Chapter 138
Chapter 138
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: The Apostle of Sokseon
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The temple of the god of trolls and asbestos—once called the God of Entwining and Knotting, now known simply as Sokseon—was desolate.
Among the massive pillars leading into the temple, there were more that leaned or had toppled than those still standing upright, and beside them lay the ruins of buildings that had once been intact.
Fragments of originally complete structures, chunks of stone shattered beyond recognition wedged between those fragments, bits of wood that had once held everything in balance scattered amid the stones—and if one looked even more closely, following the nose-stinging stench into the dark shadows beneath the debris, the occasional rotten corpse crushed under the wreckage came into view.
Beyond these ruins lay a wide clearing swept clean for people to pass through, and at its edge sat a massive stone slab etched with a labyrinth pattern hinting at Sokseon.
The maze carved into the slab symbolized the tangled complexity of Sokseon's nature, while also evoking the irregularity of the ruined temple—and the order imposed upon that chaos, embodied by the temple itself.
This was Sokseon's grand temple.
Ledin Bial Oser, the new king of the asbestos trolls and high priest of the Sokseon faith, had seized the throne from his father Dermaldin Bial Oser by collapsing half the royal palace—and then called the wreckage a temple.
"History for the god shall be rewritten anew today."
Behind his back, everyone called Ledin a mad troll, but none dared say it to his face.
All of Asbestos followed the new order Ledin had forged.
People whispered that Ledin must have gone through something unimaginable after leaving for the Man Gul on his father's orders.
In truth, during Ledin's brief disappearance in the Man Gul, numerous priests of Sokseon had vanished just as mysteriously, leaving only a single phrase: "following the will of the god."
Dermaldin Bial Oser—Ledin's father—had suspected that Ledin had been swayed by Changryu, the kobold god, rather than the troll god Sokseon, and had tried to punish him on that pretext.
But the outcome proved otherwise.
Whatever Ledin had experienced in the Man Gul, it had been within Sokseon's will.
Sokseon's priests testified to it, and Ledin himself proved it by toppling the royal castle, slaying his father, and usurping the throne.
Asbestos swiftly embraced the new order.
Those who couldn't were either dullards still trapped in Dermaldin's shadow or opportunists seeking to expand their domains amid the chaos.
And for Ledin—chosen by the god, perhaps even by both Sokseon and Changryu—such foes were merely opportunities to spread his fame far and wide.
Ledin made Sokseon's grand temple his palace.
When nothing urgent demanded his attention, he sat or stood before the stele symbolizing Sokseon.
Many already recognized Ledin as no ordinary king, so his eccentricities were readily accepted.
Ledin himself now saw the past obsessions that had once bound him as utterly trivial.
'Mother's revenge? The truth about my father? What meaning do such things hold?'
What truly thrilled Ledin was Sokseon's command.
More precisely, obeying it—and even more precisely, how swiftly and efficiently he executed it in line with Sokseon's intent.
Ledin felt a rush of ecstasy every time he fulfilled Sokseon's will.
This pleasure intensified not when he interpreted or pondered the commands to reach his own conclusions, but when he accepted them mechanically and carried them out immediately.
Ledin didn't know it, but this was due to his unique stat called "Devotion."
Entities with this stat grew increasingly trusting and reliant on the player according to its level, and became more proactive in executing the player's intentions.
Only after replying did Ledin grasp Sokseon's words.
Apostle Rakrak: giant hunter, thunder lizard, first chosen, godslayer.
But refusal or protest were never options for Ledin.
Seong-un peered through a gap in the crumbled walls of Asien Fortress.
The soldiers of the Shindanyeom garrison guarding the walls were fleeing, but not all of them.
'One is Krampus... no, one of Wisdom's creations?'
Seong-un had crossed paths with it several times before.
Wisdom had made nearly all his creations into ape-like beings, and this one—called Ostro—was no exception.
The reason Ostro seemed so familiar was that it served as Wisdom's "destroyer."
Destroyers, the most common type of creation, overwhelmed enemy armies with their massive size and brute force; they battered down walls in sieges, terrorized enemy cities, or clashed against other creations.
For example, Seong-un's destroyer was Slatis, mantis-like with superhuman strength.
Ostro resembled a gorilla among the apes.
It bore only the pure white fur hinting at Wisdom's tastes and an extra pair of arms—the standard "more arms" option for destroyer types.
'Around 45 meters tall? A bit bigger than before. Level difference is negligible... Slatis has the edge in skills, so no real issue. But Ostro was just a decoy after all.'
Normally, a behemoth like Ostro couldn't be dismissed as a feint.
But Seong-un knew this time was different.
'I've sensed it hiding something all along. It could have acted more aggressively but always held back, pretending to be underprepared. Now I see.'
What Seong-un beheld was an entire unit.
At a glance, it resembled familiar forces.
They wore armor forged from hammered iron and mostly rode elk mounts.
No need to flip up their visors to know they were trolls, likely nobles descended from Asbestos's founding heroes.
Moreover, they draped complex labyrinth banners—the symbol of Asbestos—over their chests and elk, marking them as the Holy Knights.
'Sokseon's Holy Knights. Have to call that a solid force. ...No, that's not it.'
Seong-un eyed the one leading the Holy Knights.
The king of Asbestos, Ledin Bial Oser.
Ledin rode his elk atop the crumbled walls of Asien Fortress, exuding utter fearlessness.
Gazing down at the Black Scale Army, Ledin bellowed,
"Are you afraid?"
"No, sir!"
Some two hundred Holy Knights roared in response.
Though few in number, they showed no intimidation—only sky-piercing confidence.
"Are you afraid of Yacheon's legions?"
"No, sir!"
"Are you afraid of Yacheon's apostle?"
"No, sir!"
Ledin shouted,
"I am Sokseon's apostle! If there is one thing you must fear..."
Of course, Basen Rak Oran, commanding the Black Scale Army, didn't wait for the enemy's morale to peak.
"Fire!"
The upgraded cannons that had shattered the walls now unleashed on Ledin and the Holy Knights.
In an instant, cannonballs swept toward Ledin and his knights—or seemed to. Then Ledin's voice rang out from the dust cloud.
"...it is Sokseon himself."
As the dust cleared, Ledin and the Holy Knights emerged unscathed, as if the shots had merely grazed past.
Ledin yanked the reins hard, rearing his elk up on its forelegs.
"Charge!"
Seong-un scowled.
'...An apostle unit.'
Seong-un's first question was how Wisdom even had an apostle.
'Still, whatever. Plenty of ways around it. I get that he's schemed something.'
Countering an apostle by creating one was straightforward logic.
The only curiosity was what sacrifices it took.
Seong-un's second question: why hadn't the Holy Knights taken any damage either?
An idea flashed through his mind immediately.
'Compared to Rakrak, made almost by coincidence, Ledin here is a latecomer. He has to be weaker. So... he used a loophole.'
It wasn't quite a loophole if scrutinized.
An apostle's strength came from their skills, determined by their fame.
But what if an apostle's personal fame was lacking?
'So he borrowed the power of the group.'
After slaying his father and claiming the throne, Ledin hadn't pacified Asbestos and crushed the rebels with his own power alone.
He had wielded Sokseon's Holy Knights like extensions of himself.
In that process, Ledin's fame had intertwined to some degree with the Holy Knights'.
Seong-un couldn't view another player's apostle stats directly, but he could infer Ledin's skills.
'Probably a skill that grants faith levels and bonus stats to the Holy Knights when together—and vice versa.'
Such fame-sharing offered synergy through numbers, but limited versatility.
'But if it's only for fighting Rakrak, it doesn't matter. Rational choice.'
Seong-un decided he couldn't just watch any longer.
'Slatis!'
...Destroy, annihilate, murder. What do you desire?
'Murder.'
Slatis.
Yacheon's hammer.
This level 24 monster, boasting a body rivaling Ostro's and strength exceeding 500, charged from the shattered walls of Asien Fortress toward the four-armed white gorilla.
Meanwhile, Rakrak called out to his descendant.
"Basen!"
"Gods above, Apostle Rakrak!"
"Anyone would be stunned by a sparkling lizardman. But save the awe for later."
Basen glared at his laughing adjutant.
Rakrak continued,
"You'll see, but no mortal army can match them."
"...Then?"
"Withdraw. From above, I see Shindanyeom's forces retreating—but linking up with Asbestos reinforcements in the rear. They're aiming for the main camp."
"Southwest or northeast?"
"Southwest."
"Understood."
Rakrak smiled at his sharp-minded kin.
At Basen's command, the Black Scale Army began to move at once.
But compared to the charging Ledin and Holy Knights, they were painfully slow.
'Is he aiming to shatter the main camp's formation?'
Rakrak had no intention of letting the enemy have their way.
"Anakse, let's go! It'll be a busy day."
On the vast plain before Asien Fortress's walls.
Rakrak charged at Ledin—and Ledin at Rakrak.