Martial God

Clatter, clatter.

A single carriage raced across the open plain.

Inside the swaying cabin sat a sleeping man, and a woman who watched him with gentle eyes.

"Um… your husband hasn't woken up for three days now. Is he truly all right?"

The coachman seated up front asked in a worried tone.

The sleeping man had not opened his eyes for three full days.

"……He's fine."

The woman answered in a small voice.

The coachman shrugged.

"Well. If the lady says he's fine, then I suppose he is."

He wasn't dead, after all. Just a fellow who slept a great deal, the coachman figured. The man was still breathing, and even after three days without food he hadn't wasted away in the slightest.

The same was true of the woman.

What an odd couple.

The coachman cast his mind back to the first time he had met the pair. The woman had been carrying the man on her back, and she had pressed so much money into his hands that refusing her request to head into a danger zone had been impossible.

Strange as the whole business was, they did seem to be husband and wife. She hadn't objected to the title, at any rate.

"Still… I've heard Faisalmer has opened up, but isn't it a bit early to be traveling there? It's still dangerous, isn't it?"

The desert city of Faisalmer.

At present, it was a danger zone — a place heavily affected by the war between the White King and the Black King. Word had spread that the warp gates had opened, yet few people bold enough to set foot there had actually done so.

"I have to find… a friend."

"A friend? Ah, so you have a friend in Faisalmer?"

"Yes."

"My, my. You must be terribly worried. I do hope they're still alive."

"They're already dead."

"Ah… er……"

The coachman faltered for a moment. Traveling into a danger zone to find a friend who was already dead? Was she going to recover a body, then?

"I'm going to confirm. Whether they're still there."

"I-I see."

Her tone was so utterly calm that the coachman found himself thoroughly unsettled. She seemed so devoid of emotion he almost wondered whether she was human at all.

And yet, watching the way she looked at the man, he wasn't so sure.

Thank you.

The woman — Isabella — slowly stroked Randolph's hair as his head rested upon her lap.

There had been misunderstandings. There had been resentment. But all of that had been resolved now, and through it she had come to learn so many truths.

Which was why she understood Randolph's present condition as well.

Right now, Randolph had logged out and was acting as Park Hyunmyung on the far side of the world. Park Hyunmyung existed on a planet called Earth — a place she could never reach — and he was fighting to protect his own world.

So until he returned, Isabella would protect Randolph.

Of course, she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wanted to meet Park Hyunmyung. What he looked like, whether he matched the image she had built in her mind — she was desperately curious.

But the worlds they lived in were different.

…The two of them would never meet.

And that was all right.

Randolph and Park Hyunmyung. Both were the same great being to her.

……Sonora.

Among the truths she had learned was one concerning her closest friend and sister, Sonora.

Immediately after Isabella had fallen under the Divine Illness, Park Hyunmyung had moved her body himself and fought the hybrid that Sonora ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had become. He had survived. He had earned the Desert Queen's recognition.

But what had become of Sonora afterward, she did not know.

Are you still there?

At the very least, she wanted to recover Sonora's body. If Sonora was still trapped in that hell… then bringing her out was Isabella's duty.

And from her bones, she would forge a sword — so that Sonora could live forever at her side.

Sonora would have wanted that too.

Then she would show her how vast the world truly was. She would let her hear the morning arrive, watch new shoots push up through the earth, listen to the birdsong. She would tell her that the world was more beautiful than either of them had ever imagined… and that people existed who were more beautiful, more noble, and more pure still.

That there was a person whose light made even the Desert Queen seem like nothing at all — she wanted Sonora to know that too.

This time, I'll come find you, Sonora.

Together with that person of light.

I'll pull you out of that hell, Sonora.

— You have to be happy, Isabella. You must. Promise me.

This time, it was her turn to find her.

Raiga, captain of the Palga Knights, returned to the Empire with a scowl carved deep into his face.

……God's Island expelled every single participant, myself included.

No matter how he turned it over, it was strange. He had clearly declared his intent to participate, and yet he had been thrown out. Not only him — likely every participant.

And that was not all.

A great many of my knights drowned in the Abyssal swamp and died. I cannot understand it.

A considerable number of the Palga Knights who had accompanied him had failed to return. They must have fallen into the Abyss and perished, but it defied all reason. Veterans thoroughly seasoned against the Abyss, vanishing all at once?

Even granting every possible concession, it was baffling.

But the greatest mystery of all was—

My physical condition…… why is it like this?

……His own body.

He was dying.

His flesh was slowly withering. His mana was drying up. Countless blessings were guttering out one by one.

There was only one circumstance in which this occurred.

I opened the 5th Gate. Me?

When every seal was released, absolute death came hand in hand with it.

But Raiga had no memory of opening the 5th Gate. He had no recollection of it — and yet the very phenomenon that only occurred upon opening the 5th Gate was happening to him now.

Which meant—

…My memories have been altered.

His memories had been manipulated. Something had clearly happened on God's Island. But he could not remember. He knew only the result — that he had been expelled.

What had been altered, and in what way it had been distorted, he had no means of knowing.

There was, however, one person he suspected.

Where did that goat go?

……The golden goat. They had clearly headed into the Abyss together, yet the creature was nowhere to be found. If they had been expelled together, it should have been right there beside him.

He had returned to the Empire and made inquiries in every direction, but found nothing. Even the Golden Mask seemed to know nothing of it — nor of the fact that Raiga was dying. Had he known, he would have attacked at once. The Death God Religion and the Palga Knights were like oil and water, after all.

I still have time.

Death was still distant. Being expelled from God's Island had slightly weakened the curse of death. Thanks to that, he still had room to find a successor and replenish the knighthood.

And if he could nullify the weakened death entirely — that would be ideal.

Having made up his mind, Raiga moved at once.

"Hasten preparations for the Tournament. And expand its scale. Not only Imperial subjects — every outstanding talent from every nation shall be permitted to enter!"

The Death God Religion would object, but he did not care. He had no time to waste sparring with them.

……

……

Three days had already passed since God's Island had risen.

Every participant was beginning to hit the limits of their stamina. They may have Awakened, but the relentless assaults day and night made sleep all but impossible.

There was no torture quite like it.

"So that over there is the 'other group,' then?"

But those who had survived three days were all tough. The group led by the man at the front — Manager Kim — was no exception. Their original four hundred had dwindled to roughly two hundred and fifty in a mere three days, but the ferocity of the fighting had left only those with the hearts of true warriors still standing.

And on the morning of the third day, a transparent wall on one side crumbled away, revealing the 'group' that had been on the other side.

"Manager Kim. They've got way more people than us."

"They probably started with more, didn't they?"

But something was off. The group revealed by the collapsing wall looked to have roughly twice their numbers.

And that was not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the only strange thing.

There's no tension.

What was this? People who had fought battle after battle for their lives ought to carry a certain edge — and these people had none of it. Their expressions looked almost relaxed. There were barely any signs of combat on them at all.

Had they only just been summoned?

"I'll go talk to them."

A man following Manager Kim volunteered as envoy. After a long conversation with the other group, he returned stroking his chin with a thoroughly troubled look.

"……So they really did start with more people than us?"

"No. Doesn't seem that way."

"Then why the face?"

"Well……"

"If you don't want to die, spit it out. What is it?"

"They were summoned with four hundred people too, and they've been attacked the same number of times we have. But according to them, only one person from their group has died this whole time."

"What? How is that possible?"

Manager Kim's face twisted. Day-and-night assaults. Raids that could easily have produced dozens or hundreds of dead over two full days — and only one person had died?

"They say it's all thanks to the Martial God……"

"Martial God?"

"Yes. Apparently there's one person over there who fights ridiculously well."

"……Is that so?"

Manager Kim tensed inwardly. He had been operating as the group's leader so far, and merging with another group could easily lead to a clash. And now the other group's leader was supposedly so formidable they called him the Martial God?

Still. I'm stronger.

Manager Kim firmly rejected the thought. Over the past two days he had all but monopolized the special privileges the others had gathered. And that was not all.

I was chosen by a Constellation!

He had spent SP to unlock countless talents, awakened the Secret Class Gladiator, and received the favor of a great Constellation — putting him further ahead than anyone else.

This had been possible because Manager Kim had always taken a keen interest in Pangenia. On top of that, he had by chance obtained the VIP ID and password for the 'Extra-Dimensional Community' accessible only to corporate executives, and there he had absorbed an enormous amount of information.

Naturally, he had already memorized the talent tech tree required to become a Gladiator. Once he returned to Earth, the Hero Alliance would be falling over themselves to recruit him — that much was certain.

Moreover, his level — the measure of combat power — was already five. A man of monstrous strength who had poured fifty points into Strength alone!

"So who is this Martial God?"

Having recovered his composure, Manager Kim asked. The man following him pointed a finger.

"Over there……"

"Over there? Where? The sky?"

The place the man indicated was high above. Manager Kim tilted his head — then understood. Something was floating in the sky.

"……An albatross?"

It was unmistakably a Hybrid Albatross — the bird-type monster that had attacked them half a day earlier. Had some of them gone unhunted?

No. Someone's riding it.

It was absurd. Someone was actually flying around on a Hybrid Albatross.

Before long, the Hybrid Albatross slowly descended to the ground.

"……"

And Manager Kim found himself more flustered than he had been at any point so far.

The man who appeared astride the Hybrid Albatross—

"……Park Hyunmyung?"

—was the Park Hyunmyung he had seen not long ago. His former coworker who had quit the company, the one Lee Arin, Deputy Association Leader of the Hero Alliance, had personally tried to scout.

He wasn't Awakened back then?

The bastard who had one-shotted a hybrid. Looking at him here, it seemed he truly hadn't been Awakened at the time.

…So this guy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is the Martial God.

It made a rough kind of sense. Having Awakened from that baseline, being called the Martial God wouldn't be entirely strange.

But—

I can do that much myself.

Manager Kim squared his shoulders. He was no longer the powerless, unremarkable man he had once been.

"Good to see you. Didn't expect to run into you again here."

He held out his hand. He intended to make the difference in their strength felt the moment they shook.

In this world, the strong reigned. Before, he had been the one forced to bow for lack of power — but this time, it was the other man's turn to kneel.

At best, a tamer-type class. Judging by the fact that he had tamed an albatross, he clearly hadn't obtained a warrior-type class.

"Small world, isn't it?"

Manager Kim's mouth twisted. A sneer rose unbidden. Of all things, a tamer-type. To be that ignorant of how things worked…

This was the difference information made. Those who knew, and those who did not. Even exceptional talent crumbled without knowledge.

And with good reason — tamer was classified as one of the worst classes, pitifully weak. A category of pure incompetence that couldn't even begin to compare with the Secret Class Gladiator!

"……"

Park Hyunmyung took the offered hand.

Manager Kim smiled inwardly in triumph.

"Running into each other again like this must be fate. Let's get along from here on out."

Go on. Try dying.

CRRRRACK!