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Monsters hunting in the chaos of a thousand years ago, huh?

It feels like I’ve returned to a familiar starting point. In that case, there’s no choice but to shout it out like this.

“Wabaret!”

Ignoring the strange looks from the tense followers, I burst out of the temple. The army engulfed in crimson divine power rapidly approached.

As if predicting my movements, a solid divine barrier stretched out from both sides far into the distance.

At first, the monsters froze for a moment, but realizing the barrier merely limited their path rather than blocking it outright, and that the obstacle was just a small human child, they resumed their advance.

The outlines of the madness-fueled army became clearer as they drew closer. What was once a mere crimson mass transformed into rabbits, humans, and even a one-eyed giant.

From now on, I must face them alone. In traditional terms, that should be impossible. But a way exists.

It’s not through gacha. Though it could be obtained within the labyrinth, the divine power granted by the goddess of love has become too far removed spatially and temporally.

Instead, this era is a miracle—a living god, is it not?

I poured all of my divine power into my left arm. The suddenly awakened avatar of love explosively radiated a color that started glowing silver instead of a light rosy hue.

Even when I recklessly threw out my divine power like this, it quickly replenished through my connection with the goddess.

Investing it again into my left arm… enhancing the divine authority of Argetlam through mechanical manipulation.

Now, it became so intensely bright that it was hard to keep my eyes open, and the feet of the monsters at the forefront grew a bit more frantic.

And I felt a gaze from somewhere.

I could tell exactly who it was—probably the mechanical deity.

It must have been impossible to not notice someone exhibiting this much power without having granted them authority.

“If you’re watching, lend me a hand…!”

With a plea that was too blasphemous to be called a prayer, I focused Argetlam’s light on the wrist crossbow of my left hand.

Did it heed my request? Or did it simply recklessly consume divine power to increase in size?

With the sound of the wrist crossbow clicking, parts began to emerge and vanish at will, swiftly changing its shape and size.

It felt like a massive, glimmering muzzle adorned with a bowstring.

I lodged the crossbow into the ground, a size similar to or slightly larger than my own, and pulled back the string.

Though there was nothing there, a silver harpoon naturally materialized.

I pulled back with my whole body, aiming the harpoon central to the monster army… and fired.

BANG!

An explosive sound that could make my ears ring. Only after releasing did I realize that someone… no, the rightful owner of this authority was pushing my hand up!

The harpoon that had taken shape transformed into a beam of chrome light, accelerating with a violent gust.

KABOOM!

The harpoon, no—the laser saturated the frontline of the monster horde, obliterating them as it raced across the ground.

It had simply been clustered together due to the divine barrier, only to evaporate in an instant.

However, perhaps because its might was too powerful, the wrist crossbow, reinforced with Argetlam, returned to its original form and shattered.

SNAP.

Metal fragments tumbled to the ground. It’s hard to stomach seeing even mere tools that I’ve grown attached to break.

Bearing gratitude towards the mechanical deity and mourning the wrist crossbow that stood by me since my days as a novice adventurer, I lightly nodded and stopped, pulling everything stored in my subspace pouch.

Swords, spears, axes, bows, hammers, shields, webs—countless weapons stabbed into the ground.

In an instant, I became a mound of weapons.

Could it be that these were items once favored by a high-tier mage who had risen to positions of authority in the Mage Tower? It turned out that far more items fit than I expected.

Of course, these weren’t practical weapons for battle. They were hastily assembled ceremonial weapons, chopping axes for firewood, an old hunting bow, a blacksmith’s hammer, a shield with just a handle, and even a web sewn together from tattered clothes.

Each and every one of them was hastily gathered and of terrible quality. Occasionally, a usable item had been discovered during my food-gathering adventures in nearby villages.

Too many weapons for just me. Even calling this a collection of weapons feels like a joke.

But I know. There’s no need for grand weaponry to kill something.

Slice the carotid artery, and even a small hole in the heart brings death to a creature.

There’s no need to sever the head in a single blow or to obliterate the upper half.

What matters is the clear intent to kill the foe before me.

Gripping the unicorn dagger, I gazed at the advancing monsters, navigating over the bodies of slain, melted comrades.

If the blood of the Historia royal family flows through me, and if I am a distant descendant of the knight king…

Then I surely have the qualifications.

The chattering dagger calmed as the madness-fueled army approached. I raised it to cover half my face.

“Here I swear. I will neither retreat nor be defeated today. This battlefield will soon become my glory.”

WOOOO—!

As I finished the oath, an aura resonated within me, vibrating through my body.

Though it may not be an oath of knighthood, the aura answered me. That’s enough.

A surge of power that felt like my body might burst forth. But it isn’t the end yet.

A knight is not merely a bladesman focusing on appearances; they seek glory on the battlefield.

Yes. The battlefield is where a knight belongs.

And though the goddess of knights may have perished, the god of war still lives in this age.

Spitting out the intensely heated aura, I looked up at the sky and shouted.

“War!!!”

My voice resonated loudly, echoing throughout the surroundings. But merely being loud will not reach the god of war, hidden away.

“I dedicate this war to you!! So grant me your divine weapons!”

Everyone hesitated to face the madness of the god, afraid of their own exhaustion and fearing that they would be attacked by other gods afterward. Yet the place remained under watch.

Just like during Argetlam, the god of war’s response was swift.

SWOOSH!

A gentle light swirled around the scattered weapons, beginning to absorb a bit of divine power.

Weapons blessed by the god of war became sharper and sturdier than ever. With these, I’ll be adequately armed for the upcoming battle.

However, the god of war was far more fiery than I expected.

The gentle light surrounding the weapons clung to the unicorn dagger, transforming into a massive sword.

This sword, fueled by my divine power, wasn’t just sharper than the original; it could also adjust its size according to my will.

I could use it as a dagger in its original form, but I could also wield it like a greatsword if I wanted.

Nodding lightly to the sky, I closed my mouth.

As the monsters who were swept away by the power of Argetlam began to arrive in droves, I had to call forth the last allies who would fight alongside me.

The sound of summoning the dead.

Using the strengthened authority bestowed by the divine lineage and death, I resurrected the first monsters to fall.

Creak.

Ghosts of ectoplasm emerged through broken bodies, and the decaying flesh gave way to bones rising, sometimes sticking together to form a massive mass.

Their commonality was but two.

They were all undead. And each held the newly blessed weapons of the god of war.

It was just as I was about to issue the charge command to those liberated from death and madness.

Tap.

I felt something drop away from my mouth that had been covered by the wind.

“Huh?”

No, it actually happened. The touch of the god of death returned my voice taken from me.

Initially, a horrific sound like scraping metal flowed from my mouth, yet… I knew better than to hesitate because it was imbued with more strength than when I ordered in silence.

“Kill the intruder…!”

With a voice thick with reluctance, it sounded as if I had heard something I shouldn’t. However, this had the opposite effect on the already dead.

An even denser malice enveloped the undead, as a fierce blue light surged.

With the echoing screams erupting from all directions as a signal, I too stomped the ground.

Thus, I swung the unicorn dagger, stretching the sword and charged at the monsters in a frenzy.

CRASH!

As I beheaded the first few, I soon collided with something and an immense sound erupted.

A giant with a red eye, a cyclops. That was because I couldn’t completely sever the thick legs of the cyclops.

—KUUUUR!

Even so, I nearly cut off half its ankle, and whether it felt pain or not, it slammed its fist into the ground.

Although it’s a relentless state, if I take that hit directly, it might be dangerous.

“When has it ever been different?”

I just need to avoid its attacks.

I unleashed the boiling aura completely.

BAM!

There was a sound that ripped something from deep inside me. The already raging aura crashed down upon the faint limits that had just begun to break.

The moment the cyclops’s fist was about to land, I activated haste, throwing my body into it.

Before I knew it, I was atop the cyclops’s arm, and in the blink of an eye, I charged towards its shoulder.

“HAAAH!”

In an instant, I transformed the unicorn dagger into a long, spear-like shape and pierced the cyclops’s eye, plunging straight through to the brain behind it.

With a tilt, it fell backward.

KABOOM!

As it crashed down, throwing dust into the air, I looked at the ground.

Monsters and undead began to clash with one another, weapons met, and thus the war begins.

 

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