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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Ruby
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Only one day had passed since the four gods and the three hundred subordinates they commanded had vanished into thin air.
Bell continued to swing her sword.
Until the sensation in her grip went beyond tingling and became completely numb.
Her blue hair had become drenched in sweat.
Bell swept her hair back and wiped away the sweat with a towel.
A black shadow fell over Bell’s head.
Bell raised her head.
“….”
She saw Yuma’s face looking down at her.
He had supposedly become a god.
But to her eyes, he looked no different from before.
He was probably hiding his energy so he would appear that way.
Bell thought this and opened her mouth.
“You’re late, quite a lot this time.”
Six months.
Yuma knew that Bell was referring to that long period of absence.
Yuma postponed answering Bell’s words and sat down next to her.
It was a bench prepared for rest in the training ground.
“It’s okay. Cloney and Hestia, Her Imperial Majesty Brigitte… everyone believed in Yuma and waited.”
Bell continued speaking in a calm tone as if nothing was wrong.
“Me too.”
Bell said this while wiping the sweat from her forehead.
Her pink eyes gazed directly at Yuma.
Of course, while she spoke like this, there were countless things she wanted to pour out.
She had also felt a terrible sense of defeat.
The martial power that Yuma had displayed yesterday.
That power made her lose faith in the sword she had just been wielding—
No, the sword she had wielded her entire life.
Worthless.
Powerless.
Yuma vaguely sensed that Bell had begun to sprout distrust in herself.
Yuma felt the need to dispel that anxiety.
“Your direction wasn’t wrong, Bell.”
It couldn’t have been wrong in the first place.
The possibility of Bell being wrong about anything regarding swords was remarkably low.
Bell was the greatest talent Yuma had ever seen.
Although that power had now become closer to reality rather than illusion as Yuma became a god, even so, Yuma still believed that the power needed at the very last moment of the very last moment would not be his own, but Bell’s and his other companions including Cloney.
Yuma slowly raised his right hand.
And directed his hand toward Bell.
Red light flowed from Yuma’s hand.
The same red light that had manifested from Yuma’s right hand bloomed behind Bell’s back in the form of a red flower.
It was an ability that dramatically enhanced the power and speed—that is, the overall physical capabilities—of beings who received divine power.
A blessing bestowed by a god.
The word ‘divine authority’ suited it better than ‘ability.’
Bell felt a fulfilling sensation rising from her toes.
It was a more powerful force than when she had received power from Brigitte’s blessing, [Imperial Grace].
A fulfillment of a different dimension.
She felt an omnipotence as if she could do anything.
Red currents rose from Bell’s entire body like heat haze.
Yuma slowly opened his mouth.
“I’ve bestowed my divine power. Because I believe in you and you believe in me, the bestowal of divine power is possible.”
Yuma raised his right hand and caressed Bell’s cheek as he spoke.
There was not a trace of falsehood in Yuma’s words.
A ‘blessing’ requires mutual trust.
Other gods bestow the blessing of divine power only through the faith of humans or non-humans who believe in them.
In contrast, [Blessing of the War God] granted to Bell now, which was premised on mutual trust, was bound to have powerful effects.
And the fact that the divine name Yuma had blossomed into the War God presented a great advantage to Bell.
Names.
Divine names, in some aspects, have more influence on this world than the essence that gods possess.
War God.
Bestowing blessings in the name of War God, the divine name Yuma had blossomed into, was bound to apply with powerful effects to warriors who extended their fists, swung their swords, and thrust their spears.
Yuma was drawing out the divine bestowal to its maximum.
To the extent that Bell’s body, which had cultivated the vessel of Grand Sword Master, could handle.
“Try moving once.”
Red currents rippled throughout Bell’s entire body.
Yuma’s words continued.
“I mean try displaying your swordsmanship.”
Bell moved according to Yuma’s words. Massive flames erupted from her entire body.
Bell drew her sword from her waist.
Sring—
She swung the drawn sword.
Bell’s sword dance unfolded in the outdoor training ground.
Cutting, thrusting, swinging.
That series of processes repeated.
The strange yet powerful, cold like a blade yet warm power circulating through her body.
The red flames surrounding her.
The [Blessing of the War God] that Yuma had bestowed led Bell’s body and mind beyond.
Crack!
Stepping on the ground.
She continued to thrust her sword.
The azure sword energy thrust horizontally was overlaid with the red current of divine blessing that Yuma had bestowed.
What surprised Bell was that the elevation in physical prowess felt more powerful than the sword energy that had become twice as sharp.
The sensation of the human body shedding its limitations like molting intensely wrapped around her mind.
Transcendence, the realm beyond.
Bell had hoped to reach it and yearned for it, but could never surpass it.
The limitations that the human species inevitably possessed had always held Bell back.
But this time was different.
The [Blessing of the War God] that Yuma had bestowed was something that could transcend that body—
In front of Bell, who was swinging her sword while lost in a state of selflessness, she saw familiar afterimages of currents scattering red streams.
‘No…’
Bell slowly shook her head inwardly.
What was thrusting the sword tip ahead of her before her eyes was a phantom that closely resembled herself.
As if showing a more efficient sword path ahead, sword paths that were one breath ahead appeared continuously.
The phantom continued to engage in dialogue with Bell, as if competing, stepping through footwork one beat faster than Bell.
Bell could easily conclude what this phantom was trying to say.
Find the optimal sword path.
If you cannot do that, follow this sword path.
‘The essence of the phantom is me.’
The judgment that Bell should have naturally made.
It extracted that judgment from her mind and showed it before her eyes in advance.
Bell instantly saw through the mechanism of the red phantom.
This [Blessing of the War God] not only gave Bell tremendous power while maintained, but also provided numerous additional effects.
Like showing sword path options ahead of time as now, and detecting enemies coming from afar.
It was literally a blessing that maximized the possibilities as a warrior.
Bell saw that new world for what felt like a long time but was only an instant.
‘With this level of power…’
She might have been able to kill the demigod-level divine subordinate she had previously hunted in a life-or-death struggle with a quick decisive victory.
Bell made that objective judgment.
Soon, the [Blessing of the War God] completely faded from Bell’s body.
Like a blazing bonfire flickering and dying down.
“…I’m sorry.”
Bell suddenly let words of apology flow from her mouth.
“If we… if I had been a little stronger, there wouldn’t have been a need for you to become a god.”
Yuma was speechless at Bell’s words.
God.
Yes, why had it come to the point of transcending humanity to become a god?
And moreover, a god with the very arrogant divine name of War God.
Seeing the actions of those bastards from the outer divine realm who likely brought him to this place, as long as he properly performed his role as he was doing now, they would probably have made him a god somehow.
Yuma would have eventually chosen the path of becoming a god to survive in this place too.
Bell and Cloney.
Brigitte and Hestia.
And to protect all the other members, he would have eventually become a god.
In the end, it was inevitable.
His becoming a god.
Yuma took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped Bell’s face, which had become drenched in sweat again.
Her pink eyes stared piercingly at Yuma.
“Anyway, to protect you all and drive those bastards away, I had to become a god.”
Bell raised her right index finger and poked Yuma’s cheek.
Poke… poke…
“Yuma becoming a god… my lord becoming a god, is this real or a dream, really… Sigh. But your cheeks still feel completely human.”
“Right, there’s no need to worship unnecessarily.”
Bell slowly lowered her index finger that had been poking his cheek and gently grasped Yuma’s chin.
And fixed her gaze.
She thrust her face forward.
Bell’s sweat scent and body fragrance came rushing in at once.
Yuma didn’t show any reaction to that smell filled with effort.
Pink eyes stared piercingly at Yuma.
Bell slowly parted her lips.
“No, if you’ve done that much, you should receive some worship.”
Bell’s words continued.
“That would be better for you as a god.”
Bell’s words weren’t wrong.
Among the methods for increasing the divine power of the middle realm that Seongeum had mentioned, there was also the method of vastly increasing the faith that believed in Yuma as the main god.
Bell looked at Yuma who was quietly listening to her words and thought.
‘Should I take one more step forward here?’
Like kissing.
Wouldn’t something like that be forgiven if done in this completely disheveled mental state?
Thinking this, she took one more step forward.
She moved her face forward with a whoosh.
Touch…
Literally a meeting of lips.
A very crude contact.
“Ha, hah! I stumbled!”
Bell nonetheless waved her right arm greatly and made exaggerated gestures.
Even she thought it was too impulsive an action.
In the middle of that awkwardness.
A word interjected from the side.
“Lord Yuma, Sister Bell.”
The black-haired, golden-eyed girl, Cloney, appeared.
Bell momentarily wore a blank expression, then opened her mouth very slightly.
“Did you see?”
Cloney tilted her head. Her black hair swayed.
“See what?”
Her eyes were smiling brightly.
“I just came walking over because I felt a powerful energy from here. It seemed like Lord Yuma’s power.”
Yuma slowly nodded.
“…Right. Ah, Cloney, it would be good for you to receive my blessing too.”
Cloney smiled broadly at Yuma.
“Understood, Lord Yuma.”
Bell watched Cloney’s back as she approached Yuma.
The situation itself had been so chaotic that she couldn’t even sense who was around when she did that action.
She also couldn’t understand the intention behind the bright smile in Cloney’s eyes just now.
‘She might really not have seen it, right?’
Bell thought this as she sat on the bench and let out a quiet sigh.
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Bell, you…