Chapter 63
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Layer 8 - Lv. 159 Stormhowl Brigade Headquarters (8)
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It might sound ridiculous to say this, but to a god, their followers are a business asset.
Faith becomes power and influence.
For the continent's residents and NPCs, who are firm devotees, it might be a little different, but it's the same for Exiles.
A transactional relationship where both sides exchange benefits.
Gaining the upper hand in such a business relationship is crucially important.
We never said it outright, not even once, but that's also why I implicitly refrained from increasing the followers of the Goddess of Chaos.
Even taking the third layer as an example, where the pantheon briefly appeared and vanished—if it had been possible to become a follower of Chaos there, crowds like clouds would have flocked in.
But that would have fulfilled the goddess's goal.
Once immediate survival was assured, they might not move according to my intentions.
That's why I suppressed it.
I only turned those thoroughly under my influence into followers.
I even gave her an angel as a follower, but that came with the risk that, depending on the circumstances, they could switch to another god no matter what.
Gods who want angels or demons as followers are a dime a dozen.
The God of Free Suffixes would always have to guard against that.
The Goddess of Chaos remained perpetually in the subordinate position.
I, the one gripping their right to survival, was the dominant party.
And yet, after going that far, receiving consideration mixed with sacrifice from the subordinate party left a lukewarm feeling.
It wasn't a good feeling, at least.
Sorry, ticklish. That kind of mood.
Trolls and ogres are enormous creatures.
An ogre can exceed three meters in height at its largest, and a troll, if it's on the beefier side, can top five meters.
These massive monsters possess equally sturdy bodies and the raw strength to match.
Ancient trees that had sprouted up in an instant but looked millennia-old toppled under the impact of the charge.
Falling dragons erupted in spots where they couldn't brace in time for the collision.
The trolls and the monsters they rode had no intention of dodging from the start. There wasn't even space to evade.
So the forest groaned from all directions.
With such hefty mass, the damage from gravity alone was immense.
The trolls rolled and crashed, suffering minor scrapes at best or fractures at worst, but their signature regenerative abilities let them rise again in no time.
What greeted those trolls was a barrage from the fairies.
Even in this era, lacking proper artillery outside a few dwarf villages, that was the apt way to describe it.
The fairies, followers of the God of Nature, didn't hesitate to set the forest ablaze in this moment.
Because the culprits who destroyed their empire long ago were right there.
Arrows in vibrant hues streaked through the air.
Torrents of differing magics trailed behind, etching paths in the sky.
Each arrow that struck unleashed a grand explosion of elements.
Trolls are resistant to magic. But not because of any innate resistance.
They're strong because their regeneration outpaces the mana drain on the opposing mage.
But in a group battle like this, an endless volley of magic could overwhelm that regeneration and pierce straight to vital organs.
The trolls froze, convulsed from lightning, and burned.
Among them were arrows of light and darkness elements too.
Some went mad and attacked their kin nearby, others snapped the necks of wyverns.
Every one of them was at least an [Arcane Archer].
"This looks like the fairies' elite forces."
"......Explain to me right now what's happening."
A fairy mage grabbed my shoulder. Her expression was frantic, yet brimming with hope.
That face, wild with unfathomable emotions, looked utterly ridiculous, but I couldn't laugh either.
"Our goddess did something."
"Goddess? You mean the Goddess of Chaos, the one you offered tribute to back then?"
Her face screamed utter nonsense, perfectly reflecting perceptions of gods—and Chaos in particular.
I couldn't respond.
You can't explain what you don't know.
"Heh, well now. It's my first time seeing an Exile so beloved by a god."
"First time for me too."
Either way, that wasn't the point. At the site of the miracle invoked by the god, the human soldiers were at a complete loss.
Even upon seeing the fairy archers intercepting the troll cavalry, most just stared blankly.
Those in command snapped out of it quicker.
"Open the gates! Go out and support them! The fairies are allies! I repeat, the fairies are allies!"
The same words echoed from various spots.
The soldiers guarding the border fortress weren't incompetent by any means.
Winches turned promptly. Gates swung open, and cavalry who'd been holding as infantry rushed to their mounts.
The knights, arrayed to plug any breaches in gates or walls, dashed to their warhorses too.
The lord, commanding from the rear lines a bit behind the front, bellowed so loud it reached the walls.
"Who cares about escorting me now! Get out there and kill one more of those damned green bastards! Aren't those pointy-ears our pointy-ears?!"
Oh dear, pointy-ears. That's speciesist toward fairies, akin to your own kind. But given the chaos, it's understandable.
"But the wyverns are still up there!"
Wyverns are dragons, sure, but in this world, they're usually smaller than griffons.
Still, big enough to carry ogres, so monstrous all the same.
The sudden emergence of the fairy army threw the airborne wyvern riders into disarray.
But soon, the Greenskins' innate belligerence seized the reins of their minds.
Wyverns dove toward the lord's position.
A few fairy arrows flew to shoot them down, but missed.
The fairy mage hastily wove another spell. The authority from the God of Magic still lingered on her body.
I turned my gun barrel too. Wasteful to unload everything here, but...
I quickly spotted the ogre that looked like the leader.
Greenskins are straightforward. Excluding shamans, the strongest is always the commander.
And those types ride the biggest mounts.
I found the largest wyvern. Depth perception correction was second nature now.
Three shots, and the ogres lost their leader.
But it meant little.
They didn't know the word retreat anyway.
They'd burn this place down or charge until they were incinerated.
Especially with their faiths in war and savagery.
The lord fled for his life. Not faster than the charging wyverns. His guard knights intercepted.
Light bloomed from the knights' swords. Not as vivid as Sir Dustban's aura, barely qualifying as blades.
But cutting power aplenty.
Despite heavy plate, they leaped heights several times their stature to block the wyverns.
No cinematic halves or dramatic slices.
Just lifeless meat chunks left in their wake.
Precise, razor-sharp swordsmanship.
An ogre leaped from a plummeting wyvern's back.
Flames flickered at the end of its club.
The knights began systematically subduing the falling monsters.
Should I support there, or head to the fairies? As I pondered, the girl shoved her face in.
"What should I do now?"
Her eyes were already on the lord—and the soldiers under attack inside the walls.
In her mind, those were probably civilians.
Fairies, relatively, weren't human.
Decision in an instant. I nodded and leaped from the wall.
The flustered fairy mage followed.
"What if you just jump like that?!"
Wind enveloped my body. I floated down gently.
I snapped back at her.
"If you're gonna use [Fly], let's go all the way!"
"You're driving me mad."
We headed toward the forest where mighty trees still toppled and burned, borne by the fairy mage's spell.
Thankfully, no Greenskins bothered with the gates now.
To them, humans were pests at best—not archenemies like fairies.
Instincts etched from eons of enmity drew the trolls into the woods.
The monsters crashed indiscriminately. Even divine authority has limits.
For benevolent gods like Nature, stricter constraints apply.
At the prayers of leaf fairy priests, roots tangled, binding the colossal monsters' steps.
But in game terms, it was the type whose duration shortened against size and strength bonuses.
Still, not meaningless.
Arrows rained like downpours on the momentarily halted trolls and mounts.
Slowly but steadily, their numbers dwindled.
Even the Orc Empire couldn't mass-produce super-heavy cavalry that doubled as siege engines willy-nilly.
Already the brigade HQ's main force—and from afar earlier, barely around fifty.
Ten confirmed down since.
But they'd still hold out at this rate? No.
Just a matter of time. This server's hegemony belonged to the Greenskins.
And the God of Nature knew that.
Didn't send devotees here to die like dogs.
I offered a curt mental prayer.
Odd not directing it to the perpetually grumbling goddess.
'Lord of Nature! Any countermeasures?'
[The God of Nature informs that Leaf Fairies have been prepared in the rear.]
Leaf Fairies? Come to think, the ones using endlessly sprouting megatrees as bunkers to halt trolls were mostly Grove Fairies.
Rear where? Told the fairy mage to gain altitude; spotted a clearing in the forest's corner.
Spatially, the rear.
Tons of leaf fairies gathered there.
"I see what they're planning."
The fairy mage sped up toward the clearing.
This flat expanse, unnaturally like a plains patch amid the hasty forest, remained frozen solid in northern chill.
Familiar faces greeted us.
"Ah! The snow leopard human from before!"
"Archmage!"
"No snow leopard this time?"
A familiar priest hushed the chattering trio.
"We've been waiting. The god commanded us to rely on you."
"What in the world is all this?"
The fairy mage gawked at me in disbelief.
The clearing was perfectly prepped. Geometric patterns dense with symbolic runes covered it.
Scholarly priests must've etched them upon arrival per the blueprint.
"Embarrassingly, though we claim friendship with spirits, none among our mortal kin hold a contract with a Spirit King."
[The God of Nature awaits in anticipation.]
'Don't tell me Chaos boasted she could summon a Spirit King easily, so just prep and wait?'
[The God of Nature affirms.]
Damn it all.
"You can do it, Archmage!"
"Dual-class as Spirit Sovereign too!"
"Hang in there! I'll help again!"
So these beast-eared fairies swarming here were all mana batteries, every one.
They relied purely on me for the technical side, prepped only to supply the mana no single person could handle.
My expression must've been priceless; the priest hastily added,
"We've mobilized every means for support. There's even a landmark for finding the king's gate."
She proffered a weathered gem. Naturally, I recognized it. The fairy mage marveled too.
"A Wind Crystal. Crystallized elements are exceedingly rare."
"This much... no, damn it. Still too brutal.
[The God of Nature says Chaos boasted confidently.]
What the hell did that lady sell out?
Now it feels less like she's providing something and more like she sold me out.
But even if it succeeds, it's worlds apart from [Meteor Swarm].
Magic load is temporary until activation. A summoned Spirit King continuously burdens.
Assume summonable—how long to maintain?
Five seconds tops.
Staking my life.
How to maneuver the Spirit King in that span?
Summon and think? Too late.
Must pre-plan attack points.
Spirit King is a strategic weapon.
"Position intel—any wind spirits observing from the sky now?"
"Yes."
"Need vision share."
"Preparing."
New ritual circle drawn swiftly.
Even fairies seeing me first complied without fuss.
Felt the god directly messaging and intervening everywhere.
This situation was a gamble for the God of Nature too.
Descendants of the fallen fairy empire couldn't possibly have built mighty forces.
Leaf fairies weren't nomads originally either.
The fairy mage was already inspecting the prepped spirit summon array.
Not comprehending, just checking mana flows and engravings.
"I'll help too. No expert in spirit arts, but I'll pray to the God of Magic."
Another god's authority settled on me. A load-sharing link.
"Predecessor, you're wagering your one life. You sure?"
Frankly, he could bail. Fairy race, but lived human-like—no big deal offending Nature.
"Said it before. Sick of rankers and all that. Just wanna live as a mere NPC. And for now, I'm a fairy too."
"No plans to revert human?"
"Nah. Handsome suits me."
He joked with a grin, but his face held a noble air.
This time, no forgetting death.
"Hoo."
First, gauge success odds.
Spirit contracts aren't just baiting with mana.
Low-grade, sure. Mid-grade onward, navigate spirit realm's mental mazes every instant for the right path.
Misstep doesn't always kill.
But incurs casting failure penalties akin to physical disruption.
Explosions baseline, plus stat/level drops, skill loss, banishment to abyss, hostile demon summons, etc.
Unlike failed spells, these recur continuously.
Cumulative, spirit contract failure spells catastrophe.
Spirit King contractors are historic rarities for no other reason. Most die mid-attempt.
So the goddess bluffed confidently without knowing squat.
Gratitude fading. It's all on me, ultimately.
Next meetup, I'll chew her out.
"You okay with this?"
The one priest I knew personally asked. Choice gone since started, but seeking reassurance.
If asked outright if I could summon a Spirit King, had to answer.
"I can."
The fairies nodded with resolve. Even priests' ears twitched anxiously.
Not my first rodeo, obviously.
In the run with petal fairies, I—who rebuilt the fairy empire—was a Spirit King contractor. Anything less, and it couldn't be done.