[Vol. 8] Chapter 45: Survival of the Fittest, This Is the Truth
Although the voice of the crystal stone figure showed no emotion at all, as if it was neither happy nor angry and only asking questions, the butterfly-winged woman who was already feeling guilty immediately gave a sad cry under an invisible pressure. She quickly knelt down with all her body on the ground, shaking all over, looking very scared.
“R-Respectfully reporting, Your Divineness... just like you said, that terrifying dragon pressure can only be held by the strongest dragons, like the legendary Dragon Kings. And the power that came just now is very similar but even more frightening! It... it might be...”
[Hmph, a Dragon God...?]
Facing this almost obvious feeling of power, plus the fact that one of his own people had been defeated before, [Wild] naturally guessed the true identity of the very powerful being that just appeared in Valandia. His voice showed a bit of calm memory.
[Though these gods come by passing down powers through generations, letting ordinary beings have a chance to break limits and reach godhood, it’s still quite good. For thousands of years, I have met several Dragon Gods, and I’ve heard the newest one is a bit special, even managing to cleverly push back the ‘Wheel of Fate’...]
[Flora.]
“Ah! Y-Yes!!!”
[Wild] quietly looked at the humble butterfly-winged woman kneeling on the ground. Though his unclear stone face showed no real expression, a much stronger and more terrifying pressure suddenly dropped on Flora, many times stronger than last night. Cold sweat soaked her whole body, and the buzzing sound of death made this myth-level powerful woman tremble uncontrollably. Driven by fear, she let out a loud, high-pitched reply.
[Those two women would not let you go without a reason. They must have something to tell me. What is it?]
“Y-Your Divineness... I... I...”
[Wild]’s voice still showed no feelings, like he was saying an absolute truth.
[Speak. If you don’t... you die. I never say this a third time.]
“T-They want you to... to...”
Realizing the god was not joking, Flora was terrified to the core but still tried to speak. However, under [Wild]’s very strong mental and physical pressure aimed only at her, she stuttered many times and couldn’t say a full sentence. Even her face started to fall apart under the stress.
At that moment, a small bit of reason deep inside her shook.
After betraying [Wild] and giving away their secrets, running away meant death. So Flora had to return here and hoped she could use some clever tricks to soften the report.
Yesterday, she thought she was lucky because after reporting to [Wild], she wasn’t punished. But now she finally understood, [Wild] already knew everything and just waited until all his envoys gathered before taking action. His goal was clear.
The huge pressure, like a mountain falling or a tsunami crashing, crushed Flora’s body and mind. Her bones even made cracking sounds, as if about to break. This was punishment, and also a test. Since she had chosen to give in to the enemy’s pressure, now [Wild] was using even stronger power to warn and punish her.
If her willpower could survive this punishment, she could overcome failure, change herself, and be forgiven. But if she couldn’t...
The only ending appeared in her mind like a nightmare. Flora tried her best to hold on, but the huge pressure from the god and her fear crushed her body and mind again. She fell to the ground, shaking uncontrollably. Her once delicate face was covered in tears and foam from her mouth. Her eyes grew wide, showing strange images like a moving lantern inside.
With her body and mind breaking down like this, no one without a very strong will could stay calm or think clearly. Obviously, Flora did not have that kind of strength.
“Your... your Divineness...”
She lay on the ground in a terrible state, trembling and trying to speak, but her words turned into broken cries mixed with blood and foam. Her body even sank slightly as if pushed down by an invisible power, showing just how much pressure she was under.
Some of the other followers who were her friends looked away, feeling sorry for her. They seemed to already know how this would end for their companion.
[Wild]’s order was clear, “If you don’t speak, you die.” Since Flora could not say a word, her fate was already decided.
Sure enough, the dark stone figure showed no mercy. Its calm words from before seemed to come true right then. Seeing that Flora had lost the ability to communicate because of her fear, it lifted its crystal-like arm and bent it like a claw toward the butterfly-winged woman.
“Ah...!”
Flora had almost no chance to fight back. Near death already, she was thrown into [Wild]’s hand like a baby. It grabbed her throat tightly and held her up in the air.
“P-Please... spare me...!”
The strong stone hand, hard like iron clamps, squeezed her neck. Her bones cracked loudly, her eyes rolled back uncontrollably, and her wings and legs twitched violently in a desperate struggle.
Because she had just reached the mythical-level being and had strong life force, she did not die right away when her neck was crushed. Her dim eyes trembled as she looked at the god, silently begging for mercy. Her chest made broken, gasping sounds like bellows, hoping for even a tiny chance of kindness.
But it was all just wishful thinking.
[I don't need useless people among my subordinates.]
[Wild] calmly made its final decision. It wiggled its body a little, and then the pointy end of its head, which moved like a long tail, went straight into Flora's back, pouring divine power inside.
“Crack, crack, crack...!”
The dark gray stone spread quickly from the wound all over her body. In just moments, the struggling butterfly woman turned into a lifeless, beautiful stone statue. Her terrified face was frozen in the moment just before death.
“Bang!”
The giant crystal hand squeezed once more, smashing the stone statue into pieces in midair. A faint sparkling light flew from the tip of [Wild]’s head into its body, while the rest of the statue broke apart into dust and flew away.
A mythical-level super-strong being had completely lost her life.
“......”
Watching Flora get wiped out without hesitation, the other followers quickly lowered their heads. Their faces showed different feelings, but no one spoke or dared to question.
Their great power and honor all came from this god, [Wild]. He could give it, and just as easily take it away, along with the lives of his servants as interest.