The Divine Arts

"Cockroaches. Resilient, yes, but still such malodorous and weak creatures." Noah clicked his tongue, upset. With a grabbing motion, Noah attacked.

Previously, the demons didn't even see the vampires' retreat coming. They condemned the vampires of their cowardice in battle. But as soon as the bats above, one by one, started falling down from the sky, they understood.

Looking at Noah who now had hundreds of thousands of hearts piled up in front of him, every single one of the demons shuddered in fear.

At first, seeing the sorcerer attack the Vampire Lord in the head without attacking its body, they thought that the person did not know the existences of vampires and therefore did not how to kill one. At that time, they thought that they now stood a chance. They then realized how naïve they were.

They weren't facing a human.

This was something else.

Soon, they heard the man speak with such a languid yet righteously sounding voice, "I didn't know ghouls also exists in the mainland. Troublesome creatures."

In fact, Noah had faced such creatures in his previous travels. Those bloodsucking, flesh-eating abominations were a nightmare fuel. With their pale skins, pointed ears, rotten eyes, meter-long snake tongues, clawed hands, and frail bodies, they terrorized the islands of the Far East by sucking on the bloods of the inhabitants and farming them like livestock.

At first, Noah really had a hard time facing those creatures, with their cockroach-like characteristic of being able to move and fight even without their heads on them. But as time passed, and the fights between them became commonplace, he noticed their commonality in weakness; they highly rely on their blood to sustain their powerful ability. Once the source is removed, all of them would fall like crops hacked from their roots.

Seeing the fates of their "powerful comrades", the demon lines started to falter. Their leaders could not even rearrange their own armies as all of them scampered off.

Looking at the seemingly small and harmless village in the distance, the demons and their leaders vowed never to return to this place ever again.

As the shadow of the great sorcerer looms over their hearts and minds, no demon that participated in this event even dared to go near this place, dreading the existence within.

After that, peace once more returned to the village, but another bad news came to them.

"They dare close off all the entrances and exits in the forest?" Noah flared. "Yes, Lord Founder. The news came from our spies within the demonic ranks because even a pigeon couldn't go near us without being shot down by the demons. They couldn't even let our men sneak in because of the tight security around us." The Templar Knight reported.

Noah was put on a predicament. He still hasn't perfected the barrier surrounding the village so he couldn't even begin rescuing the Templars that were stranded outside. If he goes out now, his absence would prompt the demons to begin their siege of the village, leaving it vulnerable and undefended. Outside, he also was far from invincible. The Behemoth's existence, for one, shows it. He cannot be arrogant and just saunter his way out.

On the other hand, if the Templar Knights and the other believers were to be left outside, every second would risk them falling into the hands of the enemies.

Racking his brains of any move and strategy that he could think of, it was inevitable for some people of God to surely be harmed.

"What if you teach the divine arts to the people of God?" Elric suggested. Noah turned to him, pondered, and shook his head. "To wield the divine arts is a great endeavor. One would need at least an approval from one of the divinities under Him. For me, the only divinity I know of is our ancestor, Enoch, who has ascended to His side. I do not know if Ancestor Enoch would grant ye his blessings of divine authority."

"But can thou ask? It is our only shot. We cannot just rely on thy peerage to defend the people of God from those who wish to harm us." Elric replied. After a long period of musing, Noah nodded and went to the sacred area where God's form showed Himself.

In the years previous, after He came down to guide Noah, the villagers built a simple altar on the sacred site. A flat slab was placed down together with a waist-high boulder as the praying platform. In front, they built a small wooden table where they all place their offerings to Him.

Kneeling on the slab, Noah clasped his hands and began his prayer, calling for guidance. "Oh Great Almighty God, thy people's Liege and Guide, the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega, thy servant calls on you. Guideth thy people in times of need."

Silence.

Still, as a devout believer, Noah continued his prayer, calling upon Him multiple times. In what seems to be days, finally, He came.

Once again, the butterfly filled with glory and majesty appeared in front of Noah. It flapped its wings a couple of times before stopping entirely. "I, Noah, Son of Lamech, thy servant, greets the Almighty."

"Speak, Noah. What is it that you desire to know?" the butterfly spoke to him.

"Thy people are stranded outside the forest, and I know that I cannot go outside, in fear of them attacking the village whilst I rescue them. If I let them stay outside and not rescue them, however, they would be in danger."

"The descendant of the House of Garenson suggested that thy devout people learn the divine arts to contribute in protecting thy sons and daughters. What should I say to them?"

In response, the butterfly shined brilliantly. It then said to him, "Tell them, My devout servant Noah, to cometh here and ask for the blessings of divinity. It is up to them whether they art worthy to receive such blessings of great responsibility."

"I shall, Lord Almighty. I thank thee for answering thy servant's call." Noah kowtowed towards the butterfly as it left and vanished.