Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: If Rakrak Dies, They Will Reveal Their Hidden Feelings
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If Rakrak died, they would reveal the feelings they had kept hidden.
Rakrak and Jaol had two sons and one daughter between them now, all mere children, yet unnaturally clever and brave for their age. No one could yet say who would succeed him.
"But Quetzl."
"Yes?"
"I feel like I lack the qualities of a king."
"What are you saying? There has never been anyone like you on this continent, nor will there ever be."
"Don't say that. There will be descendants born to this land."
"Why do you keep saying such things?"
Rakrak pointed down the slope with the tip of his spear.
The evil god was devouring slaves and vampires alike without discrimination.
"Less than half remain now. Meanwhile, fewer than half the warriors have escaped the mountain fortress."
"Yes?"
Quetzl reflexively grabbed Rakrak's wrist.
"Rakrak."
"I've seen it happen many times. Divine power doesn't last forever. If we go down this slope, we can save our lives."
"No."
"But that vampire king will survive too. He'll block us at the mountain fortress and flee to the continent in the meantime. Plenty of vampire-dominated villages remain. With the evil god's power intact, the continent will face war several times over the next few years. It might take even longer."
Rakrak's gaze remained fixed on the slope below.
Quetzl stepped in front of Rakrak's line of sight.
"If things go as you say, it's still our victory, no matter what."
"A victory won at the cost of countless sacrifices."
"That's still a victory."
Only then did Rakrak look at Quetzl.
"Quetzl."
"Yes?"
"You need to learn more arithmetic."
Rakrak grabbed Quetzl by the collar and hoisted him up.
The world spun for Quetzl, then went dark.
Quetzl immediately got to his feet.
"Rakrak!"
But Rakrak was no longer beside him.
Quetzl looked down at the fortress wall.
Rakrak, mounted on the cockatrice Anakse, was descending the slope.
Ahead of him, the massive evil god slowly turned toward Rakrak.
"No!"
Seong-un cried out reflexively.
But his voice couldn't reach Rakrak.
'What a foolish thing to do! I need to use Possession to move Rakrak's body.'
But it didn't go as Seong-un wished.
'...What?'
Rakrak was a priest.
The most devout believer in Seong-un, the Blue Insect God, so he shouldn't defy Seong-un's will.
The next message appeared.
Seong-un selected 'No'.
'Damn it. Forcing Possession while it's resisted causes stiffness for a short time.'
Not a big penalty in everyday situations.
But against a god, it was the worst possible.
The evil god turned its massive body and thrust its long spear toward Rakrak.
More like slamming down a whole tree trunk than a spear.
But the cockatrice Anakse accelerated sharply, dodging the spear tip.
Dust billowed as it pulled the spear free.
Seong-un clenched his fist at the close call.
'What are you doing? Run away!'
Seong-un used a miracle.
A swarm of red butterflies circled Rakrak.
Blue butterflies signified affirmation, so their complementary color, red, could mean negation.
But Rakrak brushed through the swarm as if annoyed and loosed an arrow at the evil god's face.
The arrow struck true in the evil god's eye, but it lacked power from the high angle.
The evil god swept the arrow from its eye with one hand and swung its sword down.
'Damn! Is he dead?'
No.
Anakse leaped over the sword blade slamming into the ground and charged forward.
A bolt of lightning shot from Rakrak's hand, striking the evil god's arm.
The outer hide charred black, but it didn't seem like a major blow.
'What's the problem? You know just holding out wins. Go back to the palace, chat with the warriors, talk with Jaol, watch your kids play. You're still young. No warrior will dare challenge your kingship for decades.'
Rakrak kept his distance, borrowing crackling power to strike the evil god's body with lightning.
'Why on earth...'
Seong-un decided to support Rakrak with miracles now.
Rakrak might allow Possession if he knew Seong-un's heart had turned.
Considerable Faith was consumed, and starting with the first bolt, the sky tore open with lightning.
The evil god seemed like a lightning rod.
But it merely flinched each time—insufficient.
The lightning was powerful, but to deal clear damage to the evil god, it needed Divine rank.
And Rakrak refused Possession.
'Is that it?'
Seong-un belatedly realized Rakrak's intent.
Perhaps irritated by Rakrak circling endlessly, the evil god finally drew its bow.
A massive arrow shot toward Rakrak.
'Some Black Scale Tribe warriors disobey the tribal chief's orders if they deem it necessary? So as tribal chief, you're defying the god's will?'
Once more, Rakrak survived.
The several-meter arrow embedded perpendicularly into the slope.
Moreover, a new idea seemed to strike Rakrak.
'Sacrificing one life to save two? That damned arithmetic?'
Rakrak gave no answer to Seong-un's unheard question.
Instead, he drove Anakse toward the embedded arrow.
Anakse seemed to understand, charging straight for the massive arrow.
Anakse used the arrow as a springboard and leaped into the air.
The evil god hadn't anticipated a mere mortal daring to leap directly at it.
No hand guarded its head.
Rakrak gripped his spear in reverse.
Rakrak thought.
'Crackle, please.'
-...Got it.
The moment Rakrak's spear left his hand, it hurtled toward the evil god's head amid swirling electricity.
But the evil god was a god too.
Its hammer smashed into Rakrak and Anakse.
Seong-un ground his teeth until they hurt.
And for a moment, he said nothing. Thought nothing.
Seong-un quickly regained his composure.
'It's fine. ...A priest's death is manageable. I appointed Human Hwikyung as priest quickly, anticipating this. Lost a good chunk of experience, but my level only dropped by 1.'
Seong-un wondered if he truly felt that way.
A corner of his chest ached.
Or maybe not.
Seong-un scoffed.
The alert that appeared when a player's max-level character died—most players saw it as mockery.
'Who are you mocking?'
Seong-un barely steadied his heart.
It wasn't something to grieve over that much.
Seong-un had an afterlife realm.
It would take time, but expanding it would surely make the heroic Rakrak useful.
Seong-un waited for Rakrak's soul to appear.
'What?'
Rakrak's soul didn't appear before Seong-un.
Instead, a status window he never expected popped up.
Seong-un read the status window and doubted his eyes.
'No way. Rakrak became an Apostle?'
Apostle.
Beings that serve the god.
God's creations that grow, or special existences like dragons incorporated into Faith, could become Apostles.
Especially 'ordinary individuals' who achieve growth could become Apostles, called 'Ascension'.
Apostles gain independent Divine levels, follow only the god's commands, and proactively spread Faith.
Seong-un rubbed his eyes and read again. The status window remained the same.
'Impossible. He doesn't meet the conditions for Ascension.'
Ascension required four conditions.
The entity must be a hero, level 21 or higher.
Tales of the entity must be widespread.
The entity must have internalized faith in the god.
'He clearly met the level among the first three, but the rest... His tales have spread, but the threshold is vague. The third is only indirectly knowable. Even peeking into the heart, you can't precisely measure belief. Ascension isn't something a player can force. And the fourth condition definitely isn't met...'
Fourth condition: Over 1 million Faith.
'My Divine level 11 maxes at just 100,000 Faith. To reach 1 million for an Apostle, Divine level needs to be 21...'
As he thought that, Seong-un checked Faith.
The Faith, rapidly decreasing by 1 each time, suddenly surged.
Seong-un understood what was happening.
Faith was being supplied faster than it was consumed to create the Apostle.
'This can't be. ...Where the hell is all this Faith coming from?'
Seong-un looked down at the battlefield.
Everyone was praying.
The massive evil god still stood.
Perhaps harboring grudge against Rakrak, it smashed its hammer down on his corpse again.
Yet no one fled from the evil god; they prayed.
The Heukrin Lizardmen escaping the mountain fortress, the vampire slaves.
Even Baek-ah's vampires were offering prayers.
Not just Seong-un had seen Rakrak confront the evil god.
Everyone there had witnessed it.
And no one failed to understand why Rakrak stood against the evil god, for what purpose.
They survived thanks to Rakrak and would pass his name to posterity.
Rakrak had become the exemplar of what choice to make when people were confused, as he willed.
Rakrak had been right.
'No, no. It can't be. This amount of Faith can't come from just these numbers. This is a game...'
...It wasn't.
Seong-un realized.
He had known before.
Lost World was a game, but this world was not.
The system merely maintained the world in game form.
Hearts, convictions, and faith not born of numbers could appear as errors when quantified.
The unflagging Faith was proof.
A status window appeared.