"It is our Lord! Our Lord is giving us commands!"
The beast-like roar fell upon the ears of those legendary Beastkin, yet it carried different meanings.
Several legendary priests turned without hesitation and charged toward the battlefield.
For them,
By contrast, the other Beastkin leaders seemed somewhat hesitant.
But after seeing the priests already turning, they could only roar in resignation and charge into the fray.
"How much longer until it's ready?"
At the center of the arena,
The young girl suddenly turned to look at
"We still need another quarter-hour. It's a borrowed artifact, after all..."
Tyr clutched a massive ball of light in his hands, with specks of blue starlight pouring from it—stunningly beautiful, yet to the other Beast Gods, it looked as terrifying as a death warrant.
"And... some little insects seem to have recklessly crept closer?"
Mystra gazed toward a direction outside the battlefield, where several legendary Beastkin figures were slowly emerging.
"Let my people handle it. Weren't they brought here precisely for this preparation?"
Tyr replied calmly, and at that moment, the light in his hands had already begun to take shape—it appeared to be some kind of barbed weapon, its tip carrying an astonishing sharpness.
...
"It's the Sting of Isher! I can't believe they actually borrowed that divine artifact!"
Inath's face turned ghastly in an instant, and a flash of surprise also crossed Leilin's eyes.
The Sting of Isher! It was a divine artifact of terrifying power—one that even the gods feared, because it possessed a truly unique ability: whatever damage it inflicted, whether on an avatar or a clone, would equally feed back to the true body! It was effective even against the avatars of gods!
In the history of the world of gods, it had once caused the fall of two lesser deities, and forced a third—an intermediate deity—into slumber. It was known as the inauspicious weapon among the gods! He never expected Mystra and Tyr to have dug it up again.
"Hmm?"
Leilin's brow furrowed. In an instant, he had searched through every record in the Chip's database.
At his current status and experience, there was very little the Chip hadn't already catalogued, and he quickly found the relevant entry on the Sting of Isher.
"It first gained fame during the Twilight of the Gods, did it? And... this bizarre ability and characteristic, along with this kind of fluctuation..."
A cold sneer appeared at the corner of Leilin's mouth.
"A magical artifact created by a Rule
Even so, Leilin grew even more cautious in his heart.
Compared to the gods, he was actually more wary of Wizards—those unpredictable and bizarre methods. Even for him now, encountering them would be extremely troublesome.
"You've all heard of this fearsome weapon's reputation, I trust. Remember... if you ultimately can't escape, even self-annihilation is preferable to being locked onto by the Sting of Isher. You might lose some divine power reserves, but that's far better than suffering a grievous wound to your true body and being forced into slumber..."
Inath transmitted to the surrounding companions through divine sense.
"Malar... stop being stingy with your subordinates. Even if they all die here, I will compensate you sufficiently..."
Izhuos, the orc god of death, likewise shouted at Malar.
...
Under the gods' increasingly urgent prodding, the legendary squad that Malar had specifically prepared for Leilin began advancing toward the battlefield.
But their efforts were blocked at the perimeter.
Cardinal Kalar of the Church of Tyr's Justice gripped a scepter of black walnut wood, standing in their path, with a host of Paladins prepared behind him.
"In the name of Justice! Purge the Evil!"
The Cardinal chanted. Holy light blazed upon the armor of the other Paladins.
To these Paladins, the Beastkin were savage, barbaric, and bloodthirsty—having committed countless atrocities against humanity. Such evil beings were exactly the kind of targets that should be purged!
"We don't have time..."
Priest Gara looked at the Paladins before him, a twisted expression crossing his face as runes of communion and sacrifice instantly appeared upon his body.
Chaotic and evil energy descended. Raging flames erupted, and numerous demons strode forth through gates of steel. At their head was none other than a legendary-rank Balor!
Legendary Spell—Summon Demon Army!!!
This was an extraordinarily powerful spell. The demon army it summoned possessed immense might, though it was restricted to beings of chaotic evil alignment. Moreover, numerous complex conditions had to be met before it could be cast.
And even so, the summoned demons were very likely to turn on their summoner.
At this moment, the Balor's expression toward Priest Gara was none too friendly. Fortunately, there was another far more attention-grabbing target on the field that drew the bulk of their hostility.
Paladins! Their Lawful Good alignment was the complete opposite and antithesis of demons. They were beings utterly incompatible—even hearing each other's names was an insult and sacrilege!
"Abyssal demons!"
One Paladin had already charged forward, white light coalescing into a great sword. "Holy Smite!"
The leading Balor looked at the group of Paladins, then abruptly spat out a string of awkward and archaic syllables, in an extremely unpleasant, raspy voice.
"Word of Blasphemy!" Kalar's expression turned grave as a pristine amulet emitted a faint white glow. "This is trouble..."
The Word of Blasphemy's spell-like ability was cast instantly, freezing that Paladin in place.
Then, the Balor grinned savagely and drew a massive executioner's greatsword, cleaving the immobilized Paladin clean in half!
"Heh heh... it's the Material Plane!
From behind the Balor, a flood of mid-rank demons, lesser demons, and even the lowest-ranking Lemures surged forth, packing the area in dense masses.
Everything happened so quickly that the Paladins had scarcely reacted before one of their own had already fallen to the Balor's executioner's blade.
"Damn you... you chaotic abominations, evil maggots... you have no right to exist in this world!"
Rafinia, who had appeared to be in a daze until now, finally snapped into awareness, a terrifying killing intent washing over her face.
"Heh heh... a Legendary-rank Paladin? No... I also smell another repulsive force on you—one that reminds me of those fools in Bator..."
The Balor fixed its gaze on Rafinia and spoke words that stunned everyone present.
"I am a Paladin who guards justice and goodness—you dare not insult my honor!"
Facing the demon's accusation, neither Rafinia nor Kalar believed it for a moment. On the contrary, the provoked Rafinia leveled her longsword, her immense power unleashing in an instant as she clashed with the Balor.
"Kill!"
The other Paladins exchanged glances and likewise rushed toward the demon horde.
A massive melee erupted in an instant.
...
Meanwhile, the divine battle in the void was reaching its conclusion.
The Sting of Isher in Tyr's hands had absorbed all of its light, transforming into a slender combat bayonet that hovered in midair.
Suddenly, Tyr pointed at Malar!
Whoosh!
The Sting of Isher pierced through the barriers of time and space, teleporting instantly before Malar.
A beast's claw—pitted and corroded—collided with the Sting of Isher, punched through with a small hole, but the Sting continued onward, driving straight toward Malar's brow.
"Roarrr..."
Seeing this, Malar's avatar could only let out a roar of unwillingness and despair before its entire body exploded, dissolving into a skyful of golden divine power.
"Curse it—will you keep tangling with us? Malar's avatar has already fallen, and there's nothing here worth your coveting anymore..."
As the situation grew ever more dire, Inath bellowed at Leilin.
"Of course—no!"
To Inath's surprise, Leilin immediately agreed. The dark crimson Domain of Slaughter withdrew, instantly reducing the pressure on the three other lesser Beastman deities significantly.
But they didn't notice that as the Domain retracted, a tiny spark of red light had latched onto one deity's avatar.
"Now that's more like it... we can still—"
But before Inath could even catch his breath, Leilin's next move left him completely dumbstruck.
[Chip: Silverfire analysis complete. Activating Shadow
At the Chip's notification, Leilin charged straight toward the silvery-white flames sealing the void, looking as though he were committing suicide.
Ssss!
But the instant he made contact with the Silverfire, a small, dark Shadow Weave materialized upon his body like a protective suit, annihilating itself along with the Silverfire and allowing Leilin to break through the encirclement.
Without the Silverfire sealing him in, Leilin immediately cast Teleportation. A flash of light enveloped him, and in the next instant, he had vanished from the Dark Forest.
"That's..."
Not only did Inath's eyes go wide inside, but even Tyr—who had been preparing to unleash the Sting of Isher against Leilin—cried out in astonishment.
Of course, the most stunned person on the scene was the Weave goddess, Mystra.
"The Weave—no, the Shadow Weave...
Mystra fell silent for a moment, then coldly uttered the name of that ancient rival.
"Shar? The Goddess of Shadow and Sorcery?"
Tyr clearly recalled something as well. "Didn't she already fall?"
"This Shadow Weave technique—there's no mistaking it..."
Mystra said with certainty. Although Shar's Shadow Weave technology was crude and primitive, it could be considered the precursor to the Weave itself. How could Mystra possibly misidentify it?