As the war progressed, it became increasingly difficult to sustain fighting on multiple fronts.
The plan was never even to fight a sustained war and Adam instead expected a swift Coup De Grace on Deus X but the existence of the other Gods derailed his plan and led to the current situation.
While Adam is limited to what he brought along and the resources he seized, the Gods and Deus X have hundreds of worlds to sustain the war and slowly tire him out. They are even willing to let a few dozen worlds be sacrificed to exhaust Adam and his forces which caused him to drastically change his strategy objectives.
From what he can find out, not all worlds are worth the same for the gods. Some are their personally cultivated world, purposely embroiled in war to produce Faith like Tanya's world, some are fantasy-esque worlds engineered to produce Saints and Heroes, etc. Each is like a dedicated machine to pump out certain resources and Adam's goal is to destroy God's war sustaining resources, namely Faith which is their source of power.
However, the Gods aren't stupid enough to be incapable of predicting such a move from Adam. Besides, they also have power to perform future sight, precognition or divination etc to predict his action. After all, each of those worlds are assigned a god, no matter how low ranked the god were, god is still god and the clean up force alone isn't enough to deal with the god protecting the world and the 'Shock Troops' have to be dispatched to deal with those gods.
———
Location: Imperial Capital of the Holy Empire, Garrison Wall
Time: 9th Day Since the beginning of the Invasion.
The sight of a God standing amongst men is a scene straight out of mythology. Yet, here is a god with his legion of Angels aiding the men to defend their last bastion against the relentless hordes of Steel Demon.
"Lord Tyr, our messenger from the frontline confirmed the destruction of the Imperial Army led by Duke Kars along with the Helheim Fortress city. The enemy is enroute to the Imperial Capital at this very moment." A senior Angel in golden armor with a pair of massive fiery wings knelt down and informed.
The god remains silent and stares at the horizon consumed by flame and smoke that create a dense layer of cloud like a border that shrouding the sky and land which had fallen to the Demons.
"This is such a tragedy. How many worlds had fallen. How many of my kins had fallen. How much more does our enemy wish to slaughter until they are satisfied?" The kind and compassionate looking God of War sighed and lamented.
There is no known reason why the invasion started. There was no answer as their attempts to communicate with their enemy had all resulted with them being chopped into pieces. But from what little tidbit of information they learned through divination and oracles, the future is filled with war and bloodshed. Gods will drop like flies, the world razed to the point of beyond salvage, humans become the unfortunate victims as usual trapped between the conflict of their godly overlord.
However, Tyr isn't blind nor an idiot. He and few others know that the God King is hiding something from them. But he guesses the reason the secret is kept a secret is because the God King deemed revealing it will bring more harm than good to the current situation. Thus, he will turn a blind eye and simply focus on the task at hand.
"Order our warriors to prepare. Our enemy will arrive at our doorstep very soon. Best fulfill all final preparations while we still have the luxury of time."
"Yes, Lord Tyr." The senior Angel accepts his order and quickly fulfills it diligently.
Two hours later.
At the edge of the horizon, the Steel Giant finally becomes visible and as usual, rapidly approaching the wall to perform their usual guerilla tactic of disabling the weapons mounted on the defense wall in advance before the main force arrives.
"Deploy the Grand Barrier Array!" Tyr ordered with a loud resounding bellow.
"Deploying the Grand Barrier Array!"
A greenish blue wall instantly sprung out from the wall and formed a transparent external barrier around the wall. To thwart the Steel Giant's raid attempt.
"Magic Artillery! Mage Corps! Attack!"
The Magic Artillery, an alchemy creation with magic which is normally used as siege weapon, can shoot out magic shells which are usually filled with deadly and devastating magic. Like a dragon's roar, those Magic Artilleries launched dozens of Magic Shells upon the battlefield which exploded into a devastating magic that instantly shattered the energy shield of the Steel Giants and turned them into molten slags very easily. However, the most annoying aspect about their enemy is how quickly they adapt.
When the second volley was shot, the Steel Giants suddenly shot flame from their back and took to the sky while the Magic Shell exploded and scorched the ground into black charred wasteland. They escaped unharmed and landed back once the Magic ended and returned to harassing the wall.
"Order the Royal Knights to deploy the Manticore Knights!" Tyr ordered once again before turning to his side and looking at another Angel. Similarly in armor and possess a pair of opulent fiery wings but his armor is in the color of steel and much more bulkier and dense with a steel mask of an angry expression, his expression is like a ferocious warrior compared to the other angels and it is emphasized by the large claymore it carries on his back. "Aid the Manticore Knights."
"As you willed, Lord Tyr. I thank thee for granting me this opportunity." The Angel turned to Tyr and bowed before he ordered the Angels under his command to follow after him as he unsheathed his claymore which immediately wreathed in golden flame. He stared at the Steel Giants with seething anger inside him. "I shall avenge my Master without fail." The angel declared before taking flight and flapped his fiery wings to instantly travel in front of one of the Steel Giants and grab a hold of its weapon and crush its barrel before he slashed his blazing sword to hack apart the Steel Beast before it caught on fire after the energy reactor was damaged and exploded violently.
In a brief few minutes the Manticore Knight and the Angels slayed over four dozen Steel Beast. The other Angels and the human on the wall cheered for their comeback, they saw the glimmer of hope of victory, unaware that the force they defeated is merely a small fraction of their enemy's true force.
The Vengeful Angel stared at the horizon shrouded in darkness. He saw nothing at first but then he was sure he saw some movement. Moments later, he finally realized what he saw. It's the enemy's main force.
A whole army of mechanical beings marched towards the Imperial Capital. From a small human sized knight-like Aegis to a towering six meters tall quad pedal Manticore and oversized Dinergate, The Gram that carries Naval Battery-Class Laser Cannons.
The scene is very familiar to the Vengeful Angel. On a battlefield with a consistent 100% mortality rate, the Vengeful Angel is an outlier. He is a survivor from a past battle. The God he served had fallen, slain in battle while he survived to pass on the knowledge about the enemy to his people. So, of course this is a very familiar sight, a familiar battle and almost uncannily familiar scene.
"Manticore Knights! Gather on me, let's lay waste upon those fools that dare march upon the Imperial Capital with our wrath!" The Captain of the Imperial Manticore Knight shouted before riding into the enemy formation to unleash his magic fury upon his enemy unaware of the danger hidden within the enemy.
In the world the Vengeful Angel fought, they didn't have mythical creature such as Manticore or a Manticore Knight under their disposal but they have Rapid Airship which was the secret weapon of the people from his world but before they can even be useful, they were shot down by beams of light and screen of metal projectiles.
"Stop! Don't advance car—" The words of the Vengeful Angel stuck in his throat when the Manticore Knights were shredded into bits and charred to death by hail of AA Railgun Cannons, SAM and Laser Cannons from the units on the ground in just a few seconds.
The few Angels that rushed to help were also slaughtered helplessly. The Vengeful Angel himself was left fighting a PTSD episode as those traumatic memories resurface after watching how those Manticore Knights and Angels slaughtered just like his brothers and sisters. All notion of seeking vengeance melted over as fear and guilt consumed him until he ended himself to cease his suffering.
"Hmn. Here I thought I have to act personally. Well, it saves me time and energy. So, good riddance." Sirin in her Herrscher form watched the conclusion of the Vengeful Angel that she purposely spared last time in her own sick and twisted form of amusement.
Then Sirin turned her gaze to the God in armor standing on the wall surrounding the Imperial Capital. The War God noticed her stare and looked at her before he frowned.
"Hmn… Do you think he is strong, Bella?" Sirin asked the girl who laid her head on her lap and the owner of the hair she had been playing with.
"Look like a weakling. Please let me take care of him, My Queen. I will present his head as my tribute." The Dragon Girl requested excitedly.
"Alright. But not the head please. Hmn… bring me his sword instead. It looks pretty, maybe Adam would like it more than a severed head. Mhm, the sword will make a fine gift." Sirin looks a little flushed and she can feel her heart beating restlessly when thinking about him, the one who accepted her and gave her a home.
Meanwhile Bella feels like her place in her Queen's heart is slowly being filled by another person even though that isn't the case. However, begrudgingly she is forced to contribute more to this because she cannot disobey her Queen. It's like working hard to earn money to impress your crush only for her to spend it on someone else and Bella cannot even do anything about it because she is too loyal to a fault.
Gritting her teeth, Bella left her Queen's heavenly thighs and descended upon the battlefield to fight the War God.
"So you finall—"
"Shut up and let me beat you to death! Die! RAAAHHHH!" Bella transformed into her Draconic Form and vent her frustration at the poor god that got turned into her convenient sandbag.
———
Location: Divine Realm, Sanctuary
Time: A while after.
The God King, Deus X sat on his throne with a solemn expression while occasionally looking at the assembly he gathered. Of the old members only Buddha and Anubis are the same, the other representatives are all new faces and most of them are newer and less experienced gods as the actual representative was either busy or had died. The latter is the majority.
"Let's convene our meeting. First, please tell me the status of the war first." Deus X demanded while nursing his forehead.
"Uhm… about th—"
"Oops. Let me take care of this." Anubis told the newbie goddess to sit back as he stood up and announced the numbers. "37 Worlds had fallen along with 8 Gods who perished." Anubis answered the meeting before a powerful thunder struck the meeting hall and the majority of the newbie gods and goddesses had fainted from the power radiating from Deus X.
"37 World is fine. Still within acceptable limits. But 8 Gods? 8! How is this possible! Us gods are immortal! As long as our Divine Spark remains and the Faith in us endure, we can be reborned again. So, how did eight of us have already perished?" Deus X demands an answer from Anubis.
"Well, as you said, As long as our Divine Spark remains and the Faith in us endure, we can be reborned again. However, our enemy exterminates all of our believers to exterminate the Faith in us and extinguish our Divine Spark." Anubis explained. "I have to admit, they got us good, especially with their weird power that devours not just the human soul but also the deceased God's Divine Essence. We cannot stop sending Gods and Angels to battle because they are the only ones capable of resisting our enemy's forces. But that makes them vulnerable to being killed by their elite forces. We are forced to choose between sacrificing ourselves to aid our Believers or abandoning them to their fate."
"So, what is your choice? Sending all of us to death for your game or finally admitting this invader is related to the things you had been doing in secret" Anubis snarled at Deus X who had an angered face. "Otherwise, why would you purposely weaken our forces and feed them to the enemies piece by piece."
The atmosphere of the meeting was already derailed by Anubis who uncovered a conspiracy. It was tense, at the verge of turning into a bloodbath. But was prevented by Buddha after he calmed everyone using his power.
"Let's not bring more needless death. We all understand that what happened recently hasn't been a pleasant one. But, that doesn't mean you should point your finger and accuse someone on a whim without concrete proof, Anubis."
"But there is a truth to what Anubis said. Why couldn't you allow us to deploy Gods in large numbers to crush our enemy once and for all instead of sending them one by one to their demise?" Buddha wondered while Anubis glared back at Deus X for an answer.
"That's because… I suspect that our enemy can predict our actions." Deus X answered after some hesitation.
"Predict our action? That's… impossible. It's an absurd notion." Anubis said and thinks Deus X is just making excuses.
"What is the basis of your claim, O' God King?" The Buddha wonders and questions.
"My basis is my Omnipresent Eyes. I can feel someone is infringing upon its authority and I think it's our enemy. That's why I am reluctant to shift a large number of our forces that will reveal a gap that they can utilize." He finally confessed before his visage look like he aged a few years and looked much exhausted like a tired old man unlike his previous regal appearance.
"The Omnipresent Eyes? Of all abilities, it has to be that?" The Buddha frowned deeply in contemplation. But he quickly lifted his head back and said, "However, if what you stated is true then your action is understandable. But that doesn't mean sacrificing eight Gods is worthwhile. Surely there are better ways to resolve this issue."
"Yeah! Even if you are the God King, that doesn't mean you can just send those you dislike to their death!" Anubis said defiantly.
"Silence!" Deus X slammed his arm on his hand rest while unleashing a few streaks of thunder as a warning. Which is effective because everyone shut their mouth in fear and begrudgingly listen to his words. "We will not speak of this matter anymore. There is a much more important matter to discuss."
Then Deus X uses his power and creates a projection of a vast collection of planets. While all remained colorful and unblemished, a handful had turned dull.
"Previously, our enemy didn't attack with a specified target. They simply attack the closest ones in their path. However, that changed and now they start to target the core worlds we carefully cultivated to produce Faith for us. If this is allowed to continue, our Faith output will be severely diminished in less than a week."
"This must be stopped." He solemnly declared and asked for opinion from the members of the council.
Anubis wanted to say something but was stopped by Buddha who silenced him before he no doubt would say something that enrages the God King even more.
"I think what we need to focus on is not to passively defend our worlds. Instead, we should focus on eliminating our enemy even at the cost of losing a few worlds as compared to allowing them to continue their rampage." A random nerdy looking Newbie God answered while stuttering a few times.
"I agree too. It's proven that killing the army they deployed on the surface is pointless. We should target the flying fortress instead." Buddha said after letting go of Anubis. "I have a perfect candidate for the job too." He added while glancing at the God King who is contemplating the suggestions.
"Fine, whoever volunteered. They can go. I don't care about the methods they must use. I want results. We cannot allow this problem to fester any further." The God King decreed before dissolving the meeting.
—————
AN: To those that are confused by the Gods. Let's just say that each pantheon is just different groups, each has a representative in the council and this Zeus-like guy, The God of Reincarnation is like the President of the US while the Council of Representatives is like the Senators.
Their Divine Power is like Magic, they need a fuel like Mana to operate except their fuel is Faith. That's why for them losing a handful of random worlds is fine but losing worlds that pump out their precious and highest quality and quantity Faith is not good for their livelihood.
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