Chapter First G.o.dly Clash

A few minutes later, a squad of fully armed elite soldiers arrived on the roof of the tall building. They inspected the place but failed to find any threat of any kind.

    "I"ve been waiting for you, Minamoto Clan"s elite squad." Elysia greeted from the warehouse roof.

    The elite squad checked the source of the sound and found a beautiful girl in a white dress sitting on the edge of the roof of the concrete warehouse. Her l.u.s.trous black hair was blown by the breeze.

    It was as if she was enjoying her time rather than being in danger.

    "Oh, you"re there, Elysia-sama. We came at Minamoto Mitsuzuka-sama"s orders. I am the squad leader of the shadow squad, Naito Seinosuke. We will cooperate with you and are ready to carry out your command in this mission." Seinosuke came close to Elysia to report on their cooperative task.

    "All right, Naito Seinosuke-san. I just caught a group of well-armed people here. They are four professional snipers who have been pointing their guns at us since we almost arrived at the mansion. They tried to defend themselves, but I"m unsure of their reasons. I want you to check them out for me." Elysia jumped down and opened the warehouse door.

    Hearing this statement, Seinosuke narrowed his eyes and waved his hand to his subordinates to follow him.

    Upon arriving in the warehouse, he found four well-armed soldiers wearing black uniforms. They lay on the ground with their bodies bound by mysterious black ropes.

    "Hmm, nngh!" One of the suspects tried to speak, but the rope silenced her mouth.

    "They claimed to be an elite team a.s.signed by the government, but I detained them because they pointed their guns at us. I don"t know if Mitsuzuka-sama is aware of their mission. Do you recognize them and can process this further, Naito Seinosuke-san?" Elysia pointed her palm at the suspects and four long guns in the corner of the room.

    "Affirmative." Seinosuke nodded and put his rifle on his back. He went to one of the suspects and signalled his subordinates to check on the others.

    He tried to loosen the rope around the suspect"s mouth, but it wasn"t easy. Thus, he simply lowered it by force.

    "Ow! That hurts." The suspect hissed in pain. Blood dripped from the corner of his lips.

    "Takejiro? So, it"s your team. So, your team aimed your long-barreled guns at the Minamoto Clan"s mansion? We haven"t received any news about the government"s involvement in Minamoto Clan"s current situation. Please cooperate and explain your situation." Seinosuke widened his eyes slightly when he realized this suspect was someone he knew.

    He looked at the three other suspects. They were indeed someone he could recognize. However, that didn"t mean he would justify their action without a valid reason.

    "We received this impromptu task a few dozen minutes ago. As to how they haven"t notified the Minamoto Clan is beyond our knowledge. Seinosuke, you can check the truth after this, but we are only tasked with securing the Minamoto Clan in case a third party dares to bring harm to you. The world has been in chaos lately, not to mention the war. So, it is a natural action of the government to ensure the leaders of the most powerful clan are okay." Takejiro immediately explained his situation while occasionally glancing at the beautiful girl with long black hair near the exit.

    "My apologies, but all of you must come with us now for whatever reason you have. This is not about friend or foe, but a matter of consent and trust." Seinosuke sighed and shook his head. He glanced at Elysia once, then ordered his subordinates to take the four people away.

    "I"ll take the rope back. You can use handcuffs or something like that." Elysia tapped Xero"s black rope while controlling the dark element within it.

    The rope moved like a snake and freed the four people at her will. It then turned into a puff of black smoke and vanished. After that, Elysia turned around and walked away.

    "Huh?" Takejiro and his comrades were stunned. That black rope was like a living inanimate object!

    "Elysia-sama, please wait a moment!" Seinosuke immediately called before the girl left.

    "Yes, is there something? They were arrested because they pointed the gun at us and at me several times. Please take care of the rest. I need to visit Erina now." Elysia waved her hand. She didn"t want to be questioned, and her business there was over.

    Since those four people didn"t possess the chess pieces of power, then the people of the Minamoto Clan could take care of them.

    Elysia went beyond everyone"s sight before teleporting to the nearby Minamoto Clan"s mansion.

    Seinosuke asked his subordinate to arrest the four suspects and immediately chased after Elysia. However, he couldn"t find her anywhere.

    "She comes and goes so mysteriously as reported. Who exactly is this girl?" Seinosuke put his hand to his forehead. He ultimately had no idea about this girl"s abilities.

    A few dozen kilometers to the northwest, Xero had just injured and shot down the G.o.d who had run away from his pursuit. He grinned and flew down the valley, looking for his fallen target.

    "Hou~ Do you want to play a guerrilla fight? Why don"t you come and face me head-on like a real man?" Xero looked at his surroundings, trying to provoke his opponent.

    He waited for a few seconds, but there was no response or movement in his surroundings. Everything was surprisingly quiet. He couldn"t detect the G.o.d he hunted for, not even the aura.

    "Hm, pretending to be dead, huh. So, this is only the strength and courage of the so-called G.o.d-level being? Pathetic." Xero glanced at a spot near a tree surrounded by bushes.

    "If you don"t want to face me, I will force you. You have no other choice but to fight me! Take this, darkness slash!" Xero slashed through the empty air, creating dozens of black wind blades that cut everything in its path.

    "!!!" Xero could suddenly feel danger coming from behind. A pair of giant green scythes were swung down at a violent speed.

    *Swoosh*

    Xero dodged it, so close to the slashes. His head was nearly decapitated by the impromptu attack, but he was safe, thanks to his G.o.dly speed and reflexes.

    He immediately took a safe distance and grinned as he realized his previous target was just an empty vessel. "Hou~ So it"s just camouflage. You left your skin to trick me while you"re ready to attack on the other side. It"s interesting."

    Xero looked at his opponent in its entirety. The creature before him was a big green reaper mantis with giant sharp scythes in both hands. Based on comparison with Vrelenia"s power ranking, this G.o.d was only on the level of Emperor-level at most. So, it would be an easy win.

    "You are that woman"s underling. After killing you, we will eliminate her immediately." The Reaper G.o.d felt a little annoyed that his deadly move could be avoided by his opponent.

    Xero suddenly felt a hot and stinging sensation on his left cheek. He rubbed it and looked at the blood on his palm.

    "I"m bleeding? Hee-hee, haha! Nice, nice... You can injure me with just your puny strength, or is it just my carelessness? This vessel is still in the early development stage, after all. Nevertheless, so you have chosen your ending?" Xero grinned like a maniac. He immediately charged at his opponent as fast as lightning and grabbed his opponent"s head.

    *Boom!*

    An explosion occurred, but the Reaper G.o.d only suffered second-degree burns.

    *Thud* *Thud*

    The Reaper G.o.d bounced a few meters and crashed into a big tree.

    "This is strange... Are some of my power restricted in this world? It"s not the output of what it should be..." Xero looked at his hands in confusion. His magic didn"t have the same effect as he expected.

    Unfortunately, that was not the time to sink into the train of thought. The Reaper G.o.d seemed to turn into the wind and counterattacked with his pair of giant scythes.

    "Heh, this will be fun. Give me some resistance before I obliterate you! Show me your power, and I shall trample on it until nothing is left!" Xero summoned his sword of darkness and parried the incoming attack.

    *Clang* *Clang* *Slash*

    The battle between the Heretic G.o.d from another world against the Reaper G.o.d made the surrounding trees topple over. The two continued to attack each other with killing intent at high speed that was hard for the eye to follow.

    Elysia was sitting leisurely in an empty room, drinking a cup of tea at that time. She had arrived at the Minamoto Clan"s mansion, but no one noticed her whereabouts. She was just waiting for Erina to come as she had already predicted.

    *Clack*

    The door opened. Mio pushed Erina"s wheelchair into the room.

    "Mio, is there any news from the elite squad?" Erina asked because she was still feeling restless.

    "We won"t know because they won"t report anything to us, Erina-sama. They probably already gave a report to Mitsuzuka-sama. You"ve been feeling so restless since earlier. Elysia-sama is a strong person... We shouldn"t doubt her strength since we"ve seen her in action. She acted because she felt the pests had become intolerable." Mio tried her best to explain and rea.s.sure Erina"s restless heart.

    "But, she went to face those villains alone. Hopefully, the elite squad will come in time. She did this for me, for us, right? I don"t know how often she has saved and protected me." Erina looked out the window. The thought of Elysia kept running through her mind, and she couldn"t think of anything else.

    "Hi~ Are you worried about me? Thank you, I"m happy to hear that." Elysia waved her hand in greeting with a bright smile.

    "!?" Erina and Mio gasped in surprise. Elysia was already there, and they failed to notice it.

    "E-Ellie? How long have you been there? You"ve come back." Erina stroked her upper chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

    "Hmm~" Elysia got up and approached Erina without changing her cheerful expression.

    However, she stood still one meter in front of Erina, looking at Mio and Erina simultaneously as if she was checking something.

    "???" Erina tilted her head in confusion. She looked at Elysia and Mio several times but still didn"t understand what Elysia was observing.

    "Um, what is it?" Erina twirled a lock of her hair with a slight blush on her face. She felt a little embarra.s.sed to be stared at with such intensity.

    "Mm, as I thought. You"ve been marked and become their target. Why are they after you so much, hmm?" Elysia bowed slightly and removed the bracelet on Erina"s wrist.

    That artifact was dead because it had done its job to protect Erina from a deadly threat. However, Elysia still believed Erina survived the plane crash due to Earth Mother or nature spirit"s interference.

    "W-why?" Erina was feeling sad. Tears welled up at the corners of her eyes. Elysia took back the gift that had been given to her?

    "This protective artifact is already dead, Erina. I will give you a new and better one to ensure your safety. Your life is in danger right now. Let me remove the prey mark on your body so they can no longer target you." Elysia put a new bracelet on Erina"s wrist before placing her hand on Erina"s upper chest.

    "Wha-" Erina wasn"t ready for the sudden change. However, she couldn"t help but stare at Elysia"s angelic face, mesmerized and lost in thought.

    However, it only lasted for a moment. Elysia straightened her back and smiled in relief. "Mm, it"s done. You should be a lot safer now. Would you mind joining me for a cup of tea?"

    "Mm..." Erina just replied with a meek nod. She put her hand on her upper chest because her heart was beating fast, and her cheeks were blushing even more.