Chapter 197
Chapter 197. The First Meeting (5)
A gigantic maw suddenly jutted out into the sky.
The instant Anagin recognized its existence, every nerve in his body stood on end.
His instincts screamed that it was dangerous. The maw was that ominous.
Driven by his survival instincts, Anagin examined the maw more keenly than usual.
A mouth torn open to an almost grotesque extent.
Beneath it were thick, damp lips that resembled those of a leech.
A translucent slime dripped between those lips.
Even that alone was enough to send chills down his spine and fill him with revulsion so intense it felt as though his skin were being peeled away.
However, the smell wafting out from between those lips was even more horrifying and disgusting.
The stench of ten thousand fish rotting all at once.
The salty odor of sweat, sour body odor, and the smell of dried urine.
The metallic scent of human blood from so many people that it was impossible to even guess the number.
Each of those smells alone would have been unbearable, yet they were densely intertwined as the warm sea breeze carried them straight to Anagin.
His eyes stung, and a horrific taste spread across his tongue.
Just as Anagin desperately suppressed the nausea rising in his throat, the maw slowly opened.
The opened maw possessed a grotesqueness completely unlike before.
Compared to its enormous mouth, tiny human teeth were embedded here and there, and beyond those teeth stretched a darkness as endless as the abyssal sea.
It felt as though merely staring at it for a moment would pull his entire body inside.
Yet instead of losing himself, Anagin muttered quietly.
"A fish...?"
Amid the indescribable revulsion and grotesqueness, there was something strangely crude about it.
It was as if someone had simply pasted fish scales onto a human mouth. It felt oddly slapdash.
If he had to describe it, it was like something forcibly cobbled together.
Without a doubt, it was ominous, revolting, grotesque, and threatening.
Yet at the same time, it was just as crude, clumsy, and poorly made.
Two completely contradictory impressions.
Just as Anagin unconsciously began analyzing the source of that feeling, Aesop's voice echoed.
[Roar]
------!
At the same moment, the maw in the sky let out a scream.
With that horrifying cry, the hill where Anagin stood collapsed, and cracks spread across the entire island...None of that happened.
Piiiiiiiiii-!
The sound the maw produced was not nearly as loud as he had expected. The air around Anagin merely tore into a hazy blur for a brief moment, kicking up clouds of dust.
Other than that, there were no effects.
No aftershocks.
At most, there was the ringing in Anagin's ears.
Considering that an enormous maw had appeared in the sky, it was surprisingly underwhelming.
And Anagin thought the same thing.
‘What? That's all? It wasn't as much as I expected?’
Indeed, it was so. But..
‘Why... can't I move?’
Standing there with blood pouring from all over his body as if it had burst apart, Anagin thought that as his consciousness slowly faded.
* * *
Whoosh. Whoosh.
The summoned god's mouth let out a roar, and space itself was torn apart for the briefest instant.
An incredibly brief instant.
The world, governed by homeostasis, returned to normal in less time than could be described as a "split second" or even "an instant."
Only the dust remained swirling in the air.
Forming a peculiar hand seal by pressing the fingertips of his left hand against the base of his right palm, Aesop released it and swept the drifting dust aside.
He looked far too ordinary for someone who called himself the leader of the Barbaroi Cult, but Aesop did not particularly care.
"Oh."
As he fanned the dust away with his hand, Aesop let out a brief exclamation.
He had been somewhat hopeful, but this exceeded even his expectations...
Anagin had maintained his form.
Granted, blood was pouring from all seven orifices, and his entire body looked so battered that it seemed as though his flesh and bones were about to separate.
Even so, it was astonishing.
Truly.
He had received a god's roar directly, without the slightest filter, and merely remaining intact was miraculous.
‘Though that's as far as it goes.’
As the brief excitement faded, Aesop coldly thought to himself.
He still had not forgotten the princess standing beside him—Sphinx.
She had been Anagin's companion, after all...
Aesop shifted his gaze toward Sphinx.
He had expected her to scream and struggle desperately.
Instead, she simply stared blankly at the blood-soaked Anagin.
That was even worse.
It seemed the bond between them had grown far deeper than he had expected.
Aesop fully closed the fingers he had deliberately left slightly open.
After all, she was the Queen Consort's daughter.
He had no desire to make her witness anything even more gruesome than this.
The person herself clearly failed to understand that consideration, shouting something as his fingers closed completely.
Aesop pretended not to hear.
He shut his ears.
He was used to being hated.
"Hmm."
Having completely shut Sphinx out, Aesop turned his attention back to the corpse.
"...What an amusing fellow."
That was Aesop's assessment of Anagin.
It seemed like the perfect description.
The way he talked was amusing, and the fact that he had maintained his form was amusing as well.
But the most amusing part of all was that, despite obtaining the Emperor's Fragment—a treasure others could never possess no matter how much they desired it—he had no idea what he possessed.
What kind of farce was this?
Then again, it was not something one could obtain simply by wanting it.
Nor was it something one could possess merely by knowing about it.
It was an object that only those chosen by fate could obtain.
In that sense, perhaps Anagin himself was someone born with destiny.
A destiny to become a true king.
‘No, no. An emperor.’
Thinking of it that way made him feel that it was a bit of a waste.
But the regret did not last long.
If this was where it ended, then this was all he had amounted to.
There was no reason whatsoever to dwell on it.
"Hoo..."
As that thought settled in, even the slight enjoyment he had felt vanished as though it had never existed.
In its place rose a peculiar sense of disappointment.
Like receiving a gift that turned out to be utterly underwhelming.
As though to dispel that disappointment, Aesop reached out toward Anagin's lifeless body.
Just as his hand was about to touch it—
Thud!
Anagin's fist slammed into Aesop's face.
Aesop took three steps back.
It was not a heavy blow.
It was merely the reflexive punch of a corpse on the verge of death, lacking any real strength behind it.
Even so, for the first time in a very, very long while, Aesop felt pain.
"Ha..."
And he laughed.
* * *
“Ghk...! Haaah...! Haaah...!”
As if waking from a dream, Anagin regained consciousness and collapsed forward, gasping for air.
His lungs greedily sucked in breath after being deprived of it for so long.
“Haa...! Haa...!”
No matter how much he breathed, it wasn't enough.
Anagin tried to figure out what had happened.
He was certain he had blacked out for a moment.
‘...I'm in bad shape.’
Fortunately, his mind was still functioning.
Anagin's judgment was quick and accurate.
Then again, with his vision blurred and dyed crimson, it was only natural.
His eyes had apparently taken severe damage.
Though it wasn't just his eyes.
‘There's no sensation in my body, I'm cold, and my whole body is wet... Is it blood? I'm screwed.’
Anagin thought calmly.
He almost wished he could feel pain.
At least that would mean his nerves were still working.
But he couldn't even feel that.
That alone told him just how badly injured he was.
How long had it been since he had been beaten this thoroughly...?
Orpheus?
That had been nothing more than child's play.
Erysichthon?
Dangerous, sure, but still manageable.
‘Damn it... Master.’
Anagin thought of his master.
This was about as badly as he had been beaten during the peak of their sparring sessions.
‘Though I think it was even worse back then.’
Well, anyway.
By this point, Anagin realized that he might actually die.
‘...Well, maybe that wouldn't be so bad.’
Perhaps because he had lost too much damned blood, such a pathetic thought briefly crossed his mind.
No.
He couldn't die this pathetically.
Not to... whatever the hell that thing was.
“Haa......”
Having barely steadied his breathing, Anagin forced his unresponsive body to rise.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
His damned arms and legs refused to obey him.
He couldn't even lift his head, let alone see where Aesop was.
"That's enough. I'll consider the wager your victory."
As Anagin struggled to stand, Aesop spoke.
It sounded like some sort of trick, but Anagin ignored it and estimated his location from the direction of the voice.
The ringing in his ears still made it difficult to pinpoint the exact position, but he could at least tell the general direction.
"Honestly, I'm impressed. I thought that last hit had killed you. I'm willing to admit you won."
"Cu... cut the... bullshit...! Don't... act... like you're... doing me... a favor...!"
Anagin still couldn't lift his head.
He could only stare at the ground.
Yet somehow...
He could feel Aesop smiling.
"Does that really matter?"
"It... does!"
Still, there was one fortunate thing.
His body seemed to be recovering.
The proof was that his speech was becoming clearer than before.
If he could buy just a little more time, his body would recover.
Not completely.
But enough.
He needed to stall.
"...Tell me."
Anagin squeezed his still-spinning mind, searching for a way to buy more time.
"How... to become... a god."
"Ah, that."
A strange tone.
For a moment, Anagin wondered if Aesop was about to change the subject.
But that wasn't it.
Instead, Aesop asked,
"What kind of god do you wish to become?"
It didn't sound like a question meant to dodge the topic.
Rather, it sounded like he needed the answer before giving a proper explanation.
Anagin answered.
He had to buy time anyway.
"A god... who can do... whatever I want... whenever I want."
"How abstract. No... perhaps it's specific. What have you done since becoming a practitioner?"
That question was more difficult.
What had he done since becoming a practitioner...?
Anagin recalled everything that had happened since then.
He had gone through all kinds of incidents, but it was difficult to sum them up in a single sentence.
What an irritating bastard.
Even his questions had to resemble him...
"Not bad."
Apparently ignoring Anagin's annoyance, Aesop gave an approving evaluation.
"To become a god, what matters is building your own unwavering merit. If you imitate or model yourself after someone else, you'll never accumulate enough merit to reach the height of godhood. Do you understand?"
"Explain it... so I can understand."
"The way to become a god through your own strength is by accumulating merit. Merit so lofty and unshakable that it reaches the gods. Merit that suits the god you seek to become, built upon unwavering faith in yourself."
Anagin roughly understood what he meant.
But it wasn't enough.
Considering the state his body was in, the explanation was far too abstract.
He needed something more concrete.
As if reading Anagin's thoughts, Aesop continued.
"In your case, your path to godhood would be defeating those you cannot stand. Bandits, monsters, heroes, kings... challenging them all without discrimination."
‘That's a relief.’
Anagin thought inwardly.
He couldn't trust Aesop's words completely.
But if they were true, then he had been training the right way all along.
True, he hadn't won every battle.
But he had never backed down.
That should barely keep him within the safe line.
Still...
It somehow felt like something was missing.
Then Aesop, who had trailed off, continued.
"Even... if your opponent is a god."
"..."
"What? Are you frightened?"
Aesop asked provocatively.
Anagin had indeed been surprised.
Defeat a god...?
Then again, now that he thought about it, it did make a certain amount of sense.
"Are you trying to recruit me to your side?"
Anagin pressed him.
The conversation had shifted toward defeating gods.
There was no way the leader of the Barbaroi Cult would tell him to defeat the barbarian god they worshipped.
By process of elimination, that left only the gods of Hellas.
So Anagin politely asked whether Aesop was trying to pull something.
He expected some elaborate answer.
Instead, he got something completely unexpected.
Far more unexpected than he had imagined.
"You don't need our help to defeat the gods of Hellas. In fact, we'd only get in your way."
Anagin frowned.
That didn't sound like something the leader of the Barbaroi Cult—opponents of Hellas—should be saying.
Wasn't he admitting his own weakness?
"However, to become a god, you must defeat a god of Hellas. Quite the contradiction, isn't it? To become a god, a human must defeat a god beyond human reach."
Anagin agreed.
It wasn't merely cruel.
It was downright malicious.
Is that why he was so willing to tell me?
"But there is a way. Do you want to hear it?"
Anagin stepped closer to hear more clearly.
"Tell me."
"You must obtain a power that defies the natural order."
"...Is that... the Emperor's Fragment?"
His head had recovered enough to make a simple deduction.
Based on Aesop's teasing tone, as though saying, ‘You already know, don't you?’
"Where can I obtain the Emperor's Fragment?"
His words came out much more smoothly now.
Anagin took another step forward.
"Well..."
Another step.
"I don't think that was part of our wager."
One more step.
And now!
Anagin forced up his creaking head and threw every ounce of strength into a punch at the Aesop standing before him.
As fast as he possibly could.
The fist Anagin had patiently waited to unleash shot forward—
And passed straight through Aesop.
As though he were nothing but smoke.
The fist continued past him and struck the boulder behind Aesop.
A weathered monument, so worn with age that it was impossible to tell what it had once commemorated.
Crash!
Despite the unexpected miss, the monument, weakened by countless years, shattered with astonishing ease.
‘I'm screwed.’
The thought flashed through Anagin's mind.
Then, mysterious light burst forth from the shattered monument and flowed into his body.
A sense of déjà vu.
It was exactly the same as the second Ruin.
The same thing that had happened when he defeated the bronze statue bearing the Gate Shield.
Falling forward in the direction of his punch as the fragile monument crumbled, Anagin immediately pushed himself back up.
Aesop, whom he had passed through like smoke, now stood far in the distance.
"It was a pleasure meeting you."
"Wait."
"You made things entertaining. If we ever get another chance...Let's make another wager."
As though he lived with his ears plugged, Aesop spoke only what he wanted to say.
Ignoring him, Anagin rushed after him.
But his battered body refused to cooperate, and he failed to catch him.
"Brother, are you okay?!"
Sphinx, now freed from the giant hand, had already returned to her human form and rushed to Anagin's side.
Anagin tried to tell her that Aesop was a complete bastard.
But the moment he opened his mouth, all the exhaustion that had accumulated until now crashed over him at once, and he lost consciousness.
At that moment, he heard someone say something.
So... it begins.
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