They lived.
Although they have been at war for a few months against the empire, whose goal is to conquer the continent, life goes on normally.
The conflict between the two sides is a trend at this point. It goes back to the times of old, way before magic was a thing, way before dragons came into being.
Empires fall; kingdom rises. The nd stays the same, the name change.
But now, this might be it for the kingdom. Annual conflict with the Empire aside, the king of Asterin, foolish as he might be, now have the demons knocking on his door.
Oh, and a dragon too.
Maybe.
Perhaps.
Hopefully not.
In a quest for expansion, and maybe in a blind faith towards the church, he expanded north. Into the nds of nomads. The horned heresy. The demons.
They didn't take too kindly on their vilge being razed to the ground in the name of a human "goddess".
And to add salt into the wound, the garrisons used the domain of the Bck Dragon to set up camp. Without its permission.
They were destroyed.
Fighting unprepared demons might be easy, but a force of nature? Hardly.
Now that the news had spread everywhere, thanks to overly competent merchant, or by words of travellers, the nation is in chaos.
Not rioting on the street, but still there, and endless worry in the back of their heads.
Until she came.
From the sky, from the heaven's above.... came her. Came the beginning of a bloody tale.
__________________________________
"Woh....windy." A girl muttered, not realizing she is thousands of meters high up in the air, plummeting.
She wields a towering tower shield that beats her own body in height and width, a short, harmless looking knife, and most powerful of all, her positive attitude. Her entire attire is cd with dark colours but bright, red lining, giving any onlookers a sinister vibe.
If the wearer weren't such a cute girl, that is.
"Eh?"
Her eyes moved down towards something that look white and fluffy.
Clouds.
"Hmm....maybe I'll get another flying skill this time!" said girl excimed excitedly, finally noticing the ground closing in on her after passing trough the byproduct of evaporated water.
Maybe thats a no on that skill. The hidden quest this time look fairly ground based. An approaching fast.
It seems she will be nding inside a city, in a pce that almost look like the first floor of NewWorld Online. Or at least that's what she can perceive from where she is.
Hundreds of meters in the sky, and descending.
"Oh! Pfashafatui!" She spat out some cloud that have entered her mouth but end up swallowing some of them anyway. It tasted bnd, like distilled water, with some.... feathers?
Did she just pulverize a bird?
"Hee....." She wondered restlessly, feeling around with her tongue for whatever fits the taste of raw chicken, as that is the only assumption she had to how winged animal tasted like.
It was a very strange start for a quest by her opinion, but a hidden quest was never normal in the first pce. And by the way she discovered said hidden quest, this one is definitely far from it.
"Wah! Loving Sacrifice!" The girl yelled as the ground get closer and closer, and her hair changed into a glowing golden colour, and a pair of white dove like wings sprouted out her back. A simir golden halo appeared on her head, floating on it, and falling alongside it, like something is holding it in pce to always be linear to her head.
She had activated her support skill, 《Loving Sacrifice》.
With her quick reflexes, she hurriedly spreads her wings wide. It's like having more body parts. How did the developers achieve such a thing?
The wings should help her avoid the fall damage, and reduce said damage in the worst case that it doesn't. At least, that's what she thought. It was already too te for a slowing attempt. Not that she knew if aerodynamic physic exists in this game.
In the end her posture and ck of familiarity with the other function of her support skill failed her, and she hurtled towards the ground at the speed of a diving hawk.
PAP! KATOM!
Sounds of broken ceramics and gss boomed out, startling every commoner around.
"Ow......oh, that didn't hurt!" The girl had nded on her feet, barely, making a shallow crater of about 10 to 12 meters in diameter, shaking the ground around her nding site. Dust travelled upwards due to shockwaves and covered the air around her. But again, 0 damage.
Yay Vitality!
"Uwaaa~" she rubbed her dizzy head, as she struggled to stand up straight."I forget I have a pretty high defense, hehehe..." she ughed, before seeing the silhouette of a crowd trough the dust cloud. "Eh?"
She has nded in the heart of a town, or more precisely, on top of a fountain.
Former, fountain. It lost the sparring match
"Woww...." She fpped her wings unknowingly well to clear the flying dust and gawked at the scenery around her.
A pce that looked like the usual fantasy type marketpce where people are buzzing about their day, but she had never seen such detail, even in NewWorld. The splinter in the various type of wood used to build the roadside stall, the uneven, rocky road, and the many, many type of NPCs present. The smell, the noise. They haggle for a reduced prize, gossip with each other, and trade items, like any other day. That is, before a certain someone crashed into the fountain, seemingly from the heavens, and caught their attention.
"An Angel!" Random onlookers shouted the obvious."That startled me!" A woman who hadn't realized anything sputtered."A messenger of god!" someone excimed."She's....cute..." A boy holding his mother's hand, whispered to himself."Call the pope!" a passing by sister yelled out to her coworkers, and one of the nuns ran off."GYAAAT!" .........some weirdo was knocked out cold by a bat and dragged inside an alleyway, never to heard of again.
A bunch of people started panicking, while others just stood still in their spot showing their teeth in wild bewilderment. Some even started kneeling and doing whatever sembnce of praying they knew.
"Wait! No! It's just a skill!" The girl tried to expin to the people she thought were NPCs.
But to no avail.
"S....skill?" some of them asked, visibly confused at each other.
"She must be giving us a warning!" others guessed. "Pray harder!" another assumed. "May the gods have mercy on our soul!" People start madly shouting prayers and songs of praise.
"..." Maple stood there starring into the air, confused. She opened her system and start searching for something, until she came upon something new in her system.
A quest menu.
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
Save the kingdom of Asterin from the wrath of the Demon Lord Ravaryn, Ancient Dragon Thaumiel, and the Fallen Angel Lucifer.
[All stats increased by 10000%]
[Skill]:
《Gate》
[Title]:
《Guardian of Asterin》
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
"Wow...I really hit the jackpot this time, hehe." She cheerfully stated. She failed to notice it was not a jackpot, but the entire lottery industry.
The crowd murmured among each other.
"What is she saying?"
"Maybe it's some kind of chant for a blessing?"
She felt more troubled hearing the words of the so called 'NPCs'.
“Umm...” She stayed there, trying to speak to some of them, only for them to kneel, not daring to look at her if she is too close. Which was quite troubling.
She knows not where to go, where to start, where to walk to.
This goes on for a whole minute, before a horse drawn carriage broke through the sea of people.
"SILENCE!" This also startled the innocent Maple, who then looked around in search of the owner of the voice. Her eyes nded on a tall, wide figure, stepping down from inside the carriage.
"It's the pope..."
"The pope is here..." People all around her whispered amongst themself, as the 'pope' approached the edge of the small crater. "..." he stared at the ground, and the rising water silently.
"Um..." The girl panicked. "I'll pay for the damages-" Before she was cut off, Maple fully intended to pay or build back the fountain. It was a beautiful town, she'll feel bad leaving it as it is.
"Oo child of the heaven..." the pope said, clearly to her. The way he is saying it is rustic, old styled, and grand. It's as if he is talking to a king, and emperor, maybe even a father-in-w? “We are truly blessed by your presence. What portent have you brought upon us humble servant? What are the words of the goddess?” The pope conveyed curiously. After all, based on all the religious record, or whatever made up writings from the ones before them, an angel descending only means one thing.
There is some message from a higher being.
A message. A prophecy. Maybe the coming of a saint? A holy child? A hero? They certainly need one right about now. Especially the church. Asterin is their capital. The stronghold of the believer. If it falls, so does the religion.
The girl smiled hearing his words. Perhaps, this is the trigger to start the quest she's been given.
"I'm here to help Asterin!" she shouted in glee, thinking this is how to initiate the quest, not knowing the consequences her word would bring in the future.
People stared at her, wide-eyed, and then....
"YEAHHHHH!" they erupted in cheers of joy. The thing chewing at the back of their heads, gone. If an angel from the skies above is helping, what's there to worry about anymore.
"Eh?!" The girl is now confused.
"We must inform the king immediately then! That old ma-I mean His Majesty would surely be thrilled to hear hope had shone it's light upon the kingdom." The pope bowed once more. "If I may, Child of-"
"Um, I have a name...." The girl interrupted the man, no longer comfortable being referred with a title so grand.
"W-what?!" The pope, surprised, startled the poor girl again.
"?!?!"
"M-My dearest apology....umm....?" The pope paused, for the being to inform them.
The first Named Angel, and the first to descent.
He can already taste the glory. All the invites to noble parties to recount the story, the first pope in history to get divine message straight from the tap.
"Oh, my name is Maple." The girl picking up the hint, answered with a smile...............Right.
What an odd name.