A door swung open and a woman stepped inside.
Inside the room, sitting behind the rosewood furniture was a lady with a veil. The chair creaked as she turned back and looked at the newcomer.
"Noa, you're here."
"The priestess of the Holy Kingdom asked me to give you this," Noa said as she stepped inside. Her eyes were haggard and her cheek sunken.
She placed the paper on the table and was about to leave when the veiled lady grabbed her hand.
"Take a seat."
Though she hesitated a little, Noa bit her lips and sat down. She couldn't understand how the person in front of her functioned normally.
Even when her own heart seemed to be ripping to shreds from the inside, why was Lethe not affected in the slightest?
"You're not eating well, are you?" Lethe asked Noa as she tore the envelope open and breezed through its contents.
"Even the theology is accepting demons now. It's an era of peace like never before, you should eat properly at least now."
Noa sighed at Lethe's peaceful words. Everyone had united together in the fear of the Outer Gods. It was quite the devilish statement to call such an era peaceful, albeit not incorrect.
But that mattered little to Noa.
She had seen war, she had fought multiple of those white beings called the Outer Gods and had even slain one with her own hands. Those Outer Gods which grew stronger as they merged with one other had caused mass destruction, but she could eat even then.
Yet now.
She couldn't bring herself to.
"What if something happened…? Where is he even gone—"
Lethe sighed and patted Noa's head.
"Worry about yourself," she said. "As long as he's alive he'll come back."
Lethe's words were warm. Competitors as they were, the lady of the duchy couldn't help but see everyone else as a step below herself.
Noa took in a deep breath and looked at Lethe. There on her shoulder was the most beautiful fairy in all the worlds, the Evil Queen Titania.
Titania noticed her gaze and smiled at Noa.
"As long as I am good, he is too—Ahak."
Titania coughed.
Blood spilled out from her mouth, then her eyes and ears.
Lethe and Noa got to their feet immediately as Titania slipped off her shoulder and fell on the table. Blood incessantly flowed out of her lips as if a faucet had been turned over.
And then, she closed her eyes.
***
The screams all around Charlotte died down.
After Eugene Hall was stabbed in the chest, the last of the flame in his eyes died out and he fell limp on the ground.
That easy.
Just that easy, the one keeping the Outer Gods in check was gone.
The humanoid monsters started to wreak havoc around when their greatest foe was down. Would he have had a greater chance had he let go of someone else?
Probably.
But it was futile now.
The third of his friends was on the ground, next to him, a whole hand gone. He tried to save Eugene, but the clones chopped his arm off and lost all interest.
All around them, dozens of hunters had met a similar fate.
Those that didn't run, that is.
To thin them out, or to be stronger than the outer god while it was clumped together.
How foolish were they to think the second one was even an option?I think you should take a look at
Even if she and the red hair pit all their forces together, would they be able to kill the Outer God?
Maybe.
Maybe they would.
If they gave up their life then that maybe became a certainty.
But.
But this was just one.
Now… There were hundreds and hundreds of Outer Gods just like these. Many worlds never even got beyond the Invasion Navy, what made them think they were different?
As things were now, there was no way to win.
Charlotte grabbed her blade and swung it at the one in front of her.
Everything around was burning, everything around was screaming.
This world was as good as gone.
Charlotte's strength rose at once and the ones of her side surviving turned toward her.
"Leader?" The elf Mammon screamed. "What are you doing!?"
"There is no other choice. We have to abandon this place and come back later."
The Elf's eyes trembled deeply, but he understood.
All around them, the Outer God's clones had left nothing but destruction.
Fighting here was impossible. Fighting at all, seemed impossible.
To run was their best bet.
"Grab everyone strong," Charlotte muttered. The blue-haired one that was blown away, the red hair, all these hunters were extremely powerful. To leave them behind would be a waste.
She had to make the best of this opportunity.
It was possible to use her World's Creation and create an immediate gateway to the other worlds, but only for the people she had already marked. If they had the stronger ones in their hands, she would be able to take them too.
This last ditch effort would leave her bedridden for days and use more than eighty percent of her strength, but it was to be done.
The dryad nodded at Charlotte's words and turned toward the rubble not that far away.
"Your son—"
"Leave him be. There's no use taking along the dead."
Charlotte's energy started seeping out. Every moment, the clones of the Outer God were moving further and further out into the world.
And every moment was one where more people were dying.
If they wanted any chance to take it down, they had to leave.
What son anyway? She had never been a mother.
She left a child behind… why did she even leave a child behind?
Why had she ever gone out of the worlds. Why had she left a ring and a promise with Dantalian?
Just as Charlotte's magic was about to activate… she felt a deep incongruence.
But. She had to leave.
"World's Creation… Door…"
***
"I told you right? I may come help you someday?"
***
[A/N: Send reviews please, really please]