Chapter 150
Chapter 150
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 150
Chapter Title: The Day Has Come
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Basen Rak Orazen spoke.
"I helped you when you were in trouble, but is there a problem?"
Pangolian Mago replied.
"Oh dear... Well, you are right that it's troublesome, but... this is... I'm grateful, but at the same time..."
Mago hemmed and hawed.
"You're the overseer, sir, and if this gets out, I'm as good as dead... So wouldn't you, the wanderer, be better off fleeing quickly too...?"
Basen tossed aside the rock he was holding and dusted off his hands.
"If I've put you in a difficult spot, I should take responsibility. Tell me more details."
"More... details, sir?"
Mago eyed the stranger before him, wondering if he could be trusted.
But seeing the overseer collapsed and bleeding from the head, he seemed to decide there was no other choice and began his tale.
The Pangolians had long made their home in this area.
Food grew wild here in abundance, so hunting and gathering sufficed to feed the tribe without much issue, and there were few major conflicts.
The only occasional threats were the Deep Ones who arrived by ship from afar, but most who came ashore only bartered for food.
'Don't the Deep Ones engage in slave trading? Hmm, maybe they don't see any value in us.'
Then one day, the Rakshasas invaded.
Unaware due to their timid, reclusive nature, the Pangolians didn't know that the Rakshasas had long dominated as the hegemonic race in the surrounding dense tropical rainforests.
Even among the Rakshasas, tribes were divided and fought often, so attacks on other races were rare. But when the tribe called Ashurada unified the others, things changed.
The Ashurada tribe began invading neighboring tribes and enslaving them. Their chieftain, to flaunt his power and honor their guardian Ashurada, started building a temple.
"Hold on, guardian?"
"Yes..."
"You believe in gods too?"
"Gods? You mean the ancient evils?"
"No, new gods."
"No idea. We have a guardian too, though."
Basen changed his question.
"Ashurada is the Rakshasas' guardian, and you have another one?"
"Yes. Katyuru."
"What happened to Katyuru?"
"It's imprisoned in the small temple we're building now. They say it'll be offered as a sacrifice to Ashurada."
"What do Katyuru and Ashurada look like?"
"I've never seen Ashurada myself... but Katyuru has stiff fur all over its body, a long snout like this, and claws as big as our bodies on all four paws."
Basen thought their "guardians" were less like gods and more like their creations—or monsters, spirits.
Mago said,
"Katyuru was a really good friend... but things turned out this way, so no helping it."
Basen pondered briefly, then spoke.
"Mago, I didn't come to this land alone."
"Pardon?"
"Like those Deep Ones you sometimes see, I came on a large ship from a distant continent far away. We sailed on five ships, but since our routes differed, not all sank. If I can find the others, I might be able to help you."
Mago blinked rapidly, then said,
"Even if a few ships arrived with people aboard, it wouldn't be that many..."
"Are the Rakshasas that powerful?"
"Taken all together, quite so..."
"Warriors—how many can fight?"
"Over three hundred in our village alone."
Basen thought that was more than expected, but not a major issue.
"Finding my comrades should resolve it. And the gods of the Pantheon, like Yacheon, watch over us."
"...Yacheon? Pantheon? What's that?"
Basen hesitated, then said,
"First, let's clear this body while we talk. And shouldn't you fetch water for your injured friend?"
Mago watched Basen start moving with some unease.
The stranger was confident despite the danger, from some conviction.
It struck Mago as odd.
—┼
Pantheon, Meeting Room 1.
The temporary room, once empty save for a massive long table and matching chairs, had changed greatly.
Now it resembled a theater: tiered like a lecture hall.
A podium at one end, with rows stepping down in pairs of stairs, each with desks and chairs.
Seong-un had proposed this layout.
Co-op games often required presentations.
Like now.
"...For those reasons, two ships were damaged in the typhoon, three docked safely, but no word on the others yet. That's the situation."
Seong-un finished, pointing to his screen on the podium. Krampus spoke.
"Not major damage, right? We planned for even just one arriving."
"Yes, within expected losses. Doesn't mean I like it."
Wisdom asked,
"Could the typhoon have been someone else's doing?"
Seong-un pondered, then replied,
"Can't rule it out entirely. But no players challenging greater domains yet, as far as we know. And nearby players are Shacha—the evil god—who claims innocence when asked."
Jang Wan asked,
"Good we can talk to Shacha, but no attacks incoming? Jeollubi blindly assaulted us before."
"Well..."
Seong-un answered,
"I don't see much difference in their styles. Fundamentally, they want to attack us. The difference? Jeollubi did because it was feasible then. Now we're stronger, so Shacha hesitates on all-out war."
"Even so, shouldn't they interfere with our arrival?"
"Not saying they won't."
"...Huh?"
Seong-un displayed the known map of the northern Fourth Continent.
Northwest: Deep Ones, Black Church territory. Right: unconfirmed.
"Ships are moving slowly. Unsure of their system, but internal rivalries slow external action, I guess. Our caution helped. Need a second expedition, but to block Shacha's Deep Ones, we'll exert some effort."
After Jang Wan and others nodded, Runda asked,
"No survivors from the wrecked ships?"
"Checking now. From reports so far..."
Seong-un checked his system window for scout updates.
"Ah, Basen's alive."
"Oh, good."
"Met Pangolian natives and..."
"Whoa, Pangolians? I thought they were so cute."
"...Killed Rakshasas harassing them. Rakshasas rule the north."
"That's bad news."
Seong-un thought so briefly too.
But more intel changed his mind.
"Maybe not."
—┼
Mago said to Basen,
"That's our village over there."
Beyond the dense jungle lay a wide clearing.
First sight: a massive temple.
An impossibly huge stone pyramid in three tiers, topped with wooden structures.
The peak unfinished; Pangolians bustled carrying stones.
Rakshasa overseers whipped and yelled, cracking the ground to intimidate.
The Pangolian village huddled shabby to the temple's left.
"That temple is the one you mentioned..."
"Yes. The small temple holding Katyuru. Tiny compared to the great temple in Rugunda, the Ashurada capital."
"Then go tend your friend. I'll rescue this Katyuru..."
"Pardon? What are you saying... We hid the body well, so hide first, sir. Wait for your friends..."
Then.
Murmurs from the village side; a line of Rakshasa warriors marched in.
Mago and Basen crouched low.
"Hey! Don't pull!"
A familiar voice, followed by a gruff one.
"Fesa! Angry! Very angry... but no fight. Fight, captain dies..."
Basen squinted at the procession.
Bound by ropes: Tione Itimo and other crew. Rear: Fesa in iron chains.
Fesa growled but obeyed for the hostages.
Behind: Rakshasas hauling salvage.
The ship had wrecked, but Basen drifted far; others reached the shattered hull on shore, too exhausted to resist capture.
Mago whispered,
"Those... your friends...?"
"Yes."
"Oh no... Can't fight then..."
Basen watched hostages head to a wooden jail behind the temple.
Basen told Mago,
"Not sure what you mean. No need to wait now—time to move."
"Pardon?"
As Basen slipped through brush toward the jail, Mago stamped, then followed.
Mago guided, pointing Rakshasa patrols for stealth.
Basen scaled the jail wall, then said,
"Mago."
"Yes?"
"When it starts, you'll know. Can you rally your comrades to fight?"
"Oh dear... Not sure..."
"Hmm... If inclined, do so. Just don't side with Rakshasas out of fear."
"That much, yes..."
"Back to your friend now. See you later."
"Yes..."
Basen climbed smoothly, slipped inside, vanished.
Mago watched anxiously.
'Even if skilled, Rakshasas swarm inside—what to do.'
Unable to watch Basen fail, Mago hurried to friend Chacha.
Chacha lay resting inside.
"Friend, how are you? Feeling better?"
"Rested a day, a bit. But where were you all day? Overseers searched hard."
"Well..."
Mago hesitated on sharing today's events.
But informing was scary.
Pangolians had secretly plotted resistance before, like Basen.
Yet Rakshasas rewarded snitches, foiling plots early.
'No... Impossible is impossible...'
Mago said,
"...Something happened. I'll get whipped tomorrow."
"What on earth..."
"It's..."
-Boom!
Mago first thought lightning.
But repeated blasts proved otherwise.
Bursting out, a Rakshasa ran yelling.
"Attack! It's an attack!"
-Boom!
The herald Rakshasa flew forward as if struck by invisible club, dead.
Basen followed, reloading his matchlock.
Behind: Basen's freed comrades shot Rakshasas.
"Mago, we meet again soon. Changed your mind?"
Mago's eyes widened; he yelled to Chacha.
"Chacha! Chacha! Today is the day!"
"What day?"
"The day we kick the Rakshasas' asses!"