Chapter 129

Ch.129 Apostle of the Goddess of War

“The real war has begun.”

“On the day the Sovereign Goddess vanished, eight fragments of light scattered across the continent. We must recover them. My Goddess says they are shards of the Holy Grail, containing the Sovereign’s power.”

“They must never fall into the Evil Gods’ hands.”

“Even if they fall into the hands of a slightly malicious human, it would be dangerous.”

“Who knows how the world will turn…”

“We must hurry back to our cults, stabilize the situation, and take our next steps.”

“What of the absence of the Goddess of Light and the Holy Kingdom?”

“Naturally, we should unite under the Fire Cult, the next strongest in influence.”

“I oppose that.”

“This isn’t a decision to make lightly.”

“Let us recognize as the next Sovereign Goddess whichever Goddess’s cult gathers the fragments fastest.”

“Agreed. Let us form a Divine Alliance centered on the newly chosen Sovereign.”

After a long council, they reached the best possible conclusion to avoid civil war.

The Holy Grail War had begun.

* * *

“Huff…”

Sion remained at the Round Table, reviewing the meeting’s contents.

‘I realize it again and again…’

These damn humans are hopeless.

Even with the world collapsing and the Goddess of Light gone, they still showed no intention of cooperating.

He sighed involuntarily. Even in this crisis, they schemed only for personal gain. He wanted to smash their pathetic heads together.

‘Even with humanity’s survival at stake, they’re still greedy and competitive.’

Sovereign Goddess—such a noble title.

But it wasn’t a position one could hold merely by name. It required corresponding power and insight.

When he thought of the remaining Goddesses after the Goddess of Light’s disappearance, none seemed fit to take her place.

‘Wisdom, Fire, Water, Purity, Life, Penitence, Abundance.’

Self-annihilation.

None of the Goddesses present would ever make such a sacrifice.

‘We must unite all remaining Goddesses and factions to fully exterminate the Evil Gods’ forces.’

But no one listened to Sion. Not even when the Goddess of Wisdom relayed Eru’s message.

With Eru gone, they saw no reason to follow her method.

Indeed, half of the seven Goddesses still seemed displeased with Eru’s choice.

Their stance was clear: why should they relinquish heavenly authority when they could simply keep fighting together until the end?

Being cast down to earth as Goddesses was itself a source of resentment.

He understood their feelings—but from a human perspective, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

At a time when they should seize this momentum to destroy darkness and the Evil Gods and bring peace to the human world, they were instead scheming over power and interests.

‘And these are Goddesses?’

Perhaps Eru had been suppressing their misguided desires all this time.

They themselves had been worthy of becoming Evil Gods.

The reason other cults and Goddesses remained uncooperative was painfully obvious.

‘Their belief that their own Goddess will solve the crisis when it comes.’

While they comfortably protected only their own domains, they expected the War Cult to bear all the hardship.

And they were absolutely certain it would happen—

because Achille had never changed, just as she had in the past.

The other Goddesses envied and resented Achille. They saw her only as a sword of war—someone to send out to crush enemies during conflict, then discard afterward.

The foolishly kind Achille sighed once more, helpless as ever.

By the end of the meeting, Sion was fed up and finally shouted:

—Then so be it.

—At a time when unity is barely enough, you’re blinded by power struggles. I can’t even tell who’s the Evil God and who’s the Goddess anymore.

—Will you regret it? Not at all.

—When I’ve gathered all the Holy Grail fragments, you’ll shut your mouths, won’t you?

—Of course—I’m confident.

—You don’t like it? Then die.

Sion’s violent words brought the meeting to a close.

With politics tangled in everything, his head ached terribly. He wished he could just solve everything with his sword.

Perhaps true peace lay in simply obeying the strong.

After the meeting, the other Apostles stormed out of the chamber.

Sion quietly began speaking to Lady Achille.

‘Goddess. We can no longer let them have their way.’

Sion urged her firmly.

[But…]

‘Absolutely not. As long as I am your Apostle, this cannot stand.’

[What do you intend, my new Apostle? Tell me your plan.]

Achille asked dejectedly. Since she hadn’t officially rejoined the Round Table, her voice still carried little weight.

Those who opposed Achille remained unmoved by her initiatives—and with Eru, their only ally, now gone, their hostility had only deepened.

‘Just as the Goddess of Light said… if they hadn’t expelled us from the Round Table, they’d have assassinated us by now and still had resources to spare.’

Even with proof from Goddess Eru, the other Goddesses deliberately ignored it—their defiance so strong they even disregarded the Sovereign’s dying wish.

Yet there was still hope.

After all, some factions still supported the Goddess of War and her cult, thanks to Eru’s backing.

‘I’ll win over allies, one by one.’

[Wisdom, at least, will side with us.]

‘Yes.’

Sion glanced at Arwen, who still sat staring at the floor, fidgeting with her fingers.

Perhaps out of guilt for past wrongs against the War Cult, she’d been the only one to support War’s side throughout the meeting.

As a result, she’d drawn the other Goddesses’ ire. If she kept defending Lady War, even the Wisdom Cult’s standing at the Round Table would weaken.

‘Yet she’s helping us despite that risk.’

[Indeed.]

‘Then we must show her a reward she can’t ignore.’

[Hmm. You mean to prove that siding with the War Cult brings tangible benefits?]

‘Exactly.’

For several days, Achille had completed spiritual attunement with Sion. Though she still needed to return to Elim to fully restore herself, their current level of communication was sufficient.

Sion still found direct conversation with the Goddess wondrous—but he quickly adapted.

There was no room for childishness.

The world was broken. The political landscape shifted rapidly. The Evil Gods’ forces could be regrouping anywhere. With the Holy Kingdom gone, the royal family and the Mage Alliance would soon raise their heads.

To survive in this storm’s eye, Sion had to keep his wits sharp and push forward.

‘I must turn this crisis into an opportunity.’

Sion’s faction was still small, his strength still lacking—he couldn’t possibly represent the Round Table cults overnight.

Even with Eru’s backing, he’d need to prove himself through deeds and achievements before the others would finally fall silent and follow.

This, too, was a trial—and a chance to make every other cult kneel completely.

He would have to wage war both internally and externally.

Though it gave him a headache, both Sion and Lady Achille relished it—because a true stage for victory and conquest had finally been set.

‘First, I’ll forge an alliance with the Wisdom Cult, devise a response, and find a breakthrough.’

[Understood. I’ll trust only my new Apostle.]

‘I’ll make every Goddess bow at your feet, Lady Achille.’

Achille smiled gently.

Her eyes clearly shone with affection for her still-young Apostle—so much so that her expression practically screamed, “I’m utterly charmed.”

[I don’t desire that much. I only wish for justice.]

‘My justice is whatever you grant me, Goddess.’

Achille smiled silently.

She only felt that her new Apostle harbored greater ambition than he appeared to.

‘Please also ask Lady Menesia for her cooperation.’

[Hmm. I shall.]

Sion rose and approached Arwen. Hearing his footsteps, she flinched and looked up.

“Oh! Hello?”

“Arwen. Aren’t you leaving?”

“Huh?”

“Everyone’s returning to their cults. There’s much to handle before the next meeting.”

“Y-yes, of course.”

Sion gave a small smile.

“You clearly have something to say to me, don’t you?”

“…You’re quite eloquent, Sion. And quick-witted too.”

“Let’s go. We can talk on the way.”

Arwen found Sion awkward to be around. Though they were of similar age, he somehow felt far more mature.

“Okay…”

She could only nod stiffly.

* * *

The two walked in silence for a long while.

The only topic they managed to bring up was memories of Garfenn.

They’d shared the same master—a perfect subject for building rapport.

“What was Master like in the old days? Hmm…”

Arwen sniffled once at the mention of Garphen, then smiled faintly, as if recalling a pleasant memory.

“He was strict. Extremely so… During training, I couldn’t even breathe.”

“Maybe that’s because you were such a coward, Arwen? Our master did look scary, just from his expression.”

“T-that’s! Not true!”

(Though it probably was.)

Sion let it pass—people felt things differently, after all.

Arwen huffed to herself, then added,

“But… that strict training was fun. More than any other moment in my life.”

“What did you even do?”

“Just… adventures. Adventures. Climbing mountains together, hunting monsters, roasting them and eating…”

It sounded like a fairy tale. Even Sion felt cheered listening.

“I was so timid back then—I couldn’t even look a cat in the eyes.”

“Really?”

“But Master made me stare down cats and even trained me to walk dogs…”

(Not training the dogs—but training her to walk them?)

Sion had to focus hard not to get lost in such absurdity.

‘If she couldn’t even face a cat, no wonder she found him strict!’

Making her stare down cats! Oh, what a ruthlessly merciless master!

‘I miss him.’

Sensing the same emotion, both Sion and Arwen fell silent for a moment, gathering their feelings.

“I’ll regret for the rest of my life that I couldn’t help Master.”

“Same here. But even Sir Lagan was mentally controlled—”

No matter who had helped, the outcome probably wouldn’t have changed.

“Will Lagan be alright?”

Arwen asked subtly. Despite her earlier disdain, she clearly worried. Sion agreed.

After all, Lagan had helped Sion the most. He’d only regained consciousness a few days ago—unconscious for nearly a week.

As the human most affected by the Corrupted Entrails, his aftereffects were the worst.

He’d only just realized he’d been made overall commander for restoring the Holy Kingdom.

Though he’d known it was coming, facing it still left him overwhelmed.

Their guiding Goddess of Light was gone.

Effectively, nearly half of all divine believers had lost their way overnight.

Right now, converting these adrift followers of Light was the top priority for every other Goddess.

Having lost heavenly authority, they could only sustain their power through mortal faith.

‘This could easily spiral into civil war.’

He needed to think carefully, read the currents, and prepare accordingly. That made alliances all the more crucial.

At least the Wisdom Cult.

If he could even bring Lagan’s Order of the Holy Sword into their camp…

Sion nodded reassuringly as he replied,

“He’ll be fine. I visited him before the meeting—he was already making weird jokes.”

“Oh! Then he’s fully recovered.”

Arwen lifted one corner of her mouth in amused disbelief.

Their rapport grew smoother. Arwen relaxed and began to smile.

It was the perfect moment to get to the point.

“Arwen.”

“Yes, Sion. You’re considering an alliance, aren’t you?”

“Join the War Cult.”

“???”

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