Apostle of the Goddess of War

Chapter 181

Ch.181 Apostle of the Goddess of War

In an instant, the atmosphere became subtle.

The air in the temple, once filled with despair and skepticism where they bit at each other, now heated up like a gathering of fanatics.

It was merely Sion's baseless assertion, but as the intelligent Goddesses added flesh to it and gave it meaning, it came to life.

At the center of it all was the Goddess of War, Achille.

Everyone looked at Achille and spoke. Expectation rose in their voices.

"So, if we just fight and die, we can go to where Eru is?"

"That's what I said! That's exactly it!"

"Eru really had a plan for everything after all."

Achille twitched her nostrils and barely held back the laughter escaping. A story that would have been dismissed as the ramblings of an ignorant war maniac under normal circumstances now gained credibility.

Though the situation wasn't light enough to imagine such things, she couldn't help but lift the corners of her mouth.

The future she ultimately envisioned was approaching reality. She couldn't help but be happy.

The Goddess of War was being treated as the sole savior and a prophet leading her lost sisters to an ideal world.

Achille finally opened her mouth, pretending to be serious.

"I too... I too vaguely knew. I pondered and agonized countless times over why Eru gave me the power of war. To think it was for this moment. It is true that dying in battle is the most splendid thing. I am glad my sisters are finally agreeing."

It was words devoid of any logic, but to the Goddesses already blinded by the sweet fruit of ascension, even that sounded like high-level philosophy.

"As expected... Achille wasn't a real fool either. There was a deep meaning."

"We underestimated her too much. We thought she only liked brawling, but it was all part of a grand scheme for ascension."

The Goddesses nodded in admiration. Sion wiped his face dry watching the scene.

'I'm going crazy, really.'

He had set the stage, but the reaction was too good, which was a problem.

They were selfish Goddesses who only knew themselves. If told to sacrifice to stop destruction, they would never listen, but if told to pay a price to immigrate to a better place, they rushed to open their wallets.

The problem was that the price was their lives.

The process was strange, but the result flowed according to Sion's intentions anyway.

It was enough that he had somehow conveyed Eru's true intent. They burn their bodies and souls on the battlefield to ascend.

It would be an appealing story for Goddesses who love noble things.

"Good! Then what do we do now? Sion, you tell us."

Menesia asked with shining eyes. True to her epithet as the Goddess of Wisdom, her action after making a judgment was fast. She had already taken out a thick grimoire in one hand.

Sion opened his mouth with a feigned solemn expression.

"First... we must find a method."

"What method?"

"A way to realize the ideal the Goddess of War desires in this world."

"You mean the path to ascend after dying on the battlefield?"

"Yes."

It was merely a plan, not a guaranteed future. They had to find a method.

"It is certainly an absurd story. We cannot just believe it blindly."

The Goddesses agreed.

Without a concrete method, it would just be futile death until the end.

Sion had thought that far. He gained another hint from his conversation with Eru.

"In my opinion…."

Sion opened his mouth quietly.

"I think it might be possible if we recall the Goddess of War's True Name. Lady Eru also told us to find Lady Achille's real name."

"Ah."

"I see."

"That makes sense."

"Who remembers Achille's True Name?"

"……"

No Goddess raised her hand. A name once extinguished could not be recalled. One had to find it oneself or require a special method.

Achille herself was the most embarrassed.

"No matter how much I think, it doesn't come to mind. It was useless even when stabbed with the Corruption Sword."

"Even I cannot remember."

Not even Magoth, who had lived the longest among them, could recall Achille's True Name. It seemed sealed by a powerful force.

"War. The opposite of war is... peace?"

"Perhaps."

"If it were peace, Achille would have realized it immediately."

Achille rubbed her eyelids. She was sweating. cold sweat too.

"To think the fate of the world depends on my damn memory."

Achille laughed bitterly. Her laugh was not a laugh. The burden was too great.

"I-I will hurry as much as possible. I will try to recall it."

"Please do, My Lady."

Sion finished speaking. Now it was a problem out of his hands.

'We must reveal the Goddess's True Name to win.'

Another Goddess raised her hand.

"Then what do we do now? How should we proceed?"

"It is simple. You just need to fight as honorably as possible."

Achille added to Sion's words.

"Just think of battle as enjoyable."

"That is too difficult a criterion. Only you would think that way, Achille."

"What is difficult about it?"

The Goddesses grumbled as if they couldn't understand Achille's way of thinking. Only Sion and Achille understood each other. At best, the Evil Gods of Madness or Rage vaguely agreed.

"The criterion is vague."

"Is it not the rule that the more vague it is, the more effort one must make? If you hold back and die carelessly, it's a dog's death; if you devote your whole self and perish, it is ascension."

At Sion's sophistry, Menesia exclaimed, 'Indeed,' in admiration.

"Then if I push my power of Wisdom to the limit and cast a large-scale explosion magic…."

"No, do not think of self-destruction first. Winning is the priority. You must win and raise your honor for the gate of ascension to open."

Seeing that they might all commit suicide before even fighting, Sion quickly hit the brakes.

Just then, Magoth raised her hand. Since the temple was noisy, she managed to get a chance to speak. It was a rare phenomenon.

That Magoth waiting for her turn? Everyone found it strange.

"Well, putting aside whether Achille's imagination becomes reality and we go to where Eru is, aren't there Goddesses who want to stay in this world?"

At the sudden question, everyone fell silent as if a ghost had appeared.

"Are there... such people?"

It was common sense, but they were curious if there really were such Goddesses. Sion looked around. The expressions of some Goddesses were subtle.

Sion clasped his hands and shouted.

"Those who wish to stay!?"

At first, no one raised their hand. But as soon as Achille raised hers, one or two Goddesses followed suit.

"Achille?"

Above all, many Goddesses widened their eyes at the fact that Achille intended to stay. She should be the first Goddess to desire ascension while waging a holy war... It was an unexpected result.

"The world beyond this one will be extremely peaceful and ideal. It will be the utopia Eru desires."

"That is correct."

Sion and Achille conversed.

"But I do not desire that. Even if it is not slaughter, there must be conflict and struggle. That is the driving force for us to live, and the reason for our existence. That is what I think."

So full of energy.

Magoth muttered so everyone could hear. Achille didn't mind. It wasn't wrong either.

"Do the other Goddesses who raised their hands have similar thoughts?"

Among those who raised their hands was Emily too.

"I... want to grow flowers with humans. I want to see as many children as possible enjoy beautiful things."

"You have ample reasons to remain in the human world."

"That's right."

Like Emily, there were many Goddesses who loved humans and wanted to share what they liked with many people. The Goddesses who raised their hands each had their own reasons.

There was no absolute need to follow Eru to the ideal world.

It was a world saved by combining everyone's strength, so there was no reason for the Goddesses to necessarily leave.

"Goddesses who wish to stay may stay, and those who wish to go may go meet Eru. We will not force anyone."

"What if we do not participate in the battle?"

"It is fine. However, it would be good if you helped in some way. Because we must absolutely win this war."

Achille's words ended there. It wasn't coercion, but a request.

If one ran away alone and tried to reign over the human world, it wouldn't be easy to live as desired.

'My apostle will handle it.'

Achille trusted Sion and responded as leniently as possible. She also kept in mind the world she envisioned as the next ruler.

"Good. Then is it decided?"

"The direction, yes."

The Goddess of Wisdom cut in sharply. The direction was set: all Goddesses combine their strength to fight together, and ascend during that war.

But now the story had to flow toward something even more important.

"How will we win?"

Menesia crossed her arms and asked Sion. There was no guarantee of victory just by picking a fight recklessly.

Even now, no solution was visible. The Goddesses' power couldn't even approach the God of Destruction born through the Supreme Goddess.

Sion stepped forward and spoke.

"I have thought about it carefully."

His tone was slightly relaxed. Having obtained the cooperation of all Goddesses, there was nothing left to worry about.

It was just a matter of unfolding his thoughts and gaining agreement.

"Goddesses will perish just by getting near the God of Destruction. Whether absorbed or attacked."

"I agree with that. Since we are part of it ourselves."

Achille added one more thing.

"I felt it when I got close. An irresistible power. We have no way to deal with it. There is a fundamental limit."

"Yes. Strictly speaking, attacks won't work at all on you Goddesses of the soul world. Because you were born that way."

"That means—"

Sion nodded. It was a confident gesture.

"Humans belong to the material world. Only I, a human, can attack."

"So you…."

Menesia couldn't continue her sentence. Eru's arrangement fit here. It was the answer to why it had to be Sion.

They needed the kindest and strongest existence among humans.

"Lend me your power. Give all your powers to me and the humans."

Resolution dwelt in Sion's eyes.

He wasn't speaking empty words. He truly thought so.

"Humans will wage war. Goddesses, please grant power, abilities, and blessings to the humans."

"Will that work? Really?"

At Achille's question, Sion nodded.

"This is the best option."

Firmly once again.

"The world will bet on war."

The temple fell silent for a moment. It was as if everyone was simultaneously looking at the huge shadow of truth looming behind Sion's words.

Goddesses were not beings who enjoyed war. However, no one could deny it.

The fact that there was too little they could do before the God of Destruction.

The fact that now they had no choice but to listen to the words of those infinitely small and weak humans below.

"We... give all our powers to humans?"

Someone murmured. Fear and expectation were strangely mixed in the voice.

"Yes. Pour out everything you have. Burn your souls white to ascend."

Sion nodded readily and looked around at the Goddesses. Fear and expectation coexisted. Arguably, fear seemed larger.

It sounded like being told to bet everything on a match that wasn't even certain.

"How can we trust your words?"

Menesia bit her lip after asking.

It was a first-time situation even for the Goddess of Wisdom. It was a completely irrational, uncertain, and unstable plan.

Nevertheless, it was the only option now. She wanted to have even a little conviction.

Sion raised his index finger.

"That fear."

"What?"

"That fear is the unknown dread we humans experience. And whenever that happens, humans pray. To you Goddesses."

"What…."

"Just as humans believed and prayed to the Goddesses even without certainty, I am saying the Goddesses should repay that faith."

"Heh-heh."

Goddesses who wielded considerable power, like Magoth or Goldina, just laughed at Sion's bold remark.

"Yes. Was this the feeling, Sion."

Only Achille smiled at Sion's words.

"That is correct. Humans have always lived carrying such fear."

Achille closed her eyes, then rose from her throne. All Goddesses slightly bowed their heads and shrank back.

The aura of a victor dominated the area.

"I will trust my apostle and grant all my power."

Achille declared.

"I entrust the war to humans. Fight betting the fate of the world, my apostle."

Screeech!

Sion drew his sword and plunged it into the floor. Then he knelt and paid respects as if swearing an oath of chivalry.

"The Goddess of War is with me…."

Achille lifted Sion's chin with her slender fingers and said,

"My soul will be with you."

"It is an honor, O Goddess of War."

Achille smiled satisfactorily at the look in Sion's eyes.

Though not a single breeze blew, the flames in the temple flickered slightly.

Achille finally nodded.

"Good. It is war. Let us wage war."