Part 3

The boy who had been called and given the job as a Divine Saint looked around him on the corpse filled field wearing a robe that was now dyed red with blood. He looked a few years older than before. However, he was still nothing more than a child barely in his teenage years.

Just a few hours ago, this field had been full of combatants from both his church and the dark church of Beelzebub.

Looking around he could only see corpses. There lay the headless body of the former head priest. Everywhere he looked there was only dead bodies. His entire church had been annihilated. Among the wreckage he could spot the bodies his fallen comrades lying next to him. He wanted to escape to truth he had seen before him. These comrades were the ones who had suffered, endured and passed the same horrific experiences he had.

After all they had been through, he had secretly held the belief that together they were indestructible. However, reality was cruel. He had been foolish in his beliefs that he could protect everyone. The thought of protecting his comrades and being protected by them had provided him with strength.

However, the gods had shown him just how easily his power of friendship could be crushed. In the face of a far more overwhelming power he that his own could do nothing but watch helplessly.

Like him, the one who welded the power to crush his beliefs was the one who directly channelled the power of gods.

The Divine Saint Knight of Beelzebub.

Although both of them were supposed to be on the same tier, all the boy could see was the overwhelming difference between the two.

Further and further the boy sank into despair. It was only due to the power of the Divine Saint that he was able to return from the realm of the dead. Only to find that he had lost everything.

His mind broke. All the childish emotions he had suppressed were released. All his logical reasoning, all of his decision making skills, all of it caved in.

Despite his adult-like behaviour, he was really just a child,

Without any help,

without any intervention,

he really would become as his appearance suggested.

An emotionless shell.

A little while later…

“Yo! We meet again!”

“Yeah… bit sooner than I expected though…”

Reta greeted Godou with a wave as he joined the group of people in front of here. She was still wearing the same attire he had last saw her in so Godou concluded that she was probably still trying to go incognito. Godou had the feeling that he would be meeting up with Reta again but he didn’t think it would be again so soon.

“Okay, since there’s 5 people here how so we should be enough to make a party.”

Indeed besides Godou, the other people gathered in front of Reta included Ferrex, a player wearing plate armour carrying a great sword and someone wearing a robe carrying a staff.

You have received a party invitation. Would you like to accept?You have joined the party.

Godou’s current situation was the result of a few events that took place shortly after first parting with Reta.

After scanning around the town square he had reunited with Ferrex in the crowd of players. By now there were at least 3000 people gathered in the town square. At least half of them seemed to be players. Godou remembered seeing about 50 strong looking knights with high quality equipment and war horses. These were probably the Kallamore knights. Strangely enough, there were no paladins or priests belonging to the church of Freya present.

After exchanging their greetings, Ferrex had promptly shoved a bunch of stuff ranging from smoke bombs to rye bread into Godou’s hands. When Godou asked him about it, Ferrex merely shook his head and started muttering to himself. Something about strangers trying to burying him with gifts.

Remembering the advice he had given a short while ago, Godou used his identification skill on all the items.

Soon afterwards a representative from the church of Freya had stepped up the address the assembled crowd. Godou recognised the priest as the person who answered the door when he went to report the monster raid.

“Since we don’t have much time, I will skip the usual long morale raising speeches and simply say this. My name is Seirph and I am a messenger sent by the church of Freya. The forces of the church of Freya have already moved to another place close to the monster army and are setting up camp. Everyone assembled here will move up to join them. That is all. And may Freya… be with us.”

After saying that the priest started walking out of town. The Kallamore Knights and NPC soldiers slowly started to march out after him. Godou thought the speech seemed strange though, especially the last bit which sounded like it was only added as an afterthought. Murmurings of similar thoughts could be heard from the people around him as well. Godou was about to mention it to Ferrex when–

“ALL PLAYERS LISTEN UP!!!”

A loud voice suddenly split across the town square. Godou stared in the direction of it and saw one of the high level players he had seen call Reta over addressing the crowd.

“Before we leave we need everyone to form parties with each other if you haven’t already done so. Those of you who haven’t joined one yet please do so. I don’t care if you think you’ll just drag everyone down because of your class or level! I don’t care if you think you’re too good for a party! Just do it!”

Godou wonder what was going on. The mid-level players around him immediately started following these instructions so this seemed to be a routine event. He noticed that he wasn’t the only one who seemed confused because there were also few players in newbie outfits staring around blankly.

At lost with what to do, he had simply decided to go with the flow and started walking around only to be pulled over by a strong tug on his arm. Thus this led him to his current predicament.

“What’s going on?”

“This is one of Kallamore’s basic battle strategies. Just listen, the details will be explained it soon. These strategies tend to vary from place to place but the ones organising this are high level players in the area. The player who just spoke has the call-sign Quick Shot.” (Plenty of innuendo there)

Godou queried Reta who seemed to know what was going on only to receive her answer of “Just wait and see.”

“So anyway while we wait for everyone to settle down why don’t we introduce ourselves.”

Reta spoke again, this time addressing all the people gathered in front of her.

“…”

“I guess I’ll start off since no-one else wants to. Hi everyone! My name’s Reta! I’ve started in Kallamore quite a while ago so if you have any question feel free to ask me. As for my class, well, it’s a bit hard to explain so just think of me as an assassin. I think golden slimes are cute and like torturing sheep!”

… Was that last part really necessary? Godou’s impression of Reta being normal was starting to crumble. Then again, that impression sort of wasn’t that strong to begin with, considering the fact that she chose to a tree branch as her hiding place instead of other more easily reachable hiding spots.

“Okay! Your turn!”

Reta suddenly pointed at the player who seemed like a mage who started before saying:

“I am Flay, a level 101 Mage. I specialise in Ice magic.”

Point.

“… I am a knight. That’s all you need to know.”

Point.

“My name Ferrex Dakef, a native to Versailles. Pleased to meet you. I can cast generic holy spells.”

Godou noticed that the knight appeared displeased as he heard Ferrex’s self-introduction but had no further time to ponder on it as Reta pointed at him. Speaking of which Godou didn’t recall Ferrex casting anything but generic holy spells. Holy spells could be divided into two categories: generic spells and specialised ones.

Generic holy spells were the spells that did not require the caster to be in a religious order to use. In short, they were the spells used by beginner priests. Specialised holy spells on the other hand could only be used if one joined the order of a religion and their incantations often included the name the deity worshiped in the religion as well. Compared to generic spells, specialised ones where a lot more potent in terms of strength, duration and efficiency. Specialised spells also branched out into different categories, allowing them to do many things generic spells couldn’t.

“I am Godou. I started playing recently and still don’t have a class. Please take care of me.”

“Okay! Now that introductions are over and done with, everyone try to get along with each other. Come on! Make small talk or something!”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Ferrex, Flay and the knight said nothing. Somehow this felt really awkward. Godou also noticed that knight seemed even more displeased when Godou clarified that he didn’t have a class. The knight was now glaring in his direction.

“So did you find the person you were looking for?”

Reta cheerily broke the silence by asking Godou a question.

“Ah yeah. You just met him. I was looking for Ferrex.”

“Oh so is he the friend you were looking for? I thought you were looking for a girl though…”

“Eh what gave you that impression?”

“Well, how should I put it… Although you don’t seem like a bad person you give off the vibe of playboy or a pimp. Well, how should I put it? You just seem like someone really used to being around women.”

“D D D Don’t just go accusing someone you just met an hour ago such things!”

Despite how much he wanted to deny it, Reta’s statement shook Godou to the core. In actual fact, many of his friends and acquaintances in reality had told him this fact but he had always thought that they were joking around or had a misunderstanding of some sort. But to have an absolute stranger point this out was really startling...

Just who are you calling a womaniser! Kusanagi Godou was certainly not that sort of lowlife. Though there were times when he had to rely heavily on his female friends… especially if it involved using his unreliable powers but… Nope don’t think about it. That kind of thing was only because the situation demanded it–

“Well, that’s what my woman’s intuition tells me.”

“W W Woman’s intuition?” How frightening.

“Yup! It also tells me that there are aliens on Mars, fairies are real and that shop assistants are all scammers.”

Okay… Reta, I don’t get how your mind works at all. That being said, fairies were actually real apparently but aliens? At this point Godou decided to give up thinking any deeper into this.

“OKAY, ARE YOU ALL IN PARTIES NOW?”

As the crowd settled down, the player who was apparently known as Quick Shot started to talk again.

“The level of cooperation between players is a lot lower than the NPCs because there’s no real chain of command between us. Therefore, the players can’t divide can’t separate themselves into specialised units full of people with the same class. We can’t use complex strategies either because of this so why bother trying? We could easily get slaughtered if we tried and got ambushed because we can’t react in time. Not to mention the fact that the mobs don’t seem to attack in waves of one type or level either.

One of the solutions that we developed over the course of our time here to compensate for this was to divide everyone up into smaller groups with at least one experienced person in it to reduce causalities. Just think of your own group as a single hunting party and try your best not to get in anyone else’s way. Each group should have people of differing levels and abilities to help them react faster in unexpected situations.”

“WHY DO WE NEED THIS SORT OF SYSTEM? If I have if fight while dragging a bunch of noobs behind me then I’d rather just fight alone!”

It was the knight in Godou’s party who had spoken up.

“This system is the product of many trails and errors that we have created for the sake of surviving in Kallamore. If you don’t want to follow it then feel free to fight the monster army on your own”

“Rather than fighting with a party full of leeches wouldn’t be better for Kallamore to have high level players like me growing stronger?”

Generally the players in Kallamore were welcoming to new players because the more defenders, the lower the chance of Kallamore being overrun with monsters. There were exceptions to this though. There were high level newbie players who had yet to realise the importance of having strong comrades and only saw everyone else as competition. Players from other kingdoms who had just arrived in Kallamore were also exceptions for the same reason. Nevertheless, the attitudes of these exceptions would change after joining in a defence quest or two.

Looking at the high level equipment worn by the knight it was evident that he was part of the latter group.

“So you’re saying “quality over quantity” then huh. It might sound like a valid reason but aren’t you just against it because don’t get a chance to monopolise the drops and experience?”

“Even if you argue “quality over quantity” Kallamore already has the best quality it is. Or are you saying that you’re stronger than a Kallamore Knight?”

It was Reta who started to join in in reprimanding the knight.

“That –”

“In the other kingdoms you can use whatever half-assed methods you want but you’re not in another kingdom right now are you? Here in Kallamore, we have to cooperate with each other do things seriously instead of fighting over the drops. Kallamore needs more strong players in it and the best way to get strong players is to help the lower levels level up.”

“HOW DO WE KNOW THAT YOU’RE NOT TRYING TO EXPLOIT THE REST OF US IN SOME WAY HUH?!”

The knight seemed to go red in the face as he started shouting back at Quick Shot who just calmly replied:

“If it’s experience you’re concerned about then don’t worry, there will be plenty of mobs rushing at you trying to rip your head off. If it’s drops you’re after then go raid a monster village, there’s plenty of them out there. Just keep in mind that if you start infighting during the battle then you’ll be the one digging your own grave! And if you don’t die in battle, there will be plenty of bored bounty hunters out there to come after you.”

“BUT STILL, WHY DO I HAVE TO GET STUCK WITH SOME NOOB WHO DOESN’T EVEN HAVE A CLASS!!!”

“How long do you intend to stand here and argue? The soldiers are moving away as we speak and frankly all you’re doing is causing trouble.”

“GREAT, NOW I HAVE TO LISTEN TO ANOTHER FUCKING NOOB WHO HASN’T JOINED A RELIGION YET.”

Wow this was getting out of hand. Even Ferrex had jumped into the argument as the knight pointed at Godou.

Instead of responding to the knight, Ferrex looked over at Quick Shot and said:

“Do you mind if I handle him. At this rate we will be left behind.”

“This seems interesting, okay I’ll let you take care of this stranger.”

Was the reply Ferrex received. Meanwhile, Reta suddenly stirred next to Godou as she suddenly started a conversation.

“Hmmm you two seem pretty close. Ah, so that’s how it is!”

“How what is?”

“You’re one of those guys who bat for both camps aren’t you?”

“What?!! How did you come to that conclusion?”

“I mean, look at Ferrex! Getting so heated up for your sake! You even have matching cloaks! Fu fu fu just how many flags have you been raising until now?”

Reta stared at him strangely feverish expression, her eyes shining with enthusiasm.

“No no no that’s not how it is! Stop letting your imagination run wild!”

“Oh, so you only swing that way then… well that’s fine as well. I’ll be rooting for you!”

“Don’t just ignore what I said! Listen to me!”

Godou tried his best to argue in his defence against Reta who had steered the conversation into a very strange direction but seemed to be losing ground.

Hmm, was it just him or did Flay just take a few steps back? Godou noticed that the other the guys around him were also slowly backing off. Some of the girls were starting staring at him with the same feverish expression as Reta. What is the uncomfortable feeling I’m getting?

The knight they had been arguing with also had a disgusted expression on his face while Ferrex just… had the same poker face on which… wasn’t really helpful in this situation. All these stares where starting to hurt. Godou pulled the hood of his cloak up to hide his face.

“Anyway…”

The one to break the silence as Ferrex.

“If you’re just here to cause trouble then it would be better if you just didn’t try.”

“Are you trying to pick a fight punk?”

“People like you will cause more harm than good on the battlefield. Therefore it would be best to take you down before you can cause trouble. After all, it’s not like you’re going to die.”

“Oh bitch! If you’re asking for a duel then I accept!”

“Yep that’s exactly what I’m suggesting.”

A Duel has started.

As soon as that message appeared, the two combatants moved simultaneously. Meanwhile gambling calls started as spectators started to bet on the winner. Reta dragged Godou a fair distance away as the crowd around the two backed off to give them space.

The knight drew his great sword and charged at Ferrex. Meanwhile, Ferrex raised his hand towards the knight and muttered:

“Slow”

A bolt of light flew and struck the knight, slowing his movements to a crawl.

“Oh, so he can use magic. Then was I wrong to assume that Ferrex was a paladin because he had a sword?”

Next to Godou, Reta started to give some helpful commentary on the fight.

“HAAAAAAAAAHHHH!”

The knight’s movement speed suddenly sped up, even exceeding his original speed despite the 70% movement reduction from Ferrex’s curse. He made a diagonal slash at Ferrex who just barely managed to duck under it.

“So to counter the effects of a slowing curse, he used an even stronger movement buffing skill. A brute force strategy but it was the correct choice. Ferrex will be in trouble if he lets that knight set the pace.”

The knight seemed to realise this was well because he started to speed up, delivering a series of heavy blows in rapid succession.

“Shield Commandment!”

To face this onslaught, Ferrex had activated a spell of some sort. A dense silver aura manifested and covered his body and equipment. Each of the attacks delivered by the knight struck Ferrex squarely. However, Ferrex remained unmoved. It was as if he didn’t feel the attacks at all.

“Oh that’s a surprise, is Ferrex a war priest? He just used one of the class restricted war priest spells.”

“War priest?”

“Priests are generally divided into two categories. Ones that can use weak AOE support spells to multiple targets and ones that can use strong support spells but only hit a single target at a time. War priests are an extreme branch of the latter. War priests aren’t really that popular though because although their spells give large bonuses, they only last a few seconds and have long cool downs.”

While they were having this conversation, the knight, seeing his attacks dealing no visible damage to Ferrex, had stepped back, holding his sword back in preparation for a stronger attack.

“IMPACT…”

“So this was what that guy was so confident about. That’s an advanced Knight skill that has the ability to deal a large amount of damage and stun the target all in the same move. But wow, that stance is full of openings. Too bad…”

“…BREAKER!!!”

“… it won’t be enough to break the defensive buff of a war priest.”

The knight’s great sword glowed orange as swung towards Ferrex viciously. It struck Ferrex on the side but just like the previous attacks it was ignored. The knight seemed shocked at this and thus was too slow on the uptake as Ferrex wrapped his arm around the knight’s great sword trapping it between his arm and his body.

The knight could have been retrieved his sword through brute strength but before he could react Ferrex directed his palm in the direction of the knight’s face and chanted:

“Vengeful spirits that vow for revenge, Rebound!”

“GAAAHHHHH!!”

A dark ripple in the air seemed to travel from Ferrex’s palm and struck the knight in the face. With a cry, the knight was blown 5 metres backwards, sword and all.

“Well I’m lost with that one. I don’t think I’ve seen that holy spell before.”

Probably because that was a dark spell not a holy one… Seriously, church of Freya what are you doing? Godou felt such retorts welling up inside him but he chose not to release them in order to concentrate on Ferrex’s fight.

But this time, the silver aura around Ferrex had vanished. However, one could say that it had served its purpose. The knight, who seemed to have the advantage moments ago, was now stunned and unable to move due to having all the power of his skill rebound on himself.

“Arms Commandment!”

A violent red aura manifested this time around Ferrex as he walked towards the knight. He drew his previously unsheathed sword and stabbed the knight in the chest.

“GAAUKK!”

The knight gave a strangled cry before dissolving into a mass of grey flames.

The Duel has ended. The winner is Ferrex Dakef

“Although being stunned doubles any damage you receive, I didn’t expect Ferrex to be able to finish him off with a stab. Must have been a strong offensive buff. He was wearing high quality armour after all and a hard iron sword was used so the base damage shouldn’t be that high. Also, those war priest spells lasted longer than I expected as well. Ferrex’s proficiency with them must be pretty high. He didn’t use any incantations for them either…”

Godou was also surprised at this. Although he knew that Ferrex was a lot stronger than the current him, it occurred to Godou that he still didn’t know the upper limits of Ferrex’s strength.

Having taken out the knight, Ferrex started to follow the last of the departing soldiers. The assembled players watched him stunned for a while until they came to their senses and started to follow his lead.

------

I got the idea of splitting players into smaller units in the army by reading a warfare manga (Kingdom).

The idea of call-signs came from watching Ben-To (Yes, these call-signs will be just as half-assed as the Wolf Titles).

Golden Slimes came from... well let's just leave it at that...

Hmm… I wonder what other things will influence me.

Table of ContentsPreviousExitNext