Starting with the defeated female knight

Book 1: Chapter 31: God Loves the World

"Stop."

Elise suddenly spoke, reaching out to stop the marching group, her eyes narrowing.

"There is a situation."

"All on alert."

Not only the noble guards, but also the church and magicians' association teams stopped instantly and went on high alert upon hearing Elise's command.

Although Elise is not the strongest fighter in the team, neither the church nor the magicians' association will obey her orders.

But no one doubts 'Blood Rose's' keenness and judgment.

After all, even setting aside his top-tier talent inherited from his bloodline, his ability to manage the entire Stuart family business so well on his own is undeniable. It can be said that he has an innate charisma that commands respect.

A few seconds later, the vibration came.

Everyone's expression changed.

"This feeling... is it that of the 'Ancient God'?"

Uli took out the crystal ball, tested it, and then her expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

Cecilia was also somewhat uncertain and looked at Edith.

The latter remained silent for a moment, then shook his head slightly.

"No."

silence.

Then came a soft chuckle.

"Okay, at least for now, we can be sure that this trip wasn't a waste."

Elise looked in the direction from which the tremor came, her green pupils showing no fear, but rather a hint of... excitement?

"What could it be? A demonic tide? An ancient dragon? Or... yet another 'god'?"

Although the age of gods has long passed, even today, those things called 'gods' still appear on this land from time to time.

However, ever since the Mother Goddess was killed and the Age of Gods ended, the remaining gods began to decline, each generation becoming worse than the last.

In particular, the reforms of that 'godslayer' not only removed humanity's fear of the gods, but also severed their foundational faith, completely banishing those once glorious and powerful beings to the mortal realm, and incidentally sealing their coffins with cement.

After much deliberation, although gods still exist in the world, they are no longer the lofty beings that humans could only look up to.

There are even rumors that the Mage's Guild once captured a god and sealed him in the capital's underground as experimental material for magical research.

However, the Mage's Association has never acknowledged this, insisting that it is a rumor and rejecting all investigative requests from nobles and the church.

Elise was very interested in that rumor.

Or rather, they are very interested in God.

"My sister is a very typical aristocrat from the capital."

One night after they set off, Edith held Green in her arms and whispered something to him.

"She strictly adhered to the concept of the imperial aristocracy, which was that a person's fate was predetermined from the moment of birth."

“A nobleman is a nobleman, a blacksmith is a blacksmith, and a peasant is a peasant. Everyone should live according to their bloodline, and there should be no exceptions.”

"The blood flowing through her veins is comparable to that of the top royal families. In the entire capital, there are very few people with bloodlines superior to hers, even if you include the royal family."

"She is very strong, especially in her perception. She can sense things earlier than anyone else, even when they are out of sight. In battle, she is also more likely to detect danger and timing, and can almost avoid any form of accident or sneak attack."

“She was very interested in God, or rather, it’s hard for any nobleman with ‘blood of glory’ not to be interested in God.”

"Because in their eyes, nothing is more glorious than killing a god."

After listening to Edith's words, the tentacle in her arms swayed slightly.

The way you're talking makes it sound like she's targeting me...

"will not."

Edith poked the tentacle in her arms, then pinched it and gently rubbed it.

“The nobles wouldn’t bother provoking ancient gods outside the empire for no reason, especially with the church as your witness and guarantor, she won’t do anything reckless.”

Besides, even if she were to act recklessly, she knew how to deal with her 'older sister'.

After all, as sisters, no one knew their shared weaknesses better than her.

【That's good】

The tentacle in his arms twitched slightly, then realized something was wrong.

Wait a minute, what did you just call me?

“Ancient gods,” Edith replied matter-of-factly.

【...】

Because he couldn't understand the meaning of the specific titles, Green had always heard them call him "Ancient God" but didn't actually understand what it meant.

After hearing it many times and learning its meaning, Green felt it was necessary to correct it.

[Let me state upfront that I am not a god, much less an ancient god.]

I am a human, or at the very least, a tentacle.

But anyway, he's not some kind of god.

Her emerald green eyes blinked, seemingly not understanding what he meant.

Seeing that she didn't react, the tentacle moved again and tapped her head.

Don't play dumb. I know my own situation. Although those people built a church for me, it's just something for them to remember me by.

I've never considered myself a god.

"Good good."

Edith chose to comply with him.

"Well then, goodnight. We are not the tentacles of the ancient gods."

"It's getting late, and we still have to travel tomorrow."

"Please take care of getting up in the morning as well."

After saying that, Edith hugged him tightly, her face pressed against his, and her breathing gradually evened out.

Meanwhile, in the darkness, his dark green eyes flowed silently, a hint of contemplation flashing within them.

Although I've never considered myself a god, what exactly is this "ancient god" she just mentioned...?

......

You call this thing 'god'?

Time returns to the present.

He stretched out his tentacles and looked at the giant centipede, about the size of a small mountain, that suddenly emerged from the edge of the mountain range amidst the earth-shaking tremors. It was stuck at the limit of his tentacles' reach, its head tilted back, constantly breathing towards the mountain range where he was, but dared not enter.

Green's expression was somewhat subtle.

This wasn't the first time he had seen this centipede.

Even before they started recruiting refugees, someone had told him that there were other people recruiting refugees besides them, and that their appearance and behavior were very strange.

However, no conflict broke out between the two sides.

Firstly, because the people on Green's side are well-fed, well-equipped, and disciplined after their transformation, they are far more difficult for those strange guys to scam.

Secondly, no matter how you look at it, the people on Green's side were dressed much more strangely and terrifyingly than those on the other side...

"Shh, don't go over there, be careful not to get spotted by them."

"Damn, these cultists are too outrageous. With their clothes and behavior, they're practically acting."

"Don't worry, I've already reported them to the nearest church. Once the church has taken care of them, we'll be safe."

The above is the conversation that Green overheard using his tentacles.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't him who said that, but those strangely dressed guys on the other side.

This made Green very indignant, and he slapped his tentacles on the table repeatedly.

What do you mean we're not even going to act anymore? We're a legitimate organization, okay?!

Besides that, he also overheard some ambiguous statements such as "the Lord of a Thousand Legs" "returning from the mist, bringing destruction and new life," and "when the stars are in their proper places, all the ungodly rebels will die, and the gods will regain their glory."

After a moment's thought, Green followed the defensive line where the group had left, rolled up a tentacle with an eyeball, and threw it out, using this method to conduct a physical reconnaissance.

Then he saw it.

In the mountains some distance from the empire's border, a centipede the size of a small hill was coiled up, wriggling slightly.

Nearby, scattered human figures were busy with various tasks.

But Green didn't pay attention at the time.

While I was indeed a little curious about how that giant centipede had grown so big, it's a fantasy world after all, so it's not surprising that there are some big things around.

There were flying dragons in the previous demonic tide, so what's wrong with having a giant centipede now?

What he didn't expect was that even though he had no intention of paying attention to the other party, the other party came to his door instead.

Moreover, after getting closer, Green wanted to have someone identify the species of the giant centipede, but he got a result that was beyond his expectations.

"That... seems to be a god."

Are you serious?

"seriously."

Green fell silent.

No wonder the church called him the ancient god. So people in this world call anything that looks big a god, right?

That makes the quality of this god too low; it's probably almost on par with the eight million gods in the manga...

However, after calming down and observing the other party carefully for a while, Green discovered that the giant centipede opposite him seemed to be more than just big.

Normally speaking, let alone growing this big, even the size of a human would be too much for an insect's body structure to support.

"Hmm, even a big rock thrown on it didn't leave a mark; it looks pretty hard."

[Oh dear, you're breathing on it again, and spitting... Hmm?]

Looking at the ground corroded by the centipede's saliva, the water that turned pale purple after the centipede approached and killed small animals that sniffed it, and the highly poisonous plants growing nearby with their tentacles swaying slightly.

[It seems there's something else?]

But why doesn't He come over?

Looking at the giant centipede that was constantly breathing out air at the edge but not moving in, a hint of doubt appeared in Green's eyes.

[This guy traveled all this way, just to breathe on me and spit on me?]

All he did was rob all His refugees, scare His followers, and throw an eye at Him, which accidentally hit Him. Was it really necessary for him to come all this way to breathe on Him?

But what Green didn't know was that the giant centipede wasn't actually after him.

Believers... need believers...

[To expand...the clan...]

Upon awakening, as consciousness gradually returned, the instincts etched deep within his soul began to resurface, driving his enormous body.

After raising his head, he turned his gaze to the human empire.

[Threat...cannot proceed...]

[Intimidation attempts...no response...]