Chapter 91: Not a god…
With her nail, Lady Keter sliced her palm open, letting red blood flow.
"S-Stop her!!", the general commanded as he swung his axe down.
"I Offer to the Universe—", her eyes glow, "Bring me my Lance."
A golden illusory scale formed behind her, its presence raw and dominating. But it soon vanished—
Replacing it was—
Clang!!
A spiraling silver lance parried his axe effortlessly. Following the movement, with a simple thrust, a burst of spiraling wind pierced his torso and knocked him down.
But he isn't dead, it is quite difficult to kill a Fifth Step Pathstrider after all. His wound stitched back together as he backed up.
"W-Who are you?!", he panicked, holding his hand up to stop the soldiers from going forward. He needs to assess this unknown threat, despite all the soldiers ready to go against a strong opponent.
"An Outsider, you could say that.", she replied, pointing the lance in her left hand at the army.
The silver lance itself was growing flat tendrils, wrapping around her hand, then her arm like roots. It seemed alive, bonding with her in ways that made Lea's senses scream warnings.
Lea could only watch as Lady Keter stepped forward, wielding what could only be a divine weapon.
And then the slaughter began.
Lady Keter charged forth.
Not with divine speed or mystical enhancement. Just... movement. Fast, efficient, almost casual movement that somehow put her exactly where she needed to be. Something below the majesty of a god, yet far above the feats of man.
The first rank of soldiers rushed to meet her, weapons raised, battle cries on their lips.
Lady Keter smiled. Her lance moved like liquid silver, flowing from guard to strike to parry with impossible precision. She wielded it one-handed like a sword, the weapon seeming weightless in her grip despite its obvious length and mass.
A soldier thrust his spear. Lady Keter deflected it with a minimal movement, used his overextension to step past his guard, and drove the lance through his chest. Pulled it free before he'd finished falling.
Three more attacked simultaneously. She spun, the lance's reach catching all three in a single spiral motion. And through precise calculation and skill, she bisected them all with the tip of her lance.
Bodies hit the ground.
More pressed forward. Lady Keter danced through them, her expression never changing from that pleasant smile.
She fought like someone who'd been doing this for millennia, every movement economical, every strike lethal, no wasted effort.
"Formation!", the general shouted, trying to organize a response, "Pathstriders, engage!"
The Third Step warriors moved in, using mystical techniques to attack from impossible angles.
Blood-forged weapons materialized. Bindings attempted to bind her movements. Barriers of courage tried to trap her.
All futile under a single command.
"Judgement."
Lady Keter manifested blue Judgement blades and fired them casually.
Unlike Lea's golden blades, hers were azure, crackling with that same argent light that had accompanied her summoning. And there were thousands of them, raining down on the soldiers like divine judgment.
"Interesting.", she commented, parrying three attacks simultaneously, "The Blood God's followers fight well. But..."
She used something that made Lea's eyes widen. A small miracle, the distance simply increased between Lady Keter and an attacker mid-lunge, making him stumble as the space he'd measured suddenly became twice as long.
Salvation... Lea recognized. The Path of miracles and divine intervention.
Another soldier tried to flank her. Lady Keter's lance moved impossibly fast, but Lea saw her left hand touch her palm, creating another cut.
"I Offer to the Universe—"
Blood flowed and vanished, and suddenly Lady Keter accelerated, her speed doubling for just a moment. Long enough to close the distance and strike.
Exchange... Lea realized with growing horror. Offering something to gain something else.
Those were Charlotte the Heretic's Paths. Judgement, Salvation, Exchange. The same three Lady Keter had told them about during her story.
"Who ARE you?!", the general roared, attacking again with his massive axe.
Lady Keter caught the blow on her lance, the spiral design absorbing the impact. She smiled wider.
"I told you, merely an Outsider."
She pushed him back effortlessly, then turned to face a charging group of Pathstriders. Her lance swept through them like they were made of paper, the spiraling wind that accompanied each strike tearing through mystical defenses.
Throughout the battle, Lea watched in stunned silence. Lady Keter displayed nothing overtly divine, no reality-warping on a massive scale, no manipulation of time itself, nothing that screamed "goddess."
Just pure, refined skill. The kind that came from wielding a weapon for longer than civilizations existed.
And those occasional boosts. Blue Judgement blades that shattered mystical constructs. Small miracles through Salvation that created advantageous terrain, muddy patches that tripped enemies, sudden gusts that deflected projectiles, distances that expanded or contracted at convenient moments. Blood offerings through Exchange that granted brief bursts of enhanced speed or strength.
The same Paths Charlotte the Heretic had used to fight the entire world. Lea's enhanced cognition, even exhausted and bleeding, connected the pieces.
"Are you...", she called out weakly, her voice barely audible over the sounds of battle, "Are you Charlotte the Heretic?"
Lady Keter deflected another attack, her lance moving in that spiral pattern that seemed to be its defining characteristic.
"Or at least...", Lea continued, struggling to form words through the pain and exhaustion, "Her Divine Throne? The one she rejected?"
Lady Keter dispatched three more soldiers with a single sweeping strike, then glanced back at Lea. Her azure eyes gleamed with something that might have been amusement.
The general attempted one more desperate charge, his Fifth Step power fully engaged, divine energy of the Blood God flowing through his weapon. Lady Keter caught his axe on her lance, held it there for a moment, then twisted. The weapon flew from his hands. Her lance pressed against his throat.
"Yield.", she said simply.
The general, faced with impossible skill and power he couldn't comprehend, more than that, an oppressive aura pressed down on him through those eyes, dropping him to his knees, "I... yield."
"Smart.", Lady Keter withdrew her lance, "Tell your army to retreat. This battle is over."
As the general shakily gave the order, soldiers began their withdrawal with confused but disciplined movements. Lady Keter walked back toward Lea. The silver lance began dissolving, the flat tendrils unwrapping from her arm, the weapon fading as if it had never existed.
She reached out, and the bleeding from Lea's eyes stopped. A small miracle, Salvation being used to heal rather than harm.
The golden scale appeared briefly behind her again, accepting her offering, then vanished.
Lea looked up at her, golden eyes meeting azure ones with their eight-pointed stars.
"Well?", Lady Keter asked, "You had a question?"
"Are you Charlotte the Heretic?", Lea repeated, forcing the words out, "The Paths you used... they're the same ones she—"
Lady Keter knelt beside her, that unchanging smile still in place.
"I must correct you, Dantes", she said gently with a smile, "I am not a god..."