Chapter Five: The Unfortunate Alliance

Standing atop a lofty peak, Tetsuya silently gazed at the utterly ruined village below, his eyes tinged with sorrow. But at last, he wiped his tears away and turned to leave. Under the sunshine, his small silhouette stretched long and far.

“Where are you going?”

Feeling the breath of wind brush against him, Tetsuya clenched his fists. “To the so-called base they spoke of! To make them pay... the price they deserve!”

The base appeared as a primitive settlement above ground, crude and lacking any semblance of what one might call a base. Yet beneath the surface, it was an entirely different world: metallic walls piled high, dense pipes weaving through the earth, and dozens of nutrient pods lined side by side. Inside them lay pale, emaciated youths and maidens, all unconscious.

In one underground room, a figure draped in a black robe was delivering some speech. Seated before him were several young boys and girls, cross-legged on the floor. Clearly, they had yet to earn the right to enter the nutrient pods. Tears streamed down their faces as they listened to the black-robed man above, who waved his arms and strained his voice in a relentless attempt to brainwash them.

A sudden crack sounded—a whip lashed cruelly across a girl’s back, making her sob softly.

“Camilla! Not a sound from you!”

Camilla bit back her tears, covering her mouth with her hand, afraid to utter even a whisper. Beside her were two boys, offering silent companionship. During her days at the base, she’d come to know them: the thin one was Hitra, and the stronger one, Dalram. Like Camilla, they had been snatched away and brought to this cursed place.

Yet Camilla was once of noble birth…

Here, she was nothing—and that identity must remain hidden, lest she suffer something far worse.

Time had lost meaning since her arrival. Trapped for so long underground, she could not tell the passing of days. The lights overhead never dimmed; there was no distinction between day and night. Their glare brought only despair, so unlike the warmth of Luluyé, where light was true radiance.

Now, she survived each day by ingesting the vile nutrient solutions, which left her frail. Daily, she was forced to listen to these black-robed men, subjected to their relentless indoctrination. During rest, she’d overheard Hitra and Dalram whisper…

If they stayed longer, they would be implanted with some strange stone—a process that claimed many lives. Those who survived lingered with barely a breath, then were cast into the pods outside, uncertain if they would ever wake again—or perhaps never at all.

Over time, compared to her days in Luluyé, the light faded from her eyes. She could no longer imagine what awaited her—perhaps death, in the very next moment.

“It’s been so long… since I’ve seen sunlight or starlight…”

As she raised her mournful gaze upward, a violent tremor suddenly shook the chamber. Even the black-robed speaker above struggled to keep his footing and fell heavily to the ground. Camilla stared in utter shock…

She watched as the cocoon enclosing these innocent youths seemed to be torn open by a giant hand, and then, starlight cascaded down from the heavens.

“What’s happening!?” Another black-robed figure, clutching a whip, looked around in panic. At last, beneath the flood of starlight, he saw their adversary clearly.

“An elder god!?”

“It’s a heretic god! What’s this heretic god doing here!” Another robed man scrambled to his feet, ripping off his cloak to reveal a sullen-faced middle-aged man. He turned to his companion and said, “You stay here and guard these seeds. I’ll go see what’s going on.”

Before the astonished eyes of the youths, the middle-aged man’s form transformed into a cluster of blue light and shot upward.

The blue light grew and expanded, and from it emerged the body of a Kyrieloid—a blazing blue figure whose gaze locked onto the heretic god before him.

“What is your designation? How dare you destroy the base!?”

Gilokas had no patience for words; he charged at the Kyrieloid, his green eyes eerie in the moonlight. With each massive stride, the ground below the base quaked violently, and a heavy foot sent the Kyrieloid sprawling.

“Damn you! What are you doing!?”

The second persona—Tetsuya’s own alternate will—thought and acted much like the original Tetsuya, even sharing a similar style in battle. He would overwhelm opponents with swift, wind-like attacks, finishing them off with light-based skills—sometimes not even needing them. His fights flowed smoothly, unlike Daigo’s clumsy Dyna. Usually, before the timer’s crimson glow appeared, Tetsuya’s foes were already slain.

However, this Kyrieloid was clearly no amateur. Through interrogation of his captor, Tetsuya had learned that within the organization creating heretic gods, the lowest tier consisted of manipulated humans, while above them were the Kyrieloids. The Kyrieloid god was not the self-proclaimed deity destroyed by Daigo. Thirty million years ago, the Kyrieloid god possessed even greater power and status, ranked among the Old Rulers, bearing the title: “Magician.”

A fist, weighted with gravity, crashed down upon the Kyrieloid, but the opponent nimbly dodged, leaving a deep crater in the ground from the impact.

“A B+ rank…” Tetsuya exhaled. Gilokas himself had never reached such heights—most notably, he could not fly.

Yes, unlike the Dyna world, in this era thirty million years ago, everything seemed newly born. Tetsuya could skillfully wield the giant’s power, but deeper mastery eluded him. It was much like the world of Nexus; when first embracing its light, his infant form stood barely ten meters tall. Now, Gilokas might well be in an infant state.

“Damn heretic god! Feel the wrath of the Kyrieloid!”

Still prone, the Kyrieloid raised his arm toward Gilokas, and searing flames began to boil and coalesce into a beam of energy, which he unleashed at Gilokas.

“Inferno Burst!”

A torrent of energy flames crashed against Gilokas’s flank, the force hurling his massive body aside. More blasts followed in quick succession, forcing Gilokas to retreat.

Camilla believed the giant was the elder god, come to save them—their only hope. Feeling the tremors above, she clasped her hands at her chest and prayed in silence for the giant.

“Big Sister…”

Hitra gently nudged her, taking advantage of the black-robed man’s distraction with the battle above, and whispered,

“Dalram and I have scouted the base; there are four black-robed men stationed here—two humans, and two like the one who turned into that blue light.”

“Kyrieloids…” Camilla replied. As a native of Luluyé, she understood the adversaries of the elder gods well.

“Yes, Kyrieloids. One has already left, another human hasn’t returned. Now the last Kyrieloid is fighting the elder god above. That leaves only this one…”

Camilla quickly realized their intent, her voice tinged with hope and urgency. “Are you two planning…”

Dalram leaned in from the other side and whispered, “We’re going to try.”

“But we…” Camilla hesitated, glancing at her own frail body, weakened after so long surviving on nutrient solutions.

“Dalram and I aren’t the kind to wait for rescue!” For once, Hitra’s usually timid voice was firm.

“I’m with you!” Dalram nodded resolutely.