God's Dynasty

"… Huh?"

For a brief moment he felt dizziness when praying towards the altar, now Ryan was in an unknown space.

There was fog all around, and it wasn't a usual fog but rather similar to smoke as if someone was burning something nearby.

'What the hell is this?!'

Without even having time to think about what is happening, someone's shadow appeared through the fog. Ryan quickly grabbed his waist to sheathe his dagger but nothing was there.

"You finally came…. It took a really long time you know? How could it take 17 years for you to pray once at a temple… has humanity's faith in us really fallen to this level.

What appeared before Ryan was a young woman.

She looked to be in her mid twenties, and wore a stylized helmet with her bronze long hair flowing out like flames.

The elegant yet expressionless face of hers were as if Ryan was looking at a statue.

The woman who was staring at the young boy in front of him measuring whether she had finally met the person she was meant to meet.

Godsword. That was something Ryan's father kept saying was his last name but Ryan at the time as a kid felt it to be ridiculous.

Holding the dėsɨrė to ask a question at the woman in front of him, Ryan spoke in a voice that was very polite, contrary to his personality.

"Right, and you are?"

His gut feeling is that the woman in front of him was not human, but something more divine.

"I am Isbeil, the archangel of war and the agent of the great Lord. I have come to pick you up as requested by his lordship."

When it comes to angels, they were servants of gods.

The moment he was about to ask why such a being would come to him, Isbeil spoke up first as if knowing what Ryan had wanted to say.

"Yes, he has been waiting for you. Ryan Godsword, you who has been chosen as the apostle of war."

**

They were chosen by seven gods to protect mankind and keep the faith.

Each protector made a vow to their god and in doing so, allowed them to gain power that none humans shall ever wield.

Protectors who wield powers aren't only for just combat as well, with many powers benefiting the course of how humanity is progressing with healing, enriching the earth for farming, melting metal being much more easier. These were all evidence of the seven God's love for humanity and they were revered.

And among those protectors, a special being was an apostle.

"Apostle of War?"

An apostle was someone who was blessed by a god and was a person who could meet the god and was regarded as a leader among the protectors that worship the same god.

Therefore, it's authority did not fall behind that of monarchs of nations in this world.

But to say that Ryan, a kid who was sold as a mercenary and never had entered a temple in his life would be appointed as such a high ranking individual.

As if not interested in the boy's bewildered mind, the angel turned around keeping it's cold disposition.

After a while, while walking through the fog behind the angel, Ryan realized that the scars that he had garnered throughout his body were now gone.

As Ryan saw the sanctuary before him, he gently grabs his arms to stop the goosebumps on his forearms.

"15 years ago, the god of Knowledge had a prophecy."

Ryan who heard this shook his head not knowing who the god of Knowledge was, as he had never been taught anything about the different gods other than that they were powerful.

"Prophecy?"

"The gates of Hell will open and a mighty demon will descend upon the earth, and only an apostle who was the strongest of them all was able to defeat it."

"Strongest…"

"Of course, my lord believes only his apostle could be the one in the prophecy as he is the only one that is about war. He himself can't handle it due to a covenant he had signed with the other gods to not interfere with humanity's course, and so only the apostles could handle it."

Ryan who heard this was confused.

"Why you? Well, when the prophesy was announced my lord had chosen a newborn baby as an apostle, giving it the greatest talent in warfare among humanity. That person is you, Ryan Godsword."

As she said this, she then added.

"But it seems my lord did not expect that the newborn child would not even attend a temple at all until the age of 17."

She spoke in a tone that was cold and indifferent, but Ryan felt that she was pitying him, or perhaps considering him pathetic. He could not tell.

Ryan countered with his own rebuttal.

"But I had prayed countless times, every time I went to battle I prayed to any god that would listen."

As an executioner, he took comfort in praying, regardless if no one listened.

Every time he killed someone, he cried to the god of death, every time he was beaten, he would cry to the god of war to bring down a savior, when he was hungry he would pray to the god of life to provide him bread.

However, all of his prayers were not answered and in the end the boy raised his sword and began fighting for himself and not a god.

Ryan ġrȯȧnėd, if they can't listen to your prayers within your own heart are they really Gods?

However as soon as he thought of that the angel begun releasing a pressure he could not handle and he quickly changed the topic.

"What is hell?"

Ryan tried to keep his tone as polite as he could, so he could not reveal the intense emotions he is feeling. It had been a long time since he had shown any courteous to anyone and he knew that if he acted reckless towards the angel he would be killed.

"It is the boundary between Heaven and Earth. How much do you know about devils in general?"

"I don't know that much, I just know that they are a terrifying race that are from another world."

In this world, devils were beings that would tempt humanity into doing deeds that go against the seven gods.

Those who receive the power of the devil were known as Demons.

"The boundary between Heaven and Earth, the world of the devils. Most devils are greedy for human souls, and they are growing stronger with each passing millenium with the amount of humans that they had fed upon. Soon, the door that the seven gods have guarded shall be opened and devils shall fall upon humanity."

At her calm explanation, Ryan sighed.

'Saving the world from devils, is that what they expect from me?'

As Aurora users are blessed by the god of war, becoming an apostle would mean that he would be a sword master in the future.

No, much more powerful than that.

However acting on behalf of the God of War is no small task.

Countless hardships would be awaiting him, as is the case of heroes of old fairy tales his father once told him about when he was a child.

Is it worth the risk to become stronger?

Ryan who was contemplating on the situation made up his mind after a long time of pondering.

"What should I do."

Isbeil, who was staring at Ryan, smiled for the first time understanding that he had accepted the duty.

"Of course, accepting the duty would not make you a worthy apostle for our lord. Without learning anything, how could you defeat such a terrifying being. That is why our Lord has called you here."

Just as Isbeil said that, the fog had dissipated and a huge castle had appeared before Ryan.

At the entrance, countless stone buildings each with a weapon engraved on the entrance were lined up before him.

Swords, axes, spears, maces, bows.

Any weapon used in warfare each having its own building.

And within the building, a single person would be standing there.

They were looking at Isbeil and Ryan with attire that were from different eras and different cultures.

The moment Ryan stared at the men, he had felt a huge sense of crisis that he never experienced before.

'All of them are terrifying.'

His instinct were telling him to run, run as fast as he could.

Compared to that middle-aged man Aurora user from before, these men would slap that man to death.

At that time, Isbeil pointed her finger towards the men.

"All of these men are powerful warriors, famous in their time as heroes and warriors"

"Welcome to the War God's Castle."