Apostle of the Goddess of War

Chapter 157

Ch.157 Apostle of the Goddess of War

“How was it?”  

The Goddess of Fire folded her arms, pressing down hard on her forearm.  

Her eyes trembled—exhausted, fearful.  

Achille’s power was, as always, overwhelming.  

The Goddess of Water looked into Agnia’s eyes, her gaze tinged with sympathy.  

With a cold hand, she gently caressed Agnia’s cheek.  

“Sorry? I made you do something difficult, didn’t I?”  

“…No.”  

Agnia shook her head.  

She pulled away from the cold touch, then took a long, deep breath—  

yet her heartbeat refused to settle.  

After mentally replaying Achille’s battle, Agnia finally parted her rose-like lips.  

“I can handle it.”  

“Hm?”  

“Achille… I can still bring her down.”  

“Really?”  

“Yes. Serine—you and I together can beat her. Especially if we also use Mago.”  

Serine, the Goddess of Water, widened her opal-bright eyes in astonishment.  

“Really? Seriously?”  

“Yes. Really.”  

Hiding her fatigue, Agnia smiled at Serine, who clung to her arm and shook it excitedly.  

It was hard. Uncomfortable.  

Exhausting and wearying.  

But she couldn’t shake it off.  

To Agnia, Serine was like a flower blooming with poison.  

“Great! That’s it! Just as planned!”  

“Mm.”  

Agnia gave a small nod.  

Serine, overjoyed, bit her nails and split her lips into a grin—  

the edges of her pupils shimmering constantly.  

“If only we can suppress Achille… that madwoman…”  

Serine murmured to herself, then leaned against Agnia’s shoulder.  

The chill of her cheek cooled Agnia’s feverish forearm slightly.  

“Agnia?”  

“Yes. I’m listening.”  

“Can you really kill Achille for me? For my sake?”  

Serine stared into empty space with iridescent eyes—  

madness gleaming as if she already saw the future: Achille dead, and herself as Sovereign.  

She remained oblivious to Agnia’s expression.  

With rippling eyes, Agnia gazed at the same place Serine did.  

Serine’s garden.  

There, beautiful flowers bloomed in full splendor—  

unusually lavish and exquisite.  

Without the blessing of the Goddess of Water, these flowers could never grow on human soil.  

The only place they flourished on the human continent was the forest guarded by the Church of Fire.  

“…Of course.”  

At Agnia’s answer, Serine giggled once, then gently gestured toward the air.  

A single flower detached and floated toward her, as softly as a dandelion seed on the breeze, settling gently into her palm.  

With a smile, Serine tucked the blossom—  

tinged red and blue at once—  

behind Agnia’s ear.  

“Pretty. My sister.”  

Agnia forced a smile.  

“…Thank you.”  

* * *  

“Are you certain?”  

The woman—her beauty so exquisite it seemed forged from the finest crushed gemstones—asked.  

“Yes. We’ve cross-verified through our informant hidden in Elim.”  

“So the Apostles of War and Wisdom are truly moving south—and Elim has no Apostle-level strength left except the Apostle of Abundance?”  

“Yes!”  

The man kneeling before Ravienne, Apostle of Purity, answered confidently.  

This was a grand operation for the ultimate scheme.  

They’d invested tremendous time, effort, and money just to obtain this intelligence.  

It was a gamble with the entire Church’s fate on the line—  

and they’d even received massive backing from the Magic Guild Alliance.  

With stakes this high, certainty was non-negotiable.  

“Lady Ravienne… can we really bring down Elim with a raid?”  

The one-eyed man asked.  

Ravienne nodded.  

“I’m confident, Lord Esgerth.”  

Esgerth, the one-eyed, was one of the three supreme commanders of the Magic Guild Alliance and a pillar of the Veritaris Council, overseeing this entire operation.  

The Veritaris Council stood as one of two great powers preparing for war against the Church of War—  

the other being the Imperial Faction.  

The Magic Guild Veritaris had allied with the Church of Purity, their supreme goal: seizing the Holy Grail and indulging in ultimate truth.  

They left the actual takedown of the Church of War to the Church of Purity, offering every possible support without hesitation.  

“But if we fail, it’ll be disastrous—  

it’ll be tantamount to declaring war on the Church of War.”  

“And through dishonorable means, no less. Exactly the sort of act the Church of War despises most.”  

Ravienne answered calmly, her voice unwavering—  

filled only with absolute conviction that the Church of War would fall.  

“Still… you’d dare proceed? Wouldn’t a full-scale war be better? If we mobilize all our Arcane Soldiers…”  

Ravienne shook her head.  

“A large-scale move would only give them time to prepare.”  

“Hmm.”  

“Besides… once open war begins, Achille’s power becomes truly unstoppable.”  

Esgerth scratched his empty eye socket—  

a nervous habit, a phantom itch that flared whenever he felt uneasy.  

“The Goddess of War… she’s really that formidable?”  

“The more war looms, the stronger she grows.”  

“Truly no different from an Evil God.”  

Ravienne offered a bewitching smile—  

so seductive even aged men felt their hearts quicken anew.  

“I’ll make this assault succeed. Without fail.”  

“But Elim’s influence has grown… they must have many defenders.”  

“Only the War Knights and the Knights of Abundance.”  

“What about the Church of Wisdom?”  

“Only their Apostle is active. They’ve left no core strength in Elim.”  

Ravienne cruelly lifted the corners of her mouth.  

“I’ll kill everyone the Apostle of War holds dear. When he loses his mind, his judgment will falter—and that’s when our coalition’s Apostles strike together. He’ll fall.”  

“Indeed…”  

It was a sound plan.  

With both Apostles absent and Elim’s remaining forces so limited, failure would be the true anomaly.  

It almost made past Evil God factions seem foolish for never attacking before.  

Esgerth muttered quietly.  

“The fanatics of the Evil Gods must be simpletons.”  

“Hm?”  

“If they’d simply marched their troops and struck Elim directly, they might not have collapsed so utterly.”  

Ravienne instantly recalled a certain wolf.  

Garfenn—the Black Wolf.  

As long as he remained in Elim, no ambush could ever succeed.  

The current Apostle and Garfenn had almost never left Elim simultaneously—  

which was why this plan had never been viable before.  

But explaining all this felt tiresome.  

Deeming it pointless to waste time enlightening self-proclaimed ‘mages’ who’d spent their lives studying spells in some dusty room, oblivious to the world, Ravienne quietly rose from her seat.  

“Opportunities like this don’t come often. I’ll be off, then.”  

“I’ll await good news.  

I’ll assign my personal Arcane Guard to you.”  

“Thank you.”  

* * *  

Kaili returned to the church, her arms laden with offerings and tributes.  

Seven devoted followers trailed behind her.  

The Church of War’s wealth grew daily.  

“Thank you all for your hard work. Please log the offerings and deliver the records to Bishop Gustein.”  

“Yes, Priestess.”  

The followers bowed deeply and withdrew.  

Elim’s Priestess grew more sacred by the day—  

learning on her own how to command the dignity befitting her station.  

“Your acting keeps improving, Kaili.”  

“…What? Why are you here again? You have your own home.”  

“How can you speak to a goddess like that?”  

“Shut up.”  

Priestess Kaili bickered with Tartania—  

though it was more like one-sided harassment from Tartania.  

Kaili found the former Evil God’s attention utterly annoying.  

“I came to see the lovely face of my Priestess. I must pray to you once a day—to help suppress my power.”  

Kaili shot Tartania a resentful glance, then sighed deeply.  

“Come here.”  

“Hehe.”  

Tartania delighted in simply conversing with humans.  

Agnia was the only human she could truly talk to—  

thanks to her unique resistance to Tartania’s overwhelming dark energy.  

That was precisely why Tartania had grown fixated on Kaili since being confined to Elim.  

Kaili placed her hand on Tartania’s crown.  

A day’s worth of un-purified dark energy had built up heavily.  

Even after transforming into a purified deity and forging a pact with the Goddess of War, Tartania still carried this much corruption.  

Kaili couldn’t even imagine how terrifying she must’ve been in her true Evil God form.  

The fact that she behaved this tamely now was practically miraculous.  

Kaili closed her eyes and prayed.  

‘Goddess Achille… today too, I offer the corruption of Tartania to Your sanctuary. Please… purify it.’  

Achille’s response came swiftly.  

The purified dark energy transformed into divine power, spreading throughout the church.  

Tartania’s chest heaved—  

she inhaled deeply, forcibly absorbing the divine energy into her body.  

“Ugh… I think I’m gonna throw up.”  

“Just don’t puke inside the church again like last time.”  

Kaili gave Tartania’s shoulder a sharp pat—  

a remarkably bold gesture toward such a fearsome Evil God.  

Yet Tartania found this trait endearing.  

The way Kailia treated her—once an Evil God—with such rough familiarity sent thrilling, warm shivers through her: petty, cute, fluffy feelings.  

“Hey, Kaili.”  

“What? I’m going to bed now.”  

“Since you’ve put me in a good mood… I’ll give you a gift.”  

Kaili, who had been trudging away, halted mid-step.  

Wealth was good.  

Receiving gifts always felt nice—  

especially from a former Evil God; its value must be immense.  

“What is it?”  

Her expression instantly brightened, her tone shifting as if they’d been lifelong friends.  

“Haha! Kaili, you’re really something!”  

“Just tell me what the gift is. Hurry up.”  

“It’s just… I have something to tell you.”  

“Hm?”  

Tartania smiled gently, her eyes crinkling.  

“Soon, an annoying guest will come visiting.”  

“Oh?”  

“Yes. That guest… I’ll handle them myself.”  

Kaili hadn’t received any revelation from Goddess Achille yet.  

She sensed no ominous presence.  

She couldn’t grasp who Tartania meant.  

“They’ll be too white for your eyes to see clearly.”  

“This is confusing.”  

“You’ll just pass it off as nothing—that’s my gift to you, Kaili.”  

Kaili merely huffed in disappointment.  

Tartania laughed again at the little Priestess’s deflated reaction.  

“What’s that supposed to mean? Boring. I’m going to sleep.”  

“Mm~ Goodnight, baby Priestess.”  

Tartania waved her fingers flirtatiously.  

“Ew.”  

Frowning, Kaili turned and headed home.  

‘Tartania…’

The once Evil God now felt more like a mad goddess—  

but after observing her for days, Kaili saw no trace of malice.  

Whether it was acting or the contract’s effect, Tartania hadn’t done anything harmful to humans.  

So Kaili chose to trust her—  

and believed her ‘gift’ was genuine.  

“Cute.”  

Tartania gazed all night at the statue of the Goddess of War, bathed in moonlight.  

* * *  

“The human body truly is trash.”  

Goddess of Order, Kaia grumbled, reclining on a leather blanket.  

Her first duty as a purified deity was to accompany two Apostles on a mission: infiltrating the Church of Fire to recover a shard.  

It was tedious, dangerous, and pure chaos.  

‘Which is exactly why I like it.’

Hiding her delight, Kaiya gestured toward Arwen.  

“Hey, you. Human woman.”  

“Y-yes!?”  

Arwen jumped in surprise.  

The moment Kaia adapted to her fleshly form, she began treating Arwen like a servant.  

Menesia disliked this—but chose not to interfere.  

This much was within acceptable limits.  

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