Outside of Hossylei Nac, near the huge lake where the city of elves resided, the battle continued. Rosaminta fought against Gerard in their giant forms while their allies clashed in an exchange of life and death. Lovel had taken charge of her forces and directed them to distract and attack the Gatekeeper. The tanned-skinned woman was giving orders and casting magic as she waited for the detached team that was sent to the city of elves to come back after finishing their mission.

“I have to thank Master for giving me this chance.” [Hames]

Though occupied, the heavy hitters on their side were still able to move if Gerard could no longer handle the plant monster.

“Your kind destroyed my village, so I’ll destroy your city.” [Hames]

One of them was Hames who coldly spoke to Meirith as he looked down on her with rage in his eyes, his sword pointed at her face. The elven maiden had received a blow to the head, leaving her stunned and lying on the ground. As the angry young man raised his sword, a bolt of lightning electrocuted him and blew him away. Despite fighting Peter, Itham had managed to protect his daughter again.

“DAMN IT!” [Hames]

Hames wasn’t happy. He had left the High Elder to Peter, but still got shocked. Moreover, he was interrupted just as he was about to finish off an elf. Then again, it was his fault for taking his time to relish in his revenge. As the black-haired man was about to charge and simply kill Meirith as fast as possible, something fell from the sky at high speed and dropped to the ground like a meteor.

A beat later, Hames and everyone else stopped fighting. They turned to look at whatever had shown up. Enemies and allies alike felt overwhelmed by fear. That presence rippled across the air and reached everyone. To their surprise, they could all sense a huge spike of killing intent that accompanied whatever showed up, freezing them. Furthermore, some sort of primitive instinct told them, shouted at them, that whatever had appeared was bad news.

That was because the one that had just joined the battlefield was Ryner in his true form.

Dressed in clothes of black smoke and with white feathers for hair, the strange being saw everything moving at a crawl, including the shockwaves that his high speed descent had generated. He was perceiving the world at a much faster rate than usual. As everyone was still in the middle of turning their heads towards him, Ryner was examining what he had been searching for.

“…” [Ryner]

He had spotted it from the sky and dropped in front of it while doing his best to keep his emotions in check. Then, he confirmed that the corpse did indeed belong to Mi. Lying in a puddle of blood and meat, the head, as well as the upper body was missing, having been entirely pulverized. There was no healing the young pup. So, Ryner stretched out his left arm over the deceased Mi. From the hand facing down, golden strings emerged from the palm and fingers.

“No, Ryner.” [Iparus]

Suddenly, Iparus appeared out of nowhere and grabbed his forearm from the side. However, Ryner knew he wasn’t really there. He couldn’t feel his hand. His presence was different, weak. But, it was definitely the blonde-haired god as time had completely stopped. It was as if it was waiting for the deity to leave before continuing its work.

“Have you forgotten the Covenant?” [Iparus]

Iparus asked.

“You will not use your powers to interfere with the souls of the departed and bring them back. That is one of the promises you made to us gods.” [Iparus]

In the stilled world, the god spoke to Ryner who kept quiet.

“As the one in charge of monitoring you, I must report your breach of the Covenant. So if you do this, our war will begin again.” [Iparus]

He calmly spoke one-sidedly while the other party continued to stare at the corpse of the puppy.

“Should that happen, many worlds will be destroyed in the chaos. But most importantly, you yourself said that you always keep your promises.” [Iparus]

However, he knew that he wasn’t being ignored.

“Performing this revival would break your promise, and that is something you never do. Even if it means killing your friends… Or leaving them dead.” [Iparus]

Because Ryner hadn’t moved a muscle, and the raging light in his eyes slowly turned cold.

“You always keep your promises. And that is why peace is possible.” [Iparus]

After saying everything he needed to say, silence reigned in the frozen world for a moment. Then, the golden strings that were moving towards Mi disappeared. Seeing them gone, Iparus slowly let go of Ryner’s arm. Standing over the mangled body of Mi, Ryner raised his head to the dim, cloudy sky, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Afterwards, he gently picked up what was left of the deceased puppy and stored her in his pocket dimension before reverting back to his human form.

“… Thank you.” [Iparus]

Leaving behind those words, Iparus vanished and time began moving again. From Ryner’s arrival to the god’s interference, everything took place in a fraction of a second from the perspective of the other fighters present on the battlefield. That was why when they caught sight of Ryner, the feeling of instinctual fear had already disappeared. It was so brief that some wondered if they had imagined it.

“Who…” [Ryner]

But, seeing the man with half-closed, emotionless eyes, they realized it wasn’t the case.

“Who killed my dog?” [Ryner]

“(So, you haven’t completed your ceremony yet?)” [Evelyn]

“(No. It keeps getting postponed since the kingdom has more important things to do. And we need to lend a hand.)” [Maya]

Back in Sakael, Evelyn was going through several documents at her desk while communicating with Maya.

“(Ofauvra IS seen as a leader among beastman countries.)” [Evelyn]

“(That’s right~. Mainly thanks to my clan, the Terdim clan and the relic.)” [Maya]

“(I suppose the last debacle shook their position, which is why they are focused on settling their affairs. Understandable, since this country is in a similar state, though worse.)” [Evelyn]

They exchanged words telepathically and informed each other of their respective situation.

“(To be honest, I’d like for Ryner to see the ceremony… Is he still angry? He doesn’t contact me much.)” [Maya]

“(I’d say yes. Be prepared to get hit.)” [Evelyn]

“(That’s fine. I do deserve it, but I still believe that night was necessary.)” [Maya]

“(Hmm, we’ll have to wait and see if your claim is true. But, at the very least, he is not utterly, absolutely furious.)” [Evelyn]

“(Have you seen him like that before?)” [Maya]

Evelyn’s pen stopped moving at Maya’s question.

“(… Yes, and he was terrifying.)” [Evelyn]

The vampire looked at the sky through the window in her room and recalled the past.

“(Ryner keeps his emotions in check most of the time, especially his anger. He once told me if he doesn’t do so, and lets his bloodlust flow freely, he would lose control.)” [Evelyn]

She then closed her eyes for a moment and resumed her work as she answered the beastman who was silently waiting for her to continue.

“(What he did to his enemies then could be called excessive.)” [Evelyn]

“(… Evelyn… Have you heard from him?)” [Maya]

Maya’s uneasy voice rang in Evelyn’s head.

“(Worried?)” [Evelyn]

“(Yes…)” [Maya]

“(I haven’t been contacted since last time, but… I’m sure Ryner’s fine. There’s nothing to worry about… Surely.)” [Evelyn]

“AAAAAHHHHH!!! AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” [Invader]

Ryner was ripping off a man’s left arm before lances of fire were flying towards him. As they fell from the sky like missiles, spikes of stone jumped out of the ground, surrounding and aiming for him. However, while grabbing his victim by the back of the head, he busted through the obstacles at high speed using brute force, escaping from the fiery bombardment.

“NEXT! READY!” [Lovel]

Lovel was commanding her allies as many gathered in front of her to cast magic together while the rest were spread out. Gerard was keeping the Gatekeeper busy, who was for some reason ignoring her forces. She was happy that she didn’t have to worry about being impaled or torn up by plants, but she now had another problem.

“(Why is there a human here?! And who is he?!)” [Lovel]

She thought, panicking internally as she saw Ryner bash her one-armed subordinate’s head into another’s, smashing them into the ground. Both skulls caved in along with their helmets. Six assailants closest to this new enemy sprang into action and surrounded him. One attacked from behind and two others attacked from both sides. The remaining three hung back and prepared themselves to strike right after their comrades.

As three swords were about to cut him, Ryner made his move faster than they could perceive, becoming a whirlwind. The next moment, several booming impacts rang out and five men were blown back with their heads crushed in a bloody mist.

“B-BROTHER!!” [Invader]

The sixth and remaining survivor of the group stopped and shouted in grief before Ryner appeared right in front of him. The dark, murky and powerful bloodlust that he could clearly feel from his lone opponent sent a shiver down his spine and froze him for a second. Unfortunately, that momentary pause left him completely open. He was kicked in the left knee, which bended his leg in the opposite direction.

“AARGH!” [Intruder]

As the intruder began floating in the air from the blow, his body facing the ground, Ryner ran passed him at high speed and grabbed his uninjured leg by the ankle.

“AAAHHHH!” [Intruder]

Stopping right in front of his next target, he swung his captive horizontally and sent his friend flying.

“GAH!” [Intruder]

Afterwards, he moved to the next and swung his human weapon downward.

“STO-GUH!” [Intruder]

He then moved to the next and swung his meat club down on him.

“AGH-!” [Intruder]

And down on him again.

“Wai-!” [Intruder]

And again.

“Pleas-!” [Intruder]

And again.

“…” [Intruder]

As blood flew, the sounds of metal being crushed, bones being broken and flesh being torn rung repeatedly. The human weapon, having fallen silent, soon failed to retain its human appearance, becoming flexible like noodles. On the other hand, the one getting bludgeoned was being flattened into a bloody mess, even as he no longer breathed.

“(NOW!)” [Lovel]

As Lovel was about to use the chance when Ryner stood still to bombard him with magic, Hames jumped at him from behind. The young man pushed aside all his questions and fell down on the human like a meteor, his sword raised high. With his surprise attack, he would bisect him, but Ryner reacted instantly. He turned around and punched his armored foe in the guts before he could swing his sword.

“Guh!” [Hames]

Hames flew backward like a bullet parallel to the ground. While he was airborne, Ryner caught up to him and grabbed his ankle with his right hand. Afterwards, he pulled him towards him, stopping him from flying away and clenched his fist in the same motion as he reeled his arm back for a punch. Hames, facing upward, saw the attack hanging over him like a guillotine for a split second.

“(I have to defend…!)” [Hames]

Knowing he couldn’t block in time, he instantly focused all the mana he could muster into his body strengthening magic, enhancing his body and his black armor to the utmost. Then, the clenched fist struck his stomach, shattering his armor made of dragoon scales and smashing him into the ground.

“Agh!” [Hames]

A crater was formed from the powerful impact that was similar to an explosion. Dirt, dust and grass were blown away from the shockwave. The young man, lying face up, fought back intense pain and tried to catch his breath. Unfortunately, he couldn’t afford to relax at all. Ryner’s foot slammed down on his chest, pushing him into the dirt.

“Guweh!” [Hames]

And then again on his face.

“(I’m, I’m gonna die…)” [Hames]

Hames thought as his hazy vision caught the sole of the raised foot that would signal his death. He could feel blood flow down his face and taste it in his mouth. His body was incredibly heavy and his sword was lying beside him, out of his reach.

“(N-no…! I have to avenge my family…! My village…!)” [Hames]

Fear caught ahold of him, but his luck hadn’t run out yet.

“GAAAAAHHH!” [Gary]

With a roar, Gary punched Ryner from the side, having charged at him like a gale. His enemy was knocked tens of meters away thanks to his powerful blow, slamming and rolling on the ground.

“PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN SIZE!!!” [Gary]

The huge man full of muscles shouted. On the other hand, Ryner, lying face up, slowly raised his upper body and expressionlessly stared at him with half-closed eyes.

And so, as various warriors fought under the grey sky, the souls of the deceased departed from the mortal world. One of which had not been revived by a monster and had instead been caught by the hands of a god.