The Greatest Sin [Progression Fantasy][Kingdom Building]
Chapter 309 – Pride’s Mad Lioness

Allasaria’s scouts reported the same news over and over again. Olephia was sitting on top of the huge Paradeisius Gate scribbling away in a notebook. What an excellent idea frankly, she knew this was one of Kassandora’s. One Goddess in the right place effectively severed the White Pantheon off from its reinforcements. In order to open that great portal, Olephia had to be dislodged. And dislodging Olephia without enough firepower to rip apart the world was an impossibility.

But it didn’t have to be opened from this side, did it?

Olonia hefted her blade into the air as she heard explosions in the distance. Epan Counter-artillery was targeting the White Pantheon tanks that had just shelled half of Vielczka into the ground. She watched that God in the distance approach, he was her height, maybe even taller. In heavy bronze-gold armour that Olonia could tell was bulletproof, and with that cape of pure-white down his back. A sword in one hand, a shield in the other, a helmet over his head that had a small slit for two cold eyes that almost looked bored even though the God was in the middle of a battle.

Above two jets pirouetted around each other. A White Pantheon jet and a Rancais Mirage Model that disappeared into the crowds as both of the pilots tried to get a shot on the other. Olonia heard her men take position as the White Pantheon Guardians dropped to the ground. They lay low in the craters caused by artillery, a few started taking the heavy guns off their backs and setting up tripods to mount the machine guns on. Someone off to the left threw a smoke grenade and a team of Guardians managed to close in on the homes that were still standing.

Olonia had seen it all before. She wanted to help, she knew she would be able to. But she knew that if she ran havoc through the enemy ranks, then that God with the cape would run havoc over her troops too. Olonia raised her shield, adopted a fighting stance, one foot in front of the other, and moved away from the corpse of the Goddess she had just killed.

That God kept on advancing, his eyes full of confidence, his sword drawn and ready. He put his shield high as burst of gunfire bounced off his armour. Olonia’s eyes narrowed as she felt her muscles tighten and the grip around her sword get harder. He wore a cape indeed, but he didn’t move like an amateur. Not at all. There was a definite confidence in his step, one that Olonia didn’t particularly like the look of. She could just about make out those dark eyes staring at her.

The God stopped just outside of lunging distance for either of them. He pointed his sword at the woman. “I am Naro, God of Discipline.” He shouted. Olonia didn’t know exactly what to say, Iliyal had told her there was no reason for introductions in a fight. Likewise though, he told her she should never wear a cape in a fight either.

“I am Olonia, Goddess of Lubska.” Olonia shouted back as she took a tentative step forwards, shield and sword still raised.

“Well met!” Naro shouted. He moved forwards and Olonia suddenly realised she had underestimated the God entirely. Her battle sense had grown sharp enough to where she was able to tell just from the way the God took his first step. He stayed low to the ground, behind his shield, his feet were angled as to not lead him into any direction in particular and he kept his sword close to body, so that it could suddenly turn into a swing or a stab from any direction.

Olonia realised exactly what his movements reminded her of: The sparring matches with Kavaa. She had not managed to defeat Kavaa once. Even five on one, Kavaa was still challenging to even push back, much less defeat. She supposed that made sense, they both came out of the Great War school of close combat. Olonia felt her breath catch as she realised the man was coming in for a feint. Yet she couldn’t see which way he would turn to.

She took a round step towards his sword side, her shield a battering ram to parry the blow, her own blade coming in low to swing at his legs and force him away. Naro turned on the spot with her. Olonia realised that her own counter attack had been a mistake when the God’s shield smashed into hers, she took a step back. She saw Naro fill her vision as he moved even closer to her.

It was exactly like fighting Kavaa, just sheer, unrelenting brutality that overwhelmed and kept her on the defensive. The God swung his sword in an obvious fashion from above. Olonia parried with her own blade crashing upwards, saw sparks from steel kissing steel, and then felt his shield slamming down on her steel boots. For a moment, Olonia didn’t know what the man was trying. Then she felt his chest slam into hers, she tried to take a step back, her boots were trapped and Olonia lost balance.

Naro said nothing as he took a step to the side to avoid Olonia’s frantic swing at his knees. His boot landed in her side, Olonia groaned and she felt the God’s sword stab through her shoulder. If she wasn’t mid-roll, that strike would have beheaded her. She curled around, jumped away from Naro and onto her feet. Turned back around to face the God and just about managed to smash her shield against his sword. Her own counter-attack was caught by Naro’s shield. She frantically locked eyes with the God. Naro did not even waste a moment, he lifted his leg into the air. Olonia felt the pressure from both his sword and shield lock her in place, and then she heard her own ribs snap as the man’s heel slammed her in the very middle of her chest.

The Goddess was flung backwards, she slammed into one of the homes that still stood in Vielczka. Olonia tried raising her shield. Her arm wouldn’t move. Naro turned to look around at the men as some Lubskan soldiers opened fire on him, but he closed the distance at a brisk pace. Olonia felt her breathing get faster and uncontrolled, she muscles screamed to move, her body cried out as she tried to push it. She only barely managed to raise her sword arm and felt Naro’s shield smash it away.

The God said nothing, his cold eyes looked down on her in the same fashion that Waramunt’s eyes had looked down on her back when she had first taken to combat. He didn’t say any final words, there was no joy or pleasure in his eyes. It was only a weighing judgement that grew resigned as he raised his arm above his head, sword held steady, ready to split Olonia’s skull in half.

The Goddess of Lubska squeaked and closed her eyes as she tried to shy away from the blow. She waited for that swing for a second. She heard a crash, a gasp from a man and the twisting of steel and crushing of bone. The swing never finished. Olonia opened her eyes to see a giant before her. A giant with a mane of gold and a tail that lazily swung from side to side as if what was happening was nothing special in particular. Two ears that twitched and a camouflaged cloak that the wind blew away to reveal the outline of a woman in dark clothes. A woman that Olonia recognised instantly.

And Olonia’s eyes grew wider. She saw the Fer’s huge hand wrapped around Naro’s fist as he held onto the handle of his blade. His hand quaked, his entire body shook and then the God stopped trying to push forwards and instead pulled back. Fer did not even sway, she stood like a steel beam that submerged in the ground. The sword’s steel groaned like a diseased animal letting out a death-gasp and blood leaked out from Fer’s palm. Lubska saw Fer’s ears jump as the coppery smell hit them, her lips curl upwards, the hairs on her neck and arms stood on end.

“Well well well.” Fer made her horrendously spine-chilling hur-hur-hur of a chuckle. “We meet again Naro.” And the God took a step back. Or tried to at least. His hand was still locked in Fer’s grasp, she closed those fingers, bones and blade and hilt all cracked as the God grit hit teeth, groaned and tried to fight back.

That bronze shield swung upwards with a full motion of the arm, it built up speed. It almost became a blur. Olonia lay in that wall as she watched Fer not even move a muscle. She knew the shield wouldn’t connect, she had tried the exact same move with the Goddess of Beasthood back in Erdely. It wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of how.

This time’s how was Fer’s tail, it shot upwards like a snake lunging from its coil and it effortlessly knocked that sheet of metal away. Naro’s shield was ripped out of his grasp and launched into the air. It went from being a physical object, to merely a small dot, to disappearing entirely in the air. Olonia groaned as she tried to recover. She smelled coppery blood again, and then felt liquid flow down her back and along her thighs. Olonia tested her own regeneration, she felt her muscles recoil as they tried to wrap around something. So she was impaled on something then. Olonia directed her own body to only stem the bleeding as she watched the monster of a Goddess lick the blood that had splashed from Naro’s wrist onto her hand.

Fer moved slowly, as if savouring the taste. Her hair grew thicker and more vibrant, her ears started to twitch. Her nails extended into claws, her clothes were torn open by the explosion of fur all over her body. And the woman looked down at herself to pat her own stomach, where she had created two new holes. “Oh deary me.” Fer cooed to herself. Was the woman actually taking a break? Mid-fight? She was still holding onto Naro with one hand and inspecting her own chest with the other?

Naro moved like a blur, Olonia watched the God. She couldn’t defeat him as she was right now, that was certain, but the way the God moved and thought was definitely within the realm of feasibility for her body. He pulled out a long knife from his belt. Olonia almost felt pity as she let out a weak breath, she had tried that too during training. Fer’s muscles, especially after drinking blood, were as tough as woven steel. She watched the God try to helplessly stab the woman.

But Naro did not stab Fer, instead he swung downwards on his own hand. In one smooth cut, he separated the wrist Fer was crushing from the rest of his body and then he jumped away. Olonia felt her heart beat in surprise as she realised how utterly impressed she was. That moment had to be jotted down in her memory, it was the sort of move only an expert veteran would have made. Olonia knew she would have genuinely never even thought of cutting off her own limb.

And Naro backed away in great, unbalanced jumps. They were for speed and distance rather than for an orderly retreat. A few of the Guardians shot at Fer with their guns. Either they all missed or Fer’s body was simply too tough to be penetrated by small arms. Olonia could not tell from behind. The Goddess of Beasthood raised the wrist and blade in her hand to squeeze the blood out onto her mouth. Her tongue madly lapped it up. And that mane of gold became slightly longer as Fer threw the hand and sword away. She raised her hands to either side and pulled a mocking tone. “How many times have you ran from me Naro? Do you really think I’ll let you go now?”

From zero to a hundred, from being as still as a statue to being as fast as lightning, Fer lunged forward.

The Guardians that had put themselves between the God of Discipline and Fer were knocked down like blades of grass. The distance that Naro managed to create was closed in a matter of heartbeats. Fer’s clawed fist punched a hole through his chest. Her other hand grabbed the man’s head and pulled it to the side. Her jaw closed around his neck. She yanked like a wolf from one side to the other and ripped man’s shoulder to pieces.

Naro stopped moving as Fer let out a victorious roar and tore the man into two pieces, separated in a diagonal down his chest from the shoulder to the hip. The Lubskan forces set up positions, an engineering team came to assist Olonia from the position she was stuck in, but the Goddess did not move. She was too focused on that monster ahead of them to care about her own wounds.

Fer turned, her eyes red like a blood moon, she didn’t even roar, she moved as silently as a stalking lynx in the forested mountains of Lubska as she lunged for the closest of the White Pantheon Guardians. And then the next. And the next. The next.

And the Lubskan soldiers did not need to fire a single bullet to beat back the assault on Vielczka.

Fer did not leave a single man standing nor a single body unbroken.