“No... this isn't right, is it?”
“Warwick’s units have been wiped out. There are too many of those monsters. More importantly, the ones swarming us now aren't the same as the ones in our intelligence reports!”
“Just how many are there? Our calculations were wrong from the very beginning. We need more troops!”
All the gods who had sought to intervene—either to help Hestia or to profit from the conflict—were now watching their servants through the Divine Net, and they were utterly shocked.
On every planet they had invaded in an attempt to reclaim territory, the Great Devourer’s counteroffensive had begun.
Hestia could be considered an expert in dealing with the Great Devourer’s swarms compared to other gods. Although she had shared intelligence beforehand and issued stern warnings, it was still far from enough.
The name “Great Devourer” had never existed before, and its fame was negligible compared to the notoriously powerful Outer Gods. That was the primary reason for the underestimation.
Even the Outer Gods had not been terrifying from the start. Abhoth, the Outer God who invaded Earth, and most other Outer Gods had come from what the Divine Net called the Outer Universe long ago, accumulating their notoriety through constant conflict with other gods.
Consequently, the Great Devourer, a newly emerged power, was inevitably looked down upon. This contempt was not baseless; it would have been stranger to believe that a newborn infant was powerful.
Tenacious vitality and extreme combat power were common traits among the servants of Outer Gods, so it was natural for the other gods to view the Great Devourer as just another common servant of an Outer God.
[God of Mercenaries: Were you hiding information?! How could these monsters, who appeared less than a few years ago, possess that kind of technology and capability!]
Some gods, unable to accept the discrepancy, began to suspect Hestia. They believed she had withheld vital information about the Great Devourer.
For these gods, it was a much more acceptable hypothesis to attribute the situation to their usual power struggles and conspiracies rather than believing that the Great Devourer race surpassed existing common sense in multiple ways.
In reality, the Great Devourer’s timely system reforms and the alteration of their main forces' appearances had also contributed to this misunderstanding and commotion.
[Goddess of Light: Shut up, you bastard! I’ve talked until my throat is dry, yet you all claimed it was no big deal. How dare you act so insolent now!]
Hestia was, of course, seeing red, lashing out with curses. While others had invested for profit and gain, she was currently fighting for the survival of herself and her servants.
This was a war where she had staked everything; she could not tolerate such absurd accusations at a time like this.
‘We are being pushed back... everywhere we attack... completely...’
However, the Great Devourer acted as if it had anticipated everything, calmly sacrificing what needed to be sacrificed to buy time.
Then, once everything was prepared, they poured out a massive number of troops generated by their immense productivity, once again overwhelming their opponents.
The tide of the offensive had turned.
The same was true for the upper territories where the Goddess of Light Association had committed its entire force.
Hestia gritted her teeth as the power within her body gradually ebbed away. The Divine Net appeared before her eyes once more, emotionlessly informing her that her Divine Status had dropped again.
The price for a god who failed to protect what they owned was a fall from grace. That sensation—the feeling of one’s existence becoming lowly and base—was a strange and sickening feeling that she could never get used to, no matter how many times she experienced it.
...
“Do those monsters live only for battle?”
On Tatooine, at the headquarters where the main force of the Goddess of Light Association was stationed, Meliodas gazed at the dark clouds in the distance with a heavy, exhausted body after another day of relentless fighting.
Beneath those clouds, countless Great Devourers were busy in the ruined city, once again transforming it into a nest. It had only been a few days since the last time they had burned it down.
Now, that place was once again becoming a stronger and larger nest. Meliodas, along with all the survivors, recalled the scenes of the previous fierce battles.
They had lost precious companions and subordinates, yet they had still moved forward step by step. Eventually, they had secured victory, reclaimed the lost land, and raised the order’s banner high.
Yet now, all those sacrifices had been in vain. The Great Devourer had launched a massive counter-strike, and as they traded blows with the enemy while simultaneously trying to fend off the endless reinforcements pouring in from space, they were eventually forced back. The land they had struggled so hard to reclaim was lost once more.
“To be honest, I didn't really feel it when I just heard others talk about it. Just how disgusting and terrifying the Great Devourer truly is.”
“Is your arm alright?”
“Yeah, it was cut off cleanly, so reattaching it wasn't difficult.”
Meliodas sighed as his junior, Commander Alvaro, walked over. Alvaro’s right arm had been severed by Yuno’s spear, but it was now perfectly reattached.
This was thanks to a Bishop-grade priest pouring holy power into the treatment. However, there were side effects; Alvaro looked extremely weary.
“...Those things are a bit different from simple beasts.”
Meliodas understood what Alvaro meant, but he still shook his head. The servants of Outer Gods were undoubtedly beasts loyal to their master's commands.
Their death-defying ferocity and brutality were in no way inferior to the Great Devourer. Neither Meliodas nor Alvaro had ever faced an Outer God’s servant directly, but there were plenty of records regarding them.
Because of this, Meliodas felt that the Great Devourer he faced was different from those servants. It wasn't just because Yuno had become a Legion Commander after being corrupted by them.
After all, the individuals actually ruling the colonies were the queens, and the influence of the highest-ranking one, Elise, was bound to be greater. Meliodas intuitively sensed a vague consciousness lurking within the Great Devourers he fought.
“That’s even scarier. If they aren't just emotionless beasts rampaging, but actually know exactly what they’re doing.”
“I’m not sure either,” he murmured softly.
If those monsters were not simple beasts, but individuals with thoughts and souls—not just empty shells acting on orders—then Meliodas wanted to ask them something.
Just what had your god promised you to make you like this?
From birth, they had no vitality and no digestive organs; their entire bodies were built only for battle. Their only function was found in war, and their life’s goal and true value was to kill the enemy.
To Meliodas, as a human, this was an emotion he could not understand no matter how much he thought about it.
“A massive number of enemies is approaching from the northeast! No command unit identified, numbers exceed five million!”
“A large enemy force has also appeared at the temporary stronghold of Barru in the southwest...”
“Those monsters are descending from space again!”
The war never ceased for even a single day.
The Great Devourer had already seized control of most of the invaded lower territories, and now they were even reaching out toward the upper territories they had initially intended to abandon.
...
A flash of light pierced the sky. A swinging blade unleashed several slashes that split the heavens and earth, instantly slaughtering hundreds of enemies.
Even a Gladiator Bug, with its massive frame, powerful defense, and even a psionic barrier, lost its balance in that devastating sword qi, its gargantuan body being sliced and crushed.
Meliodas, clad in his Holy Light Winged Armor, demonstrated such immense martial power single-handedly. He landed on the mountain-like corpse of the Gladiator Bug and gritted his teeth.
To slay a Gladiator Bug of this size alone undoubtedly showed incredible martial prowess—a strength that surpassed human physique and limits—but that was all it was.
A planetary-scale war could not be turned around by a single strong individual. Even if he secured victory in one small area, it would never cause the countless other battles occurring in hundreds of locations to follow suit.
“Commander, we must retreat! The support artillery has been attacked!”
He had finally slain the giant beast, yet his allies were shouting that they had to retreat. They simply didn't have the time to block the enemies swarming from all directions.
Despite reports that they had killed countless enemies, they could not advance; they could only move backward.
“Goddess, please, you must guide our path...”
Returning to the temporary headquarters, Meliodas looked at the priests, whose faces were haggard and weary as they prayed.
In this never-ending war that allowed not a moment of rest, they needed a hope that they could win, a warm light to heal their wounds, and a reason to fight that would strengthen their convictions.
Appeals to defend their homes or prove their honor and faith were no longer falling on listening ears. This was the greatest gap between them and the Great Devourer, where every individual acted with one heart and mind according to the will of the colony.
“Can we truly not defeat that massive will with the heart of a single individual?”
The words of a Bishop-grade priest struck a chord. If they were defeated here, it would be a failure of the heart of faith. No matter the race or status, no one could accept that.
Especially since the source of their power came precisely from that heart of faith.
“Commander, a message from headquarters. We are to retreat immediately...”
“In the end, we can't even hold this place? Then what was the point of the blood we shed for it?”
Upon receiving the order to retreat to the home planet, he let out a self-mocking laugh. This was tantamount to putting a period on their despair, announcing the end of the Goddess of Light Association, a once-brilliant sacred civilization.
Currently, there was still a place to retreat to. However, those monsters that devoured the land they left behind would soon replenish their forces and swarm again.
Stronger and more numerous enemies could not possibly be blocked with even weaker strength. It was obvious that next time, there wouldn't even be land left to retreat to.
“Are you going to refuse?”
“How could I? There are still so many people waiting for us to protect them...”
Of course, even so, Meliodas could not refuse the order. He was a paladin, the sword of the goddess. Protecting the people and the goddess was his duty. As long as a single person remained, he had to stand before them and fight.
“Enemy forces confirmed to be retreating on a large scale.”
The enemy forces that had resisted so stubbornly had even abandoned the upper territories of Icathia, Tatooine, and Midra, which they had vowed to defend to the death, retreating to their remaining planets.
Confirming this, Elise grinned and stood up from her seat. Victory—victory was always so exhilarating.
The thrill of controlling and calculating rapidly changing variables, the pleasure when a formulated strategy played out perfectly, and the excitement of crushing and routing the enemy in one fell swoop.
To Elise, war was fun itself, the best game she could never tire of.
“After making basic preparations, if we continue to press them without giving them room to breathe, we can attack the remaining territories of the Goddess of Light Association.”
“Troops are available for additional modification and production.”
Celia suggested the next step, and Gaia reported the massive amount of energy production and the additional modifications that could be performed using that energy.
There was also Kerrigan’s usual grumbling, her tone displeased that she hadn't been able to kill more enemies.
Elise observed everyone's situation and opinions through the Hive Mind, tirelessly conceiving and executing the next operational plan.
“God-Slaying!”
Elise clenched her fist and spoke the words. They would eliminate the goddess those people believed in, along with her territory and servants, dragging her back down to the position of a mere mortal.
As for how to use the goddess after capturing her, Elise didn't give it much more thought. Only that one thing was most important.
To a god, the most important thing was the Divine Status itself. If they lost the Transcendent Divine Status that a god possessed, a god was no longer a god. Hestia would be nothing more than an ordinary, slightly stronger mortal found anywhere.
Therefore, Elise could personally cause a god to fall, completing the “God-Slaying.”
To Elise, there had always been only one “God.” Because there was one being who had achieved what no other god could, no matter how excellent they were.
The being who had raised her from a lowly, tiny creature and nurtured her to this point; the true god who possessed the great achievement of creating her and the entire colony.
Elise recalled a fragment from the deepest part of the colony’s memory. From Lin Miao personally feeding them mealworms so the colony could multiply and grow, to laying soil and turf to build the terrarium, and then placing the water bowl—all of it was nothing short of a miracle of creation.
Therefore, the greatest and noblest god in this universe was Lin Miao alone.
At this moment, an arrogant and shocking thought sprouted in Elise’s mind: she would eliminate every god in this universe except for Lin Miao.
This included all the gods in the Divine Net and those beings known as Outer Gods. To achieve this goal, it didn't matter if every living creature in the entire universe went extinct. They could always multiply infinitely and eventually fill all the gaps anyway.
Rate on N.U.
