BXBX NOVEL Vol. 5 - Chapter 258 - Divine Artifact
"What do you mean 'the world will be destroyed'?"
"Yeah. This is not what happened just now. The prelude to destruction of the world happened when you were protecting Rosenheim."
The Spirit God started to give us an orderly explanation of what happened.
"During the war in Rosenheim?"
"Yes. While you were fighting the Demon King's army on the ground, the main army of the Demon King's army seems to have invaded the Divine Realm."
"The main army? You're telling me that the main force of the army wasn't present in the war?"
(Don't be the worst case scenario.)
"That's right. It is just as you predict, Allen."
"Hey, Allen, talk to us so we can understand."
Since this was a conversation that only Spirit God and I could understand, Cecile asked me to elaborate.
"No, we talked about it during the war, but didn't the Demon King's army look strange compared to what we heard at the Academy? I guessed the right way to describe them was that they were just a bunch of magical beasts in a clique."
"I remember Master Allen talking about that."
Formar also recalled a conversation I had with him when we were fighting the war in Rosenheim.
I had said that throughout the war, the Demon King's army was acting strangely.
The army was a numbers-driven, advance-only force with few supply units.
It was a bunch of magical beasts with no solid chain of command and only a heavy emphasis on offense.
They were just hungry magical beasts.
I had learned at the Academy that the Demon King's army was cunning and would attack their enemy's weak spots.
That, too, was the reason why the Central Continent was losing war after war after war.
It was different from what I had learned and felt uncomfortable, and I talked to my friends about it several times during breaks.
"So, they really were a disposable unit like you said?"
Kiel also recalled.
"I guess they were just distractions. They wanted to turn the Gods' attention to this world in order to make it easier for the main army to attack the Divine Realm."
"So you're saying that 10 million magical beasts were used as disposables."
""...""
The Principal of the Academy had told me that the number of magical beasts was very high.
My friends and I were able to win the war, but it was not easy because of the sheer number of the magical beasts.
But if all of that was a diversion or something to achieve a goal, it all made sense.
(Just how strong is the Demon King's army's main force?)
One hypothesis circulated in my mind.
"The main army was an army made up of Evil Dragons, Ancient Dragons, Demon Generals and Great Demon Generals."
(That sounds strong. The army we fought against used the term 'disposable'. Ancient Dragons are said to be as strong as Demi-Gods than S-rank magical beasts after all.)
Each Dragon was probably an army equal to or greater than that of the Demon General Razel's or the Floor Bosses of the S-class dungeons.
"I think that means that every member of the main army was at least an S-rank. So what happened to the Divine Realm?"
"The Demon King's army never expected to be able to destroy the Divine Realm where the Gods stayed just because of their strength. They had a clear goal in mind when they invaded the Divine Realm."
"Goddess Freya?"
"Yes. They attacked Freya's temple. It seems that the Demon King's army had their sights completely set on Freya.
"... So, what happened to Goddess Freya?"
Master Craftsman Habarak was concerned for Goddess' Freya's well being.
"Freya is one of the Four Great Gods. There was a bit of trouble but with the help of other Gods, she was able to successfully repel the Demon King's army. Both sides suffered some casualties, but the Demon King's army was still repelled."
"I see."
Master Craftsman Habarak was relieved by the Spirit God's words.
"But something important was taken from the temple. The Demon King's army was able to steal the 'Divine Artifact' that made Freya the Fire Goddess that was in the temple."
The Spirit God spoke about 'Divine Artifact'.
(He is willing to tell us so much detail about the Divine Realm while he was hell bent on not saying anything before.)
The situation was so serious that Spirit God Rosen was willing to tell us about Divine Realm
"Is that why the 'fire' got weaker?"
This time of the story coincided with the time when Master Craftsman stopped hearing Goddess Freya's voice while blacksmithing.
Master Craftsman Habarak could no longer hear Goddess Freya's voice, and the fire was too weak to process Orichalcum.
Even Adamantite couldn't be processed properly.
"Yes. If a God is deprived of his/her Divine Artifact, he/she ceases to be a God."
"Oh, no..."
Tears came to the eyes of Master Craftsman Habarak.
"And you think that will result in the destruction of the world?"
"That leads us to where we are now. If Freya continues to use her power as the Fire Goddess as she had been prior to losing her Divine Artifact... she will turn to stone in about 3 years."
(Stone? Maybe that's God's way of dying.)
""...""
Everyone was waiting for the Spirit God to continue.
We were waiting to hear what would happen to the world after 3 years.
"In less than 3 years, the power of fire, which now affects Adamantite, will soon no longer be able to process Mithril. We will be fighting the Demon King's army with ragged iron armor and scrap iron weapons."
"Oh, no."
"Then what will happen to the Mithril mines in the White Dragon Mountains?!"
Cecile, of the Granvelle Family, and Kiel of the Carnell Family were worried about the Mithril mines in the White Dragon Mountains.
The power of the Fire Goddess will be lost from this world.
I learnt that the weapons and armor needed in the war against the Demon King's army would soon be unavailable.
(And the number of weapons and armor available in the dungeon doesn't provide enough weapons and armor for the troops.)
Weapons and armor were expendable.
It would be difficult to obtain new ones, and difficult to repair them.
We would be forced to fight against B-rank or higher magical beasts with inexpensive weapons and armor.
"So the Gods have decided to allow Talent changes to try to balance the situation?"
"That's right. The Gods have decided to spread the story to the world about the fall of the Fire Goddess via oracles to the Pope and Church."
The Gods had decided to give bad news and good news to the people to alleviate some panic.
(Is this why the Talent change is allowed?)
I had been questioning why the Gods had decided to allow Talent changes at that moment when they had done nothing about it in the past.
But their reason was simple.
The world was about to be destroyed.
People were about to be faced with despair.
It was also a terrible despair.
The Demon King didn't not rule over anyone.
Soon the Demon King's army would use magical beasts to slaughter people in the most horrific ways.
(I can't protect all places at once. But still, why did the Demon King's army target Goddess Freya?)
Even if I could defeat millions of magical beasts, I wouldn't have the power to protect everyone in the world.
No matter how many [Blessing of Heaven]s I distributed, if the soldiers, equipped only with inferior weapons and armor, couldn't withstand a single blow of the magical beast and die instantly, they would have no time to use them.
But that was not what I was thinking about.
"I understand the situation. But Goddess Freya is one of the Four Great Gods and I have heard that she is a more ferocious Goddess than Aqua and Gaia. Would the Demon King's army go out of their way to target such a God?"
I had learned at the Academy that even God had ranks.
This knowledge of theology was one of the best things about attending the Academy.
Elmea, the Creator God, was an absolute God. And then there were Gods who were not as powerful as the Creator God, but immensely powerful in their own right.
I had learnt that the Fire Goddess Freya, God of Earth Gaia, God of Wind Ninlil and Water Goddess Aqua were especially powerful.
The Four Great Gods with their overwhelming power were exceptional compared to the other Gods, but Freya, the Fire Goddess, was also well known as a Raging God.
While the God of Earth and Water Goddess specialized in protection and healing, the Fire Goddess specialized especially in attack.
People even said that if Goddess Freya were ever angry, the volcanoes would erupt and burn the earth.
If I were the one invading, I would target a weak God, so was Goddess Freya a weak God?
"Does that have something to do with the fact that we dwarves have stopped praying to Goddess Freya and started praying to Digragni?"
Master Craftsman Habarak uttered what was on my mind.
"Is it true, Spirit God?"
"You seem to be very close to the truth of the world, Allen. But I can't say anything more to you."
(There is still something he can't say to me in this situation?...)
The Spirit God closed his eyes and refused to answer.
It seemed there were some things he couldn't say, even if the world were to be destroyed.
"Enough is enough. I am sure that Freya was losing her power little by little. That's why she was targeted by the Demon King's army."
"Oh, no. We dwarves are turning Goddess Freya to stone."
The dwarves stopped praying to Goddess Freya, which made her weaker.
Master Craftsman Habarak held his face in his hands when he learnt what was happening to Goddess Freya.
"What!? How long has the Demon King been planning this for? "
"I understand, Cecile. This has been in the planning for decades. The Demon King's army has been waiting for the dwindling number of dwarves praying to Goddess Freya and the loss of her power."
The war against the Demon King's army had been going on for more than 60 years.
(That would explain why the Demon King's army didn't completely attack. And what are they going to do now with the Divine Artifact?)
The disparate Five Continents Alliance and even the greedy Emperor of the Bakius Empire seemed to be a strategy of the Demon King's army.
And we had to consider what the next move of the Demon King's army,who had acquired a Divine Artifact would be.
"It seems that the Demon King's army is definitely planning to attack and destroy the world. Haha."
The last words of the Spirit God seem to be somewhat reminiscent of his own words to himself.
It even sounded to me as if the Demon King's army was planning an invasion not only on this world but also in the Divine Realm.
Allen knew that he had only a few years left to live and that the future was doomed, so he pondered what he should do.
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