Chapter 112. Eletha’s Present

Years passed after I joined the People’s Liberation Army—PLA, as it was commonly referred to. I learned to fight with them, and how to use their weapons, like rifles and guns, as well as how to fight with knives and even a blade called ‘Machete’; all things that I learned to use better than everyone else.

Altheras had been with me the whole time, keeping me both company and giving me advice on all sorts of things, like how to deal with other people, to stand up for myself, and most of all, how to use both my magic and Her Holy Power. It was that power of Hers that helped me the most in the danger of the jungle and the mountains, since Dark Beasts would sometimes appear, and common ammunition wouldn’t be enough to deal with them.

Not everything was good, as things were difficult when we met with the government's National Army… they had better equipment, better tactics, and—worst of all—had demons and dark beings in their ranks as much as mages that could compare with me, making them absolutely evil in the eyes of the Goddess. So I would move to anywhere that had those kinds of things in their zones and help them deal with them.

We soon realized that I didn’t have the power or experience to properly deal with them… so Altheras suggested I train inside some zones that were considered extremely dangerous called ‘Tainted Lands’. She feared that our connection might be lost if I went inside those places full of darkness and hellfire, but thankfully, since my Her power had increased within me, She was still able to keep me company in those dark places.

It was terrifying at first, and I nearly died a few times, but with Altheras looking over me, I was able to push forward and get better and better at fighting. She also said that anything that had magic power in it that I defeated, She would be able to transform part of their power to Holy Power, making me stronger, and helping with Her connection to me. So by doing these, I was helping the Holy Gods find the world.

Something that I still was having difficulty doing even to this day was on killing other people. I tried to do it with ranged things, like with a rifle or a magic spell, but I never felt good doing so. The only thing that gave me solace when doing something like that was that Altheras usually said that the Her and the Holy Gods would pick up those who were just victims of the evil ones and give them a blissful afterlife… but still…

A couple of years ago, I was sad to hear that the commander, who had been helping me so far, got captured by the enemies and sent away to one of the big cities to be tried and sent to jail, or worse… Because of that, and the achievements I had accumulated, I ended up as the commander of the Southwestern War Front.

I wasn’t particularly happy about that… since this only meant that everything that happened—good or bad—was going to be placed on my shoulders. But now that I was a grown woman, I had accepted that I had to take responsibility for more things, the biggest of all being giving my support to the Holy Gods through Altheras words.

Right now, I was sitting by the desk of the commander, looking between a map and information on a laptop—a rather curious and useful device that the people of this world used. Although, I didn’t know if people in my world used these either as I never left the forest I grew up in.

I brushed aside a lock of hair from my long blonde hair and used a bit of cold magic to air myself, since this jungle was always so humid and hot. I wanted to cut my hair short for a while now, but Altheras insisted that Her chosen one had to have this kind of appearance, with long hair and all, so I just braided it as much as I could and usually carried said braid to the side over my right shoulder.

Another strange request from Altheras was that I needed to use a ‘large sword’. I didn’t understand why She wanted me to get that, since a machete, a knife, and all the guns and weapons we had here were much better… but I wasn’t going to question Her, so when I could, I ordered a few people under me to find me a large sword like how Altheras wanted me to.

I turned to look at the thing resting on a wall. It looked a bit like a big machete, which Altheras grumbled about, but said that it was good enough, so I did as she asked and carried it on my back almost everywhere I went. But I still preferred to either use Holy Power or just the weapons that we had.

“My Commander!” a man loudly said as he entered my tent, doing a military salute.

I turned my attention to him. He was just like everyone else here, with bronzed skin, about my same height, and black hair, cut short as demanded be the central command for their soldiers. “Captain Torres. What is it?”

“Someone’s here to speak with you,” he said after relaxing his stance.

I raised an eyebrow. The only people that ever wanted to see me were either the people from the Central Command, reporters from the big cities I had yet to see, or enemies from another band, demanding territory, which had been happening lately.

“Is it the Revolutionary Army?” I asked with an annoyed tone. “Are they here demanding that we hand over territory? Because if that’s the case, you can just tell them to leave if they don’t want to die.”

“No, My Commander,” the man replied, while I turned my attention back to the laptop. “It’s from another group… a rather strange one. They call themselves the ‘Followers of Leyfall’. This person’s specifically asking for you.”

“Leyfall…?” Altheras suddenly exclaimed. “Sounds familiar…”

“And they’re asking for me…?” I asked after hearing the tone in Altheras voice. If She reacted like that, then I guess I should investigate. “Very well, I’ll see this person. Bring them in here.”

“Right away!” the man replied with a military salute, before turning to leave outside.

It didn’t take more than a couple of minutes before the person that my soldier talked about was brought into my tent. I looked back in surprise, since this person didn’t look at all like every other soldier and commoner living in our territories…

He was dressed in strange white armor that wouldn’t camouflage him in the jungle; there were no weapons that I could see on him—unless they were hidden in the large backpack on his back; and most striking of all, he was just as pale skinned as I was when I first got to this world, with blue eyes and blonde hair that was just a bit darker than mine.

As soon as this man saw me, he looked just as surprised as I was. “So the rumors are true… There really was someone that looked as though she’d been chosen by the Holy Gods…”

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With a frown at that man’s statement, I pointed a finger at him. “Who are you? What do you mean by that? And what do you want?”

“Ah! My apologies. I’d just been lost in the jungle for so long that I nearly forgot my manners,” the man said, then stood straight while crossing an arm across his chest and bowing his torso my way. “I’m Rowley Rosebinder, militant and representative of the Followers of Leyfall; a group dedicated to the words of the Holy Gods, and doing what is right by Them and Their will.” He stood straight once more with a smile. “We’ve heard about someone with your description outside the Holy Empire of Leyfall that was able to use Holy Magic without being taught by the Order. We believe that only the one that has been chosen by the Holy Gods can do that, and so, I’m here to see for myself…”

“What shall I do…” I whispered to myself, hoping to hear an answer from Altheras. What this man said sounded like the perfect place for me to be in, but…

“Ah! They were my loyal servants in your world,”Altheras quickly said. “You should join them.”

“But what about the cause… The People’s Liberation Army, and everything that I’ve—”

“None of that matters,” Altheras cut in. “What’s important is that you do everything that you can to show Us the way to this world. Once We’re there, everything that you’ve been trying to do, We’ll be able to do with but a snap of Our fingers.”

I paused for a moment after hearing Altheras. The feeling of comradery that I had for the soldiers, for the ones that I’ve trained, and the small ones that we saved was still strong within me, and I didn’t want to leave them all behind at the mercy of a government that was just going to exterminate them as soon as they could…

Altheras sighed once she felt my hesitation. “Fine then. Don’t leave your army. But make sure that you join forces with these ‘Followers of Leyfall’ and that your people follow their orders. Eventually, everything will work out even better. Just follow My words as you’ve done so far.”

After hearing that, I turned my attention to the man that had been patiently waiting as I considered his words with the Goddess. With a nod, I accepted. “I’m interested in you as well.”

“Ah! Fantastic, but before we move forward… I wish to see some of that Holy Light that only the Holy Gods can shine upon the world…” he said with a soft smile.

I nodded, stretched my hand his way, and produced a bit of Holy Power. After so many years, I had gotten very good at handling the power that the Goddess gave me. A bright golden ball of light floated in my hand, illuminating the room. The man looked with sparkling eyes at it, and to give him what he wanted, I added a small Holy Aura to the light. It was one that could heal wounds and make people feel better, just like I felt when the Goddess passed power down to me.

The man gasped and placed a hand on his chest, before suddenly dropping to one knee and lowering his head. “Y-you truly have been chosen! There is still hope for our world!”

Once he exclaimed like that, I withdrew the power and looked at the man who was kneeling on the floor. “Then…?”

He quickly lifted his head to look at me with glassy eyes and a wide smile. “W-we’ll place everything that we have for you! I’ll spread the words to the higher command that we’ve found a chosen one; a Hero of the Holy Gods! Please, you must join us—you must lead us!”

“Accept,” Altheras calmly said, and I nodded in response.

“Very well.”

“Oh! I’m so happy that—”

“My commander!” the soldier that had been watching so far suddenly exclaimed. “You can’t just leave us! What about the cause!?”

Rowley stood up with a fierce expression to turn to look at the soldier that just spoke. “Silence! None of these petty things matter when the most important cause is the one of the Holy Gods! If you interfere with this, divine punishment shall—”

“Stop,” I said and Rowley quickly quieted down to look at me with a questioning gaze. “The people are always important. They are the most important thing for the Holy Gods. To abandon my people would be to betray the will of the Holy Gods. We shall join hands and work together, for the betterment of the people and the world.”

“Ah… how could I be so blind…!” Rowley said, lowering his head. “You’re right. We shall work together from now on. I’ll head back, and we’ll place anything you need under your care.”

“Go on, then,” I replied with a wave of my hand and the man quickly left the tent. The soldier looked at me with confusion, but I just shook my head. “With their help, we’ll definitely get victory. Prepare things to get their aid.”

“Right away!” he said and left.

I sat back down on my desk, and pondered about the decision I made…

“You’ve done well, child,” Altheras softly said. “If they are as they claim, then soon Our light shall come to the land. Good job.”

Once She said, I felt the familiar warm light fill my body, and with a smile, I nodded to her words. There was still work to be done, and strength to be gathered. Hopefully, with the help of these ‘Followers of Leyfall’, I might be able to bring the Holy Gods here faster than before.

* * *

Some time passed after I decided to join hands with the Followers of Leyfall, and thanks to my power and influence, the People’s Liberation Army was eventually absorbed by the Followers of Leyfall. It was what Altheras wanted. Many people in the army didn’t want to do that, but they just didn’t understand that it was for the better, and with the help of the resources and soldiers from the Followers of Leyfall, we were able to have them join us and grow even stronger than before.

Ours was the second largest base in the world right now, covering a great part of the jungle we operated. With my power and knowledge from Altheras, we were able to create a few weapons that used Holy Magic, which were now being produced at our largest base. And yet, despite our efforts, the government still had a lot of mages, warriors, and demons that kept us at bay… still far from the largest cities where we could more easily spread the words of the Holy Gods, and make Them come to this world faster.

That didn’t mean that we were giving up, not at all. We no longer lived in tents and wooden houses, but were now able to build subterranean bases and bunkers with the aid of all the mages that were in the Followers of Leyfall. So now, I was spending most of my time surrounded by walls of concrete and steel, illuminated by lights that were powered from outside sources.

As I looked at a report on my laptop, I couldn’t help but frown at what I was reading. A lot of our bases had been getting destroyed one after the other over the past few months. We couldn’t figure out exactly who was doing it since all of our people were either captured or killed. It also seemed like it wasn’t a particular world government either… When I asked about the Empire, all I was told was that their forces hadn’t left their territory, and that at best, it was just a handful of people going on exchange programs that had nothing to do with our bases.

Regardless of that, when I demanded to be deployed to deal with whoever was doing this, the higher ups of the Followers of Leyfall said that it wouldn’t be wise to reveal my existence yet; that I had to be powerful enough to illuminate the world…

Altheras didn’t comment either way. For Her, the most important thing was that I stayed alive and that I grew stronger… but this last report… Almost everyone had fled to either this base or the biggest base at the other side of the world. Things couldn’t go on like this.

“Ma’am!” a young woman loudly said when she entered my office. “There’s another group of people that fled a base from across the ocean, where shall we—”

With a wave of my hand, I dismissed the woman, who quieted down and just looked at me as I walked over to the large machete that I still carried. I picked it up and strapped it on my back. “I think we’ve had enough of whoever’s been attacking our bases.”

“B-but… Radiance Eletha… the leaders of the group said that—”

“I don’t care anymore. I’ll go deal with them myself. There’s only two places left, and I’m not going to sit idly by until they get here. They’re likely going to hit the other base now since it’s the one that produces our weaponry, before coming here to finish us off. I’ll head there now, and end this once and for all.”

Once I was prepared, I set out to meet my enemies, the ones that were against the Holy Gods, and end them for getting in our way; for getting in the way of my mission to bring my family back.

This shall end soon.