The Savior of the Beastmen (2)
Until now, we beastmen did not know our roots.
We were wandering nomads without a proper nation, deemed an inferior race by others.
That was how other races viewed us.
But that is not true.
We beastmen originated from the desert empire.
In the mythic age, during the Great War, our beastmen empire fell, and our god Duamutef vanished to protect us.
Other races erased our history and scorned us as inferior, but we built a civilization more brilliant than any other!
In the forgotten annals of history, we bloomed like flowers of prosperity!
We were the true masters of the desert!
After the Great War, all history was lost. As Duamutef chose annihilation to shield us from the Chaos Emissary, we walked a path of persecution.
But now, it is different.
The merciful and omnipotent God of Luddera, GM, has taken pity on us and resurrected the ancient desert of the past for our sake.
We have reclaimed the history forged by Duamutef and our ancestors!
We vanquished Apophis, our first and final enemy.
All this is a blessing from GM.
As the king of all beastmen, apostle of Duamutef, and lord of the Sprigganz Great Desert on the Labyrinth Tower's second floor, I command you:
Serve GM, our new master.
Praise GM, the one true and omnipotent God of Luddera.
Through His mercy and blessing, we beastmen have reclaimed our god Duamutef!
GM! Be eternal!
We beastmen shall follow You until the end of the world!
“……Huh?”
Reading the post on the community board, I felt my mind go blank.
Duamutef? GM? Brigand?
GM is the name they call me inside Luddera.
Why the hell am I showing up here?
The author is SuspiciouslyRichMeow.
As someone who frequents the Luddera community, I know who that is.
It's Nerbel, the great warrior and right-hand man of the Beast King.
He occasionally posts the Beast King's decrees here to spread messages effectively not just to beastmen in their nation, but across the continent.
So this message will reach every beastman on the continent….
Why am I featured in something like that?
Wait a second.
Duamutef is…!
I recalled what that name meant.
It's obvious.
It's the quest NPC I placed in the new major content added to Luddera yesterday: the Labyrinth Tower.
The Labyrinth Tower is a place stitched together from countless worlds.
I'd grown tired of Luddera being filled only with fantasy worlds, so I added different kinds.
One of them, on the second floor, was the Sprigganz Great Desert.
I drew inspiration from novels and games from my past life to design an Egyptian-themed map with ancient lost technology vibes.
Since it was Egyptian-based, I included massive structures like pyramids straight from there.
The main quest piercing through the Labyrinth Tower's second floor is defeating Apophis, the great enemy that destroyed the ancient empire, a sealed evil god.
The ancient empire protected by the goddess Duamutef fell in war against the evil god Apophis.
Having lost all her followers and divine power, the weakened Duamutef could only seal herself along with Apophis to prevent the chaos-bringing evil god from entering the world.
In that process, her divinity eroded, and Apophis's revival was imminent.
Against that backdrop, Duamutef encounters mysterious intruders—players—who enter the pyramid where she's sealed.
The challengers of the Labyrinth Tower receive a quest from Duamutef and confront the evil god Apophis.
No matter how weakened by eons of sealing, it's still a god.
Apophis boasts an absurd level well over 700.
It's not an enemy fitting for something on just the second floor of the Labyrinth Tower.
No ordinary method could let even all of Luddera's players unite to defeat that level gap.
So I added a gimmick tied to Duamutef: temporarily granting the power of a god.
You know those game mechanics where, facing an overwhelmingly superior foe, you get a temporary power-up? Old memories like that inspired me to create a similar gimmick lending divine strength.
I thought it was the perfect gimmick to introduce players to the Labyrinth Tower, a place utterly unlike the rest of Luddera….
But what the hell happened in there to make the Beast King post something like this?
…Maybe he mistook the fallen ancient empire for the beastmen's nation?
If so, his decree starts to make sense.
“Ha. I never imagined it would turn out like this.”
I'd placed various pyramids in the Sprigganz Great Desert, filling them with ancient Egyptian-style artwork to capture that vibe.
Including murals inspired by Egyptian gods.
And those figures had animal heads.
“That's what made him think it was a beastmen's nation.”
It was unexpected. Even on Earth, ancient Egyptian temples and pyramids were popular for their mystical aura, so I'd designed it that way thinking it fit perfectly.
Who knew it would backfire like this?
“Of course, even so, I still don't get the context for all the GM worship that follows….”
Whatever the intent behind the post, it's hard to see it as positive for me. Ever since Luddera appeared and continentals grew obsessed with this virtual world, power-hungry types have endlessly tried to uncover the identity of its master—me—and bend it to their will.
This method is new, but considering Brigand's ability to unite all beastmen single-handedly and found a nation, it's probably another such attempt.
No matter what, my identity must never be exposed to anyone except family and Kartesia. They wouldn't let me die easy. Albus steeled his resolve.
But he overlooked a few facts.
First, Brigand wasn't the type to scheme with his boisterous beastman personality.
Second, continentals with no experience beyond theater or arenas easily over-immersed in Luddera, blurring game events with reality.
Finally, Luddera held far more value and influence on this continent than he realized.
As a result, he couldn't imagine the massive ripple this Labyrinth Tower would send across the continent.
“……So that's how it happened.”
Diana, the community manager Juttak and Demon King ruling all demons, read Brigand's decree via the hologram screen floating before her, arms crossed.
“That absurdly powerful monster was the beastmen's enemy evil god, huh.”
She'd sneaked into the Labyrinth without other players knowing and was the first to enter the Sprigganz Great Desert on the second floor.
Flying up to survey the utterly alien zone, she spotted Brigand charging through the desert and observed his adventure from afar.
In the process, she saw him enter a pyramid's depths and battle a colossal serpent.
She was too far to see clearly, but even she—who transcended mortal limits—felt chills of terror from that snake. A monster even all demons united might not defeat.
When Brigand suddenly unleashed strange power and felled it, she doubted her eyes, but the surrounding evidence and his community post confirmed it.
“Reviving a vanished god, slicing out a lost chunk of the continent's past and restoring it to the present. And temporarily granting its divine authority to a mere mortal….”
GM had empowered Brigand with a god's might, letting him slay the Chaos Evil God.
“Even a Ma Shin couldn't pull this off.”
As Demon King who inherited power directly from the Ma Shin, she knew how outrageous this was.
“GM…… Are you a creation god or something?”
The being known as GM felt even more distant. Uncharacteristically for her ever-calm demeanor, her eyes shook fiercely.
The vast desert night in the continent's south.
In the barren wasteland, abandoned by all nations and home only to nomads—
Divinity, crystallized from the faith of beastmen across the continent, gathered.
'Our god Duamutef, hear us.'
'Save us.'
'Your people pray.'
'Deliver us from evil.'
The voices arising from the depths of beastmen's hearts across the continent converged, echoing as one.
A fictional existence that shouldn't be.
The false god arbitrarily set by Albus is born through mistaken faith.
Hummm
The divinity coalesced, taking the form of a small girl.
Whoooosh
The expressionless girl descended to the sand, stretching her body taut.
“I am…… Duamutef.”
Standing naked in the desert, the crescent moon's light illuminated her from behind.
“The guardian of all beastmen.”
Thus began the first signal of the great chaos that would engulf the continent.