“Before chaos, every intelligent being is a natural ally.”

Looking at the rotten flesh and twisted limbs rapidly turning into dust inside the holy fire, Ophra sheathed her sword and spoke to the werewolf warrior that was trying to get up.

“These monsters are tougher than I imagined.” The werewolf warrior huffed and puffed as his wounds were visibly healing, but due to the corruption taint, the healing process was extremely painful, and even the usually stoic werewolf grimaced. “Seems that letting your people into the sacred mountain was right… Our tribe alone can never win against these blasted monsters.”

Ophra nodded as she looked afar, black dust was spreading all across the valley, and the land tainted and corrupted by the rotten blood had a hue of revolting dark purple. This was the sacred snow mountain of the werewolf tribes, and yet the monsters of chaos made no distinction, and the moment they appeared from the nightmare, where ever there was intelligent life, there will be a channel for them to appear, and there was no exception here.

There were plenty of valiant warriors of the werewolf tribal nation, and they had prepared to defend their homes alone, but after the Kingdom of Holetta made contact with the leaders of the tribes they had sent an army here. All because the clergy of the Disciples of Glory had managed to send a warning in time.

Deep within the sacred mountains was once Muru’s resting spot, and the thousands of years the guardian was trapped within the nightmare, and the nightmares of the demigod had seeped into the mountains, affecting the minds of every intelligent being in the area, leaving them more susceptible to resonate with the nightmare. Also, the heretical cults that were once active in the region had left behind plenty of blasphemous altars and tools, and while the cultists themselves were wiped out, the mark they left behind was impossible to erase.

These two factors made the sacred mountain of the werewolves most of the most dangerous hidden breaches, and the origin of chaos in the heart of the universe would definitely choose to penetrate into the world from here, and there were three other dangerous breaches as well, the diocese of Beinz (ruins), the Volcano Dusk (ruins) and the Tree of Life (ruins). All these three places were once inhabited by the First Born, and the mental energies of the First Born too had left similar nightmare gaps in the region.

What happened proved that the clergy’s decision was wise, and the first wave of taints appeared in those four places almost at the same time.

And the soldiers and militant monks placed in the area had saved countless of lives.

Becky rode on her warhorse across the battlefield as she raised her sword and exhorted her men. “Don’t take it easy! Stay alert! The war had just started, and before the goddess declares that the dust has settled, everyone will need to hold fast!”

The heroic mercenary who was seen as a living legend easily raised the morale of the normal rank and file soldiers, and many cheered as they waved their weapons. For Becky, this was already commonplace for her, and she turned her horse toward the area that was still scorching from the bombardment of divine arts and got down before Ophra. “Marshal Ophra! I’m back!”

“You’re pretty popular, eh.” Ophra smiled as she looked at her energetic junior. Becky, whose background as a mercenary was known as an unrefined brute among the nobility, but her raucous personality meshed well with Ophra. “Quite a few of them see you as an idol.”

“Eh… I’m just a mascot riding on the coattails of those legends.” Becky was self-aware at least. “I was just lucky to tag along with Vivian and the rest in their epic quest, I’m very clear of my own capability. If things were to get serious, I may not even be a match against your champions.”

Then she murmured to herself, “And I came all the way here was to stick around you…”

Ophra tilted her head. “Hm?”

“Ah nothing, just talking to myself!”

Ophra did not bother outing Becky’s poor attempt at masking what she just said, and simply looked to the horizon. The massive floating fortress, Hodeceus was moving east from the sacred mountains. And beneath Hodeceus was a group of griffin knights circling it.

“Hodeceus is moving toward Beinz.” Becky put her hands over her eyes as she looked to the distance. “The fighting’s not done yet over there?”

“The incursion at Beinz is much bigger than here, and there’s even monsters the size of clock towers,” Ophra said. “The regular soldiers and knights are no match for those monsters, and they have already sent out a signal for help to the Einherjar’s, but the main Einherjar force is now sealing the breach at the Volcano of Dusk, so we can only send Hodeceus over there.”

Becky rubbed the bloodstain of her face as she said, “I don’t know how ‘they’ are faring over there… We are just merely facing the weakest of its minions, and they are already so scary. What sort of thing are they actually facing I wonder?”

“The world has not ended yet,” Ophra replied flatly. “And that means they are still fighting.”

…

“The main shield recovery speed is decreasing! The load is too heavy, the recharge rate is unable to keep up with the attrition!” As the alert rang across the bridge, Nolan’s voice rang as well. “Activating reserve shield batteries! All available energy circuits redirect to the shield system.”

Shock after shock came from all over as the chaotic universal perimeters applied extreme pressure on the ship’s various systems, and even the stabilizers inside the ship could not unravel this level of chaos as errors started appearing. Over on the external sensors, the ship seemed to be passing through a dark and narrow tunnel, and the chaotic clouds and lines were interwoven like a vortex, pressing in from all directions before being left in the dust. Unknown shadows and “tentacles” started appearing the inner walls of this tunnel, and the Petrachelys was akin to a canoe in the middle of a storm. Every second was perilous, yet she still managed to keep afloat.

“Move the energy from the navigation system to the shields!” Hao Ren yelled. “They are useless in this forsaken place.”

There were almost no discernible dimensional structure within the Dark Abyss, and the navigation computer was merely a decoration in this chaotic realm, and the only thing that could navigate was Rheia’s divine senses, so the navigation computer was shut down.

As more and more energy was fed into the shield generators, the external interference soon lessened and the shaking of the bridge stopped.

Rheia sat beside the captain’s chair and her eyes were glowing brightly. She was looking at the chaos outside the ship, and at the same time the situation across the universe.

She saw the Overwatch Bastion entering combat, and saw the entire defensive line of the Dark Abyss exchanging hands, and saw the efforts of the mortals on their planets in protecting their home.

She closed her eyes slightly and whispered, “I have prepared so many motivational materials, thought of the various dangers the planets would have, and how to raise their morale when they run into difficulties, but it seems… like I was overthinking things.”

“After L’Haronne, you should have known that.” Hao Ren shook his head. “They don’t need you to protect them.”

“I still remembered when they had just started walking on their own, started to learn how to create tools, started to invent letters, they were all so fragile…” Rheia said, before laughing at herself. “And in just the blink of an eye, they could face the Mad Lord with a stout face… even if they are only facing its minions.”

Vivian looked at her. “Is it that feeling when you see your children all grown up? Happy but yet sad at the same time?”

“It does,” Rheia admitted. “But it’s more regret than anything… There were once so many civilizations, but my failure ten thousand years ago because so many to be wiped out. If only I was stronger back then—”

“A goddess cannot afford to dwell in the past,” Hao Ren interrupted her. “If you, of all people, can no longer look toward the future, then what can your devotees even see?”

Rheia smiled as she rose from the chair. “You’re right. Having random thoughts is what I should be doing… especially now.”

As she uttered those words, she raised her right hand, and a stream of light formed in her hand. “We are about to reach that chaotic dimension. The moment we pass through that, the ship’s stealth and my divine barrier will no longer be effective. We will be fully exposed before the Mad Lord… Are you ready?”

Hao Ren also stood up and picked up the crowbar beside the captain’s seat. That crowbar was made out of the same material as the nexus of the Creation’s Engine, and “Starbreaker Crowbar” was stenciled on it. And to amplify its metaphysical properties and to give this operation a good omen, Hao Ren even got Raven 12345 to leave a bite mark at the end of it. It was a veritable divine weapon.

He held the Starbreaker Crowbar in his hand and smiled at Rheia. “I’m always ready. Say, what’s that thingamajig in your hand?”

“A new weapon, the one I mentioned before,” Rheia said as she waved the black leather tome. “I have been wondering what sort of weapon would be proper. The two blades are indeed powerful, but against the formless power of the Mad Lord, we will need the support of the powers of laws.”

Vivian blinked. “But all I see is a book…”

“Yes, a book, but in it is all of the knowledge I have managed to learn thus far and about one thousand powerful mantras that I have purposely picked out from the teaching material. They may not do much damage, but deep inside the Dark Abyss, its function wins over any divine weapons. It could provide us a stabler, more order-oriented battlefield to ward off the Mad Lord’s endless chaotic powers.

Hao Ren rubbed his chin as he pondered. “So, do you plan to study on the battlefield?”

“…If you have to put it that way, yes…”