Chapter 20: Chapter 20

Nonetheless, Xi Wei was not so reckless that he would ignore all else to directly descend and blow up every foe for his believers.

Therefore, he would do what he always did: use his Divine Eye to find the original believers who were in trouble and understand their situation within the shortest period of time.

He then found out that the believers were not quite gambling addicts.

Although they appeared ragged, were equipped with armor and weapons that were poorly maintained, their every movement along with the emblems on their broken equipment made it clear that they all served a common group.

As he cross-referenced the remaining records in his divinity, Xi Wei promptly realized that those believers were more troublesome than he imagined.

They were the original founders of the Church of the God of Games, survivors of Tierra, the fallen kingdom.

***

It was an overgrown forest full of towering trees and dense shrubs where usually not a single soul could be seen. Tree crowns filled the forest canopy and blocked out the sky, leaving the forest in dimness—if it was not for the occasional ray of sunshine piercing through the canopy to project faint strips radiance within the forest, one would have trouble differentiating between night and day.

The young girl who was dressed in combat gear was running through a narrow path between the woods. Her blonde ponytail danced as she moved, shining with a golden hue brighter than the sun itself.

There were still a few elites keeping guard around her, who were probably her guards.

Suddenly, the young girl tripped over a tree root and almost fell, but was caught by the outstretched hand of the oldest guardsman beside her.

“Thank you, Uncle Carlo.” The girl who was panting heavily and sweating buckets from running conveyed her gratitude.

“It is my duty, Your Highness.”

The man appeared much more at ease, but he spoke stiffly and seriously. “We are now some distance away from Lancaster City, and they would have trouble tracking us in this forest. Let’s rest for a moment.”

In response, the girl did not keep up her brave act, leaning on a tree and sitting on it without any cushioning, with a face full of grief. “I thought by setting base in Lancaster, we would at least be free from the sabotages by the Traitor King’s army… I simply did not imagine that someone from an Evil God cult appearing out of nowhere would corner us like this.”

“…Because the God of Games has left us,” the middle-aged man said flatly.

“That’s disrespectful, Uncle Carlo.” The young girl smiled bitterly, but her words appeared to be more mocking of herself than blaming him.

In reality, even if they, refugees of Tierra maintained their traditional belief in the God of Games, almost everyone was aware that the deity had left them.

It made sense if they thought about it: the great kingdom of Tierra which had been at the height of its power when they were invaded and driven to its knees, and yet that god had never once displayed even the slightest of providence. With what few were left of them now, it certainly was impossible for them to gain any divine compassion.

Nonetheless, the young girl who had long since gotten used to cruel blows shook her head, throwing aside her doubt towards the God of Games.

“More importantly, why would anyone from an evil god cult know our hidden base in Lancaster? Not even the inquisitors of the Traitor King has found us…”

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“I can answer that, Lady Leah.”

A sharp voice with unrepressed hostility suddenly spoke, setting the girl’s party on alert at once.

Soon, however, their alertness turned into profound despair, for many figures dressed in black cloaks and wearing bizarre black and white masks appeared from the dense forest.

The girl was only too familiar with them—their secret base in Lancaster had been overrun by those same cultists!

At the moment, she was completely surrounded by the cultists.

The one who spoke was probably their leader who had just slowly stepped out from their formation. He lifted his right hand, and his cloak slipped off to expose his scar-laden right hand.

An insect resembling an overgrown purple fly was resting on his right index finger, and using its front legs to rub its massive compound eyes.

“This black corpsefly is not useful in fighting as a magical pet, but as a familiar it can precisely identify the rotting odor lingering on every ‘Rotten Bones’ follower,” the cultist said proudly. “It’s all too easy to track all of you with it.”

Before the girl could retort, the guard beside her cried out in agony—she turned in panic, and found the stoic middle-aged man Carlo had cut down one of the guards.

“Stop! What are you doing, Uncle Carlo?!” The young girl exclaimed in surprise.”

“Don’t you get it? The black corpsefly was tracking your Captain Carlo’s scent!” The cultist leader laughed dementedly. “That Uncle Carlo you respect so much was on our side in the first place—he has become a follower of Rotten Bones!”

“How could this be…” The girl was in disbelief.

“I am sorry, Your Highness.”

Carlo remained as stoic as ever and showed no apologetic expression whatsoever. “You know very well that my wife and daughter died in the defense of Tierra. I could never forget the terrible state of their lifeless bodies, and in every moment of the last few years, my heart burns with vengeance… Even so, after fighting in the war, I now know for sure of the gap between an army blessed by a god and another which was abandoned. That feeble God of Games is unable to help me exact vengeance, and as such, I sold my soul to a god who can actually help me claim revenge.”

“So, in the end, I’m just a ladder you climb on the path of vengeance?” The girl’s body was quivering. She felt as if she had fallen into an icy cavern after being betrayed by the one person whom she trusted the most.

“An initiation, to be precise. Meanwhile, we’re going to properly ‘educate’ you before presenting you as a gift to some noble in the empire, Princess of Tierra. I’m convinced that we could get something really nice from those pigs with that very title.” The cultist leader interjected. “They especially like such things.”

“I won’t let you!” The girl bit her lip and unsheathed her saber.

The other guards followed suit and brought their weapons to bear at the cultists and the traitorous captain of the guards surrounding them.

“The other ladies all say that, and all of them ended up as our tributes. It’s perfectly fine—we have people with special skills designed for that amongst our group.” The leader of the cultist was not concerned despite the young girl’s weapon, but was instead becoming thrilled. “It won’t take a while before you’ll be as docile as they were.”

“I’m very sorry,” Carlo said dryly, before pointing his sword at the girl.

“You will face divine retribution for turning against God,” the young girl said, slightly trembling as she tried to maintain her courage.

“Maybe. Like you, I once held immeasurable faith in that God of Games, but he never helped His Grace in the fall of Tierra, nor did he help me when my wife and daughter were killed by soldiers serving the traitor king,” Carlo said coldly. “That is why now, in this very moment, he would not help you either, Your Grace.”

“Because that god is so cold-blooded and heartless.”