"We need to get out of here, now!" From where he stood, the emperor leaped high up into the air with his spear raised, and arm bells started going off in my mind louder than ever before. It would be the end if he nded anywhere near us. I could feel this very strongly, so I ran out of the tent as quickly as possible.

  I was worried Lucia wouldn't have been able to move well in her condition, but Phildina whistled for Timothy and whisked her out of the tent with Matilda in tow once he speedily arrived. I was truly grateful, but that wasn't even the beginning of my worries. Arnaud, where are you? I could spot Geiter running after us, but Arnaud was nowhere to be found.

  Did he stay back? I wondered as I looked back at the Company. I tried calling out to them, but most seemed entirely paralyzed by their fears. A few responded favorably, attempting to run as if suddenly regaining their senses, but it was already too te. The emperor nded, and a powerful shockwave sent us all flying with incredible force. I barrelled through the air for what felt like minutes on end until my journey ended abruptly with a loud—

  CRACK

  My body was instantly racked with pain from head to toe. I'd probably broken a few ribs from the impact, and breathing was becoming increasingly difficult. Did I survive because of my P-DEF stat? I wondered as I tried, ever so painfully to get up, when I felt a warm light wash over me. Ah, so this is what it's like to be healed. It was calming and somewhat comforting but such joys could not st forever, as Matilda, sitting atop the Pegasus started healing another person with a serious, determined expression on her face. It was brief, but I started feeling like I could hope again, only to be dragged back into despair by what I saw. The tent, our rations, all the items we had gathered, and the horses we kept inside were destroyed without a trace.

  "N-no way," I muttered.

  "Is he truly human?" Kimmel wondered aloud. I didn't want to believe it, but it was as if a meteorite had crashed and formed a crater, as there was now a massive hole at the center of the battlefield.

  "Oh? You managed to survive my greeting? Were you the one who killed Fargus?" The emperor asked in a loud voice. Who was he talking to? I strained my eyes to see, only to be met by another unpleasant surprise. After everything I told him... where did it all go wrong?

  I couldn't hear him from here, but Arnaud answered him... while lying in a puddle of his own blood.

  "I believe you. You don't seem like the type. You couldn't even protect those weak soldiers, after all," He spoke with an amused smile on his face that made me feel sick to my stomach. He tried his best to protect the Company while we all ran. How could you mock his efforts like that? "But that was an interesting skill you used back there. How could you tell I was using a Mystic Lance?" He followed up with another question, but we were too far away to hear Arnaud's response. As he was, it looked like he could barely string sentences together, so we had to heal him fast. Maybe we could—

  "Don't get any strange ideas. You can't defeat him," I heard a voice speak directly into my mind, and that was when I felt it for the first time. W-Who could this be? I wondered as I fell to my knees at the overwhelming pressure that swallowed up the battlefield. It wasn't just me, either, as no one, whether from the party, common soldiers, or the Imperial elite, could stand up to the aura. The emperor, however, was different. He stood tall whilst crossing his arms with a disturbed look on his face. He spoke to me. I wanted to see this person who could shake up even the emperor with my own eyes, so I started scanning my surroundings from the ground, looking for any hint of someone approaching, when I saw him.

  In a word, he was mesmerizing, not merely due to his appearance, which was in a css of its own, but because of the divine aura that radiated from him. His emerald hair, as green as life itself, framed heterochromatic eyes— one azure, the other dandelion— whose power and cold intensity left an unforgettable impression, and cd in a majestic, flowing purple robe, he exuded an air of regality.

  "Who is that?" Lucia voiced the question in our minds, but no one could give a definitive answer. My best guess was that he was the king of Camelia, but... Could a human truly exert such overwhelming pressure? The emperor seemed more like someone who had reached the ultimate heights of human potential, but this man was beyond even that. Stopping at the edge of the crater, before the full might of the empire, he uttered a single word,

  "Leave." And that was all it took.

  "We withdraw!" The emperor decred, and they began their hasty retreat. Watching it all unfold was... surreal, but he turned to me as I was starting to feel relieved, and the sense of crisis returned.

  "Human, I've taken an interest in you. Become my Apostle." I didn't know who he was or what his apostleship would entail, so I was understandably quite reluctant. But that look in his eyes... He wouldn't take no for an answer, so I tried to stall for time.

  "T-this is all too sudden, my lord. I don't even know who you are. I may need some time to think about this," I spoke in a servile manner, but I let my true thoughts slip out and immediately regretted it because of what he said next,

  "I am Behemoth, the Lord of the Land, and one of the three Divine Beasts that reside in this world." B-B-B-B-Behemoth?!! I trembled visibly under his gaze. "Why are you scared? Isn't this what you wanted?" He asked, somewhat intrigued by my reactions. Does he know? I wondered as I recalled those days of watching Everst Dynasty streams with my friends.

  "Do you believe the rumors?" My friend asked me that evening.

  "What rumors?"

  "You know, the rumors about that pyer who cimed to have confirmed the identity of another special boss? It seems kinda wild to me."

  "I mean, no one else is saying the same thing, so he may be lying," was my answer back then, but I was wrong... so, so very wrong.

  "In truth, I should kill all of you for seeing this form, but I've chosen to spare you instead because of the promise you show." He turned to Arnaud, who was lying unconscious with his injuries mysteriously gone, and remarked, "I was especially surprised by how quickly he developed [Aegis], so I healed him." He turned to me once again and asked, "Did I make a mistake?" He was a special boss and someone who could trigger the Empire's retreat by his mere arrival. I was foolish to think I could resist...

  "N-no, my lord. I will b-become your Apostle." I surrendered to him on that day, not really knowing what I was signing up for. It was my first encounter with a Divine Beast, a day I would never forget.