CHAPTER 6: THE GOD-POWERS

God.

A big word for such a small count of letters. Depending on the culture, God had various appearances, from being human like, to downright disgusting (yeah, I’m looking at Lovecraft). Nevertheless, the function remained the same. Basically, when one referred to someone as a ‘god’, it meant that the person was ‘all-knowing’, ‘all-powerful’, and ‘omniscient’ divine being.

Though, when I met the High King of the Gods, He was a different experience. That old guy looks so simple and approachable, yet I can feel the grandeur and dignity of His person.

“…”

And Ruro’s telling me to become like Him?

“Hahahahahahaha!”

“What’s so funny, Master?”

“I’m sure you could read my mind, Ruro!” I could only shake my head, “I am only a human; I don’t aspire for what’s impossible, nor do I have any plans to!”

“Don’t be a fool!” the Beastman Saint countered, “You know it yourself: with your words, you could sway even the heavens! What’s causing you not to dream to become like Gaius?”

“You won’t understand,” I raised my sword in the ‘guard’ position, “I am but a simple teacher, and I only want one thing: that is, to live together with the people I love! And I’ll crush anyone who would stand in my way, or die trying!”

“Tsk! Tsk! Tsk! Such a timid Kuro, I see…well, that’s one part I love about you!” I could feel Ruro’s bloodlust getting more powerful, “Alright, foolish Master, if you don’t want to replace Gaius, then I’ll force you to become one! Come at me; I won’t let you leave my sight anymore!”

“Guys, don’t interfere!” I ordered my orphans to stay back, “Minahaba, take them away from here!”

“But Chief—”

“Do as I say and hurry!”

“He’s right, Minahaba of the Falcon,” Ruro told her, “You have no business here, and the humans would arrive at any moment!”

At that point, Minahaba pulled the children away from me and the Beastman saint, though I could hear protests from the others. Well, I didn’t want them to fight Ruro, or they’d sure to get hurt.

“If you’re a god, you could protect those kids even more.”

“I’ll just keep being human,” I wasted no more time sparring with words. Once I gathered my courage, I attacked Ruro.

“!!!” However, a veteran of several battles from her past, the Beastman Saint only evaded my offensive by only moving out of my way. She quickly countered with a kick, aiming for my stomach.

Knowing my sword couldn’t block her attack, I blocked her using my right arm and answered back with a sweeping kick meant to shake her balance.

“Ooh! You’re getting good at fighting, Master!” Ruro commented as she stumbled back, “I surely didn’t expect that from you!”

“Of course! I’m keen on doing my assignments!”

“Your what—”

However, the wolf-woman wasn’t able to finish her words, as she had to counter my successive blows, trying to land a clean hit on her. Slash from the right, thrust to the left, a punch from my right arm, followed by another sweeping kick towards her shin, Ruro dodged everything I threw against her.

“Ah! You’re really slowly becoming the man of my dreams!” she exclaimed, her face was red in excitement, “I really love you, Kuro! Now, let me answer you!”

“!!!”

At that moment, I saw Ruro’s hand glowed golden-yellow. And then a powerful, invisible force hit me from behind and I lost my footing. The Beastman Saint, being the wolf that she was, quickly grabbed me by my nape and pulled me towards her.

“Gotcha! Controlling the wind is really helpful for these moments,” her arms wrapped around me and with my face being smothered by her breasts, Ruro moved to disarm my left hand, “I’m never going to let you go again, M-A-S-T-E-R!”

“Mmmffh!!!”

Fuck! I couldn’t breathe! Though some may say that dying of asphyxiation by someone’s breasts was a good way to go, I don’t think I’d like it. Even though it’s soft, it’s still painful.

She’s trying to make me lose consciousness!

I tried my best to thrash around and free myself. However, my limitations as a human were being overpowered by Ruro’s physical strength as a beastwoman.

“Please…stop struggling, Master. It’s really futile.”

Damn…I’m at my limit.

“Kuro!”

“!!!”

Ruro kicked me off from her, just as I was about to lose consciousness. She had no choice, especially now that she had to fight the newcomers. I tried to remain awake, but I’m getting all woozy.

“Hoh, so you finally showed up, Konka of the Insetus…” I heard Ruro say, “…and who’s the other—”

“A pleasure to meet you, Lady Ruro. I’m Ursura of the West Ursus, and the one who’d kill you.”

----------

The next thing that I knew, I was in a dark, cold place.

“…”

I don’t know if this was a dream or not, but regardless, it was pitch black. I tried to feel around me; however, I touched nothing.

“…”

Maybe this resulted from Ruro trying to make me pass out so that she could carry me off once again. In any case, I really had to return to Cherwind.

“You? A god? It makes little sense!”

“!!!” Amidst that pitch darkness, I heard a deep, silvery voice, as if mocking me…or not. Maybe those words of Ruro were getting on my brain because honestly, I was surprised that she had goals like that.

“How could a timid mortal like you understand what it means to be a god?”

Yep, I guess I’m mistaken. Someone was with me in this black place.

“!!!”

Then, slowly, the light showed up. Initially, I couldn’t distinguish it, but the more I stared out into the darkness, the more my eyes adjusted. And for the first time since coming here, I finally figured out I was in woodland.

“…”

By then, the sun had already shown its light, and I could see a clearing not too far from where I stood. There were hills from the distance; its silhouettes could be traced despite the fog. And out on the horizon, I saw some red and gold banners, carried by armored men, fluttering gently with the wind.

“!!!”

Behind me, I heard a trumpet blast, followed by another, and a third one answered. When I turned, I saw an army of what looked to me like barbarians. Some of them were riding horses, a few had horned helmets, and a lot of them had bodies covered in scary tattoos instead of armor. They were marching in my direction, facing the armored infantry across the clearing.

“…”

The army of the barbarians just walked past by my spot. Maybe they couldn’t see me, but I could feel the tension hanging in the air as they marched into their positions.

By then, on the other side, I could finally distinguish their enemies. Indeed, those men were wearing armor, and it’s awfully familiar to me…

“That’s the…Lorica Segmentata!”

Indeed, when I looked around the opposing army, I saw more familiar symbols: a banner with the letters SPQR, an Aquila, and the soldiers were wearing red clothing underneath their Lorica Segmentata armor.

“What the hell? This is Earth!” I muttered to myself.

Once the armies had deployed themselves, facing one another, the barbarians taunted and try to demoralize their Roman enemies with their war cries. It was a noisy, and terrifying experience. However, just like what I read in the books, the legionnaires remained unfazed.

The taunts and war cries continued for a few more moments, eventually coming to a halt. And then, realizing that their scare tactics won’t work, the barbarians let loose a hail of arrows towards the Roman line, which they countered with their famous testudo.

And when the barrage ended, the Romans answered with their own rain of arrows, which felled several barbarians. Then, the order from their side was given—‘Attack’.

The barbarians and the Romans met at the middle of the field, with the latter going in the thick of the battle more organized than the former. A bloody fight ensued, but I realized the barbarian side was being massacred.

“…”

In the end, it was the Romans who triumphed.

Then, without warning, the scenery changed. No longer was I in the middle of the woodland, but I was now on a grand, majestic podium in the middle of a classical Roman city. Flower petals were raining down everywhere, and people were in the streets, celebrating.

“Ave! Ave! Ave!” they cried out.

Beside me went past a man, wearing a laurel wreath on his head and a purple-and-gold toga. He ascended on the podium amidst the cheers of the people below. He raised his arms in a victorious gesture, and the crowd went even more ecstatic.

“Could you even match my achievements?” there came the voice once again, “I, who ruled the world, while you are timid and a nobody?”

“…” Well, I’m not being insulted by the voice’s mockery, though if I’m going, to be honest, his taunts were quite annoying. And his silvery, cold tone didn’t help either. “You know, if you’re trying to provoke me, then you have to try even harder!”

After saying that, there was a deafening silence. It’s as if the scene before me stopped playing; everything froze. The petals remained suspended in the air, while the Romans were perfectly still, just like the statues they made. I tried going around, but then, my vision became blurry and white…

“!!!”

And when my consciousness returned, I was in a beautiful garden full of flowers and dotted with Corinthian columns.

At the very center of that place was a man, sitting on a set of garden furniture. His appearance was peculiar yet familiar, for this was my first time to see a floral polo shirt, sunglasses, walking shorts, headphones, and laptop in a long time.

“Hey there! My name is Gaius!” he grinned while flashing me a ‘peace’ sign.

I was utterly dumbfounded. “What?”

----------

“Well, I’m Gaius…or formerly,” the man chuckled as he removed his headphones and stood up to meet me, “Now I’m just a human called Jules. My old job is being a god, and my new one is being a hobo.”

“Uhh…come again?”

“A hobo. Don’t you know what that is?”

“Yeah, a homeless person,” I answered, “But what the heck? How do you know—”

“A god has to know the latest trends,” Gaius shrugged, “By the way, this laptop is kind of wonky now. Do you know the reasons why?”

“Must be your internal storage is full,” I went over to his computer to check it, but…

“Wait, no—”

“…”

“Pretend you didn’t see that,” Gaius could only shake his head. “I’m kind of lonely, see?”

“W-Well, I understand. Every guy out there must have seen at least one lewd video or something…”

“It’s a V.N., Kuro. A V.N., ‘visual novel’.”

“How do you know my name?”

“I got ‘assets’ in heaven.”

“Oh…”

“Ah anyway, my man,” he patted my back, “Aren’t you the most unmotivated person I ever met in my entire life.”

“Well, just as I said to the Beastman Saint: I only wanted to live together with the people I love.”

“Sheesh. What kind of a cheesy dream is that?” Gaius removed his sunglasses, “Were you not challenged by my speech earlier? You know, being a god is something great, see? The power over everything, everyone worships you…you don’t like that?”

“Honestly, I don’t. And I’m rather annoyed with your ‘challenging’ words.”

“Oh…” he closed his eyes, muttering, “Are you one of those light novel MCs who can’t even hold a proper conversation with a girl? Something about ‘Beta’…”

“Lord Gaius—”

“Just call me Jules.”

“Err…J-Jules, is there a reason for summoning me here? And what’s with those things I witnessed earlier?”

“Ah, you can call that ‘trailers’. Aren’t they exciting?”

I only stared back at the former god with a bored expression.

“Right…I guess different people have different priorities!” Jules clapped his hands, “Anyway, the reason I called you here is to talk to you about being a god.”

“Is this sort of connected to Ruro’s words earlier?”

“Well, you could say that, since she already raised that topic to you. See, it’s been long since there’s a god who watched over this universe.”

“And you want me to become one?”

“Only if you’re willing…see, the High King of the Gods wouldn’t force it to those who don’t want it.”

The image of the Old Man smiling and winking at me flashed through my mind. However, I had a glaring question, “Well, if being a god is so exciting, then why don’t you return from your retirement then? Your disciple, Seirna, is always waiting for your comeback…enough to kill half of humanity with her zombies.”

“Guh, Seirna’s an idiot. She always takes my word seriously, like, man, can’t I even joke once?” Jules chuckled, “Besides, I couldn’t return from my retirement—forced retirement if you will. It’s because of that damned hero, Cassandra David.”

“Cassandra David? I’ve been encountering her name whenever there’s something big that happened in the past!”

“That’s because that girl likes to meddle,” Jules’ face changed from a light-hearted, smiling expression, to an irritated, and sulking one, “Ah, I don’t want to talk about her. Let’s get back to the topic about godhood.”

“I can’t. I won’t do it.”

“Yet, the god-powers are in you, and those abilities would remain with you until you left this mortal plane.”

“Well, it’s not like I snatched those away from your saints. In the first place, I’m also puzzled why I got these!”

“Oh, I know!” Jules nonchalantly revealed, “You were kissed by the Saints who trusted you.”

“Come again?”

“You are now sharing their god-power because the Saints unwittingly passed it to you by what we call ‘Faithful Kiss’.”

“Ah…” the scenes where Maddie and Ruro shared a kiss with me replayed in my head. It was…well…quite embarrassing, but I guess this former god couldn’t see through my thoughts? He commented nothing about what I’m thinking.

“Hmm…actually, this is my first time seeing someone who’s able to do that, but it is possible. I heard stories of some gods back in heaven were made that way, see?”

“Well…that’s quite a surprise,” I admitted, but then I had another question, “By the way, I’m curious why I could perfectly control the Human Saint’s god-power of healing, while the Beastman Saint’s god-power over the weather was a horror story for me.”

“Answer this question of mine first, Kuro,” Jules then suddenly brought out two cups of coffee from somewhere and gave one to me, “What do you think? What makes a god, well, a god?”

Honestly, I was taken aback by what he asked of me. I mean what makes a god? “Is it the divine powers?”

“Nope. Two more tries.”

“I got three tries? O-Okay, well, his/her divinity?”

“Wrong again.”

“Omnipotence?”

“Pfft! I really love asking that question…” Jules took a sip from his coffee cup, “Haven’t you considered the people?”

“People?”

“Yes. A god only becomes a deity once his/her subjects worship him/her. The more people, the more powerful a god becomes. This is why it is important for us to always hold our supporters in awe. Now, to answer your question about controlling your god-powers…”

“You mean I could control the Human Saint’s god-power of healing because the humans believe in me, while the Beastman Saint’s god-power is uncontrollable because only a few beastfolk recognize my name?”

“Ding! Finally, a correct answer!”

I fell silent after hearing that. Well, it did make sense; that mess up while fighting the monster hordes before, and the destruction I wrought at Malvette, were all because the Beastmen barely knew me back then.

“Oi, so you don’t want to be a god, huh?”

“I stand by my decision.”

“I see. Well, I can’t persuade you,” the former god finished his cup of coffee and placed it beside his laptop, “Nevertheless, since I enjoyed talking with you, allow me to help you defeat that stupid doggie, Ruro.”

“You’ll be fighting with me?”

“You think with a mortal’s body and limitations, I could do that?” he chuckled, “I may still have a few vestiges of my divinity, but I’m only a human now. In fact, you can hurt me while you’re still at it.”

“Why would I even think of that?”

“Nah, it’s just for a sample. And you won’t be able to do it, for your mortal body was back there at Cherwind, sleeping while they are fighting over you. Isn’t that nice, Cassanova? The ladies are killing each other just for possessing you. I really do think you should try to be a god.”

“Can we just get to the point?”

“Ah, an impatient soul. Anyway, what I mean to say before is, I’ll provide you information.”

“Information about what?”

“In defeating Ruro and her armies. Listen, use the Beastman Saint’s power now.”

“Uhh…”

“Well, if you can’t control it, you can always cut-off your hand.”

I glared back at him.

“I was just joking! Anyway, trust me; use that power now.”

I still had my doubts, but in any case, I channeled the mana to my left hand. A faint golden-yellow glow appeared as I imagined myself creating a drizzle.

However…

“!!!”

The intensity of the god-power in my hand suddenly increased, and instead of a light drizzle, a blizzard blew. The garden was enveloped with snow within a matter of seconds.

“I see, you haven’t gathered enough support to control the strength and the type of weather that will come out,” Jules calmly commented, even as he was being covered in snow.

“H-How do I stop it?” the mixed feelings of extreme cold and panic set in. I was desperately searching for answers, but the former god just stood there looking at me.

“Well, just stop it. Cut off the mana flow, and you should be fine.”

I shot another glare at him, “B-But I can’t!”

“Have you even tried yet?”

Desperate to prevent further destruction, I focused on stopping the weather I created. Well, this guy says I should be able to cut it off, so I guess I can do it? I took a deep breath and imagined myself cutting off the mana flow.

At once, the turbulent weather stopped.

“Ah, great!” Jules exclaimed, happily patting my back, “You gathered enough supporters to ‘switch’ your god-powers on/off! See? You can use that to defeat Ruro!”

What the fuck? Did he just let me blindly try the god-power? What if I wasn’t able to control it? This person was nuts. “Err…isn’t it still dangerous? I haven’t had full control of this ability just yet!”

“Just go berserk with it. Isn’t your escape your priority?”

“But what about those who might get caught—”

“Display your powers, gain more supporters. Soon you’ll have full control of it because mortals are easily goaded into submission once they realize you can kill them with a snap. Easy-peasy!”

I don’t think I could work with this guy. I mean, I’m not one to judge but hearing him say those words… I’m kind of happy that he was now a ‘former’ god.

In any case, while I had a lot of questions in my mind, Jules began the spell to return me back to my body. He never even allowed me to take a rest.

“Stay a bit more and your friends will die,” was all that he said before my vision became blurry and white. Soon, I was awakened by the loud explosions and the heavy downpour in the middle of the battlefield. I was back at the refugee camps.

----------

**Ursura**

I sort of expected these things to happen.

“…”

I know Kuro’s kind and emphatic, but boy, he could also be stupid. Like, really, do we even had to stop at every injured person on the ground just to heal them? What happened to escaping?

And so, since we encountered members of the Fox tribe at the southern gates, I suspected that their tribe elder, Kashca Telis of the Fox, was going to appear anytime to apprehend Kuro. Not wasting my time, I went over to Lady Konka—who was also after him and tricked her into coming with me to the northern flank.

As it turns out, we encountered a more formidable foe…

“You know very well that you can’t easily defeat me, Ruro…” Lady Konka stood her ground, with her sword glowing in pale blue amidst the darkness of the heavy downpour. “Between us, I should be the one who’s the Saint, not you.”

“Yes, and damn our entire people to primitive ways!” Ruro answered, “You can’t even defeat the monster hordes by yourself!”

“And you say your methods are better? Feed our best crops, and give our best lands to the humans for their non-existent help?”

Well, I know these two had their own grievances with each other in the past, but I guess we should be going while Kuro’s unconscious. Now, where were the children?

“!!!” As I made my way towards Kuro, a hailstone suddenly hit the ground before me.

“Going somewhere, bear-woman?” Ruro’s attention was now focused on me, “Aren’t you a clever one, bringing in my mortal enemy to create a diversion, then you escape with my beloved master?”

“What? Is that true, Ursura?” I heard Lady Konka say.

But I didn’t pay attention to her, “You say ‘Master’, yet you act like you’re the one who owns him!”

“Oho! So you’re also smitten by him, Ursura of the West Ursus! Ah, it’s no surprise; my master will be the greatest in all of Cherwind!”

“You’re one sick bastard, Lady Ruro!” my guard stance was up, “And I’ll beat reason unto your head!” At once, I went on the offensive, aiming for the Saint’s throat.

However, Lady Ruro was quick to evade my attack. She immediately countered with a punch to my stomach, which I closely parried with my arm.

“Guah!” the pain shot through my body, as my left arm closely blocked the Saint’s fist. She was unusually strong!

“Don’t you ignore me!” Lady Konka also joined in the fight, with a thrust of her sword aiming for Ruro’s heart. But the wolf-lady reacted on time, and she retreated a few paces away from us.

“Hey!” I called out to the Insetus-woman.

“What?”

“We won’t be able to defeat her if we will not coordinate our attacks.”

“Then why don’t we?”

“Lady Konka, pardon me for being disrespectful, but I guess I won’t be cooperating with you, as long as you’re after Kuro’s life.”

“Oho…now I see! So you’re siding with that traitorous human?”

“I don’t think there’s anything that Kuro did that amounted to betrayal. If there’s anything you need to know, is that he did all those suggestions to improve your people’s lives. I’ve seen it with my own eyes!” I reached out my hand to her, “Now, if you’d promise that you won’t come after us, then we may cooperate.”

Lady Konka fell silent for a few moments as she pondered on whether or not to accept my terms. Then with a sigh, she reciprocated my gesture and shook hands with me, “Alright. Let’s bring down that fake Saint at once!”

We resumed our attacks, with Lady Konka covering for me while I dealt the finishing blow. Ruro had to content herself with evading and parrying our attacks; she couldn’t seize the initiative, we wouldn’t let her. A feint to right would be combined with another feint to the left, then followed-up with a kick to her stomach.

“Buoh!” the Beastman Saint received the full brunt of my attack and was thrown to the ground. But Lady Konka wouldn’t let her recover—she went in for the killing blow once our opponent was down.

But Lady Ruro was fast and nimble as well. The moment she touched the ground, she maneuvered to stand up and parry Lady Konka’s thrust just in time. Then the wolf-lady smirked.

“!!!”

Lady Konka quickly dove to avoid the incoming counter-attack of Lady Ruro, a powerful wind spell. The attack nearly missed me, but as I was about to do my own counter, we heard a loud explosion.

“!!!”

I could feel my body fly. And, much to my surprise, Lady Ruro reappeared mid-air and sent me crashing to the ground with a spinning kick.

“Gah!” I think I broke a rib or two on that. It fucking hurts!

“You guys almost had me cornered back there,” the Beastman Saint sighed with relief, “Good thing you’re not the only one who got allies…”

“…” From the corner of my eyes, I saw two figures. A human female, clad in a magnificent knight’s armor and with a wand in her hand. The other one was a member of the Fox tribe, restraining the injured Lady Konka.

Kashca Telis and that bitch from Malvette’s Black Tower!

“Ah, so we meet again, bear-woman!” the human greeted me, “Do you remember how you humiliated me back in the Black Tower? This time, I’m going to repay the debt,” she got down from her horse and undressed me.

Well fuck, I guess this is it! If only Kuro listened to me and focused on our escape, this wouldn’t happen…

“!!!”

Just as our enemies were about to finish us, there was another change in the weather. From the heavy rains, we suddenly felt the ground shake as the wet and chaotic weather intensified further. Then, violent winds began blowing as well, that it was difficult to stand up…

One thing immediately came to my mind upon witnessing those strange events, “Where’s Kuro?”

Everyone looked for him, but we didn’t need to go that far…for, only a few distances away from us and going unnoticed, we saw him. Kuro was having difficulty standing up. Nevertheless, his left hand was glowing with bright golden-yellow, and above him were huge, dark, swirling clouds funneling slowly down the ground.

“Lay your hands off that bear-woman and retreat,” Kuro’s seething anger was unmistakable, “Or we’d all be obliterated by these tornadoes.”