Chapter 135: Chapter 132: Desecration of the Moon

War requires a lot of materials.

From artillery to armor to barding to horseshoes to siege weapons…the list is endless.

However, the Lionheart Kingdom has been at war for over 20 years.

Naturally, all materials are in short supply, and there are not enough smiths to forge them.

Recently, however, the shortage of smiths has become particularly acute. The reason was simple.

The Allied forces have grown too large.

The number of soldiers has grown rapidly, and the number of smiths has not.

Technically, there were not enough priests to serve the God of Iron and Blacksmithing.

Only the priests of Heto are able to forge stardust in the Lionheart Kingdom, which draws in stars every comet cycle and forges them into stardust.

As a result, a large number of skilled Heto priests are needed to supply quality stardust armor, and trying to make armor for the entire Alliance has its limits.

This was the biggest concern for Antoine, the Holy Knight of Heto, the God of Iron and Blacksmithing, and the reason why his transcendent strength made him live in a forge.

“Oh…!”

“Fast!”

In the forge of Heto’s shrine in the Temple of Ten Thousand Gods the gazes of the priests, who had taken off their hats and were busily working, were focused.

-Boom! The smelting begins. Slot 3 is ready.

-Cutting begins. High-density cutters are in place.

-Grinding completion rate 62%. Multitasking up to 14.

Fast. And unflinching.

Even the most experienced blacksmiths become cautious when it comes to handling and hammering molten metal, but this rookie blacksmith hasn’t hesitated a moment, working nonstop on the process of making the armor.

Twelve hours into the process although there are still some finishing touches to be done, Yappy has stacked over a hundred suits of armor.

Ten times the speed and dozens of times the work of a skilled blacksmith!

“Impressive.”

Antoine, the head of Heto’s temple, was impressed by Yappy’s fast and steady work.

The quality of the goods themselves aside, the production capacity was far superior to his own.

“Impressive, newcomer. It’s like watching one of Leon’s students.”

-Hmm?

At the mention of a familiar name, Yappy turns the camera eye. But those mechanical arms are still moving.

“Uh, excuse me. His Majesty Leon. Do you know him?”

-Our closest collaborator.

“Collaborator?”

A demon-slaying partner.

“Oh, I’d love to be in on that.”

Antoine knew that this unusual blacksmith would never lack for power. If it weren’t for the fact that he was the Holy Knight of Heto.

“I’ve traveled with His Majesty Leon for quite some time, and I was on the path at the time.”

-With the king?

“Yes, indeed.”

Unlike Leon, who held the title of heir to the Grand Duke, Antoine had walked the standard elite path, rising through the ranks of Knights and became a Knight of the Realm.

He was thirty years old when he met Leon.

“A village on the fringes was falling apart. It was an urgent call for help from a village under attack by orcs.”

But it was so far out in the middle of nowhere that the closest they could get to them were Gildus and Antoine, who were walking the path.

It was there that they met Gunnar the Treeman, who was also traveling on his own spiritual quest.

“It was quite a battle. There were more orcs than I expected and several great warriors. It was a defensive battle at best.”

Leon showed up when the knights were desperate.

“It was amazing, a young knight half my age slicing an orc warrior in half in one fell swoop.”

Gildus and Antoine were the elite of their time, traveling the paths of genius. What about Gunnar, who was naturally knightly?

But if geniuses of geniuses awaken as Holy Knights, Leon was above them all.

He was a superhuman of superhumans, with natural powers that would become legendary in history.

“I see such talent in you.”

Antoch suggested with a smirk to Yappy, who tilted his head.

“How about it, would you like to be my apprentice?”

-Hmm?

“I will teach you the godly art of hammering, passed down from the god Heto!”

-…….

Yappy was silent for a while. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand Antoine’s words.

It’s because he knows from big data how to effectively ignore his opponent in a conversation between organics.

After a moment of silence Yappy scanned him over from head to toe.

– You?

He used an emoji that, if Ha-ri had seen it, she would have protested, asking how an inert camera-eye could look so dismissive of a person.

“You… don’t know who I am?”

-I do.

“You do?”

-Organic, at best. No match for the efficient production capacity of this machine’s perfect process.

“…….”

Antoine, who had been speechless for a while, chuckled at the absurdity of that statement.

“What a blacksmith!”

He was the Holy Knight of Iron and Blacksmithing. How could he not take offense at being so lightly dismissed?

“I’ll show you that it is not for nothing that I seek to teach you.”

Antoine held up his hammer and Yappy recorded its movements, even as he immersed himself in his work to compare them to his own mechanical movements.

-Bang!

The hammering begins. At first, Yappy took it in stride.

Grind, cool, tap. As the work continued, Yappy gave it an honest rating.

Perfect. From the snap of his wrist as he swung the hammer, to the timing of the cooling of the heated iron. Yappy was sure he learned these skills in a primitive foundry.

But no. If movement, timing, and honing are perfect, so is Yappy. He could do this forever.

But what about Antoine? He’s human, after all, and mistakes happen.

-Bam!

There was a slight dissonance when hammering on the iron. It was a split-second sound that even a skilled blacksmith wouldn’t recognize, but for Yappy, it’s a big miss.

Hammering more than necessary would cause cracks inside and detract from the crucial completeness. After all, Antoine was a human──

-What?

Yappy looked at the hammered iron and sensed a miscalculation. However, contrary to his expectations, the uniformity of the iron hadn’t wavered in the slightest. Rather, it seemed to be thirteen percent better that even than his own polishing──

“I like your flawless work, too. Your output as a blacksmith probably doesn’t compare.”

Continuing his hammering, Antoine said.

“There was a retired priest of Heto who was forging a sword. The old man didn’t seem to have the strength to hold a hammer, but when he did, he produced a sword more beautiful than any other.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

-Bam!

“So I learned. Perhaps that’s how I was chosen by Heto.”

-Bam!

-…….

“It’s an art, my friend. The iron art of carving out the soul. There is a realm, I believe, where mere perfection of technique cannot do it.”

There was still a lot of work to be done, and it was only a framework, but this was enough for Yappy to calculate the armor of the future.

-0.01%.

Leon’s armor is still unfinished and that alone was not enough to receive the blessing of the gods, so Yappy was still trying.

-It will be done!

Yappy was certain that this man, with his skills, would definitely produce a 100% perfect armor.

-Since my big data was incomplete, I feel the need to register the organic technology as part of my knowledge.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but in short, you want to be my apprentice?”

-No, just to observe the technological development of organics──

“Follow me, apprentice!”

-Not a disciple. Organic matter is no match for my machine’s perfect production rate.

“Lord Antoine, His Majesty has sent a messenger.”

Gillingham, the Holy Knight of Thunder has come for Antoine.

* * * *

Beatrice soon joined Ha-ri’s party.

At her side was Gunnar, the Sage of the Forest, who once again formulated the plan for the Last Grail.

The plan itself had been discussed once before but Leon had denied it.

“Very well. I’ll do it.”

But Isabel took it coolly.

“High Priestess Isabel… this is not a matter to be taken lightly.”

Gillingham looked at her with concern but she shook her head.

“Look, knight. Do you think you can do it if His Majesty wants you to charge single-handedly against a legion of demons?”

“……if it is His Majesty’s command.”

Before you can question the order, you simply believe it. For the knights, Leon’s word was enough.

“So am I.”

“…….”

Isabel accepted, not out of chivalry, but because she trusted the judgment of an agent of the Ten Thousand Gods.

“But this is not a matter for me alone to accept.”

“The Moon Goddess would have to approve.”

“Yes. Perhaps she would approve.”

Isabelle smirked as she looked up at Leon, the man who had ordered her to die.

“Your Majesty.”

“……Say it.”

“Your Majesty, the choices you make lead to the future, right?”

“Yes.”

“That is enough.”

“…….”

“Old Man Wood, explain your plan.”

“First, we’re going to shoot at the moon and drop its debris. It’s basically like attracting stars.”

The first step is to secure the lunar fragments, and the second is for Holy Knight Antoine of the Iron and Blacksmiths to break them down and extract them.

With the extracted moonstone, Gunnar and the other sages of the forest will create the essence for the Grail.

To do so, they must first split a portion of the moon but Isabelle shrugged even though she is the first victim.

* * * *

The ritual took place at night in the center of the pantheon, the place closest to the moon.

There, in the presence of the Grail Guardian and Holy Knights, the High Priestess of the Moon kneels and prays.

The Priestess of Purity prays to the great moon. She asks for permission and forgiveness for the grave sins she is about to commit.

There were two people who heard the voice.

Isabel, the priestess, and King Lionheart, the agent of all the gods.

Though the Moon Goddess cursed the Lionheart King for breaking the chastity of her priestess decades ago, that is now a thing of the past.

[Hahaha.]

The Moon Goddess chose to allow her own divinity to be diminished.

The Priestess of Purity stands up, barefoot on the cold floor. She thanks the Goddess for her generosity and asks no forgiveness for the blasphemy she is about to commit.

In her hand is a great bow, bigger than the tallest moon hunter. It is a divine bow that is more than adequate to shoot the moon.

“I can’t believe I’m about to commit such a blasphemy.”

The Last Grail Plan was devised by the Sages of the Forest.

A plan to enhance the Holy Grail’s functions to better suit the Great War, focusing on religious ritual and restoration.

Leon rejected it, however, because of the many sacrifices it would require.

And among those sacrifices was Isabel, High Priestess of the Moon.

“But I didn’t think you’d change your mind.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, you don’t have to be, brother-in-law.”

Isabel pulled on her bowstring with a brilliant smile. She knew.

“You may be the bastard who took my sister’s virginity, but as king, you’re not one to make lapses in judgment.”

Technically, it was a matter of emotion when he locked eyes with the moon goddess Castile.

Her sister would have been happy. It was blasphemous to the goddess, but Isabel was content with that.

“I guess I’m not the star of this story.”

White flames rose in the night sky as holy power rose into the sky.

“So…for this one scene, I’m going to put on my best face!”

The distance to the moon is 385,000 kilometers.

That’s a lot of distance. It’s so far away that the shooter doesn’t even have the energy to try.

“Let’s make the shot! Let’s commit the greatest act of blasphemy in history!”

But this century’s greatest marksman issued a clear challenge to the planet she serves.

-Kaaaaaaaah!!!

Accompanied by a gust of wind the inexhaustible power of a single arrow creates a gale and a roar, propelling the arrow forward.

The Goddess of Moon and Purity is not inherently a combat-ready deity.

However, for those of her followers who are forced to live outside the confines of their homes, she has given them one power: Hunting.

The archer’s gift to shoot and hit, and the High Priestess is an archer in the extreme.

“K…!”

Her aim at the moon falters.

It was a sin that should have her hand cut off for even aiming at the one she served. How blasphemous to even attempt to shoot at it.

It was a grave sin that even the goddess can’t forgive, much less the worshiper herself.

Tears form in the corners of her eyes, whether from disrespect for the moon she served all her life or simply a physiological reaction to the frenzy.

But she can’t leave them behind. She is a person of King Lionheart, before she was the High Priestess of Purity.

She readies herself and releases the arrow charged with holy power but she closes her eyes because of the guilt.

-Kaaaaaahhhhhh!

A single arrow rose from the highest point on earth and burst forth like a comet, spewing flames of holy power.

The greatest blasphemy against the goddess, ironically became the beautiful Milky Way that adorns the night sky, pierced the moon in the distance.

“Stand, you have succeeded.”

“I really…pierced the moon.”

The trail of the arrow pierced the moon’s surface and the fragments of the moon visible in the night sky are a projection of the calculated future.

“The Virgin…!”

Leon shouts, and in that moment, her prayer reaches the heavens. It was the miracle of the Virgin reading the celestial currents and drawing him in.

It is directed not at a star, but at a fragment of the moon, and, guided by the goddess, it enters the planet.

“Success!”

Gillingham cried out in triumph and Beatrice, watching, did the same.

Now all that remains is to safely drop the moon shard into the Ten Thousand God Temple, and let Antoine, the Holy Knight of the Iron and Blacksmiths, extract and process the stardust from the moon.

“Kulk…!”

That was it. Isabelle, who had performed the miracle of shooting down the moon, collapsed in a heap of blood.

“Isabel!”

Leon rushed to her side, but her injuries were not light.

Isabel was pouring blood from holes all over her body. No wonder. She was the High Priestess of the Moon and Purity, and for her to have shot and maimed the Moon meant that she had offended the Moon’s very deity.

As a saint representing the moon, it was a blasphemy that fed back to her.

“Damn… that hurt like hell. Still… Dinah gave me feedback. Alas, she is merciful.”

Isabel kept her tone light, even as blood poured from her closed eyes. Leon hugged her.

“It’s all right, my dear. You… did well.”

Leon knew this would happen, which is why he thwarted the Last Grail plan. He would rather die with honor than on a battlefield where failure and defeat were certain.

But if they are nothing more than a replayed record of the past it was his duty to leave something for the future.

“Thank you, Isabel. I’ll take your share of the burden.”

Leon waited for the next shard of moon but,

“Your Majesty, the shard’s trajectory is… changing!”

There was someone else watching the action in space.

“Immense…power!”

A blast of blue magic pierces the sky, enough to light up the ground.

Incomprehensible to human understanding, it would have driven the mages of the Empire insane with its ferocity had they witnessed it.

It was a magical event of horrific proportions.

“You didn’t…! You closed the gate?”

Beatrice gasped in horror as she realized the master of the power.

The same being who had sensed the rift in the dimension and closed it in an instant was now pulling at the moon’s fragments.

“Ah, ah, ah……!”

The Great Priestess sobbed. Her job is to pull the lunar debris to the planet.

Once it is pulled to the entered coordinates, the gravitational pull of entering the planet’s atmosphere takes over.

As such, she is powerless against the force that would otherwise alter its trajectory.

But who could have predicted that?

Who would have thought that there would be a monster that could pull a huge fragment of a planet that had already entered the planet’s orbit, using nothing but magic.

“The orbit of the fragment… is completely off.”

The pulled lunar fragment landed in the wrong place.