[Vol. 8] Chapter 35: The Gods Have No Mercy
[Wild] represents the oldest thing to ever exist on the land, the very first thing created when the world was formed, stone.
That’s right, this ordinary-looking black crystal stone in front of them was none other than the ancient god of the Behemoths, a being that had lived for tens of thousands of years, equal in power to that dragon god who recently appeared in Sainz. This was an Ancient God.
The Behemoth people had always served the Behemoths. Now that [Wild] had returned to the world, it was only natural for them to give their full loyalty. And not just them, the ancestors of all sixteen tribes in this buffer zone once worshipped the [God of Wilderness and Savagery].
Combined with the overwhelming power shown by this god and its divine messengers, this loyalty made it possible to unite the tribes into the army now marching against the Austre Empire.
But even though his blood filled him with awe and fear, Tairnak felt something deeper and more troubling as he looked at this god. He felt uneasy.
The god had appeared too suddenly, without warning. And right after appearing, it had pushed them to commit such shocking, terrifying acts. It was hard to guess what the god truly wanted.
A god is something far beyond human understanding. Every action they take affects their followers, the ordinary people, in ways too large to imagine.
The god had sent powerful messengers to help them: one, a terrifying giant Behemoth, helped break through enemy walls. Others spread a deadly plague of the undead behind enemy lines, greatly weakening the Austre Empire’s forces.
But if this sudden help disappeared, the backlash could wipe out many of the tribes completely.
This so-called Son of the Ancestor God, this ancient ruler of the Behemoths, clearly did not care about mortals. Tairnak could already see the god’s cold, uncaring nature. Just from the fact that it had ordered its messengers to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of lives along the way.
It wouldn’t be impossible for this god to abandon its followers the moment they were no longer useful.
But Tairnak was just a mortal. Even if he saw this truth, he had no power to stop it. He couldn’t say no. If the god ordered its people to go to war against the Austre Empire, the sixteen tribes had no choice but to obey.
Otherwise, it wouldn’t be the Iron Ridge Fortress that got destroyed today, It would have been them.
As these thoughts rushed through his mind, Tairnak kept his head down on the ground, waiting for the god to speak. But the black crystal figure, now shaped like a person, remained silent. No one knew what it was thinking.
Tairnak carefully raised his head, planning to quietly ask something. But just then, the god lifted one hand and made a casual grabbing motion toward them.
"Whoosh!"
"Wha—?! AAHHH!!!"
The next second, even though Tairnak didn’t feel any force at all, the elephant tribe’s chieftain, who was kneeling beside him, suddenly screamed and flew through the air, thrown straight toward the black crystal figure!
“?!”
The Behemoth chief’s battle instincts kicked in. Tairnak looked up in shock and shouted without thinking, ignoring all rules of respect.
“Wait! Lord [Wild]!!!”
But Tairnak’s cry didn’t help.
In front of all the terrified tribal leaders, the huge, muscular elephant chief was grabbed around the neck by just one hand, as if he were a baby chick. His feet kicked helplessly in the air.
“Ugh… L-Lord…!”
Choking and sensing death, Soren struggled with all his strength. Even though he was one of the top five warriors in the buffer zone and unleashed a massive burst of power, it didn’t affect the god at all.
Without a word, [Wild] slightly moved its head, and the long, tail-like horn on top of its head pierced straight through Soren’s heart from behind.
With a sharp “bang!”, and under Tairnak’s wide, shocked eyes, the huge elephant-man, over three meters tall, suddenly turned into stone. Then, in just seconds, the stone crumbled, broke apart, and scattered to the ground, turning to dust.
In only a few seconds, Soren, one of the top three tribe leaders among the wild tribes, someone who was basically the ruler of a small nation, had completely disappeared from the world. All that remained of him was a thin layer of ash on the ground.
The change was so sudden and shocking that all the other tribal chiefs were completely stunned. But in front of the Son of the Ancestor God, a being so powerful and distant that he felt like a giant gulf between them, none of them dared to feel angry or resist. All they could do was lower their heads in fear, kneel to the ground, and try to look as humble and harmless as possible, afraid that they might be the next to die.
Only one person reacted differently.
“Soren!!!”
Tairnak suddenly stood up, staring in disbelief at the pile of dust that used to be his friend, a friend he had known and worked with for over a hundred years. He started to move forward, but at that moment, a bug-man warrior holding a giant axe stepped in with a “shing!” sound and blocked his path.
The blade turned slightly, and a cold light flashed across its edge. The bug-man’s dark red compound eyes showed a faint but deadly killing intent, making it very clear. If Tairnak took even one more step, the axe would fall, and he would lose his head.
“......!”
Tairnak’s whole body tensed. He wanted to punch the bug-man badly, the urge was overwhelming, but he gritted his teeth and took a deep breath. His chest made a rough, raspy sound like a bellows. Using all the reason he had left, he stopped himself from doing something that would destroy him forever.
Instead, the tall Behemoth chieftain stood still, facing the warrior’s axe, and looked directly at [Wild] with bloodshot eyes.
“Great Son of the Ancestor God! Chief Soren was completely loyal to you! He always obeyed your orders, gathering sacrifices, charging into battle, moving the army. He did everything right without any mistakes! What wrong did he do that you didn’t even give him a chance to speak before killing him?!”
Finally, the black crystal figure, shaped like a strange human, slowly turned its head. What might be called its “gaze” fell on Tairnak. Although its face was just made of stone, two hollow eye sockets seemed to appear. The ancient, heavy presence of this being hit Tairnak like a giant weight, crushing his shoulders and forcing him to fall to his knees again.
Then came a voice, not from any mouth or vocal cords, but from somewhere deeper, older. A divine language no one had ever heard, yet every living creature there understood its meaning clearly. The weight of its meaning shook their minds, and all the tribal leaders turned pale.
[He was a mere mortal. I killed him. That’s all.]
[If he didn’t want to offer other insects as sacrifices, then he had to offer his own life. Do I need you to tell me how to act?]
“You...!”
Tairnak was shaking with rage, but [Wild] didn’t even look at him. Instead, it leaned back as if nothing had happened. The dark red ground below it twisted and rose up, forming a throne of blood and flesh. It sat down on this strange seat of meat and stone and gave its next command coldly.
[The sacrifices must not stop. We still need at least 300,000 more, just to barely be enough. Tomorrow morning, send the army east. The divine messengers will help you fight and gather what we need.]
[Remember, this is not a request. It’s an order. If you can’t bring enough sacrifices in time, then use your own people to make up the number.]