After the First Angel Lupto had informed Allen to help out the Space-Time God, and Merus being dispatched to Heavenly Kingdom to spread the news, pushing for an early countermeasure, She, too, turned herself towards the Sword God's martial hall.
Her subordinate great angels, who had often been around, had already left under her command, catching up with other gods and informing them of the situation, hoping for their support.
As Lupto arrived above the center of the Divine Arena, the halo that had glowed brightly during her transfer gradually dimmed, settling back into its usual calm.
«Still no response. I can only hope the Sword God is at the martial hall...»
Despite the tension in her voice, Lupto made no complaint about the Sword God's notoriously erratic behavior.
She channeled spiritual energy into her wings and surged forward, heading directly toward the martial hall of Sestavinus, which also served as a gathering point for the eight gods of armaments.
Though she held the highest rank among angels and possessed an eternal lifespan, even Lupto could not teleport into the domain of other gods willfully.
The Divine Realm was unfathomably vast, far surpassing the scale of the human world, and each god presided over their own domain, each with its own expansive territory.
[Overview of Major Divine Realm Areas - Chapter 12 Summary]
Paradise of Primordial Beasts: Approx. surface area of Earth (500 million km²)Spirit Paradise: Approx. 150 million km² (land surface)
Heavenly Sandar Kingdom: Comparable to the North American continent (25 million km²)
Labyrinth of Earth: A cube 1,000 km per side, with layered floors
Divine Arena: Circular zone with a radius of 300 km
Magic God's Research Facility: A tiered tetrahedron 100 km per side
Space-Time God’s Administrated System: Also a tiered tetrahedron, 100 km per side
Clouds of the Wind God: A 100-kilometer-long sea of clouds
Market of the Merchant God: A square plain, 50 km per side
First Angel's first and foremost responsibility had always been to relay the voice of Creation God to the gods themselves, and also to the denizens of Divine Realm and Human Realm. And once it's the moment to carry out the unfathomable directive of Creator God, a moment to stretch her wings and take the sky route would never be an option.
The task of communicating with Human Realm's Pope, and the king of Heavenly Sandal Kingdom would be carried out by her three subordinate angels through the magic tools. Meanwhile, she would get in touch with the higher gods, who would then relay the news similarly to other gods under their command, thus avoiding an unnecessary wastage of time.
Nevertheless, the incident this time was a literal race against time, requiring a prompt communication against others. In lieu of the critical situations, she had been specifically conferred a skill as an emergency measure, allowing her to mentally communicate with targets at expanse of spiritual aura, and register a few domains of gods for teleportation.
The overall boon she had given allowed her to—
1. Ability to register up to 100 locations at a time for teleportation
2. Ability to register up to 100 designated targets at a time, allowing her to teleport near them
3. Ability to send messages to 100 registered gods or people
4. Can loan up to 10 location or individual slots to each of her subordinate great angels
5. Targets and locations can be updated freely
In essence, it was akin to an enhanced version of Allen's Bird F and Bird A's ability or skill, though it wasn't without its flaws.
In case of the target's absence from their domain that she had registered, she would then have to search them out. It's also the reason why the gods don't take action beyond their enshrined stage. Though there would also be the cases of wild gods like Wind God, capable of freely shifting their domain to anywhere. They're the hardest to track down or contact. Or in other scenarios, some gods don't meddle well, so they, too, would often block their communication.
Lupto went through a crevice arranged at the top of the martial hall and entered inside, unfurling her wings as she hovered there, and then made her toward the central area of the martial hall.
*Clang* *Claaang*
"Haa! Hiyaaa!!"
With the holy sword Ascalon in her grasp, Kurena confronted the Sword God, a persistence burning in her eyes.
At the corner, four angels had their arms folded in cross, closely watching the spar, nodding. They're the master of sword god style Kelvin, and the assistant instructor and Great Angels Murai, Gotou, and Kikuchi.
«It wouldn't do. First and foremost lesson of Sword God Swordsmanship: Use every aspect of your body. Don't narrow your vision to movements of hands, your slashes are drawing a monotonous appearance! How would you get me to teach you my secret ultimate technique if you fail at the basics?»
"Ugh! No, I will definitely learn it!"
«There, your legs aren't in sync. Your body is a part of you, try to bring them in sync, in your control!»
"Yes, sir! Haaaaaaaa!!"
DespIte the sole bearer of combat sense far superior than anyone in Allen's party, Kurena could barely contend against the Sword God. She had been using the sacred artifact Ascalon, a broadsword made of sacred orichalcum, and yet, Sword God flicked the incoming attack with mere wooden sword coating in her power—though much of the reason was to maintain wood's integrity—parrying it.
«Hmm? What brought you here?»
Taking notice of First Angel's arrival, Sword God shifted her gaze toward the ceiling, her hands keeping track of Kurena's swings nonetheless. Kurena's each swing held the power within them to cleave a human into two, but Sword God neutralised them as easily as an adult toying with a toddler even as her gaze wasn't fixated on them.
“RRRAAAHHHH!!”
«Hmm?»
“Geh—?!”
Kurena felt this might be her chance while Sword God's attention was divided, and shifted up the momentum of her sword strikes. However, even with a handicap of wooden sword and lack of attention, she failed in pushing Sword God even a step back. On the contrary, Sword God made a sweeping gesture with her leg, throwing away the balance of Kurena as she fell face first on the wooden face.
«......*Huff-Huff*. So you're indeed here. You know you could have at least given a response or something and saved me from a headache!»
«I was focused on training. Anyway, I heard Space-Time God is swept up in the conspiracy of demons.»
«So is the situation. Please gear up. The Divine Realm is a few moments away from the invasion of the Demon King Army.»
«Fine, though what's this, a continuation from their previous invasion? Or did Mara outwit you once again? Didn't he say no such situation would arise again now that he has rewritten the code?»
«We do not have leisure to debate that at present. I have concluded this is a moment of emergency, and as such, I would like to have your presence, as well as other god of armaments, along with the trainee angels to face the predicament.»
«...Heh, so we're taking this as a crisis? Then I’ll have to alert the Martial God too. But the angels training here are the ones we started raising after the Fire God’s assault, remember? They might not be battle-ready.”
“We can't afford to be selective. I’m requesting full mobilization.”
Lupto made it clear they would require the entire support from Divine Arena, regardless if even the gods could fight or not.
"Wait, what's with the emergency, Lupto-san?"
Kurena's focus had entirely been trained on Sword God, slashing through the air to get to him, and only now did she realise the presence of Lupto.
«Hey, it's the invasion from Demon King Army, Kurena.»
"What, Demon King Army?!»
«Yeah, so put on your equipment. Kelvin, come with me.»
«Understood! In that case, get the preparation ready, assistants!»
Kelvin flew toward Sword God, leaving his instruction for their next step to the three great angels next to him. They'd heard the details similarly, so at the signal, they immediately moved to take action, needing no further guidance.
«Alright, so I am going to visit my Dearest Sider Ophoria. Kelvin, you all get to the rest of seven armaments gods and rouse them up.»
«Understood, my lord!»
After explaining her next course of action, as well as receiving an affirmation from Kelvin, Sword God turned toward the space-time hole behind the hanging scroll, and vanished from the space at a touch.
«Kurena, I will have your presence in the battle as well.»
"Thank you. I will!!"
Kurena exclaimed her gratitude, fetching out her orichalcum armor from the magic bag, donning it while biting on Mormor fruit, its juicy and chewy composition satiating her hunger as well as thirst.
The training with Sword God must have been intense, leaving her with an empty stomach, as she ate up the apple size mormor fruit in two bites. It didn't seem sufficient so next she supplemented with dried meat.
«I, Lupto-sama, Gotout and Kikuchi would be taking turns in meeting the other seven gods. Murai and Kurena, you remain here and explain the situation to others. Once all the preparation has been met, you shall... right, gather in this martial hall. I will help out in teleportation.»
Kelvin briefed the others about their next course of action. In the absence of Sword God, the responsibility falls on Kelvin's shoulder to guide the assistant instructions.
«Ah, yes. That would be helpful. However we have yet to learn about the goal of Demon King Army. Also, I have just learned that a battle had broke out between Allen's party and demons calling themselves Fiend King at Space-Time God's territory.»
"Allen is fighting...?"
«So is the situation. The demons has some sort of objective, so we must make haste.»
«Well then, I will relay the news to God of Spear and God of Axe. It would be great if you can contact the other two, Lupto-sama.»
«Very well. I will visit the God of Bow Korone. I’ll handle communications from my side—please be ready to respond.»
The Divine Arena of the Gods spans a 300-kilometer radius, with the Sword God's martial hall at its center and the other seven Weapon Gods’ domains arranged outward like spokes on a wheel.
Given the gravity of the situation, Kelvin judged that splitting up in four directions would be most effective. He, along with the other three great angels, apparently were better at this.
【God of Armaments Overview - Divine Arena】
Sword God Sestavinus: Goddess – Swords, Daggers
Spear God Gaidarc: God – Spears, Pikes
Bow God Korone: Goddess – Bows, Shortbows
Claw God Kwarcom: God – Claws, Knuckles
Axe God Varkarai: God – Axes, Hatchets
Weight God Herald: God – Anchors, Staffs, Poles
Throwing God Kairi: Goddess – Boomerangs
Whip God Raiden: Goddess – Whips
With a rustle, Lupto, Kelvin, Gotou, and Kikuchi spread their angelic wings and flew upward. Moments later, they disappeared through openings high up in the dome, scattering in four directions.
“Kurena, come with me.”
“Yes, sir!!”
Kurena promptly responded, having finished gearing up, while gnawing the last bits of meat from a bone. She tossed the remains into her magic bag and followed Murai.
They took the passage connecting from the martial hall of Sword God and reached the training hall training place of angels. Murai put a force than required on the sliding door, producing a booming sound, spreading across the entire training hall.
«Assistant Instructor Murai, what brought you here?»
An angel, the senior disciple among other in Sword God Swordmanship, make a haste approach to Murai. He could guess the arrival was anything but a good news when Murai wore a pale face, his gaze drawing a sharp appearance.
«In a few moments, Demon King Army should be appearing. We need you all to raise the arms!»
«What?! But... the disciples here has barely trained more than a few years...»
Kurena had heard the details—how, when the sacred artifact of Freya, the Fire Goddess, was stolen, the Demon King’s army had wreaked havoc. The angels had taken heavy losses.
That explained why so many of them were now committed to their training.
"We don’t have the luxury of time. The Sword God herself has declared this an emergency. Pick up the real swords!»
In the training, like swinging practice or in spar, the disciples used wooden swords. Hence the first instruction of Murai was to remind them to change to actual swords.
«Everyone, you all heard assistant Murai's order. We're going to fight the Demon King Army!!»
«Y-yessir!!!»
A vein bulged up on Murai's bald forehead when he noticed the lackluster response. Gradually, their response began to pick up, relaying a motivation packed within.
—*BOOOOM*
Suddenly, a sound of thunderous explosion ensues, rocking the entire training hall. The source appeared to be a charged mana shot, destroying the 1/3rd section of the ceiling at once, the wreckage falling on the training hall's floor.
«W-what's going on?!»
As confusion and shrieks of fellow disciples echoed around, a group of demons dropped from the martial hall of sword god.
«Oh-ho, found them~. Kill every single one of them~.»
Grasping the situation from inside, a demon dressed in clown's attire, his hand pressed on his forehead, Kyubel, addressed his fellow demons for a massacre.