Chapter 47

Novia noticed a thin layer of snow accumulating on his head. He figured it was because he hadn't left the house, and not wanting to disturb him, she had been waiting for the moment he would emerge.

He then reached out to brush it away, only for Attila herself to grab his hand, her expressionless face mirroring his own as she stopped him.

"Don't you think the accumulated snow is nice? It buries other colors, even the world itself gets buried. If this heavy snow could fall all over the world, endlessly..."

The girl with tanned skin stared intently into his ocean-blue eyes, then paused.

"If that were the case, you and I might be able to save ourselves the effort of killing them in the future."

"Attila, you're still the same as ever with these thoughts. While this method is sometimes effective, completely killing something merely hides the real problem from view; it doesn't truly solve it."

Avia sighed. Having been here for many years, he felt that the Holy Church headquarters within the Western Roman Empire had become extremely rigid for some unknown reason.

Even though Ecumenical Councils were held after 300 AD, the ruling headquarters simply ignored believers with innovative ideas about Doctrine and condemned them as heretics to be executed. Pagans were treated as less than 'human.' A century later, it had reached a point where children of parents who weren't Christians couldn't become true Christians, considered lesser believers.

Or perhaps they were viewed similarly to Dead Apostles... though compared to the 1st century, Dead Apostles were now practically an endangered species. After all, the Church's current policy was to slaughter all bloodlines, burn entire territories to the ground, and employ absolute, devastating slaughter.

Even the royal family members who practiced the faith were treated this way. Over time, this naturally led to discord between the Church and the Empire. Thus, after the death of the previous Roman Emperor, when the Church and the imperial family completely fell out over the succession, the two princes supported by each side split the vast Roman Empire.

It was a reenactment of what a certain dynasty's founding emperor in the East would later conceive of dividing the world in two.

"...I don't like the name Attila. I prefer names that sound cuter. Avia, you know so much, and most of the knowledge I've learned was taught by you. So, Avia, please give me one."

Seeing the girl's expressionless yet extremely serious tone, Avia couldn't help but smile. He reached out with his other hand, the one not being held, intending to brush the snow from her head. This time, the white-haired girl didn't resist, simply accepting it, her crimson eyes still fixed on him.

The snow melted silently under the warmth of his hand.

"It's happening again."

090: Slaying Dragons, Bathed in Blood, Battling Kings

As Avia, who had arrived in this era, he didn't know what era it was, but he was very familiar with the matters concerning this girl before him.

The white-haired, brown-skinned girl, the Scourge of God, the King of the Huns, Attila.

Her true identity was "Seifal," a colossal god designated Wilpha 02, a stellar vanguard that had incinerated almost all civilizations on Earth over thirteen thousand years ago. It disintegrated into a pile of dirt in the Sahara Desert, its buried brain, acting as a terminal, or rather, a backup copy of its core, remained.

Over thirteen thousand years ago, at the last moment before the planet faced destruction.

The original wielder of the 'Holy Sword,' the strongest fantasy, who had melted the wishes of humanity into the planet itself and appeared, pierced the colossal god. Even though Seifal possessed a body more tenacious than any mineral on Earth, with bones that could withstand the heat of a smaller star, it couldn't withstand a single blow from this strongest fantasy.

In the end, Seifal's avatars, the pseudo-spiritual particles absorbed from Earth, scattered like fine snow, leading to its defeat. Simultaneously, it caused its main body, which had been eroding the moon's spiritual crystals, to become incapacitated for a significant period.

Therefore, the moon's spiritual crystals, seizing this opportunity, created an isolation space within themselves, surrounding and sealing the stellar vanguard's main body with an unknown domain.

Furthermore, the moon's spiritual crystals left one final counterattack in the universe – sealing the routes and coordinates leading to the solar system.

The moon's spiritual crystals also emitted extremely powerful interference signals across the entire galaxy, continuously counterattacking and obscuring the star's surveillance for thirteen thousand years.

"That's right, I am Attila. Stop calling me Attila. That name isn't cute at all."

With her back to the world of falling snowflakes, the girl's expression remained serious, but her crimson eyes, half-hidden in shadow against the backlight, narrowed slightly, clearly showing her mood had improved upon hearing the name.

Initially, Attila, who learned from the elders that Avia was only two years older than her, didn't have any particular feelings about him.

Because Attila existed only to fight, as the Hun elders had said.

Without a father or mother, she was an existence born from the descendants of the Hun tribe.

Indeed, the white-haired girl had no memories of either her father or mother. She had no family, nor any friends.

In this world, there were only enemies to fight, just as the combat patterns imprinted on her body from the moment she awoke indicated.

To fight relentlessly was Attila's nature and her duty. She was destined to utilize her capabilities correctly, and she never questioned this.

However, she had grown slightly curious about Avia, who, despite always losing to her, managed to win each time through some inexplicable illusionary technique. After his victories, he would repeatedly say the same unchanged words to her.

"Killing is natural. That's what warriors do – kill, kill, kill everywhere, burn and loot, crush and destroy enemies.

Attila, I don't deny your nature. You are simply focused on wielding your blade and continuing the slaughter, as I sometimes do. But I just hope you understand what the meaning of battle is for you.

And you are not alone. You have family, not the current Hun family, but true family, in the heavens."

When the girl, alone at night, gazed at the starry sky, trembling with loneliness, she always recalled these words, as if she truly had family far beyond the heavens.

In fact, what Avia said was not a lie.

Because Attila herself was one of the civilizations eroded by the star. On her original planet, she belonged to the royal class. Having been noticed by the star, she was transformed into a vanguard. The reason she initially spared the "father" figure, King Gilgamesh, might have been her desire to transform him into a new vanguard.

The star had launched three starships into the solar system. Attila's designation was Wilpha 02; she had an older brother designated 01 and a younger sister designated 03.

However, these two primary targets were not Earth. Perhaps because other civilizations still existed within the solar system at the time, they went separate ways to harvest other civilizations.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this unique feeling that Attila became slightly curious and began to ponder her own meaning beyond combat.

Therefore, when the tribe reached an agreement with the Western Roman Empire to exchange hostages, the girl was the first to step forward.

She wanted to see if she could experience a way of living, as Avia had described, beyond slaughter. Could she travel freely on horseback like a traveler, or perhaps, like someone she had seen, cultivate the land herself, grow wheat, or hunt beasts and birds?

Unfortunately, her life as a hostage in Western Rome was vastly different from what she had imagined. Not only were her movements restricted, but she was also forced to listen to the lessons of Roman court teachers and the Doctrine of the Church.

If not for Avia's persuasion, she would have wanted to destroy it all long ago. After all, the only deity she was interested in was the God of War, 'Mars.'

From the time she began learning language, the young Attila recalled the concept of the 'God of War' from her memories. She asked the elders and learned that in the Western lands, there was a God of War named Mars. Thus, she declared, holding a sword that shimmered with rainbow colors:

"Then my sword shall be the Sword of Mars. I want to name it that."

Perhaps because, during her time as Seifal, she was satisfied that this original God of War could inflict some damage upon her.

"Speaking of which, Avia, where did you go? You told me not to run around, but then you left me behind. You've been lying to me a lot since we came to Rome."

Just as Avia was about to step past Attila and continue walking, the girl suddenly reached out and stopped him. Her eyes, which had been half-closed a few seconds ago, were now wide open and incredibly serious.

"I've been here with you the whole time."

Seeing her reaction, Avia deliberately raised one eyebrow and smiled with interest.

Faced with the silver-haired youth's perfunctory response, Attila, who had already seen through his illusion, quietly shook her head and continued in a calm tone:

"That's not what I meant. It's fine if you don't stay with me. I just wanted to give you my Sword of Mars to use, so you wouldn't get into trouble, because you can't beat me."

"...Don't worry, I'll be back soon. Besides, my strength is only a little bit less than yours, and with illusions, I've always been the one winning."

"Then you still can't beat me fair and square. Moreover, your illusions don't work on me anymore... So, what are you going out to do?"

Avia turned around, revealing a gentle smile that matched the atmosphere.

"If that's the case, then I'll go kill a dragon, bathe in its blood, and then defeat you fair and square."

091: Siegfried's Name

Somewhere near the Rhine River, on a road where the night was slowly drawing in, the rain had just ended. The sky and the earth had swapped identities. Looking up, the sky was vast and dim, while the ground below shimmered with starlight.

As night fell, people hurried home. Though their bodies were weary, their faces held anticipation for tomorrow, and some even let out hearty laughter as they discussed things animatedly.

Perhaps it was because this was a remote area, or perhaps because no heretics were found, but it appeared to be a scene of harmony.

After the Common Era, the dragons that appeared in the present world were mainly influenced by the residual dragon factors on the surface after the Age of Gods.

In relation to the Nordic regions or the realm of legends, there was a specific phenomenon that could turn creatures other than dragons into dragons.

Its conceptual definition was – excessive greed, leading to the phenomenon of evil dragons, which would turn any creature into a Fafnir.

In the Type-Moon world, Fafnir was not a single dragon, but an evil dragon phenomenon, a conceptual collective noun.

And this was Avia's main goal after arriving in the Western Roman Empire with Attila: to see if he could find the evil dragon Fafnir, kill it, bathe in its blood, and make his current body "invincible" in this era where mysteries were weaker than in the first century.

Regardless of how things turned out, although Avia hadn't figured out how to properly handle the current issues of the Holy Church, he knew that improving his own strength was always a good thing.

After all, Avia had already made the worst-case scenario preparations in his heart. Sincerely expressed emotions were difficult to change long-held beliefs. Simply thinking about it and praying constantly wouldn't change the world, wouldn't change this reality. The more corruption existed, the easier its essence was to be overlooked.

As for becoming Pope again? Based on Avia's feelings in recent years, it would undoubtedly be extremely difficult, especially since he had the identity of a "Hun."

With the "Ecumenical Council" tending to avoid presenting any refutable or innovative statements, thus maintaining a hierarchical structure that discouraged defiance of superiors, even the reformists began to switch sides. No matter how absurd their ideas were, as long as the most influential individuals supported them, they would gain the majority's approval.

After all, those who imposed unreasonable rules and caused harm wouldn't care about the people harmed by those unreasonable rules.

Therefore, true and fundamental change would only come through actions that brought about bloodshed.

"...Only blood can bring change."

The silver-haired youth lay in the forest, gazing up at the sky. The evening breeze rustled the leaves, creating a soft, swishing sound, gradually joined by the chirping of unknown insects.

Although the sky was faintly illuminated by the moonlight, there wasn't a single star, making it look quite empty.

In fact, besides the option of killing Fafnir and bathing in its blood, in this era, Avia could also utilize a device located in a giant's ruins, left behind by the ancient great gods.

Later, Charlemagne traveled extensively in his youth, and eventually, along with Altosfor, one of his twelve knights, he arrived there. Upon encountering the stone carvings there, he learned of Attila's loneliness, thus regarding her as an elder sister, and also came to know his destiny to unify Western Europe.

Undoubtedly, the ruins left by the great god who had annihilated almost all the gods of the Age of Gods were incredibly precious.

But Avia worried that if someone were to access these ruins while Attila was still alive, would it have any impact on the current Attila…

Therefore, he abandoned the idea.

Although both of them were currently only fourteen and twelve years old, Avia somehow felt like a teacher to Attila.

After all, in the Hun tribes, the elders primarily provided guidance, but this girl would still come to him from time to time, perhaps because his words could alleviate her loneliness to some extent.

However, this was also because Avia was the only one in their age group within the Hun tribes who could defeat her, which was why the white-haired girl would listen to him.

Since arriving in the Western Roman Empire three months ago, Attila, whose expectations had been dashed, would listen to lectures every day but then had to retell them to Avia upon returning, and only after he recounted them back to her did she feel she had truly learned.

Avia found this to be a good arrangement and hoped that her main body, the Wandering Soldier on the Moon, could find some happiness in the memories she gained on the surface.

"Oh? Are you also someone traveling around the world? It's so late, it's not comfortable to stay in the forest."

Avia scooped up a verdant tree leaf from the water. It was one of several leaves floating on the river surface beside him.

He then stood up and turned to hand it to the approaching youth.

He felt no concern about whether this person was a bandit looking to harm him, as normal bandits wouldn't walk over so openly.

"I don't have anything particularly valuable, so I'll give this to you. This is a gift from nature."

"I'm sorry for my intrusion, but I really like this gift."

The person speaking with an apologetic tone was a youth with silver hair, just like Avia. A hint of apology flickered in his translucent green eyes. Notably, his face was covered with many untreated scratches.

He took the leaf Avia offered, carefully cupping it in both hands as if holding a precious gem, and seemed to be struggling to find the right words.

"It's just a leaf, something that can be found anywhere. I was just joking."

"While that may be true, this leaf symbolizes my first meeting with you, and you didn't show displeasure at my rudeness, but instead gave me a gift… Precisely because of this, I believe my intuition was correct. You are not only someone traveling on the road like me, but also someone who shines with justice."

The youth with numerous scratches on his face spoke very humbly and gently. It was the first time he had encountered someone like this. The gaze of this person was different from anyone he had met before. Those azure eyes, as if at any season, at any time, when one paid careful attention, were always like the tranquil deep blue sea.

Not a terrifying tidal wave that swallowed everything, but a gentleness that seemed to encompass everything.

To be honest, the humble youth was both surprised and delighted to have met someone like this.

"Oh? My name is Avia, what is yours?"

The person's words and demeanor made Avia even more certain of the guess he had in his heart.

The youth placed the leaf in his hand into his bosom and then nodded with a smile.

"Hello, Avia, my name is Siegfried."

092: The Sun Does Not Rise, Leaving Only the Emptiness of Solitude

"Avia, so you're a Hun."

The sky was like a deep blue silk ribbon, adorned with stars to a dazzling brilliance.

A bright, pure moon quietly rose, casting its gentle moonlight and draping the land in a silvery glow. On this post-rainy night, the bonfire that sprang up in the forest became a captivating focal point.

In reality, Siegfried had heard of the Huns. They were called barbarians by the people of the empire and avoided towns, describing them as graves enclosed by nets.

Furthermore, their lives were extremely crude; they ate half-cooked meat, gnawed on wild grass roots, and didn't care what kind of animal the meat came from. Their method of heating food was to place the meat between their thighs and their horses.

Due to the mobile and scattered nature of their lifestyle, the Huns developed a free-spirited national character.

The Roman historian Marcellinus, who passed away in 395 AD, commented thus—