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“Good.”
In her personal temple in the heavens, Wena, the God of Hunting and Traps, raised the corners of her mouth.
“I never imagined I would find him this quickly.”
It was a stroke of great luck that a young orc believer who worshiped her had discovered Glenn Wordsworth while scouting the Suddels Plateau.
Not wanting to miss the opportunity, she immediately gave an oracle to Groxa, with whom she had formed an avatar contract only a few days ago, and sent him there.
—A warrior blessed by me never fails in a hunt, Groxa.
She projected an image into Groxa's mind of herself sitting proudly on her throne with her legs crossed as she gave him an order.
—So don't fail.
—I understand, my goddess!
After receiving the oracle, Groxa grabbed his enormous bow and hunting equipment and hurried toward the Suddels Plateau.
He successfully tracked Glenn down.
All that remained was to watch him hunt Glenn for her.
“It's done… Now it's finally happening.”
Her lion-like eyes shone with joy against her firmly muscled, copper-colored skin.
The operation to eliminate dangerous beings on the surface had begun under the leadership of Nox and Yuellos.
Compared to the other gods, who were not particularly enthusiastic about it, Wena was taking this matter extremely seriously.
For her, this operation was an opportunity to regain the glory she had once possessed.
There had been a time when civilization on the continent was still primitive and agriculture had not yet been established.
Humans and demons survived by hunting and gathering.
Before going hunting, they always prayed to Wena, the God of Hunting and Traps.
When the hunt ended successfully, they willingly burned part of their spoils as an offering to their god.
Wena had received faith from countless races across the continent.
Her status as a god back then had been far higher than that of the current Minis and Nox.
‘It used to be like that…!’
Crack—
As time passed and agriculture developed, civilization grew.
The importance of hunting declined, and naturally, fewer people worshiped Wena.
Of course, countless races on the surface still went into forests and fields to hunt.
But they no longer had to risk their lives doing so.
As a result, their faith disappeared, and Wena lost her position as a high-ranking god.
No matter how insignificant the beings on the surface were, without their faith, even a high-ranking god could not gain the power and authority needed to act in the heavens.
‘But… Nox promised me.’
He had promised that if she helped break the Sword of Victory held by Minis, he would give her part of Minis's territory in the future.
He had even promised to create a kingdom of orcs who worshiped the God of Hunting and Traps.
“So succeed.”
“I'll give you the opportunity to reunite the orc race, which is divided into hundreds of tribes across the continent, and build a new kingdom.”
Looking at Groxa through the circular rift floating in the air, Wena narrowed her eyes.
Her lion-like eyes, with golden concentric circles, shone with the light of a predator.
Whooosh—
BOOOOM!
The enormous arrow slammed into the ground, creating a powerful gust of wind.
Trees and bushes caught in the storm were instantly torn apart.
“Brother! Are you all right?!”
“Yes. For now.”
“Haa…”
Luceria sighed in relief while checking Glenn's condition near where the arrow had landed.
“…I promised I would protect you, but I'm sorry that all I've done is run away.”
“What is there to apologize for?”
“The amount of time we've spent fighting throughout our lives is simply different.”
It was true that ever since Luceria had first met Glenn, she had undergone combat training from Bishop Roderick, her aide.
As a result, she had become incomparably stronger than before.
“The opponent was simply a bad match.”
Their opponent was an orc.
Orcs were powerful beings capable of ruling the continent alongside humans and demons.
And among those orcs, the Red Rock Tribe was especially powerful.
They had spent their entire lives running through oxygen-poor highlands and hunting reindeer as large as houses and various monsters.
They had spent their whole lives honing their natural talent for hunting and combat.
It was only natural that Luceria was being pushed back against such an opponent.
‘He could already make up the difference of one ring through nothing but combat instincts.’
‘Now that he has become the avatar of the god he worships, he's probably acting even more arrogantly.’
Fortunately, Luceria had a huge advantage in terms of firepower and stamina.
But if they continued being pushed backward according to Groxa's plan, they would never win.
‘We're defending well, but we're still being led around according to his intentions.’
Glenn looked behind him.
Beyond the edge of the highlands was a massive mountain range and forest.
Groxa seemed to be firing arrows randomly, but he was actually forcing them toward that area.
His intention was obvious.
A forest was the perfect place for a hunter to hide traps.
If they were pushed into that forest, their chances of winning would truly disappear.
“Ugh… What should we do?”
“For now, we have no choice but to advance to the strategic point.”
The strategy Glenn had discussed with Luceria before the battle had to begin there.
“Groxa's assault has been fiercer than expected, so we're being pushed back.”
“But if you're the Luceria I know, you can easily open a path.”
“Can you do it?”
“…Yes.”
“I'll try.”
Glenn's serious encouragement caused a determined light to appear in Luceria's violet eyes.
“Good.”
“Then let's begin.”
“Yes.”
“Stay behind me.”
Luceria moved ahead of Glenn and took the front line.
She gathered her holy power.
The pure white holy power surrounding her suddenly turned golden.
Then the golden holy power lost its color and gradually became pure white again.
Fwoooooosh—
The holy power in her hands was far purer and more beautiful than the white holy power she had released at first.
Luceria spread the beautifully swirling power in her hands forward, forming a semicircular barrier.
At the same time, a massive arrow fired by Groxa slammed into Luceria's holy barrier.
KRAAAASH— CRACK!
An arrow as large as an adult man struck the barrier and left cracks behind.
But unlike when it had blocked the first attack, the barrier did not look nearly as unstable.
“Focus…”
“I have to concentrate…”
A sharp light appeared in Luceria's eyes as she muttered to herself.
Then the pure white holy power she released quickly repaired the barrier.
The arrow embedded in the barrier was gradually pushed out and fell to the ground.
BOOM!
But Luceria did not lose her concentration.
She continued advancing.
Glenn watched her admirable back and smiled.
Whoooosh— CRACK!
