Soon, Lupto emerged from out of the magic circle with several thousands of angels in tow.
There had to be around 8000 of them, and along with the angels previously present, their count had skyrocketed to 10,000. It was the sign of the tide turning its direction; now for each demon, there were more than ten angels, each equipped with either a spear, claws, boomerang, or bow.
Arriving at the martial hall, the newcomers' angels ran their gaze around, their eyes shifting from the mangled corpse of Murai, now lumped with other angels, and angels of Sword God's martial hall, then toward Demon King's Army.
«Whoa!? The demon's army is real!!»
«Tch, these damned bastards, how dare they try to place their filthy presence on our sacred place!!»
«Do not let anyone escape! It's time to teach them a lesson so that no second demon dares to mess with us!!»
An intense bloodthirst began to build up between angels as they saw the demolished martial hall, and the corpse of fellow angels.
«Hey, what had I explained before arriving here?! Pay attention to the instruction of Combat God, or your instructors, assistant instructors and move to form a formation!!»
First Angel Lupto hurriedly raised her voice when she noticed the iratement of angels, despite the instruction she had given them, and palcate them, her gaze landing on Combat God at the forefront.
«You're losing your calm, so pipe down! My trainees, position yourself behind the sword trainees squad!!»Half-naked and sporting an unshaven beard, Spear God Gaidark rested his spear on his shoulder and straightened his trainee angels.
«The archer's squad shall move at the tail of the aforementioned squad. Also, spare 200 of them to couple them with the spear squad...»
Following Gaidark, Archer God Korone, her braids adorably ornating the either side of her face, flatly commanded her trainee angels. Korone had to have the same stature as Meruru, though she was currently holding the lower part of a 2m big bow in her hand.
Beside her, the Claw God Kuwarcom and Throwing God Kairi also began to guide their trainee angels.
«Well, it was quite smart of you to split the visit with other angels, Lupto. It took a short time to summon everyone. I’d love to rub this in that know-it-all Kelvin’s face.”
Sword God Sestavine muttered in admiration as She slung her own blade over her shoulder.
Given the urgency of the situation, what Lupto had done was split the task between herself, Kelvin, and the two assistant instructors; she assigned themselves to each visit one of the four gods of respective weapon—Archer, Spear, Throwing, and Claw. Since she could teleport to the individuals unlike the rest, she had instructed them to wait at their respective territories after the explanation.
Then, in accordance with the preparation, Lupto visited each pillar of Combat Gods, and teleported them along with their angels to the martial hall of Sword God. With her guidance, they'd managed to make a clean work, and gathered at one place the fastest they could.
All of this was in order to bring all seven armaments gods and their trainee angels to the Sword God’s martial hall to provide reinforcements as quickly as possible. After all, she possessed the ability to communicate with up to 100 individuals and teleport to up to 100 locations or individuals at once.
However, it’s not just the angels who are working to grasp the situation.
«Reinforcement huh. Their pillars—Combat Gods—don't seem to be present... It's possible Kelvin and others might be seeking out for more reinforcement. Everyone, immediately move to a formation while they're still trying to ramp up their support!!»
Though, Ordo promptly realised the absence of Kelvin or three Combat Gods, and hurried to bring together their army.
«Yes, sir!!»
They should've trained rigorously as demons shortly returned to their formation, however never did they drop their vigilance for any surprise attack either.
Their opponent had Hero Helmios and his party, Allen's party, Admiral Galara as well ten heroic beasts—saving Temi—and Beast Prince Zeu after all.
"Haa... that's so out of the fire and onto the pan situation. Pretty awful if I must say. Maybe we should join up with ALlen first..."
While everyone prepared for an imminent clash, Keel murmured his thoughts, taking the command of their party in his hand in absence of Allen. Though, before he could make any decision, Lupto flew up to him.
«Keel, I have just received a rescue call from Aula. She's currently at the Heavenly Sandal Kingdom.»
Even amidst her action to gather manpower to fight the demon army here, Lupto had continued to pay attention to information from other ends too, where her subordinate angels were reporting from.
"Wait, what?! Will this not put the Divine Realm's citizens and Dragonkin in danger?!!"
«It’s indeed a grave situation. My subordinates have been calling out to elemental gods like Earth God Gaia for their support, and they will soon head out along with a ten-man golem unit from the Earth Labyrinth.»
Having heard the Havenly King’s distress call, Aula used her skill to share information with Lupto and requested her to reallocate some of their forces, like Keel, to Heavenly Kingdom.
«In that case, Keel, I want you guys to help out Heavenly Kingdom. I have a battle to finish here.»
Hero Helmios made his suggestion to Lupto's call, his gaze briefly lingering on Ordo.
"We would still more than enough juice to handle them here, so I am sure their side will appreciate your and Shea's support. Admiral Galara, please accompany Shea and others."
“Oh, come on… seriously…?”
Lepe was left speechless by Beast Prince Zeu's decision.
"Hmm, so we're just splitting up, huh? Sounds fine to me. It would be better for us to be with Meruru."
Admiral Galara shared the same thoughts, supported by his fellow golem master's energetic node.
Though Kurena glanced at the corpse of Murai, who was now a mere lump of flesh, her rage flaring up.
"I will stay here!! I will not forgive them for what they did to Murai-san!!"
«Grrroooooowwwrr!!»
Infected by Kurena's feelings, 100m tall Haku roared, baring his bloodthirsty in the demon's direction. Demon's eyes peeled wide as the roar rattled the walls of the martial hall. It was apparently his way of saying if Kurena was staying, he, too, would stay behind.
«...Frankly, I have no idea about the severity of Heavenly Kingdom's situation, but I understand your opinions. Then, let's go on with these members. I will teleport us to the Heavenly Kingdom.»
When they're in a race against time, Lupto decided to not bother about the minute details. She had heard about the situation of Heavenly Kingdom of course, however the report still lacked many details, which made it harder to accurately place their force.
So, since everyone had decided on their own, Lupto decided to follow their current plan.
"Heh, so we will be joined by General Zaurele and his golem masters. That might work out perfectly! Tam-Tam, get out there too!"
Meruru added right before teleportation, calling out his own golem. It appeared aside from Keel, Meruru had his own plan for battle.
"Ah, right. Bring out your golems too!"
"Alright!!"
At the Admiral Galara's signal, the 13 dwarves from his party summoned their golems and shifted into combat readiness.
"All right, I’ll begin the transfer. The destination is the Saupa Skies, a city in the neighbourhood of their capital Rabul. Aula has arranged to receive us.»
Remarking that, Lupto constructed a giant magic circle beneath their feet, and with her spiritual power as conduit, teleported everyone—except Kurena, Haku, and Helmios's party—to Heavenly Kingdom.
[Troop Deployment Status – 30 Minutes After Combat Began]
① Space-Time God and Magic God Isiris's Territory
—Allen, Sophie, Formar, Luck
—Kuwataro, Grahm, Leon, plus 40 summoned beasts
—Makris (shared with location ① & ③), Pecktan (shared with location ① & ③), and 45 additional summoned beasts
—8 Great Spirits, 8 Spirits, 8 Lesser Spirits
—Cecil (in training)
—Commander Larappa (in evacuation)
② Divine Arena
—Kurena, Haku
—Helmios's party
— Beast Prince Zeu and the Ten Heroic Beasts (excluding Temi)
—Sword God, Bow God, Claw God, Axe God, and nearly 10,000 angels training under each
③ Heavenly Sandal Kingdom – Royal Capital Rabul
—Allen’s remaining party (excluding Kurena, Peromas, and Haku)
—Admiral Galala’s party
—Dragon King Matildora
—Merus, Luvanka, Magla
—Makris (shared with location ① & ③), Pecktan (shared with location ① & ③), and 45 additional summoned beasts
* Approximately 10,000 dragonkin troops under Guardian Abigail (stationed at the capital), plus 100 beastmen
※The main pillars—the Three Combat Gods—along with Kelvin’s group and 10,000 angels, are expected to reinforce group at location ②.
※ Elemental Gods and General Zaurele’s 10-man team are set to reinforce group at location ③.
※ Lupto and the three great angels are not counted in any of the three fronts, as they are operating from the rear for coordination.
«Hmph… How bold. To think you’d split your forces against us. I suppose the Heavenly Kingdom came crying for your help, and you went running.»
Ordo harrumphed at their attempt, though he didn't fight them yet, putting the arrangement of demons above.
«Ohh? So you let them go knowingly? That confidence… I’ll make sure you regret it.»
«It seems they have some sort of hidden agenda. Helmios, do not be careless. I'm currently reporting the situation to Esteemed Father and Lumenia onee-sama.»
"I am aware of it, Opharia-sama."
God of Armament Opharia warned Helmios against having any sort of overconfidence, her voice passing through the sacred artifact Ohabari.
«Hm, so even the God of Armament is taking interest in this battle. Do you plan to fight alongside the Combat God?»
Ordo caught their conversation, and turned his attention to the sacred artifact, addressing Opharia through it. As of now, there was only Sword God—one of the three Combat God sisters—present in the Divine Arena.
«...And why should I waste my breath on the lost sheep, one who had forgotten who they used to be.»
«Lost sheep? You're really being bold, you know?»
The God of Armament, her voice rippling through the sacred artifact, curtly dismissed Ordo. He grimaced slightly, as if feeling pain from his horn, and reached up to touch one of his large, curled horns.
«Uh-oh! We're in trouble then. Like deep trouble if God of Armament's participating too. I hope you can take care of the situation then Ordo-dono!!»
Interrupting the tension between Ordo and the Opharia, Kyubel rummaged through his chest pocket and pulled out a small black orb.
«You're correct. The war is going to be harsh, but failure is not an option—not for the Demon King. Advisor Kyubel, commence the plan.»
At the end, it appeared demons had also begun with their own agenda.
Though the angels were still in the midst of forming their ranks, they kept their gaze trained on demons. It's possible they're cooking some sort of nefarious trap against them.
While Helmios and the other gods cautiously observed, Kyubel spoke toward the assembled formation.
«Closer… Come on, tighten it up even more!»
«Huh? Even more, you say?»
Though they'd previously been briefed to change and switch to a more close formation shall it seemed god's side had called their reinforcement, Kyubel's insistence on further constricting their formation had one archdemon's eyebrows raised.
«Yup. This is a special buff item that I had especially asked Director Shinonom to create. We’re on the back foot, so now’s the time to boost everyone. Come on, closer, closer!»
Once the demon had gathered closely enough, Kyubel looked toward Ordo.
«We have nothing above than to fulfil the wish of the Great Demon King.»
Whatever it was, Ordo off-handedly signalled Kyubel to push on with their plan.
«Very well. Then, it's time to beef up, everyone! Incarnation Stone~!!»
Kyubel remarked, and tossed the black orb into the air. The black orb split up in the air, and an abyssal darkness engulfed the gathered demons and archdemons.
«W-what's going on, Kyube--aaaaaarrgggg!»
«My, my body. My body is bein—gaaaaah!»
Amidst the screams and shouts mingled with some strange noises, the demons began to morph into evil incarnates. Even the wounded or slain demon began to revive, their flesh grotesquely squirming and regenerating as they were bathed in the dark light released from the Incarnation Stone.
«Hmph. Should any of you survive and return, His Majesty the Demon King may just reward you. So make yourselves useful.»
“…What the hell... just what kind of absurdity is happening. Now, I wish I had decided on Heavenly Kingdom."
Rosetta uttered in a completely baffled tone.
"They're Evil God Incarnates! Why are demons turning into them?"
Kurena had seen through the turmoil caused by evil incarnates at the Elmea Theocracy, swiftly realising whom the demons were turning into. Though the appearances were different this time, she felt the same sinister essence from these transformations.
“Could be they continued researching the process to empower the Demon King.”
Helmios expressed his own conjunction to Kurena’s comment, reading between the lines.
The one-eyed Doberg glared fiercely at the transformed demons.
“We kill them all. If we don’t take them down, Klassis won’t survive.”
And finally, the owner of the martial hall gave everyone a cue, raising the curtain on their war.
«Exactly! Hit them hard and don’t let up!!»
Though the angel army had been further empowered by Rosalina’s buffs, the demon army had now cast aside all restraint, attacking like rabid beasts—each a monstrous incarnation.
At the cry of Sword God Sestavine, the martial hall burned again in the flames of war anew.