World Keeper
Chapter 1250: Blood Frenzy

The battle within the void was… chaotic to say the least. Gods and elites charged forward, meeting together with the armies of the gathered Origins. Near the back of the defending line, Julia hovered ominously, dozens of wooden swords floating behind her, waiting to be unleashed.

Because they sensed the destructive might of these swords, none of the Origins on the attacking team charged forward, not wishing to be the ones to test her blade. Furthermore, so long as they stayed out of the battle, they could force Julia to keep her attention locked on them, preventing her from reinforcing the others.

While at first it seemed like a bad trade, keeping dozens of Origins out of a fight on one side to prevent only a single one from entering the battle on the other, this was also relative. After all, the attacking side had what seemed like an endless swarm of minions to send forth, even without their Origin powers.

Meanwhile, the defenders relied heavily on their powers to summon their own armies, splitting their focus. In this way, it was completely worth it to keep a single figure out of the fight.

At least, that was the case at first. Soon, new figures began to appear from the defending side. Although the barely one thousand fighters were insignificant in number compared to the massive swarms already out, each one was a genuine powerhouse, capable of slaughtering large groups of fighters at once.

Despite this, the battle raged on, with no immediate end in sight. More and more people died on both sides, but their ranks were quickly replaced.

I let out a deep groan as I watched the battle from the Admin Room. “Don’t tell me that this is just going to turn into a war of attrition.” I said, shaking my head. On our side, the SCRU fighters were able to respawn, so the only ones in danger were the Origins, Lena, and Tsubaki. Meanwhile, the enemies had literally trillions of troops to send in, while their own Origins just watched from the back lines.

In a war of attrition, we were bound to suffer more. Realistically speaking, our side was far weaker in terms of manpower. Bihena and I were both monitoring the situation, prepared to unleash a round of smiting at a critical moment.

Keliope, sitting nearby, crossed her arms in frustration. “Can’t I just go in and wreak havoc? I can directly descend, so I won’t even be endangering my incarnation.”

I shook my head, denying her request. “Let’s save that type of thing for later. Since they didn’t have anything like the ‘Greater Pantheon’ in their world, they have no reason to suspect us to have a card like that in reserve. Moreover, every other world that they’ve invaded has been in defense mode, meaning that their own companions couldn’t descend. If we’re going to descend like that, we need to make it a key moment to turn the tables.”

As I said that, Accalia’s eyes widened. “Dale, we’ve got invaders in Olympus!” She shouted out, making me look over in surprise.

“According to the information, this should be the Administrator’s palace.” The Master of Travel said with a smug smile, stepping out of a portal in the middle of a large throne room. There were only two figures with him, both men equipped with sleek, black blades. “Make it quick.”

The two nodded, lunging forward at the same time. They could see the figure sitting on the throne, who seemed frozen in shock. Taking advantage of this delayed reaction, they swung their swords at once, cleaving into his neck.

The battle, if it could be called as such, was over before it truly began. The body of the Administrator began to dissolve into specks of energy, the palace shaking beneath their feet. Seeing their success, the Master of Travel grinned. “Let’s go. Our job here is done.” He said, stepping back into his portal with the two assassins.

On the other side of the portal, they emerged into the void, near the rest of the allied Masters. The Master of Travel gave a confident nod towards the others, who grinned wickedly. One of them, the Master of Light, stepped forward and broadcast his thoughts throughout the battlefield.

Your Administrator has been slain! He announced, as if declaring his victory. For a moment, several of the high-level newcomers froze in surprise, allowing their forces to tip the scales of the battle. However, the enemy Masters looked at the Master of Light with a strange expression. He couldn’t quite understand what that expression meant from across the battlefield…

However, there was one who reacted more strongly to this news than the others. A massive explosion burst around the maid-like fox that had previously infiltrated their realm. The void trembled, seeming to tear apart as nine balls of energy emerged around her body.

With newfound ferocity, she screamed into the void. Her voice, muffled by the chaotic energy, seemed to shatter the bodies of thousands of their pawns. Afterwards, she charged forward, straight into the midst of the attacking forces.

Tsuba! Tsuba, you know he’s not really dead! Dana’s voice shouted into Tsubaki’s mind as she tore her way through the horde before her. They only killed his host!

However, her voice seemed to sink into the void itself, unable to reach Tsubaki. All she could think about was what they had said, that her Keeper had been slain. Despite her rational mind knowing that this was false, it awakened a far more primal anger, one that had been suppressed for thousands of years.

Tsubaki had never forgotten her origins, the training that she underwent as a Servant. It was why she always sought new challenges, new ways to perform the Trial of Blood whenever they received new systems or games. And there was a core teaching instilled into the depths of every Servant’s mind. Live for the lord, die for the lord.

With this primal rage triggered, Tsubaki was unleashing the strongest of her unique techniques, each of which could shatter entire universes if mishandled. Even the enemy Origins backed away from her path, but she pounced towards them with an almost mindless bloodlust. Red energy surrounded her body, like a cloak of blood pulled from the bodies of her victims.

As Tsubaki continued her rampage, a low sigh echoed through the void. Perish. The voice said, and an entire wave of the attacking troops simply froze, their bodies slowly floating in the void.

The enemy Origins quickly looked around, identifying the source of this voice to be a winged figure standing atop one of the branches of the tree. She had silver hair and a cold demeanor. Despite this, she was no Origin, merely a goddess.

Standing around her were eleven other figures, all radiating divine light. Among them, a bear-eared girl with dark skin and thick muscles grinned wickedly. She jumped from the branch, her fists clenched as she unleashed a punch towards the Master of Travel. Ki rushed around her body, amplified by her divinity to become a force strong enough that it threw the enemy Origin directly out of the battlefield. Finally! It’s our turn!

Another of the figures, a short girl with red hair and red eyes, stepped off the branch. Beneath her feet, a sea of blood surged, rushing towards the battlefield like a crimson dragon.

One by one, the members of the Greater Pantheon took action, their divine might spreading throughout the void. Despite only being gods with three domains, each of them had an overwhelming presence, on par with any Origin.

Yet, Tsubaki’s rage didn’t subside. She pounced at the Master of Light, bloody claws bared. He tried to dodge back, but found himself locked in red shackles. With a crazed roar, Tsubaki latched onto his throat with one hand, the other piercing into his chest and ripping it open. A chaotic, black mass spewed out of the wound, flooding the void around the duo.

When the outburst of energy faded, Tsubaki remained in place, turning to face the Master of Travel that had already been thrown far away. She crouched down, as if clutching the ground to launch herself forward, when suddenly she froze. The energy around her dissipated, and she abruptly stood up.

Eyes wide, Tsubaki turned to look at one of the universes within the world tree, before pulling out a small compass that she always kept on her person. Just moments ago, this compass was circling randomly, unable to lock onto a target. Now, however, it was pointed directly at the Deckan universe.

Calmed down, now? Dale’s voice echoed in her mind, carrying with it a soothing tone.

Only then did Tsubaki realize what she had done, how she had utterly lost her rationality upon hearing of his death. Ashamed of herself, she lowered her head. I-I apologize, my Keeper. I do not know what came over me.

It’s fine. He comforted her. Focus on the battle at hand. All I lost was a host, and some supplementary abilities. I’ll get it all back later, with interest. I can’t afford to lose you here.

Warmth welled up in Tsubaki’s mind, and she firmly nodded her head. She cast a glance at the trembling Master of Travel, before looking away. The chaotic energy swirled around her again, but this time it was under her control. I apologize for putting on such a shameful display, my Keeper. Please, continue to watch over me!

I let out a small sigh, returning to the Admin Room after the brief descent. Unlike the others, I couldn’t risk directly descending into the battlefield. If one of the enemy Origins took advantage of my appearance and launched an attack, I might have been unable to defend. Thankfully, I remembered that Tsubaki always carried that compass to guide her to me, and had a habit of subconsciously watching it to wait for my return.

That said, I hadn’t expected her to go so out of control. She had become a raging beast of destruction, and directly mauled an Origin to death. Now, although she was no longer raging, she still carried that same power.

As for the enemy Origins, they were slowly starting to retreat backwards, facing the overwhelming might of the Greater Pantheon. Naturally, we couldn’t maintain this momentum, but they didn’t know that.

This is why we save our cards. I thought to myself. Tsubaki’s display had given us a chance to drive them back by showing other strong fighters. As long as we didn’t pursue them after their retreat, they wouldn’t have any way of knowing that there was a limit to the divinity that the Greater Pantheon had saved.

As I was thinking that, I kept my eyes on the battlefield, and especially on Tsubaki. She had asked me to watch over her, and she deserved at least that much.

With the Master of Light dead, the Master of Travel grit his teeth. Pull back! He shouted to the other Masters. The pawns were meaningless, and they numbered in the trillions back home. However, each Master was an invaluable existence.

Now that the other party had released a large number of figures, each of which seemed to be able to match a Master or two on their own, they needed to pull back while they could. The Master of Travel could already see the enemy Master of Plants starting to advance, her destructive swords preparing to lash out.

Without a second thought, he created portals behind each Master, providing them a swift escape. The swarm of pawns didn’t even notice the quiet departure of their generals, still fighting fiercely on the front lines as they were slaughtered mercilessly.

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