The Adventures of Rose Hood

I rushed over to Jalad who was crying and holding Dalis’s arm.

The monarch was bleeding and I saw something that made me freeze.

A hole. The exact size. Someone smited him.

“What happened?”

“One of them was a diety, he tried to smite me, but the king blocked it.”

I saw so many dead citizens. And I saw people in horrible conditions.

I used life magic to heal as many as I could.

“Nala, contact Elren in Calesen, we need his healing.”

These despicable villains used smite whenever they killed someone, just so we’d lose them.

I stood. I couldn’t move.

Thalia was in front of me, bleeding.

“Rose, you’re okay.”

“Thalia, you need healing.”

“I do.”

I used the remainders of my mana to heal her. But I still saw tears.

“What happened?”

“Rose, please follow me.”

I did, then I saw it.

“Asura.”

He, despite having a smite wound, was still alive.

“Rose, you made it. Thank goodness.”

“Asura, please, we already lost Dalis we can’t lose you too.”

“Heh, really? Man… I’m sorry to let you down…”

“Asura… no…”

“Hey, I just realized. We never got… to have our rematch.”

He closed his eyes.

[Your subordinate Asura has died.]

“ROSE!”

Dallel ran over and saw me.

“Ro- oh no.”

He stopped and walked over slowly.

“Rose, I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”

He fell to his knees tears falling down his face.

…

…

“Rose, calm down, please!!!”

I realized my aura was causing shaking. I concealed it but try as I might. I couldn’t cry.

I could only feel rage.

Dalis. Asura. All of those people. And for what? Because I rejected them.

“I will kill every last member of that faction.”

“Rose?”

“They… killed too many of us.”

I turned to see what was left of the Selethon fighters. Many surviving citizens were in the crowd.

“I promise you this.”

I raised my hand.

“They will pay for that.”

[You have all required items to evolve the army skill.]

“Evolve it.”

Then a voice came from the sky.

[The Army skill has been evolved. It has been fused with Domination. The user, Rose Hood has developed the skill: Nation. All who declare loyalty will be bound and their power increased, but they cannot betray her.]

[Notice: You will have free will, you just cannot raise arms against her, and she cannot raise arms against you either.]

Then the people smiled, their faces containing hope.

[The kingdom of Selethon has declared loyalty to Rose Hood.]

I smiled sadly.

“Thank you. I won’t let you down.”

Now to prepare for war.

They had struck us hard, but our allies came and defended us. I knew what we needed to do, we needed to unify all of the nations.

_

“So, you want us to unify with Selethon.”

I met with both Elren and Onyx.

“Yes, while it seems sudden, I know you both heard of the people that raided the capital. Is that right?”

“Yes, I heard they did a large number on them, but why are you here instead of Dalis.”

“Dalis is dead.”

Their eyes widened in shock.

“Then why-“

“The people swore loyalty to me, so I am the effective leader until a new monarch can be selected.”

Elren nodded.

“That makes sense, but why should we unite under your banner?”

“Because otherwise we will be crushed. A single one of the higher beings could demolish us, so if we don’t stand united, then when they send an even greater force, we will simply die.”

Onyx laughed bitterly.

“Please, you’re a god. You can’t die.”

“To them I can.”

“Get Asura to defend you, he seems loy-“

“Asura is also dead.”

That caused him to freeze. Asura was considered the peak strength of the mortals for a long time. Even the gods both heard of and respected his strength.

Elren turned serious.

“Then why didn’t you call me to revive them?”

“Because you can’t heal a smite.”

Elren understood what I meant.

“They are ruled by a diety?”

I shook my head, apparently not.

“No, that diety was one of the grunts, the group that attacked was led by a human.”

“If it was a human, then how did you lose so many?”

“Because that human was leagues above me at my full power.”

“Impossible.”

“Not impossible.”

Onyx had trouble imagining someone who could beat me at full power, much less easily.

But Elren understood,

“So, the only way to survive is to unify.”

“Yes.”

But Elren had another question.

“How is Thalia holding up?”

“She’s been in mourning for a while now. Many people are in bad condition, and even more are dead. Even though we managed to hold out until help arrived, it was still a total and absolute loss.”

“If even you are saying it was a loss…”

I was stubborn, everyone knew it. I rarely ever would say I lost, because I always gained something, but here, I knew I lost.

“If this Gabriel and his men didn’t show up. What would have happened?”

“None of us would be alive for this meeting.”

Elren nodded.

“Then we need to unify. I’ll discuss it with the council.”

Onyx agreed, then we finished the meeting.

Ausar and Silith both already unified with me, so I needed a few more nations.

I traveled to the dwarf kingdom.

Mammon and his men joined the army, as they understood that the guild would be useless to have as an independent party.

When I got there, the guard recognized me and let me in.

“Hey, who’s the cat?”

“Why does the beggar get the fast pass?!”

Some people taunted me for my ragged appearance, but I entered anyways.

I walked straight to the castle. A guard looked at me.

“I’m here to meet with the king.”

“The king doesn’t meet with the rabble.”

“I’m the effective leader of Selethon.”

“Please, if Dalis wants to talk, he can come himself.”

“Dalis is dead.”

The guards around, and even the people, froze. Dalis was a formidable fighter, so hearing of his death was shocking.

“It can’t be.”

“How?”

“The same problem I am here to speak to King Donovan about.”

“Understood, what’s your name?”

“Rose Hood.”

They stiffened again upon hearing my name. Not only was I a god, but I was also public enemy number one only a month ago, and now I was claiming to lead Selethon, bearing news of Dalis’s death.

The dwarven guard brought out a communicator.

“Lord Donovan, you heard all of that, right?”

“Yes, let her in, I have no fear of her. I don’t believe she killed Dalis, if that’s what you are thinking.”

The guard reluctantly opened the gate.

“Ms. Rose, it’s been a while.”

“It has.”

“I heard Selethon was attacked, but is Dalis really dead?”

“Him and Asura, along with the new vice-captain and several civilians.”

“Couldn’t Elren revive them?”

“Unfortunately, no one is strong enough to overturn a smite, and the attackers had an unknown deity with them.”

“I see. That certainly isn’t good, but why are you the effective leader?”

“Because I have a unique skill that amplifies the strength of those who swear loyalty to me. Also, they want me to rule until they can get a proper monarch.”

“I see, and what is your plan to counter these attackers.”

“Unify every nation in this world, so we can stand on a united front.”

“I see, and will this attacker nation join?”

“As they are not from this world, no.”

“Another world?”

“Yes, they belonged to a faction known as the God Slayers.”

“Rather ambitious name, but why do you need our help.”

“Because their squad commander could wipe the floor with me.”

That caused Donovan to show shock. Like most of the world, he always simply assumed I was unstoppable.

They were shocked enough to learn that Dallel was stronger than the gods, but to hear that someone could defeat me that easily.

“So, what will unifying do?”

“Using trickery, we were able to beat one of their grunts solo, but if we stand at a unified front, we may be able to defeat a full squad alone.”

“I thought you already did that.”

It was a question.

“No, we had help from a group the system identified as the Supreme Faction.”

A guard was confused.

“The Supreme Faction?”

Donovan had an even better question.

“The system?”

“Yes, when one reached level 1000 in our world’s level, they will obtain access to the system. It will also make them a level one in said system.”

“So, what level are you in this ‘system’.”

“38, but that’s because I managed to defeat two higher beings.”

“Higher beings?”

“Level 200 or above.”

“How did you beat them?”

“The first one was overconfident, so we managed to throw him off balance before killing him, and the other was killed by someone in the supreme faction, but he gave me the experience.”

“I see. What level was the supreme faction fighter?”

“983.”

“Holy ****”

983 was high for our system. Someone who could reach that could annihilate a few nations with ease, but since 1000 was the base for level 1 of this system, 983 was outright terrifying.

“But do you see why we need to unify?”

“I do, well, I guess I can trust you. I will join this union of yours.”

[The individual Donovan has sworn loyalty to you.]

“What’s this voice?”

Donovan was in shock.

“That was the system.”

“Incredible.”

The guards were looking at the king with looks of confusion.

“Oh please, you didn’t hear that? It was loud.”

“Only those with access or who activate skills like nation can hear it.”

“Nation?”

“It provides anyone who swears loyalty with a boost of power depending on our power difference.”

“But I didn’t swear loyalty.”

“Not out loud.”

Donovan realized that the system could also tell his true thoughts. He blushed a bit as he wasn’t expecting that.

It was almost comical, seeing the first lineage flustered.

“W-well, we will join your union, and aid you.”

“Thank you, I will take my leave.”

I curtsied and warped out.