Aslan’s power has now reached 5 points.
Together with Aslan, only the Dark Ram and Valerie know about this score, and other beings are not well aware of the power Aslan now possesses.
Five points, in other words, signify the realm of superhuman ability.
It was the domain of genuine heroes and valiant figures who leave their mark in history.
The natural strength of Tiamat, who was assessed to possess warrior-like qualities that might appear once every hundred years in Belus Alphen.
When you consider that the power to effortlessly draw a massive bow larger than one’s own body equates to 5 points, it represents a considerable capability.
There may be differences based on species, training, muscle control, and understanding, but 5 points represent an ability that cannot be overlooked.
However, Aslan was an entity that had perfect control over their muscles.
Their rigorous training had reached its pinnacle, and the twelve years of accumulated combat experience allowed them to utilize this training at any given moment.
With such strength and skill, a slap from Aslan could deliver enough force to crush the brain of an ordinary human on the spot.
Ados endured that slap.
Just by enduring it, Ados realized her own extraordinary nature.
More precisely, the extraordinariness of the being she now served.
Even as merely a priest of the Abyss, her body, which couldn’t survive without the divine power of the predator deity, began to function somewhat autonomously.
She regained the hardness lost by opting for lightness, maintained the functionality of life, and was still able to preserve magical abilities.
Or rather, they had evolved further.
Ados could feel the immense mana flowing through the Abyss.
She could sense how the Abyss itself acted as mana.
Moreover, she could perceive the structure of her body, capable of transforming according to her will.
She could potentially establish both magical structures and stability simultaneously.
Though she had tasted disgrace and pain, and had to endure frustration due to failures, she didn’t think it was entirely bad.
Rather, she had to think that way.
Having disclosed all information, Ados walked down the corridor with a troubled expression.
As she walked, she occasionally spotted apprentice wizards from the council.
They looked at her with a mixture of concern and stepped aside, and each time, Ados contorted her face in irritation.
Despite having been severely punished by Aslan, she was still Ados.
Her stubbornness and methods, which had lasted nearly five thousand years, hadn’t changed.
Thinking much like the deity she served, she glared at the apprentice wizards with thoughts aligned closely with law, order, morality, and norms.
‘Not even offering a greeting… The morality of the council has hit rock bottom.’
Grinding her teeth, sparks of lightning ran along her skin in response to her emotions.
Only then did the apprentices scatter, retreating as if fleeing.
It seemed both her authority and the council’s morality had fallen.
Perhaps naturally so.
Ados, the real president of the mysterious Anurtin Council, who had operated in the shadows for thousands of years, no longer existed.
Now, the president of this council was merely a woman who had been humiliatingly defeated by a master of combat and carried back to her chambers over someone’s shoulder.
Goals, plans, ambitions…
All had collapsed.
What remained was just an improved body and perhaps an opportunity to collaborate with that idealist.
Regrettably, Ados had no choice but to promise cooperation within the merciless violence of Aslan.
And though Ados had operated in the shadows for thousands of years, she never broke her promises—no matter how coerced the oath might have been.
With a sigh, Ados noticed someone approaching from the opposite end of the corridor and widened her eyes.
“…You.”
Each step echoed with a metallic sound.
On top of that sound was a body that should have shattered into pieces long ago.
A mechanical body.
A gender-neutral figure clad in armor-like attire.
It was Tiyalmisof.
Seeing Ados’ bewildered expression, Tiyalmisof nodded.
“It seems you’ve awakened.”
“You, this body….”
Tiyalmisof, understanding the unspoken question, gave a mechanical smile.
A mechanical smile, a mechanical body.
A form not much different from when she was a high priestess of the Predator.
Given that she was presumably now a priestess of the Abyss, it seemed she wasn’t one anymore.
Indeed, Tiyalmisof appeared largely unchanged from before Ados lost consciousness.
After all, Aslan had only mentioned subduing her, not making her a priestess.
Ados felt more confusion than betrayal or opportunism.
Why keep the high priestess of the Predator around?
At least, that’s what Ados thought. And Tiyalmisof, with her characteristic insight, pierced through Ados’ psychology and spoke.
“I’d like to clear up two misunderstandings first.”
“What misunderstanding? This appearance….”
“One. I am no longer a high priestess of the Predator.”
“What?”
Ados’ furrowed face of confusion prompted Tiyalmisof to raise her second finger.
“Two. I’ve only recently become mobile again. The reconstruction of my body took quite some time.”
Upon hearing this, Ados’ expression filled with puzzlement.
While the statement itself wasn’t strange, it was odd considering Tiyalmisof’s unique characteristics.
Her advantage was that all parts could act as the main body without a central core.
Thus, Tiyalmisof shouldn’t have needed physical reconstruction; she merely had to handle new components.
Ados caught on to what she was implying at that point.
Tiyalmisof, reading Ados’ expression, continued.
“I’m now a high priestess of the Abyss. This body is my attempt to recreate knowledge obtained from the Predator using the Abyss in my own way.”
A feminine voice flowed, and Ados was astonished upon realizing that there was no modulation in the voice, meaning she understood these technologies to some extent.
“Of course, there are deficiencies and incomplete aspects, but the performance of a single unit has improved compared to before.”
Though Tiyalmisof herself said it casually…
Ados, at a loss for words, prompted Tiyalmisof to exclaim, “Ah,” as if remembering something.
“I heard that Aslan went to see you. Could you possibly go back and bring her here?”
As Ados returned reluctantly after frightening the apprentice wizards and came back,
Tiyalmisof was already in the large hall where apprentices usually conducted free research.
An enormous empty space. As Aslan stepped forward upon Ados entering, Tiyalmisof greeted her.
Or rather, made a gesture that resembled a greeting.
That short motion might have seemed cumbersome to some, but Tiyalmisof apparently considered it sufficient and promptly began speaking.
A few polite words were exchanged.
Though Aslan looked uncomfortable with the courteous tone and the feminine voice,
“So, why did you call me?”
Aslan asked, and Tiyalmisof responded immediately.
“I called because I have something to relay.”
Turning her head towards Ados, Tiyalmisof addressed her despite Aslan’s curious gaze.
“I already heard it, but I’ll ask again for confirmation. There might be a mistake.”
As Ados also expressed bewilderment at this, an artificial mechanical sound emerged instead of speech.
“What happened to the Evil Ghost?”
The Evil Ghost.
To Aslan’s knowledge, it was an entity that shared a loose alliance with Tiyalmisof and Ados.
A war incarnate bearing a name from before the existence of war and knowledge, one of the three evils.
“The Evil Ghost? You mean….”
Ados recalled the Evil Ghost upon hearing the name.
Changes in her body, changes in divinity, setbacks in her plans.
She had many things to think about.
Also, she had been awake for less than five hours.
Therefore, she was somewhat startled to only now remember the Evil Ghost.
Something she should have thought of first.
Reading Ados’ perplexed expression, Tiyalmisof confirmed that what she knew hadn’t changed much.
Thus, even though she was a machine devoid of expression, Tiyalmisof’s face subtly conveyed gloom.
Only Aslan failed to grasp the situation.
“Aslan, I have some bad news for you.”
Suddenly, the mechanical feminine voice declared.
“The Evil Ghost is coming.”
A straightforward statement. Aslan blinked in confusion, prompting Tiyalmisof to add,
“And the next time they come, they will come as the Sword of Supreme Divinity.”
At this, Aslan couldn’t help but adopt a serious expression.
[Ongoing Main Quest]
[! Retreat ■■■’s Sword]
The corner of her vision faintly lit up.
*
Krrrrraaaang!
Lightning struck ferociously against the fortress.
A fortress now mostly destroyed, leaving only remnants of walls and a tower.
And there he stood.
Falling from a great height, his legs ached, his body riddled with deep wounds and minor scratches, yet neither hesitation nor fatigue showed in his steps.
Instead, he moved forward with a kind of resolute determination.
Long ago, he marched with the same stride against the heavens, killing over hundreds of deities.
This spectacle once terrified Omal, another of the three evils, while the blacksmith worried.
He called himself an Evil Ghost.
People referred to him as the God of War or a war incarnate.
This war incarnate hesitated. Until moments ago, he wielded his cherished sword in battles whose reasons he barely understood.
There was some conscious desire to protect allies or fight for ambition, but
He lacked personal reasons to fight.
Until just moments ago.
Things were different now.
He saw overwhelming power surpassing his own.
These powerful beings attacked his allies.
Those loosely allied with similar goals.
Their attack felt like an assault on the Evil Ghost’s ambitions.
He couldn’t let that slide.
The Evil Ghost sought to maintain a closed sky and a clear future for humanity.
So, the Evil Ghost needed power.
He realized that continuing the fight as he was wouldn’t lead to victory.
Because he desired a defined world, even if closed, he needed more power.
Thus, he listened to the whisper of the Transcendent in his ear.
The Transcendent desired nothingness, and he required the Transcendent’s power.
But he had no intention of simply accepting power and ending it there.
His steps ascending the tower were heavy yet light—a contradiction, yet truly so.
His strides moved forward without hesitation but weighed heavily with resolve.
Finally, reaching the top of the tower,
He faced a muscular woman of compressed stature.
“Blacksmith.”
It was a grating voice, akin to sandpaper scratching or gravel grinding against wood.
Yet, the woman seemed unfazed, nodding as she tied her abundant hair resembling flames or clouds into a single strand.
Her name was long forgotten, after such prolonged struggles.
But the Evil Ghost knew what the blacksmith could do.
Thus, only after discarding his hesitation did he seek out the blacksmith.
The divine power surging from his body
Sought to transform him into the most perfectly combative form imagined by some transcendent entity at any moment.
He knew that using even a little would make returning impossible.
“I’ve brought divine power.”
Now, there was no hesitation. Nor attachment.
Affection for form was abandoned when it shattered into five thousand pieces under fire, metalwork, night, and eternity.
Thus, shedding his cracked breastplate, he approached the woman, the last surviving member of a perished race and a deity.
The most skilled of the three evils, forging and welding divine power into the most optimal forms.
The woman glanced at the Evil Ghost with pity before picking up her tool.
“Thank you.”
In response, she trimmed the divine power.
The Supreme Divinity silently rejoiced.
