Gacha Kingdom Building

Chapter 331: Blood Banquet

The hall fell into darkness.

Before I could grab Cassandra’s hilt, a pair of hands pushed down on my chest, sending me crashing against the floor.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake them off.

A scream followed the impact of my back on the tiles, and when the candles came back to life...

I found Maya on top of me.

Her once eye-catching blonde hair had turned black as the night, the bright green of her eyes replaced by a striking shade of purple.

Miwen: "Maya...?"

Her expression was almost blank, as if she was still processing her surroundings.

So much mana was releasing from her body that, even though she didn’t intend to, I could feel my bones cracking beneath her palms.

Miwen: "Sirius..."

Her eyes narrowed, locking onto mine.

Miwen: "It’s fine now. Return her to me. Please."

"She" ran a hand across my chin, "her" eyes darting around the hall.

While I caressed her head, she finished examining the situation around us; The black mist of mana that coated her body burst into the air in waves as her eyes closed.

With each violent gust, glasses shattered and the legs of nearby chairs and tables splintered.

Maya: "...Sorry, Miwen."

Her voice was slightly deeper.

Slowly, her hair began to turn back to its usual color, the purple shade disappearing from her eyes.

Maya: "Ever since that man appeared, Sirius had been shouting... No, screaming desperately... When the lights went out, I-"

Miwen: "Shh. Don’t worry."

Even though more than half of her hair had grown blonde again, I still couldn’t shake off her hands.

However, after stroking it for a couple of seconds, all but one strand remained black.

Her eyes returned to mostly green again, with only a small tinge of purple still visible.

Sirius had only ever reacted to Piper’s [The Witch Of Narrations], and even then, Maya never told me anything about losing control of her body over its blessing.

Judging by the expression on her face, this might’ve been a first for her, too.

Erik: "Yet another power you hadn’t shown me before... Was that a transformation, or was it possession?"

Still holding each other, Maya and I silently agreed to ignore Erik’s probing.

Meanwhile, I assessed the scene before my eyes.

The candles were only out for a second or two. Erik, Catherine, and even Asdrea didn’t seem to have moved an inch from where they stood.

And yet, just beside them, a woman lay on the floor, facing the ground while blood slowly formed a puddle around her.

I didn’t know her name. I couldn’t see her face either.

And still, I recognized her almost instantly.

Instead of hair, hands and fingers flowed down from her head.

In the whole of the Divine Event, from the Palace’s courtyards to the dining hall, I had only seen one other person from her race; A man whom I found fallen to his knees, weeping beside her body.

The hands by his head trembled uncontrollably. Just like the ones in his arms, they hesitantly tried reaching for the woman’s body.

Asdrea: "See what I meant? I can’t even enjoy talking with friends..."

With a carefree look in his eyes, Asdrea extended a hand to help us off the ground, but...

Sis brushed it away.

Getting up by herself and still leaning on my shoulder for support, she stared hard at him.

Maya: "Looking at this... Do you truly not care?"

A couple of champions were dragging the man away from the corpse while he continued to cry inconsolably.

Other champions frowned and looked away, while Asdrea and the other Gods looked completely unfazed.

Even though she could barely stand by herself, Sis narrowed her eyes at them, extending the question to all the Gods in the dining hall.

Instead of an answer, murmurs and laughs echoed.

In a way, she had her answer.

Except for Catherine and Asdrea, who, despite everything, at least stood silent.

While the first was staring blankly, almost as if completely disconnected from reality, the second seemed to consider her words.

Asdrea: "...Believe me, I understand how you feel. Perhaps better than anyone..."

He turned away from us, taking a glass from the table.

Before taking a sip and putting the glass back, he faced his own reflection with a melancholic stare in his eyes.

Asdrea: "However, this is no tragedy. Just like candles eventually burn out, mortals eventually die. After the first eternity passed, I stopped feeling sorrow over something that was simply natural."

Erik: "Natural, you say?"

His voice, both cold and sharp, almost cut Asdrea’s.

Yet, he waited just long enough to make his point.

After walking toward the corpse, Erik came back with a bloody knife in his hand.

Erik: "Unless she fell repeatedly onto this, I don’t see what’s natural about it."

Casually, he tossed the knife to Asdrea, who caught it effortlessly.

His tone was as matter-of-fact as usual, with even less of a hint of emotion than the Gods’.

Yet, he at least seemed to care enough to investigate, instead of just... accepting it.

Asdrea: "Interesting. I didn’t think some would dare play dirty with me around."

Maya: "Maybe they are not playing dirty."

Asdrea answered her stare with one of his own, his lips curling downward.

For a second, it became hard even for me to stand, the pressure emanating from his body pulling my feet down like a gravity well.

Asdrea: "What are you suggesting?"

Maya: "...Dark or not, I don’t think this could’ve happened without you noticing. You are either an accomplice, or you are behind it."

Sis’ reasoning was solid enough to increase the murmurs of the Gods around her.

Truthfully, even I might’ve been able to see what happened with my skills, had she not pushed me to the ground.

It was impossible to argue that someone like the King of the Gods wouldn’t have even better reaction time, awareness, and ability to see in the dark.

Asdrea: "Oh? You are accusing me, then?"

Maya: "I am. Unless there’s someone here who can kill others without you even realizing it?"

She forced him to assume either involvement or incompetence, and extending the question to the Gods, brought their involvement under suspicion as well.

Suddenly, they stopped murmuring to each other, distrust painted on their faces.

Cornered by a mortal, the King of the Gods smiled.

Instantly, I extended an arm before Maya, pushing her back.

Asdrea: "...How cruel."

He retreated a single step, his eyes never leaving us.

The pressure from before dissipated entirely, yet my muscles tensed more than ever.

Asdrea: "It feels like staring at an old mirror, doesn’t it, Apollo?"

Hearing that name, a shock ran through my spine.

Asdrea’s expression grew softer, almost solemn.

A small sparrow then flew toward him, landing on the open palm he had extended forward.

A sparrow I knew I had left home.

After a resigned sigh, his smile returned.

In the blink of an eye, he stood before Maya, already holding her hand.

I had Cassandra turn into a dagger, but I couldn’t slash his arm off.

It was like I had tried cutting a mountain; the blade just bounced, not even tearing a strand of his suit.

Without a single hint of concern, he reached for his pocket, taking out a small ring.

Asdrea: "To my kind, a ring means a promise."

He knelt before Maya, his eyes smiling.

Erik narrowed his eyes, as did I.

Maya: "...It’s the same to us."

Asdrea: "I’m glad."

He put the ring on her finger and stood up.

After a quick pause to look at every God in the eye...

Asdrea: "You are now under my protection."

His voice spread throughout the room, the Gods all widening their eyes in disbelief.

Some even seemed furious.

Yet, he paid them no mind, lowering his tone to just above a whisper.

Asdrea: "One day, when the weight becomes unbearable... Pour your mana into this ring, and I’ll come to your aid."

His voice was as gentle as his smile.

He seemed so genuine, I couldn’t believe it.

Asdrea: "In return, you must promise me not to lose that lovely way of yours."

I appraised the ring, looking for a curse.

However, despite its simplistic look, there was a powerful system blocking my skill.

Still, seeing how easily Maya removed it from her finger, I ruled out any chances of it being cursed.

Maybe he was telling the truth... Maybe...

Maya: "I don’t understand. You said mortals dying was just natural?"

She smiled softly, putting the ring back.

Catherine, watching the scene unfold, brought a hand to her chin, hiding her lips.

Asdrea: "It is. However, only one other soul compares to the beauty of yours. Letting it fade would be a tragedy the likes of no other."

He landed a hand on Maya’s head, patting her like she was the most precious thing in the world.

While he wasn’t wrong, I watched carefully.

There wasn’t anything I could do to him, but if at any moment his expression were to change...

I’d send Maya away, through whatever means.

Asdrea: "And you see... I hate tragedies."

For a brief moment, he closed his eyes.

On his shoulder, Apollo started chirping in his ears, and with his hand receding, I returned Cassandra to her scabbard.

Once he opened his eyes, his attention turned to me, a deep breath escaping him.

Asdrea: "Even though this is supposedly my palace, there isn’t anything in here that I consider mine. Except for one room."

Small blue dots of pure mana began to condense in the thin air.

A small rectangle identical to the Merchant’s calling card formed before him.

Asdrea: "This is an invite. If you survive until the very end... There are things I’d like to discuss with you."

Apollo lifted off his shoulders, bringing me the card with his beak.

Once I caught the card, the sparrow approached my ear.

Miwen: "I don’t think there’s anything-"

Apollo: "The Traveling Merchant... Did you know he used to have a real name? Just like mine."

I couldn’t believe what I had just heard, nor who had just spoken.

My neck turned, and facing Apollo, I saw the bird chirping coherent word after coherent word.

Though, of course, he wasn’t the one talking.

He was just carrying them, a whisper meant only for me to hear.

Miwen: "...Why did he choose that dumb name, then?"

I couldn’t tell how much he knew.

He seemed able to communicate with Apollo to a certain degree, and I wouldn’t put it past the dumb bird to sell me out.

However, for the time being, I had no option but to assume the best-case scenario.

After all, if Asdrea knew that The Merchant and I were friends, he probably wouldn’t be treating me this way.

Most likely, he had seen Elizabeth in the arena, and from there, it wasn’t hard to imagine I had heard of the Merchant.

That meant I had to be careful, though.

If he came to suspect I knew The Merchant personally... That would probably be the end for me.

Apollo: "He sold something he shouldn’t have, and ever since, he has lost the right to call creation his home."

While I didn’t take Asdrea’s words at face value, I listened attentively.

Miwen: "What did he sell?"

Silence.

I found Asdrea averting his eyes, while Apollo frantically flapped its wings, its chirping growing louder, almost desperate.

After what felt like an eternity, Asdrea clenched his fist, meeting my eye.

Asdrea: "Things were different back then. The most beautiful garden was about to crumble..."

He leaned closer, a thin, seemingly soundproof dome of wind surrounding us.

His voice was lower than a whisper, almost drowned out by the wind blades Apollo launched at him.

Asdrea: "He was desperate. So... He sought the most precious flower in the garden, and..."

Apollo opened its wings, flying away from my shoulder.

I only caught a glimpse of the bird meeting the dome before a flash of light made it disappear.

Asdrea: "In the most heinous crime in all of creation, he plucked the flower from the soil, selling it off to the highest bidder so that the garden could survive."

His expression was unreadable, but...

He landed a hand on my shoulder.

I could feel it trembling.

Only slightly.

But at the same time... Powerfully enough.

Asdrea: "I do not wish to see such a tragedy repeated. But if you care not for it, then... Maybe I can interest you in your spirit’s secret? Are you not curious why I also have a contract with it?"

I was, of course.

But he was what interested me the most.

I would never have expected him to sound so...

Desperate.

I couldn’t understand.

Was it something Maya said?

Or just... Something he saw?

Regardless, as long as it was just a talk, and I stood to gain from it...

Miwen: "I suppose I could hear you out, old man..."

The Merchant and Asdrea...

Neither felt like a bad person.

Yet, I knew for certain that Asdrea was responsible for destroying the Cycles of Creation.

When the First Son showed me all of time, it was inescapable.

Every Cycle after the first burst by his hands.

But even though I had watched it happen with my own eyes, after meeting him personally... I couldn’t understand why.

He didn’t seem wrathful or even resentful.

What would that even achieve?

And why were the Endless not doing anything about him?

Why did the brat siblings hate The First Daughter?

Why did the First Daughter hate the Merchant when he was the one trying to stop Asdrea?

I felt like... I was still missing something...

The flower he spoke of... the garden...

It all felt oddly... familiar.

The Merchant had picked quite a few flowers from the Kingdom, but that wasn’t it.

It had to be before.

Before this cycle...?

That would mean before I received [Gacha Kingdom Building]... Before I was even born...

And yet, I felt like I was so close to the truth...

Thinking about it, I had been invited to a garden before.

I was even given a... ticket...

I still had it, too. I could always-

Suddenly, the entire world fell into a white void.

Every face around me disappeared, every sound muffled into nothing, and the temperature lowered so much that I couldn’t even feel the air anymore.

Yet, I continued thinking about it.

I was with the First Son, or at least someone who resembled him.

We were talking by the campfire, so why was the air so cold?

It was night.

There was someone else with us... Or was there?

I...

There was still something I was missing... It was getting closer, but...

[Answer. *** ** *** *** ***?]

A mechanical voice echoed inside my mind.

For a second, it felt like my heart was going to burst from the immense pressure hammering it.

[Answer. W** ** *** *** ***?]

Ah... That’s right, I-

No.

I shouldn’t.

Not yet.

[You must not enter the Garden without first answering the question, Miwen.]

My head throbbed.

I lost my breath.

Coughing, I fell into the void, the voice repeating endlessly...

Miwen: "I need to go back... Give me a hand, idiot."

A face slowly formed beside me.

He wore a giant, infuriating smile.

First Son: "How did you even... Pfft!"

He fully formed, taking his sweet time, laughing at the situation.

First Son: "Hahaha... Hah... That’s too soon, Miwen."

Miwen: "Well, sorry? I didn’t really have a choice. Again."

First Son: "My bad. Well, not really. It’s fully on you this time. I’ll bring you back but... Be careful. If you enter, you won’t be able to return."

Return...?

That wasn’t right...

In the first place-

I blinked.

Color slowly filled the white void, the First Son’s face puffing out of existence.

I felt like I could almost...

No, I could still remember it.

I couldn’t hear the question, but-

Maya: "Miwen!?"

Sis jumped at me, hugging me tightly.

Her eyes were filled with tears, another black strand appearing in her hair.

Maya: "What happened!? You disappeared!"

I disappeared?

I guess... That was a first?

No, that’s not right.

There was that time with the First Daughter as well.

Erik: "Well, ain’t that convenient..."

I felt the stares of the entire room turning toward me.

Nearby, another person lay on the floor.

His dark skin and red hair were dyed crimson by blood.

And now...

Even Asdrea seemed shocked.