NOVEL WEB Chapter 262
Chapter 262
Plan of the Goddess (1)
The world had changed.
People were no longer working. They didn’t need it.
They didn’t starve even if they didn’t work.
When they prayed, food came down. The blood and flesh of the Demon Dogs were perfect, so there was no need to even cook.
They didn’t tremble in the cold or the heat even though they didn’t work.
The world of Omphalos had neither summer nor winter. It was just a continuation of spring with warm sunshine and cool winds.
They could be happy without working.
The daily bread that the Devil gave them was pure, intuitive, and a direct pleasure.
The joy of starting a family, the love of lovers, the sense of accomplishment in achieving one’s goals…
Nothing was more significant compared to this.
It was certain.
The world was slowly dying.
* * *
Drek Plata, a small town in eastern Latna.
People in rags wandered and gathered in the abandoned slums of the city.
Despite the change of the world, they refused to serve the Devil.
“Argh!”
“Argh!”
Screams broke out all over the place as the Aliens in Drek Plata killed the Goddesses’ hidden followers.
They giggled at the sight of the nomads’ blood.
“Oh, the world is better.”
“The prey comes into the hunting grounds on their own.”
Nomads knew they would be driven to die as heretics when they entered the cities belonging to Omphalos.
Nevertheless, they were forced to enter.
Alien monsters shunned people with seals granted by Omphalos. At least they could avoid the assaults if they were among the apostles of the Devil.
Was that all?
They could dwell in abandoned houses and sleep with a shabby roof on top of their heads, and they could get the blood and flesh of the Demon Dogs left behind by the apostles of the Devil. It was a terrible taste for those who didn’t get any seals, but they could fill their stomach.
Above all, rather than being hunted by Alien monsters, their survival rate became a little higher.
Of course, that didn’t mean anything at a time when swords stabbed them to death…
“Argh!”
“Goddess, Goddess!”
“Wait, I will serve the Devil! I will serve Omphalos!”
Some of them claimed to switch sides, unable to overcome the fear of death.
Of course, it didn’t work.
“Really?”
“Then we’ll have to kill you now.”
“We don’t even get a pleasant reward once you get the seal!”
Those who couldn’t escape trembled and rushed to the corner of the alley.
It was then that a man in his 40s stood in front of him.
“Everyone, get away!”
The nomads greeted him and shouted.
“Fabricio!”
The Aliens became nervous.
He was a shabby but sturdy swordsman who looked like a powerful warrior.
Above all, their Guidelines showed the opponent’s level.
[Race: Human. Swordsman lv. 54]
“Huh?”
“His level is high, isn’t it?”
“There’s still someone of his caliber who didn’t get the seal?”
The average level of the Aliens was about the late 30s. There were more Aliens, but the level difference was too big.
“Let’s run.”
“Yeah, we should bring a higher-leveled one.”
Mindful, they backed down.
Shaking his head, Fabricio sheathed his long sword away.
‘Good thing they’re from Earth.’
If they were from Latna, they would have attacked without knowing the level difference, and he might have been in a situation where he’d be forced to spill blood.
And that was a fatal problem for Fabricio.
[Race: Human. Swordsman lv. 34]
[Race: Human. Mage Lv.36]
[Race: Human. Warrior Lv. 37]
Even now, he could see the level of the escaping beings.
* * *
Level 54 Swordsman, Fabricio.
He was a farmer in Honduras, South America, before falling into Latna after being swept away and killed by a drug cartel uprising.
He was also an exceptional chosen one who had escaped the Pleasure Rewards.
Most of his kind couldn’t avoid it.
The Devil had dug multiple traps to manipulate modern Earthlings into craving murder.
Most modern jobs were of little use in Latna. The world was different.
And they were only given combat abilities.
Except for verbal communication, there was no ability to make money daily.
The Devil gave battle capabilities to those who knew nothing and let them gain experience. In the process, little by little, they could eliminate the repulsion to kill.
At first, the Devil made them kill monsters that were close to the form of animals, gradually turned them into humanoid ones, diluted the perception of bloodshed, and eventually killed seemingly human monsters.
In this process, the level of the chosen people reached 20, falling into the real world Latna.
The new arrivals didn’t think they had committed murder yet.
They just killed the ‘monsters’ that looked like human beings.
They couldn’t communicate, and their behavior was completely different from that of real people.
Nevertheless, once experienced, the repulsion was greatly reduced. And Latna, unlike modern Earth, had too many opportunities to kill.
In an unknown world, being persecuted and driven away, all they had was the ability to engage in combat. Could those who lost their guilt over murder resist the temptation to defend themselves?
It wasn’t an implausible story.
There had to have been some who tried to avoid murder until the end.
The problem was that most of them were dead.
Only the chosen people who could kill people without burden could survive and eventually fall into the trap of pleasure compensation.
Fabricio also killed Latnains, who attacked him without much thought at first. It was all to survive.
And he felt a little pleasure from it.
Fabricio freaked out, unlike how most of his kind reacted to the excitement given by murder.
‘This… This isn’t it!’
He had a history of drug addiction on Earth and barely got out of it. He also had the experience of distinguishing simple excitement from artificial pleasure.
He was terrified and had been frantically looking for another case.
Luckily, he could meet a high-level chosen one and hear the truth.
After that, he never committed such atrocities. He didn’t end even the lives of Latnains aiming to kill him.
Thanks to this, he pushed through several crises, but it didn’t matter.
He would rather die than go through the terrible withdrawal symptoms again.
Therefore, he didn’t get the seal of Omphalos.
If there was a god who gave pleasure in return for murder, it was certainly evil.
How could he believe what the Devil said?
‘But…’
Fabricio patted his stomach.
He was hungry.
It had been too long since he ate proper food, and he couldn’t remember when he last slept in a comfortable bed.
‘Now what the hell….’
Living the right way didn’t mean life wasn’t painful.
‘What should I do…?’
* * *
Han-bin and his group returned to Armorica immediately after finding the Goddess’s sacred items.
Althea welcomed everyone with pleasure.
“Good job, everybody.”
Everyone found her remarks embarrassing.
“You sound like we were in trouble.”
“All we had to do was go and get it.”
“Just in case, we all came…”
“Only Kibie, Leon Hart, and Effir did something.”
They weren’t wrong.
Indeed, Ryu Han-bin and Artis did nothing but follow the others.
Kibie clapped her hands, and Leon Hart opened the door down.
“It’s been hard enough for me…”
Only Effir, who had to fly from end to end of the continent, got exhausted.
Regardless, now it was time to take on the collected sacred items.
Ryu Han-bin grabbed the Heart of Light, the sacred item of Althea.
Artis grabbed the Flames of the Origin, the sacred item of Yessen.
Effir grabbed the Breath of the World’s Beginning, the sacred item of Preleu.
Leon Hart agonized.
“Which one should I take?”
The most appropriate sacred item for him, the Templar Lord of darkness, was, of course, the power of Kybriel, the Sacred Heart of Darkness. But Ryu Han-bin got that already.
Althea said with a smile, “Pick up anything. It doesn’t matter anyway.”
The Goddesses’ sacred items amplified the four powers of their wielders. There was no such thing as compatibility according to attributes.
The effect was the same even if Artis, the Fire Dragon, got the sacred item of Water, and Effir, a Wyvern, took the sacred item of Earth.
“I see, then…”
Leon Hart grabbed the sacred item of Rhamniana, the Tears of Eternity.
Han-bin looked back at Kibie.
“Will you take the sacred item of Sorondi? That doesn’t sound right since you’re the Goddess of Darkness.”
Kibie shook her head.
“I can’t get the power of any sacred item.”
The power of the incarnation itself was nothing short of a Goddesses’ blessing. They conflicted with each other.
Leon Hart didn’t gain much strength either. He was also blessed by them, after all.
“But there’s no other candidate at this point.”
Althea continued to talk.
“The owner of it will be someone else.”
“Oh, Plater?”
“Unfortunately, he is too old to digest its power.”
“Then who?”
Just in time, a slim black-haired beauty entered the room.
“I have been called upon, incarnation of light.”
It was Manakiras, a Level 141 Ancient Dragon in the human form.
The Ancient Dragons of Latna once betrayed their creator and lived as servants of the Top Three.
But now the ban on them was gone.
Kibie, who regained the power of the Goddess, took their seduction and gave them freedom.
The ban of the Archmage could have obliterated by Kybriel’s powers. The problem was that she had lost her strength.
But it was clear that Manakiras had become a trusted companion.
“I see.”
“If she, a level 141, takes it, she’ll be able to reach at least level 150.”
Not up to Omphalos, but she would be enough to deal with his six apostles. It was a reliable power.
“I will do as you please, incarnations of light and darkness.”
She politely lowered her head and reached out nervously.
Manakiras grabbed the Touchstone of the World.
With that, all the sacred items’ owners had been determined.
“By the way, is this active?”
Kibie looked back at Althea and frowned.
They were only beads. They had to activate them to gain the grace of the Goddesses.
However, their power to grant grace was all tied to the high heavens.
“She couldn’t bring her powers down. She must have brought that much, though.”
Althea smiled helplessly as she looked at her, wondering.
“Not now.”
It was a bitter laugh.
“For now.”
Suddenly the little girl sighed deeply.
“Phew, Kybriel. Don’t be surprised.”
“Why?”
“I’m going to do something crazy from here on out.”