Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Huff! Huff!

Logma heaved deep breaths while blood and sweat oozed from his brow and left eye socket that had been carved with jagged finesse, destroying his eye and hacking at the side of his skull.

His armour was cracked pitifully and he ground his teeth as he pulled out some of its pieces that had dug into his body.

The light around him, shaped like a three point star faded and he hurled blood from his mouth as he struggled to get up.

All around him, all he could see was flame, flame rising from the oval shaped view over him.

The flame was so bright that it made it seem like the bright and sunny day had subbed in the night.

From this distance he could see the true scale of the devastation that had occurred in the minute or two that he had been knocked out.

At this moment, he was within a massive crater carved into the side of a hill.

This was where he had landed after the sudden strike or strikes... he didn't know, which he had taken, carrying him sixteen miles away from the fleet!

Cough! Cough!

Logma coughed in an unnerving manner before spitting out blood.

'This... If I hadn't used Star Counter...' he thought, dreading what could have happened if he hadn't used his auxiliary technique in time.

Yet a lot of good that did.

He had barely seen what had hit him, but he was sure it was the woman who had been sitting on the opposing ship's figurehead.

How on Aigas she moved that fast and how she had bested him so badly despite being at the same stage as him, with the same coloured core, was beyond him?

A unique class?

But still, his Divine blessing was proficient when it came to bolstering his Durability!

So... how?!

Logma crawled out of the crater and came to fully face the raging flame and the scene of utter destruction.

The time he had been unconscious for wasn't lost to him as he could ascertain it from the state of his body, this detail being what led his one remaining eye to bulge in shock when he saw that all 64 ships on his side were no more.

They were either sinking scrap, or burning wrecks over the Shattered Serpent's Throat which didn't deserve the name anymore.

The narrow way of waters had been expanded upon somehow, becoming a bloated pass that the full fleet of ships from the Union steadily crossed through as they continued their journey further into Pelian.

None of the men and women on the ships seemed to have moved or engaged at all which led Logma to have a horrifying thought.

'Don't tell me that woman...!'

"You're still alive, huh? Master Minobu was right. You bastards are hard to kill," a voice came from behind Logma who ground his teeth.

He hurriedly turned to find a woman crouching beside him while gazing at his face with a mix of pity and surprise.

She had long leather black hair that was combed over to the right side, the left part of her head being almost completely bald.

She was quite pretty, but it was evident that she didn't particularly care for her own looks.

She wore only a cover around her chest, made from a hard dark shell that didn't look to be steel, a rough hide under it to provide comfort to her flesh. She also wore something similar from her waist to her thighs like tight shorts and from her knees to her feet as boots, this scanty set of armour shockingly graded higher than Legendary!

A black machete-like weapon half her height was in her hand, coated with a layer of her terrifying mana.

Logma leaked blood from his mouth as he attempted to create distance between himself and this woman but he knew it was impossible in his state. She may only allow it on a whim.

"I'm glad I get to kill a Paladin Champion on my own. It serves to reinvigorate my belief, hmph," the woman said as she stabbed her weapon into Logma's calf!

...!

The Paladin Champion felt an intense wave of pain gush through his body, almost driving him to unconsciousness!

He emitted a subdued grunt as he balled his hand into a fist and struck the ground under him with great might!

The hill he had rested on exploded into fine dust, Logma finding an opening to dash away from the close encounter!

He rolled on the ground beyond the mile's worth of destruction he had caused with a single punch to the ground before steadily coming to stand on his feet.

The machete that had been in his leg had already been retrieved, a testament to how fast his opponent was and how she was aware of every one of his moves.

'Damn it!' Logma thought as his eye darted this way and that, searching for the woman.

He couldn't sense, see or hear the woman at all!

It turned out she was incredibly proficient at hiding her presence!

'If I use my Territory, I'm likely to die in the clash. I'm nowhere near my peak condition right now...' Logma ran through his options as once more, a three point star shaped light engulfed him, flickering as it depicted that his strength was waning.

The Paladin Champion felt his heart constrain with regret and yearning.

He hadn't served the Purity long enough.

He hadn't served the Deities long enough.

He wasn't that high ranked among the twelve Paladin Champions and since the war started, he hadn't had the opportunity to do anything till now.

He had been eager to show his will for service with regard to his belief, but he was taken out in a few quick blows without exacting any change.

Without protecting anything.

How could he die with pride when his life amounted to nothing even with the Divine Blessing he had?!

Logma grit his teeth once more in anguish.

From the dust and dirt flying ahead of him, he saw a shadow and then the full image of the dangerous woman that had put him in this dreadful state.

She held out her machete as her eyes flashed with a power that exceeded Aura.

"Your flimsy counter can't stand against my strikes. I thought the display earlier would show you how true that is," the woman said with a scoff. "Still, struggle well. I'll hack off your limbs and parade your body on the mast of my ship. Hmph. Then we'll see if anyone Divine will come to rescue you."

Logma stumbled.

He was definitely going to die.

There was no way around that with his strength and according to Juulicus, expecting reinforcements was a waste of time.

The Champion sucked in a deep breath as he swallowed all the regret and pain.

'If I am going to die worthlessly anyway, I might as well try this out,' he thought as he knelt down.

His dark skin illuminated by the flames around him made him look solemn, though he did not intend for this.

He hung his head and focused deep within his soul.

Several hundred spots of light swam within it, leaving multi-coloured trails of utter beauty.

With the refinement of one's energies into an aspect of power greater than Aura, came its passive crystallisation and off shooting into something unique.

Creeds.

'I've never had to use these as I thought my strength was enough for the duties I had. I've saved 342 Creeds in hopes of being able to save the lives of individuals that matter in the long run at a critical point or better yet, trade them in return for something else bigger than me...' Logma thought. 'Now...'

Perhaps this was it.

This was the time for that.

"This is my Creed..." he whispered in a very low voice that could hardly be heard even by the sharpest ears. "...that my body be a vessel for the ones I serve to use as they see fit. My blood, my body, my soul... make it fitting enough for whatever they deem."

OOOOOOM!

The first to feel it was the woman before Logma, a hot sensation burning at her skin with a disturbing itch.

The ground trembled.

The sky quaked.

Logma's figure became like a mirage while the flames burning away at the lands and trees died down without transition, his body seemingly taking up the tremendous heat that had been suffocating the environment!

A pillar of light stormed from above for a brief moment, too fast for anyone not as strong as Logma and the woman to perceive!

Then came a voice that only the Paladin Champion could hear.

It spoke with an intensity that cracked Logma's soul, but relief and joy manifested on his face as a genuine smile, blood oozing from his remaining eye.

<It is remarkably insufficient, but I will make do>.

***

OOOOOM!

The continent trembled and so did the sea.

The reverberation coursed through everything in existence but few could understand what this meant.

Among these few, one man who sat on the lavish floor to an exquisitely made mansion raised his head, his long hair softly cascading down against his thick, bare muscles that held untamed might.

"There it is. I was doubtful, but it happened as you said. Who would have guessed?" he said in a voice that was difficult to describe.

A figure at his side chuckled.

"I did. You have spilled a lot of blood on land and on the sea. These are the bodies of the divine, you know, aha ha?"

The man who sat down, letting his senses which covered the entire continent in a breath hummed as he turned to face the large figure in his company.

The only one of his kind on the continent at this time.

"That was the entire point of it," the long haired man said. "Now tell me, Giant. Do you truly know how to reach Divinity?"

---

[Author's Note]

This concludes the flashback sequence of the Second Grand War for now.

This chapter also effectively marks the 1/4 way point through the story. We have a lot of ground to cover and no rush at all.

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