The Hubalt Empire didn’t have a long history, but its capital had many attractions. The twenty-meter-tall marble sculpture of Hermes, the beautiful Ceten River flowing across the city, the imperial palace built less than five years ago... But if people had to choose the single best attraction, they would pick the Great Temple of Hermes.
Less than three years ago, the temple had radiated divinity, but now it was cold and hauntingly empty. Only the pile of shattered marble indicated that the Great Temple had existed there at all.
“Has it already been three years? When I was one of the Seven Mages, I visited here as the representative of the Magic Tower during the cultural exchange...” Theta quietly mumbled. He shook his head. “I can still vividly remember His Holiness welcoming me... I really didn’t expect the Great Temple to be in such a state. People say to the vilest criminals that heaven will punish them and that they should fear the wrath of god. Although we mages don’t believe in god, to be honest...” Theta gazed ahead. “...At this moment, I want to believe that there is a god because if there was, god would punish these evildoers right away.”
Lilith’s eyes turned cold. “Even if god exists and doesn’t punish them, it doesn’t matter since I’ll make them pay myself.”
Theta smiled bitterly. “Then are you requesting that we aid you?”
“No, I’m not.” Lilith shook her head.
“...Huh?”
“We need to rebuild the Great Temple first.”
“Are you serious?” Theta asked, baffled.
“Of course.”
“You aren’t thinking rationally. What is the point of the Great Temple now anyway?” the mage asked her, utterly baffled. “The Martial Emperor is gone now, but his followers are still in the Empire. You know that, don’t you?”
“That is why we need to do it,” Lilith insisted.
“What?”
“Since you mages only pursue truth, you may not know this, but the power of religion is greater than you think. Faith can be used to unite the people of the Empire.”
“Using religion for politics, huh?” Theta shook his head. “It’s hard to believe that I’m hearing this from a citizen of the famously devout Hubalt Empire.”
“It’ll be better than getting humiliated again.”
“...I can understand your reasons though. The war ended quickly, but the power struggle is still ongoing. Even the citizens of the Empire don’t know what to do, so if we restore the Great Temple to how it was right before everything started...”
“Yes.” Lilith nodded. “The Martial Emperor’s remaining subordinates will be forced to make a move—any move.”
“They’ll definitely not just sit by and watch the Great Temple getting rebuilt. I never thought I’d become bait.”
“Please understand,” Lilith begged, genuinely apologetic. “We’ve finally found an opportunity, and those small fries are almost in our grasp. We can’t let them go, can we?”
“No, I think the Silver-Haired Grim Reaper wants to punish the sinners herself,” Theta said with a grin. Lilith shut her mouth, and Theta shrugged. “The best method would be to take care of everyone on the Emperor’s side at the same time. Even if they don’t make a move, the people on the pope’s side will gain more power.”
“...We did threaten to dethrone the Emperor, but everyone knows that it’s impossible. We can’t gain the citizens’ trust that way, so my final goal is to make the Emperor a puppet.” Lilith smiled faintly.
“I understand. Well, since we’re just side characters in this incident, not the main characters, we’ll follow your instructions.”
“There is an order for everything. Let me fight him first—I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since that day.”
Jabel’s frown deepened. “What nonsense—”
“Jabel! You aren’t seriously considering all of us attacking him together, right? Besides, at first, you had no intention of listening to the First Irregular’s suggestion at first.” Arietta narrowed his eyes at Jabel. The other man flinched, eliciting a grin from Arietta. “I’m on the same page as you, you know. My pride won’t allow it. On top of that, no senior officer fights first. It’s usually a junior officer that fights first so that the senior officers can figure out the opponent’s strength.”
“Hmm...” Jabel groaned.
“Is it okay?” Arietta turned to look at the other apostles.
“You’re volunteering to take care of a cumbersome task, so I’m fine.” Marco shrugged.
“Boss?” Arietta asked, an unusual departure from his typical manner of address.
“...Do as you wish,” the First Irregular muttered.
“Yes!” Arietta shouted excitedly and stepped forward. “Anyone whose number is below mine, shut up and stand back! That’s my prey!”
The remaining apostles backed away. Arietta licked his lips, his eyes glued on Joshua.
“We’ve met before, right? Let me introduce myself again. I’m Porth Arietta, Heimdall’s fourth apostle.”
Joshua didn’t even budge, but Arietta slowly drew up his power. “Keep in mind that Slager is the fiftieth apostle, and I’m the fourth apostle. It’s impossible, therefore, to compare our powers...”
The entire sky shook with Arietta’s energy. A lion always tried its best even if it was going after a rabbit—no, Joshua anything but a rabbit since he brought down two Skies.
The desire to win grew and adrenaline rushed through Arietta’s veins. He intended to give his best from the very beginning. All his power was going into a single strike by using Aura Overlay.
The air around them twisted, and the ground shook from the menacing energy radiating off of Arietta.
“It’s... an honor to finally meet the renowned Martial God, you greenhorn!”
The moment “horn” left Arietta’s lips, he sprang forward as fast as his body would propel him, audibly driving the air in front of him. Up until now, Arietta had pierced every opponent with a single charge. That was how he gained his nickname, “Piercing Arietta.”
Seeing how Joshua hadn’t moved at all, Arietta became certain that the Joshua Sanders wasn’t really that different from anyone else!
Slash!
‘...Slash?’ Arietta wondered. Just as he had expected, he heard the sound of human flesh parting—but he should have heard a stabbing sound, not a slashing sound, because his sword technique was mainly about stabbing the opponent.
‘What...?’
A moment later, he began to wobble. When he pulled himself together, he was already on the ground. That was his last thought as his consciousness faded.
Silence fell as Arietta’s head rolled across the ground.
“Pathetic guys always talk big... If the mere fourth apostle was enough to waste my time, the people of the continent would laugh at me. They’d say, ‘How can such a man be called the Hero King or the Martial God?’” Joshua calmly said.
Arietta’s headless corpse began to spew blood into the air. Meanwhile, Joshua had already created an aura spear and beckoned at the apostles.