Chapter 438: The Temple (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 438: The Temple (1)
Alon gazed at the temple situated in the distance.
It was a building constructed of red bricks, standing in the middle of a desolate world.
On the surface, it maintained the shape of a temple, but in reality, it was closer to a ruin. Red moss clung to the gaps between broken pillars, and red grass sprouted from the cracked floor.
Despite its dilapidated appearance, Alon could not easily lower his guard. He felt it instinctively.
There was something in that temple.
As they drew closer, Alon’s intuition sharpened into a certainty.
“……This is.”
“It’s what we saw back in the territory.”
Alon surveyed the area surrounding the temple.
Red eggs were everywhere.
Thousands upon thousands of slender red eggs, resembling ant eggs, stretched out endlessly from the distance. It was a bizarre sight.
To those who knew the true nature of these red eggs, the landscape was nothing but infinitely unpleasant and disgusting. Amidst it all, Alon gave a quiet command.
“Evan, Penia. I will walk from here. You two stay back.”
“You’re going alone, Lord Alon?!”
“That looks far too dangerous….”
Both expressed their concern at the ominous scenery. However, Alon shook his head.
“It’s fine. If it gets truly dangerous, I’ll escape immediately. So, once I step out, pull back.”
After warning them once more, he opened the carriage door.
It was then.
“I’ll go with you.”
“……Yutia?”
“I don’t want to send you in alone, Teacher.”
Yutia caught his arm.
“……It looks more dangerous than I expected.”
“Even so.”
Yutia gave a faint smile.
Seeing the determination hidden within that smile, Alon thought for a moment before nodding.
“Fine…. Then let’s make some preparations before we go.”
He accepted Yutia’s request.
A short while later.
“Lord Alon, please be careful!”
[Kyuu—!]
Following the cry of Blackie, who remained behind with Penia, the carriage pulled away.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
Alon and Yutia began to walk cautiously toward the temple.
“…….”
As they approached, the red eggs filled their entire field of vision.
“……I was under the impression that there were no territories in this area.”
As Alon muttered the information he had previously heard from Evan, Yutia, walking beside him, spoke up.
“I suspect they were brought here.”
“……Brought here?”
“Yes. These eggs existed in the territories as well, but there weren't nearly this many, were there?”
Alon nodded silently.
The number of eggs in the territories they had passed through was far too low to account for all the residents being transformed by the power of the Divine Blood.
Yet, a question simultaneously arose.
Is there a reason to gather the eggs?
As far as Alon knew, these red eggs were part of the process of turning humans into ‘tools’ for the Divine Blood. It was a process that stripped away intellect and reduced humans to mere instruments for gathering Faith.
If his understanding was correct, there seemed to be no reason to move these eggs here.
……What exactly is happening?
Before they knew it, they had arrived in front of the temple.
Alon stared at the structure with a grim expression. The temple was covered in red eggs, looking almost like a massive colony.
“……Let’s head up.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
Stepping carefully onto the red temple, Alon began to quietly form seals inside his pocket.
He could already feel it.
The aura of Divine Blood was clearly emanating from deep within the temple.
Prepared to react at any moment, he kept his hands on the seals as they headed inside.
After walking through the red darkness for quite some time, Alon and Yutia reached the center of the temple, where the ceiling was open to the sky.
The first thing Alon saw there was a massive sphere.
It was a giant red sphere that felt overwhelming just to look at, as if all the energy in the world had been gathered into a single point.
“……?”
And in front of that sphere, Alon saw a human floating low in the center of the temple—
“……!”
—No, that was wrong.
Alon corrected his own thought.
That was not a human.
From behind, the figure looked human. Unlike the grotesque Divine Blood entities he had seen until now, its form was remarkably close to a person’s.
But Alon realized it instantly.
That thing was a Divine Blood.
And not just any—
“……?”
It possessed a power far greater than any entity he had encountered so far.
The moment he realized that fact.
“Hm?”
The man—no, the Divine Blood—who had been silently gathering the red sphere in the center of the temple turned around.
His appearance, like his back, was similar to a human’s.
However, there was a glaring difference.
On the left side of his face—
“What’s this?”
—two gruesome red eyeballs were rolling and shifting about.
The moment those horrifying eyes landed on Alon.
“……Huh?”
A small exclamation escaped the Divine Blood’s mouth.
As if the situation itself was incredibly surprising, the Divine Blood—who had one eye on one side and three rolling eyeballs on the other—stared at Alon and Yutia.
“This is truly fascinating.”
He whispered, sounding amused.
“The Star Eater actually came here? It’s almost as if—”
His lips twisted into a smirk.
“—you came just so I could kill you easily.”
* * *
The speed at which rumors spread among the Divine Blood varied wildly.
While the same could be said for humans, the disparity was far more extreme among the Divine Blood. This was because the groups of Divine Blood that had fallen to the surface were divided into various hostile factions.
The types of factions were incredibly diverse.
There were those belonging to the four strongest factions.
There were those who formed groups to pursue personal goals.
There were those with entirely different objectives, and those who belonged nowhere, keeping their heads down in silence.
Because of this, rumors among the Divine Blood could spread easily or not at all.
The rumor that the Star Eater could absorb and redistribute the abilities of the Divine Blood had not yet spread very far.
Conversely, a single recent event among the Divine Blood was spreading with incredible speed.
That event was none other than the death of the Father of Maggots—a loyal subject of Rotten Mouth—who had been unilaterally attacked and killed by other Divine Blood.
While other rumors might have faltered, the fact that a leader of a faction belonging to the 1st Stage, like Rotten Mouth, had met his end spread in an instant.
It didn't take long for that rumor to reach the ears of Burnt Vegetation in the United Kingdoms.
[Hmph—this is not good.]
At those words, the other Divine Blood nodded in unison.
His words naturally carried several meanings.
The first was regarding merit.
Until now, Burnt Vegetation had been building trust by constantly appealing to the Star Eater and the members of the Star Root who had joined him early, while protecting the United Kingdoms.
However, what the junior members of the Star Root, including the Darkness-Eating Sword, had done this time was at a level that could effectively overshadow Burnt Vegetation’s achievements.
There was a clear difference in merit between handling enemies that poured in endlessly and eliminating the very cause of the enemies' arrival.
[Tsk—those damn junior bastards!]
[How dare they try to cut in line—!]
[They didn't just try, they did it! If things stay like this…!]
The Divine Blood around Burnt Vegetation were incensed.
Their anger was, in a way, justified. No one here had failed to notice the Darkness-Eating Sword’s intentions.
[They truly have no sense of professional ethics.]
[I agree. Tsk—to think they would pull such a ridiculous stunt.]
[But what comes next is the real problem. What should we do now? Since they lost the Father of Maggots, they’ll surely come charging in for revenge.]
At one Divine Blood’s remark, Burnt Vegetation gave a slight nod.
The second reason this situation was bad was that the probability of war had increased.
There were several reasons why the Divine Blood had avoided touching the Father of Maggots.
First was his sheer strength, which allowed him to laughingly face one or two Divine Blood on his own.
Second was the fact that he enjoyed the favor of Rotten Mouth.
Third was the easy understanding that killing him would trigger a war.
In other words, while the Darkness-Eating Sword had essentially wiped out the essence of the incoming Divine Blood, he had also effectively started a war.
As they worried, Burnt Vegetation, who had been deep in thought, cleared his throat.
[……Ahem.]
The attention of the Divine Blood shifted to him instantly.
Confirming he had their eyes, Burnt Vegetation spoke slowly.
[To speak plainly, I believe this is an opportunity.]
The Divine Blood began to murmur amongst themselves.
[How is this an opportunity? The Darkness-Eating Sword has already monopolized the merit by killing the Father of Maggots, and we’re the ones who are going to suffer the consequences.]
When the natural backlash arose, Burnt Vegetation continued calmly.
[We cannot change what has already happened. The Darkness-Eating Sword and the junior members of the Star Root have dealt with the Father of Maggots.]
[Then isn't it over?]
[No, it is not.]
[Why not?]
[Because there is a 'next,' is there not?]
[……Next?]
Seeing the bewildered reactions of the Divine Blood, Burnt Vegetation nodded.
[Because of the Darkness-Eating Sword, the Divine Blood will now head this way.]
[……And you’re saying we should fill our merit by stopping them? Honestly, given what we’ve done so far, it might be possible, but it’s a foregone conclusion that we’ll be pushed back.]
It was a reasonable doubt.
However, Burnt Vegetation replied with a relaxed expression.
[Certainly, if that were all, our merit would be similar.]
[……? Then?]
[But what if, instead of just stopping them, we bring them into our faction and grow our strength?]
He threw out the suggestion.
[!]
Exclamation marks seemed to pop up over the heads of the Divine Blood.
[Then, this becomes an unparalleled opportunity. A very good chance to appeal our merit to That Person.]
Burnt Vegetation’s eyes gleamed as a chuckle escaped him.