In the City State of Calissa, every day closer to the end brought an even greater clamour. The adventurers from the many regions were received as heroes, and army sorcerers and infantry were taken as victors even before the battle began.
There were parties and banquets all over the capital city, never had one place seen so many adamantite, orialchum and mythril adventurers together in one spot.
"Party like it is your last day alive!" Helloth screamed.
"OHHHHH!!!" His guild followed and with his momentum, the whole plaza.
The aristocracy of Baharut drank alongside the heroic adventures hailing from worldwide. The majority of them are from the Slane Theocracy their closest ally, then the City State Alliance to the west. While only a minority hailed from the Re-Estize Kingdom, their enemy.
But adventurers were not subservient to anyone and that was a widespread fact, they were where the money was and there was no greater promise of profit than the Baharut Empire.
"For the fall of the Pagan Sun God!" A priest of the Four Great God's temple led a salutation.
"For the fall of the Pagan Sun God!" Everyone repeated with cheers.
It was a magno-event.
At the gates of the Four Great God's temple, a row of servants noted and registered every adventurer that had willingly taken over the quest to participate in the fight against the Sun God three days from the present.
Those registered could only be Gold-rank adventurers at the very least. One of such servants sat and welcomed the next row of adventurers, five ladies walked towards the table drinking an assortment of beverages.
"Your name, rank and speciality, please," She requested.
"Alana Clay, Swordsman, Adamantite-rank" The dark-skinned woman and leader of the Five Saintesses group, presented her badge, confirming her rank.
"Anna Clay, Archer, Adamantite-rank".
"Yuna Clay, Sorceress, Orialchum-rank".
"Merluna Clay, Tank, Orialchum-rank".
"Nocturna Clay, Priestess, Orialchum-rank".
The church servant stared at their badges agape and even everyone in the surroundings stared at them in shock. They were the smallest group but also the strongest group so far.
Nobody around there was paying attention to their beauty, any Adamantite or Orialchum ranked adventurer was not what met the eye, especially if they hailed from the Sloane Theocracy, most of them tended to be scary individuals as climbing up the ranks in that region was utter lunacy.
As the first country where the adventurers guild originated from, the competition in the Sloane Theocracy was fiercer than anywhere else. Not only could adventurers aspire to be Adamantite-ranked individuals, a top status in a meritocratic society, but also... the strongest among them had the chance to be chosen into the Black Scripture, the most elite human faction in the world.
An adamantine-ranked adventurer from the Re-Estize Kingdom or the Baharut Empire, simply couldn't compare to one from the Sloane Theocracy.
"Are you by chance the Five Saintesses from the Slane Theocracy?".
"That is correct".
"Are you sure you want to register?" the church servant asked just to be sure. 'Are you sure you want to risk your life?' was a more authentic question.
"Do you believe us incapable of slaying a fake god?" Alana frowned.
"My apologies, it is not that... I'll register you right away".
After a small procedure, everything was done. The servant walked away and came back holding two small stone pieces.
"As per his imperial Majesty decree, all sorcerers and priests participating in the battle above the mithril rank are to be given this, it is the empire's token of support, please use it wisely".
Nocturna the Priestess and Yuna the Sorceress were given each a small shining yellow stone, the moment they touched it, they instinctively clenched their hands around it, feeling the power.
"This is..."
"Armatista".
!!!
The five saintesses stared around, jealous gazes fixed on them. There hadn't been too many priests or sorceresses above the mithril rank participating in the event, the majority of them were either gold or mithril at best and very scarce.
"Let's go, walls have ears, don't be filled by this joyous atmosphere, hyenas are lurking," Alana said, her group nodded and followed along, ignoring all festive and walking straight into the inn.
"The battle is in two days, we should do as much networking as possible" Captain Alana repeated and the five members entered a room where they put all their belongings to the side and sighed.
"Are we going to be okay?" Anna, the vice-captain, asked with a soft tone, with one glance one could tell she was a high-class individual, unlike the rest of the members.
She was also a dark-skinned beauty with a toned body, carrying two massive crossbows on her back, her speciality was long range, but she also had two short knives at either side in concealed pockets.
"Don't tell me you are afraid of the so-called god, princess?" Nocturna, the beautiful priestess, asked nonchalantly, she wore a long lime-green robe and had only one long wooden staff that looked a bit too 'normal' and underwhelming.
"More than Osiris, we should be more concerned about the dynamics within the empire, a joyous atmosphere and yet pillage and tenseness abounds" Merluna, the tallest and strongest of them all was the tank of the group wielding a big broadsword and shield, she was ready to receive anything for her team.
"We weren't sent here to die, in the case of an emergency we will use a transfer spell, you both hold that armatista dearly, it could save our lives".
"Captain, you too? he won't be a threat at all, there are five adamantine-ranked groups!" Nocturna emphasized that she didn't feel there was any threat that the five of them together couldn't overcome.
"Never underestimate your enemy. Have you forgotten we aren't here to serve the theocracy? I don't want us all to perish fighting a foe that doesn't even concern us, we fight, we report, we retreat... we take our gold and leave, don't even think about going into the front lines"
"As the strongest group, they will be expecting us to," Anna remarked.
"Then they will be disappointed, take this as an adventure, princess, not a mission"
"Yes~".
Anna Blair removed a necklace she had hanging on her neck, like all the five saintesses. When she did so, an illusion spell was removed and her appearance changed completely, her voluminous white hair turned golden, her dark skin turned clear and pristine, the colour of her eyes transitioned from crimson red into green emeralds, two long ears protruded out, she was a different person.
Alana saw this and her frown deepened, "Young miss, you can't. It is possible we are being surveilled–"
"The empire has greater concerns than trying to survey every single participant, Alana. You know I hate concealing my ears, allow me at least this much, please".
Alana sighed, Anna lay her head on her lap, ready to sleep.
"We will wake up very early in the morning to survey the battlefield, so you all can sleep now while I guard up".
Watching Anna, the rest of the saintesses smirked and went to sleep as ordered, blowing the candles, but even then... there was light in the room.
Yuna stared at her piece of armatista in awe, "There is so much energy in it"
She was the group's gorgeous sorceress. Specialized in fire, darkness and earth magic with her highest pell being in the fifth tier. Just like Nocturna, the priestess, her staff was also a wooden pole with a mysterious ore at the tip, looking common and cheap, except... other wizards would be able to tell that gem was not common, and neither were those staffs.
"There is a possibility that Osiris is the origin of this armatista, that's why we can't underestimate him, don't go into the battlefield thinking it will be an easy fight" Alana declared.
"It won't but... we need all that gold to try and rebuild at least one village" Anna snuggled against Alana's lap and the girls all nodded, it would be the first time in a long time they saw so much gold together.
As they progressively fell asleep, only Alana remained. She took something that resembled a notebook from her bag with some ink and a long leaf. A bad premonition shrouded her experienced mind.
But at the same time, a ray of hope that nobody else seemed to consider.
'What if he is a True God?'.