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Side Story Chapter 124

“Look who’s finally graced me with his presence. Hah, I have to destroy an entire paladin’s order to meet you, huh?” Bel licked the blood on his fist.

Unsurprisingly, the blood belonged to other people, not him. Slaughtering hundreds of paladins hadn’t left a single cut on Bel; once again, he lived up to his title of Battle God.

“Bel, what in the world are you doing?!” Cardinal Kurz roared.

On behalf of the previous Pope, who had been forcefully ousted from his position, Cardinal Kurz led the priests. In addition, he had been contending with Cardinal Erman, the father of the “saint” Lilith Aphrodite, to become the next pope. Kurz had won that fight by default after his contender’s daughter had manifested a Demon King’s authority. However, Bel knew that Lilith Aphrodite’s circumstances had been orchestrated by this wicked man.

Bel chuckled. “I had a change of heart.” He shrugged.

“What do you mean, ‘a change of heart’?” Kurz demanded.

“I’ve been watching what you weaklings were doing because it was funny, but I’m tired of it now.”

“What in the world—! Wait, I lost contact with Michael several days ago. Are you behind that too?” Kurz asked, his eyes narrowed.

Bel quietly shook his head. Kurz and the others were blinded by their arrogance ever since Hubalt had become known as the most powerful nation on the continent, so they didn’t even think about looking elsewhere.

“That’s all caused by your mistakes,” Bel pointed out.

“Mistakes…?”

“The operation failed. Every single one of the oh-so-proud Paladins of the Great Temple has been taken prisoner, and all of the Four Paladins you so confident couldn’t be beat were killed.”

“The Four Paladins were killed? What kind of nonsense is that?!” Kurz yelled.

“Cardinal Kurz, didn’t you say that you’ve lost contact with Michael?”

Kurz and his posse of high priests following him flinched. He knew that something was wrong. During a war, there were countless occasions where one had to take action first and report later—but even with that considered, Michael hadn’t reported in for too long.

“Hahahaha! I figured. The Martial God really is something.”

“The Martial God…?” Kurz’s jaw dropped. “Then did he— Wait, is he that strong? Then is the story about how he’s been recuperating from a mortal wound for all these years wrong too?”

“Well, it may not be entirely wrong.”

“What are you talking about now?”

“I tried fighting him, but he was way weaker than I expected.” Bel tilted his head as he recalled the memory from several days ago. Even thinking about it now, he couldn’t understand how that was possible. Joshua Sanders Bel’s sole goal in life, so he’d been shadow-fighting against Joshua based on what he knew of the Martial God’s martial prowess for decades. Although the fight several days ago was Bel’s first actual fight against Joshua, he had fought the Martial God tens of thousands of times in his head.

“To be honest, I still don’t get how the Martial Emperor, my teacher, was killed by him before the Martial Emperor could do something about it.” Bel raised an eyebrow.

“If you were that confident, why did you run away on your own?!”

“Escape?” Bel grinned. There couldn’t be a more unfitting word for the Battle God than “escape”. “Don’t you understand that you have to let fruit ripen before you eat it?”

“What?”

“What’s the point of beating up someone who isn’t in good enough shape to fight back?”

Kurz gritted his teeth. “Do you think war is a game? Just because of your pride—”

“Silence!” Bel shouted. Hundreds of the priests collapsed to the ground, screaming, as the mana-empowered shockwave slammed into them, blood dripping out of their ears.

“‘Just because’? Did you say ‘just because’?” Bel growled.

“Ugh… How dare you…!”

“I’ve invested my entire life into defeating the man named Joshua Sanders. I don’t even remember when you started raising me like an animal, and I never got to taste freedom—and you call that just because?”

Bel strode angrily toward Kurz and the others.

“Stop him!

The paladins anxiously watching the situation jumped into Bel’s path. Although over two hundred of them were already dead, there were over two thousand white-clad paladins protecting the Great Temple. This was the place where the highest-ranking priests resided; it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the Empire’s best and brightest were all there.

“Good. Hahahahahahahaha!” Bel guffawed.

It was one versus tens of thousands, but Bel moved without hesitation.

“There will be no more Hubalt, the Holy Empire, after today. From tomorrow on, a new country will be born: it will be named Huzact, the Martial Empire, after my teacher. I’ll kill every one of you here and take the throne myself!”

Bel charged into battle.

* * *

-How are you feeling?

Lilith smiled despite the freezing cold temperatures at the top of the mountain. She was wearing a robe with a hood to cover her face, but it was hardly enough to hide her beauty.

“I feel good,” she answered with a giggle.

-Huh?

“The Martial God is concerned about me. Where else will I be able to enjoy such luxury?” Lilith joked, earning her a quiet chuckle from Joshua.

-Stop joking. Get married as soon as possible after you’ve stabilized your country. If you miss your timing, you end up an old spinster forever.

“If you’re that worried about me, you can marry me.”

-…You’re joking, right?

“Do I look like I’m joking?” Lilith asked, her eyebrows furrowing.

Joshua froze for a moment, and then shook his head.

-I’m sorry, but I already have three beautiful wives.

“Is there a law that’s stopping you from getting one more?”

-I\'ve been criticized enough for having three wives, and I don’t want to walk on eggshells around my children when I get older, so I’ll have to say no.

“What a bummer.”

Joshua finally realized Lilith had, in fact, been joking.

-You’re quite mischievous. I’m relieved to see you’re the same as ever.

“Hah! Take care of your knight first instead of worrying about me. You know, there’s a rumor in my country that the famous Combat Emperor is impotent,” Lilith mentioned with a shrug.

-I-Impotent?

“Yes.” Lilith nodded. “A lot of people used to wonder if they could get the Combat Emperor’s martial prowess in exchange for becoming impotent, too.”

Joshua smiled awkwardly. Whenever he thought about Cain, he felt bad because it felt like he was the reason why Cain had remained a bachelor to this day.

-…Stop it. I’m already feeling guilty enough.

“I should hope so. After spending his entire life searching for his master, he’s now become a sixty-year-old bachelor…”

-Are you going to keep doing this? Ugh…

“I’ll get going,” Lilith said mischievously and then swiftly turned around.

“Joshua.”

Joshua looked askance at her.

“We’re still friends, right?”

Lilith’s voice quivered.

When it came to her guilt, Lilith’s feelings had not changed. No matter what excuse she used, what she had done could never be undone.

-Of course. Even if you don’t feel the same, I’ll always think of you as my friend.

“…Seriously, you…”

-You know my past.

“Your past…?” Lilith’s eyes slowly widened as she recalled his history.

Joshua Sanders was respected enough to be known as the Martial God around the entire continent, but his life was littered with betrayal. His master had stabbed him in the back, and he had been abandoned by his father. Experiencing all of those tribulations was what had made Joshua Sanders the man he was now.

-My life’s motto is that there is no future for someone who has betrayed the trust people put in them.

“…Your life’s motto feels like a punch in the gut,” Lilith replied with a bitter smile.

-Don’t overwork yourself, and use the thing I gave you wisely. Then, saving your father won’t be too difficult.

“Thank you.”

-But don’t forget about our promise. Once you run into that guy named Bel, run away immediately and don’t look back.

Lilith felt as light as a feather both mentally and physically. Thinking about the thought this handsome man put into her gave her the confidence to march through her thorny road without pause.

“I could say the same thing to you. If you need my help later, contact me without hesitation.” Lilith winked.

Joshua chuckled.

-I’ll be sure to.

* * *

Arcadia, the capital of the Avalon Empire, was stabilized quickly. It had only been three days, but not a trace of war could be found, all thanks to the mages who had been dispatched from the Magic Tower. Following their Tower Master’s order, the mages invested their full power into the restoration of the city.

“Tower Master, is this really okay?”

Theta waved his hand, dismissing the mages’ concerns. “Stop worrying. It might have been different if we were getting directly involved in the war, but we’re just helping out a country with reconstruction. It’s fine.”

“But Hubalt will make a fuss once they find out about this…”

“Is our Magic Tower that weak?”

“Pardon?”

“Is our Magic Tower so weak that we have to worry about how other countries will respond every time we do something?” Theta asked with a frown.

The Seven Mages, except for Marcus, the Earth, fell silent.

“If that\'s the case, I don’t want to lead it. If you don’t like my decision, what you guys need to do is very simple.”

“What…?”

“Beat me and take my position as Tower Master—then I’ll obediently follow your orders.”

This remark was made by Thetapirion Whitesox, the one and only Eighth-Circle mage of this generation, so, of course, no one dared to challenge him.

“So cut that shit out and look over there.” Theta pointed at the arena where the two princes of Avalons were stretching.

The crown prince of the Avalon Empire was going to be decided today. It was an internal affair, so the event was closed to the public. However, the Magic Tower’s mages were able to take a seat in the audience as a gesture of respect by the Imperial Family.

“Don’t you want to know who’s going to be the Martial God’s heir?” Theta shrugged.

“Mmmm…”

The Seven Mages turned their full attention to the arena.

“How about we make a bet?” Theta suggested with a grin.

“A b-bet?”

“Yeah, let’s bet on who wins this fight. The losers will grant one wish for each winner.”

Theta already had a demand in mind for when he won this bet: allow the Magic Tower to support Avalon, and for no one to say anything else about it.

Theta’s smile grew wider and wider as he thought about it. He was perfectly confident that he was going to win this bet. All of the Seven Mages were going to bet on the same prince, after all—and on the other hand, Theta was going to bet on the other prince, makign him the sole winner.

“How does that sound? Deal?”

Theta beamed.