The fateful day had come, the outskirts of the city were a massive dune that spread for around a hundred kilometres towards the south, and the mountain range that divided the Empire from the Re-Estize Kingdom could be seen very small in the distance.
To preserve all life, the southern border of the capital was evacuated, and the city gates closed with archers ready and ballistae on standby. The imperial army and adventuers stood in front, eagerly expecting the rise of the sun, the moment in which their foe should appear. Clamouring drums broke the tense silence as the highest-ranked adventurers awaited at the front.
Four adventurers with the greatest influence took charge of the offensive, widely known as the strongest within their field.
Black Tooth's master, Hellooth Belforth, Orialchum-rank from the Sloane Theocracy. He had one of the biggest guilds in the theocracy amounting to more than a hundred members in seven branches, his weapon was a gigantic sword.
Five Saintesses' captain, Alana Clay, Adamantite-rank from the Sloane Theocracy. The captain of the strongest elite assassination group in the Theocracy.
Crystal Tear's master, Cerabrate, Adamantite-rank from the Dragon Kingdom. The only adamantine-ranked adventurer of the Dragon Kingdom, a devious holy knight, although his reputation was nefarious, his strength was indisputable, some even called him the private escort of the Dragon Queen, Draudillon Oriculus.
Imperial Decree's master, Earl Alphonse Deux-Saints, Orialchum-rank from the Baharut Empire. The strongest group based in the Baharut Empire and also arguably the richest in the world, a product of the head being the Earl of the Deux-Saints Family, one of the Emperor's greatest allies.
Once the groups were formed, they coordinated the best strategy and the rest of the adventurers of lower rank, Mithril and Gold, followed suit.
Tanks at the front, warriors behind, sorcerers at the back, priests for support. The Imperial army took the sidelines following the orders of Earl Alphonse.
And so they waited with their hearts in their throats.
Little did they know, their foe was already present.
...
Ray stood up with his hands behind his back, the world around him was black and white but he could see every single adventurer, prepared to face him; he remained in Limbo together with Aqua who upon seeing the numbers, found her legs shivering.
"Y-You're going to fight them all, Ray?".
"Yes".
"..."
He had asked something of her, it was an order that she quite liked too, until she saw what he was going to face.
"All you have to do is pick up all their valuables and put them into this pocket dimension. Most of them are easy to deal with, but there are a few troublesome fellows within that crowd, I can feel them... if you manage to do this properly, I'll help you regain your divinity" Ray smiled, it is not like he needed her help, but this goddess had to do some work, she couldn't just be a freeloader.
"Really?!~"
"Yes".
"Really really?!"
"Yes yes".
"Okay, I'll make sure to steal everything, even their undies if necessary! Ugh, that bastard's steal ability would have been useful now".
While Aqua cussed, Ray took something out of his garments, a little slug.
"Ray-sama? Do you need something from me?" Katsuyu wondered why she was suddenly deprived of that supreme warmth.
"I want to know if Tsunade and Azrael have already reached the Dragon Kingdom".
"According to Lady Draudillon, it will take approximately two days of the journey by flight on the dragon's back to arrive at the Dragon Kingdom, Ray-sama. I will keep you informed, please remain alert, I will advise against any unnatural mana fluctuations during the battle".
"Thanks, Katsuyu" Ray sighed, it meant they'd be away for a good while although he was in no way worried about their endeavour, especially if they were together.
"Also, Tsunade-sama has a request, Ray-sama. During the fight, she asked for you to finish off the adventurer 'Cerabrate' and his guild Crystal Tear" Katsuyu quoted.
"Isn't that the man who is the only Adamantite-ranked adventurer in the Dragon Kingdom".
"That is correct, but he uses his position of power to force Lady Draudillon into a rather uncomfortable position, she doesn't wish to divulge details, but now that the conquer of the Beastman Country is within her reach in the hands of Tsunade-sama, she wishes to cut all ties with Crystal Tear and even expel the adventurers guild from the kingdom".
"Very well, I'll do it. Just tell her that she owes me a steamy one once she comes back" The Sun God scratched his head. With both of his women away, it meant there were days of restraint and pent-up desires to come.
"Ray-sama you're such a pervert~" Katsuyu giggled.
"They made me like that, Katsuyu... I have to cope".
"Yes yes~ I will tell her. Aside from that, I'm sure I don't have to tell you–".
"To have the Imperial Army face any important losses, correct?".
"Yes, it is all for the sake of establishing your Sun Religion. Thanks to Tsunade-sama and Azrael-sama's efforts, once this battle is over, it should be easy to segment your influence in the commonfolk's mind and beliefs".
"It may not be as easy as you think" He frowned, staring at a place in particular atop the city murals, there, a being concealed himself with his arms crossed, waiting.
'He' had armour covering all over his body and a tyrannical atmosphere. He wasn't the only one, in another region of the mural, two individuals concealed as well; two ladies.
"Why would that be?" Katsuyu wondered.
"There is a powerful fellow here".
"Do you mean, Shaltear Bloodfallen?".
"No, someone else..."
"Even if that is the case, it shouldn't be an issue so long as we can establish the first branch of the Sun Religion in the Empire, this is the first step, Ray-sama. Please try to be as domineering as possible, behave like a God would behave".
"How does a god behave, Katsuyu?".
"I don't know... but you can do it, Ray-sama!~ Now, could I go back inside your clothes?" The slug wiggled in his grasp, eager to go back 'home' to that indescribably comfortable warmth.
"Who is the pervert, Katsuyu. You or me?~"
"I don't know what you mean, Ray-sama, I'm just doing my job~"
He sighed and put her back in, she wouldn't be content unless she was in contact with his skin, it relaxed and soothed all her efforts at communicating with the countless bodies that spread around the world. Contrary to what Tsunade believed, the Katsuyu in Ray's clothes was the 'real' Katsuyu, while the rest were only clones.
Even the Sannin didn't know... her beloved summon had already picked sides.
"Let's get this party started Aqua. You stay here for now. I'll take you out of limbo when the time is nigh".
"Hai!".
**
**
As the sun rose, the silhouette of a man manifested out of nowhere on the battlefield.
Hearts palpitated like thundering drums, easily overshadowing the poor display of grandeur the musicians used to keep the army's momentum high. When that man appeared, they knew it was time to go.
"He's here..." Alana frowned and walked forward with Hellooth, Cerabrate and Alphonse. Two of them with apprehension, two of them thrilled for different reasons.
The man had shown up, it didn't matter if one was a god or not, one had to have balls to show up in a battle against this lineup. That already gave Alana a fair impression.
He was a tall tan-skinned man with bushy black hair that reached his back, like a black lion, wearing a black kimono with golden lines, a garment they weren't quite familiar with. His body had a tattoo that shone with the same intensity as the sun high above.
Alana thought he was extremely handsome until she saw his eyes. Star-shaped golden pupils stared at them, giving him a surreal atmosphere, the atmosphere of someone who couldn't be reached by mortals, a True God.
"Are you Osiris?" Alana spoke first from a safe distance, shouting.
She didn't receive an answer.
"I don't know who you are and what you're doing here, but this is the last advice we will give you, retreat. You do not want this fight!" Hellooth yelled too once he saw Alana was being ignored.
Once again they received no answer.
"We're just wasting time here, hehe~ let's finish this pagan poser, I have a queen to cuddle!" Celebrate mocked and prepared his sword, a rapier.
<4th Tier: Lightshine!>
The top adventurers stared at Cerabrate like he was off his head, the man had drunk quite a bit the night prior, but it shouldn't be an excuse to act reckless.
"Wait, Cerabrate!"
The spell activated in the form of a blinding light that shone like a descended star on the battlefield, muffling everyone's vision. In between their confusion, Cerabrate put all his strength in one straight thrust with his rapier.
He shot forward like a bullet, his cape waving, and pierced forth, the tip reached Ray's garments, poking a hole through his kimono and eventually, touching his flesh.
*CLAANG!*
Cerabrate knew right away something wasn't okay. It didn't feel like he pierced flesh. His tongue twitched in annoyance, he planned a retreat, the adventurers saw his movements but they didn't rush in recklessly, they waited.
"Ugh!"
It was then that a hand grasped his head and he came face to face with a God.
"How kind of you to rush to me like that, appreciate it" He heard the deity speak, slashing forth again with the hopes of freeing himself, but Ray's skin was like the toughest steel to his sword, it couldn't be pierced.
"You beast!" Cerabrate cursed, "ATTACK, CRYSTAL TEAR! EVERYONE! ATTACK THIS MONSTER!–".
*WHOOOSH!*
"AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"
The shocked eyes of his human fellows and his guild, witnessed how an Adamantite-ranked adventurer, one of the strongest among his peers, was engulfed in golden flames until not even dust remained. In this lineup, there wasn't anyone that was capable of saying they'd be able to defeat Cerabrate this easily.
The other four strongest adventurers would have to rigorously ambush him before they had a chance to defeat him after a strenuous fight; But not this Sun God.
[+240 Chaos Points].
"That's... all? This is truly disappointing".
!!!
Except for the guild leaders, the adventurers all took a step back even as Ray approached step by step with a darkened expression filled with disgust, disgust that seethed in their souls, as if they were nothing more than filthy rats beneath this person.
"I thought I said to that bastard emperor, to send the strongest... and this is the trash he sent?".
'That bitch was not even worth three hundred!?' Ray cursed inwardly, doing the approximate math.
Just putting everyone together here, all the adventurers, assuming that Cerabrate, who was one of the strongest, had one of the highest values... then everyone here was worth less than a hundred thousand approximately, and that's being optimistic.
'And I need one million chaos points to rank up'.
"You're all worthless peasants, a waste of time"
Alana Clay standing at the front, heard those words that impacted her very soul.
"EVERYONE ATTACK!".
One declaration by her mouth brought chaos to the battlefield. That encounter alone told them everything they needed to know, what they had been fearing the most.
The Sun God, Osiris... was no jokester, the Emperor Jicniv hadn't been lying.
They were all in for a real fight, a fight that sadly... most of them were not ready for.
"You are all so pathetic, that I even have to hold back against you and use the weaker versions of my abilities, I feel so indignant, all of this was for nothing" Ray sighed.
"STOP LOOKING DOWN ON US, BASTARD!" Hellooth charged forward together with Alana and Alphonse, the ballistae rained on Ray, destroying everything around him, but failing to even scratch his skin.