(Around 500 years ago, near the town of Muscad, Principality of Rusvania)
(Vivian POV)
It was a spectacular battle, one that can be sung by the Bards for ages.
Mountains of demon corpses can be seen everywhere from where I stand. Above at the sky, one can only admire how magnificent the moonlight was, shining brightly upon the whole battlefield as a fitting symbol of our victory against this battle today.
It appeared that one of my companions done a spectacular job in dispatching the battalion sent by Asmodeus in invading the nearby town of Muscad.
And speaking of said companion, I saw her waving her hand cheerfully at me with a smile on her face.
While it was a sweet gesture for her, it was anything but that as I beg to differ, especially when she was covered from the blood of the demons that she personally slew.
"My Goddess, I'm so glad that you came!!!"
I could only sigh and shook my head at the title that she oh so enthusiastically called me.
She stopped on her tracks right close and smiled sweetly like a puppy waiting to be praised by its owner.
Damn it, if you display such a cute expression, then I have no choice but to obliged!! Bloodstained body or not.
I really don't have the heart to ignore her.
"Uh... Good work as always, Leia."
"Always pleased to serve, my Goddess. May Lady Luna shine her divine moonlight upon you."
This lass was none other than Leia Aeona Lunaria, the Mage who was the Moon Goddess Luna's champion. Despite her young age of 17, she was hailed as a prodigy who excelled in the Lunaria magic of the moon. Thus, there was no contest when the Lunaria House chose her as their matriarch.
She's a short beautiful petite lady, with long white hair paler than mine that's styled in a ponytail braid. Her attire was a white plate sleeveless armor with shoulder pauldrons and the crescent moon symbol on the chest part. Underneath it was a blue shirt. She also wore a black skirt and a pair of white gauntlets and greaves.
"Do you really have to call me that, Leia? Don't you already have a real Goddess who you serve?"
Leia's smile never faltered and she responded with even more vigor.
"One can never have too many Goddesses to worship!! Heck, we have Seven Gods that we already revere as part of our belief in the Ornilla faith."
"But I'm not a Goddess. Sheesh, Leia, can't you see that I'm literally all mortal and flesh?"
"Oh, I'm aware of that. But the moment you freed us a year ago from the curse that has been plaguing us for generations, you have become a figure worthy to be praised like a god."
Right... I did save her and her family from a problematic curse, an affliction known as the Lunar's End.
Every night, when the moon beckoned its glorious light, a Lunaria Mage would suffer great hardship and blight.
A Mage of the Moon would undergo immense pain throughout their entire body when exposed to the moon, like the flames of Hellia burning them intensely in utter oblivion. Prolonged exposure under the moon would inevitably result in their demise. Therefore, the Elders of the Lunaria family would forbid the clan from going outside when the sun had set.
It was a rather sickening irony. Once their source of great power became their source of burden when the Dark God of Malice, Malfistus, cast a curse on the Moon Goddess Luna as his revenge for being pushed back to his dark realm of Hellia by her many ages ago.
While Luna was unaffected by the curse due to her divinity, It was her devout followers and disciples who bore Malfistus's ire in her stead. The moon that they once loved turned against them. Some of her followers even abandoned the lunar faith and took their own lives rather than live in burning agony and misery.
While Luna wanted nothing more than to help her disciples, she was still recovering from her battle with Malfistus as she suffered grave godly injuries that caused her divine powers to wither.
Thus she implored aid from an outsider who was free from the burden of the curse. That someone turned out to be me since I was the Magus of Infinity, the Magic God Arkadia's chosen. With my plethora of spells and magic knowledge, the Moon Goddess was fully confident that I could perform the task to save her people.
By Luna's guidance in the form of visions and dreams, I followed her instructions to the letter as I found myself traveling throughout the entire land in search of the ingredients for the cure. Eventually, my fateful journey brought me to the dark realm of Malfistus, Wrakrosis.
You got that right, I visited one of Hellia's many realms and lived to tell the tale!!
The plan was simple, on paper at least. Luna, with her divine powers now recovered at least by half after years of waiting and planning, shall engage in a battle with him once more. Her intention was not to defeat him though, but merely a diversion.
With the undying insistence of the most devoted of Luna's followers' help, they too have accompanied me in my perilous trip to Wrakrosis. Their immense dedication to their Goddess, even after years of suffering, ignited a spark within them, and they would rather die fighting for their faith than live their everyday lives in a stagnant state of pure depravity.
Naturally, Leia was among them and she stood directly by my side as their leader. While Malfistus was distracted in his battle with Luna, the Lunaria Mages and I would infiltrate his inner palace and steal one final ingredient that would end the curse once and for all.
The Heart of the Two-headed Hellcat of Wrath.
Yup, we're slaying a pussy cat with two heads, tehee.
On a more serious note, the Hellcat was said to be a legendary demonic beast tamed by Malfistus. It towered at least 13 feet tall with its red fiery mane as hot as the flames of a Dragon. Defeating it was undeniably going to be extremely hard on our part.
While their lunar magic was weakened by the curse, the Lunarias were still a formidable force to be reckoned with. Their assistance was no doubt helpful in the battle against the beast.
The Hellcat's heart possessed incredible regenerative attributes that can heal even the most fatal of diseases and curses. With other ingredients that I have collected thanks to Luna's advice, we can cure the Lunarias with an alchemical concoction that I'm going to brew for them.
Anyways, the Hellcat was a tough son of a bitch, that I can say for sure. Even with our combined might and magic, the bastard was persistent thanks to its heart healing it rapidly.
Thankfully, our efforts paid off ultimately when Leia and I together cast a particular spell to finish it off before the beast made its decisive recovery.
Lunar Punishment.
An S-rank spell that can only be wielded by a prodigy of the Moon. Being the Magus of Infinity, the rule made an exception for me naturally. Multiple beams of powerful moonlight would be conjured endlessly and enact its unrestraint fury at the Mage's opposition.
With the two spells activated, the beams already countless amounts were doubled and even the legendary regeneration of the Hellcat was incapable of keeping up with the spell's seemingly perpetual assault.
As we were about to withdraw after the battle, I could only witness in shock and horror at the state that the Lunaria Mages were now in.
Their bodies were battered, simmered with extreme anguish.
I quickly realized that the Lunar's Punishment was the cause of their injury. It was basically the moon shaping itself in the aspect of magic, and they were openly exposed by the spell's countless moonlights. As a result, the curse did not even exempt them in this scenario.
While casting a simple Lunar spell was tolerable and not life-threatening for the Lunarias, the same can't be said about its S-rank variation of massive amounts.
Leia and her fellow Lunarias all expected this grave outcome to happen. However, with their courage and devotion to Luna unyielding, she still cast it despite the lethal consequences.
It was a sacrifice that they were willing to pay, for the good of the future generations of Lunaria to come.
Damn it, it was supposed to be not like this!!! I refuse to leave them here at the mercy of the Dark God, even if we have already fulfilled our mission.
Leia insisted that I must go on and save the rest of the Lunaria people in their stead.
No one is going to be a fucking martyr here!! Not on my watch!!!
As I said, I refuse to leave her and her people.
Thankfully, I still have an ace on my sleeve. Something that I have learned and trained from a friend of mine.
And let's just say that he's a fucking bastard with a high sense of pride.
The Ancient Dragon Mode.
With the Dragons' revered magic, I transformed into the majestic Silver Dragon that I have mastered recently and carried them all by my back.
Of course, this was not without consequence as Malfistus would be blind to not notice a gigantic Dragon flying in his doorsteps.
He would be shifting his focus at me no doubt and realize quickly that his precious cat's heart was stolen since he was fully aware of his pet's regenerative capabilities.
Fortunately, his intentions to harm us were quickly halted by Luna and we managed to escape the Dark realm with the brink of our lives thanks to a portal conjured by her beforehand. By near miss, she managed to escape as well.
Thankfully, Malfistus no longer can cast another similar curse since Luna also managed to seal off a good portion of his powers during their fight. At least, that's what she told us in the aftermath when we were at the safety of the mortal realm.
Thus ended the tale of how Leia and her people came to revere me as their second Goddess of a sort for saving the Lunaria and ending the foul curse.
Pretty amazing if I dare say so myself...
Although it had its fair share of annoyance I have to admit, especially when Leia would worship the ground I walk at every opportunity that she would get.
Like what she's doing presently... even when covered in demon blood.
Well, whatever, having a cute underling sure does have its perks too, especially one as devoted as her.
"Die, filthy human!!!"
My thoughts were rudely interrupted when a surviving demon soldier suddenly made himself known and was seen charging at me with no regard for his life.
While the act was brave, it was for naught, and I raised my hand in preparation to cast a spell to end his misery.
How pathetic, sacrificing yourself for a worthless cause motivated by war and mayhem. I truly am at marvel at why these demons follow Asmodeus to their dying breath.
Perhaps it was simply in their nature...
Although my intentions never came to fulfillment when Leia suddenly dashed forth right in front of me and slashed the poor fool with her Moonlight Blade, an elegant looking silver sword conjured with the powers of the majestic moon.
As I was about to thank Leia for defending me, she suddenly did something that truly caught me off guard.
Her incursion never stopped and she approached the soldier's dying body and began stabbing him repeatedly without any shred of remorse.
To be honest, she was frightening me this instant, especially with the unadulterated rage on her face that's so unbecoming of her. Her eyes, once brimming with the cheerfulness of life, were instead replaced with lifeless lament.
"You good-for *Stab* nothing *Stab* pathetic *Stab* demon *Stab* scum!!!!! You dare *Stab* lay your *Stab* dirty vile hands *Stab* against the Goddess??!!!! MY PRECIOUS GODDESS???!!!! Such *Stab* perverseness *Stab* shall *Stab* never be *Stab* FORGIVEN!!!"
The demon cried in immense pain and pleaded for mercy, but his words have fallen to deaf ears before his dying breath.
My face twitched nervously at the gory scene that's happening in front of me.
And all that now resembled from the demon's corpse was akin to a chunk of meat ready to be feasted by the wolves.
I think I'm going to be fucking sick.
After Leia seemed to be satisfied with her unexpected violent act, she then approached me and clapped her both hands with an oh so adorable smile on her face filled with demon blood.
"My Goddess, are you okay? That man did not disgust you with his abhorrent demonic presence, yes? Oh my, why is there blood staining on your beautiful face? Here, let me wipe it out for you, hehehe."
The only thing that is demonic is you!!!
And the reason why there's blood on my face in the first place was because of the splattering caused by your nonsensical stabbing!!!
Of course, I was too terrified to speak out my mind after what she has fucking done!!!
Where was the cute shy underling who I have met a year ago??!!
Okay... It's official...
Leia Aeona Lunaria scared the fucking shit out of me.
I was simply too stunned and allowed Leia to do her thing.
Was her obsession caused by my valiant actions in freeing her and her family from Malfistus's curse?
Oh Gods, what monster have I created?
At this point, fighting Asmodeus to the death was a lot more tempting rather than dealing with Leia's psychotic deathly obsession over me.
Hopefully, whoever shall inherit this magic of mine won't have to deal with the obsessive antics of a Lunaria.