“Demon King Anos is trying to stop it,” Ennessone continued. “Azesion won’t be able to do anything about the sun, so focus on dealing with the army of gods. Ennessone will act as the point of contact between the earth and the Divine Realm, so please protect me.”
The Fan Union girls exchanged looks.
“We can’t talk to Lord Anos ourselves?” Ellen asked.
“The Divine Realm is so far from here that the Demon King can only talk through Ennessone. Anyone who can use Gyze would be able to talk to Eleonore through making a link with me, though.”
“Gyze is too difficult for us... We’d have to call Ms. Emilia here,” Nono said.
“Let’s retreat to the main camp with her first. Who knows when the enemies will come if we stay here—”
Maia cut off mid-sentence. The army of gods had appeared before them. Soldiers arrived in groups of five in quick succession, until a squad of around one hundred gods stood before them, activating Arnest. Before their united front the Demon King’s Choir was utterly powerless.
“Let’s go. We have to run!”
“I-I can’t. I can’t leave!” Ennessone protested.
Ellen looked at her in confusion. “What do you mean? If we stay here, the divine soldiers will find us.”
“Ennessone is connected to Eleonore in the Divine Realm with a link that goes through the door of god...”
Ennessone showed her the link that was connected to her navel. Ellen followed the link with her Magic Eyes up to where space distorted.
“Is the door of god where this link vanishes?” she asked.
The Magic Eyes of the Fan Union girls were unable to see the door of god. Gard Aske increased their offensive and defensive power, but it couldn’t strengthen their vision.
“The link can’t stretch any further, so Ennessone can’t move. Please, bring someone who can use Gyze here!”
The Fan Union exchanged troubled looks. With every passing minute, the army of gods marched closer.
“Demon King’s Choir, please respond. Demon King’s Choir, report on your current situation,” a Leaks arrived. From what Ennessone could see of the magic power, it was from Emilia.
“Ms. Emilia, we found a girl called Ennessone in the enemy encampment. She says she’s a messenger sent by Lord Anos,” Ellen said, passing the information she’d just received from Ennessone to Emilia.
“Understood,” Emilia replied. “Either cut the link and bring Ennessone back to the main camp, or leave her there.”
“Huh? But she says this is our only way to contact Lord Anos...”
“Perhaps so, but it’s too suspicious. Since she appeared in the enemy encampment, she could be one of their traps. She might be designed to specifically lure out someone who can use Gyze.”
Hmm. Well, that makes sense. This was a battlefield—they couldn’t afford to believe everything they were told. But Emilia’s practicality created a problem for us.
“But I don’t think she’s lying...” Ellen mumbled.
“You have no proof of that.”
“I do!” she replied immediately. “She smells like Lord Anos!”
For a brief moment, Emilia struggled for words. “She...smells?”
Ellen brought her face to Ennessone’s body and sniffed hard.
“Huh? Um... Huh?!” Ennessone yelped in confusion.
The Fan Union girls surrounded her and leaned in to sniff her. “Are you sure, Ellen? I can’t tell at all...”
“Um? Um... Excuse me?” Ennessone said, wings on her head folding and fluttering with anxiety. Meanwhile, the girls launched into a heated discussion among themselves.
“Ah! This scent... This tyrannical scent that violates my nose with its sublime nobility—!”
“Right? It has to belong to him, right?”
“Yup yup, this is it! This is Lord Anos’s overwhelming stink!”
“Don’t call it Lord Anos’s stink! It’s his lingering aroma!”
“Our official duties have kept us away from him for so long, I could tell right away.”
“This girl was definitely with Lord Anos just moments ago!”
It seemed the collective nose of the Fan Union was something to be feared.
“If she met Lord Anos before coming here, she has to be an ally! Because Lord Anos would never overlook anyone who means harm to us. And so if Ennessone was an enemy, she wouldn’t be here in the first place.”
After that final comment, the girls nodded at each other with a look of resolution and grabbed their rods.
“Ms. Emilia,” Ellen said, “we won’t be moving from here.”
The other Fan Union girls affirmed her.
“Lord Anos must have sent her here for our sake.”
“We have to protect her.”
A sticky black light covered the eight of them. Gard Aske raged in response to their feelings, but that wasn’t all. The girls leaned in to hug Ennessone, breathing deeply as though they were saving the inhaled scent deep in their hearts.
“Ah...” Ennessone squeaked.
The black light turned even more viscous, until it was as thick as mud.
“With an indirect hug—”
“Imitation Jio Graaay!”
Eight rods thrust forward. The sticky black light released from the tips of the rods formed the shape of a sun as it flew towards the army of gods. But the moment it reached the barrier around the gods, it transformed into stone. The Magician Gods rendered all long-distance spells useless, but close-ranged attacks were prey for Arnest. Even the weakness of the gods—Gard Aske—was unable to surpass the power of sheer numbers.
“We won’t lose!”
“As long as we can buy time—”
“We’ll protect you!”
With that collective declaration, the Fan Union girls continuously fired Gard Aske suns to stop the incoming army. The attacks were converted to stones, but that didn’t mean the army of gods was totally invincible. If the Magician Gods maintaining the barrier could be defeated, the situation would turn in the girls’ favor.
The army of gods approached carefully, neutralizing Gard Aske’s effect as they slowly closed the distance. Eventually they had spread their formation to surround the girls.
“At this rate...” Jessica murmured.
Their escape route would be cut off. But that would simultaneously mean Arnest’s completion.
“But we can’t move from here!” Nono exclaimed.
If the formation magic circle encircling them was completed, the gods would be able to use their numbers to wipe out the Fan Union instantly. The girls continued to fire their magic bombardment without giving up, when from one moment to the next, the army suddenly accelerated forward.
“Ellen! Take out the god at the front! It’ll be over if we’re surrounded!” Jessica yelled.
“I know, but it’s too fast!” Ellen replied.
The army of gods rushed towards them to activate Arnest. But just as they did, the Swordsman Gods at the front caught fire, one after another. It was the effect of Ji Faizen, a magic barrier activated using Aske. Enemies that entered the hidden barrier burned in explosive holy flames.
“Always moving to encircle us makes your actions easy to predict. You’re practically begging to be trapped,” a voice said.
Emilia, with the Azesion army’s main force, had arrived.
“Fire the magic shells. Lure the enemy to the Ji Faizen barrier sites before defeating them. They may have the advantage in strength, but once they activate Arnest, it’s a matter of quantity over quality. We’ll crush them with our numbers!” Emilia shouted.
“Roger that!”
The Azesion army had roughly eight hundred soldiers. They wouldn’t stand a chance if they fought the gods directly, but Emilia planned on using Ji Faizen barriers to trap the enemy in explosive holy flames.