Chapter 691

Messiah.

Existences who lived grim lives without any hope of a better future. A messiah was someone supposed to save them.

What is salvation for these existences.

Up to then, I did not know.

***

“That’s insane! How can Sil be a tribute?! What kind of god sacrifices his own followers?!”

Son Jae-won could not help but be in shock when he heard that Sil was requested to be offered as the sacrificial tribute. Under Jae-won’s common sense, the existence and ultimate purpose of a ‘god’ was as a being who would listen to the voices of its followers, bring miracles, and oversee the expansion of life. A god was supposed to gather the peoples’ wishes, lead them towards a common goal, and edify their lives.

Even if a god could not become a Messiah like Jesus, who sacrificed himself to cleanse humankind of their original sin, or Maitreyan Buddha, who descended onto the world to stop it from falling into chaos, a god should at least bear some weight and responsibility if it received faith and devotion from its followers.

It was under this reasoning that Son Jae-won worked as a faceless hero in Korea for a brief period of time. Although, his actions also alleviated some of the boredom he had with life. When Jae-won heard of the perpetrators in Korean society who existed without taking any social responsibility, did not fulfill their social obligations, and abused their power without paying the price for their sins, Jae-won was not able to contain his anger. However, in this world, Son Jae-won found existences that were much worse than those perpetrators in Korea.

Jae-won did not know Sil, who was supposed to be offered as a tribute, very well. However, he knew her laughter and the light her personality brought to her family during the month he had lived with them.

Sil was the first among Ghel’s children, who were all wary of Son Jae-won and his foreign look in the beginning, to approach and talk to him. More than anything, She was only a twelve year old child who needed constant care and attention from her parents and siblings. She was at an age where she should be running around and playing with her friends without any worries. However…

“Nothing can be done.” Even as he shed tears, Ghel had no choice but to turn his back on Sil, who trembled like a baby bird in the cold while holding onto the fabric of her mother’s pants. “The nobles in the castle have already decided… Nothing can be done.”

The moment he heard those words, Son Jae-won clenched his jaw. He realized that this world was not much different from Earth.

***

‘Should I just eliminate the nobles…?’ For a moment, Son Jae-won immersed himself in such thoughts.

The anger rising from within him was like the emotion he felt when he had heard why Min Chae-young committed suicide. Unlike then, though, he now recognized his emotional state.

In fact, Son Jae-won had been thinking for a long time whether to kill the nobles who resided in the castle. He had observed how the nobles treated Ghel’s family and the other villagers. They were called serfs, but they lived lives worse than those of slaves. The people underneath the nobles were considered as things, simply possessions.

Knowing this, Son Jae-won still refrained from taking immediate action. He was a stranger to this world, and he had no idea what harm would come to Ghel and the others if he helped them and then left. ‘I’m not presenting them with a permanent solution.’ Thus, Son Jae-won decided on another tactic. He decided to offer himself in Sil’s stead.

“You… You’re going to offer yourself in Sil’s stead?” 

“Yes. For the past month, even though you were constantly monitored and observed by the nobles, you continued to hide me and gave me food when you didn’t have to, right? So, this time, I want to help.”

“But you are our guest. We cannot have our guest injured. That is the doctrine we live by.”

The doctrine was taught by the god they worshipped… It seemed as though an idiotic god still wanted to emulate the practices of a good god.

From the start, Son Jae-won did not tell Ghel and his family to run away. They were afraid of leaving their homeland, and they had great faith in their god who, ironically, was going to take away their daughter. Their environment and upbringing must have made them this way. Thus, Son Jae-won threw away every other alternative idea and offered to become a tribute on Sil’s behalf.

Of course, Ghel refused, but in the end, after continuous persuasion from Son Jae-won, Ghel dropped his head. “I’m sorry, Won…for having you sacrifice so much for us.”

Son Jae-won quietly nodded. He wanted to smile, but somehow, he could not make a smile in a place when his parents were absent.

***

The process of offering a tribute was more complex yet simpler than what Jae-won expected.

Along the periphery of the holy territory, where the god was supposed to come down, various ceremonies of unknown meaning were being held. The aristocratic nobles observed the animalistic shaman rituals from a corner while showing off their wealth and flair.

By the time the sun went down, everyone was gone. Only Son Jae-won remained at the altar, which had been crowded with people until just recently. He was tied to a frame so that he could not escape. After some time had passed…

Thud. Thud.

‘Is that the god?’

The ground vibrations originated from within the nearby forest, and a monster the size of a modern house walked out. It boasted a height of several meters, and its body was covered with a hard-shelled carapace. All the while, the monster’s tongue wagged wildly from its mouth. 

‘Isn’t that just a monster?’ Usually, in these backward unscientific times, objects and phenomenons that were difficult to interpret were sometimes labeled as gods or god’s acts. However, the monster’s appearance only gave Jae-won a sense of ‘fright’ without any awe.

‘Also, is it hurt?’ Son Jae-won stared at the monster and noticed that, with every step it took, one of its hind legs kept dragging on the ground. The monster acted as if nothing was wrong, but it seemed to feel discomfort in moving its body.

‘If I do this well…maybe I can finish it easily.’ Son Jae-won’s eyes sharpened.

When the monster arrived in front of the altar, its big eyes gleamed as it searched for its tribute.『This time around…this tribute…will reinforce my disabled powers… It’ll become an ingredient…but it doesn’t seem to possess faith… What… This is a first…』 

‘It can speak?’ Son Jae-won was caught by surprise. On the surface, the monster’s intention seemed to be that it craved and wanted some food to nourish itself back to health. Moreover, though he did not know what method was being used, Jae-won felt awful when he heard the monster’s dull voice ringing in his head.

However, Jae-won did not show any outward expression of surprise. Although he was not sure, Jae-won instinctively felt that he should not release his true feelings and intentions, as it could possibly be conveyed to the monster.

『Well, it can’t be helped… Even if it’s not enough, I have to eat… Until the Heavenly Demon comes, I need to somehow…』

‘Heavenly Demon?’

Perhaps the Heavenly Demon was the culprit who injured the monster…but Son Jae-won was not able to think and deduce any further. Suddenly, the monster rushed at him with its mouth wide open.

‘Now…!’ At that moment, Son Jae-won pulled on the device he held in his hand. Once he did this, the packs of gunpowder that had been buried around the altar exploded all at once, and pillars of fire surrounded the monster.

Argh!

When Son Jae-won expressed his intention to become a tribute on behalf of Sil, Sil and her siblings all secretly met with him to express their thanks and to ask if there was anything they could do for him.

He had asked them for a few things. Although the materials were not easy to obtain, they were not impossible to obtain either.

Moreover, Son Jae-won had a lot of free time while he resided in this world, so he worked on improving the power of gunpowder based on the unusual physical phenomena and laws exhibited in this world.

In addition to that, Jae-won had secretly prepared many other measures. As the ground collapsed, a trap filled with bamboo spears was exposed, and a large log fell from the sky. Several traps worked intricately together, hitting the monster one after another so that it could not regain its bearing. While installing several traps, Jae-won was thankful that, even though it was a holy territory, the monster or god seemed to live in some other place.

Son Jae-won unwrapped himself from the altar's stake and quickly withdrew from that spot. To ultimately eliminate the monster, it was necessary to guide it to a place where another trap was installed.

Jae-won was confident in his plan. After all, if it was a god in name only, Jae-won felt that he could overcome whatever being it was. Additionally, the monster had been seriously injured by someone else. Thus, Jae-won felt that he would feel embarrassed if he was not able to capture and eliminate the monster.

Ugh, Argh! The monster struggled and writhed in pain. Fortunately, several hidden traps forcibly pricked the wound it had been hiding, causing a lot of bleeding. Thump! Thump! Every time the monster struggled in pain, the ground shook. Then, the monster turned its eyes, which glistened with a sense of anger, and found the place where Son Jae-won was. And then…

‘…what?’ Contrary to what Jae-won expected, which was for the monster to rush at him, the monster suddenly raised its head high. Jae-won suddenly wondered if the monster had gone crazy, but he suddenly felt anxious, so he ran hard to get out of the monster’s sight.

At that moment, the monster vomited out a ton of what it had in its mouth. 

Whoosh! There was no roar. Whatever the case, the only thing Son Jae-won felt was suffocatingly hot air and pure white light that filled his field of vision. The light was so bright that it was difficult for Jae-won to distinguish anything.

Jae-won quickly rolled over on the ground, covered his eyes with his hand, and lifted his head as a gust of hot wind seemingly rushed over his head. And then, he saw… 

‘What…!’

The holy territory had been completely destroyed. The forest, which had been lusciously green until recently, had turned into a swampy field and was filled with black soot. There were no rocks or trees left.

For a moment, Jae-won worried about how far the fiery breath continued onward, if it perhaps went onward towards Ghel’s village. However, he did not have time to be concerned for others.

『How dare you… To me…! A mere human… I cannot forgive you…!』

Son Jae-won started running once more. The monster had tilted its jaws back again, exhaling a much stronger breath than before. In addition, utilizing some type of skill or power, the monster started reigniting the sparks and fires from its first attack.

Son Jae-won had to run and run, again and again. The monster tried to catch him by spitting out breath after breath with minimal movement, and each time, Son Jae-Won avoided the attacks and tried to counterattack. Fortunately, some of his traps had survived the monster’s breath attacks, so Son Jae-won slowly lured the monster to one of the traps.

『I’ll kill you…!』

However, if there was a miscalculation in Jae-won’s plan, it was that the monster, which Jae-won assumed would be on the brink of collapse at any moment, did not seem to be losing much energy.

Rather, the more damage it accumulated, the greater its frenzy and the more viciously it pursued Son Jae-won. Thanks to this, Jae-won was the first to get tired. ‘If things continue like this, I’m dead, no?’

In the end, while breathing heavily and with nowhere to escape, Jae-won saw that the monster had made its way in front of him. The moment when the monster tried to swallow him with its jaws wide open, wafting black smoke and white steam into the air…

“I know you’re here dad. Why don’t you come out now?” Son Jae-won groaned as he stared into the air. “If you don’t come, I’ll tell mom everything!”

As soon as Jae-won finished shouting the last line, a trail of golden light suddenly fell from the sky and penetrated the monster. Boom! The monster’s carapace, which had not been penetrated despite being struck by several traps, was torn to shreds and covered in blood. The monster screamed in pain, but it seemed affixed onto something, so it was not able to move.

Atop the monster, Jae-won’s father looked down at his son with his arms crossed, smirking. “You’re so slow. Why are you getting beaten up by such a worthless thing?”

The monster was being lightly pressed down and crushed just from his father standing still atop of it. Son Jae-won, seeing his father’s relaxed expression, became dumbfounded. However, he scrunched his brows without showing any signs of disturbance. “Are you crazy, dad? Were you just watching it shove your own son into such a secluded place and perhaps die in its hands?”

“It’s fun.”

“How can you say such things…?!” 

The Heavenly Demon snorted. “You’re getting beaten up by a being that hasn’t even exuviated or transcended, so how can it not be fun to see you being roundly trampled on?”

『Heavenly Demon… Heavenly Demon…!』At that moment, the monster squirmed and shook off his father as it struggled to gain a footing.

“Noisy thing.”

Bang! The Heavenly Demon neutralized the monster’s resistance by lightly rolling his feet. The monster’s large head instantly burst. “Am I your friend? How dare you intervene and cut me off while I’m speaking?”

“…” Seeing the scene, Son Jae-won broke out into a cold sweat. He had succeeded in calling his father, but his father was much stronger than what he expected. Thanks to this, he was forced to look back on his recent past to see if he had ever offended his father…

Pss- The dead monster shattered into numerous pieces, like grains of sand. The pieces were collected in a tornado and were sucked into the yellow stick that his father was holding in his right hand.

Hāritī was the word engraved on the stick, glowing brightly. That image…was so enchanting and full of majesty.

Jae-won was in awe. He thought that his father was much closer to being a ‘god’ than the dead monster, the being that called itself a ‘god’. No, maybe his father was a ‘god’. He was unsure.

While Jae-won was having such thoughts, his father looked back at Jae-won with a playful smile. It was as if he could read his son’s mind. “God? Hey. How can you call your father a lowly god? Your father is much higher and greater than that.”

‘My inner thoughts… Is father able to read them?’ Jae-won was placed into a situation he had never considered. For the first time in his life, he felt the emotion of pure surprise.

***

[The Black King looks at his own shadow and asks how long Yeon-woo plans to watch these boring stories.]

[The devouring of Vivasvat’s legends has been temporarily interrupted.]

Yeon-woo had to stop observing Vivasvat-Son Jae-won’s legends midway through, so he had only seen the early stages of Vivasvat’s legends.

Even though he had only observed a small part of Vivasvat’s legends for a brief moment, the Black King knew precisely what Yeon-woo was doing and what Yeon-woo’s ultimate intent was. It was as if the Black King was showing off that he could read and control Yeon-woo to that extent.

[The Black King wants to see how his shadow plans to go against him.]

[‘Night (Nyx)’ is descending!]

The recollection of Vivasvat’s legends had to end there.