle the urgent matters first."
The fact that Abel was with Berus was already forgotten from his mind.
Now, resolving the disaster right before his eyes was the urgent priority.
***
The continental alliance's strategy for facing the alien forces was simple.
"We'll try to buy time somehow."
Ten lower god entities from the Pantheon would all join forces to buy time against Ktuna.
"So please handle the other twin somehow."
And the five Supreme Demon Kings, along with Rudian and his party members Maria and Rebecca, would team up to gang up on Krakar.
There were quite a few other strong individuals, but this fight was greatly disadvantageous in terms of numbers from the start.
The strong ones facing the multitude had to guard the central axis so they wouldn't collapse and could endure to the end.
"Ugh... I wondered how we'd fight together, but is it still too much?"
Gray sighed with a regretful voice.
"It can't be helped. These things aren't familiar yet..."
Elvin said, looking at the yellow world in his hand.
Rudian had distributed all the seven-colored worlds he possessed to his companions after retrieving even the yellow world.
The yellow world went to Elvin.
The black world went to Evangeline.
The blue world went to Gray.
The green world went to Maria, its original owner.
The red world was already with Rebecca from the beginning, so it was an exception.
Each received a seven-colored world suited to the characteristics of the power they wielded.
After dividing them up like this, naturally, no seven-colored world remained in Rudian's hands.
"Brother, are you sure you'll be okay? No matter what, not having even a single seven-colored world..."
It was Gray, who had been recently training in controlling seven-colored worlds and keenly realizing their absolute power.
But Rudian shook his head.
"I have many other cards to play besides that. And... if possible, I should break the habit of depending on seven-colored worlds."
The forces to face Krakar were more than sufficient anyway.
The god-slaying function was also in Diablo.
Rudian looked around and said.
"Even if they haven't been detected yet, there's no guarantee those guys didn't bring other divinities. Of course, there won't be divinities greater than them, but it's quite possible that subordinate lower gods might appear."
"Hoho, that would be so. Since their rank is comparable to the Seven Great Gods, naturally there would be multiple divinities serving as their hands and feet."
Baal reinforced Rudian's words.
"Even if you're not yet accustomed to combat in space, you should continue practicing handling magic machines during the remaining time. Only then can you provide rapid support if an emergency situation arises."
"Of course."
"Naturally."
Elvin and Luciella, who had been issued magic machines stored in Eldorado, nodded.
The two were in the standby group that wouldn't participate in the first battle.
Among them, Rudian spoke to Luciella with an apologetic tone.
"Luciella."
"Yes."
"First... I'm sorry I couldn't give you a seven-colored world. If there were a white world, it would be perfect for you..."
All the other companions had received seven-colored worlds, but only Luciella hadn't obtained one.
But she snorted and shook her head.
"It doesn't matter. This one sword is enough for me."
The sword Luciella was holding was a relic passed down by Yugria just before the Hall of Heroes disappeared.
'The Unbreakable Sword of Invincibility'
It was just an incredibly hard sword with no special abilities, but Luciella was very satisfied and was using Yugria's sword instead of her family's holy sword.
"If I absolutely had to use it, that would be different, but if you gave me such a thing when there are other suitable candidates, I would have been angry."
"...I see."
In this aspect, Luciella was someone who showed the stubborn traits of a knight.
'I originally planned to use the white world myself, but it would suit Luciella well too. It would be good if I could get my hands on it if possible...'
SWOOSH!
At that moment, a small purple space appeared before Rudian's eyes.
And from within it, a familiar black-haired girl revealed herself.
"Yev?"
In this war, Yev was a thorough observer.
Since Krakar and Ktuna were also direct descendants of Shub, whether voluntary or not, Rudian had no intention of making Yev engage in fratricide.
"What's the matter?"
But for such a Yev to suddenly appear like this... it wasn't a very good omen.
Yev opened her mouth.
"Mother's prophecy has changed."
"...What?"
"The invasion time of the twin pair has been moved up from what was expected. It seems Berus pulled some light mischief."
Rudian asked with a light heart.
There were still a few days of leeway, but preparations were roughly finished anyway.
"So... when is it?"
"Now."
"...Crazy."
...No matter what, not right now, right?
Beep, beep, beep! Beep, beep, beep!
As soon as those words ended, a loud alarm began ringing throughout the lunar base.
—Master, an alien legion has crossed the outer barrier and is charging toward us.
Elli, who was in charge of the base's main controller, urgently informed Rudian.
"Exact situation!"
—Collision with forces deployed at each designated location is expected in approximately 38 minutes.
The forces responsible for interception in the outer areas were three in total.
Elli's bodies, 20,000 Mysterious Ladies.
30,000 troops under Leviathan capable of space warfare, led by dragons and nine legion commanders.
20,000 troops under Baal, also capable of space warfare, and elite angel legions.
Most human forces were assigned to support standby roles or defending near the planet.
Even as a support standby group, they couldn't be ignored, as forces armed with magic machines could perform activities rivaling The Xman.
Most magicians were mobilized to operate the divine weapons installed at the lunar base, and they had completed excellent preparations under Gray's command.
"It's a little different from the plan, but nothing changes! Everyone prepare for battle, and we're departing immediately!"
If Ktuna or Krakar used their power from the very beginning to deal damage to the interception forces, the entire plan would be ruined!
"Then we'll proceed as planned."
The ten lower gods left those words and disappeared with flashes of light.
Though there was quite a difference in weight class, he hoped they could hold out for a few hours at least.
"Alright, then let's go too."
Before his eyes were the five Demon Kings including Baal.
And Maria and Rebecca were there.
"It's the first time fighting alongside the queen."
"Please take care of us, queen."
But for some reason, the other Demon Kings were acting friendly toward Rebecca.
"...Huh? I'm not a queen though?"
"...Don't start scheming already and just fight quietly."
Rudian, who understood the situation to some extent, glared at the Demon Kings with wide eyes.
The guys who received Rudian's gaze shrugged their shoulders, and Agares, who had been quiet, shouted with a fierce gaze.
"This time, you must keep your promise to fight!"
"...I understand."
Come to think of it, Agares had been quite angry because he couldn't recover easily and had been struggling.
In any case, those assembled to face Krakar crossed through space to the outskirts of a star system tens of billions of kilometers away.
—You've come.
In the dark space where countless stars twinkled.
Rudian looked at the estimated ten million alien creatures positioned around.
'Seeing it in person, there really are a disgustingly large number of them.'
But it wasn't more than the presence of Krakar, who was arrogantly sitting on a throne in the center.
Krakar, who slowly rose from the massive throne created in space, looked directly at Rudian.
—Yes, I would like to hear once more your answer to the proposal we presented last time.
"...That time?"
While Baal was frowning to understand the meaning of those words.
—The circumstances have probably changed somewhat from that time.
As if seeing through Rudian's situation, Krakar's countless eyes flashed coldly.