Chapter 71

‘…Algul crossed the sea.’

After Antrea’s visit, Alia fell into torment.

The Einherjar Algul, born from Bruwon Krishaka’s Orcus.

A parricidal aberration who killed his own father and claimed his flesh and power.

And the nemesis who, along with his brother, the Imp’s Einherjar Gadiak, killed his father Ul Kanadiel.

He was the chieftain of a race that had contested supremacy with his brethren for hundreds of years in the Eastern Continent.

‘…Has there been any change in the Eastern Continent?’

Twenty years ago, after countless sacrifices, only seven succubi, including himself, survived.

There was no means to obtain information about the Eastern Continent.

‘…That can’t be.’

The turbulent situation of the Eastern Continent wouldn’t have settled in merely twenty years.

Alia recalled Antrea’s severed right forearm.

And the energy that remained at that severed end.

It was an energy he couldn’t be mistaken about.

The energy of his father Ul Kanadiel. The energy that formed their origin.

However, it was an energy that had significantly deviated from its original form.

Despite Ul Kanadiel being the Elder Roa of night and death, he did not carry such a malevolent energy.

‘…Father’s final will.’

In the moment of his demise, Ul Kanadiel unleashed his power, cursing the hostile beings present around him.

How long the remnants of that power lasted was such that the energy, blown in from the east by the stellar convection, caused the high elf Araya to emerge from the forest.

Gadiak, who had borne that mighty curse up close, suffered both physical deterioration and significant damage to his dignity. It didn’t hold much meaning since he was destined to die at his brothers’ hands anyway.

Algul, who was nearby, must have also received the consequences of that curse.

‘Yet, even after twenty years, he remains unscathed and has crossed the sea to defeat my sisters.’

Perhaps because he inherited the power of the mighty Elder Roa, Bruwon Krishaka, from whom his father had to flee.

He didn’t fall to the curse his father left behind; rather, he seemed to wield it as his own power.

‘If that’s the case, then what he aims for… is my father’s core.’

Algul’s ways of crossing the sea to the Western Continent were beginning to make sense.

The humans of the Western Continent did not even know of the existence of the Eastern Continent, and for the Eastern Continent, the existence of the Western was merely a tale of old.

In the first place, if he had had any other options, he would never have gambled his and the succubi’s race’s fate on crossing the sea.

There was no clear reason for the Orcus, a massive power that thrived in the Eastern Continent, along with his Einherjar Algul, to take such a risk.

Especially if it was someone as treacherous as Algul.

‘He must have sensed the pull of that energy.’

When he suppressed the curse left by his father, Algul likely noticed the energy he still felt from across the sea.

There must be remnants of Ul Kanadiel somewhere beyond the waves.

From Algul’s perspective, Gadiak, who originally shared that power, was already dead at the hands of his brothers, and now the existence of his father’s core that he escaped with was known to no one.

Except for Algul, who bore the burden of his father’s curse.

And he must have thought that instead of fighting a meaningless power struggle among similar beings in the Eastern Continent, if he crossed the sea and monopolized Ul Kanadiel’s core, he could reign as the new Elder Roa of the Eastern Continent.

And that judgment was not an incorrect one.

‘…Still, my father’s core is now no longer a problem.’

Fortunately, Ul Kanadiel’s core was merging with the avatar of the Elder Roa of the Western Continent, the World Tree, and the powers of the seventy-two Roa, completing the Deus Ex Machina that he and Araya had created as a rule.

That power, which protects the entirety of Pohelrn, would be easily thwarted even by Bruwon Krishaka in his prime, let alone Algul.

‘That said, the situation is not good…’

What good is it if only Pohelrn is safe?

The world that Priegoss and he aimed to create was one where humans could carve out a better future.

In reality, Pohelrnia was thriving, expanding its territory year by year.

And in time, unlike the already desolate Eastern Continent, the Western Continent would become a utopia filled with hope…!

The barbarian hordes rising from the south, whatever their relation to Algul, would lead to the collapse of Pohelrnia if Priegoss’s army were to continue to falter.

Above all, even if they were not overtaken by the barbarians, if other cities began to question the power of Priegoss, it would be uncontrollable.

‘…If that’s the case, maybe before meeting Priegoss again, no, the Western Continent could change just like the Eastern Continent.’

Orcus was a race created by Bruwon Krishaka to torment Ul Kanadiel.

They neither cultivated nature nor farmed, glorifying violence, hostile to all other races, and merely consuming like a horde of locusts.

If the Orcus were to arrive in the Western Continent, it would be a horrendous disaster for the Western Continent, which had only just begun to sprout.

Alia squeezed his eyes shut, remembering the last days of the indiscriminately born and dying beings of the Eastern Continent.

Most importantly, the thought that Priegoss would be pursued by someone like Algul was heart-wrenching.

‘But I still have no means to defeat Algul.’

If it were a fight between humans, there was no doubt that Priegoss’s army, trained under Araya’s martial arts, would be stronger than any human faction.

Strength does not guarantee victory, whether in natural struggles or human wars, but Priegoss’s army would surely have the upper hand over the southern barbarians.

But the other factors.

Succubi were not a race suited for combat.

In contrast, the Orcus were a breed specialized in slaughter with robust physiques, superior breeding capacity, and brutality, and Algul was a being who had absorbed Bruwon’s power.

He did not believe he could stand against Algul, even if he were to step forth.

‘…It would be great if I could use the Stigma…’

The powers transformed from the forces made by Ul Kanadiel and the Roa, utilizing the abilities of the Dream Demon that involve his mind and dreams.

The Stigma was a function that could allow necessary humans to receive the powers of the Deus Ex Machina, provided they held a unified faith in the New God faith.

‘It may still be too early.’

But since it was about connecting to a collective consciousness, if something were to go wrong, there was a possibility of self-detonation before a fight even occurs.

Control remained imperfect, and using that power safely was impossible unless one was an existence like Araya.

‘…If only Araya were here…’

Her absence, a being who seemed absolutely invincible in battle, felt cruel.

Above all, knowing the history of the Eastern Continent, she would have taken the initiative to deal with Algul without him even asking.

She was one of the seven leaders guiding the elves who valued the harmony of the world, and the goddess revered by the New God religion as an envoy of the deity, who went to look into the sudden increase of wandering giants after the northern giant brother ended up missing, and was presumed to be in battle with a Gal Dragon, had gone missing.

Furthermore, Silv, the younger brother among the valuable giant brothers, was in a state that required an exorbitant recovery cost due to severe injuries, and the sudden disappearance of Araya was barely preventing information from leaking out.

The events of the past few years that had smoothly progressed felt like a lie as all sorts of disasters piled up this year.

‘…Wait. There were, in fact, powerful beings who could actively move in this situation.’

He had forgotten about them while trying to minimize contact due to their busy Spring expedition and the impression from their first encounter.

Alia raised his head in surprise and spoke to the practitioners who had been silently bowing their heads as he contemplated.

“I will head to the Grand Temple immediately, so please notify the shrine.”

Antrea, too, looked surprised with wide eyes at Alia, who spoke cheerfully all of a sudden.

However, Alia was busy organizing the words to persuade those he would meet at the Grand Temple, thinking of them.

There were.

While not qualitatively on par with Araya, he may find a force that could be superior when viewed overall.

A formidable being, like Araya, who valued the balance and harmony of the world and, if using the Deus Ex Machina haphazardly in the center of Pohelrn, claimed he would erase all humans.

Currently in the Grand Temple were three high elves, the brothers of Araya, and eighty elves.

‘Just wait a moment. Priegoss. I will definitely come to help.’

With a firm expression, Alia stepped out with the practitioners towards the Grand Temple.

◈ ◈ ◈

Upon arriving at the Grand Temple, Alia questioned the chaotic atmosphere surrounding him.

If someone were to mention the most sacred and tidy place in Pohelrn, everyone would say the Grand Temple, the holy site of the New God religion.

Yet for such a Grand Temple to be in such an uproar without any special occasion was perplexing.

‘Could the news of a defeat in war have already spread?’

The Grand Temple was the place that held the information networks of the Peddler Guild, Stonecrafter Guild, and the Thief Guild during Araya’s presence.

However, since Araya’s absence, the information had only been passing on to him, except for the unfriendly Thief Guild towards him and Priegoss…

Guided with noticeable discomfort by the priest due to his visit, Alia moved to a place and was left stunned, gaping, as he encountered an unexpected figure.

“…Lady Araya…? What on earth is this?”

“Ah, Alia. I seem to have arrived late without any contact. But could you wait a moment? There’s been a slight issue.”

There she was, the missing Araya.

Gone was the emerald-hued garment she had previously worn; instead, she was adorned in garments made of precious materials that gleamed with a radiant golden hue, facing a particular spot with a troubled expression.

No, it wasn’t just Araya; all the priests and elves residing in the Grand Temple were gazing in that direction.

‘One is the high elf named Palas, who you said was Lady Araya’s older brother. But who is the other elf…?’

An elf adorned in golden attire, meeting the high elf Palas, who wore a similar aura of hostility given his previous emerald clothing, both of them locked in a stare of intense animosity with one another.