Ancient Deity.
For convenience, they are called Ancient Deities, but the indigenous deities of Geladridion were once called gods.
Now, their place has been taken by those Aslan calls Evil Deities, but originally, the seat of the gods belonged to the Ancient Deities, not the Evil Ones.
They governed Geladridion, created it, and protected it.
Though their protection and management varied according to their values and personalities, there was no denying that they were gods.
Until the day the heavens opened and transcendent beings who surpassed the world and universe descended from that place.
Afterward, the gods became Ancient Deities, and the transcendent ones became gods.
This is the content of the cinematic that plays when starting the game Eternal Dominion set in Geladridion.
Aslan knew this content, and because of it, he could recognize the being before him.
Crimson hair and golden eyes.
A scale armor draped over his body, resembling animal hides.
And the divine power of an Ancient Deity emanating from his very being.
Through outward appearance and the aura he sensed, Aslan realized that the being before him was indeed one of the Ancient Deities.
Moreover, this was no ordinary Ancient Deity.
Crimson hair and golden eyes—traits characteristic of the bloodline of War and Knowledge.
The entity before him was a Lesser Divinity belonging to the domain of War and Knowledge.
There was nothing particularly problematic about this so far.
The issue lay with the current state of the Ancient Deities, from Eternal Dominion to Geladridion.
In both the game and in Geladridion itself.
All living Ancient Deities were enemies.
They were thorough failures. Like the deity of tombs, they had either retreated after defeat, fallen into corruption, or become defiled beings.
They harbored malice and a desire for vengeance against humanity, and sometimes attacked with twisted ideologies and powers.
Thus, encountering even a Lesser Divinity among the Ancient Deities in the game meant battle.
To Aslan, who possessed such knowledge, the Ancient Deity before him seemed no different.
‘Victory.’
The possibility that this being might be an enemy, yet holding onto victory without showing much reaction.
Aslan slowly rose, adjusting his stance as he stared at the Lesser Divinity.
He glared at the Lesser Divinity with arms loosely hanging, appearing non-threatening.
The male Lesser Divinity, holding onto victory, slowly reached for the hilt of his weapon and raised his gaze.
Their eyes met—Aslan’s and the unknown Ancient Deity’s.
In those gleaming golden eyes, there was a palpable hostility.
A sharp, predator-like gaze.
When that shimmering gaze settled on Aslan,
the form of the Lesser Divinity vanished.
“Purity.”
At the instant the figure disappeared, Aslan plucked a feather and muttered the word.
A blazing white greatsword appeared in his hand.
Aslan directed his lone eye toward the crimson afterimage rushing toward him.
It was invisible, but invisibility did not equate to incapability.
The technique ingrained in Aslan’s body reacted reflexively, while his ki precisely adjusted the response.
His target was the neck. Reflexively flipping “Purity,” Aslan thrust forward along the swing’s trajectory.
The crimson flash ceased, followed by a giant sword resembling surging flames.
The left foot dragging the massive blade carved a deep trench before stopping and launching the sword forward.
KAAAAAAANG!
At the moment of collision, the massive sword locked onto the greatsword blazing with purity.
The scattered white flames distorted around them, and the divine power dissolving into the air seemed ethereal.
Aslan felt the divine power interlocking with his own and read the confusion in the nearby Lesser Divinity.
The Lesser Divinity was confused—more accurately, astonished.
That despite wielding the heavy greatsword with Lesser Divinity-level strength, he hadn’t been pushed back.
Apparently intending to end Aslan with a single blow, the Ancient Deity gathered himself, grabbing the sword tightly after a brief moment of astonishment.
In response, Aslan loosened his grip on the blade, shifted his footing, and delivered a short upward strike.
Dodging the upward strike by leaning away, the Lesser Divinity then unleashed a flurry of strikes by twisting the hilt.
JING, CHAI-JAE-JANG, KAAANG!
And the metallic clangs echoed.
First deflecting the strike aimed at his neck with a quick stab, Aslan pressed forward with a cross-block, attempting to crush the wrist with the edge of his blade.
Before he could complete the move, the Lesser Divinity forcibly disengaged the locked blades and created distance, though he had long been caught in Aslan’s rhythm.
KANG, KA-GA-GA-KANG, KANG!
The pursuing stab. The sweeping greatsword. The pure blade flowing aside, evading the downward strike. In response, the transparent blade of Purity pressed down on the fiery greatsword, pushing it back.
Finally, the Lesser Divinity twisted his waist significantly and unleashed a powerful slash.
A strike that would send anyone flying if blocked.
In response, Aslan lightly raised his sword—not to block, but merely to adjust his stance.
The Lesser Divinity anticipated that Aslan would be sent flying.
KAAAAAANG!
But Aslan stood his ground.
On the burning blade of purity, a strangely scale-like cross-guard hung.
It was the Scale of Order.
Its effect: the removal of recoil.
Had it not been for the Scale of Order, Aslan would have been violently thrown back. Instead, he tilted his blade as if pushing away Victory interlocked with Purity.
KARARAK, the blade slid aside.
Precisely cutting through the opponent’s footwork and center of gravity, the victory faltered as Aslan clenched his fist.
WHOOSH-WHOOSH-WHOOSH!
The turbine-like sound rang out. With it came a punch charged with immense force, penetrating gaps with precision—a hawk dropping its prey.
Even a Lesser Divinity couldn’t block this attack.
KWAAAAAAANG!
The precise punch landed between weapons and breaths, sending the Lesser Divinity spinning backward.
Aslan watched the flying figure, flipped Purity to grasp it reverse-handed, and extended his index finger.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!
The Lesser Divinity stopped by striking the ground with Victory. Aslan pointed his index finger at him and murmured.
“Heat Metal.”
The mana tattoos for root anchoring blazed blue, igniting the stored spell within.
The magic emitted heated the opponent’s weapon to make them drop it or added thermal damage to his own weapon—a low-tier transmutation school spell.
Its purpose was verification.
SCHIIIIIICK!
Victory immediately began heating up upon Aslan’s spell.
Reacting to the heat, the Lesser Divinity dropped his sword reflexively, and his form vanished again.
A straight, piercing movement. Even though Aslan couldn’t perceive the motion, he prepared his counterattack.
“Hmph!”
Before he could swing his blade, a figure darted through the gap, causing him to halt mid-swing.
A woman dashing in like a charging beast, aiming to sever the leg.
The figure who instantly understood the situation and attacked upon waking was Angie.
TZZZERRRK!
Angie slashed at the leg of the Ancient Deity rushing toward Aslan.
The Ancient Deity instinctively blocked the attack with his arm and was hurled backward.
BOOM, CRASH, KWAAAAAANG!
The ancient ruins’ floor and walls shattered as the Ancient Deity struggled to stop his retreat.
Angie caught the Victory dropped by the flying Ancient Deity, looked up, and gasped.
“What are you doing…?”
“Wh-what the hell? Why does your eye and hair…?”
Because they shared identical hair and eye color with her.
And that reaction wasn’t unique to Angie; the Lesser Divinity also gazed at her with an expression of surprise.
Though quicker to regain composure and stiffen his face.
Through these reactions and previous observations, Aslan pieced together the situation.
The loss of the weapon due to the Heat Metal spell.
No resistance or immunity to fire.
Yet unmistakably divine rank and swordsmanship.
Body abilities that defied logic.
“Are you the Warrior God?”
If so, there was only one possibility.
Upon seeing the Warrior God’s eyes widen momentarily before shifting, Aslan was certain.
The Warrior God was one of the countless children of War and Knowledge and one of the Lesser Divinities.
He was special among the numerous deities of combat, being the child War and Knowledge created when they were still human, who later ascended to divinity.
Thus, he lacked the accomplishments War and Knowledge gained as they achieved greatness.
Despite this, he was counted among the strongest Lesser Divinities.
An opponent Aslan would have struggled against without Purity.
However, there was one problem.
“…Is this really the Warrior God?”
The Warrior God was supposed to be a deceased Lesser Divinity.
According to what Aslan had heard earlier, the Warrior God should already be used to maintain the fabric of the world.
Yet here he was, alive and well before them. This led Aslan to consider another possibility.
The ability of the Veil of Benevolence to freeze and halt time and space.
The breach made through that frozen moment, the World Fracture.
From which they fell, arriving at this ruin of the ancient empire unknown to Aslan’s memory.
And meeting the Warrior God.
“Time travel… perhaps.”
While unsure of the exact mechanics, Aslan considered this possibility highly likely.
Unless it was some illusion conjured by Lewena, but there was no apparent benefit for her to do so.
Considering all possibilities, time travel seemed the most plausible.
Aslan silently met the gaze of the Warrior God, who stared at him for a while before speaking.
“…Fellow tribesman, does this tall one represent thee?”
Turning his head toward Angie, he belittled Aslan with those words.
Angie hesitated, unsure whether to refute the insult to Aslan or respond to the casual address directed at her.
“Who’s your tribesman, you bastard!”
She immediately spat out a string of curses.
*
Clearing up the misunderstanding didn’t take much effort.
Although the Warrior God ignored Aslan’s words, he heeded Angie’s.
Whether it was because Aslan was ‘merely mortal’ or because he had matched blows with the supposedly strongest Lesser Divinity, it remained unclear.
Nevertheless, the Warrior God refrained from attacking Aslan and Angie.
Still, many questions lingered in his mind.
How did Angie come to possess Victory? What divine lineage did she belong to? How had they arrived here?
And who exactly was this human, Aslan?
Fortunately, Aslan had a universal excuse ready.
When the Warrior God probed about their relationship, Aslan casually draped his arm around Angie’s shoulder.
Despite Angie flinching and her ears turning red, Aslan continued unfazed.
“We’re married.”
“…Ah.”
Before the heavens opened and the Evil Deities descended, Ancient Deities often wed humans.
Humans married to Ancient Deities frequently became the progenitors of new divine lineages, and historically, many Ancient Deities had married humans.
Sure enough, following Aslan’s reasoning, the Warrior God nodded in seeming understanding.
Though Angie’s face had turned bright red, the Warrior God didn’t seem to find anything unusual.
Perhaps he assumed her brash and aggressive demeanor naturally included bashfulness over such actions.
Further explanation was unnecessary, but Aslan decided to perfect the act by winking at Angie.
A signal to help deceive the Warrior God, asking her to play along just a little.
Unfortunately, Angie failed to understand the meaning behind the gesture.
In Geladridion, winking carried no particular significance.
To Angie, it only appeared as if Aslan was suddenly trying to seduce her.
Her method of resisting temptation was singular.
Accepting it as part of Aslan’s plan and following through accordingly.
Thus, Angie’s course of action was also singular.
If there was a problem,
“It’s true, ugh.”
It might be because this was Angie’s first time experiencing such a situation.
With a crunch, the sound of her biting her tongue caused her to lower her head. Aslan masked his awkwardness with a smile and patted her shoulder.
Despite the pain from biting her tongue, Angie lowered her head, while Aslan affectionately looped his arm around her shoulder.
Undoubtedly the image of a married couple, the Warrior God silently nodded, accepting it.
Without further ado, Aslan winked at Angie again, hoping to solidify the deception.
A request for her to go along with it just a little more.
Regrettably, Angie failed to grasp the meaning behind the gesture, interpreting it solely as Aslan attempting to flirt with her.
Her response was predictable.
Given her inexperience with such situations,
“Ow.”
The sound of her biting her tongue again caused her to lower her head. Aslan hid his discomfort with a smile and gently patted her shoulder.
The scene of Angie enduring the pain of biting her tongue and Aslan’s familiar embrace convinced the Warrior God, who silently nodded in acceptance.
