Chapter 538 (2): Descent of the Horseman of War.

Hearing a whoosh, Wayne glanced aside and allowed the golden ball of light to slam into him.

It was Kaleb.

The Goddess of Sun saw the world spin around Her. When Her eyes focused again, She found the world flipped upside down, with the land on top and the sky at the bottom. She thought She had seen wrong, but when She shook Her head and looked again, the world was still upside down.

It was only then that She realized the one that was upside down wasn’t the world, but Her.

Kaleb was hanging upside down from Wayne’s shoulders, with Her legs around him. Her blonde hair ran down. Her face settled on a look of realization, with the clarity of someone of great ‘wisdom’.

It was the sort of clarity that implied emptiness.

Wayne grabbed the two legs on his shoulders in exasperation, shaking Her and trying to get all the wisdom in Kaleb’s bosom back to Her brain. He knew cases like Her. Her nutrients had gone to the wrong part of Her body, leading to a misdistribution of Her stats.

“Aghhhh!”

She broke out of Wayne’s hold in a daze, regaining Her balance with a supporting hand on his shoulder. Her face blanched. It felt like Her brain had been blended by that shake.

“That woman is powerful. I’m this strong, yet I still couldn’t defeat Her...”

Not only couldn’t She defeat Elian, but Elian was actually taking on the five goddesses with no issue, like a god of war.

Keeping that comment to himself, Wayne patted Kaleb on the shoulder and pointed at the battlefield without a word.

Stop showing off your lack of intelligence. Show off your strength. Use your muscle.

Kaleb shook Her head and held up Her wrist pointedly, which was wearing a pale bracelet. “Aztimor and Seleucia are both stronger than we are,” She said seriously. “It isn’t a surprise with Aztimor since She has always been powerful, but Seleucia is beyond powerful. As your vassal, She receives far greater enhancement in the Divine Realm. Corrupt me. I want to become stronger, too.”

Kaleb looked dead serious. She wasn’t just saying it when She said She trusted Wayne. She trusted him so much that She wasn’t worried about becoming his slave after the corruption.

She didn’t even need Her instinct to tell Her that. Seleucia was a good example. Anyone with working eyes could see how much Wayne favored Seleucia. Even Ines, his life and business partner, almost couldn’t compare.

“No rush. There’s another way you could defeat Elian. Keep that card hidden for now. Once the other Horsemen appear, show them what you’ve got.”

Wayne jutted his chin at the battlefield.

There, at the center, Elian was taking on three goddesses on Her own—mainly Seleucia and Aztimor, the two strongest goddesses. Ines only made sneak attacks every once in a while, merely making a cursory effort.

The biggest slacker of them all was Siluk. Raising a frosty bow from the edge of the battlefield, She made a shot occasionally, putting up a convincing act of being busy. Someone who didn’t know better would think She was competing in a beauty pageant.

“That’s not it. Siluk is the weakest among the goddesses. She doesn’t want to slack off; she just isn’t strong enough.” Kaleb hurriedly defended Her good sister. Siluk didn’t lack willingness, but capability.

“Let me thank you on Her behalf,” Wayne snorted. If any other goddess had said that—such as Ines—he would’ve thought it a snide comment.

He slapped Kaleb on the shoulder and sent Her to go merge with Siluk. They had been taking too long with foreplay. If they kept dragging their feet, by the time the Goddess of Light descended, Elian would already be on Her knees.

Enhancing the Authority of the Divine Realm through corruption could wait. They weren’t stumped at the moment. It was crucial to reveal cards as needed. A trap’s value could only be maximized by triggering it on the enemy’s turn.

As per his order, Kaleb dragged Siluk from the sideline and looked around for a safe place to merge. She quickly concluded that nowhere was safer than by Wayne’s side.

Compared to their last merge, this time, the preparation time was much shorter. The period required for the merged form to stabilize was eliminated. Since the five Divine Realms had merged, and Light had become a concrete concept, Kaleb and Siluk only had to make sure their thoughts were in sync, and they trusted each other. Moreover, their merge time had also been extended. The Goddess of Light had become the biggest benefactor of the new Divine Realm.

Following a flash, a stunning goddess with flowy long blonde hair descended.

Bowing slightly, Wayne took Her hand and kissed Her fingertips. “My goddess, it’s been days since I was last graced by your presence. Your elegance is still as impressive as ever.”

He had always been good at sweet-talking goddesses. The Goddess of Light smiled and gave him an approving look.

The Goddess of Light didn’t immediately enter the fray. With golden light surging in Her eyes, She summoned the sun and the moon to occupy the same sky, and an infinite number of stars emerged.

She looked at Her hands. The two pale bracelets were an eyesore.

“If you don’t like it, Goddess, I’ll take them off you.”

“No need. You take good care of Kaleb, and I’ve inherited Her instinct.” The Goddess of Light smiled before vanishing in a flash of golden light.

Boom!!

Her one hit triggered a towering tide that swept across the empty land, sending wave after wave of ripples, accompanied by howling winds. At the heart of the soaring waves, Nature’s manifestation was shot cleanly through. Elian and Her mount fell to the Underworld below, clashing with Aztimor once She quickly caught up.

Wayne stared at the Goddess of Light’s back and said in surprise, “That’s not the same person as last time... Does the change to the Divine Realm allow them to merge fully?”

The last time the Goddess of Light emerged, Siluk’s thoughts had been the dominant thoughts. It was different this time. Wayne could tell that She was neither Kaleb nor Siluk.

“Interesting. It seems that She retains Kaleb’s preference for fire elements...” Wayne stroked his chin. In fact, the goddess seemed to have retained Kaleb’s affection for him. Hopefully it was only temporary and would go away once the merge ended, or Siluk would suffer for it.

Muhaha.

Below the land, the two goddesses representing Death collided. They had mastered almost the same amount of information and both possessed Death and Nature, but no matter how the meta changed, Elian was always stronger than Aztimor. The previous top goddess lived up to Her reputation. Aztimor couldn’t do anything to Her no matter how furious She was.

Justice descended from the sky. A spear of lightning blocked the scythe of Death, and a quick sword of Light pierced through the horse. Darkness’s tentacles wrapped around Elian’s limbs and neck, pulling together to restrain Her.

Whoosh!

Aztimor swung Her scythe, slicing Elian’s stunning face in half. The surging Death energy eroded the skin and revealed the dried tissues underneath.

“Ah, how hideous!”

“It’s not hideous, just old. Our Goddess of Nature has aged.”

“Aging is terrifying. I will never be like her, or I would rather die.”

“Death isn’t terrifying. Being ugly is.”

“How could you say that about Elian, not sparing her dignity at all? She’s already ugly. We should show her some consideration.”

“Kekeke—”

The sarcastic remarks came one after another, bookended by coquettish laughter. The psychic attack landed a critical hit on Elian.

The previous top goddess had never undergone such humiliation. She wiped Her face to restore Her beauty, Her crimson eyes shifting to—

Everyone She saw was an enemy. Amid the laughter, She raged helplessly as the four goddesses took turns peeling off Her face.

(一`′一;)

Wayne had thought that his humiliation was shameless, that only those with an iron will and the determination to protect the world would be able to say those lines. However, it turned out that he had been outdone. A goddess hit another goddess the hardest, and only one goddess understood another goddess’s weakness.

He was being completely objective when he said that the four unhinged women didn’t seem to be acting. His imagination of them crumbled.

Ines and Aztimor were one thing since Wayne had seen them verbally attack each other. He expected no less from them. The problem was Seleucia. Wasn’t She supposed to be not very clever? Where did She learn those various insults?

The Goddess of Light, too, was no less sharp-tongued than Ines. The way She covered Her laugh was beyond black-hearted. How was he going to believe in Light in the future?

Wayne shook his head and closed his eyes to recall his slumbering memories, convincing himself, “Ah, it’s because the Goddess of Light lent Her light to the Giant of Light. We’ve watched the same TV show. The Giant of Light forgot to return the light to Her...[1]”

“Damn it. I thought it was an isolated incident that he didn’t return my light to me, but he has other debts? It turns out I’m not an exception. The Giant of Light has run away with all the money.”

Wayne tried his best to find an excuse for the Goddess of Light and himself. They weren’t black-hearted because they had no light in their hearts, but because someone had borrowed light from them and never returned it.

While he was amusing himself with his imagination, he received an alert from an octopus in the Chosen Land.

In the sky above Berlo, the capital of Prussia, crimson clouds gathered, resembling blood and fire. A formidable presence was slowly rousing.

It was the Horseman of War!

Wayne’s eyes widened. “Why would the Horseman of War awaken now? I’ve controlled all the goddesses and snuffed the bud of a War of Faiths in its infancy. There’s no reason—”

He stopped himself, looking down at Elian, who fought hard against four goddesses and refused to back down no matter what humiliation She was subjected to. It wasn’t because She had lost Her rationality to anger that She had stubbornly held on despite standing no chance. She did it because She had to fight.

Wayne scowled. “She proclaimed to settle accounts as the Goddess of Nature, risking Her life to incite a battle of gods. How audacious. She should stay in this Divine Realm from now on.”

War had arisen; then let Death stay here. It was a fair trade. Besides...

“You’re in my territory. I’m not going to let you wake up just because you want to, am I?”

Wayne faded out of the Divine Realm, but not before pushing its vitality to the limit. No one would be able to enter, and none of those inside would be able to get out.

***

Chosen Land.

Berlo, Prussia.

Rumble—

Under the deep dark dome, dark clouds gathered like rolling clusters of ink, gradually colored by the ominous red light. It was thick like blood and spread through the sky like crimson clouds. Insidious images manifested in the sky in quick succession.

The dark clouds that had come to occupy the sky above Prussia acted like a massive projection screen. The Prussian people weren’t the only ones who could see it when looking up. The millions of troops at the border could see it clearly, too.

On the screen, smoke permeated, and firelight soared toward the sky. Explosions, screams, and cries composed a cacophony. Blood gathered into rivers, and severed limbs, heads, and internal organs were strewn everywhere. The scent of blood and gunpowder permeated every part of the world through the crimson clouds.

The image pulled ever closer. It started out showing the battlefields and slaughter of the age of cold weapons, then morphed into the recent First World War, and finally the Second World War.

The fog rising from battlefields, rubble of ruined buildings, the abundant bodies and remains, and the war machines spitting out black smoke—it all symbolized the destruction brought about by war.

Finally, the image showed the Divine Realms. Figures eluding the naked eye rampaged and shrieked...

After a moment of silence, people fled. Civilians and soldiers alike were struck by a powerful anxiety because of the smell of blood in the air. Over time, their eyes turned red like they had gone berserk.

The regular people didn’t pose a great threat. The problem was the armed soldiers, especially the millions of troops confronting each other at the border. Roaring, they tightened their grips around their weapons and started the tanks.

Above the not-yet-rebuilt Chancellery of the New Reich, crimson mist rolled down in a spiral before forming a sphere. A figure faded in and out of existence within the fog of blood.

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning cut through the crimson sky. Following a thunderous rumble, a massive metallic horse clip-clopped down the crimson clouds. It was large and sturdy, with a black metallic shell painted with a blazing red finish that flowed like blood. The limbs were made of sophisticated alloy. Hidden within the joints were complex mechanisms of gears and liquid pressure devices. Every single step rumbled like powerful thunder.

The horse raised its head high, its fiery mane flying in the wind. Its artificial bionic eyes gleamed with cold light, and from its nostrils came heated steam. On the sides of its neck, numerous red circuits pulsed and hummed.

The warhorse stopped by the red sphere. One metallic hand reached out to tie an energy greatsword to the saddle. Then the figure mounted the horse.

It was pure machine. The wholly dark red figure was armed with countless offensive systems on his limbs. His eyes glowed with the red light of bloodthirst. His very existence was war.

The Horseman of War, one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, descended!

He leaped into the sky on horseback and drew his energy greatsword to point it at the crimson sky. Every time he breathed, he brought an unstoppable wind of killing that drew upon more chaos and destruction.

Under his influence, the fleeing civilians halted their steps and looked at the Horseman of War with admiration, like pilgrims worshipping their faith. The Law of Mechanical Augmentation filled the sky above Prussia in the form of crimson mist. The millions of troops at the border readied for a fight. At the Horseman of War’s command, they would spread war across all of the Chosen Land. Then...

They would summon Death, Famine, and Pestilence!

The second before the armies could launch into mindless slaughter, something weighed down on the omnipresent red clouds. A bolt of lightning struck like a deep sigh. Then the pale ocean of clouds crushed the crimson clouds, bringing white rain upon the land.

Here came corruption!!!

1. A reference to Ultraman. ☜