-Ymir Fritz-
Ymir's eyes opened slowly. The room smelled of sweat, sex, and unwashed wood. The pirate captain loomed above her, scarred and leering, thrusting into her with a disgusting grin.
She didn't move and she didn't react. She didn't even look at him. The motions of his body, the words he spat, the crude laughter, after one month of this, it all became background noise.
"You awake, finally?" he sneered, his hands gripping her hips as he forced himself deeper. "Thought you'd sleep through it like the broken little thing you are."
Ymir didn't say anything even as he mauled her breasts with his disgusting rugged hands. She just stared ahead blankly.
He cursed and grunted, adjusting his position, trying to draw a reaction. When none came, he leaned closer, his hot breath on her ear. "Ah, so cold… so empty. Perfect. Maybe I'll let the crew have a turn before I sell you."
Still, Ymir did not move. Not even her eyes flicked to him. Instead, her thoughts wandered to her dream.
The kingdom frozen in eternal twilight filled with countless blades. The giant on the throne, whose face she could not remember, but whose words, the words she was told to speak upon waking, came to her lips without thought.
"Symbol of Power and Glory,
The Great Knight God;
Master of War, Patron of Guns;
Twilight of All Things."
The captain froze mid-motion, his expression turning from lustful to stunned. Behind him, an illusory door appeared in the sky of the cabin. A rectangular shield, a downward-pointing sword etched into it, spreading boundless twilight into the cramped space as it opened.
"…Fuck." The disgusting man managed to croak out, before he all but froze as—
A voice, deep and commanding, filled the room. "Well done, Ymir. Your suffering ends today."
Before the pirate captain could react, a black blur shot forward, piercing his chest and embedding itself between Ymir's legs. The dagger's pommel gleamed gold. Twilight receded as quickly as it came. The captain's eyes widened in shock, and he crumpled to the floor.
Ymir felt a warm hand on her head, "You've endured a lot." Her eyes fell on the figure patting her head.
It was a naked man. Around six and a half feet tall, broad framed with a deep bronze skin tone. His hair is long, black with streaks of red, and messy, falling around his face in uneven strands. His sharp red eyes looked at her softly.
"I'm sorry I'm late." 'He' said, yes, it could only be a Him given what Ymir witnessed, and the Honorific Name she chanted was one she recalled from the Church in her village.
"Great Knight God?" Why? Why was He only here now? Why not back then She prayed as her village got pillaged and razed by pirates?
….
-Badheil (Doppleganger)-
Feat Achieved! Complete a Divine Descent!
+1x Random Platinum Ticket
Feat Achieved! Take your First Life!
+1x Silver Ability Ticket
Feat Achieved! Kill a Beyonder for the First Time!
+1x Silver Ability Ticket
"Great Knight God?"
Badheil paid little attention to the notifications of the Chaos Gacha. His gaze was instead fixed on the Feysacian slave girl, one who bore a striking resemblance to Ymir from Attack on Titan.
The Twilight Giant had discovered her while attuning himself to the Beyonders of his pathway the previous night. As the Sequence 0 of the Warrior pathway, he could perceive those who walked it as radiant spheres of light in his senses.
The stronger the radiance, the higher the Sequence. But since Badheil preferred to keep his descent lowkey, he chose the weakest glow, barely visible, dim, almost fragile. Someone below Sequence 9, but still touched by the faintest trace of a Twilight Giant's characteristic.
That person was Ymir, a half-Sequence 9 Warrior.
From his Divine Kingdom, Badheil had witnessed her plight, and fury surged within him. Yet that fury was shadowed by futility. He could not act openly without drawing the gaze of the other Gods.
If he just threw his doppelgänger down the Astral World to the mortal world, it was something that would be noticed. The only viable means was for someone to invoke his Honorific Name, thereby opening the gates of his Divine Kingdom. And even then, his main body could not intervene in a way that revealed his Authorities or Symbolisms.
Ridding himself of the stray thoughts, Badheil looked down at Ymir and answered, "I am the Lord's Apostle, His Humanity, I am Surtr."
Yes. This was the name and identity he had chosen after witnessing Ymir's plight. It was fitting, laughable even, but what it symbolised spoke volumes about one of his goals from now on.
Ymir hadn't been the only one he turned his gaze to, after witnessing her circumstances, Badheil had decided to check on others who bore his pathway's characteristics.
And what he saw disgusted him. Men who used the strength of their Sequence to trample the weak for coin and fleeting pleasure. Mercenaries who carved their names in blood, slaying entire villages for a contract. Even a priest who had fucking sex right before his statue in a small village.
Was it surprising that the last one had been skewered by a Twilight Blade? Badheil had then used the Law of Beyonder Characteristics Convergence to tear out their Beyonder Characteristics.
Badheil didn't take himself for a hero, and he didn't take himself for a goodperson. He literally made a deal with the Primordial Demoness and planned to start a war if it secured his survival and his claim to the Eternal Darkness position.
He was a hypocrite through and through. something he could stop occurred under his gaze—something that violated his twenty-first-century human sensibilities—he would intervene.
At the same time, he was willing—gritting his teeth but willing—to start a war, to shake Evernight's anchors.
Si vis pacem, para bellum—If you want peace, prepare for war.
Deterrence through strength. Pragmatism over idealism.
A society, a nation, a person—anyone—who is strong and ready to defend themselves is far less likely to be attacked. Potential aggressors weigh the cost of conflict against the gains, and often, the price is simply too high. By showing that you can strike decisively, by demonstrating capability and resolve, you create stability. Others recognize the consequences of provocation and are discouraged from acting against you.
Even if he was not the Red Priest—the embodiment of War—Badheil was a master of combat in all its forms. While not divine in War, he was a Master, as his Honorific Name declared.
This hypocrisy….at least it shows I'm still human. Badheil wryly thought, turning his attention back to Ymir.
"My Lord has His believers enslaved, their prayers drowned out by cruelty. He is tired. Tired of the rules the other Gods forced upon Him. Tired of the madness and the bloodshed choking this world. And so—He is angry."
He was angry. The original Badheil would have been merely annoyed at the loss of a dozen Anchors. As for the rules, they were mostly unspoken: Gods could not descend, and their divine Kingdoms were meant to prevent Outer Gods from making the crack on the Astral Barrier worse.
So, in a way, it was the rules that held him back. And Badheil couldn't really say the original Twilight Giant didn't give a shit about you. That might just make the girl who lost her village kill herself when he couldn't see her.
She needed hope. A light at the end of the tunnel. A promise.
"That is why I am here. I am the Herald of the Twilight of the Gods to come. I am the one who will purge away the filth of the mortal world for my Lord. What you have suffered, what you have endured, is a reflection of what must be destroyed. The chains, the greed, the cruelty, all of it."
"I hate Him." She interrupted his impassioned speech, there was a light that wasn't present before now in her eyes. "I prayed. He didn't answer. He let this happen. He let them kill everyone. He—"
"Good." The fire in her eyes flickered out, replaced by confusion and shock.
But Badheil smiled. This was exactly what he wanted: giving her a purpose, something to keep her moving forward.
…Doesn't that mean my speech was pointless? He pushed the thought aside before embarrassment could settle in.
"You hate Him." Badheil repeated Ymir's words, "Good. Let that hate burn inside you. Let it drive you. Let it push you forward until the moment you stand before the Master of Arms Himself. Until the God of Combat feels your gaze and hears your voice. Then you ask Him yourself—'Why?'"
Ymir's dry lips parted, "Why?"
Why was he blaspheming the God he served? Why was he going this far for her?
Badheil's gaze flicked to the mirror in the cabin, reflecting a familiar face: his appearance before transmigration, only the eye color different. Surprisingly, a god's appearance could shift based on their own perception.
So, as Godly as he was, Badheil was also—
"Human." His red eyes locked with her blue ones. "I help you because I am human," he said more to himself than to her. "To be human is to have free will. I choose. I act. I strike. I save. I destroy. All because I can."
He paused, raising a hand to her cheek. "And you can do the same, even against a God. Because that is your free will."
Feat Achieved! Give Therapy for the First Time!
+1x Bronze Trait Ticket
Badheil tilted his head and studied her eyes. "I like that fire in your eyes." Her gaze, once dull, now gleamed sharply, like a blade ready to be drawn.
His eyes fell on her naked body, more specifically the purple and black bruises. He clicked his tongue in anger, and kicked the corpse of the pirate in the head.
Crack!
Ignoring the sound, he retrieved two potions from his Gacha Inventory. "Drink these. The red one will heal your bruises. The green will flush out any impurities or diseases this filth may have given you."
Badheil had waited seven days before he descended, stocking up seven different types of potions. The disease curing potion was one he chose for the Dragon Vessel Cauldron to produce today after seeing Ymir's situation last night.
The blonde girl drank without question, eyes widening as the bruises on her body visibly receded.
Knock! Knock!
"Captain, we've reached the Gargas Archipelago and will be making landfall soon. Are you done tasting that giant woman, hehe?"
Badheil's eyes narrowed, and he looked at Ymir, only to see her grabbing the black dagger tightly.
"It seems you've made your decision." He smiled, producing a dark red potion with a golden hue: a strength potion. "Take it. Fighting a Sequence 8 Twilight Giant, known for its strength, isn't impossible with this."
Once again, the Half-Warrior downed the potion, "This…" She clenched her hands, no doubt feeling the surging strength.
"Captain? You still aslee—" The pirate on the other side wasn't able to finish his words as—
Bam!
A blonde blur streaked past Badheil, ripping the door off its hinges with a single kick.
++++
A/N: My only question is why are they both naked? Well, Ymir is understandable, but idk what happened to Badheil.
Alternate Chapter Titles: Two Nudes Against the World; Feat Achieved! First Naked Co-op Battle; I Came, I Saw, I Gave Her Juice