Chapter 535: Clash of Primordial Gods

Layla was practicing with her bow at the top of the temple stairs, aiming at targets she had set up far away among the village houses. She missed a few shots here and there. The distance was brutal, and she was training how to burn stamina to push her range farther.

“Nice shot, Layla. You hit it,” Charlie said.

Charlie had become her friend. She was far sweeter than Angie, with a genuinely pure heart. Layla had taken it upon herself to make Charlie see the truth about that bastard.

“Why does that mascot call us rats, but calls only the bastard ‘human’?” Layla asked.

The mascot stayed a short distance away, always refusing the cores they collected. Most of the time, he stared at the temple door. Whenever the bastard came out, the creature would immediately run off and pretend it had not been watching at all, then sneak after him anyway.

“The little guy is weird,” Charlie said.

She went back to adjusting the tents. She did that every day, even when everything was already perfectly set.

“Why do you wear that maid outfit, Charlie?” Layla asked.

“Master Luke likes maid uniforms.”

That bastard is a damn fetishist on top of everything else.

Using the poor girl to satisfy his fetishes. That somehow made him even worse. A monster.

“Why do you do it, Charlie? What do you see in that guy?” Layla asked. She had to help her friend realize what he really was.

Charlie’s face turned red like a tomato. “I-I-I like Master Luke.”

“I know that, Charlie.”

No one put on a maid outfit and did the things she did without liking the person.

“But what do you see in him? What’s so special about that guy?”

“Master Luke is really cute.”

Layla froze. Her bow slipped from her hand and hit the stone.

“Cute?”

That guy? Cute? That guy?

Layla stared at her, completely stunned.

Charlie covered her face with both hands. “It’s really cute when Master Luke is focused on something, thinking, talking, or doing anything at all.”

Layla came to a grim conclusion. Charlie was seriously unwell.

Angie suddenly appeared beside her, making Layla jump. “You almost scared me to death!”

“Charlie, my new class just appeared. It awakened,” Angie said.

New class? A familiar could have a class?

“Now I’m a—”

***

Cassandra was reading the reports. With each passing day, things were getting worse. More and more support was flowing to the baron from people coming through the Rift.

“We don’t have a choice,” she said. “Sitting here does more harm than good. The more time passes, the more prepared he becomes.”

Inside her tent were people she trusted, military leaders of the kingdom. She did not place the same faith in the mercenaries. Someone had been leaking information to the enemy. Bill’s operation, even though it went against her orders, had been exposed. If Cassandra herself had carried out that mission, she would have walked straight into a trap.

“Wasn’t the kingdom supposed to help us?” one of the sergeants asked.

“And it is sending soldiers,” Cassandra replied. “The problem is that they don’t really know what’s happening here, or how well this operation was set up. The troops stationed at the portals might not be completely reliable. They could be traitors, just like the baron. It’s also possible that on the other side, the reports sent back to the kingdom claim everything is under control.”

It was a real possibility. They were effectively cut off, trapped like hostages.

“And there’s still a traitor among us,” she continued. “I’m talking about a soldier, not just a mercenary.”

The baron had sent back Bill’s head, along with those of other soldiers who had tried a stealth attack through the cavern network. There had been a note attached: “I thought you would have come with them.”

“He might have written that just to throw us into confusion and turn us against each other,” Peter said. “Think about it. Discord is a powerful weapon.”

Even so, how had the baron known the group was moving through the caves? Was there truly a traitor among them, or had the surprise attack simply failed on its own?

“I’m done wasting time,” Cassandra said. “We’re doing exactly what the enemy wants. It’s time we strike back. At least the alchemists’ attacks have stopped.”

When the meeting ended, Cassandra returned to her tent. She walked carefully, paying close attention to the soldiers standing guard, watching them more closely than before. Inside, she pulled a Spirit Tool from her storage item. A claymore. The weapon had never been sent to the kingdom. She had kept it for herself.

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All right, Miles. If you want war, then war it is.

Cassandra was versatile in every combat style and could wield a Spirit Tool better than anyone else. Thanks to her Rank Skill, she understood how such weapons truly worked.

[Steel Pride (Rank F)]: Born from the desire to live up to the expectations of one’s idols and the pride in one’s own ability. When wielding a weapon for the first time, you instinctively grasp how it functions and can use it effectively, even without prior training.

***

Luke’s hand throbbed, burning like fire, and the glow that spilled from it revealed a figure. A man with a sharp goatee, a black cloak, a pair of horns rising from his forehead, and eyes green as a serpent’s.

“Asmodeus?” Azazel asked.

“Hello, Azazel.”

What is happening? Asmodeus… that name is familiar. I think it was on that list of gods I was given. The invitations.

Vaelor drew his sword. “Who are yo—”

Asmodeus snapped his fingers, and the world drained of color. Everything turned gray. “There. I froze time for that one. Now the three of us can talk without interruptions.”

Azazel crossed his arms. “What are you doing here, Asmodeus?”

“Oh, come on, Az. After all this time, that’s how you greet me?” Asmodeus replied.

Azazel turned to Luke. “Luke, did you accept anything from someone strange?”

“Accept something?”