The forest was cold and quiet.

Victoire had often visited the Boisblanc Forest for hunts or to trade with Roynimalia back when she worked with the Glarmes Order, but she could never get used to the place's quietness. Rows after rows of spruces, larches, and pines surrounded her crew from all sides, their snow-covered leaves smothering all sound… except of course for Renarde's music.

"The fox went out on a chilly night," she sang, her melodious voice carrying across the tundra. Their spirit-wolf escort had taken to howling and barking in tune with her like a fanged orchestra. "He prayed to the moon to give him light, for many a mile to go that night–"

"Shush!" Viviane cut in. The redheaded ranger walked at the forefront of their formation with her bow drawn, and she had grown warier and warier the further they advanced. "Quiet!"

Renarde stopped, but the werefox bard didn't hide her displeasure. "Viviane, my dear, I recall you asking for a song to help quicken our pace."

"Yes, before we reached the demoness' territory," Viviane replied angrily. "Do you want to alert her to our presence?"

"You can resume your song another time, Renarde," Victoire said.

"Fine, fine…" Renarde grew quiet, much to the spirit-wolves' sorrow. "I still say we would have an easier time talking things through with our host rather than sneaking into her home like thieves."

Viviane didn't look convinced. "Many have tried diplomacy before you. They either fled with their tails between their legs or never returned."

"I'm not taking any chances," Victoire confirmed as she turned to Filou. Her wererabbit squire kept both his ears open for any suspicious sound. "Do you hear anything?"

"N-no, milady." Her squire quivered in place. "I don't hear anything besides the wind, n-not even birds. That's, uh… that's not normal at all. I don't like it."

Victoire's jaw clenched. Even the quietest forests housed a hidden treasure trove of life, from small rodents to birds and other creatures. Neither she nor Viviane detected any trace of their presence in the still and lifeless snow. Nothing had disturbed in years.

Either the demoness frightened them all away from her territory or danger loomed; likely both.

Moreover, Lord Wepwawet had warned her that the few spirit-wolves he sent beforehand to scout the area on his behalf were slaughtered before he could see anything. An invisible foe was determined to pluck out her god's eyes and prevent him from seeing anything.

"Stay on your guard," Victoire warned her allies. "Each of you, check your bottles of alchemical fire and healing poultices."

"Again?" Renarde complained as she opened her bag and confirmed everything was in place. Even the spirit-wolves looked at the bags on their backs, though they only carried food. "I have them, happy?"

"Better safe than sorry," Victoire replied. Her gut told her a dangerous battle awaited them just around the corner. "Let us proceed."

Their advance slowed to a crawl as Victoire favored caution over speed. Viviane guided them through the forest and towards an ancient lake's shores.

A marvelous sight awaited them there.

A great cliff over a hundred feet high stood ahead of them like an internal rock overseeing the forest. A waterfall clearly used to plunge from there into a chasm below once, only for the waters to freeze solid. Instead, a colossal column of ice now extended from the tip of the cliff to a frozen lake's surface. It glittered in the sunlight like a translucent jewel, while a two-story wooden hut surrounded by an osseous fence dominated the region from high above.

Whereas Filou and Renarde both gasped at the site's beauty, Victoire's gaze lingered on the frozen pillar. Dark spots stood out from the gleaming surface. Her eyes squinted until she noticed great shapes trapped inside the ice. Had the waters caught a handful of beasts before they turned into an icy prison?

It didn't take her long to notice something off with the icicles near the cliff's base as well. They were too large to be natural, and their insides too dark. Victoire squinted at them until she began to notice the outline of arms, legs, and swords…

A chill traveled down her spine. She counted a good dozen of them spread across the lake's shores.

"M-Milady, are those…" Filou gulped in horror and swiftly drew his burning scimitar. He had guessed what they were looking at. "Are those people?"

"I guess we now know what happened to the demoness' victims," Renarde said, her voice now lower and heavier. "I usually like statues, but these are an exception. I would rather avoid their fate."

"Agreed," Victoire said with a grim scowl on her face. The foul fiend placed her victims here as a warning for would-be intruders. "We should try to free them once we're done here."

Lord Wepwawet told her that she would recognize the sacred site immediately, and she thought she did. Her gaze worked its way up to the pillar until she noticed a fount of evanescent, bluish energy at the summit right next to the hut.

"Do you see that?" she asked her teammates, her spear pointing at the fountain of magic.

"I do…" Viviane muttered in surprise. "I don't remember seeing that the few times I scouted this area."

"What a peculiar phenomenon…" Renarde observed with undying curiosity. "It appears to be a fount of magical energy rising from the land itself. I assume that is why the fiend claimed this area in particular."

"Lord Wepwawet warned me that only Goreville and I could consecrate this spot," Victoire said, her eyes assessing the area. "We'll need to reach the summit without alerting the demoness to our presence."

Viviane pointed her bow at the lake's left side. A narrow staircase of stone and ice was carved onto the cliff and reached all the way to the summit. "Walking across the lake and climbing that path is the quickest way to reach the top, but the monster will spot us immediately."

Renarde scoffed. "Do what you wish, my dear, but I would rather cheer from the sidelines if you try that."

"Is there another path?" Victoire inquired. "What if we stay in the woods and circle the cliff?"

"Maybe…" Viviane considered it a moment. "I haven't ever gotten this close before, so I can't say."

Victoire heard Filou gasp behind her, followed by the wolves' howls. "Milady, behi–"

Victoire's head snapped to the side just in time to see a lightning bolt surging at her.

She didn't react in time to dodge it, but her squire proved quicker. Filou leaped in front of her in a dash of speed and courage. He took the bolt in Victoire's place, but the electricity slid off him and his burning weapon. Filou landed harmlessly on the snow, his eyes alight with determination.

Their attacker—a purple-haired human woman in an expensive, priestly white garb—stood hardly a few feet away from the group, her disc-topped staff pointed at Victoire.

How could she sneak up on them so close undetected?!

"You've turned my own weapon against me?!" the stranger cursed with a scowl of frustration. "How shameful!"

Victoire answered by lunging at the stranger with her spear in an instant and aimed straight for their heart. The woman disappeared in a flash of purple light, with Victoire's weapon hitting only air.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

How did she… Victoire's eyes widened as she looked around and spotted the woman atop the waterfall. Teleportation?

Now that she had a good look at their assailant, Victoire quickly realized that she matched Jasper's description of the one that led him to Narc; including the ability to vanish at will.

"Is it the demoness?!" Victoire inquired as her allies readied themselves for battle.

"No!" Viviane drew an arrow and aimed upward. "I've never seen this mage!"

"I know what you're trying to do, Wepwawet!" the witch shouted from atop the waterfall, her staff radiating light. "I won't allow you to contact the Nexus!"

An invisible pulse of power spread across the sky, and the earth shuddered in its wake.

"I challenge you to a duel!"

The witch's words echoed into the distance and tore the world apart.

A powerful quake shook the Boisblanc Forest with such strength that it nearly threw Victoire and the others off their feet. She could only stare in shock and surprise as a great barrier of light reaching all the way to the sky arose around the icefall cliff, the frozen lake, and parts of the woods. It encircled the entire area inside a rectangular prison in the blink of an eye.

The rest of the world vanished.

As far as Victoire's eyes could see, everything outside the barrier simply disappeared. The sun, the clouds, the horizon… everything collapsed into nothingness. A featureless white void swallowed everything and surrounded them from all sides.

"M-milady…" Filou's knees shook so loudly that they put the tremors to shame. "W-what's going on?!"

Renarde didn't bother asking anything. She simply squealed in panic. "It's the end of the world!"

"Calm down!" Viviane shouted, her own voice trembling while the spirit-wolves howled as one. "Calm down!"

Victoire herself was too spooked to say anything. A great and colossal figure had loomed over the barrier beyond the Icefall; an immense cosmic shadow greater than any mountain she had ever seen, vaguely feminine and yet unrecognizable, with hands that could crush all of Narc under their palms. Its size and power were so unfathomable that a terrible despair seized Victoire's heart.

Only now did she realize how small she was.

That dread didn't last too long, however. A familiar and comfortable presence enveloped her soul, soothing her fears. 'Everything will be alright,' it whispered to her heart without using any words. 'For I am here!'

Another shadow arose on the other side of the barrier, right behind Victoire's group. She already knew its nature before she even looked.

The figure behind Victoire's team matched the shadow in its size and immensity, but where the other was blurry and indistinct, this one was both clearly identifiable and familiar. Lord Wepwawet's wolf-face gazed at his followers from high above with concern and determination.

Her god watched over them, with five cards in his hand.

Wepwawet had been observing the expedition through his spirit-wolves' and Champions' senses when the dreaded notification popped up in front of him.

???? has challenged you to a Board & Conquest god battle!

He had prepared for this all his life, but it still felt unpleasant.

His essence was drawn out of his Idol and sucked into the void between worlds, between reality and illusion. His spirit loomed over a colossal board carved from Elphion's very crust and split from the rest of the planet by an impenetrable mana barrier.

No one could get in and nobody could get out until the battle concluded. Time itself was suspended. The board had been split away from reality and trapped between two ticks of the clock. Hours could pass within this enclosed space without outsiders noticing anything.

His opponent and challenger's essence loomed on the other side of the board, cloaked in shadows that Wepwawet's senses could not pierce. It seemed vaguely feminine, but such things meant little to deities.

Victory Condition: The enemy Commander is slain.

Losing Condition: Your Commander is slain.

Reward: ???? is banished from Elphion; ????'s rarest, highest Rank card; new Boisblanc Forest Altar.

Loss Penalty: You are banished from Elphion; death of all engaged Champions; loss of your rarest, highest Rank card.

Wepwawet's jaw clenched in rage as he read the text. Challenging him was one thing, but putting his followers' lives on the line was another!

And why would he have to put up with these penalties?! Both gods had to agree on the victory conditions in a standard battle last time he checked!

You are being challenged by a higher-ranked deity. You cannot turn down this battle.

Wepwawet blinked at the notification, then immediately glanced down at the board and focused on that purple-haired witch atop the waterfall until he gleaned her stats. What he saw quickly confirmed his suspicions.

Name

Shuyet, The Goddess's Shadow

Type

Artificial/Angel

Rank

Commander 4

Class

Divine Vessel 4 (Monster/Spellcaster)

Faction

????

Movement

Walk/Teleport

Strength

Agility

Vitality

Skill

14

18

26

18

Magic

Intelligence

Charisma

Luck

30

0

26

18

Accuracy

+18

Evasion

+18

Innate Perk: Animated Idol

Counts as its deity's Idol for the purpose of casting Miracles. Projects the deity's Influence within a ten-meter radius. Cannot claim Altars nor produce mana.

Empty Vessel

Immune to all Ailments; cannot learn Perks nor increase Intelligence.

That mystery witch was a puppet!

It's not a titan. Titan Incursions battles followed very specific rules, and Wepwawet would have expected a lot more collateral damage if he faced one. This is another god, but not one of my classmates either. They wouldn't require a puppet to manifest here in this world.

His opponent was an intruder. More than that, they were a higher-ranked deity blatantly violating all the Pantheons' rules about engagement!

"Shuyet is an Egyptian name!" Wepwawet growled as he put two and two together. Jasper had mentioned that the witch who sent him to attack Narc called Wepwawet 'Set's bastard.' Only a handful of gods would dare to insult his father like that! "You're from my Pantheon, aren't you?! You're working with Horus!"

His mysterious challenger didn't answer him. Wepwawet sensed his Miracles taken away from him and shuffled into a face-down deck. A floating clock materialized at the edge of his vision, no doubt to signify either the number of turns or time it would take for him to draw.

"Who are you?!" Wepwawet demanded with a voice louder than thunder. "Show your true face, coward!"

"You will never know," the shadow replied, her voice reverberating until it became unrecognizable. "Now draw."

Five Miracle cards flew out of the deck and into Wepwawet's hands. This was it; his first actual Board & Conquest duel on the world of Elphion, with the lives of his followers and his own future on the line.

However, Wepwawet did not despair. He could read between the lines. If his mystery enemy was desperate enough to stop him from claiming an Altar to risk her own banishment, then Wepwawet's hunch was right: seizing this new mana leyline would let him contact the heavens for support.

She had to beat him now or never.

"Game on, coward!" Wepwawet declared as he drew his sixth card and opened hostilities. "Let's duel!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.