Chapter 152: Night Sky’s Flail
The Rakshasas fought desperately. They quickly turned the tips of their spears toward Hillove, took out axes and swung them around, and called and gathered all the other Rakshasas in the temple. However, unfortunately for the Rakshasas, Hillove was an ‘annihilator’.
Among Sung-Woon's creations, Sratis was a ‘destroyer’, tasked to break down fortress walls, to kill other creations and monsters, and if necessary, to confront an apostle, a being under Divine Control, or a Hierophany body.
Annihilators were also meant to kill enemies, but the opponents they were specialized to deal with were a little different. While Hillove could handle other monsters, it was specifically made to deal with opponents weaker than itself such as mortals, lesser monsters that couldn’t be considered giants, armies, and especially infantry units.
One of its legs alone ran 15 meters long when fully extended, and the tips of all its legs were almost as sharp as obsidian, so just by walking toward the Rakshasas, dead bodies were piling up. When a part of a corpse got stuck to its leg due to friction, Hillove would flick the leg back like a Human dusting their hands. And every time it did so, the corpse would fly away and get embedded into a wall or ceiling.
It didn’t take long for the Rakshasas to realize that Hillove was a monster they couldn’t beat.
“Ahhhhh!”
“Run away! Run away!”
“Go outside!”
But Hillove quickly finished the task Vasen Lak Orazen had assigned. Hillove spewed white spider webs from its abdomen, blocking the Rakshasas' escape routes. Some of the Rakshasas carelessly stepped on the spider webs and got tangled up, while others lacked the courage to even step on them and were left standing in place in fear.
Hillove didn’t move frantically like it was intoxicated with murder, nor did it move too slowly like it was savoring the process of taking lives. Instead, it moved at a consistent pace from start to finish and soon completed the task.
Vasen then went up to Hillove and bowed down to it.
“Thank you, Night Sky’s Flail.”
The title of ‘Flail’ was given to it when it faced the Deep Ones on the Southern Archipelago. The Astacideas gave Hillove the name as a reference to the way it shook the corpses off its legs and the way the corpses scattered like grains when the battle ended.
Hillove replied.
-No need to thank me. I simply follow the will?of Night?Sky.
"Regardless, you have helped me, my friends, and the divine being Katuru, haven't you?"
Then the Pangolins also got down and bowed fully with their heads touching the ground.
“Thank you so much!”
Just like the time Hillove received praises from the Astacideas when it chased away the Deep Ones, it felt awkward in such situations. Sung-Woon hadn’t given Hillove any exceptional eloquence or sharp intellect because as an annihilator, it was enough for Hillove to be eloquent and intelligent to the degree to not be deceived by enemies.
Hillove hesitated for a moment and decided to just accept the goodwill.
-Get up. If you are in danger again, I will help you.
At those words, a low rumble was heard, followed by a voice.
-Is that…true?
It was the divine anteater, Katuru. Katuru had just been released with the help of the Pangolins, but it didn’t look well due to the excessive bleeding.
Hillove replied.
-Yes. Because that is what Night Sky wants.
-Night Sky…?
-The god of creature creations, as well as my master.?
-A god? The gods have left.
-Night Sky has returned.
Katuru slightly shook its head as if it didn’t believe what Hillove said.
-I do not know Night Sky. What if Night Sky changes their mind and says you do not need to do so anymore…?
With its six eyes, Hillove looked at the Pangolins that were bowing in front of it, as well as Katuru, who was in pain and weak. Until now, Hillove had acted according to Night Sky’s will and mostly remained asleep during other times. However, in Hillove’s perspective, it didn’t seem that its master was going to summon it back.
‘Then I will do as Night Sky does.’
Hillove replied.
-If Night Sky doesn’t command not to do so, I will still help you.
At those words, Katuru sat down.
-Oh, that’s good. Thank goodness.
Katuru rested its head on the ground before continuing.
-Please look after these small friends until I wake up again…
And right after saying so, Katuru closed its eyes. As it did, the Pangolins were startled and started observing it.
Worried, Vasen asked, “Is it dead?”
Margo put their palm to Katuru’s nostrils and said, “No. It’s just sleeping because it’s in a lot of pain.”
The Pangolins then treated Katuru.
Vasen said to Hillove, “White spider, I actually have another request.”
-Speak it.
“From what they have said, it seems that there would be more Rakshasas coming from the neighboring villages. Could you help us defeat them?”
Hillove turned to look toward the temple’s exit and extended one of its feet to Vasen.
“What…is this?”
-I would like you to tell me where to go, but your feet are slow.
Hillove’s head slightly tilted. With its broad vision, that was enough for it to clearly see Vasen.
-Can you get on?
Vasen and Margo both climbed onto Hillove’s back. As soon as they came out of the small temple, Margo pointed in the direction where the enemies were expected to show up, and Vasen shouted loudly to assure Theone Itimo and the crew members, who might be startled, that they were part of the same team. Some of the crew members recognized Hillove and bowed down.
The Rakshasa reinforcements from the neighboring village had already gotten quite close. A part of the scouts were observing Mago’s village. However, before they could escape and report back, they got entangled in Hillove’s spider web. And after they spilled the information that there were 200 of them, that they were all infantry, and everything about their weapons, they all died.
Hillove said.
-I don’t have a problem facing the enemies, but I can’t kill all 200 of them at once in a wide forest like this. Some will surely run away.?
Vasen was about to ask if it was thinking about killing all of them by itself, but held back and slightly shook his head. He realized that Hillove didn’t say so because it was simply confident; it was speaking purely from a strategic perspective. Even killing the scouts right away was out of the concern that their information would be passed on to the enemies in the rear.
It was obvious that some would run away if Hillove was to attack all 200 enemies alone in the forest.
“Please take a big detour around the enemies and approach their advancing direction from the opposite side. Then drive them out toward this village.”
-Alright.
“I and the rest of the soldiers will surround and attack them, as well as chase after those who run away.
-Sounds like a good plan, mortal Vasen. You are indeed intelligent.
Hillove executed Vasen’s plan just as he had expected. However, its abilities to kill and injure their enemies exceeded Vasen’s expectations. Vasen gathered the crew members and expedition team and quickly formed a phalanx in the village where most of the Rakshasa warriors had been subdued, and they waited for the Rakshasa reinforcements to arrive. But these reinforcements only came in six or seven at a time every once in a while, and then they stopped coming altogether.
Vasen had expected to use a lot of bullets, but because of the small number of enemies, they didn’t even use any. Instead, it was enough for the archers lying in wait to deal with the Rakshasas by shooting their heads while they screamed and ran away.
‘Did they run away mid-fight? I guess we can’t really do anything about that… No, what if something bad has happened to Hillove…’
That concern was unnecessary. As Vasen took the carefully selected expedition team toward where Hillove was, around 150 dead bodies were scattered around the forest. The leaves that were supposed to be thick and green were covered in blood, and because of Hillove’s habit, there were many dead bodies on top of the trees as well.
Hillove said.
-How many have you killed?
“43.”
-The numbers add up. None ran away.?
Then Hillove returned, accompanied by the cheers of the expedition team. The Pangolins were even happier. They expressed their gratitude to Vasen and his comrades, and then they celebrated their victory.
***
Wisdom said excitedly, “Impressive. Not only did they gain the favor of the natives…Faith points are on the rise too. Shouldn’t it normally be decreasing instead?”
“Yes,” Sung-Woon replied.
In situations where a player interfered with an individual, causality was violated. And due to that violation, Faith points would be consumed. That was especially true if the individual wasn’t a follower of the player, and the penalty would be greater.
“So what happened?”
“It’s simple,” Sung-Woon explained. “Even when there’s no systematic support, loose alliances still create the effects of a real alliance. The penalty of helping an ally’s followers is lesser, isn’t it?”
“I know that.”
“But that’s not because the two are allies. It’s because they have formed a close relationship. The specific value is unknown as it isn’t displayed on the status windows, but according to research that has been done, it can be referred to as Intimacy.”
Wisdom summarized, “So…if Intimacy is higher, the penalty decreases?”
“Yes. And through Hillove, I quickly built up Intimacy with the Pangolins and Katuru.”
“That’s why you said it’s the perfect time to interfere.”
Under certain circumstances, perhaps Vasen and Margo could have saved Katuru on their own. But if Hillove, one of the weapons that Sung-Woon had, could be sent with a similar amount of resources, that would be more beneficial.
“But using Hillove still consumes Faith points. And although I did gain points back through the praise that Hillove received, that would only make things even.”
“You’re saying that it’s still better than trying to resolve the problem without using any Faith points, right? I guess that’s certainly true. Making Hillove a representative idol would also boost the reputation of the Pantheon.”
“That’s right.”
The current native religion of the Pangolins was divine worship. This simple native faith was established through intimacy and interaction with a divine being. And because Katuru, the divine being of the Pangolins, acknowledged Hillove, that allowed Hillove to receive those Faith points instead while Katuru was asleep.
Wisdom’s voice was filled with joy. “It doesn’t end here, does it?”
Sung-Woon replied, “Of course not.”
***
Vasen cleaned up the village.
A few sailors and expedition team members had suffered light injuries, and quite a few Pangolins had died or gotten injured, but the casualties were acceptable compared to the victory that they had all achieved together.
Vasen then asked Theone, “If Margo is right, the enemy’s attacks won’t end here. How do we contact the other ships?”
Theone replied, “The last ship of the fleet that departed with us was the communication ship. It took the safest and fastest route. It will try to contact each ship while going along the coastline, so it will notice that we are missing. And even if they don’t, Black Scale is preparing a second expedition team, so they’ll eventually find out.”
“When’s the fastest they would know?”
“Maybe fifteen days?”
“And the latest?”
“We would have to wait for the second expedition team to be organized, so…at least three months?”
Vasen shrugged.
“Let’s hope for fifteen days. If we can make contact with the other ships, our gunpowder issue will be solved. Though bullets might become a problem at that point too…”
“If we know the geography, we might be able to produce some ourselves.”
“That’s a good idea… But for now, we need to focus on the next few days. If Margo is right, the Rakshasas are from a larger nation than we thought.”
According to Margo’s description, the size of the whole Rakshasa tribe was more than half of Black Scale’s peninsula at the least. Even though their level of development was low, it seemed that they dominated a vast region.
“We will have to plan a lot of fights. And in order to do that…”
Hillove interjected.
-I’ll help.
“Oh, of course we would be thankful if you would do so…”
-Use me more actively.
Vasen contemplated for a moment. Hillove was a creation sent by God, so as a follower, he was uncertain and burdened by whether or not he could continue to ask Hillove for help. According to myths, gods violated causality to intervene, and it was described as too much for the gods to handle at times.
‘But at this point, what’s the use of worrying about that? This is certainly a message from Night Sky, telling us to survive. So survive we must.’
Vasen said, “The neighboring village has sent reinforcements, but the rest of the tribe will still be in the dark. There’s a high possibility that reports haven’t reached the higher ranks.”
-So you’re saying that we should silence them.
“Yes. So it would be best to attack first before the enemies can even prepare themselves. If we take the less fatigued people and launch a surprise attack on the next village…”
-I will go.
Puzzled, Vasen asked, “Do you mean you will go…alone?”
Hillove didn’t answer immediately and instead raised its head.
-Night is coming.
“Pardon?”
Hillove said.
-Even though my body is white, I can move the quietest among all the creations that Night Sky has made. So wait here. It won’t take too long.?
Hillove then walked into the shady woods.
And a few hours later, Vasen came to learn that Hillove was indeed a reliable spider.
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