Chapter 553: With the Evil God
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 553: With the Evil God
What's this about something weird crawling out now? An Evil God? To me, the Sky God is the evil one.
What even is an Evil God? There's no way something like that actually exists. How can a demon that feeds on the wickedness of the human heart possibly exist? "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" is a good topic for debate, but "which came first, humans or demons?" is indisputable. Demons are creations, after all.
I asked the Regressor.
“Shei. What's an Evil God?”
“They're demons. Incarnations of sin that the Saintess of Origin sealed away in the past. They were all annihilated before the inception of humanity’s rise, but their remnants still linger.”
“Why is something like that popping up all of a sudden? Weren't we supposed to be stopping the King of Sins?”
“The Evil Gods are the beginning. You could say they created the very concept of sin.”
I'd never heard of this before. If it was such an important concept, I should have thought of it sooner. Ah, I really don't know anymore. At this point, I'm starting to think I'm being messed with.
“I don't know about all that, but I've heard that priests of the Evil God have been running rampant in Manguo recently. There are stories of entire villages being offered as sacrifices, and those who have lost their kin are wandering from place to place. Many of these wanderers have flowed into this village, Piu Village.”
“That’s a good lead. Is there any way we can meet them?”
“Of course. I'll introduce you. Guard!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
At Callis’s call, a boy with a large bone earring hurried over and stood at attention. As if we were back in the Military State, Callis gave him a command with natural authority.
“Is the Skull Tribe still staying in the shelter?”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Guide these people to the Skull Tribe. Tell them I sent you. I’ll head over as soon as I’m done with the rationing.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The young barbarian approached us, clumsily mimicking the Military State's salute. It was awkward seeing a barbarian with no uniform trying to copy the gesture, but strangely, the boy seemed to be quite fond of the Military State’s customs.
“Here! This way. Please follow me!”
The young barbarian, full of vigor, guided us.
It was a difficult experience to describe. The Skull Tribe was a people who wore the skulls of beasts on their heads. Due to a custom where they had to hunt larger beasts for larger skulls as their heads grew, they had gradually evolved to have smaller heads. With heads even smaller than the Regressor’s, they spoke in booming voices from beneath the deer skulls they wore.
The ground had opened, and an Evil God had crawled out. The priests of the Evil God had sacrificed several other tribes.
It was all so long-winded that it was utterly useless information. The only meaningful detail was the location where the Skull Tribe had witnessed the Evil God. After spilling everything they knew, the Skull Tribe pleaded with us.
“What about the Undying? Why won't the Undying, who should be protecting the people of Manguo with their immortal power, help us?!”
“Manguo fell a long time ago.”
“What? Manguo fell? Nonsense! We are standing right here, alive and well!”
“Does news arrive a thousand years late here, or are you romantics who believe a nation still stands as long as its people live?”
Manguo was originally born from a loose confederation of barbarian tribes.
The government of Manguo had a fairly systematic ruling structure, like a kingdom or an empire, but most barbarian tribes regarded Muhu as something akin to a legend or myth. Paradoxically, that was why Muhu was able to reign, as the barbarian tribes living in the jungles and plains could not be controlled by civilization.
Perhaps because of that, they didn't seem to feel the void left by Manguo's fall, even after all this time.
“How long will the Undying just stand by and watch! If the Piu keep dying one by one, soon only the Undying will be left in Manguo!”
“Hey. You're being quite overbearing for people seeking help. Calm down.”
Rasch’s reply was surprisingly sharp. As the deer antlers of the Skull Tribe member clacked shut, Rasch shrugged and continued.
“We are also keeping an eye on the situation. As you said, if an Evil God has appeared, won't we be next? However, we too are in a position where we must seek permission from our Sacrificial Vessel. We cannot move rashly until the next offering rite.”
“The Sacrificial Vessel…”
At the mention of a god, the Skull Tribe couldn't speak carelessly. Unlike their gods, who existed only in tradition and faith, the god of the Undying was real.
“The great spirit who granted the power of immortality to the Earthener Tribe… does he still speak to the Undying?”
“Of course. Why else would we still be Undying?”
They couldn't press further when divine permission was required. The Skull Tribe bowed their heads in despair.
“However, the ones who help you don't necessarily have to be us, do they?”
“…There’s someone else who can help?”
“Here. These are outsiders from beyond the plains. I hear they're trying to stop the end of the world or something. I don't know the details, but they should be able to help you!”
The Skull Tribe looked us up and down, then nodded.
“Outsiders? I thought they seemed too frail to be mighty Undying.”
“Hahaha! They may not look like much, but their skills are the real deal! You'll be in for a surprise if you judge them rashly!”
“…Hmmmm.”
Unable to shake their preconceptions, the Skull Tribe glanced back and forth between me and the Regressor with suspicion.
“They look like they'd have trouble breaking a twig. I doubt they can do anything to the priests of the Evil God…”
Clang, clang, clang!
It happened then. The loud ringing of a bell echoed repeatedly. People instinctively ducked their heads and then rushed outside to assess the situation.
“What’s going on?!”
“We’re under attack!”
Callis’s sharp voice rang out. Immediately after, barbarian tribesmen clad in metal armor began to run toward the fence in unison.
Amidst the chaos, someone pointed to the treetops and shouted.
“It's those monkey bastards!”
Piu Village was surrounded by a high, sturdy fence, but no matter how high it was, it couldn't be taller than the ancient trees that had greedily sucked the earth’s essence for over a thousand years. The branches of hundreds, thousands of trees stretched out, looming over the fence.
And there, several barbarians in monkey masks were perched in the trees, watching us. An unnerving laugh trickled out from beneath their masks.
“Kekeke. Look at them all, hiding with their heads in the sand like ostriches. Do they really think the Undying will look after them forever?”
A monkey mask raised its hand. The twenty or so ‘monkeys’ clinging to the branches let out beastly laughs and began to creep up the trees.
I looked at Rasch and asked.
“Monkeys? What are they?”
“They’re a bunch who command jungle monkeys! Despicable thieves with sticky fingers!”
“Why are they here?”
“Thieves only come for one reason! To steal!”
“Steal what…?”
Before I could press further, the monkey masks showed us with their actions. Swinging on vines, they vaulted the fence and scattered nimbly throughout Piu Village. As people screamed and dispersed, the monkey masks used their long arms and legs to bound through the village, shouting.
“Grab the young and fresh ones! The great spirit favors pure souls!”
“They're after people!”
The moment he said it, Rasch kicked off the ground and sprinted. In his line of sight was a monkey mask just about to snatch a child from its mother.
“Who do you think you are!”
Rasch threw a massive punch. It was a swift blow, belying his huge frame. The monkey mask, noticing Rasch’s approach, immediately did a backflip to dodge the attack. Rasch swung his fists like a volley of cannonballs, but the creature, with its bizarrely long limbs, leaped about and evaded every one.
“Damn, there’s an Undying here!”
“Kekeke. He’s a slowpoke! Ignore him and grab the kid!”
Similar scenes were unfolding all over Piu Village. Callis and her militia formed ranks and pushed back the monkey masks, but that only reduced the damage, not defeated the enemy. The monkey masks mocked the militia as they rampaged through the village.
The Regressor watched the sudden chaos and muttered.
“Right on time.”
“Is this also the Saintess’s blessing?”
“It seems this blessing is working out quite well. A problem arises just when we need it.”
“At this point, it feels like something is tracking our path and creating incidents for us. Are you sure we were blessed and not cursed?”
“It’s a problem we can solve. That’s much better.”
Just then, a shadow rose behind us. A monkey mask, more agile and stealthy than most beasts, reached out with a long arm and snatched the Regressor by the waist.
“Kekeke! Here’s another weird-looking little kid! I’ll just take…”
“Who are you calling a kid!”
Heavenly Counter Domain, Thunderstrike.
Chun-aeng shot out like lightning. The arm that tried to grab the Regressor was severed completely, spraying a fountain of blood. The barbarian in the monkey mask screamed as he saw his prized long arm cut in half.
“Kieeeeeeek!”
At the agonizing scream, the other monkey masks stopped their rampage and looked our way. The one with the severed arm clutched the gushing stump and shrieked.
“Ukii. What! What's happening?”
“You picked the wrong one.”
The Regressor extended Chun-aeng and surveyed her surroundings.
On the roof, behind a wall, in the middle of the road, near the fence. In a single moment, she located every monkey mask, took a sharp breath, and cut them all down in a single slash. The trajectory of an invisible sword was carved into the roofs, walls, road, and fence as a blade of wind tore the monkey masks to shreds.
The monkey masks were sent flying, coughing up blood with the gust of wind. Panicked by the deaths of their comrades, the remaining monkey masks cried out like frightened animals.
“Kieeeeeeek! It's wind! She's using a wind spirit!”
“Run! Run! Kieeeeeeek!”
“Too late.”
Now that this has happened, there was no reason to let them live. She just needed to leave a few alive for information. And I had already read their minds.
Still, there was no need to kill them all. Before the Regressor could slaughter all the intruders, I stopped her.
“Wait a second.”
I reached out to touch her shoulder. In that instant, the world seemed to blink out, and up and down were reversed. The moment my hand made contact, the Regressor's body dove under me like a ghost and threw me in a single motion.
I'm so used to this, I'm sick of it. Heavenly Counter Domain again. Can't this damn Qi Art tell friend from foe? The Regressor was poised to stab me with a reverse-gripped Chun-aeng as I fell toward the ground, back-first.
‘Ah, Heavenly Counter Domain!’
Getting stabbed in the chest wouldn't kill me anymore, so I was relaxing my body when the Regressor reacted. Just before my back hit the ground, she pulled me up with a jerk and hastily drew Chun-aeng back behind her.
As a result of the abrupt change in posture, the Regressor and I became a single tangled heap, rolling across the ground.
“I told you not to touch me so suddenly! I almost cut you down!”
“How am I supposed to stop someone who tries to cut people down on reflex without touching them?”
“Why did you try to stop me?”
Pushing herself up off me, the Regressor spotted the monkey masks fleeing through the branches. She could give chase if she wanted, but the jungle was dense and dark. Tracking down each monkey mask as they scattered through the trees wasn't cost-effective.
“If you hadn't stopped me, they would all be dead!”
“Thanks to you not killing them, we can find their base.”
“What?”
“The ones who got a good scare will run back to their base, right? If we follow them, we can find their hideout without lifting a finger.”
I could just grab one and interrogate him, or read his mind. But there was no need to take the long way around. The Regressor thought for a moment before replying.
“Is that so…? You’re right. Not bad.”
“It’s simple. You received the Saintess's blessing and you didn't think of this?”
“You thought of it. That's good enough.”
Grumbling, the Regressor got to her feet and looked around Piu Village, where the commotion had passed. Despite the sudden attack, the people of Piu Village seemed accustomed to such situations. In this harsh land of savages, enemy raids were just a part of daily life.
Rasch, dragging the corpse of a monkey mask, spoke in disbelief.
“Those monkey bastards dared to invade our territory? Heh. If they had just come for a visit, I would have offered them a meal…”
Callis replied to Rasch’s monologue.
“To be precise, this isn't the Undying's territory. Piu Village is merely a place where wandering Piu stay. We cannot survive without the ‘consideration’ of the Undying. And when someone attacks like this, if Piu Village cannot overcome it with its own strength, it will remain forever subservient.”
After her cold reply, Callis issued orders to the militiamen lined up before her. The Piu Village militiamen, armed with armor and spears, dispersed to take a headcount.
In the midst of this, a militiaman who had approached a weeping mother shouted.
“A child is missing!”
To the mother, the child was everything, but to Piu Village, it was just one of many. To lose only one child in an attack of this scale was, in fact, a great success.
“…It’s regrettable, but it can't be helped. We can't chase monkeys in the jungle.”
But the mother’s heart wasn't in that calculation. Like a true Mage Officer of the Military State, Callis made a rational decision. The barbarians of Piu Village, though they didn't show it, inwardly agreed with her judgment.
Of course, we had no need to follow Callis’s decision.
“We'll bring the child back.”
After all, they had conveniently kidnapped only one, making the rescue easy.