Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint - Chapter 568



The God Sewn Together with Rags and Flesh – 3

Rash, landing as if crashing to the ground, gaped at the burning deity.

“Gasp! I didn’t intend to set the deity ablaze. Teacher, is this too much?”

“It’s not my magic. If I could, I would want to burn it like that too, but unfortunately, I don’t possess that much magical power.”

“Huh? If it’s not your magic, then…”

“Rash!”

From the direction of the flames, Calis appeared. Having rushed over, her red hair danced with embers as she pointed at the deity.

“Rash, what is that monster?”

“A monster? It’s the deity!”

“I never thought the deity would create a monster by stitching together corpses! I knew the deity was a folk belief, but to think it was a monster…!”

“W-well, it’s uncomfortable to hear that from someone with a monster for a parent! The deity is a benevolent being! Though they may have spoken a bit harshly just now!”

—

“I just saw you hit him, didn’t I?”

“It’s the duty of a son! I threw a punch, but I still respect him!”

If Rash came out, then Calis must have come out too. I expected reinforcements to arrive, but I never thought it would be Calis.

He’s the one person who shouldn’t get involved in a fight.

“Wait, Calis! Don’t come any closer!”

Rash is an immortal, and his power belongs to the Offering God. Naturally, the Offering God also possessed an immortal body. A mere immortal like Rash wouldn’t die from being scorched; there’s no way the Offering God could die.

[Impressive, human king. To think you could kill my true form even once with such a meager strength.]

Amidst the flames, the Offering God rose again. Cards embedded in his body scorched his flesh, and even as his body was singed by the blazing vines, he seemed to care little.

The Offering God looked at me with burning pupils.

[Indeed, I must eat now.]

“No, Offering God. You mustn’t consume anything else?”

[Shut up, right arm. Should I eat your woman instead?]

Rash glared, urgently pushing Calis away. The Offering God, engulfed in flames like an avatar of hellfire, warned Rash.

[The right arm holds deep meaning for my true form; I had kept you alive personally, but… I will no longer forgive you. If you intend to resist, I will devour your entire family first.]

At the chilling threat, the smile gradually faded from Rash’s face. He swallowed hard and slowly clenched his fist. With a stiffened expression, he looked up at the Offering God and spoke.

“Offering God, do not test my respect.”

[What?]

“You have granted me strength, and I have served you with my body in offering. As the avatar of the Wisdom God, you are a merciful deity who has merged with this land, and I have served you with all my heart, singing the praises of your virtue.”

Immortals generally possess a gentle nature. Nothing can kill or harm them. However, if someone insults them or threatens something other than their body, even an immortal can become violent.

“But to threaten to kill my family? That is not something a god would do. Let alone something a human would do. How could a being like the Offering God resort to such filthy threats, fit only for beasts?”

Rash questioned the Offering God, exuding a different kind of spirit than before. His expression was one that wouldn’t be out of place if he were to throw a punch.

[Threat…?]

And the Offering God grew displeased upon witnessing the defiance of his followers.

[Do you think what I do is a threat? This is mercy. Mercy shown to you. If I truly intended to threaten you, I would have started by swallowing your woman whole.]

The past in which the Offering God lived was an era of barbarism, devoid of laws or rules. Families were often annihilated, even entire tribes. The mercy he shows is akin to preserving his own body.

And the anger the Offering God displays is similar to the sense of betrayal felt when his body defies his will.

[I valued you highly, granting you the opportunity to escape this land and gain greater power. Yet you dare to soil my hands and betray my will!]

He had used Rash’s arm too well in the Abyss. As he cleansed and polished Tir’s bloodlust, the Offering God’s power had been corrupted.

The Offering God shook off the flames and swung his arm. His arm, flying like a whip, slammed Rash into the ground.

[You are no longer needed!]

—

“…I feel the same way.”

Rash, who had been pinned to the ground, slowly raised his body. The arm of the Offering God still pressed down on him, but Rash was resisting with all his might.

“I don’t need a foolish god like you!”

And as Rash stood up, he threw a punch in return. Thud, he didn’t manage to knock the Offering God down, but it was enough to make him stagger for a moment.

[You!]

“O Offering God!”

The two immortals, eyes wide open, unleashed a flurry of punches at each other.

It was a brutal brawl. Bones shattered with each blow, skin tore, and muscles were crushed. They broke and regenerated countless times. A torrent of power surged between them.

What had initially seemed like an evenly matched fight gradually tilted in favor of the Offering God. Both strength and regenerative ability were overwhelmingly superior on the side of the Offering God. Rash had briefly countered with a surge of spirit, but before his body could regenerate, it was crushed and broken under the Offering God’s might.

[Do you think your right arm can defy me and win against my true form?]

Bang. Rash’s head was half-buried in the ground. Just as he desperately tried to lift his body, the Offering God’s right foot came crashing down on him. Rash’s body was driven deep into the earth like a stake.

[Swallow him…!]

As the Offering God attempted to lift the fallen Rash, a great flame once again enveloped him. Calis, who had been gathering magical power in advance, cast a tactical spell. The fire, starting from the ground, clung to his skin and burned.

[Ha!]

But that was only for a moment. The Offering God wasted no time and consumed another life. Energy surged beneath his feet, enveloping his body and power. Shedding the flames like a skin, the Offering God moved to eliminate Calis first.

“You can’t go!”

At that moment, Rash wrapped around the Offering God’s right leg and executed a technique. Twisting the ankle and kicking the back of the knee, he momentarily bent the Offering God’s leg in the opposite direction.

If the Offering God didn’t have the ability to dislocate and reattach joints, it would have been effective. The Offering God, momentarily hindered, swiftly kicked Rash away.

Then something grabbed his foot. The Offering God flinched at the sight of the vines and dirt mounds clutching his leg.

[Ugh…! Tricks!]

“I have nothing left but tricks.”

He jabbed a spike into the heel and twisted. As he channeled lightning into his body, the Offering God’s foot shot off in an unexpected direction. The lightning was meant to incinerate him, but to the Offering God, it felt like nothing more than a massage.

[You…!]

“I’m right here too!”

A brief opening was all he needed. Rash, who had struck the ground and leaped up, slammed his right arm into the Offering God’s jaw. A few teeth flew out, and the Offering God’s cervical vertebrae momentarily dislocated and dangled. It regenerated quickly, but in that time, I had torn through skin and muscle.

‘Of all times, when my right arm betrayed me! Entrusting my strongest arm to the strongest warrior was a mistake!’

The once-dead Ankh had taken root across this entire land. The scattered flesh mixed with the earth and trees, growing, and after being consumed by beasts, it eventually reassembled into a body.

To strengthen oneself, one must receive offerings from a strong body. Thus, I had given my most precious right arm to the strongest Rash. Now, Rash and the Offering God shared the greatest portion of power.

Despite being overwhelmingly strong, the fact that Rash could hold his own to some extent was due to this. A slight sense of crisis crept into the Offering God’s heart. Perhaps, the memory of a past defeat, the thought that he could lose even with this power, tightened its grip on him.

‘As long as the king is human, he will tire someday! That’s when I will devour him!’

—

“Ah, by the way. Did you see earlier? I have at least the power of immortality, you know? I can fight like this all day long.”

Though it’s impossible due to my stamina rather than my energy.

I succeeded in psychologically pressuring him. The anxious deity consumed ten ‘lives’ in response to my words. In that moment, the deity’s body recovered at an astonishing speed, unleashing immense power that uprooted the surrounding earth and trees simultaneously. Both I and Rash were swept away by that force.

[I will no longer show mercy! I will devour all of you!]

Well, I could indeed fight all day. But that won’t happen.

Now, reinforcements will come to help us.

*

[She should have abandoned him instead. He didn’t let you give up on him, did he? Who should I blame?]

Shei, who was about to fly towards the deity, paused at the voice that stopped him. The ethereal figure of the celestial maiden, Meiel, hovered in the sky, gazing at the dawn breaking beyond the jungle.

[Today, just like yesterday, promises a tomorrow that will continue on.]

As the rising sunlight bathed her, Meiel placed her hand on her chest. Shei didn’t pay much attention. It was a prayer he had heard countless times while at the shrine.

[But Shei. The tomorrow promised to me is you. If you go astray, I too will have no choice but to dream of a different tomorrow as I fall asleep.]

However, even in this moment, Shei couldn’t help but flinch.

This was a heart-wrenching plea he had only heard in the context of the final battle, just before Shei’s death.

[I tried to save you. But please don’t blame me if I couldn’t. I cannot paint over the future you envisioned.]

*

Crack. Something massive trampled the deity. The deity couldn’t even let out a scream, silenced completely as it was crushed into the ground. The once-strong body crumbled into a form not much different from dirt, blood mingling with the earth.

Just as I, Rash, and Calis were preparing to fight, we were suddenly thrown into confusion as our opponent vanished. For a moment, we couldn’t even recall the identity of the unfamiliar figure that appeared before us.

At least I managed to recognize the identity of the late-arriving intruder. Before I could even read their thoughts, I saw the antlers sprouting from their head.

“…Nebida?”

“Your Grace. Have you been well since the last time we met?”

The androgynous appearance hadn’t changed at all since the last time I saw them. Their hair flowed down to the ground, interspersed with leaves. The robe made of silk draped as if it were hanging from branches.

The ancient druid. The representative of nature, the most beautiful beast.

The living goddess who revived the World Tree, which had burned and fallen as nations perished.

She, who should have been at the Tree of Betrayal, now appeared before me, quietly kneeling.

“Your Grace. I apologize for arriving so late. I was not yet prepared to serve you, and I had to leave you for a moment.”

“W-What? What?”

“One, do not worry. Everything is ready now.”

No, what is this? This isn’t the reinforcements I was thinking of!

Returner, Azia! Where are you? What are you doing? Something strange has popped up! No matter how much this is the land of the old nations, the territory of the past World Tree! How far is it to get here, for something like this to appear? How on earth did you know!

—

—

[Yes, what are you…!]

Crack. Nebida’s hand transformed into a bear’s paw, crushing the body of the offering deity entirely into fragments. With a horrific noise as flesh and bone turned to dust and vanished, Nebida rose, as if an inanimate object, creating a silence once more.

“I am deeply moved by Your presence. Now, I shall serve you, so please take care of your divine body.”

“No, how did you know to come here?”

“This is precisely where I must be, for you are here.”

This person has no intention of answering properly! All their words are mere pretense! Is this how one should treat a king?

[Graaah!!]

At that moment, the offering deity rose, consuming the lives of ten dogs simultaneously. The force that surged forth, burning lives in an instant, was quite formidable, even pushing Nebida back with sheer strength.

[You, beastly priests! How dare you cling to the true deity!]

Nebida halted, scratching the ground with the claws of a leopard. Despite the sudden insult, she found it intriguing rather than unpleasant.

“Beastly priests? It’s been a while since I’ve heard that term. Could it be that you stem from the age of purity?”

[Indeed! The true deity shall consume the king of humans and become complete! I shall fulfill what Ankra could not in life!]

“…Ankra?”

However, the offering deity had to be cautious. Assuming that an unfamiliar strongman would be friendly was far too optimistic.

Even I, who am called ‘Your Majesty’ and treated with respect by Nebida, am not her ally!

“Ah, I remember. You are one of those audacious ones who dared to rebel against the king. Those who would betray, consume, violate, subjugate, and turn the sovereign into a mere plaything. No matter how much you were deceived by a harlot, that sin does not vanish.”

A strange malice began to rise. It felt as if the forest and grass were awakening in anger. Until now, Nebida had shown an emotionless demeanor akin to trees, but beneath her calm expression, a hint of fury emerged.

The entire land and trees trembled with the wrath of the ancient druid and the emotions of the divine spirit. Nebida made branches grow from her fingertips and shook them gently.

“The king must have slain them all. I do not know how you still live, but…”

The ground shook, and tree roots surged upward. In a moment of surprise, the roots wrapped around the offering deity’s feet and crawled up to her shoulders. Caught off guard, the offering deity shook off the entangling roots and shouted.

[Hmph! Do you think such a thing can stop the true deity!]

“If you believe that immortality is invincibility, then that is truly a ridiculous ignorance.”

As Nebida clenched her palm, the roots tightened, crushing the offering deity’s body. Like a serpent, they constricted, shattering and grinding her down into dust. The flesh was broken and melted away, leaving no trace behind.

“There are no red flowers for ten days, and even a thousand-year-old tree must lay its body to the ground.”

[…I am the offering deity! Unlike you who serve beasts…!]

Yet, the offering deity did not die. After consuming her life to reconstruct her body, she tore at the roots with great strength. However, with two hands, she could not fend off thousands of roots, and at some point, she was once again buried and crushed.

“From decayed leaves and branches, new trees grow, filling the ground where great trees have fallen. Grass and soil eternally cycle, filling this land.”

Nebida’s song resonated softly through the forest.

The skin melts away. Vitality is drawn somewhere. It bears trees, produces fruit, and becomes leaves that fall. The offering deity faced a series of brief deaths.

Yet that was also the essence of the offering deity. Having melted into this land, as long as a focal point remains, she is immortal. She can resurrect by reconstructing her body again. Life is merely for maintaining the physical form. Even after death, the offering deity gathered her energy, scattered among the earth and vegetation, just as she had before.

—

The Offering God is immortal. As long as it exists. As long as it survives.

“In the distant cycle of reincarnation.”

Just live. Just live. Just live. Somehow, as long as it is alive.

Even if it is miserable, at least life.

“Fade away.”

– And the Offering God’s thoughts ceased.

What lay before me was a strangely human-like tree. Its twisted branches resembled human joints, and the leaves that had grown looked like hair. Desperately reaching out to one side, the branch appeared like the earnest hand of a drowning person.

And at its tip, a small fruit, as red as blood, hung.

In the end, after preserving only life through the instinct for survival, the Offering God managed to endure. Yearning solely for life, forgetting everything else.

The return to the source.

The infinite cycle of the death-bringing demon.

Nebida, who had effortlessly annihilated the god of a tribe, turned away indifferently.