Offer a Tribute and Become an Archmage - Chapter 166



Only Noblemtl

Offering Tribute to the Archmage Chapter 166

Nightmare [2]

Episode 166.

“I need to see the god within you before he is taken away by Xenos.”

My vision is blurred.

No, to be exact, it all flowed down like paint.

As the different colors of the paint flowed down and mixed together, they quickly lost their colors and turned black. However, strangely enough, something was visible as they turned black.

It was a girl riding a red deer.

The girl wearing the wolf skin was a tribal girl who rode a red deer up and down the mountains, hunted with the chieftain’s spear, and defeated enemies as had been done for a long time.

Although young, the girl was more than capable of acting as the chieftain’s representative, and dozens of tribesmen all followed her, considering her to be the next chieftain.

It was natural, as she was the granddaughter of the current chieftain and the strongest girl among the tribesmen.

The strong lead the flock.

That was the truth of this world.

“Win!”

“grandfather!”

Win jumped down from the red deer and ran into his grandfather’s arms.

The friendly scent of his grandfather wafted into his nostrils. Win liked this scent. It was the sweetest scent of all.

“Win, what did you do today?”

“Look at this. I picked up a shiny stone from the mountain behind me.”

“You’re hurt.”

“This stone is extremely sharp!”

It was a stone with a silvery glow.

“… It’s a stone. Throw it away.”

“But it’s pretty.”

“Win. The stone arouses greed in the human heart. If you wish to protect this tribe and become its chieftain, you must never come near this stone.”

Win liked the feeling of large hands caressing him, but he couldn’t understand why someone would call something as bad as a piece of stone.

“You must be worried. Whatever happens, I can overcome it.”

Win rubbed the stone against another stone and struck it down to sharpen it.

It was perfect for use as a small dagger.

A few days passed.

As always, Win rode his red deer, Aku, and roamed the back mountain.

It is a daily routine to hunt wild animals with a bow and gather herbs. Win, who is responsible for the tribe, had to learn a lot, see and hear a lot even though he was young.

That was when.

Win saw some men on the back mountain. They were wearing something silver. As soon as they saw Win, they drew their swords and shot arrows. Win missed, but unfortunately Aku did. Aku, who was hit in the hind leg, quickly fell down, and Win, in anger, shot arrows at them. However, her arrows did not penetrate their skin.

The silver armor blocked it.

Win ran away, leaving Aku behind with tears in his eyes.

Ran to the tribe.

But the tribe also had soldiers.

They are the chiefs of the tribe.

Win’s grandfather was on his knees, his neck being slit.

“grandfather!!”

The girl’s cries echoed.

But the sword never stopped.

The men of the tribe were annihilated.

It was the same for both children and adults.

Only women survived.

The woman was captured by them and treated worse than a dog. Win’s eyes filled with tears of blood as he watched the tribesmen being taken away without any resistance, while the soldiers harassed the women as if they were insects.

Soon their clutches reached out to Win as well.

The girl stabbed the knight with the hidden stone dagger.

Win’s sword pierced the seam of the armor, causing the knight’s entrails to spill out through the gap in his armor, and she felt both anger and joy as she pulled them out.

At the same time, she held a sword in her hand. Their armor changed shape the moment it touched Win’s hand. It was as she had wished. The sword Win had made was a truly exceptional sword.

Her sword could cut through even their tough armor without mercy.

Win slaughtered them in an instant.

When Win, who was originally the strongest warrior in the tribe, was given an iron sword, it was like putting wings on a tiger’s back.

From then on, her nightmare began.

It was a war that never ended.

It was also a war that had no end.

Win is getting stronger and stronger.

No matter how strong the iron armor was, it crumbled in an instant in her hands.

Her magic was miraculous, empowering her allies with the power of her enemies.

Win’s army became a strong army that did not fear death, and Win had the skills and wisdom to not give up on any strong enemy, and he never lost a war.

Even if you are armed with iron, it is useless against her magic that deals with iron itself.

As time passed, Win learned that the land he had conquered was a principality.

It was a small kingdom belonging to the empire.

They knew that the reason they attacked the tribe was because of the selfish greed of humans who coveted the iron mines. But even if they knew that now, it wouldn’t make a difference.

“Sabrina the Witch! Take my sword!”

Win fought, and fought again.

He killed his enemies to make swords and tore off their limbs to make armor.

Blood flows like a river.

A mountain of corpses covered the fields, and the stench of blood and pestilence swept through the lands of the Empire. Atop the mountain of corpses, Wyn, sword in hand, covered in the iron he so hated, faced the oncoming enemy.

The sword and armor she made were different.

Known as the Witch’s Sword and Armor, it granted even ordinary people superhuman strength.

Not only that.

“It would be better for all iron that brings misfortune to disappear.”

Unable to bear this, the great magicians and knights of the empire appeared to subdue Win. The subjugation force consisted of representatives from the 24 large and small kingdoms that made up the empire.

“Minerva, Witch of Iron! Your evil deeds have reached the heavens!”

Each of them was given a name that they liked.

It was good anyway.

Time passed again.

The war lasted for decades.

The weak died, the strong lived.

By the natural course of events, Win survived.

No matter how strong the magic, no matter how powerful the sword, it could not penetrate her armor.

“Salem!”

Somewhere, a group of followers emerged.

They were a religious group that hated the empire.

They called her Salem.

It was good anyway.

I would use any power I have to erase all the iron in this world.

That was her idea.

Time passed again.

Thousands of battles.

Hundreds of battlefields.

Dozens of crises.

But on the contrary, they made her stronger. With the successive defeats, the empire, which was lacking in iron, became weaker and weaker.

Something to replace iron was desperately needed.

In contrast, Win created a giant iron warrior and destroyed the empire.

No one could stop her.

“Vivian! Vivian! She is the punishment of God and the ugliness of man!”

Around that time her name changed again.

Because other followers, other opponents of the religion, made up all kinds of words and gave her names.

It was a remark that had no relevance.

War is a sad reality.

It is a sign of ugly greed and the reason why the meaning it creates persists.

However, humans sometimes create meaning out of meaningless things.

“It is your defeat.”

That’s why she lost.

She was sick.

It was a contagious disease created by a witch who was obsessed with iron.

It was a disease that spread through iron.

“The reason you turn iron into dust is to break the chain of war created by human greed. What a kind witch you are. But you will die because of that kindness.”

“It is not… vain.”

Half of the empire.

Because the iron of the empire has been destroyed.

The only regret of the world is that it cannot eliminate all of the iron.

“No, you will be in vain. Humans will once again shed blood for a material that surpasses iron.”

The man showed his sword.

It was a prediction with a mysterious light.

It certainly looked like a metal superior to iron. It was a sword with a strange pattern engraved on its blade.

“It’s the ‘Oro’ of the North.”

Even if we get rid of iron.

Humans will seek something else and will call for blood. And so they will fight again, start wars, cause famine, spread diseases, and cover the world with blood and create mountains of corpses.

“That’s what it means to be human, witch.”

The witch answered with tears in her eyes.

The witch gathered the last of her strength and gathered iron into her fingertips, piercing the man’s stomach.

Numerous swords pierced her body.

But she didn’t stop.

He screamed chillingly as he chewed and tore at the entrails of the man he called a hero.

“Then, let’s just kill all the humans. Then there will be no bloodshed.”

The men holding swords were unable to give a hasty answer to that eerie answer. It was an answer befitting a witch who had been killing humans in the empire for hundreds of years.

“My miracle will be reborn with your flesh and intestines.”

Only to destroy humans.

“My miracles will turn into a curse for you. Do not think that this is the end. Today, or perhaps tomorrow, I will become a curse that will eat you up.”

And so the witch’s head darkened.

*

“Kwaaak!!”

In a space that was like a nightmare, Ronobe screamed.

It was a painful past.

It was a total nightmare.

“… I didn’t have high expectations. But you have a great spirit.”

Light was quite surprised.

He is under Genos and has encountered the children of the tribute several times. He has also seen their nightmares quite often due to his master.

But this was the first time I had seen such a nightmare from such a big-time god.

Light’s face was filled with joy.

The bigger the god’s nightmare, the more power he gained.

“Nightmares give me strength. Do you know why?”

Light flipped over the patch on his left eye to reveal the inside. The large scarred eyelid opened and inside was a strange prosthetic eye. It was made of iron.

And it was his grimoire too.

Light’s eye glowed for a moment.

He was already holding an iron sword in his hand. Gauntlets and armor were beginning to form in his hands.

This was clearly Vivian’s miracle.

“how…”

“Because that’s my miracle. Thanks to it, I had a really good nightmare. It’s so delicious… I can’t stand it.”

Light was tearing at my hair.

I felt like I was on drugs and couldn’t stop the trembling all over my body.

“Her magic is truly great. It is worthy of being called a miracle! Weak at first, but great in the end!! Oh! Salem! Oh Vivian! Oh! Win! Minerva! Sabrina!”

Light muttered as he examined the sword and armor he held.

“This armor will block even the swords of a knight and the magic of a wizard. Isn’t that an unbelievable ability? To think that someone would die with this much magic… You said it was Northern Iron, right? I didn’t know that Mithril had that much power. The Empire has stopped producing Mithril. I heard that there’s a shortage of materials, so now you can’t make it even if you want to. It was said that it would be possible if there weren’t any Northern Orcs… Anyway, the Iron Witch is amazing. If you polish it well, you could even make a giant tortoise like in her nightmare!! If I make it, it’ll become the nightmare giant tortoise and be more effective than iron. Haha!”

There seemed to be no way to hide the excitement.

On the contrary, Ronobe vomited blood.

The past of God that was forcibly brought out was not permitted, so it took a toll on my body.

“Oh, are you okay? I guess I got so excited that I lost control. Don’t worry. I don’t plan on killing you yet. I have to take you to the Master… and before that, I want to see more of the nightmares of the various gods inside you.”

Light took the potion out of his bosom and fed it to Ronobe. When he came to, he realized that he was bound by something black. However, Vivian’s past was more painful than that.

“Now, time is not limited. Let’s go see the next nightmare of the god. Aren’t you curious? The harvest of nightmares… is always unbearable.”

“Why am I so sick?”

Blood keeps flowing back.

I feel nauseous and my eyes are spinning.

“God’s nightmares originally cause mental contamination just by looking at them. It is said that some children of offerings go mad after seeing the memories of the gods. Have you never seen the past of a god?”

“…”

It’s not that there aren’t any.

But it didn’t hurt like this.

“Because what we see is not just the past, but the nightmare they feel.”

Knock knock knock.

Light also coughed violently. Somehow his complexion seemed worse than before.

“It’s okay. I’ll just watch you enough to not die. After all, you’ll be the next god, right? The child of the offering can serve only two gods at most. Just endure this one time. Come on, let’s endure it.”

“Eww!!”

My vision is blurred.

No, to be exact, it all ran down like paint. It was the same as before.

And what was visible was a view of another world.

“You will become a butterfly. More beautiful than anyone else, more radiant than anything else. I will make you that way.”

He was a little caterpillar.

A caterpillar smaller than a little finger.

Among his countless brothers, he was special.

The wizard who created him said:

You are special.

A very special child.

Above all, it will be a special butterfly.

“Caterpillar. You are special.”

Time passed.

His body became enlarged.

The body that was the size of a little finger quickly grew larger than the palm of one’s hand.

“I will soon become a butterfly.”

He was also happy.

I don’t know what a beautiful butterfly is, but I felt good because the person who took care of me was happy.

Time passed again.

He just kept eating and sleeping, but his body grew bigger and bigger. Before he knew it, he was bigger than the person who was taking care of him.

“Why aren’t you a butterfly… Are you saying that you failed again this time? No way. No way! That can’t be! Right? You’re going to be a butterfly. You’re… special!!”

The room he grew up in became too small. The wizard was going mad.

He even cursed and hit her, asking her why she didn’t become a butterfly quickly and why she betrayed his beliefs.

“Hurry up! Hurry up and become a butterfly! You damn thing! You useless piece of trash!!”

He beat them with his feet and stabbed them with long, sharp skewers.

The caterpillar was afraid.

“Why isn’t it working! Why!!”

I was sick.

Every time I poked him with a skewer, something like a pure white liquid flowed out of his body.

When that happened, my body lost all strength.

I was sick and had no energy.

As he began to die, the wizard came to his senses.

“Ugh! No! You can’t die! What did I do! I’m sorry… You, you’re a special child! If you die. You can’t die!!”

The wizard would then sprinkle a potion to heal the caterpillar. Then the caterpillar would recover from its wounds, eat again, and forget about it.

Then, time passed again.

The wizard was away for quite some time. Then the caterpillar got scared.

Whenever he was away for a long time, he would always bring a skewer and harass the caterpillar. He would hit it, asking why it didn’t turn into a butterfly and why it was making things so hard for him.

“I’ll get hit again. I’ll get hit again.”

The caterpillar was scary.

I wanted to run away.

But I couldn’t escape.

Caterpillar had never been out of this small cave. He had no idea what was outside this cave, or what was there. According to the words of the wizard who sometimes told him, the outside of the cave was a very dangerous place. If he was not careful, he would say that beasts bigger than him would wander around and bite his body with their fierce teeth.

‘scared…’

I was scared of wizards and beasts.

The world outside was such a scary place.

The caterpillar couldn’t escape.

In the first place, it is difficult to pass through the cave because its body is so large.

There was nothing I could do. As I was eating my food with tears in my eyes, the wizard came over, very angry, and picked up a skewer.

“Why haven’t you turned into a butterfly yet? Because you only eat and poop. Aren’t I being persecuted by the Kingdom guys?”

That time has come again.

The caterpillar trembled.

The skewer pierced my body.

The caterpillar writhe in pain.

Perhaps because he had exerted so much force, white liquid sprayed out from his punctured body.

“Keeeeeeeek!”

“ah.”

The liquid was sprayed on the wizard.

Thanks to that, the wizard melted.

“He died because of me!”

The caterpillar cried loudly.

It was a very sad day.