Chapter 1101: 88. Contradiction
What exactly was the Goddess of Night?
This was a very complicated question, but also a very important one.
So important that, no matter what the rules of this place were, what the environment was like, or what major event the people here were brewing, in Muen’s view, this question had to be solved first.
Because according to his experience, the source of many strange incidents was precisely those Evil Gods who often wore all kinds of disguises to stir up trouble. Therefore, if he did not figure out the Evil God’s true nature, it would be very easy to fall into some extremely dangerous misunderstandings.
No matter how much experience he had fighting Evil Gods, he still had no desire to entangle himself with an Evil God hidden behind the scenes, whose true form he did not know.
That was far too dangerous.
"Shut up! You are not allowed to blaspheme our great Goddess of Night!"
The Third Attendant was once again enraged by the way Muen described her as a "thing." He growled, "Everything She does is for absolute justice! It is all to fulfill Her great long-cherished wish. An ignorant outsider like you will never understand!"
"Justice? Hearing that word from the mouth of a guy with black blood pouring out all over him really is something new."
Muen shrugged helplessly. "Fine, fine, fine. I’ll be a little more respectful, all right? The great Goddess of Night, the noble Goddess of Night... So, this great and noble Goddess of Night, what kind of existence is She exactly? What authority does She hold? And what is Her revered name?"
"The Goddess of Night..."
The Third Attendant’s expression finally eased slightly. "There is no harm in telling you. The great Goddess of Night is the incarnation of order and night. She is the noble deity who protects this land of Annabawei. For hundreds of years, She has always used Her authority to shelter this place. She regards every person here as Her own child and equally gives them Her love and care."
"Annabawei. So that’s the name of this region. But... order and night? The deity protecting this place? Love and care?"
Muen’s expression turned strange. "That’s rather different from what I’m feeling now. The people here seem to fear and hate that deity very much. They even forbid lighting candles at night, because that would draw the Goddess of Night’s gaze, and they are all very afraid of that gaze."
From last night until now, the residents here had indeed completely obeyed the rule Grandma Meg had mentioned before, that no light could be made at night. Even when they had gone to repel the evil believers last night, they had done it entirely in the dark.
And perhaps precisely because of this, the people here seemed to possess night vision far beyond ordinary people. For example, the fact that Marcie could now move quickly through complicated mountain terrain in a lightless night was proof.
Was it because they had lived in darkness for too long and had adapted to this environment?
That long, endless Long Night Period—how long had they experienced it for?
"That is because She was betrayed!"
The Third Attendant became emotional again. If he had not lost half his body, he would at least have stood up, pointed at the sky, and roared to vent the resentment in his heart.
"Our great god, our great Goddess of Night, did not hesitate to exhaust Her own divine power to protect Annabawei. She did not even hesitate to offer Her own divine blood. Yet those ignorant humans betrayed the Goddess at the most critical moment. They betrayed the noble Goddess!"
"Betrayed?"
Such a classic plot.
"So... the Goddess of Night wants to destroy them, and even sent evil believers like you to run around causing destruction?"
"That’s what they deserve! What they deserve! They are all sinners! Sinners carrying filthy blood! Not only did they fail to be grateful for the Goddess’s mercy, they even betrayed... They deserve to die! Die! Everyone deserves to die! Die out! Everyone... Heh heh..."
The Third Attendant’s emotions grew more and more intense, and his entire face began twisting together. His originally ordinary features now became as sinister and terrifying as an evil ghost.
"They deserve to die! Everyone deserves to die..."
"Can you explain a little more clearly? About the details."
"Does that still need explaining? Sinners deserve to die out! Haha... The Goddess is far too merciful. She actually still holds on to that kind of delusion... They should all die out. Die out!"
The Third Attendant began constantly repeating words like "deserve to die" and "die out." No matter how Muen asked, he had no normal reaction at all.
"..."
Muen frowned.
What the hell?
They were chatting, and then he suddenly went insane?
Muen was unwilling to give up and began considering whether he should give the man some kind of mental recovery therapy. But before he could do anything...
"Die out... Haha... Die... No... No, that’s not right... They shouldn’t die..."
The Third Attendant’s remaining half-body twisted continuously. Every muscle spasmed, and that black blood surged outward as if it cost nothing.
Struggling... struggling...
Yet the Third Attendant’s face suddenly underwent a strange change. One half of his face remained furious and twisted as before, but the other half became incomparably sorrowful, even beginning to cry.
"Haha, everyone here should die out, and then their blood should be used to once again... Wuwuwu... No... No! It can’t be like this... There is still hope... They still have hope... Haha! Kill them all... Wuwu... No... I have to save them... The Goddess’s will..."
Incoherent. Contradictory.
The two faces seemed to each have their own thoughts, pouring out completely different words.
"..."
Muen was speechless.
Wonderful.
Now he was not only mentally deranged, he had fucking split personalities too.
Was there any need? He had only asked a question. He had not even carried out any especially harsh interrogation. Surely no one would try to fake being wronged over something like this too, right?
Or perhaps, since he had directly asked about such a sensitive topic as the Goddess of Night right from the start, had it been a little too stimulating for this Goddess of Night’s most devout believer?
Damn it. If he had known this guy’s tolerance was so low, he should have been gentler with the first question and proceeded step by step.
"Forget it. There will be other chances later. There’s no reason to shear a single sheep to death. I’ll send you on your way."
Muen gripped Elizabeth again, no longer wanting to tangle with someone who had gone completely mad.
However...
"The one who deserves to die... is you!"
The Third Attendant suddenly roared.
He had no lower body, so he could not stand, nor could he use the speed he relied on most. Yet at this moment, he suddenly thrust both hands into his own abdomen.
That abdomen, covered in black holes and seemingly already rotten beyond repair, was pierced by him as easily as sticky rice cake. His hands stirred inside, then he yanked them out violently.
Fragments of internal organs, wrapped in black blood, came pouring toward Muen like a waterfall.
It seemed that, no matter how his two modes of thought collided, there was only one point they agreed on.
Rejection of "outsiders."
"Die! Outsider!"
"..."
Looking at that offal attack that almost made a person vomit at a single glance, Muen suddenly had the urge to start cursing outright.
No, man, is this attack physical or psychological?
Making it this disgusting—although he knew the man wanted to use the pollution these evil believers carried against outsiders—could he not consider the mental health of a minor who was just seventeen years old plus a few dozen months?
Besides, even if he did not consider the mental health of this seventeen-year-old minor...
"What use is this?"
Muen’s figure flashed, disappearing directly from where he stood.
The Third Attendant’s movement had indeed been very sudden. This self-mutilating attack was indeed hard to anticipate. Muen had indeed been stunned for a moment.
But...
It was still too slow.
An evil believer who completely lost his regenerative ability after losing just half his body could only be described as "feeble" in the current Muen’s eyes.
His offensive... this blood and these organs being flung over had neither any battle aura supporting them nor any magic existing within them. They were simply being hurled by relying on his own strength.
In Muen’s eyes, it was no different from slow motion.
Muen’s figure flashed, and he easily avoided it.
"So, do you have any other moves?"
After dodging, Muen appeared before the Third Attendant again. Toward this evil believer’s desperate final blow, he was not angry. He even seemed especially patient.
Because he also very much wanted to test where the limits of this place’s evil believers were.
"You... What exactly are you..."
The Third Attendant’s face was sinister, his eyes wide open... But the flesh and blood across his body had already begun to dissolve. The maggots crawling back and forth also lost vitality one by one, losing their life along with their host.
It seemed the limit had already arrived.
"I... I can’t fall... I still haven’t finished..."
Unwillingness still remained on his face. But even Muen could not distinguish whether that unwillingness came from the destruction he had yet to complete, or from those mad, rambling words about salvation. Perhaps even he himself could hardly say clearly.
Very soon, he died.
His body began to melt, and as that flesh and blood dissolved, Muen saw a line of text emitting faint traces of magical aura, still not disappearing even in this state.
After the blood and flesh rotted and dissolved, those words still floated within the black pool of blood.
—Pioneer 00017.
"So this is the so-called identity code? Such faint magic can actually achieve such a lasting effect? How exquisite."
Muen praised it.
00017?
Judging from this number, this guy should have been considered among the earliest batch of pioneers.
Black blood flowed, gradually seeping into the barren earth.
This so-called Third Attendant before him had clearly only been able to survive until now by relying on the support of that Goddess of Night.
Therefore, when he died and that blessing vanished, not even his corpse would remain.
Perhaps, in the end, only this number would be left.
"The feeling of pollution is still very strong, even though it’s already become like this."
Muen hesitated for a moment, but still chose not to use black flames.
Although he was confident that his black flames could completely burn away that pollution, to him, there was absolutely no need to take this risk for the sake of a few fragmented images left after death.
That Goddess of Night remained hidden behind a veil of mystery to him. Perhaps She had already set Her eyes on him, and this Third Attendant who had rashly delivered himself to his door might even be some kind of trap.
Muen felt that, given his level of fame among Evil Gods, it would not be impossible for the other side to specifically target him with underhanded tricks.
So...
"Anyway, there’s still another source of information I haven’t used yet. No need, no need..."
Muen seemed to think of something, and an evil smile unconsciously appeared on his face.