Chapter 568: The Sin of Cinders and the God of Stitched Skin - 3
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 568: The Sin of Cinders and the God of Stitched Skin - 3
Rasch landed with a thud, his jaw dropping as he saw the burning Sacrificial Vessel.
“Hah! I didn’t mean to set the Sacrificial Vessel on fire. Teacher, wasn’t that a bit much?”
“That wasn’t my magic. I’d love to burn it just like that, but unfortunately, I don’t have that kind of mana.”
“Huh? If it wasn’t your magic, then…”
“Rasch!”
Callis appeared from the direction the flames had come from. She must have rushed over, as embers still clung to her red hair. She pointed at the Sacrificial Vessel and said.
“Rasch, what is that monster?”
“A monster? That’s the Sacrificial Vessel!”
“I didn’t know the Sacrificial Vessel was a monster made of stitched-together corpses! I knew it was part of some folk religion, but to think it was a monster…!”
“Hey, as someone with a monster for a parent, that’s a bit hard to hear! The Sacrificial Vessel is a benevolent being! Even if it did say some rather harsh things just now!”
“I saw you punching him a moment ago, though?”
“It’s a child’s duty! I may have thrown a punch, but I still respect him!”
If Rasch was here, Callis was bound to be as well. I’d expected reinforcements, but I never thought it would be her.
She was the last person who should be getting involved in this fight.
“Wait, Callis! Don’t come any closer!”
Rasch was one of the Undying, and his power came from the Sacrificial Vessel. Naturally, the Sacrificial Vessel also possessed an undying body. If a mere undying like Rasch couldn’t be killed by being set on fire, there was no way the Sacrificial Vessel would die.
[Impressive, King of Humans. To kill my body once with such a pittance of power.]
From within the flames, the Sacrificial Vessel rose again. Though cards were embedded all over its body, searing its flesh, and burning vines scorched its skin, it didn’t seem to care.
The Sacrificial Vessel stared at me with burning pupils.
[I knew it. I must eat you now.]
“No, O Sacrificial Vessel. Couldn’t you eat something else?”
[Silence, Right Arm. Shall I eat your woman instead?]
Rasch’s eyes widened as he frantically pushed Callis away. The Sacrificial Vessel, wreathed in flames like an incarnation of hellfire, warned him.
[Even to this body, the right arm is deeply meaningful. I have personally allowed you to live, but… I will forgive you no longer. If you intend to resist, I will devour your family first.]
At the chilling threat, the smile gradually vanished from Rasch’s face. He swallowed hard and slowly clenched his fists. With a hardened expression, he looked up at the Sacrificial Vessel and spoke.
“O Sacrificial Vessel, do not test my respect.”
[What did you say?]
“You gave me strength, and I, in turn, offered you my body in service. As an incarnation of Mother Earth, you are a benevolent god suffused into this land, so I served you with all my heart and sang of your virtues.”
The Undying are, by nature, gentle beings. This is because nothing can kill or injure them. However, if someone were to insult them and threaten something other than their bodies, even the Undying could become violent.
“But threatening to kill my family? That is not the work of a god. It’s not even the work of a human. How could a being like you resort to such a foul threat, one fit only for a beast?”
Rasch’s aura was different now as he questioned the Sacrificial Vessel, his expression one that could turn to violence at any moment.
[A threat…?]
The Sacrificial Vessel was displeased by its retainer’s defiance.
[You think what I do is a threat? This is mercy. The mercy I show you. If I truly intended to threaten you, I would have started by putting your woman in my belly.]
The past in which the Sacrificial Vessel had lived was an age of barbarism, devoid of laws or rules. It was a time when entire tribes, let alone families, were annihilated. The mercy it showed was akin to cherishing its own body.
And the anger it showed was like the sense of betrayal one feels when one’s own body disobeys one’s will.
[I held you in high esteem, giving you the chance to leave this land and return with greater power. Yet you not only defiled my arm but have now betrayed my very will!]
I had made a bit too much use of Rasch’s arm in the Abyss. Cleansing and purifying it of Tyr’s blood energy had altered the Sacrificial Vessel’s power.
The Sacrificial Vessel shook off the flames and swung its arm. The limb lashed out like a whip, slamming Rasch into the ground.
[You are no longer needed!]
“…The feeling is mutual.”
Pinned to the ground, Rasch slowly began to rise. The Sacrificial Vessel’s arm was still pressing down on him, but Rasch was resisting with all his might.
“I have no need for a pathetic god like you!”
And with that, Rasch pushed himself up and threw a counter-punch. Thwack! He couldn’t knock the Sacrificial Vessel down, but the blow was enough to make it stagger for a moment.
[You bastard!]
“O Sacrificial Vessel!”
Eyes blazing, the two undying beings began to trade furious blows.
It was a slugfest. With every punch, bones broke, skin tore, and muscles were shredded. They destroyed and regenerated, over and over again. A torrent of power raged between them.
The fight, which had seemed somewhat even at first, gradually tilted in the Sacrificial Vessel’s favor. In both strength and regenerative ability, the Sacrificial Vessel was overwhelmingly superior. Rasch had managed to hold his own for a moment on sheer momentum, but every part of his body besides his right arm was crushed and broken by the Sacrificial Vessel’s power before it could even regenerate.
[Do you truly think a mere right arm can defeat this body by rebelling!]
Crash. Rasch’s head was half-buried in the ground. As he desperately tried to get up, the Sacrificial Vessel’s right foot slammed down on him, driving Rasch’s body deep into the earth like a stake.
[I will devour you…!]
Just as the Sacrificial Vessel was about to grab the fallen Rasch, another great burst of flame engulfed it. Callis, who had been gathering her mana, had unleashed a strategy-level spell. Flames erupted from the ground, clinging to its skin and burning it.
[Ha!]
But it was only for a moment. The Sacrificial Vessel wasted no more time and consumed another of its lives. An energy pulsed from beneath its feet, enveloping its body. Shrugging off the flames as if shedding skin, the Sacrificial Vessel moved to deal with Callis first.
“You’re not going anywhere!”
Rasch wrapped himself around the Sacrificial Vessel’s right leg and executed a technique. He twisted its ankle and kicked the back of its knee, momentarily bending its leg backward.
It would have been effective if the Sacrificial Vessel didn’t have the ability to pop its joints out and back in. Its steps faltering for only an instant, it kicked Rasch away.
Just then, something snatched at its foot. The Sacrificial Vessel flinched, seeing the vines and clumps of earth gripping its leg.
[Grr…! Tricks!]
“Tricks are all I have left after losing my strength.”
I stabbed the skewer into its heel and twisted. As I sent a bolt of lightning into its body, its foot spasmed and shot out in the wrong direction. I had sent enough lightning to burn a body to a crisp, but to the Sacrificial Vessel, it was nothing more than a massage.
[You…!]
“I’m here too!”
That brief opening was all he needed. Rasch slammed his fist into the ground and launched himself upward, his right arm connecting with the Sacrificial Vessel’s jaw in a vicious uppercut. A couple of teeth flew out, and the Sacrificial Vessel’s neck was momentarily dislocated, its head lolling. It regenerated in an instant, but by then I had already torn through its skin and muscle and gotten free.
‘Of all times, for my right arm to betray me! It was a mistake to entrust my right arm to the strongest warrior!’
Ankra, having died once, had taken root throughout this entire land. Its scattered flesh had mixed with the soil and trees, been consumed by beasts, and eventually re-formed into a new body.
To make its body stronger, it needed to be offered strong bodies. That was why it had given its most precious right arm to the strongest warrior, Rasch. In essence, Rasch and the Sacrificial Vessel were now sharing the largest portion of its power.
That was why Rasch could put up a fight, despite the overwhelming difference in their strength. A sense of crisis began to creep into the Sacrificial Vessel’s mind. The loser’s memory, the thought that it might lose even with this power, resurfaced and ensnared it.
‘The King of Humans is still human. He’ll tire eventually! I’ll devour him then!’
“Oh, by the way. You saw earlier, right? I have a bit of an undying power myself. I can fight like this all day.”
Though it was impossible due to my Qi, not my stamina.
My psychological pressure was successful. My words made the Sacrificial Vessel anxious, and it consumed ten of its ‘lives.’ In that instant, its body healed at a visible rate, and it unleashed a burst of monstrous strength that overturned the surrounding earth and trees. Both Rasch and I were caught in the blast and sent flying.
[I will show no more mercy! I will devour you all!]
Well, I really could fight all day. But that wouldn’t be necessary.
Because our reinforcements would be arriving soon.
*
[Shei should have abandoned him. He didn’t let you give up on him. Who should I resent?]
Shei, who had been about to fly towards the Sacrificial Vessel, paused at the restraining voice. The afterimage of Mayel, the Saintess of the Sky, hovered in the air, gazing at the jungle beyond where the dawn was breaking.
[A today that is no different from yesterday promises a tomorrow that will continue on.]
Bathed in the rising sunlight, Mayel placed a hand on her chest. Shei paid it little mind. It was a prayer he had heard countless times at the Sanctum.
[But Shei. The tomorrow that is promised to me is you. If you go astray, I will have no choice but to fall asleep dreaming of a different tomorrow.]
However, Shei couldn’t help but flinch at those words.
This was a desperate plea he had only ever heard in the final battle, just before he died.
[I tried to save you. But please do not resent me even if I fail. For I cannot paint over the future that you have drawn.]
*
CRUNCH. A massive beast stomped on the Sacrificial Vessel. The god didn’t even let out a scream, not a single sound, as it was ground into the dirt. Its once-mighty body crumbled into little more than sand, and blood mixed with soil splattered everywhere.
I, Rasch, and Callis, who had just been preparing to fight, were all bewildered by the sudden disappearance of our opponent. For a long moment, we couldn't even recall the identity of the stranger who had appeared before us.
I was the one who belatedly recognized the uninvited guest. Even before I could read its thoughts, I saw the deer antlers on its head.
“…Nevida?”
“My Lord. I trust you have been well.”
Its androgynous appearance hadn’t changed a bit from the last time I saw it. Leaves grew sparsely in its hair, which flowed down long enough to touch the ground. A silk robe draped over its form like it was hanging on a tree branch.
The Ancient Druid. The Agent of Nature, the Most Beautiful Beast.
The living Divine who had revived the World Tree after it burned and fell with the destruction of Manguo.
She, who should have been at the Tree of Corruption, now appeared before my eyes and knelt quietly.
“My Lord. I apologize for my belated arrival. The preparations to serve thee were not yet complete, and so this humble servant had to leave thy side for a time.”
“Huh? What?”
“But worry not. All preparations are now complete.”
Wait, what? This wasn’t the reinforcement I was thinking of.
Regressor, Azzy! Where are you guys? What are you doing? Something weird just popped up! Even if this is the old land of Manguo, the former domain of the World Tree, how far is that from here? How did something like this show up? How did it even know?
[You, what are you…!]
CRACK. Nevida’s hand transformed into a bear’s paw and crushed the Sacrificial Vessel’s body as it tried to rise, grinding it into dust. After the horrific sound of flesh and bone turning into a handful of nothing, Nevida, having created a quiet silence once more, rose like an inanimate object.
“I am moved that my Lord has come in person. This servant shall attend to you now. Please spare thy noble self.”
“No, how did you know to come here?”
“Where my Lord is, is where this servant must be.”
This person has no intention of giving a straight answer! Its words are all just empty pleasantries! Is this how you treat a king?
[Kraaaaaaaaaaah!!]
Just then, the Sacrificial Vessel consumed fifty lives at once and rose again. The power that surged from instantly burning through so many lives was so immense that even Nevida was pushed back by sheer force.
[You, beast priests! How dare you who cling to mere beasts defy this body!]
Nevida dug leopard claws into the ground to stop herself. Despite the sudden insult, she seemed more intrigued than offended.
“Beast priest? It has been a long time since I have heard that term. Are you perhaps from the Age of Purity?”
[That’s right! This body will become complete by eating the King of Humans! I will now achieve what Ankra could not in life!]
“…Ankra?”
But the Sacrificial Vessel should have been more careful with its words. It was far too optimistic to assume that a strange, powerful being would be friendly.
Even I, who was being called ‘Lord’ and treated with respect by Nevida, was not her ally!
“Ah. I remember now. You are one of the insolent ones who dared to raise a hand against the King of Humans. That profane group who dared to betray, eat, rape, and enslave my Lord, to make him their plaything. Even if you were deceived by a harlot, your sin does not disappear.”
An unsettling killing intent began to rise, as if the very forest and grass were rising up in anger. Nevida, who had until now shown an emotionless demeanor similar to a tree, was now slightly angered beneath her calm expression.
At the Ancient Druid’s rage, at the Divine’s emotion, the entire land and all its trees trembled. Nevida grew a small branch from her fingertip and shook it gently.
“The King of Humans should have slaughtered you all. I do not know how you are still alive, but.”
The ground shook and tree roots shot up. In the blink of an eye, the roots wrapped around the Sacrificial Vessel’s feet and crawled up to its shoulders. Caught by surprise, the Sacrificial Vessel shouted as it tried to shake off the roots binding its entire body.
[Hmph! You think you can stop this body with something like this!]
“To believe the Undying are immortal is the height of pathetic ignorance.”
As Nevida clenched her palm, the roots tightened, crushing the Sacrificial Vessel’s body. Like snakes, they constricted, pulverized, and minced its body until it was swallowed up as dust. Its flesh was broken down and dissolved, leaving not even a trace of its form.
“No flower stays red for ten days, and even a thousand-year-old tree must eventually lay its body upon the earth.”
[…This body is the Sacrificial Vessel! Unlike you who worship beasts…!]
And yet, the Sacrificial Vessel did not die. It consumed a life to reconstruct its body, then tore at the roots with its immense strength. But its two hands could not fend off the thousands of strands, and in a moment, it was once again buried in roots and crushed.
“From rotted leaves and branches, new trees grow, filling the space where giants have fallen. Grass and soil cycle for eternity, replenishing this land.”
Nevida’s song echoed softly through the forest.
Its skin melted away. Its vital essence was being siphoned off somewhere. It formed into a tree, bore fruit, and fell as leaves. The Sacrificial Vessel experienced a rapid succession of deaths.
But that, too, was the essence of the Sacrificial Vessel. Having melted into this very earth, it was immortal as long as its core remained. All it had to do was reconstruct its body and revive. Its lives were merely for maintaining its physical form. Just as it had after its first death, the Sacrificial Vessel gathered its energy, which was scattered throughout the earth and vegetation.
The Sacrificial Vessel was immortal. As long as it was alive. As long as it survived.
“In the endless cycle of reincarnation.”
Just live. Just live. Just live. Somehow, just stay alive.
Even if it was miserable, as long as it had life.
“Perish.”
—And the Sacrificial Vessel’s thoughts stopped.
Before its eyes was a single tree, strangely resembling a person. Its twisted branches looked like human joints, and the leaves that grew upon them were like hair. A branch, desperately reaching out to one side as if yearning for something, looked like the pleading hand of a drowning person.
And at its very tip, a small, blood-red fruit had formed.
In the end, by clinging to life with only the instinct for survival, the Sacrificial Vessel had survived. It had simply craved life, forgetting everything else.
Return to the Source.
The Divine’s infinite reincarnation that kills the Undying.
Having effortlessly annihilated the god of a tribe, Nevida turned away impassively.