Chapter 84
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Fall (3)
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The village chief seemed to snap out of it only after Yujin pointed beyond where the magical beasts had swarmed from.
‘Full of curiosities.’
There were still so many questions.
What was this Wind God?
What was the sanctuary?
To begin with, the very existence of a village like this in the middle of the desert meant some powerful entity must be protecting it.
Otherwise, such a shabby little settlement couldn't possibly survive. The fog enveloping the village was part of it too.
...But the sudden swarm of magical beasts meant something had gone wrong.
‘...This might even be because of us.’
If everything had been fine until today when this anomaly hit, then whatever was different now had to be checked—and that was them, and only them.
But why them, of all things?
From what the chief had said, visitors had come to the village before. Ones with master-level power, no doubt.
Had things been fine back then?
It was a string of incomprehensible events.
Yujin pushed the questions aside and followed the chief's lead.
And...
“……”
...He learned what happens when shock hits too hard.
People usually imagine explosive anger or endless tears. But that's wrong.
When the shock is too great, thoughts evaporate from the mind. The world turns white before your eyes, or something like that.
In other words, it's like someone hit the pause button—you just freeze solid.
“……”
The chief was the same right now.
He stood frozen before the scene unfolding ahead, his slightly trembling lips the only proof he hadn't completely stopped.
Yujin's group stared at the sight with equally stunned faces.
Thud—
“...Th-this is...”
The chief collapsed to his knees and numbly reached out a hand.
What was it, like seeing a hallucination?
“...Was this place always like this?”
“N-no, Messenger of the Gods...”
“Then?”
“This was originally the entrance to the cave leading to the sanctuary. But now... it's... ah...”
...
There was nothing before their eyes.
Not figuratively—literally nothing.
Just a massive hole in the ground.
A sinkhole.
‘That's a big hole.’
He'd never seen a sinkhole like this in his life.
According to the chief, this had been the site of the Wind God's sanctuary, guarded by the village for generations. Now it was gone, along with the hole.
Ignoring the despairing chief, Yujin crept to the edge of the sinkhole and peered down.
Depth... about 100 meters? He wasn't sure if that was overestimate or not, but it felt about right.
At that size, you could call it a cliff bottom.
His companions soon joined him, looking down as well.
“Hmm... deep hole.”
“Tell me about it.”
“But it's not completely empty down there. Looks like some building rubble scattered around... and a huge cave behind it.”
There did seem to be ruins of buildings down there. And a very large cave beyond.
Yujin glanced sideways at the chief.
“Chief. Was that sanctuary originally underground?”
“...Yes, Messenger of the Gods. But the passage to the sanctuary... it's all in that deep hole now...”
The chief trailed off, mouth flapping wordlessly. It was like watching the anguish of someone who'd lost their home.
...
‘No, worse than that.’
He looked like he'd lost all will to live. And the anxiety flickering in his eyes seemed excessive even for losing a precious place.
In the end, he lacked information.
“What exactly was this sanctuary? It can't be some meaningless spot. And since we need the details to resolve this incident, you'd better tell us.”
“...A place to offer tributes to the Wind God.”
There it was again.
Always skipping the meat of the matter.
“Tributes, huh. Does this village even have anything worth offering?”
They seemed barely able to feed themselves from what he saw.
The small livestock farm next to the village looked just sufficient to sustain the people, and they lacked resources for crafting goods too.
The village's living standards, observed while walking the streets, were far below those of Kara Kingdom.
Almost like a primitive tribe.
The chief hesitated to answer Yujin's question.
Sensing something, Yujin fixed him with a steady gaze and applied pressure.
“People... it is.”
“...People?”
People?
Like, humans with heads, two arms, two legs?
“You mean humans like us?”
...A nod.
“...!!”
“What.”
“...What does that...”
“Human sacrifice...?”
...Human sacrifice?
No way.
He hadn't actually expected the half-joking idea of human sacrifice to be real.
The companions, who'd been listening quietly, now stared at the chief in shock.
Lua, once the Pope of the Holy Kingdom, looked the most horrified of all.
“...Explain yourself properly, Chief. Why does this village perform human sacrifices?”
“Human sacrifice...? Unthinkable, Messenger of the Gods!”
“Then what have you and this village been doing all this time?”
It's not like they were sending people to an amusement park—offering humans at that underground sanctuary...
The chief swallowed hard at Yujin's icy tone.
The scene of overwhelming slaughter he'd just witnessed flashed in his mind.
The man before him... was a being with irresistible power.
Crushed by sudden fear, the chief blurted out anything.
“...It was to protect this world and our village, Messenger of the Gods.”
“From whom?”
“Pardon?”
“From whom are you protecting this world?”
“That's—”
“And who protects you?”
“The Wind God, of course, Messenger of the Gods.”
The more he heard, the more grating it became.
Messenger of the Gods—what the hell was that about?
And Wind God?
Not even the Holy Kingdom, the heart of faith, had tales of a Wind God.
There might have been such gods in the Twilight of the Gods era, but this wasn't that time.
In the present age, no gods walked the earth save the Goddess of the Sun.
“I asked what this Wind God is.”
“The Wind God blesses our village and grants the fog that shields us from outsiders—”
“I'm not asking for textbook platitudes. Do you know its true nature?”
Does it actually exist, is what he meant.
The chief couldn't answer.
Cold silence hung in the air.
Lua had already half-labeled the village a heretical abomination that shouldn't exist, glaring at the chief. Lucia and Irene looked at him like trash too.
Lucas... merely swallowed a sigh at the fact a village near his homeland still practiced barbaric human sacrifice.
Sure, ancient tales spoke of communal survival desires turning to fanaticism and sacrifice, but nothing like that since Kara Kingdom's founding.
“Can't answer, huh.”
“……”
“Have you ever spoken to this Wind God? At least the Goddess of the Sun proves her existence by granting power to her saints.”
“...The fog is proof of its existence.”
“The fog... You think fog that those women behind me could mimic with magic is really made by a god?”
“Such blasphemy...! Even as Messenger of the Gods, I can't tolerate further remarks!”
“...Hah. That's what you've been saying.”
Why keep calling him Messenger of the Gods? Had fear driven him mad?
Drawing his sword might be the answer.
They say a stick works on mad dogs.
Apply the wartime methods he'd used to extract info from enemy POWs, and the chief would spill everything amid tears and snot.
“...Whatever. We can check it ourselves.”
Where those thousands of magical beasts came from, what the Wind God was, what lay in the collapsed sanctuary.
The silver lining: the sanctuary the village had maintained hadn't completely collapsed.
Seeing it with his own eyes would yield some info.
Better than hassling a frail old man up here. Avoid shit because it's dirty.
Ignoring the chief, Yujin scooped up the women and leaped toward the sinkhole.
Lucas, who'd been eyeing the chief like a savage, belatedly jumped in after them.
Meanwhile, in Kara Kingdom.
“Kuh...! Reinforcements!”
“Imperial knights are coming!”
“How long?!”
“Ten minutes! No...! Five minutes!”
“Shit!”
A Kara Kingdom warrior who had just cut down a magical beast spat a rough curse.
He felt like he was dying.
Blood's metallic tang lingered in his mouth, and unknown beast teeth were embedded in wounds all over his body.
Every movement tore them open.
He truly felt death closing in, but he couldn't stop here.
“What the hell are all these magical beasts...!”
“Kaaaaak!”
“Kurt...!”
Another comrade had fallen in the meantime.
“When are reinforcements coming...!”
...He knew.
How generous the Empire was to send military aid to a non-ally nation.
Five minutes was incredibly fast.
But...
“Shit...!”
He muttered lowly.
And for good reason...
...Magical beasts were blanketing the horizon, advancing on Kara Kingdom.