CHAPTER 4: FAITH AND SENSIBILITY

**Kuro**

My day in Cherhom began with a knock on my door.

“Come in!”

I was already half-awake, just that, it was always my habit to stare at nothingness whenever I wake from my long sleep. It would be like that for a few minutes until I would be ‘ready’ to tackle on my affairs for the day. So, when one of the dwarf servants assigned to me entered, she saw me sitting on the bed.

“Good day, milord,” she greeted, though the smile—unusual for her—was gone from her face. Also, by this time, she would’ve brought a tray for my breakfast, but somehow it was missing. “My sincere apologies for disturbing your sleep.”

By then, I couldn’t help but notice her nervousness, as well as the sloppy way she wore her uniform. This maid, like any other dwarves, were proud of their work; the way she put on her dress meant that she was in a hurry. “Nah, it’s fine,” I reassured her, though I also took the opportunity to know what was going on. “Is there any problem, miss?”

“M-Milord,” the dwarf servant fell to the side of the bed, clutching my legs. The horrified expression on her face told me that she was in great distress, “I-I beg of you, please save us.”

“Save us? What do you mean?”

“Her Majesty the Queen forbade us to let you know, at least, not until you wake up, but I can’t help myself,” she replied. “Milord, a great host of crusading dwarves from the north is marching to Montserrant as we speak.”

Her revelations hit me in the gut like someone punched me. I mean, there were already rumors before, and I believe, the Cole Miners’ Guild prepared for this event. However, while I believe Queen Paula’s guild could handle themselves well against a united might of the northern guilds, my thoughts were all about the Seductress. Another bloody war, and we were basically inviting that Void horror to come and devour this world.

I grabbed a coat and asked the servant to lead me to where the miner queen was.

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We found Queen Paula inside her underground palace, along with her ministers—the officials of the Cole Miners’ Guild as well as some from our allied cities—sitting around the conference table. The miner queen certainly didn’t expect my presence there, for she was speechless when I appeared at her door. Lily and the Lady Helgath were also missing, which meant this council was meant to be a secret from us three.

“Pardon my intrusion, Your Majesty,” I began. “But I just received some bad news.”

“M-M-Milord!” the miner queen blurted out. “D-Did someone w-wake you up?” Her eyes immediately fell on the servant who led me here. “Miss Jellicoe, haven’t I told you not to disturb His Holy Majesty over this matter?”

“Please spare her from any punishment,” I pleaded. “It’s a good thing that she came to me as soon as she can. Now tell me, what’s going on? What’s this big army marching towards Montserrant that I’m hearing? And how ready are we to deal with their threat?”

A minister answered for their queen, spreading maps on the table. “Your Most Holy Majesty, our scouts reported of a mighty army of northern crusaders heading to our city, backed by a formidable fleet of airships and planes.”

“So, the northern cities already decided to move against us, huh?” I took the opportunity to take a seat among the war council when another minister offered his seat to me.

“Yes, milord,” the minister confirmed by showing me the direction in which the crusaders would come. “As of now, we can match their strength, for we have prepared defensive lines in these sectors and choke points when the first rumors of their attack came. However…”

“Hm?”

I noticed the dwarf throwing his attention to the miner queen, who sat silently at the head of the table. When Queen Paula saw that her minister had ‘passed’ the moment to speak, she began…

“Milord, we have a dilemma.”

“A dilemma? What do you mean?”

She sighed deeply, and stood from her seat. “Milord, you know this yourself; Her Holiness the Lady Seirna revealed it to me before. We can’t spill the blood of our people so randomly nowadays, not after the tragedy in Hemelin.”

“Are you talking about the Seductress?”

There was deafening silence in the council room as the miner queen confirmed my hunches. Her ministers were confused at our conversation, though they remained quiet.

“I already told everyone about this,” she admitted. “A powerful monster from a place called the Void is threatening to devour our land, along with Chersea, Cherwind and Cherwoods. And she gathers her strength the more we fill this land with evil.”

“It is true,” I nodded. “That’s why we’re trying to move covertly and minimize casualties, that is, if conflict is inevitable.”

“Milord,” said another minister, showing us his defiance through his steam-powered battle-axe he placed on the table. “We are not afraid of dealing with anyone, be it multitudes of crusaders marching against us, or ancient horrors, like that Seductress you speak of. Either we’ll have their heads on the blades of our axes, or we’ll die facing them!”

“You don’t understand what you speak of,” I rebuked him. “This Seductress is something else. She consumes worlds, devours the gods and goddesses, leaving no trace of existence for anything and anyone she eats. What’s even more terrible is that, she is not easy to kill; she has to possess a physical body so you can land a lethal blow. But even so, getting near her is difficult; you’ll have to contend with the forest of her miasma out to skewer you.”

Someone whispered into the boasting dwarf’s ear, and after talking to his assistant, he told us, “Milord, my assistant just said that the elves fought this creature before? Is this true?”

“Yes, and I led that army,” I confirmed his fears. “And even before that, this is actually my ‘second life’; I did fight against her, and managed to land the killing blow. So, I know how to defeat the Seductress. And I’m telling everyone in this council: going to war against your brethren isn’t the best way to deal with this Void creature.”

The council of the dwarves erupted into murmurs. Some were alarmed at the threat posed by the Seductress, while others were still skeptical. Many were more concerned on the present danger, which was the marching army of crusaders. Knowing that their panic wouldn’t solve anything, I turned to the miner queen, “Can we still make diplomatic gestures to the northerners?”

“What do you mean, Your Holy Majesty?”

“Well, I don’t think there’s still any reason for them to fight. The Church of the Golden Hammer has fallen, and it’s not like we’re forcing everyone who won’t join us. Maybe if we explain our side to the crusaders, we can still avoid the possible bloodbath?”

Another round of silence. The ministers lowered their heads when I looked at them, obviously keeping information from me…or they simply didn’t have the stomach to admit the problem. Only Queen Paula took the responsibility of revealing…

“That’s the problem, milord. The crusaders are led by Miss Farah Koh, the Golden Hammer’s former head of security, and one of his ardent supporters. And she will never answer to our diplomatic overtures, for we literally destroyed her guild, the Church of the Golden Hammer itself!”

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Well, this certainly complicates things…

“…”

The entrance of Miss Farah Koh into the picture suddenly decreased our chances of reaching a compromise with the northerners. I’d only interacted with her once; back in Hemelin, where they captured us. Yet, I knew that she was one big headache, which turned out to be true.

Fanaticism will always be a headache, that’s for sure.

Meanwhile, the news of the crusading army from the north spread around Montserrant like wildfire. The dwarves were brave folk; proof of that was their reliance on their battle-axes and war hammers, even as guns and gunpowder artillery were already present in this land. However, the source of that courage were their families and guild mates, under the guild itself. Naturally, upon learning of the escalation of the conflict, the mass evacuations to other allied cities began.

The sight of the panicked dwarves was enough to alarm the warriors of the guild. Of course, their sentiments eventually reached me. As their ‘god,’ they were hoping that I do something to save them. Hence…

“I won’t leave Montserrant,” the Dwarf Saint declared. “While it’s true that Hemelin is now safer than here, imagine if the dwarves saw their saint leave them!”

“I’m here.”

“There’s no question of your bravery, Kuro,” the Lady Helgath chuckled. “However, what I’m afraid of—and I’m sure you and the princess know of this—is the one waiting for you at the Holy Palatial Gardens. I can’t leave you!”

Lily and I exchanged amused glances. Maddie’s face immediately came to our minds at that moment. However, there was this other concern of mine…

“What about the civilians in Hemelin?” I pointed out. “If the Army of Stone comes to the aid of Montserrant, they will have to leave the Grand Temple, exposing the civilians taking refuge in that enclave to the criminal gangs. Worse, when Lady Ahri and her forces return, they might have to wrest control of their barracks from those who’d take over.”

The Dwarf Saint said nothing, having no options. Still, she insisted to stay, to act as ‘guard’ to me. And Lily would also never leave my side.

“You’ll do something risky again if we let you out of our sights,” she claimed.

“See? My hunches are on point!” the Lady Helgath added.

Well, I couldn’t deny their suspicions, though I was not one to rush to my death. We were now dealing with someone who was bent on destroying us, so the diplomatic course of action was unavailable to us…at least, the ‘voluntary’ diplomacy. In such cases where the leaders were difficult to reason with, a bit of ‘convincing’ was needed. It may still have some shedding of blood, but the risks of death and bigger negative events could be avoided.

“What are you planning?” the Dwarf Saint read my thoughts.

“A question,” I wanted to confirm something from the wielder of the god-power herself, “your authority is over everything that is born out of earth, right?”

“Yes, stones, rocks, plants…whatever that came from earth.”

“Great. I will negotiate with the northerners then.”

A nasty smile slowly formed on the Lady Helgath’s lips. “Oooh, I didn’t think of such solution, Kuro. Alright then, since your god-power is still weaker than mine, you’ll have to include me in your plan!” She gave me a hi-five, and a playful wink.

“What’s going on?” the Head Maid asked, confused at what was in my mind.

“Oh, just something to convince the crusaders,” I reassured her. “I don’t think they will ignore me after this.”

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For this plan to be fully effective, I requested Queen Paula to have someone do some news coverage on the ‘negotiations’ between me and the crusading army. I mean, the people of Montserrant adhered to the Church of the Black God, and it would be beneficial for this religion if they would see their ‘god’ in action. I’d be the Dwarf Saint’s god-powers here; a flashy display of ‘heavenly authority’ should be enough to convince my supporters that they were on the ‘right side,’ and also intimidate our enemies that their efforts to fight against the ‘true religion’ were in vain.

It can also have the effect of persuade the other cities that Montserrant is backed by the heavens, bringing the other guilds to my side, possibly hitting two birds in one stone.

“…”

And what’s even better was that, no one should die. Well, at least, those dwarves who were on the ground. As for the flyers, hopefully, we could still take a few more casualties.

“Milord,” the miner queen insisted on coming with me across the grass field as the crusaders approached from the horizon. “Are you sure about this?” she asked, as she kept glancing back on the mountain of Montserrant behind us.

Of course, Lily—wearing armor and her ‘Bloodbath’ skill activated—and the Lady Helgath—in her giant form—also walked beside me. With us was the captain of the Army of Stone, Lady Ahri, as she couldn’t leave her liege to face the northerners. Her dwarves, as well as the armies and planes of the Cole Miners’ Guild, stayed in the city itself; the only dirigible that followed us from the air had a camera crew transmitting the upcoming negotiations to the TV sets of the anxious citizens of Montserrant…at least, those that were left.

“…”

As the space between us four and the crusaders got smaller, the opposing forces formed a shield wall, and aimed their mobile artillery at our group, especially towards the Lady Helgath. After all, having a giant march with you was still an intimidating sight.

Soon after their formation maneuvers, the leaders of the crusading forces came to meet us. I guess Miss Farah wasn’t with them, for these were all male dwarves. With their banners fluttering in the gentle wind, the commanders gave us the honorary salute, and the ‘negotiation’ began.

“What business brings you here, dwarves of the north?” Queen Paula was the first to talk. “Why do you point your axes and hammers against your brothers and sisters?”

“We have no heathens for siblings!” said the leading dwarf commander. “We, the righteous army of the Golden Hammer, demand that you surrender your city to us, and cleanse it with the filth known as the Church of the Black God. You have a day to decide on your answer. But should you refuse us, our holy cause and determined hearts will crush your heresy!”

It was my turn to enter the conversation. “Let’s be reasonable here, Lord…?”

“And who is this human to disrespect the talk between dwarves?”

“I’d be careful of your words, if I were you,” the Lady Helgath warned him. “You are now talking to the Black God himself, the next deity of this land after the Lord Gaius.”

“So, you are that Black God!” the dwarf commander stared at me from head to toe. “You are that filth corrupting this land! And the giant lackey behind you must be the so-called ‘Dwarf Saint,’ the newest weirdo in this land! I’ll tell you now, you can’t scare us with her, human! We know your tricks; the giants have long been gone in Equality!”

Of course, it would be difficult for those insults not to be laughed at by the dwarf commander’s subordinates. In regular diplomatic exchanges, this would mean immediate war; however, I told my side to show restraint with all the provocations. We would have our time…just that, the greater these idiots think they could push us around, the better the revenge.

“!!!” At once, Lily reached for her gun, though I immediately asked her to stop. Good thing the Lady Ahri was also quick to restrain her, or we’d have our very first death at that moment.

“Milady, please show tolerance!” she whispered to the Head Maid. “My liege also suffered an offense, which I should not pass. But let us do what we were told.”

Lily then came to her senses and sheathed her gun. The insults didn’t get to me, anyway.

“Looks like your human lackey is eager for a fight, Black Dud,” the enemy dwarf commented. “Oh, do you mean Black God?”

Another round of laughter.

“Since you are so passionate for your cause,” I took charge of the flow of the conversation; I couldn’t let them dictate its pace. “I’d be the first to introduce myself; I am Kuro, the Black God. Like your Golden Hammer, I am also human, yet, circumstances pushed me to my position right now. Let me be clear that I didn’t wish to become a deity, but I will do my duty once I’m already in power.”

“Lord Fangorn of the Fangorn Shipyard Guild,” said the dwarf commander. “A faithful servant of the one true god, the Golden Hammer.”

“I will cut to the chase, milord,” I took a pause, slowing the pace of the negotiations. “We request that you turn your armies away from Montserrant. We will leave you in peace, and will allow your worship of the Golden Hammer.”

Lord Fangorn said nothing, yet he stared at me as if expecting more. When no word came out of my lips after my demand, he was bewildered. “That’s it? Not even a threat to us?”

“Milord, I think you’re misunderstanding my intentions. There’s no need to threaten someone when you’re being given a chance to reverse this stupidity on your part.”

“Stupidity, you say?” I could tell my own provocations got into the dwarf commander. “You—a weak creature—are telling me, that we—the faithful of the Golden Hammer—are stupid for defending the one, true religion of the dwarves?”

“I’m just saying that marching into our territory looking for trouble is stupid. We never even crossed into your cities, nor killed your traders, whom you stopped sending to us. No matter, let me be honest with you; I am giving you the chance to withdraw in peace, hence, I put no threats to my request.”

“And then what?” the dwarf commander taunted, confident at the size of his forces, as well as the fighter planes and dirigibles flying above us. “You are only but a human! And that giant behind you will never make a difference; our ancestors fought against her kind in our ancient past!”

“I take your words as the breakdown of negotiations?”

“What negotiations are you talking about?”

“Alright then,” I just shrugged. Lord Fangorn was still saying something, but I never cared for it anymore. Upon my signal, I activated the god-powers of the Dwarf Saint; likewise, the Lady Helgath also used hers. At once, a bright emerald green glow shone and wrapped our group, much to the surprise and confusion of the northerners. And then…

“!!!”

With a flick of my finger (though it wasn’t really necessary in casting god-powers), the armors, weapons, planes, airships, and other equipment of the crusaders crumbled into fine dust, much to their utter disbelief, and fear. The crews of the dirigibles, as well as the pilots of the planes found themselves falling down, and we could hear their frantic screams as they kissed the grassy plains at the foot of Montserrant. I didn’t have the time if there was someone alive after falling from great heights; but the sound of their terrible thuds, as well as the muffled screams of pain, was enough to intimidate the ground soldiers into fleeing back to the direction where they came.

The Lord Fangorn, stripped of anything that he could use to protect himself, froze on his spot. His subordinates blurted out, “W-What happened?”

Of course, I won’t tell them that all of those iron and wood came from earth, and the Dwarf Saint’s god-power was exactly the authority over those things. All they would remember of me was the sarcastic smile on my lips as my companions pulled their weapons…ready to start the fight.

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***The main camp of the crusading armies, a few miles from the beaches of northern Cherhom…***

The massive size of the forces that joined the second crusade against Montserrant was limited by the terrain that led to the city of ‘heathens.’ This was why it was agreed upon among the leadership circles of the northerners that a portion of the army would be sent to lay the initial siege-works, as well as to ‘soften up’ the defenses of the ‘heart of the heresy.’ It would then be followed by successful waves of armies, as they slowly choked Montserrant and surround it with siege-works from all sides.

And the initial force was led by the Lord Fangorn, the chief executive officer of Fangorn Shipyard. He was also one of the most stubborn supporters of the Golden Hammer, hence he was assigned the ‘prestigious role’ of ‘leading the attack.’

Waiting for the news of their success, the leaders of the crusade sat upon the edge of their camp, including their overall commander, Miss Farah Koh. While from their positions, Montserrant was still far with considerable distance, the multitudes of mobile artillery they sent with the initial army would mean that the cannon fires should be heard by now.

“…” Nevertheless, there was deafening silence.

Farah would look at the skies every few moments, anxious of Montserrant’s fighter squadrons. Honestly, the events in Hemelin were still fresh in her mind, and she warned the northerners of that ‘Black Lady.’ The skills of the flyers of the Cole Miners’ Guild were also top-notch, and couldn’t be ignored in battles. Those two were her worries ever since they landed, and as a precaution, there never was a single squadron of screening fighter planes at any given time over their skies.

Not only that, Farah divided the crusaders into several smaller armies, dispersed throughout the wide, but forested, plains that bordered the northern regions. This was done to avoid the similar massive casualty event of Hemelin, where the first crusading armies, along with the forces of the Church—the best of their guilds—were wiped out by Seirna. Such arrangements would also give them the flexibility to move through the ‘broken’ terrain, where patches of forest, and the mountain ranges on either side prevented the crusading northerners from marching to the ‘heathen city’ in a united front line. Finally, their dispersal could also intimidate the allied cities of Montserrant into failing to aid the Church of the Black God.

Finally, after a couple of hours…

“Dwarf spotted!”

At once, Farah and her subordinate commanders rushed to the incoming group of dwarves, exhausted from running all the way from Montserrant.

“Milady!” was their first words, forgetting to bow to their leaders. “We just came from the heathen city!”

“What’s going on?” she asked, noting the lack of armor and weapons they should be equipped with.

“W-We…” said the first dwarf, who took the time to catch his breath. “We were defeated!”

Murmurs immediately followed, as everyone couldn’t believe the news they received.

“The heathens overwhelmed you?”

“No,” the second dwarf answered. “There was no battle!”

“No battle, yet they defeated you?” another commander pointed out. “Where is the Lord Fangorn?”

“We ran at the first sign of trouble, milord,” the third dwarf admitted. “They…no, their Black God…that human! There was a green light, and he…he turned our weapons, armor and other equipment to dust!”

Another round of disbelief and murmurs. The commanders of the crusading armies couldn’t believe what they heard, even going as far as to threaten the returning dwarves of punishment should they keep on ‘lying.’ However, their threats were stopped by no other than Farah herself…

“There’s no need to threaten our brothers and sisters,” she told them. “I believe their words.”

“But, Miss Koh! Their lies will affect the morale of our armies!”

“It is no lie,” she reiterated. “The green light, and that ability to turn metals into dust…that’s the god-power of the Dwarf Saint!”

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**Kuro**

In one fell swoop, we disarmed the crusading army of the northern guilds. Though I doubt it was the only force present in the area, I was sure that after the incident, our victims would surely tell to their allies what happened. Hopefully, that would dissuade these fanatics, convince them to retreat to their cities, and leave us alone for quite a while.

We’ll deal with them later…when we have the resources needed to take over their guilds.

Without anything else to do after the frantic retreat of the crusaders, the five of us returned to Montserrant.

“…”

Contrary to our expectations, what greeted us was a stunned populace. The dwarves who witnessed the god-powers remained silent as we passed by the gates that led to the caverns of the city. Honestly, it was an unnerving sight. I mean, last time, we were just having a drinking duel with many of them, and now, they looked at us—especially me—as if I was some kind of scary monster.

I think the Lady Helgath read my thoughts, for she whispered, “They are relieved and in awe of your powers, Your Holy Majesty!”

“But their faces seemed to have seen a monster,” I pointed out.

“Of course,” she chuckled. “After all, they saw how you pulverized those beautiful dwarven armors and weapons. Have you forgotten that even if they love you as their god, the dwarves still prize those things?”

“Traitors,” I joked.

“Well, if there’s anything I’d say, you just gained a fiercely loyal group of supporters,” the Dwarf Saint clapped. “I bet these people would do everything to tell to their friends from other cities the amazing things that happened here, Your Holy Majesty the Lord Kuro, the Black God.”

“You don’t have to spell it out,” I smirked at her. “It’s really awkward to hear those. Up till now, I still see myself as human, okay?”

“You have to get used to it.”

“I’m trying.”

The Lady Helgath said nothing after. She just hummed happily as we made our way up to Montserrant’s peak, where the rest of Queen Paula’s officials and people waited.