TGS - Chapter 187

Chapter 187: Slaughtering the Wolf

In Surinia City, Alyuin shot to her feet.

She stared at the empty space before her, her gaze as sharp as a blade. She abruptly turned her head to look out the window, her long, dark hair, tied back behind her shoulders, swaying lightly with the movement.

Just a moment ago, the Snow Goddess, clad in a simple white robe, had still been here.

When Lotus's main body had first left, the Snow Goddess incarnation could still converse freely with the Princess, relaying some of the topics discussed after the main gods had gathered.

But not long after, as if she no longer had the attention to spare for this incarnation, the Snow Goddess abruptly fell silent. She stood stunned and motionless, the arc of light in her pupils frozen, like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

Alyuin immediately realized that something had happened to Lotus's true self.

If it weren't a critical moment, how could Lotus's control over her incarnation have become so weak?

Before Alyuin could react, the Snow Goddess incarnation disintegrated on the spot into wave-like, frost-blue divine power, surging out the window in the blink of an eye—heading towards the location of her main body.

Everything happened in a flash. Alyuin had received no warning from Lotus and, logically, should have remained in the city to wait for news.

But the thought of Lotus facing some troublesome foreign god—whether it was Perseus or not—the River Goddess's prepared and serious attitude, and the incarnation that had disintegrated midway, all spoke volumes about the gravity of the situation.

Alyuin grabbed the longsword from its wall rack with a backhand grip. At the same time, she let out a whistle. The two golden eagles circling above the mansion's garden heard the sound and descended, responding to their master's call.

"Come with me." The Princess patted the wings of each of the eagle sisters. "I'll take you to the vicinity. You need to find Lotus, understand?"

She couldn't just stay put.

Regardless of whether Lotus was in danger or needed help, she had to go and bring Lotus back. Once she got there, she could figure out the rest.

Alyuin knew that gods could not interfere with the life and death of mortals, especially important figures. She considered herself quite important, so she wasn't too worried about her own safety.

As for everything else, it was insignificant at a time like this. Alyuin vaulted onto her horse and galloped away like an arrow released from a bowstring.

The golden eagles flew at a medium altitude above the galloping warhorse. They hadn't reached their destination yet and hadn't understood the Princess's command, only hearing Lotus's name in her words, which made them very happy.

As Alyuin urged her horse onward, she glanced up.

"I hope Lotus is in a visible form right now..."

The Princess muttered to herself.

Alyuin was anxious to find the goddess, so the time it took her to reach the small mountain range was compressed to a minimum.

Before their conversation was cut off, Lotus had mentioned the approximate location of the Solancian main gods. If they hadn't moved since, they should still be nearby.

"Go find Lotus," Alyuin commanded.

This time, the golden eagles understood. They beat their wings and soared high, becoming two small black dots in the sky. The raptors' sharp eyes scanned the ground from above, searching for a familiar figure.

Before long, the golden eagles flew back, circled twice while crying out, and then flew off in a certain direction. Alyuin followed closely behind and finally saw Lotus at the edge of a forest.

—A passed-out Lotus.

And her main god companions, also unconscious.

As well as a diamond-shaped crystal that had rolled to one side, its interior shrouded in mist and extremely low in transparency.

Alyuin's heart leaped in alarm. Her first reaction was to half-support, half-embrace Lotus. The scene before her made it impossible not to panic, and her fingers trembled minutely.

Checking for breath wouldn't work on a god; after all, deities didn't need to breathe. She leaned down and pressed her right ear to Lotus's chest, feeling something rhythmically contracting and expanding beneath the skin. It was the River Goddess's divine core.

The Princess let out a sigh of relief and held her tighter before raising her eyes to survey the surroundings.

What... had happened here?

Did that Kasnie god do this? If so, where were they now?

Before she could think further, the circling golden eagles above gave a warning cry. Alyuin laid Lotus back down, turned, and drew her sword, pointing it directly at the silent mountain forest.

"Who's there?" the Princess said, her tone cold and hard.

The shape of a young wolf soon appeared from behind the trees. It didn't reveal itself because of Alyuin's question; in fact, it paid the human princess no mind at all.

Its beastly eyes looked past the Princess, staring intently at the Solancian gods.

With each step forward, the young wolf's body grew larger. By the time it had fully emerged from the shadows and into the dappled golden sunlight, it had transformed into a gray wolf larger than a bear or tiger, its claws and fangs sharp and glinting coldly.

"Step aside, human. Don't block my path."

The gray wolf spoke in a human tongue.

When he chose to lie in wait in his weakest form, the Wolf God Huracan hadn't actually expected to get a chance for revenge against the Solancian gods.

Only Perseus remained of the Kasnie gods, and she was no match for the Solancian pantheon. Huracan had hidden nearby merely in the hope of catching Perseus in a moment of weakness to exact his own retribution.

But the Wolf God hadn't expected that the deity who came this time wasn't Perseus, but some being shrouded in a luminous mist. He could sense that this being was powerful, even stronger than Solancia's God of the Sky.

The possibility of the two pantheons destroying each other had appeared. Huracan waited nearby, just waiting for these gods to die or be injured, to fall out of the battle space, powerless to resist, for him to pick off.

The result was even better than he had hoped. Every single one of the Solancian gods had exhausted their divine power and collapsed, unable to get up. The Kasnie god seemed to be sealed within the diamond-shaped crystal, unable to even transmit their divine power.

This was more than just mutual destruction; it was like several glittering divine cores had been placed on the ground for him to destroy. If he didn't take his revenge now, when would he?

As for the human who had just arrived, in the Wolf God's eyes, she was merely a mobile obstacle.

Gods couldn't kill mortals, and mortals certainly couldn't harm gods. Alyuin standing in his way was no different from a moving rock.

The Wolf God lowered its front body slightly, bared its teeth, and its eyes glinted menacingly. "I'll say it again, step aside!"

"The same goes for you—stand down, Huracan," Alyuin said coldly.

The Wolf God was surprised for a moment. "You know my name."

Since you know, why don't you move?

It didn't matter if she was the ruler of a country; for a mere human to dare stand before a god was, to put it nicely, commendable courage, and to put it bluntly, courting death.

Of course, that was assuming this human princess knew that gods couldn't casually interfere with life and death.

The Wolf God paused its steps. It suddenly remembered that this human seemed to have a close relationship with the Solancian River Goddess. If that was true, it was possible she knew that gods couldn't kill mortals.

That made it even more laughable.

The Wolf God thought this and sneered, "Overestimating yourself. Even if I don't kill you, do you really think you can stop me—"

As it spoke, the giant wolf had already picked up speed, charging towards Alyuin—or rather, towards the Solancian main gods behind her.

Huracan possessed a certain absolute pride as a god. No matter how weak or down on his luck he was, he could not be stopped by a human. Even if he couldn't kill her, couldn't he just swat her aside?

Making the Princess of Solancia watch as the gods of Solancia fell one by one before her eyes—that would be the most perfect revenge.

The distance closed in an instant. The Wolf God raised its front paw, an almost cruel expression appearing on its lupine face.

At the same time, Alyuin thrust her sword forward. In her golden eyes, her pure black pupils dilated in an instant from intense concentration, reflecting the rapidly approaching claws.

But this thrust was not meant to parry; it had another target.

Alyuin had learned a great deal from Lotus.

For example, only destruction could kill a god. And for another example, a god's divine core might be located in vital areas, such as behind the forehead, in the chest, or in the throat.

Alyuin was not yet a god.

She couldn't use divine senses or anything of the sort to confirm the location of the Wolf God's divine core, nor was she certain that her incredibly sharp blade could pierce one. But she knew she only had one chance.

If she failed, that detestable paw would strike at Lotus.

And Alyuin would absolutely not allow that to happen in front of her!

The sword blade stabbed towards the wolf's throat, protected by thick fur, while the sharp claws swung towards the human's unprotected head.

Neither side retreated or parried. One was utterly convinced it would suffer no harm, while the other had cast aside all thought of her own life and death.

In that instant, the sword's point entered flesh.

Alyuin's gamble paid off. The Wolf God's divine core was indeed located in its throat. This should have been useless—mortals simply couldn't kill gods. Even if the Princess had become the rumored reincarnation of the War Goddess, she was not a god.

However, as the sword sank into the wolf's throat, its tip struck the center of the divine core with stability and precision.

On the surface of the crimson crystal, a web of cracks rapidly spread out from the sword's tip. Accompanied by a very faint shattering sound, the divine core broke apart.

The Wolf God's eyes widened, the fanaticism for revenge and the contempt for humanity freezing simultaneously on its face.

"What did you do..." Huracan said, his voice hoarse. "What did you do—?!"

The sensation of his divine power and life force draining away was impossible to ignore. The wolf's paw, which had originally intended only to swat the human princess aside, suddenly tensed with force, as if it had already sensed death and wanted to drag someone down with it.

Alyuin still did not retreat. She gripped the hilt tightly and twisted, the sword's tip rotating as it drove deeper, shattering the divine core even more thoroughly.

The Princess couldn't see the divine core, nor could she be certain of the attack's effect, but the Wolf God's reaction and the sensation beneath her blade told her that this was it.

Making this choice meant Alyuin had completely lost any chance to defend herself. The force of the wolf's paw was enough to crush a human skull, but at the last moment before it closed, it was repelled by an invisible force.

The Wolf God opened its maw, revealing its menacing fangs, and tried to land another fatal blow, even though its previous action had already given it a splitting headache.

If only it could act before the rules—

The wolf's paw froze abruptly.

Starting from the tips of its claws, it dissolved inch by inch into dust and smoke. The Sanur god named Huracan vanished.

The longsword lost its point of resistance, causing Alyuin to stumble forward. She steadied herself, a sharp pain throbbing in her head and her vision swimming for a moment.

The longsword hung towards the ground, its tip seemingly stained with the blood-red of the divine core's gem before it slowly faded away.

After catching her breath for a few moments, Alyuin looked down, pulled the chain of her necklace out from behind her light armor, and carefully cradled the amulet that hung on her chest in her palm.

In the center of the snowtu flower, the blue chalcedony bead had shattered.

It was what had blocked the Wolf God's attack.

It was hard to tell which was stronger: the relief of having survived, or the sorrow of the divine token being destroyed.

Alyuin was worried the shattered pieces of blue chalcedony might fall out of their setting and get lost, so she first removed the two fragments of the bead and placed them in a pocket she carried with her.

After doing this, Alyuin turned back to look at Lotus.

Not just Lotus, but all the Solancian gods were still lying there, completely unaware of what had just happened.

Alyuin fell into thought.

So now, how was she going to transport the gods back?

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