Chapter 76

"Alright, Hinata, just stay back and watch. I'm not going to be responsible for your safety. You're more than strong enough to avoid any danger."

It was time for me to take care of those luminaries. I had found them and they were gathered in a spot near that cloister on the mountain or whatever it was called. I don't really care what it's called anymore, since I really just want to go home at this point. Once they're dead, I'm taking off immediately.

"Are you planning to fight them indoors or outside?" Hinata asked me. She's probably trying to gauge any collateral damage from our fight, if it could even be called that.

"I'm planning on fighting them outside. And I know just the thing that will get their attention."

"And what is that?"

"Just a small burst of holy energy. They'll either think it's Luminous or that there's someone dangerous outside. Either way, I don't care, just as long as it gets them to come."

Hinata simply nodded at what I said. She was really taking her role as some kind of observer, not interfering, kind of seriously.

We kept moving closer and closer to them. Eventually, when we arrived, I positioned myself close to them, but also far enough away from the city to make sure no one was startled. And even if they are, they'll just see it as a sign from Luminous or something.

"Ok, Hinata, brace yourself."

/\\//\\//\

As Artoria warned Hinata, she started to prepare her holy magic. She focused on herself as she started to feel the connection to all those who had faith in her and worshiped her, especially a very big connection she felt. Artoria smiled as she felt it, but she quickly focused. 

Hinata, who was on the side, patiently waited. She prepared herself, but so far she hadn't felt or seen anything. She was going to speak up, but at that moment, she felt it. A massive burst of holy energy she's never felt before.

She felt herself being pushed back and she had to hold her arms up in front of her and exert herself to stay upright and not fall over. She looked over at Artoria, and saw waves and beams of white-yellow light come off of her. The grass was waving furiously, the leaves and branches of trees moved as if they were in a typhoon. She looked up and saw what could be described as a light show. Waves of transparent holy magic were in the sky, reminiscent of aurora borealis. As some of the waves disappeared into motes of light, a new one would immediately take its place. 

"So that's how it works. Good to know." Artoria muttered to herself as she noticed the effect she was having.

Hinata on the other hand was dumbfounded. "Small?! You call this 'small'?! This isn't small, this is massive! Everyone's going to notice this, not just the luminaries!" Hinata said loudly 

"Just blame it on Luminous, Hinata, and everyone will understand. Just sit back and watch. They're coming over right now."

Artoria stopped unleashing her holy magic, and if it never happened, all the pressure Hinata felt disappeared. She tumbled forward a little, but quickly regained herself. She looked around looking for the luminaries, but she didn't need to look for long as they suddenly appeared, seemingly out of thin air.

Six figures dressed in white robes, fully covered from head to toe, appeared in front of Artoria. They all focused on her, barely paying any attention to Hinata. 

"It's you. You've saved us a lot of work by coming here yourself and attracting all this attention. You and your monster nation are a danger to this world." one of the luminaries said. 

"Are you sure about that? You want to call me a 'danger to this world', but if you really knew anything about me or my weapons, then you'd know how utterly wrong you are. As for my nation, is that really the biggest danger to this world? Surely there isn't another empire out there that presents a bigger danger or maybe that's just me., but what would I know? I'm not brainwashed and blinded by religion. Also, weren't there supposed to be seven of you? What happened to the other one? Did they fall asleep or something?" Artoria nonchalant words and attitude dug into their skin, slowly getting enraged. 

"You act calmly, but that won't last for long." As soon as they finished talking, three of them broke off and got into formation around Artoria. A prison field was immediately set up. "How does it feel? Not feeling so confident now, are you?"

Artoria stood there, arms crossed, shaking her head. "If I ordered a truckload full of dumbasses, and I got only one of you six, I would've gotten my money's worth." Artoria said in a disappointed tone directed towards the luminaries actions. Hinata, who was on the side, had a hand up to her mouth, trying to remain composed and serious after hearing what she said. 

The luminaries, not fully understanding what was being said, still knew that she was insulting them. "Your crude words won't save you in this situation, monster."

Artoria held a hand up to her head, somehow shaking her head in more disappointment. "Why are y'all talking like this? Like, I know it's your whole thing, but actually seeing in person is something else."

"If you're trying to buy time, then that is a very bad plan."

As one of the luminaries spoke, a large magic circle formed under Artoria, covering the size of the prison field. She looked down and smiled, before looking up with the same smile, showing no fear at all, before saying one thing, "Hit me with your best shot" 

"Trinity Disintegration", the three luminaries surrounding Artoria chanted the name of the spell at once. Hinata saw all this, and while she just wanted to observe, she felt she needed to do something, but a subtle hand wave from Artoria compelled her to stop. As she stood there, she saw a massive beam of light come down from the sky, like a smite from the heavens, crash down on Artoria.

As the beam of light crashed down on Artoria, everything seemed to be overtaken by a bright light. To Hinata it was hard to see or make out anything. This all lasted a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. Once everything settled and the beam of light vanished, there was a silence. The environment was in a mess. The grass was gone, replaced with brown dirt, any surrounding trees vanished with the only signs that they were ever there being the holes in the ground. But amongst all this damage, all eyes were in the center, looking for a standing figure or lack thereof. 

As they tried to see the aftermath, they all heard a slow clapping noise. "Congratulations. Y'all have managed to surprise me further. You six have managed to reach a genius level of stupidity."

Hinata and all the six luminaries stood frozen in place, stunned that Artoria was still alive. One of the strongest holy magic's seemingly did nothing. She stood there and looked just as she had always looked. Her armor wasn't damaged, her face didn't have a stain, and not even a hair seemed to be out of place.

"Now, let me show you what holy magic really looks like." As Artoria said this she summoned Rhongomyniad and immediately used part of its abilities. The outer shell came off and started forming into several tree-like tendrils of light. She planted the lance into the ground and the tendrils shot out, chasing each of the luminaries. The luminaries tried to evade, but the tendrils quickly got ahold of them, trapping them in place. No matter how much they tried to struggle, they couldn't break free.

"There we go. I don't want y'all moving. I want y'all to be nice and still so I don't miss." Artoria had a "sweet" smile on her face. She started channeling a massive amount of holy energy, using every person back in Tempest that worshiped her and gave her faith to help her cast her spell. She felt the connection to all of them, all coming together to help cast this massive spell.

Six magic circles appeared under the trapped luminaries at once. They immediately knew what that circle represented, as they tried even harder to free themselves, but to no avail. 

Hinata looked at all this happening with wide eyes. "Y-You seriously aren't going to do what I think you're doing, right?"

"Silence, Hinata," Artoria said in a serious and authoritative tone, which immediately made Hinata silence herself as she followed her order. Artoria started forming hand signs at a very fast pace. As she formed the hand signs, more magic concentric magic circles filled with complex geometric shapes started to appear above all the luminaries stacked on top of each other. 

Hinata eyes and expression filled with shock. In her mind, this is something outrageous. Something that doesn't seem possible to do, but what she was seeing in front of her disproved everything. 

As Artoria finished, her eyes seemed to glow with a bright yellow light as well as a light yellow aura surrounding her, outlining her figure. She seemed to be a completely different person, someone akin to a…goddess.

With the spell finished and all the magic circles locked into place, Artoria spoke one word and one word only. "Disintegration.", even as she said it calmly and quietly, it felt as if her voice reverberated throughout the entire area, making sure everyone had heard what she said.

The magic circles started spinning above the luminaries. The clouds in the sky seemed to darken and gray as light started to spark, giving a yellow backdrop and hue to the clouds. Not a moment later, six beams of light came down from the sky as if responding to the call of a goddess. The beams crashed down onto the luminaries, who were trapped. The beams of light crashed down for a few seconds, before disappearing. What was left of the luminaries was literally nothing.

Hinata stood still, dumbfounded and in disbelief at everything that happened and what she witnessed. She had no words for what happened. Artoria picked up Rhongomyniad and unsummoned it after turning it back to its normal form. She turned and started walking calmly.

"Who-What are you? A-Are you a…goddess?" Hinata stuttered as Artoria walked her way.

Artoria stopped in front of her, and she put a hand on her shoulder and she leaned in and whispered into Hinata's ear. "Remember what you saw here today and don't forget it, because deep in your heart of hearts, you know the answer already.", as Artoria said that she started walking away.

"W-Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving. I'm going home."

"But what about the aftermath? Didn't you want some kind of deal with our nations?"

Artoria stopped and sighed. Artoria put a hand to her mouth and whistled very loudly. A few seconds later, the sound of horse running could be heard. Dun Stallion heard his master's call and immediately went to her direction. As he stopped in front of Artoria, she looked in one of the bags on Dun Stallion and took out a piece of paper and a pen. She started writing on the paper and eventually gave it to Hinata. 

"Read this, and you'll know why I want to go home so soon, even if there are some things left unfinished. You're invited to the festival and celebration that will happen after. Bring your saints and they'll realize quickly that our nation does not pose a threat to humanity. Make sure to Luminous knows as well, since once she reads that she might stop trying to pursue me. Anyway, I'm leaving. The aftermath of what happened here is your job, not mine. I'll see you at the festival." As Artoria finished, she rode off, making her way home.

Hinata watched her depart, looking at her in a new light after seeing what happened.