Once upon a time, a man realised his own powerlessness. He could command thousands of troops to march for victory, he could decimate any opponent that crossed his path with a single blow. He was the first one to rally the continent under one banner, and thus created an empire that shared no border. All the riches in the world belonged to him, every women begged to be his concubines, every warriors dreamed to fight alongside or against this man.

However, there was one enemy the man couldn’t beat, no matter what. When demons started to become a mortal threat, he allocated most of his resources and soldiers to repel those hideous creatures. But they were too fragile when confronted with the might of a corrupted beast. The man quickly lost his riches, his lovers and his reputation as the bravest of all. Backed to a corner, he brought himself to ask the gods for a weapon, for he wanted to purge this evil by his own hands.

The gods accepted his request, and lent him their swords, their axes, their bows, and many other tools of war. With this new power, he went into battle, and won by himself. When he came back to celebrate his victory, the gods awaited him, desiring their weapons to be returned. But the man refused, saying the demons would eventually return, and that he needed those weapons to fight them on equal terms. Then, the gods nodded, and made him promise one thing in exchange for the weapons.

We will lend you our weapons, but you must continue to fight the demons with them, they ordered.

The man accepted, and became the very first demon hunter in history. Later, his descendants inherited the weapons, but due to jealously or rivalry, they fought amongst themselves, splitting the ever-lasting empire into many smaller kingdoms. The promise soon became partially forgotten by both side, and the weapons became national treasure for each kingdom, thus earning the name ‘Treasure Swords’.

Or so the legend was told, but nobody could confirm its validity as there were only one old grimoire which mentioned this story. But Trellia knew better. She wasn’t even born when the Treasure Swords were gifted to the mortals, yet she still was plenty informed of their divine origins, which could only mean one thing for certain.

“With one Treasure Sword, I can attain a new level, and cover all kingdoms with divine energy.”

That was her plan. Plain, easy, but with great benefits. She was already capable enough to spread her protection to the kingdom of Biscotti. Friture was a bit sceptical about the amount of power a single Treasure Sword could give. If it was only enough to cover one more kingdom, would they need more Treasure Swords? Or if it didn’t even help in covering that much territory, would their plan become meaningless? If worse comes to worst, would they have to choose to neglect some land?

Friture’s desire was to change the world, not just two to three kingdoms at best. If they couldn’t do it, they what would he do? This new premonition only added another chain to his anxiety, heavying his shoulder with a dire prospect. He shared his worries with Trellia, however she dismissed them all, saying they should first try to reach for the best outcome, then make the adjustments when it would be done.

“After all, I gained this strength thanks to many decades of hardworking. If I can’t cover all kingdoms today, then tomorrow will do.”

That was right. Even if she couldn’t fulfil one aspect of the project, she could still wait patiently until she became capable to do so. She was immortal, time had no value for her.

“I’m still worried about the citizens of each kingdom… If they learnt that our kingdom is protected while theirs is neglected, there is no doubt they’ll become aggressive...”

“That’ll be this generation’s problem. I’m already doing all I can. If they still wanna complain, then tell them to come and to say it to my face.”

Friture couldn’t help but laugh silently. Who would dare to make complains to a goddess? Only the crazy ones.

“But still, where could we find a Treasure Sword? We’re not going to… Steal one from a kingdom, do we?”

“What are you saying? Of course we’re doing that!”

Okay. This plan was getting more dangerous than he expected. The Treasure Swords were both a secret that must be kept, and a power that must be displayed. Not a lot were known about those divine weapons, only that each kingdom seemed to possess a pair of them. They were mostly used when the kingdom was facing a crisis, or when a colossal demon threatened the safety of said kingdom. Otherwise, they just served as decoration. A decoration locked behind heavy and thick doors, with guards at each corners and corridors, and many protective devices to dissuade thieves to think about it.

In addition, Friture wasn’t informed at all of the possible Biscotti’s Treasure Swords’ position, he didn’t even know where to begin looking in the king’s grand castle. Trellia reassured him on this point, explaining how those ancient artefacts shared a common divine origin with her. With the correct wavelength, she could resonate with one weapon, and more or less perceive where it laid. It basically worked as a sonar for divine-based entity, which meant nobody would be aware if she tried it now.

“And we’re lucky, we got one Treasure Sword waiting for us somewhere in the castle.”

“So… We’re going to infiltrate the castle of the king of Biscotti, don’t we?”

“Precisely!”

The small scientist sighed at this thought. He barely managed to escape from this place when he was incriminated. And now, he had to go back in there… And act as a criminal, a thief. That was too much for him. Besides, he never was the physical type of guy, maybe he should stay behind and wait for the good news.

“Of course not. You’re coming with me. You’ll be helpful, don’t worry.”

“I… I’m not so sure about that… I’ll only be a burden for you…”

Trellia looked at him with an annoyed face, then sighed with the same tone. She walked toward Friture with a strange determination which told him that he was done for a bad scolding, then grabbed his shoulders and passionately kissed him. At first, she was just sucking on his lips, but then she went forward and caressed his tongue. The intensity overloaded Friture’s comprehension, he was so shocked he couldn’t respond but with surprised moans.

The pleasure was sudden, but exponential as she pursued without a break. He lost his pen and paper somewhere on the ground as his hand went numb to the confusion. His legs menaced to give up too. He tried to cling on the goddess, however his mind was entirely focused on the sense of touch, amplifying his fantasies as well when his finger brushed against what he guessed was the body of Trellia. Her hips were surprisingly broad enough to hang on without falling down, and her shoulders just at the adequate height to hold on without feeling too low.

Maybe because she felt his hands browsing her shape, Trellia growled something, but what she said couldn’t be spelled correctly as long as she didn’t break the kiss. So she departed herself, filling her lungs with fresh air as a thread of saliva was hanging between their mouths. Seeing it, she licked her lips, cutting the trail before looking deep in the eyes of the stunned Friture she held in her arms.

“You see, Friture. I don’t know what happened in your life for you to completely lack confidence in yourself. It’s like you see yourself as useless as long as it’s not about your work.

Your way of gauging yourself is way too brutal. That’s why, to thank you for teaching me this method of protection, I’m going to teach you something else.”

She pressed herself against the young scientist, both falling down on the soil of the forest. Or so he thought that was happening, but he suddenly found himself laying on the bed of the cabin with Trellia still stuck to him. Laughing childishly when looking at his confused face, Trellia leaned on him, drawing circles on his torso with the tip of her finger.

“We’re on my domain, of course I would prefer to stay inside.”

Then, she rose on top of Friture, overlapping him casually. Meanwhile, she drew a long line on Friture’s cloth from top to bottom. As her finger was passing over his torso, he felt a course of air traversing his body. She was slowly cutting his garment, exposing him more and more to the goddess.

“W-W-We still have to… Treasure Swords…?”

“There is no meaning to infiltrate at daylight. We have a few hours before us to share together.”

She placed her hands on her stomach, gesturing some sensual moves with the belt she was undoing, removing the last pin that served to close the habit which role was to not expose too much of her skin. But now, it was only in the way.

“… So what do we do now?”

***

Maintaining the kingdom’s safety was Paladron’s main job. And to complete his job, he had to go at great length, exhausting both his close aids body and his own. A single night of rest would be enough for him to feel restored, but recently he had no time to sleep.

With the project: New World clearly explained in the documents provided by the now deceased Chief Researcher, anybody could achieve it with a little bit of determination, and a massive amount of divine energy. And now with the fact that the National Research Center was proved to be a genuine sieve, who knew how many enemy kingdoms was now aware of its content?

They luckily managed to catch the galettean spy, but that didn’t mean he played alone. Besides, since the incident, they hadn’t captured anymore suspicious character. Be it with through investigation or interrogation, none of the remaining scientists and assistants working here sounded suspicious. Which either meant the remaining spies were quite the actors, or they already fled to their country to share the new.

That was why Paladron hadn’t hesitated to publicly claim that this project was a blasphemy to the gods that protected them, and that it should be seen as the study of heretics. If royals and generals learnt that this project was a hostile approach with the gods, they would be reluctant to pay any effort to verify this comment.

With this done, there was now only a few remaining problems to solve. Firstly, he needed to resolve the National Research Center’s sealant problem. If anyone could enter and exit with their secrets and technology, it was utterly pointless to try having an advantage on this side. Secondly, the mysterious disappearance of Friture still hung on his mind. If the scientist was still alive, there was a possibility a neighbouring kingdom would welcome him. Such a brilliant mind must not fall in enemy hands.

In addition, he had little time to solve those problems, because if his prediction was right, another issue was still on his way to rise.

“First General! A message from Cerise Fortress!”

The messenger arrived tired in front of Paladron, showing a rolled scroll to the First General. He silently picked it, unrolled it, and read its content.

It was a declaration of war from the kingdom of Galette. The casus belli being… To slay the biscottians heretics who dared use the power of gods for selfish reasons.