Chapter 74: Hierophany
‘You’re requesting a Whisper Conversation now?’
If they were an ordinary player, Sung-Woon would have had no intention of accepting the request. It was a battle that Sung-Woon was close to winning, so the opponent requesting to have a conversation could only be understood as some kind of trick. And if Sung-Woon wanted to have a conversation, he would have at least waited until Shaiven was killed.
‘But this is a player whose existence itself is suspicious. They have a weird username, appeared a long time after the game began, and control Vampires, a species that never existed in the game before.’
Sung-Woon accepted the request and switched to video chat like usual.
癤Woo bbit瑜swem ssik, known as Jeol Woo-bi, appeared on the screen.
‘Well, someone has bad taste.’
Sung-Woon initially thought their face was made using a model that wasn’t created properly because of how awkward it looked. But actually, the face was covered with the skin of a Human’s face. Inside the hollow mask, white murky eyes stared at Sung-Woon. And below the face, Jeol Woo-Bi was dressed in a rag made of several peoples’ skin with skulls and collarbones as accessories.
癤Woo bbit瑜swem ssik didn’t say anything.
So Sung-Woon asked, “What should I call you? I’ve been referring to you as Jeol Woo-Bi until now. Is that okay?”
“.....”
“You’re the one who requested a talk first, so if you have nothing to say, I’m going to hang up.”
Only then did the blackish lips seen through the open mouth of the skin mask start to move.
癤Woo bbit瑜swem ssik awkwardly said in a low, dreary voice, “Do you think…you are winning?”
“Yes, what of it?”
“You’re wrong… You will…lose.”
Sung-Woon shrugged.
“No. I will win. I would’ve won the siege even if the revolt hadn’t happened. I decided to fight at the mountain fortress in order to lessen the losses. Even if I had half your number of troops, the Lizardmen of Black Scale have maintained their elite forces with little loss for more than a decade. On the other hand, an army of multiple species would be great only if they had a skilled commander, and Shaiven isn’t one.”
“I…wasn’t talking about the…unintelligent, lowly…things that have two feet.”
‘Unintelligent and lowly?’
Sung-Woon assumed that the opponent was at the very least a role player.
Sung-Woon replied, “Then are you talking about the current fight happening between Lakrak and Shaiven? Even now, Lakrak is fighting hard by himself. One of the things I was worried about was you using Divine Control, so I was taking caution. But everything would be over if I use Divine Control too to counter you.”
“That’s not…what I was talking about either.”
“Then what?”
癤Woo bbit瑜swem ssik replied while stammering, “You cannot change…a single thing…in this world.”
Sung-Woon tried to figure out what that was supposed to mean. If the opponent was a player, a player like Sung-Woon who had come from Earth to be exact, they would have said that they were going to win the game.
‘But instead, they said I wouldn’t be able to change anything?’
Sung-Woon decided to provoke his opponent a little more.
“No. I’m going to win. As of now, only the Lizardmen and Humans believe and follow me, but that won’t be the case after a little while. I will develop civilization, connect all the continents with paths on the ocean and in the sky, and I’ll build underwater tunnels in the ocean if I feel like it. I’ll also build temples in each city and discover all the Ancient Ruins and…”
“Stop!”
癤Woo bbit瑜swem ssik was furious.
“That power…doesn’t belong to you people!”
That was another strange choice of word. If the opponent was referring to players as ‘you people,’ they definitely weren’t a player themself.
“Then whose was it originally?”
“It belonged to…us!”
“Us? Who is us?”
As if they were put into an awkward position by Sung-Woon’s question, 癤Woo bbit瑜swem ssik stayed silent.
So Sung-Woon said, “You’re not human, are you?”
癤Woo bbit瑜swem ssik hesitated for a moment and looked down. Sung-Woon was pretty sure he’d hit the nail on the head, but the resulting silence was uncomfortable.
‘That’s as good as a confirmation. So what are they if they aren’t human?’
癤Woo bbit瑜swem ssik raised their head.
“We…were the masters of the world.”
“Masters of the world?”
“Now…we will…get it back from you people.”
Then the video chat window disappeared.
‘So much for manners.’
Sung-Woon grumbled. And suddenly, he saw the air split from top to bottom.
‘...This is?’
***
The blade of Lakrka’s silver spear cut through Shaiven’s right arm.
“Argh!”
The large monstrous Cockatrice caught the flying arm with its beak, tipping its head back and swallowing it at once.
‘Is this it?’
All the big Weasels guarding Shaiven lay dead on the ground, and Shaiven was barely standing with her arm cut off. Her eyes were full of maliciousness, but the battle had come to an end. To finish things off, Lakrak kicked both sides of the large monstrous Cockatrice with his feet to send it charging at Shaiven.
‘…!’
Lakrak suddenly felt goosebumps rising and quickly pulled at the reins. The large monstrous bird looked up at the sky before Lakrak did and let out a shriek.
-Kaaooo!
A huge silver wall appeared between Shaiven and Lakrak before disappearing. Lakrak rode the large monstrous Cockatrice up the slope, and only then did he realize that what he had seen wasn’t a silver wall, but a huge blade. A sword that was tens of meters long had ripped through the air and fell towards Lakrak. If he hadn’t sensed it, he and the large monstrous bird would have been split in half. Lakrak looked up.
“That must be…”
There was a hand holding the sword. And behind the huge hand was its owner. The head was so far away that the torch light didn’t reach the face, and it was shrouded in shadow. Yet through that darkness, the dark red eyes were clearly visible.
“...It’s their God.”
***
Sung-Woon looked at the giant. Overall, they looked similar to the 癤Woo bbit瑜swem ssik he had just seen during the video chat. The skin mask of a face was especially similar, but what was below the neck was a little different. The giant had three pairs of arms, each holding a sword and spear, ax and hammer, and bow and arrow respectively.
‘Hierophany.’
It was a skill obtained once a player’s Divinity level reached 16. Rather than taking over the body of their priest or summoning their creation, the god would descend upon the world themself. The player could customize the appearance of the manifested god, but their combat ability would be based on the areas the god had.
‘While they have quite the tactical mind, I had hoped they wouldn’t know how to use the skill since they seemed inexperienced with the game system. I guess that would be too good to be true.’
Sung-Woon had considered that 癤Woo bbit瑜swem ssik’s Divinity level could be 16 or 17, and he knew they would be able to use the skill since they hadn’t used much Faith points until now.
‘The manifestation is huge. Even if I summon Sratis, Sratis would barely be able to scratch their thighs. However, using that skill consumes an enormous amount of Faith points. So as expected, they’re not too familiar with the game system.’
Sung-Woon looked to see how the Lizardmen of Black Scale were reacting. Lakrak, who had already gotten to the top of the fortress wall by riding the large monstrous Cockatrice, had been commanding his troops. And his command was to run away.
If they opened the fortress gates and went down the road on the eastern side of the hill, they could make it through the enemy’s troops and go to Automation. Originally, there were Vampires guarding the road as well, but it was now empty because the Vampires had used too many troops for the siege.
‘Good. That’s sensible.’
Even at a glance, the opponent was not something that could be faced. Courageous people would think they could face a monster about ten meters tall, but with a giant close to a hundred meters tall, it would be meaningless for even thousands of people to shoot arrows at them.
‘Yes. All you need to do is get away.’
If Hierophany was used right away at level 16, it would use more Faith points than Divine Control. It consumed so much that in order to maintain the skill, sacrifices had to be offered at the same time.
‘But there’s no ritual going on right now, which means no sacrifices are being offered. So they need to obtain sacrifices from where they are.’
And 癤Woo bbit瑜swem ssik acted just as Sung-Woon had predicted.
Shaiven thought her god would run towards the fortress right away and swing down the sword, but 癤Woo bbit瑜swem ssik hadn’t done so. Instead, they ran out of Faith points after walking a few steps, and they bent down and reached out an empty hand to grab a slave, along with the Vampires fighting the slave. Then they opened their mouth and dropped the slave and soldiers into it. Their piercing screams rang through the night.
Shaiven broke out into cold sweat at the sight of the hand sweeping people off indiscriminately. And then she realized that it was the god she had chosen, and that she wasn’t much different from her god.
The slaves and other Vampire soldiers began to run away at the sight of the god. However, no matter how fast they ran, it was hard to get out of the god’s reach. The god clasped their hands together slightly, grabbing those who had gotten the farthest away. Scared witless, the victims collapsed and lost consciousness or screamed while looking at the sky.
Shaiven knelt on the ground and prayed that her turn would be last.
‘Now all I need to do is wait,”?thought Sung-Woon. “I will lose some Lizardmen. But by the time they have somewhat restored their Faith points by filling themself with slaves and the Vampire soldiers, there won’t be many troops left at the fortress.’
It seemed that the current battle was going to come to an end just like that. Shaiven was likely to survive, and 癤Woo bbit瑜swem ssik would recapture the fortress along with the leftover troops. However, as a result, the Vampire army would be destroyed, and 癤Woo bbit瑜swem ssik would have used up a great deal of Faith points, which wasn’t a bad outcome. Besides, the Vampires wouldn’t even be able to utilize the mountain fortress properly.
‘Jeol Woo-Bi is not a fool. They know that too and will leave some troops behind while giving up the fortress. Those small numbers of soldiers left here would buy them time. Meanwhile, they’ll probably make Shaiven go around the continent and somehow increase their troops again.’
However, the other five players had continued to take back their villages in the process.
‘The other players would undergo some more losses, but that’s not my responsibility.’
And someone else had come to a similar conclusion as Sung-Woon. That person was Lakrak. But Lakrak acted differently than Sung-Woon.
***
“Hurry! We don’t know when that evil god will attack us again!”
At Lakrak’s shout, the Lizardmen moved in perfect order. The Lizardmen warriors took the minimum amount of weapons with them, escaped through the gates, and ran towards the east side of the hill.
Quezle then said, “King Lakrak, I will take charge of this place now. Go down the hill first.”
“Fool. What kind of leader runs away first while leaving all his warriors behind?”
“You need to listen to me this time. You’re not just our leader. You’re our king.”
“I know I’m the king. But what do you think of the king? Do you think of me as a coward?”
Quezle shook his head.
“No. You’re the most precious being.”
“Why do you think I am the most precious?”
“Well…because you set an example for us and guide us where we need to go.”
“Then do you think my life is more important than all of yours?”
“How is that even a question?”
Quezle laughed because he thought Lakrak’s question was ridiculous, and Lakrak laughed with him. This time, Quezle seemed to be right. If the king died, there would be disorder.
Lakrak knew that those who kneeled in front of him wanted to become like him, but they had made up their minds to not pursue what they wanted as long as Lakrak was alive.
‘But what if I die?’
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