Chapter 395: Star, Arcadia (7)
After asking around about the ‘Ursa Major’ priests, Hiyan made his way to Bixter's house. However, before he could get to his destination, people showed up out of nowhere in the back alley and began to beat him up.
Smack, smack, smack!
Hiyan held up his arms in an attempt to protect his head in any way he could, but his assailants seemed to have no intention of stopping anytime soon. Their behavior gave him an idea about who they were.
‘I've been made!’
The men beating him up were the Star Order's minions. Hiyan believed they wouldn't be suspicious of him since he was just a child, but his age didn’t seem to matter to them.
Swooooosh!
One of the people fiercely swung his bat, aiming for the top of Hiyan's head. Hearing it violently cut through the air, Hiyan reflexively wrapped his arms around his head. The bat hit his arms not long after.
Smack!
Hiyan could hear his bones breaking, but he couldn’t even scream. Sensing that his screams would only get them more worked up and make them behave even wilder, he clenched his teeth and desperately endured the pain. After who knew how long...
“Huff, huff, huff!”
“Pheeew!”
The men let out a long sigh. They looked exhausted now.
Tap, tap―!
A scrawny man with a thin mustache soon quietly approached Hiyan, filling him with terror as he peeked through the gap between his arms. He knew who the man was.
‘H-he's the one who took Dad...!’ Hiyan unwittingly trembled as he remembered his father trying his hardest to soothe him.
“You're very persistent. Perhaps that is why you look up to that wicked god and go around calling him a hero.” The man sneered as he stroked his thin mustache. It remained unclear if he could tell what Hiyan was thinking.
It didn’t take long for Hiyan to realize that the thin-mustached man was talking about the Sky Sword's owner. If so, then the Demon King that the hero defeated had to be a Celestial of the Star Order.
“Do you know what you and your fellow cult followers all share in common?” the thin-mustached man asked.
Tap, tap―!
“It’s your ignorant and pathetic minds. Despite not having the slightest idea about the heavens’ greatness, you believe that you can challenge the mighty Star Signs who rule this world. They’re literal stars watching everything from the skies. How can you not know that? Tsk, tsk!”
The man lightly tapped the very small and fragile Hiyan with his foot. With a menacingly gleaming glare, the man continued, “Even though you have committed grave sins, the great Star Signs still instructed us to alleviate your punishment because children like you can still be reformed. They’re the only reason you’re still alive and breathing, so live the rest of your life in gratitude for their grace. Do you understand?”
“...”
“Do you understand?” the man repeated.
“... Yes, sir,” Hiyan answered.
“Maybe it’s because you're nothing but a feeble renegade, but even your voice is pathetic.”
Smaaaack!
The man delivered a powerful kick to Hiyan’s abdomen and spat on him. The child helplessly rolled on the ground.
“I should visit a bathhouse to wash his filth off on me,” the man grumbled. “It’s been a while since I last went to one. Let’s head back.”
The others spat on Hiyan as well as if he brought misfortune. Unable to get up, Hiyan remained on the ground for quite some time, his head tilting back and forth for some reason.
* * *
“Hey, Hiyan.”
“Bi-Bixter...” Holding onto his swollen left arm, Hiyan dragged himself to Bixter's house but froze up as soon as he saw its interior.
“... What’s wrong with your arm? What kind of asshole could hurt a child this much?!” Bixter thoroughly examined Hiyan, who was covered in bruises, for more injuries.
Since he still wasn’t married, he considered Hiyan, the son of his old friend from his hometown, as his son.
“Bixter, your house—!” Hiyan gasped. The scene was so shocking that it rendered him unable to hear what Bixter was saying. It even made him forget about how much pain he was in.
“Ah, you mean all this? It’s nothing. You don’t have to worry about it.”
“How can I not worry after seeing this?!”
Bixter’s house was a mess, the fragments of his shattered decorations scattered all over the floor. Although he was a drunkard and looked like a menacing bandit, he loved putting adorable decorations all over his house. Unfortunately, all he was left with now was the warning written on one of the walls using blood-red paint.
―Don’t act rashly.
Blaming himself for all this, Hiyan teared up. “Because of me, you also—!”
Bixter quietly chuckled as he stroked the child’s head. “How can it be your fault? I was simply not careful enough. They thrashed my house while I was away, so I’m fine. Stop crying already.”
“Hic, hic!” Hiyan forced himself to stop crying, but he couldn’t stop his wells from overflowing. His face reddened.
“It’s also easy to make Paul cry. Are you trying to prove that you’re his son? How can you two be so similar?” Bixter asked consolingly.
‘If I knew I would feel this way, I would have gotten married when my family gave me hell about it,’ he thought. For the first time in his life, he envied Paul for having a son like Hiyan.
* * *
―The village’s situation wasn’t any better.
Hiyan quietly lowered the letter from his home village and covered his face with his hands. ‘The villagers are getting persecuted. They’re sending us a warning not to do anything.’
Hiyan and Bixter weren’t the Star Order’s only victims. Those whose husbands and sons were taken away made complaints, prompting the regional government army to barge in again and devastate the village, charging its inhabitants with high treason.
Hence, they were looked down upon and discriminated against by other villages. Since even the regional government castle was treating them unjustly, some of the villagers seriously considered leaving the village.
‘Bixter got fired from his position as decurion... What should I do now?’ Hiyan wondered.
The regional government—no, the ‘Ursa Major’ Order wanted Hiyan’s hometown to disband so that the legend about the Sky Sword would cease to exist. By disbanding the village and making its villagers’ lives a living hell, the ‘Ursa Major’ Order would succeed in stopping people from talking about the hero. It would only take a generation for the legend to be forgotten.
Hiyan had already heard about similar incidents before.
‘No myths and legends are accepted in Arcadia aside from the ones related to the Star Order.’
<Myth> Manipulation. To eliminate the possibility of other Celestials interfering in Arcadia’s affairs and spreading their doctrines, the Star Order conducted large-scale operations to destroy <Myths> in the forms of folklores or fabricated them to make them seem as if they were the Eighty-Eight Star Signs’, ultimately increasing their influence over Arcadia. The Eighty-Eight Star Signs could also extort Faith from the other Celestials in this way to elevate their own Divine Classes. This was how <Horoscope> gained complete dominance over Arcadia’s civilizations.
It seemed the Star Order planned to do the same with the Sky Sword’s legend. The only reason they had done nothing was that they considered the legend useless and non-influential, but the Sky Sword flying into the sky caused a sensation so huge that ‘Ursa Major’ had to pay attention to it.
Hiyan felt awful. It was impossible for his home village to withstand the Star Order’s large-scale persecution. If they executed his father and the other male villagers to make an example out of them...
‘No, there is a way to save Dad. There has to be!’ Hiyan shook his head hard in an attempt to escape from his negativity.
His father always said that where there was life, there would always be hope too. Hence, he didn’t give up.
‘The Star Order is a group of people... so maybe there is a faction that isn’t on good terms with the ‘Ursa Major’ Order.’
Hiyan remembered his friends’ contest over who would be the village children’s leader. Since defeating the Star Order on his own would be difficult, he should at least slow down ‘Ursa Major.’
‘... Maybe ‘Canis Major’ can do something about them.’
Although the Star Order hushed it up, it was a known fact that the priests of ‘Ursa Major’ and ‘Canis Major’ were on bad terms. If Hiyan could get ‘Canis Major’ involved somehow, he would have a chance to defeat ‘Ursa Major.’ Hence, he thought about the best way to approach ‘Canis Major’ without getting on the Star Order’s bad side.
Thud!
The door to Hiyan’s room suddenly swung wide open. Bixter stormed in, sweating and panting in urgency. “Hiyan! Something horrible happened!”
“What is it, Bixter?”
“They have made an announcement!”
Premonition made Hiyan’s hands tremble.
“Your dad and the other villagers are going to get executed at noon!” Bixter bit his lower lip.
“...!”
* * *
Holding Bixter’s hand, Hiyan ran toward the central plaza, which was where guillotines were. Beyond a crowd of people, he could see his father and the villagers lined up on a platform and waiting for the guillotines to end them. Some pleaded for their lives, and some just shivered in fear. Paul, on the other hand, just kept his eyes shut. It was as if he had already accepted his fate.
“Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!”
“Root out the pagans!”
“Drive out the cult followers!”
“Kill! Kill! Kill!”
Filled with so much anger and enmity that Hiyan could vividly feel their emotions, the crowd booed and hissed at Paul and the others to get executed in madness and enmity.
“Bi-Bixter...!” Hiyan stammered in fear.
“It’s fine. It’s going to be fine. Don’t worry.” Bixter covered Hiyan’s ears so he wouldn’t hear the crowd’s hissing anymore.
Nevertheless, Hiyan couldn’t stop shivering. “Why... Why do they hate us this much...?”
Born in a village of affectionate and amicable people, he had a hard time understanding why the crowd would aim all their enmity toward them. The villagers had certainly never met these people before, much less caused them harm, so how could they hate the villagers this much?
Soon, a man wearing the vestment of ‘Ursa Major’ climbed up the platform.
Clatter, clatter.
Hiyan’s teeth clattered in fear. The man before them was the one who took his father and beat him up.
“Glorious sheep, you follow the Star Signs’ teachings and silently walk down your destined paths, never getting lost. Unlike you all, the people before you today are wicked and sinful pagans who dared defy the Star Signs’ teachings and extinguish the light of the Star Signs, who brighten up the dark skies of Arcadia,” the thin-mustached man said solemnly.
“Boooooo!”
“Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!”
“The Star Signs teach us to value lives, so we have spent several months excruciatingly trying to reform these wicked pagans... Unfortunately, the wicked god’s shadow that tainted them couldn’t be erased.” The thin-mustached man closed his eyes as if he genuinely found the news tragic.
Hiyan watched the thin-mustached man’s every gesture as he acted like a saint. He wasn’t sure how other people viewed the man, but he saw him as a death reaper.
Hiyan wanted to scream no, but Bixter covered up his mouth before he could. He writhed hard, trying to break free, but Bixter’s hand didn’t budge. As he burst into tears, he noticed Paul quietly open his eyes and miraculously meet his gaze.
Paul’s eyes widened, surprised to see his friend and son here. When Bixter nodded in silence, Paul smiled gently in response, trusting his friend to protect his son no matter what. He was worried sick about Hiyan but was relieved now.
Hiyan hated it. He refused to lose his father like this. However, Bixter positioned himself in front of him, blocking his view.
“... To erase the wicked god’s shadow from their minds, we are forced to spill their blood. O’ great Star Signs, please take pity on them and their souls. Sheep, please pray for them to be blessed after their death.”
The thin-mustached man recited a short prayer, then nodded at the executioners.
They held up their spears high in the air to cut the ropes holding the guillotines’ blades up.
‘Dad!’ Hiyan screamed in his mind, praying to the hero in the sky. ‘Please save Dad! Just like how you showed up here for the first time and saved the world, please save me and the villagers!’
The only thing he could rely on right now was the legend.
Ding!
[Faith has connected the Celestial ‘Divine Twilight’ to his follower, bestowing his follower with a blessing.]
[Starting possession!]
Incomprehensible messages showed up in front of Hiyan.
Snap!
Over the messages, the first executioner cut the rope to drop the guillotine’s blade. Paul, who was under it, shut his eyes.
Paaah―!
At that moment, a pool of blinding brilliance spread out near the guillotine. The blade had stopped right on top of Paul’s neck.
Hiyan escaped Bixter and looked at the guillotine with widened eyes. Bixter’s response was no different. The thin-mustached man in the vestment of ‘Ursa Major’ had grabbed the guillotine’s blade.
“Out of all the people I could possess, I ended up with this?” The thin-mustached man grumbled incomprehensibly as he tightened his grip.
Crack!
Booom―!
The guillotine’s blade broke into fragments and scattered everywhere.
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