A village quieted down as its citizens prepared to rest after the hustle and bustle of the days. Flames and candles were being put out and the cold comfort of the dark slowly enveloped the settlement. The only remaining source of light was the moon and the stars, twinkling in a silent and peaceful night.

Actually, there was another source of light; a pit roast was grilling something, Ryu by the side slowly turning the handle. "You know, I always preferred my meat well done. I mean juicy is nice, but during wartime, raw food could totally get you killed. Never got over that fear. Of course there's no bacteria or viruses in Nugaia. Its so weird you know? I read an article that most bacteria in our body is good for us. So what happened to them?"

The pit roast started speaking to Ryu "Min modified our body when she kidnapped us. Lots of things I can't tell you about her but one thing I can is that she is mega powerful, like, crazy universe destroying powerful. Oh, and that she'll grant us a wish if we do her little holy quest. You want bitches? Boom! She'll give it to ya! Seriously, we should be focusing on the undead and stuff. Why bother with all these?"

The 'meat' on the pit roast was obviously Glauc.

Zagan had bound him up and decided to put him in a purgatory of flame to purge his lust. To be honest the fire did little to burn Glauc. As little as his divine force was, the rate it regenerated at outspeed the damage of the flames. The problem was being turned round and round which caused him to be quite dizzy. He was slowly getting used to it though.

"Zagan did promise us to fight the undead though, so yeah you can't say we aren't doing the war on undead quest and all. Anyway you said wish? Can she make someone fall for me?" Ryu leaned closer to Glauc and tried to look calm but his excitement was obvious as he sped up his turning rate, causing more distress to Glauc.

"Argh spin it slowly! You suck at cooking! Anyway she could totally make Aphrodite give you a love potion or something. Exchange rate is like three thousand fuckloads of divine force i think. She could easily afford that. Wait. Did you sell me out for a girl? Aww man that's really low." Glauc looked in disappointment at his friend.

Ryu look flustered as he tried to defend himself. "What? No! Bros before hoes. I know that! I'm torturing you cause you're a dick. While we're fighting monsters and shit you were fucking goddess and stuff. Zagan told us. Said you cheated on his master, Luna. She's your wife right? Can't believe you got married before me." Ryu transformed one of his finger into a claw and started poking Glauc's stomach. His claw was repelled by the skin and simply bounced back instead of piercing through. "Man you're really sturdy. I've used these claws to claw iron shields in half you know..."

Glauc accusingly looked at Ryu. "Its Jane." Ryu's surprised expression gave it away. "Man, it is her! Well, can't blame you. We're all in this mess partially cause we're all horny bastards. Hahahaaha!" Both of them started laughing. It was truly a curious sight, a man was laughing with the food he was cooking. The shadows in the dark would have made Ryu look like an evil maniac were one to stumble upon such a scene.

A tired voice interrupted their jokes.

"What are you guys doing? You know Glauc, when you told me about fun and relaxation this was not what I had in mind."

Ryu looked at the source of the words behind him and screamed. "Ahhh! The fuck! Ghost!"

The 'ghost' looked quite offended by the label. "Glauc, this is Ryu? You're totally right, he's an idiot." Of course one could not really blame Ryu for mistaking him for a ghost. He glowed green, floated in the air, wore a tattered and stained robe and his scraggly beard and hair made him look like a victim of the plague. "Anyway, I finally did it! This metal can is really convenient! And beer! I gave samples and it was really popular with the valkyries! Your idea is brilliant!"

Glauc wiggled around to look at the speaker and beamed. "Dino! Whuzaaa! Mind freeing me from this chain? Enchanted nickel i think. It's slowing down my divine force regeneration by quite a bit. And preventing me from sending psychic transmissions."

Dino looked at the chain and pointed at it. One of the link broke and Glauc was released. "Oh wow that is really good quality enchantment. I could only break a link. I mean, I'm not a battle god but still, which demon you offended?"

Glauc stretched his body in relief. "Woo. Thanks! You're the best. Apparently Zagan in quite cross with me. Luna's butler. You know about me and Luna? Well he did not know Luna was the one who sent me to Aphrodite and now he thinks I'm taking advantage of Luna or something."

Dino instantly recognized the name and reeled back a little. "Ooof! Zagan? The godslayer? Aww man why'd you make me break the chain? I don't want him as an enemy!"

"Seriously? The butler is known as the godslayer? Why the heck would a godslayer be allowed in heaven?" Glauc blanched at the idea. No wonder Zagan's killing intent was so strong.

Dino shrugged. "Because Luna."

"Ah. Makes sense."

"What about Luna?" Ryu interrupted.

Glauc was suddenly reminded of his presence and crossed his arms. He pointed at Ryu and used his divine force to levitate Ryu to the pit roast and tied him up with the broken chains. "You know, I might start enjoying my meat well done too. Right?"

"Argh! Hot! Hot! Hot! Actually food tastes best when raw! Sorry man! No way I could have gone against a demon! You heard the ghost! He's a godslayer!" Ryu's regeneration prevented him being cooked alive but he still felt the pain from the fire. It wasn't as fun when the positions were reversed.

"I'm not a ghost! I'm Dionysus, the god of wine. What a disrespectful mortal!" Dino then conjured up a clear liquid and threw it at the flame. It flared up and covered Ryu, causing him to scream like a girl. The alcohol actually caused the wood to burn out quicker and the remaining flame was smaller in turn, to Ryu's advantage. Dino might act angry but he was a soft-hearted god. He then faced Glauc. "You told me to come before dawn but can we still go drink beer and fish on the boat?"

"Probably. I just telepathically called Luna. She's calling Zagan right now." Glauc then released Ryu. "You're lucky she told me not to torture her champion."

The sound of footsteps got closer and everyone turned their head to look at the source. A white haired, but proud looking old man wearing a bespoke suit was holding on to a torch. The flame on the torch was a dark red colour, almost like blood. "Pity. I haven't had the chance to use the hell fire yet." He grabbed the burning end of the torch to put out the flames with his bare hands. Glauc winced as he heard Zagan's skin being burnt.

Zagan looked coldly at Glauc. "I've promised Ryu to fight the undead should he help me to capture you. It was unfortunate i did not consider the presence of a drunkard..." Dino shrunk back at being mentioned. "...but a promise is a promise. Anyway, we have to fight off the winter monsters in Baqiqi first. Glauc, how bout you do it. Alone." Zagan then muttered to himself about accidents.

Glauc stared in horror as his improved hearing allowed him to hear about the gruesome ideas Zagan was whispering to himself. Glauc was too scared to say no to Zagan though. He racked his brains for an excuse and snapped his fingers. "Can't! I have to fish for fertilizers for Min. I promised Nunu. Like you said, a promise is a promise, right?"

Zagan simply harrumphed in annoyance. His racial weakness made him unwilling to be the reason to break a promise. "Fine. Anyway the champions should be able to handle the waves quite easily. I, however, do not have a lot of information on the undead. While you are fishing I shall accompany you and you can tell me about them."

"Sooooo... you're accompanying Glauc huh? I'm out. No offense." Dino plucked out a can of beer from a six pack and tossed it to Glauc. "Enjoy your beer." Then he shimmered out of existence.

Glauc grabbed at the beer can and studied it. It was actually part of a domain. Well, he was going to need as much divine force to survive being next to Zagan and he silently thanked Dino. He might be constantly drunk but he was a kind drunkard. A true friend when you need one.

Glauc looked for his fishing rod and teared up when he saw it. It had broken in half. A large portion of his divine force was still being siphoned out to pay for it despite it being broken. Oh well, at least he could still use the reel. He separated it from the rod and attached a shining bait to the hook. Might as well fish now. Hand fishing was still pretty fun. He sat on the roof, crossed his legs and tossed the line to the water. Still facing the water, he asked Zagan. "You know about The Gates?"

"The gates? Sorry but what does gates have to do with undeads?" Zagan looked wearily at Glauc. Was this fat ass trying to change the subject?

Luna had told him to leave Glauc alone even when he protested about his misdeeds. He had hoped to use the purgatory flames of hell to burn the lust inside Glauc but he was slightly too late. If only Dionysus had not interfered.

Glauc tugged at his fishing line, hoping to attract some fishes with the vibration in the water. He faced Zagan and raised an eyebrow. "Lemme ask Luna first." He then pointed at the moon in the sky and closed his eye. Pointing at the moon wasn't really required but it helped him to concentrate as he established connection with Luna.

The good thing about Luna was that she had a kind of toll free psychic number; you contact her and she'll pay for the divine force cost. As much of a loner as she was she still made for a pretty generous acquaintance.

Glauc then pointed at the water. "Nice. She's doing a video call! Makes things simple for me."

The water in the river shimmered and the reflection changed into an image of Luna. She was still in her pajamas and seemed quite worried. "Glauc. Don't tell Zagan about the gates. Others may be able to read his mind and cause trouble with the information. Actually, don't tell anyone about the gate, not even your friends. I'll discuss it with you in private later on."

"Ok babe." Glauc made an 'OK' sign with his fingers, then made a gesture of zipping his mouth. "He's gonna help with the undead though. Any hints to help him? And me." He then gave Luna a wink.

Luna simply rolled her eyes. "Zagan. Don't touch the undead. Small hint, Min's kinda responsible for them. If you wanna survive, better be sure to not underestimate them. The champions can have physical contact with them but not you. That's all."

Zagan's face paled. This was the first time he heard that Min was involved with the undead. Granted, he had always been busy taking care of Luna and finding potential suitors for her. Min's notorious powers were known to most in heaven and Zagan had mistakenly promised the champions to aid against one of her creations. It was effectively a death sentence for him. His godslayer title was like dust to her and for some reason, she had grown exponentially more powerful ever since the move to Nugaia.

Luna's reflection faced Glauc and she crossed her arms. "Glauc? Aphrodite's been calling me nonstop. You don't wanna be the god of foreplay? I'm fine with sharing you with her for once a week."

Glauc was surprisingly agitated with her nonchalant attitude towards 'sharing' him. A part of him wished she was a little more possessive. "Once a week? Your friend is crazy! I barely survived one visit with her! No bloody way I'm meeting her again!"

Luna simply smirked. "You realize you'll never be able to enter heaven? She's waiting for your arrival to ambush you. You know that right?"

"I am protected by Nunu! Aphrodite won't be able to fight a primordial!" Glauc retorted.

"She doesn't have to. Aphrodite... Let's just say she's paid Nunu's taxes. Nunu can't hurt her. Even if she can Aphrodite's very... determined? She's not scared of impossible odds." Luna calmly replied.

"You mean she's crazy?"

"...for love!" Luna's eye twinkled and her mouth curved to almost an upside-down 'V'. She held her fist up and almost seemed proud of Aphrodite.

Zagan simply stood silently in the corner. Aphrodite had often come to visit Luna for tea and crumpets and always appeared refined and elegant to him. The recent events had forced him to rethink about what he knew about gods.

As much as he was grateful towards Luna, he felt a bit sad that Luna was fine with polygamy. He was a staunch supporter of monogamy. He did however promised his eternal servitude to her and therefore steeled his heart to accept Glauc. He would make a horrible husband in Zagan's thoughts but beggars can't be choosers.

At the very least she would not continue to be a miserable spinster. He would no longer suffer in silence as the married gods made fun of his master.

Ryu cleared his throat and poked his head in front of the display. "Hi Luna! I'm Ryu! Your champion. Pleased to meet you!"

Ryu however was in his human form so Luna totally ignored him. Glauc grinned in silence and reminded himself to never tell anyone that Luna is a furry. Luna switched the transmission off and left Ryu scratching his face in confusion.

"Hah! You wanna speak with Luna? In your dreams! You gotta be at least half as sexy as i am to get her attention!" Glauc took the opportunity to make fun of him. If Ryu was less sexy than a fat guy like Glauc, doesn't that make him worse than trash?

Of course Ryu was used to Glauc's jabs and simply nudged Glauc's stomach. "Can't believe you're marrying her. I have no idea what she sees in you. Actually Zagan, what does Luna see in this fat ass?"

Zagan simply shrugged his shoulders. "At least he is a god. Beyond that? I'll have to train him until he's the perfect husband."

Glauc inched away slightly from Zagan.

***

The next morning, Jane, Ana and Sheila woke up to the sight of three men sitting cross-legged on top of a roof of a boat. Zagan was going through a list of proper behavior with Glauc while Ryu was nodding asleep. Glauc looked intensely at the water, trying to ignore the droning voice of Zagan. Why the fuck was the butler so talkative! And why wasn't the fish biting!

Glauc grinded his teeth as he blamed Zagan for scaring away all the catch. He had promised fishes for Min and if he failed to get any Nunu's wrath would be catastrophic. Unfortunately he was too much of a coward to tell Zagan to shut up.

The three ladies looked at the sight in confusion. All of them thought the same thing. "Isn't the fat fuck supposed to be cooked alive? Why is he fishing?"

Glauc noticed them and a wide evil grin covered his face. He waved at them.

"Zagan." Glauc interrupted Zagan's droning lecture.

"What?"

Glauc simply said, "I think you're forgetting about the undead problem." which quieted Zagan. "You know gods aren't allowed to directly smite em right?"

Zagan nodded. "I've been told of that. Even demons and divine beings are banned from fighting them. Do you know the reason why?"

Glauc scratched his head in annoyance. It was obvious he wanted to tell Zagan but was unable to. "Confidential. Sorry."

Zagan straightened his back. "Hmpf! Preposterous! I've been living here far longer than you have and yet you know more secrets than i do! Even mistress Luna is keeping me in the dark! Do you know how frustrating that is? I mean i understand why she can't tell me but still..." by the end of the sentence Zagan had slouched down and seemed smaller.

Glauc shrugged. "You can always ask Nunu. She might tell you."

"Pass." Zagan smiled wryly. No good had ever come with associating with the primordial law of the Watery Abyss.

"Anyways. If you wanna have a chance with them undeads, you'll have to rely on the champions. More specifically Sheila and Ana. I think their blessings are really suited for those particular enemies." Glauc spoke with a glint in his eyes. "You should focus on training them."

Zagan pondered for a moment, then stood up. "You're right. They might be the best hope of us getting out of this mess." He walked to the two girls who were staring at him in confusion and put his hands on their shoulders. A metallic dust whirled around them and they disappeared into thin air.

Jane looked stunned at their disappearance. She then looked at Glauc. Then at the currently sleeping Ryu besides him. "Did Zagan just send them to his kingdom again? Wasn't the training over? Actually, weren't we supposed to burn your lust away or something?"

Glauc looked at her in annoyance. Luna had prevented him from taking revenge on her champions but that did not mean he had to help them. He ignored her and got back to fishing, finally in peace.

Jane shook Ryu awake. He was still dazed and still had drool all over his mouth. He wiped his face with his arms and blinked a few times. He saw Jane and gave her a stupid smile. Jane secretly pointed at Glauc and silently mouthed out the words 'what the fuck'.

Ryu got up and took her to Jack and Jill's current lodging. He then asked all of them to meet at the village chief, Gob's house. "Right. How should i start. Zagan? The one we made a deal with? Well the plan failed. Glauc got released by his friend and he managed to contact Luna. At least Glauc doesn't seem to be too angry. Maybe he won't make our lives too miserable."

"What about the monster waves in the winter?" Gob asked. He had allocated most of his resources into food production instead of the village's defences. Asking Glauc for help now seemed a bad idea as the village was implicated in his capture. Zagan would probably be unable to help after being punished by Luna.

Ryu smiled sleepily. "Zagan's still gonna help us. Luna didn't seem to be to offended by his attempt to torture Glauc. Honestly she seemed more amused at the whole thing. I watched them having a video chat with her."

Gob had no idea what video meant but sighed with relief at the news. Thankfully Luna was a weird goddess. He had to remember to give her more offerings once everything is over.

***

During the next weeks Glauc had caught lots of fishes. He had summoned Min several times to the boat and she simply took the fishes and left immediately. They did not speak much, Min seemingly more interested in the fishes than in small talk. Glauc himself slept in the boat and despite the snow and sometimes blizzard wore shorts and t-shirts. He did not seem bothered by the cold at all.

A horn sounded and Ryu hurriedly gulped down the rest of his lunch. He ran to the east gate and was met by villagers hiding behind walls and tall posts. Most had bows at the ready and were looking out towards the white horizon.

Jane came running in a few minutes later and Ryu greeted her with a nod. She panted and asked Ryu "You see the monsters yet? What about Sheila and Ana? Zagan?"

Metallic dust swirled around and Zagan, Sheila and Ana materialised. The girls looked exhausted while Zagan did not change much. Jane immediately ran towards them and hugged Ana and Sheila. "How are you? You've been gone for so long."

Zagan interrupted their chat. "Ladies. The pleasantries will have to wait. They're coming."

The whole village started to shake and tremble. In the horizon snow was being kicked up and white fog rose up. Ryu gulped and climbed the wall to sneak a peek. He was already transformed into his werewolf form and all his fur bristled as he saw the monsters approaching the village.

"That's a big wave." Gob spoke up. "We've never seen so many before. Fuck."

Zagan climbed the wall and looked at the approaching enemies. Even he wore a grim look on his face after noticing their numbers. "This. I did not expect this many...We're in trouble..."

The tranquility of the snow covered plains were disturbed by the booming of drum beats. An army composed of orcs, goblins and trolls slowly mached towards the village of Baqiqi. They stopped beyond the walls of the village, out of the range of the waiting bowmen. There were hundreds of them and they seemed to be waiting for more to come.

Many of the villagers defending the low wooden palisade took out a small straw and wax statue of a snake. They begin to attack the statue using their daggers, teeth or even fire. Then they threw the deformed figurine towards the directions of the enemy. The floor of the outside of the village was soon littered with the broken fragments of the statue of a god. "Creations of Apophis, begone!"

What surprised Ryu was that he saw several of the goblins and orcs in the army visibly grew pale at the strange ritual. Some even vomited or fainted without any cause or reason. He asked Gob, who had also participated in the weird ritual, what had happened. "Umm Gob. Was the statue some kind of a magical item for cursing your enemy? Can I have one?"

Gob chuckled at Ryu. The gods who summoned the champions seemed to always leave them lacking in knowledge. He nocked back his arrow and answered back. "That's the statue of Apophis. He's one of the gods responsible for creating monsters and such. Know that you can worship against a god to weaken his powers. Usually we can disable at least half of them this way but now it seems almost ineffective. There's too many of them." He simply sighed. He nodded at the river north of the village, hinting at Ryu to ask a certain someone to help.

Ryu understood his hint but he was hesitant to ask Glauc. His old boss had often gave Ryu hints in the past days, referring to them as an army instead of a monster wave, meaning he knew their numbers. He also gave pretty obvious hints that he would not help. Ryu guessed that the reason for that was that Glauc was probably unwilling to offend Apophis. He shook his head at Gob, thinking that it's better to disappoint him now than fight with the false hope of Glauc's assistance.

He was surprised when he saw Gob suddenly smile. Ryu followed Gob's sight and noticed a boat floating along the shore. On top of the boat was a fat guy lying on his sides. One of his arms was supporting his head and the other was lazily laid on his hips. Glauc looked at the monster army, then at the defending villagers, slowly turning his head as he did so. He then gave an audible chuckle and waved his free hand. "I'm just here for the show! Hah! If you think I'll help a bunch of ingrates then you must be dreaming!"

Guess he was still quite pissed at being captured by Zagan and the villagers' involvement.

Ryu rubbed his forehead. He really felt like punching Glauc in the face now. He could really be annoying at times.

***

Zagan tapped Sheila on her shoulders. She nodded and lifted her round shield and marched out the village gates. Ana followed her from a distance and stopped to chant a spell. At the end of the chant, she pointed her scepter at Sheila and a barrier of light in the shape of a globe surrounded her. Once buffed, Sheila quickened her pace and stopped when she noticed a goblin ready his sling.

She stood her ground and waited for the first projectile to hit her. Soon, a pebble flew towards her but it was slowed when it passed through the light barrier and Sheila used her shield to easily deflect the projectile. She smirked and used her free hand to make a 'come hither' motion. The monster army was enraged and started slinging their projectiles at her. A rain of stones soon assaulted Sheila but she just stood her ground and deflected as much as she could with her shield.

Ryu looked at the lone woman standing there and asked Zagan what was happening. "Are we trying to finish the monster's ammunition? I would probably make a better target you know? Magical regeneration, remember?"

A stone hit Sheila's shoulder and she flinched. The leather armour was supposed to protect her but this particular bullet had been slightly dense and sharp and had punctured the armour. She hurriedly stepped back and slowly retreated while trying to deflect as much attack as she could. Some monsters had advanced when they saw her retreating.

They were immediately riddled with arrows when they got too close to the palisades. Their peers immediately learnt their mistakes and they ran back to the army lines. Some were too late and were defeated on the way back.

Glauc watched quietly at what had happened and smiled to himself. That was a pretty good idea. Zagan was taking full advantage of the blessings Sheila had. Her flames was not just an ordinary one. Wadjet was commonly known as Avenger of Wrongs, and she wielded the flames of vengeance. This meant that Sheila's flames were stronger against someone that had attacked her first.

Looks like Glauc won't have to interfere too much in this battle. He should have brought popcorn. It's been some time since he last watched a battle film and now he had first class seats.

He also noted with interest that the defeated monsters had souls flew out their bodies and seemingly sucked by the river to the side. Back to Min, probably. Their bodies were closer to the watery abyss than the champions during death and thus were unable to be absorbed by the champions. Looks like ranged attacks up to a certain distance will not help the champions 'age up'.

Huh. Interesting.

So far the 'battle' consisted of the villagers waiting for a stray monster party to get too curious for their own good and come too close to the palisades, only to be riddled with arrows. Most of the monster army actually camped a distance from Baqiqi. It seemed that they were waiting for reinforcements despite the already impressive size of the army.

The ragtag army lacked discipline, fights often occurring amongst themselves over minor things like scraps of food or staring the wrong way. It was apparent that the monsters had lived separately until now and only came together during winter due to a higher power uniting them. Glauc guessed a god or a group of them, probably with war domains or the sort.

He thought of the list of names he had read in the library and actually realized that a large portion of gods had pretty violent domains. Domains related to murders, wars, destruction and even conquering were rather popular.

Death was interestingly lacking though. "Guess it makes up part of the life domain monopolized by Min?" Glauc shrugged to himself.

Glauc got a call from Luna. He was quite grateful for it as he was really bored right now. War was a lot more boring in reality. Luna was kind enough to supply the divine force for a two way telepathic conversation. "Dear Glauc. I visited Wadjet to try and dispel the misunderstanding between the two of you. Anyway she had good reason to be pissed at you. The structures you hid behind to block Aphrodite's arrows? They were prisons. Guess what kind of prisoners it held?"

Glauc hopefully replied. "Cute little bunny rabbits?"

Even though Luna could not be seen Glauc knew she rolled her eye. "Martyrs. They are the elite forces of Wadjet's greatest nemesis: Isfet, The God of Chaos. You might not know this but Nugaia's monster population has increased quite dramatically. We have you to thank for that."

Glauc scratched his nose and gave a wry smile. "Ah... The villagers keep complaining that the monster wave this time was bigger than usual. Whoops."

Luna casually replied. "Oh it's going to get bigger. I've asked my worshippers to herd the monsters to this area. I promised Wadjet that you'll take care of them. Since it's your fault and all. Stop blaming Aphrodite unless you want her to get even more pissed with you. Although that would be quite fun to see..." She paused for a while before she remembered to add "Oh yeah! Try to help Sheila too. She's Wadjet's champion right? That should more than make up for the headaches you caused."

Glauc nodded, the gesture relayed by the telepathic relay. "Yo Luna, I noticed something with the souls when the monsters die. First, the ball shaped light, I'm guessing that's their consciousness? It goes towards the river no matter what. Then there is the wrigglly worm like light, they go to the champions or the river depending on who is nearer. Bet that's the soul age power thingy, right?"

Luna put on a haughty expression and started lecturing. "Yep. We simply call it soul force. The refined version is called, you guessed it: divine force!"

Glauc nodded. "Cool. What about the third part of the soul? The purple lightning thingy? All of them goes towards Jane for some reason."

Luna paused. "Purple? Interesting. I'll have to ask Nunu about that. You should too. After the battle. Get ready. The monsters are coming. Good luck dear!" And with that she cut off the transmission.

Glauc looked at the horizon. Shapes could be seen breaking the view, some quite large in size. As they got closer it became apparent that a few of them were mounted on giant scorpions. The riders had heads of jackals with humanoid bodies. They wore a metallic breast plate and wielded a sickle in one arm. Their height was impressive, rivalling even the trolls and looking even taller when mounted.

What worried the champions more was that they were accompanied by an army larger than the one waiting in the siege. Their abilities might be good for a one on one duel but they questioned the effectiveness in a full scale war. All heads turned towards Glauc who gave an annoyed grunt and beckoned Zagan and Sheila to come aboard his boat.

***

War drums stopped and the screeching of monsters was silenced when the mounted commanders, the Martyrs, rode forwards. They stopped between Baqiqi and the monster army and bellowed out in a droning chorus. "We are the followers of Isfet. One who represents the free will of the individuals. We mock your slavery and castes. Join us or be food."

"If we join them we'll be food either way. Horrible negotiators, these guys." Gob shook his head in wonder.

"They're probably just trying to intimidate us. Although it's rather redundant, their army has already scared me to the max. Hehehe." Ryu nervously giggled.

Gob nudged Ryu with his elbow. "Well, we have a god. I think. He's on our side, right?"

Ryu whispered, "Dunno. Zagan and Sheila is too busy preparing to tell me anything. I can tell that Glauc's still pissed though."

While the Martyrs were riding back to the army Sheila started running out from the gate. Sensing something was amiss, they increased their pace and started giving commands to form up. The army got together into a tight formation, those with shields or thicker hide standing at the front.

This was what Glauc was hoping for though, the closer the monsters were, the less divine force he had to use. He opened his hands wide and brought it together in a clap. The monsters immediately got pulled to the center, with the lighter ones pulled above and the heavier ones at the bottom. From a distance it looked like an army of ants forming a mound with their bodies.

Sheila ran and ran until she was three steps from a Martyr. He was still struggling from being pulled by Glauc's gravity when his eyes met Sheila's. Panting and sweating from the exercise, she stood up straight and stared back at him. She grinned and snapped her finger. The bunched up monsters burst into a towering inferno.

Screams filled the air as they struggled against each other to get away from the flames. More monsters actually got killed from the stampede rather from the flames. Sheila purposely focused on covering a larger area rather than make her fire burn hotter. All part of the plan.

Glauc still reserved enough divine force to pull Sheila's collapsed body back to the village. The amount of soul force she absorbed from the deaths was enough to put her in a mini coma. Then he noticed that all the purple lightning from the dead monsters crawling towards him. They entered his body.

"Shit."

"PURPLE SHITSTAINED SONNOVABITCH EVIL ENERGY SHIT WHY IT'D HAVE TO CRAWL IN ME FUCKING FUCK FUCK FUCK!"

Glauc's senses were put in overdrive when the purple lightning-like energy from the recently deceased entered his being. His skin and organs felt like they were being constantly pierced by knives, his blood was boiling, his tongue tasted like someone shat in it and his eyes felt like it was constantly blinded by a strobe light. All in all, not a pleasant experience. Whatever the purple energy was it did not mix well with divine force and the reactions was exhausting at the very least.

None of the mortals were able to perceive this energy so they were confused when Glauc started crawling on the ground screaming like a lunatic and scratching all over his body as if he was attacked by a swarm of ants. They guessed that he was having some form of a mental fight with Isfet or something. Some silently cheered that both will kill one another. *cough*

However, they were too busy to help Glauc. The enemy at the gates, although battered and bruised, still had plenty of survivors and their commanders, the Martyrs, were especially pissed off at the village of Baqiqi. They had never expected to suffer such a big blow at the start of the battle, no less from a small fishing village. Although slightly cowed by the mysterious power that managed to bunch them together, they gave out a guturral roar and led the army in the charge.

Their charge was short lived. It was interrupted by the sounds of screaming and flesh ripping in their flanks.

"AWOOOOOOOOO~!" A chilling howl filled the battlefield and upon hearing it the smaller beings that composed some of the army such as goblins and warhogs were immediately filled with dread. Some started to scatter and flee while others stood paralyzed in fear. That howl was something ingrained deep into their instincts, something they truly feared when they used to live alone or in small groups, their natural predator: a werewolf.

It wasn't long before a troll fell down, a chunk of its throat missing. Standing on top of its chest was a bloodstained visage of death. It wore a feather headdress that shimmered an iridescent red which emphasized its glowing red eyes and silver white canines. It calmly licked its lips as it stared at the juicy plump dinner spread around the battlefield.

Dotted amongst the battlefield such sight was common. Over twenty werewolves were ravaging the army, easily slaying even the well armoured scorpions the Martyrs rode on, howling whenever they killed a larger prey such as a troll or a mammoth. They acted as if they were competing with one another on who could get the most kills.

The werewolves purposefully avoided the Martyrs, whose slower pace were unable to keep up with them as they slowly ravaged the panicking army. As parts of the army got killed, black smoke leaked out of the Martyrs, and they got visibly thinner, as if blood was slowly being drained out of them. Their strength was apparently dependent on the size of the army they led.

It was evening when the army was thinned enough and the Martyrs well distracted that the villagers dared to exit their defences and aid the werewolves. They mostly shot arrows at stragglers and Ryu and Ana acted as vanguard to repel any that got too near. Jane said she was still too scared and stayed back in the village with Zagan while Glauc continued crawling and shouting like a mad man on top of his boat.

***

The goblin wore a metallic mask shaped like the face of an angry demon but Ryu easily maneuvered his claws through the gap in the defences: the eye hole. He jerked his arms back and blood and some white slimy liquid followed out. Ryu did not bother to wipe his claws and before the goblin hit the floor he leaped and landed claw first into an unsuspecting group. He reached in and pulled out the ribcage of a bare-chested orc, leaving it squealing like a pig as it tried to unsuccessfully hold on with both its hands the organs spilling out of its body.

The rest of the group slashed their bladed weapons at Ryu but he was able to dodge most within a hair's breadth. The two that managed to hit him resulted in a minor scrape to his back which regenerated back near instantaneously and a deep cut to his shoulders. Ryu grabbed the hands handling the weapon on his shoulder with his right and clawed through the elbow with his left. Literally disarmed, the orc fell back and before it could get up was stepped on its stomach. It coughed out blood for the last time. Ryu fought in a frenzied state, trading blows without a care to his injuries, unlike the other werewolves in the battlefield who gracefully retreated and leaped with a killing blow.

"Try not to get too close to the Martyrs, their sickles are cursed!" Gob reminded Ana. She nodded and slammed her shield at a goblin and immediately followed with a bash to its skull. The scepter caved halfway into, spilling brain matter all over the air. The other goblins raised their shield and spears to ward off more of her attacks.

Oh great one may you right the scales of balance once more. To bring truth to the world again. For harmony. For justice. Let the shine of the stars show the true path! [[BLINDING SMITE]]

Ana charged shield first into the weary goblins and when their spear hit her shield its surface flashed and blinded the group. Disoriented, they make for easy targets for the archers and Ana's scepter.

The fighting continued well into the night until cheering was finally heard. The last of the Martyrs dissipated into a black smoke as the last of the trolls and orcs were dismembered. Only a sickle lay at the ground wherein a ray of moonlight shone on it and it was lifted up into the moon, never to be seen again.

***

Baqiqi welcomed the werewolves with thunderous applause and a feast was soon prepared. The villagers happily used the bodies of their enemies as stew and roast without much consideration. Only the champions were quite disturbed at eating another intelligent being but that was still a habit from when the world was full of unknown diseases.

Before entering the village the werewolves changed their form into a more humanoid version. All of them were men and muscled to the point that one could easily mistake them for professional bodybuilders. The fact that they were only wearing metal jewelry, a feathered headdress and an nothing else but an over bulging thong also made them stand out quite a bit.

Their leader, apparent from his towering height of over two meters and bright pink feather headdress and thongs leered at Ryu. "Hey boy, I've never seen you before. How bout we get acquainted... in the bathhouse..." He thrust out his hip and winked at Ryu which only sent shivers all the way up his spine.

DANGER!

That was the only thought flashing in Ryu's mind. Those guys easily ripped apart an army and they're targeting his ass virginity next! Ryu immediately grabbed Ana by the waist and half shouted back "Sorry! I'm already taken!" much to Ana's annoyance. It was rather pathetic that it would actually take a real threat to his butthole for Ryu to notice her. She shoved him away and walked briskly to the campfire roasting an orc. She grabbed an arm and bit into it before choking and spitting out the contents.

The rest of the werewolves noticed his dishonesty and whistled to Ryu. "Aww come on. We'll show you a real good time." They laughed amongst themselves at Ryu's panic. They surrounded him and made beckoning gestures.

"Boy we're kidding! No way we'll harm a champion of Luna. She already punished us once and that is once too many times. We might like pretty boys but you just ain't worth it honey!" The rest of the villages continued laughing throughout the night at Ryu's awkwardness and even in the morning, jokes about his regeneration giving him a constant virgin's ass could be heard.

Throughout the celebration Glauc and his boat was missing.

***

In a poorly lit hut, an old man was wiping the sweat off the forehead of a sick lady. She was muttering incoherently something about her parents and fire and goblins. A youthful looking man entered the hut, took a look at the semi unconscious lady, and at the old man.

"So where did Glauc run off to in all the chaos? Did he do this to her?" Ryu asked Zagan. The old butler simply wiped away more sweat from Sheila and shook his head.

"She simply took in too much soul force in too short a time; her soul is simply too exhausted at the sudden burst of energy. She'll recover in a while. As for Glauc, i believe my esteemed mistress Luna took him away to her palace. Well, to be more specific, the moon. He might have used too much of his divine force in the previous attack. Strange though, all the gods I've killed simply faded away when their divine force is exhausted. Perhaps he got cursed by Isfet? But I did not feel the presence of another god in this battle... Hmmm... Either way i hope Glauc suffers plenty." Zagan stoically said and continued tending to Sheila.

There was silence as they contemplated on Glauc's possible demise and the consequences such an event might have.

The silence was broken by a groaning sound. "Fuck me I feel like I just got hit by a truck!"

"It seems you have recovered miss Sheila. Would you like me to get you anything to eat?"

"Huh? Zagan? Oof i feel bloated! No thanks to the food. Thanks for taking care of me. So... I'm guessing our plan worked? My flames killed all of our enemies? Help me up..." Sheila stretched her left hand up and Ryu ran to grab it and lift her up to a seating position.

He gave her a smile and shook his head. "It half worked. The monsters were a lot more fireproof than we expected. They panicked like hell and stomped one another to death though. Then a bunch of werewolf mercenaries came and shredded the rest of the army. You should see the carnage, it was insane! Good thing they're on our side..."

A fourth, deep voice was heard at the entrance of the hut. "Oh we'd never have been able to so easily attack an organized army. What you did helped a lot honey..." A gigantic, muscular man wearing nothing but a pink thong entered. He looked at Sheila and gave her an appreciative nod, then faced Ryu and gave him a devilish wink. Ryu was sure he lost half his HP from that mental attack alone.

Sheila ignored the man's face and stared at his... hip area. "Your armour broken?"

He put a hand on his hips and flexed while his other arm covered his mouth. "Ufufufufuu... Like what you see? Unfortunately for you my heart and soul has already been stolen by Ryu. We werewolves don't use armour honey. It slows us down and in a fight, speed is everything."

Sheila looked at Ryu sitting beside her and was sure she could see his soul leaving his wide open mouth. Only the whites of his eyes could be seen as the shock rattled him to his core. Sheila grinned at the sight and suddenly lifted an eyebrow. She placed her fingers in front of her hands and stared at the gaps between them. There seemed to be colourful wisps of smoke floating about.

Zagan nodded his head at her behavior. "Congratulations miss Sheila. I believe your soul has unlocked mana sight. This should be helpful in the coming battles."

"Huh. So this is mana..." Sheila snapped her finger to summon a wisp of flame. She saw a blue string exit her fingers and form into a tangled ball before the flame materialized. "I don't get it. How does mana work?"

"Ufufufufuu... Its not that simple my dear. If it was I'd be a magician myself, shooting fireballs left and right. I bet you've been relying on your blessing this whole time. I'm Magelan by the way." He waved his finger and tsked at Sheila.

"Nice to meet you Magelan. Sheila. Can't blame me for using my blessing now can you? Its all I have after being summoned to this goddamn world." Sheila gave back a cheeky smile which caused a chuckle from Magelan.

"Anyway I'm here to inform Zagan that we're prepped and ready to go back to Lunaria. Just tell us when and we'd gladly escort you and the champions back with us." Magelan gave Zagan a respectful half-bow when reporting . The werewolves mostly worshipped Luna, half out of fear and they all know Zagan's status as her butler, a position even higher than their leader.

Zagan gave a nod. "And about the other matter?"

Still in a bowed position, Magelan shook his head. "Our oracles consulted with the great goddess Luna and we are not to participate in the fight with the undead. I apologize for this news."

"I expected this. Something's off with the whole undead thing. I do hope that we might be able to use the training facilities in Lunaria?"

"It would be an honour. Besides, I'd never pass for the chance to wrestle Ryu to the ground~ Ufufufufuu..."

Ryu was shaking his head left and right so rapidly Sheila expected his neck to snap off and behead him.

***

Luna was currently poking Glauc as he spasmed on the marble floor. She had immediately teleported him to the moon when she noticed that he was in danger. She plucked out a small strand of purple lightning out of him and rubbed it between her fingers. The lightning reacted with her divine force and it took Luna quite a bit of concentration and divine force before she managed to keep it under control and dispel it. Whatever it was it consumed and destroyed divine force at a rapid pace. Luna thought back to a time when she had seen something similar.

She then looked at Glauc whose being was fully infected by the purple lightning.

Then she grinned.