Chapter 778 Gattuso

At the foot of Mount Fuji, in the Sea of Trees, Aokigahara…

Surprisingly, there was an open space within the dense sea of trees. All the towering trees within the area, covering a radius of hundreds of metres, had been cut, leaving only tree stumps there. As for the upper part of the trees, they had all disappeared.

Mene, in knightly armour, silvery in colour, raised his head to look at the peak of Mount Fuji. Both his fists were clenched and his eyes were practically about to burst with flames.

“Stop… messing around!”

Mene watched as holy light flashed out from time to time from the peak of Mount Fuji and he gnashed his teeth, muttering to himself.

A unicorn with pure white fur stood quietly behind him, snorting every once in a while.

Finally, Mene saw a beam of light shooting towards his position from the mountain peak.

In but the blink of an eye, the light landed before Mene. Wrapped within the light were the bronze-armoured knight and the one held by his right hand… Amaterasu, who only had part of her body left.

Amaterasu’s face was covered in blood, her eyes partially closed. Both her arms and legs had been cleaved off, leaving only her head and torso. The bronze-armoured knight, who had been grabbing her dishevelled hair, carelessly tossed her to the ground.

“You… why did you do this to her? Did you go nuts?”

Seeing Amaterasu’s miserable state, Mene gritted his teeth while glaring at the bronze-armoured knight. “This is the last God of Heaven! What if she dies? We’ll end up losing!”

“If the Lord does not wish to see her die, she will not die.”

The bronze-armoured knight walked towards Mene, speaking in an indifferent tone. “I’ve already told you. There is no need for you to worry about these things. The Lord has His own arrangements.”

“You…” Mene suppressed the rage in his heart. “Why must you kill off all the Gods of Heaven? They are the NPCs in our faction! Not only do we get no rewards from killing them, it also weakens the strength at our disposal to deal with the Gods of the Land’s faction! I…”

Keng!

Before Mene could finish what he was saying, the bronze-armoured knight’s hand suddenly shot out to grab his neck.

Mene’s face turned red. Both his hands grabbed the bronze-armoured knight’s hand as his legs kicked about desperately.

But the hand was like an iron hoop, locked tightly around his throat. Despite using all his strength, he was incapable of breaking free.

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

The bronze-armoured knight brought Mene close to his head. He spoke through the helmet, every word ringing out beside Mene’s ear. “Those NPCs called themselves Gods! They profaned the Glory of the Lord! That is why I have to kill them all off. And you… a servant of the Lord, I do not wish to hear you use the word ‘God’ to describe any other being except the Lord. If you do not, I will personally send you, a lost lamb, onto the Lord’s altar. Do you understand, Mene?”

Mene, who was struggling with all he had, felt the force on his throat loosen all of a sudden. Once again, he could breathe. Falling to his knees, he gasped for breath.

“You… you lunatic! This is just an instance dungeon! An instance dungeon! Our objective here is to complete the quest, obtain the rewards and leave!” After finally regaining his breath, Mene glared at the bronze-armoured knight. “The identities of those NPCs were set by the Development Team! What are you so dissatisfied about? Gattuso… you should at least show me, the Guild Leader, a minimum amount of respect!”

“Guild Leader?”

Laughter suddenly burst out from the bronze-armoured knight’s visor. He crouched down to face Mene before lifting his visor.

A face sporting a thick beard. It was none other than Gattuso, the knight that Chen Xiaolian had once fought back in Jerusalem.

Although there was no change to his appearance, the aura he exuded was now different compared to back then.

Assuming the piousness within Gattuso’s eyes back then were like two clumps of fire, the piousness burning with his eyes now were like two suns.

“What Guild Leader? Every one of us is but a lamb bathed in the Grace of the Lord!”

“Before the Lord, all living beings are equal!”

“Moreover…”

“If your status of Guild Leader actually means something, why is it the one that received this power – bestowed by the Lord – is me and not you?

“Why is it that out of everyone in our guild of knights, only I received the Lord’s revelation from the wing? Just like Saint Mark, Saint Terrence, Saint Canaan.

“Because, like them, I am devoted enough to the Lord!

“As for you, Mene, all of you, do not have enough! DE! VO! TION!!!!”

Suddenly, Gattuso pulled Mene with him as he strode towards the near-dead Amaterasu. He pushed Mene’s face towards Amaterasu and said, “Look at her! Look at the unsightly face of this false god! Look at how she used the name God to profane our exalted Lord!”

“Tell me. How could a truly devout knight who has dedicated their everything to the Lord allow these false gods to continue to exist?!”

Mene, whose head was pushed forward by Gattuso, had his face nearly touching Amaterasu’s face. No matter how hard he struggled, it was futile.

All Mene could do was gasp heavily for air while clenching his fist.

“Mene…”

Gattuso’s tone suddenly changed.

His grip also loosened.

Mene slowly straightened himself only to see a face filled with tears.

Gattuso, who had been roaring violently just moments ago, was now smiling.

A tearful smile.

His eyes were filled with sympathy and compassion.

“But I know, this is not your fault, Mene.” Gattuso placed his hand on Mene’s shoulder. This time, he did not exert any force. Instead, he embraced Mene and said with a soft voice, “The Lord must have His own reasons for letting the lamb go astray. The you right now… is simply bearing the yoke of his tenderness.”

Gattuso’s voice began taking a choked tone. “And I, your brother, will accompany you in accepting the Almighty’s test. When the day comes, you, like me, will realize that everything is part of the Lord’s arrangement and… like me… receive the power bestowed by the Lord!”

“That’s why, I hope that you will not worry anymore. And do not fear as well. Leave everything to the Lord.”

Gattuso’s hand, which was holding Mene loosened. Next, Gattuso gripped both of Mene’s shoulders with a bright smile on his face. “Let’s go. Together, we will cleanse these false gods in the name of our Lord. Alright?”

You mad man! You’ve become a complete mad man!

Mene roared furiously to himself.

However, all he could do was force himself to smile and nod. “Let’s go.”

This person before him was not an ordinary mad man.

He was … a madman with a power beyond one’s imagination.

…

After they were all summoned, Susanoo and the other five Gods of the Land began taking action.

Okuninushi and the other Gods of the Land stood guard around Susanoo, who stretched his right hand up in the air. Black shadows were continuously appearing from his palm to fall upon the ground around him.

Every black shadow that fell to the ground would instantly transform, assuming tangible form. They were all monsters with peculiar appearances. Some seemed like humans and some looked like the fusion product of many animals. Some were practically indescribable.

According to Sawakita Mitsuo, this was probably the Hyakki Yagyo, the Night Parade of Hundred Demons from Japanese mythology.

After Susanoo created them, these low-level Gods of the Land swiftly rushed out of the room, spreading out towards the West Garden.

Earlier, Chen Xiaolian’s group, under Sawakita Mitsuo’s guidance, had not taken any detours. They had taken the shortest route to enter the core area of the West Garden. At that very moment, there was still a high number of guards and soldiers from the Self-Defence Forces there. However, due to the terrifying display of strength from Chen Xiaolian and the others, they did not try to attack.

After the appearance of the many low-level Gods of the Land, the sounds of fierce gunfire and screams of misery rang out from the Imperial Palace again. The sounds also began spreading outwards.

It did not take long before the entire Imperial Palace and even a part of the surrounding Tokyo area became occupied by the many low-level Gods of the Land.

As for Chen Xiaolian, he sat down quietly by the side as he focused on playing his game.

Miao Yan was seated behind him, looking at the screen of his gaming console.

As for Sawakita Mitsuo’s team of three, every one of them was standing before a window and they vigilantly observed what was happening outside.

Until…

“They’ve come.”

Chen Xiaolian abruptly kept the handheld console and stood up.

At the same time, the screams of countless monsters rang out again and again, making their way through the windows to them.

Those were the screams of the low-level Gods of the Land as they died.

“Holy light?”

Miao Yan had stood up as well and she turned her gaze to look out the window.

Far in the distance, two beams of white-coloured holy light were flying towards the Imperial Palace like meteors.

The one in front unleashed one slashing attack after another as it flew forward, bombarding the ground below.

Every slash that struck the ground would leave a huge crescent-shaped crack. The low-level Gods of the Land that were affected by the power of the slashing attacks would all be vaporized, leaving not even the tiniest bit of residue behind.

“What a big ruckus.”

Chen Xiaolian smiled and brought out the Sword in the Stone. “I think I’ve figured out who our mysterious guests are.”

“Oh, you know them?”

Miao Yan turned to look at Chen Xiaolian.

“These two who are coming over might not be the ones I know, but… they are likely from the same guild,” Chen Xiaolian said leisurely. “In Jerusalem, there is a group of religious mad men. You must have heard of them before, no?”

“I’ve heard of them, but I’ve never fought them before.” Miao Yan nodded and she frowned slightly. “However, from what I’ve heard, they are not this strong, no? Rather… it would be more accurate to say that, amongst all the Awakened ones and Players, there should be none who is this strong.”

“This means… they are devoted enough.” Chen Xiaolian shrugged and abruptly swung the Sword in the Stone.

During the short time when they were chatting, the two beams of holy light had already made it to the sky above the West Garden, where they promptly swooped down.

When the two beams of light came closer, Chen Xiaolian’s group was finally able to clearly see into the beams of holy light. As expected, there were two figures in there.

A slashing attack, bigger than before, flew straight towards the main keep where they were at.

When the slashing attack was about to reach the main keep, Chen Xiaolian swung the Sword in the Stone to unleash a similar slashing attack.

The two attacks collided not far away from the main keep and exploded instantly.

A mighty gale swept across the Imperial Palace and every part of the main keep shook.

A look of fear had appeared on the faces of Okuninushi and the Gods of the Land behind him.

They could sense the power descending upon them. Even for them, this power was something they could not have imagined.

As for Susanoo, he released a loud roar and raised his right hand up high. Next, a black ball of light condensed upon his palm.

Bang!

Before Susanoo could launch his attack, he was kicked away by Chen Xiaolian. His figure hurtled far away, knocking down the walls of the main keep before smashing into the garden at the back of the West Garden.

“Go to the side. This has nothing to do with you!”

After kicking Susanoo away, Chen Xiaolian promptly flew out the window to intercept the two beams of holy light.

Facing them at such a close distance, he could already see them clearly.

As he had predicted, this person before him wore a bronze-coloured knight armour. He wielded a knightly sword in his right hand while his left hand held the torso of a body.

There was only the torso left. The person’s four limbs had been cut off and her face was covered in blood. Her eyes had been gouged out, her ears and nose had been cut off and even – from the blood tricking down from the corners of her mouth – her tongue had been cut off.

This was simply the human swine treatment [1].

Chen Xiaolian knew that was Amaterasu, the BOSS of the Gods of Heaven’s faction, an NPC generated by the instance dungeon. Even so, looking at her tragic state had still caused a slight frown to appear on his face.

This fellow was too ruthless.

However, due to the visor covering his face, Chen Xiaolian could not tell who it was.

“Is it Mene or Arte?”

Chen Xiaolian blocked the bronze-armoured knight’s path and smiled at him. “Pull up your visor. Let me see your face.”

When Chen Xiaolian charged out through the window earlier, the bronze-armoured knight had abruptly halted in mid-air. He stood firmly in the sky opposite Chen Xiaolian, his figure seemingly unaffected by inertia at all.

Slowly, he lifted his visor.

“It’s you?”

Chen Xiaolian looked at the face of the bronze-armoured knight, shifted his head thoughtfully and said, “Let me think. I believe your name is… Gattuso, right?”

1 The human swine treatment. A brutal punishment involving severing a person’s four limbs and taking away their sense of sight, sound and vocal ability before throwing the victim in the toilet. Some would go further and pull out all the hair on the person, including brows and eyelashes. If the person dies in the process, the executioner would either be scorned or lose their job.