Arnold and Yorm stared at each other.
How will he get out of this? Cherubim angels are seen as symbol of worship by gods and denizens of the divine realm.
Being suspected of kidnapping one is deserving of divine punishment given how rare these creatures are.
Yorm being a goddess and all means that it's her duty to take Ceru to her homeland where Ceru can be protected.
"I suppose it matters not since she is not in any visible signs of pain, which means she wasn't in any danger before she landed in your hands. On the contrary, she is quite healthy and has a stable source of divine power circulating in her tiny body." Yorm knelt down and put Ceru in Arnold's hands, "No one other than me knows about her being in your possession. Keep her safe. When she matures, she will keep you safe as you are acknowledged as her lord and she your divine maiden."
"Divine maiden…?"
"A companion of sorts who will protect you and guide you until your dying breath."
"Why would they go that far?"
"A moral duty that they develop through childhood. Of course, their divine duty stays the same—protecting the divine realm as its last line of defense. What differentiates the former from the latter is their love for the one who they swear to protect. Cherubims were seen as livestock and slaves by the many beings that walk these realms. While they possess an extraordinary amount of abilities and divine power, they cannot bring themselves to hurt mortals."
"Not even if their allies get killed by these humans…?"
"Yes. In their eyes, the divine duty excludes humans or elves and other mortals as threats to the divine realm. Therefore, they do not attack mortals out of retaliation. That is only when they do not have a lord. As a maiden, she is obligated to protect her lord, even if it means killing humans."
"What you're saying is that Ceru doesn't have a will of her own…?"
"Mm. Her kind is driven by only two things: moral and divine duty. They are not thinking beings. In a sense, they were created as tools to be useful to us gods even though we revere them."
"…"
"Has she attained a humanoid form yet?" Yorm asked as she glanced down into the glass box.
"Yeah, she transformed once. For a young Cherubim, she sure didn't look the part."
The shape and bust of her body flashed past his mind.
"Age doesn't matter for a Cherubim. What you're looking at now is their true form. Usually a Maiden would choose a form that closely resembles their master's loved ones. It could be a wife, a daughter or even someone whom you have admiration or love for."
Now that he thought about it, Ceru does look an awfully lot like Alecs' character. He didn't notice this before because Alecs' in-game character was lean and tall. She basically had an athletic build. Ceru… well, it's obvious why their bodies are so different.
But the face, hair and eyes were a giveaway as to whose form she took.
Yes, it makes sense since Alecs is someone whom he has deep admiration for.
"In any case, when the day comes that you are consumed by the Failed King's power, please release her."
"…Yeah…"
◇◇◇
Arnold came to the kitchen after he put on the clothes that Yorm brought him.
He looked up at the huge dining table.
"…Do you have humans over as guests often?"
He spoke to Yorm who was putting flowers in a vase by the sink.
"Hm? No, I rarely invite people into my house. This is supposed to be a sanctuary where I can enjoy peace and quiet, with only the birds chirping being my company. Alas, it is a sanctuary I rarely get to enjoy. Of course, I teleport back and forth between the house and the outpost near the Realm Gate but never to rest."
Yorm said "hold on a minute" before pulling out a wand and flicking it. Sparkles of golden light was sent throughout the whole house.
Everything immediately became smaller. Even Yorm was now about Arnold's height.
"Sometimes it's better to look at the world through the eyes of a human than a giant."
Arnold sat down.
"Does the spell wear off after a certain period of time?"
"Only when I run out of mana. I usually only change to my human form once outside of my usual duties. It's dangerous to fight in this form since most of my powers are sealed."
After finishing what she was busy with, she brought over a plate of meat and vegetables.
"Sorry, I'm not very good at cooking since I rarely need to eat. I can have one of the girls head into town and purchase precooked meals for you."
"It's fine… You don't need to go out of your way just for that…" Arnold looked down at the slightly burnt meat, "Thanks for the food."
Yorm sat across him as watched him as he began eating. The fork in his hand wobbled as he tried to put a piece of meat in his mouth.
'I still can't feel my arm…'
Unlike in the final moments during his fight with Gederick, only one arm didn't have its feeling back. Coincidentally, it was his dominant (right) arm.
If he wasn't looking at his hand then he wouldn't even know what he's touching if anything.
Arnold put the fork down silently. He looked at Yorm and asked a question.
"I know that both my arms were broken before I ended up here but shouldn't both of them be healed after you used your magic, Miss Yorm?"
"Your right arm cannot be fixed with simple healing magic, boy." She replied, "Its nerves are damaged from excessive pressure and exposure to volatile amounts of different energies. Something is preventing conventional magic from healing your nerves."
For some reason Arnold chuckled. He grabbed his head.
"Oriel, you motherfucker… Haha… Haha…"
Only one thing could've been the cause of this: demon energy.
'So, my arm was the payment all along for using your power… I shouldn't have listened to him…'
Then again, Oriel was probably also not aware that the result would've been mild nerve damage. It wasn't like Oriel had several hosts before Arnold, so he was probably also not as educated on the matter.
Whether or not Oriel intentionally deceived Arnold in his moment of weakness, it doesn't matter. Even if he's on the brink of death, he will not use that power ever again.
"If the injury worsens, the only way forward would be to amputate your arm and seek another. Growing another through regeneration magic will yield no difference."
As if it would be that easy. Of course, magic is advanced enough to restore limbs or attach new limbs to an amputated spot. The only thing that for ordinary humans matters is size and blood type.
However, Arnold is a warrior with that needs to constantly flow aura through his body. If he actually goes through with this and fights at full power then the arm will end up exploding just from one swing of his sword.
"I have a feeling that Ceru will be able to help me fix this but…" he stared at the slumbering eyeball, "It doesn't look like she'll wake up anytime soon… For now I'll just have to use my left arm to fight."
'Hopefully, my regenerative abilities can also do something about this.'
Arnold used his left hand to eat this time.
"Is there a portal off this world that I can use?"
"The only way you can leave is through the realm gate, which I give full permission to use since you saved the people. But I must warn you, there are things on the other side that can even be a threat to monster lords and demigods. Even now, they are plotting to cross my bridge."
"You mean demons?"
"Maybe, among other things."
'I don't want to use the teleportation branch yet… Also, if I do end up using it, where would I go? Back to the world that Gederick and I fought on?'
If he does go back there then he'll have to find a portal off that world.
He's unsure if Rafaela is still there or if she's even safe.
"What world are you from, boy?"
"A world outside the dungeon."
"Why not go back using the little magic item of mine in your possession?"
"I can't do that yet. There's somewhere important I need to go."
Also, he wants to be done with this dungeon for good once he leaves. He won't come back here a second time. Unless something happens to force him to.
"Hmm…" Yorm looked out the window, "I think I might know a way to help you get back to the dungeon. But it will take some time."
"What does Miss Yorm have in mind?" eager to know, he asked.
"Oh don't worry about it. Just be hopeful the method will work," she smiled before standing up, "I'll be in the garden. If you feel like it, you're welcome to look around. There's a saying that fresh air and the outdoors is a spiritual form of healing."
Yorm soon left the house.
'I guess I'll have a look around while I wait for her to reveal that method she spoke of.'
◇◇◇
· Ofore, the world on the edge of the Divine Realm
· Population: 1000+
Arnold was immediately hit with a status screen when he walked out of the house.
The world before his eyes was just as he remembered it.
A sky with tens of other planets visible to the naked eye with dragons and other airborne creatures flying through it. The sky was both yellow and blue and mixed somewhere in the middle, evident of the high density of divine energy of the divine realm that's slowly engulfing the world.
While this world is technically inside of the divine realm, it's still on the edge of the realm, evident by the gradient of the two skies.
To really traverse the divine realm, one would need to travel a long distance through areas thick with divine power. Arnold would never survive that trip since the divine energy levels are in the lethal levels.
He doesn't want to go there anyway so it doesn't matter.
With all this fresh air and nature all around, one would feel calm and at peace, right?
For Arnold it's the exact opposite.
He leaned against a fence.
He clutched his shirt around his chest area. It felt like he couldn't breathe.
He could still remember the fight with Gederick and how he was left on the brink of death. He could remember the excruciatingly painful feeling of having divine energy injected into his body. It was akin to hot iron rods being inserted into your skin.
How did he stay calm when Yorm was around? Was he merely acting or did what happened not affect him at all?
In any case, it's over.
He repeated the above to himself like a chant or mantra.
Despite this, his heart still beat at three times its normal rate. He could still hear the ringing in his ears.
"—Boy."
Yorm appeared from behind the house, carrying a basket of what appears to have fruit inside.
"….?" Arnold wordlessly glanced at her.
"You look pale. Is something wrong?" Yorm approached him and put her hand on his forehead after she put the basket down.
"…It's nothing." He walked past her, "I'm going to take a stroll around the forest."
"Ah, okay. If you get lost, just ask the fairies where my house is. All of them know where I live."
Arnold waved without answering her and continued walking deeper into the forest.
Soon the house was out of view. He leaned against a tree.
'This ringing won't get out of my head. Fuck.'
It was annoying but there was no pain whatsoever.
Arnold pulled up the system. He tapped on his status.
· Condition: mildly stable
That condition was spot-on in that regard. He almost died for no reason.
There was no reward for putting his life on the line.
Before the unpleasant memories from that fight were about to resurface, a ding interrupted his thoughts.
He glanced at the status screen.
· The Death God's Consort: Help Elizabeth unlock her incarnation power and free Goddess Aedri.
"When was this added?"
What does this quest mean by "help Elizabeth unlock her power"? He's not the one who helps her do it in the game, an unknown witch does.
He glanced over at the reward.
· Subclass Selection Draw
"Huh? Subclass…? Does this mean…"
Does this mean he'll finally be able to use his knowledge in magic?
No, that's being too optimistic. Even if he does get "Magician" as his starting class, he still needs to build up his intelligent stat to be able to use most of his spells. The magic stat is also an issue but nothing magic artifacts can't fix.
The intelligence stat will be easy to build up if he spends time deciphering runes and drawing magic circles from memory. To do that, he'll need to pull all-nighters. Even if he is experienced in doing the abovementioned, it'll still take up a lot of time to get an intelligent stat over 70.
'I wonder what options are available to me. Hopefully it's not strength-type classes only. If it's enchanter or necromancer then it's all over for me as a mage.'
Suddenly he heard the laughter of women not far from where he was. He also heard water splashing.
'That must be the women who were sent here from the Valkyrie tribe village….'
Arnold hopped onto one of the trees silently. He continued moving between the trees, careful not to rustle any leaves.
He wanted to get a look at these women.
Of course, he's not the type of guy who spies on women taking baths or swimming naked. It's merely because he wants to see what they look like.
In the game Valkyries are shown to be quite muscular and tall, fitting for a warrior race that's known more for their brawn than brains.
Soon a clearing came into view. Arnold could see about three young women splashing each other with water and giggling.
He looked at their faces.
'Hm, none of them look familiar.'
There were quite a lot of quests involving the Valkyries in the game once Luke reached the divine realm. While some of the content wasn't important to the storyline, it highlighted what kind of people the valkyries were and the quests yielded great rewards. They can also become strong allies in the final battle against Arsnoria and her demon lords.
People often mistake valkyries for barbarians who live primitive lives. How they show aggression to every outsider. However, this was proven to be false once you visit their tribe.
Doing all their quests leads to a potential love interest asking to join the Hero Party. She plays a big role in helping Luke repel the demon forces later in the story and even saves his life once.
It was quite easy to miss her questline in the story unless you look hard enough. It was all thanks to the thousands of hours of content out there. It was just too exhausting to look for all the side content and focus on the main story at the same time.
"—Hey, Vatria, isn't it pretty concerning that the feral divine beast is still on the loose?" one of the young women—a woman with long, curly blonde hair—suddenly spoke.
She addressed the black-haired woman.
"We can't do anything if it won't show itself. That human boy showing up must've scared it into hiding." The one called Vatria replied.
"What if we asked the fairies for help? They're literally found in every corner of this world."
"Are you crazy? Anything that goes near the beast is poisoned by its toxic demonic energy. Fairies are born from divine power so it will be extra dangerous for them. Even scouting ahead is out of the question."
"What if we just investigate every single area that's filled with that black mist?" the third woman—a ginger with honey brown eyes—suggested.
"That might be a good idea but the monster is quite alert of its surroundings, Neena. It'll be able to sense us from several hundred meters away. Remember that day we stopped by a village that had fresh corpses strewn on the ground but no sign of enemies being there?"
"Should we just ask for reinforcements then? A friend of mine can also be useful since she has beast taming abilities." The ginger asked again.
"I don't think any ordinary beast tamer is going to be able to control a divine beast corrupted by demon energy, Neena."
'Hoh. A divine beast corrupted by demon energy is an almost impossible occurrence.'
For a divine beast to fall victim to the corrupted energy, they should either be injured or very old to the point where they're losing control of their own power. The latter is similar to a human's immune system failing to save them from diseases and viruses.
'Question is: how did demon energy end up in this world?'
Where there's demon energy, there are demons.
The question reminds the same though, how did demon energy end up here?
Arnold's question was answered immediately:
"We should really punish humans with the death penalty if they even attempt to summon demons. Like, I get not liking deities but summoning demons just to prove how anti-religious you are…?" Ruene shook her head and sighed.
"Demons might've made contact with the humans using some form of long-distance communication and promised them some kind of paradise in return for their loyalty. Good thing we managed to stop the caster before a cult was born."
'The mortals are the ones summoning the demons…?'
"I don't think that will fix anything. Remember, the only reason we could stop that incident was because we were informed of suspicious gatherings in the cemetery. What we suspected of grave robbery turned out to be demonic rituals. We need better ways to stop these things from happening ever again. Due to what happened at the cemetery, we have to put down an innocent creature."
"…Yeah, I feel kind of bad for the divine beast. But we need to prioritize the humans." The ginger, Neena, said.
"Any idea how we'll lure it out?" Ruene, the chestnut-haired girl asked.
"I don't know," Vatria shook her head, "Our only option is to chase it down the moment we spot it. One of us will have to go into the fight without her gear. Our weapons and armor slow us down. That person can then attempt to catch the beast. The rest of us will catch up and finish it off."
"Who should it be?" Ruene asked again.
"Kellene is the fastest in our group so she's the obvious choice…"
"Right. She's short but she's one of the fastest people in our tribe."
'Hm? There's a fourth one?'
"Speaking of which, where is she?" Vatria looked around the area.
Suddenly, Arnold felt the hairs on his neck standing up. A feeling of danger came from his left side.
He hurriedly held up his arm.
Someone's small foot appeared in his vision when he glanced back. A moment later he was sent flying out of the tree when the kick connected.
"Kuh!" He stabbed Luxtivin into the ground to slow himself down.
'What the hell is up with that kicking power….'
"Seeeeiy!" A girly war cry resounded before a petite person charged at him and began throwing a flurry of punches.
Arnold skillfully parried those punches with one hand. Despite having ferocious attack power, the person wasn't very good skilled with fighting with her fists.
Of course, she was quite fast but Arnold could see through all her moves.
"Take this, you pervert!" she turned on the spot for a roundhouse kick but Arnold kicked her right leg, causing her to fall on the ground with a heavy thud, "Kyaaaah!?"
A blade of Sword Intent surrounded Arnold's hand which he held near her neck.
"Eek!"
Arnold's eyes widened when he realized that the girl he was straddling, was butt-naked. He wasn't paying attention to the rest of her body, only her arms and legs since she used those to attack.
"YOU FIEND!" Another voice came from behind him, "He's trying to rape Kellene!"
"What!? No!" Arnold hurriedly got off the girl and addressed the person who showed up.
"Unforgivable! I can't believe humans would resort to such a disgusting act for the sake of satiating their lust!" A lance appeared in Vatria's hand.
"T-That's right, big sister! Get him!" the little bitch who attacked him first shouted from behind him.
Arnold looked at the window above Vatria's head.
Level 68
'Tch, I won't win in a fair fight if both of them attack me,' he could sense the other two approaching as well, 'Let alone two, four of will be impossible for me. I need to get out of this somehow.'
Before he could decide what to do, the woman named Vatria charged at him.
Why could she summon a weapon but not clothes? Her bare breasts jiggled splendidly with every motion.
Arnold dodged to the side, hit her wrists, almost causing her to let go of her lance, and pushed her to the side.
"!" she hopped on the spot with one leg just before she was shoved to the ground and swung her lance again.
Arnold summoned Luxtivin again and parried her blow with all his strength.
"Ugh!" both her arms were sent flying back, leaving her front open.
Arnold held his sword in front of her throat, causing her to freeze.
"Vatria!" the other two arrived at that moment and also summoned their weapons.
Arnold clicked his tongue. He gained distance from the four of them.
· Vatria, level 68
· Ruene, level 46
· Neena, level 49
· Kellene, level 56
'While it's cowardly, it's best for me to retreat.'
"That human boy looks familiar, doesn't he…?" Ruene squinted her eyes.
"Eh? Really? Ah! I couldn't recognize him at first since his face was so beaten up when I last saw him!" Neena said, "It's the boy Lady Yorm treated!"
"What does it matter who he is!? He wanted to assault me! We should take care of him now, girls!" the "little bitch", Kellene screeched, "He was spying on us bathing so it's obvious that he has bad intentions for all of us!"
"What makes you think that? Maybe he was just strolling through the forest and happened to see us bathing in the river. I thought he was attacking Vatria for no reason…" Ruene looked at Vatria.
"Uhm, he was straddling Kellene so I honestly thought he was going to, you know…" Vatria blushed slightly and avoided looking at Arnold.
"Our little princess here likes starting trouble, doesn't she?" Neena shook her head while looking at Kellene.
"Y-You guys are just going to let this pervert walk free!? Fine, I'll take care of him myself! Seeeiyyya!" Kellene charged at Arnold after a war scythe appeared in her hand.
"H-Hey, Kellene!" Vatria tried to call out to her but Kellene was too focused on trying to murder Arnold to listen.
"What's all the commotion about?" Yorm suddenly appeared nearby, "W-What are you girls doing!?"
In a blink of an eye, Yorm appeared in front of Arnold and flicked her finger. Whatever spell she used, it caused Kellene to levitate in the air.
"Kyaah!" Kellene's war scythe fell on the ground.
At that moment, her legs were so spread so wide that Arnold could see everything.
Pink and delicate, like a fragrant flower.
"Iyaaaaaaaah!!!!"