Chapter 361 - The Army of lightning beasts
"He shaped lightning into physical form!"
"This magic is insane!"
"Regardless of how the war game unfolds, seeing magic like this makes the whole thing worth watching."
After watching the bolts of lightning strike the earth and morph into human and beastly forms, the gods could no longer sit still.
Celestial crusaders was high level magic from another world, entirely different from anything known in this world.
In this world, adventurers awakened distinct magic through their falna based on their unique traits.
Yet, no matter how varied an adventurer's spell might be, magic always fell into three categories: attack magic, support magic, or healing magic.
While celestial crusaders served an offensive purpose, it belonged to an entirely new category altogether, summoning magic.
At first, Hestia had not been overly surprised when the spell suddenly appeared on Mahiro's falna.
But once she carefully read the description for celestial crusaders, she realized just how terrifying the magic truly was.
Even though Hestia had only understood the spell conceptually prior to the war game, having never witnessed its power in person, that had not stopped her from estimating its capabilities.
In truth, now that Mahiro had actually cast this magic, its might far exceeded even her highest expectations.
A one man army.
With this single spell, Mahiro held enough power to rival top tier familias.
Watching the golden army of lightning fill the barren countryside through the mirror, Hestia looked smug.
Seeing the stunned expressions of the surrounding gods made her smile broaden even further.
"I have never seen magic like this before..."
Loki studied the scene intently.
The images in the mirror shifted constantly as Loki tracked the movements of the celestial crusaders.
"Do you notice that? These lightning beasts are not just empty shells, they actually seem to have intelligence."
Loki paused, thoughtfully adding to her observation.
Her words sent a wave of shock through the assembled deities.
Intelligence?
Form and intelligence meant one thing.
Could these lightning actually be considered creatures?
Even if created through magic and existing only briefly, their existence could not be denied.
Life.
Aside from divine creations, life was born only from the nature itself.
Yet now, life had emerged from the hands of an adventurer."
Celestial crusaders had moved far beyond the boundaries of magic accessible to ordinary adventurers.
He had touched upon the domain of the gods.
In truth, that assessment was accurate. In the world where the spell originated, a thirteenth tier forbidden spell was magic reserved strictly for people who had transcended human limits.
Naturally, the gods felt no anger over a human touching divine territory.
Playful by nature, they found the spectacle thrilling and refreshing.
"Hestia..." Freya murmured, turning her gaze toward the goddess.
"What do you want?" Hestia asked defensively.
She had not forgotten for a moment that this seductive goddess was fixated on Mahiro as well.
"Mahiro really is marvelous." Freya trembled in unnatural excitement.
"Freya, what are you trying to say!" Hestia snapped.
"Who knows?" Leaving her remark hanging in the air, Freya looked away from Hestia and focused back on mirror.
Pressing her thighs together, she gazed obsessively at Mahiro standing proudly amidst his army of lightning beasts.
"Hmph. No matter how grand this lightning army appears, my children are veterans of countless battles."
"They have wiped out hordes of monsters in the dungeon before."
Ishtar who had remained quiet until now finally spoke up.
Apollo stood frozen in place, staring blankly at the large divine mirror suspended in the center of the room.
Seeing Mahiro calm and composed after unleashing such magic.
Apollo felt his heart sink to the bottom. His chances of victory were rapidly shrinking.
Compared to the gods, Ais who was standing right beside Mahiro was even more stunned.
The glittering beasts of lightning, the thick magic density rendering the air heavy, and the continuous roar of thunder set her heart racing.
Even her usually emotionless face showed visible surprise.
Mahiro glanced across the battlefield, assessing the strength of his lightning army.
Even the weakest beasts were close to level 3 monsters, while the strongest rivaled level 6 combatants.
"The opening moves are set. Now for the next step."
Standing at the heart of the army, Mahiro raised his hand and gave the command.
"Divide."
At his word, the thousands of the beasts moved in perfect unison, swiftly splitting into two groups.
One squad held around two hundred beasts, while the remaining eight hundred formed the main force.
"Let's go, Ais."
Mahiro walked over to the larger group, taking Ais by the hand with a soft smile before jumping onto the back of a lightning pterosaur.
The army surged forward, their massive bodies moving with incredible speed despite their size.
From their high vantage point on the pterosaur, Mahiro and Ais spotted several figures running frantically across the ground far below.
The scouts had split into two groups, fleeing in opposite directions toward the bases of the Ishtar familia and the Apollo familia.
"Those look like scouts from the Ishtar familia and the Apollo familia," Ais noted softly. "Do you want to intercept them?"
Level 3 adventurers could burst at near sonic speed over short distances, allowing them to briefly outpace the lightning beasts.
"Leave them be."
They were merely scouts.
At most, they would report what they had seen.
Even if every member of both familias stood before him right now, it would change nothing.
---
Read 20 Chapters In Advance:
patreon.com/heavenlydawn
(Add to collection or I'll curse you(kawaii))