Before the Battle

*Cough, Arthur could barely contain his expression. "You brought him?!" He lost his composure as king for a second.

"Hmm, I didn't think you'd know him." Celine pondered because Arthur hadn't met Ken before he had the chance to shine in the last life.

The space began to shift as Celine found herself teleported to a remote room, seemingly in Arthur's control. "I forgot he really controls everything in his kingdom. It explains why somebody powerful like Malphus had to have me help him before waltzing in."

"Celine," Arthur interrupted her. "There are mortals whom even gods fear. We call them the Divine Hostages, literally meaning: hostages of the divine. They are people whom certain gods stop from ever even having the chance to obtain divinity. They're talent or mindset is just that scary to other gods. You and Ken are both Divine Hostages, people prevented from godhood."

Celine looked puzzeled. "I still don't see the problem. It's not like gods are going to start descending and fighting us on the first trial. They would rather wait and consolidate their forces. This is more of a problem for the future rather than now."

Arthur looked at her. "It is a big problem for the future though," he sighed. "The gods that are 'hostaging' you and Ken from divinity are going to come here because they don't want either of you becoming divine. The world still doesn't know that you are the 73rd God."

Celine scoffed lightly. "If it's so much of a problem then I will change the future you foresee. But for now, let's focus on the present war."

Arthur reluctantly agreed. "About that, I'll debrief you later but please promise me one thing," he looked into her eyes demandingly.

"Don't join the war unless another god has descended." Celine perfectly guessed what he was going to say.

"Yes, if we start a war with gods right now, the result would be catastrophic. Current mortals aren't enough to withstand a fraction of our true power and neither is the world."

He paused, emphasizing his point. "Do not start a war between gods. It will destroy everything so spectate only."

"Yes teacher," Celine sighed. She had started to think of him that way when his lectures and warnings became too plentiful.

Suddenly, Celine was hit by a ray of curiosity. "Oh, I also wanted to know why you didn't tell me the theories of what gods are born for and I also figured out you're the 14th God."

"The theories on our purpose and the unknown doesn't seem to concern you, that's why I didn't say anything. It wouldn't matter to somebody who just wanted to be lazy in my castle," he scoffed. "You also never asked what number god I was. Just ask if you want to know."

Celine wanted to mumble in anger. "I did but you got pissy. And who are you calling lazy? You kicked my ass for hours straight and your wife was worse!" Celine sighed.

Later, Celine sat in a meeting room discussing the first battle. In short, the human army was approaching them and declaring war in the name of their rising god, Malphus.

The first trial demanded that each race choose three leaders and Malphus was a huge contender for the human race leader. This was more or less the same as the first war Celine experienced in her lifetime.

"We should prepare master mages and bolster our defenses because we cannot predict humanities strength," a general sitting rather far from Celine said in the discussion room.

Everybody in the hall looked towards their king, Arthur, on a throne above them. They waited for his commands as he was also their almighty god that protected them from previous battles before the tower.

All Arthur did was glance at Celine and that was her cue.

"I propose we send all of our weakest soldiers to defend against the attack instead," she declared easily in the presence of many generals and powerful nobles who looked at her dangerously.

A fat noble slammed his hand onto the table. "Filthy human, you are a spy and what you've said has just proved it! You suggest we kill all our prospects because you want us to be weak! You will be beheade-"

A small leak of Arthur's golden divine essence spread around the room and it made the pressure intensify. It was clear that the noble wouldn't be allowed to berate Celine beyond that point.

"The Human God Malphus will be using a tactic he has refined over many years," Celine's voice caused the others to glance at her curiously.

"It's called 'thinning the herd' and it's something you wouldn't understand so let me explain it," everybody watched her closely.

"Thinning the herd just means that humanity is trying to cull their weak. They send the weakest, least promising soldiers to battle and only the strong come back. Malphus does this because the tower has changed the world as you know it. In the past, numbers won battles, but now it is the strongest soldier who will single-handedly bring victory. So, Malphus is using our forces to train his soldiers and make sure the weak is culled to ensure he only has the strong with him."

"It is an effective tactic at reducing our forces and increasing his strength. In order to counter it, we must send our weakest as well." Arthur finished Celine's statement and everyone in the hall narrowed their eyes on Celine.

A random human had come in, gained the favor of their King, became friendly with the princess, and got the Queen to declare her as the princess's royal guard which was a position never filled before. The nobles started to think their king had been hypnotized but they calmed down after this.

Celine's willingness to spread this information with them and her knowledge on tactics was something that had given her the smallest amount of respect.

"It seems I'm fulfilling Alina's requirements," Celine monitored her progress. She had always been ensuring she would fulfill the king and queen's demands for Aria. For Celine, becoming respected among the nobles was simple but not to be ignored.

Celine soon found herself outside that stuffy meeting room. She thought of Aria and Ken who were dueling each other after being debriefed and reached a conclusion.

"It'll be hard to meet them a lot during the war because I can't directly act, so I'll have a final talk with them before this peace goes to hell."