Eostia.
Thanks to the third spell, which showed me the place with the highest concentration of souls and deaths, I activated the teleportation circle, which spat me out on the tower of a defensive wall of one of the fortresses belonging to the Seven Shields and closest to Olga's castle.
And judging by the chaos unfolding here, it was practically captured.
Well, I can say that the Black Dogs, led by the corpse, acted quickly and were clearly preparing for all this in advance, as evidenced by the open gates of the fortress, which were intact. By this point, the fighting was practically over, leaving behind many corpses, all male, though clouds of smoke rose from both inside and outside the building, and some of the women had already been put in chains.
I also caught sight of the Black Dog's mercenary army, which included both humans and monsters such as goblins, orcs, ogres, and the like.
As far as I know, they originally served Olga, as she herself told me, but apparently the corpse lured them to his side with promises that were too obvious, such as women and subsequent reproduction, since such creatures in this world are also monogender, like dark and high elves, only in the opposite direction.
And while I was looking around and studying the local species, my ears caught a conversation on the other side of the tower, in which a familiar voice was participating. And when I approached the edge and looked down, I saw two girls and the same blonde who had attacked me in Celestine's presence.
- "Princess Alicia, you must run!" began the young girl, dressed in typical local 'armor' consisting of bracers, boots, stockings, and a bikini. "Feoh has fallen, and Lady Celestina must know!"
- "Yes!" the second one agreed. "The underground passage is still open. You can get through it!"
- "No! It's not over yet! We can still fight!" the blonde declared passionately. "Prim should have escaped by now. We just have to hold out until reinforcements arrive. We can't..."
- "Give up or surrender, huh? Well, your determination is commendable, I'll give you that," I continued, sitting down on the edge of the tower and smiling. The blonde, along with the two girls with her, turned their heads sharply in my direction, their eyes widening in surprise. "Only a third of the month has passed, and the first fortress has already fallen. Looks like Celestine lost our bet, huh?"
- "Who are you?!" the girls cried out, drawing their swords and pointing them at me. "How did you get in here?!"
- "I was just passing by, heh heh," I replied, putting on a silly face, and looked at the blonde girl who was clenching her teeth. "Long time no see, huh? I'd say I'm glad to see you, but that would be a lie. You know how annoying you can be."
- "Do you know him, princess?" the girls asked the blonde, who clenched her fists in anger and glared at me.
- "You..." the blonde hissed. "You're in cahoots with these bastards, aren't you?! You created chaos among the Shields, deceived Lady Celestine, took advantage of her kindness and selflessness, so that you could rule Eostia yourself with all these monsters and beasts, didn't you?! What kind of god are you, who can rejoice at such atrocities?! You're just as much a monster as all of them!"
- "G-god?!" the girls exclaimed in shock.
I raised an eyebrow.
Wow. This dumb blonde just decided to accuse me of everything on principle? I mean, without any evidence, investigation, or anything like that? I wonder what kind of nonsense was going on in her head if she really believed that? Heh.
The funny thing was that her words didn't hurt or anger me in the slightest, they just amused me, as if I were watching a clown whose job was to entertain the audience, i.e. me. And that feeling reminded me of Gil again. Hmm...
- "Oh, how rude. So many accusations and not a shred of evidence," I said, putting on the hurt face of a little girl. "Well, what kind of god am I? Good question, seriously. I suppose selfishness, egocentricity, a little hypocrisy and nihilism, magic, of course, and maybe a sense of fun. I think that's everything. By the way, I wonder what the coffee god looks like? I'd love to meet him..."
- "Enough! Get out of here!" the blonde interrupted me, and the girls next to her tensed up and looked at me with concerned and fearful glances. "I don't know why you came here, but I won't let you corrupt my mind and sow doubts in it! Lady Celestine is a true goddess! Kind, compassionate, understanding, wise! And you... You're just ridiculous! You're not a god, just an imitation! You're a liar and..."
- "Now, now, don't be so loud," I smiled and, paralyzing her and the girls, found myself behind her in the next moment, then put my hand on her shoulder and leaned close to her ear. The blonde's eyes flew open, and, funnily enough, there was no fear in them, only defiance.
I guess I could give her a couple of points, because such willpower and belief in her words were truly impressive. Yes, it didn't negate her stupidity and nasty character, against which Morgana was Gabrielle incarnate, but still... she made her choice and didn't regret it. Not bad.
I guess I could help her a little, huh?
- "You know, for all your antics, I could really do everything you said," I began, adding a little mockery and sweetness to my voice, which only angered the blonde even more, judging by her look. "However, you're not bad. I admit that."
I held out my hand and snapped my fingers, and my magic circle lit up in the sky above us, covering the entire fortress and its surroundings. Seeing this scene, the girls and the blonde stared incredulously at the sky, which was all they could do because of the paralysis imposed on them.
- "And so I'll give you a little help," I continued, and a golden ball of energy resembling a shining sun slowly emerged from the center of the circle. "Celestine has already lost her bet to me, and, in theory, I could have stayed out of it, but this time, just this once, I'll give you a helping hand."
The miniature sun began to slowly rotate around its axis, gradually increasing its speed, and with each new rotation, it attracted more and more attention until it seemed to me that time itself had stopped in this area.
All the fighting, raping, talking, even thoughts and emotions ceased, and for every living creature around, only this miniature sun I had created existed.
Another snap of my fingers, and the infinitely fast ball of energy suddenly exploded, splitting into many shining spheres, which then instantly took the form of spears and rushed downward.
Their targets were the Black Dogs and their allied monsters that were nearby, and each spear caught its victim, tearing their bodies to pieces and instantly killing them. Jubilation broke out among the ranks of the fortress defenders. The knights let out cries of joy and delight.
Old men and children peered out of the windows of their barricaded homes with eyes full of wonder and praise for Celestine. And the women who had already been reached by the monsters and Black Dogs shed tears of relief and lightness...
But there was one catch. Or rather, two.
- "But I didn't say I would win the battle for you, only that I would help. And so, from here on, it's up to you... Alicia, I believe? Anyway, it doesn't matter," I chuckled and, canceling the paralysis spell, pointed to the remaining few enemy forces and walked away from the blonde, whose eyes were fixed on the battlefield by the walls. "If you want to thank me, now's the time, you know."
The spell killed exactly as many enemies as was necessary to balance the forces between the defenders and the attackers. And to win the battle, with the gates open and the invading forces inside, you just had to not be autistic.
The blonde slowly came to her senses and turned her gaze to me, where she was met by my cheeky grin. And I found it amusing that her face was a mixture of disapproval, slight anger, and irritation.
- "Princess..." one of the girls began uncertainly, still glancing at me warily. "Your orders?"
- "Begin the counterattack. We'll take advantage of their confusion and drive the bastards out of the city. Get ready to close the gates when I give the order."
- "As you command," the girls bowed and saluted, then left the wall, and the blonde walked past me but suddenly stopped.
- "I don't know what game you're playing, but I'm grateful for your help," she said and followed the other girls, leaving me with a hurt look on my face.
- "Oh? Is that all? How proud we are, huh?" I smirked and activated the teleportation circle.
I hadn't planned on getting involved, but whatever. Let's see what happens. Now it's time to get back. Mistiora should be awake by now. Yeah, right.
-0-
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