Chapter 164: Rain, Mud, and Fire (1)

Young Terras didn’t know what rain was, although those who were older, their grandparents, knew. Occasionally, the old Terras would sit around a fire and gossip.

“Rain is water that falls from the dark sky.”

An old Terra put some charcoal on his fingernail to draw. ● meant night and darkness. It was the symbol that the Terras had become most familiar with after becoming the Shellmounts’ slaves and being forced to live in the underground city.

“When it rains, the whole world becomes moist. You can smell water anywhere without having to go to a stream or a well.”

“All dry land becomes watery in an instant, turning into mud. It’s nice to just walk around when it rains.”

The old Terras went on as they drew ●~ on the ground, the symbol for rain falling from the dark night sky.

“

Goruk.

”

The rainwater that turned the sky black and the mud that overspread the ground sounded like a story plucked from a dream because it was difficult to obtain water and mud in the underground world. The goblins were allowed to gather water only twice a day. The underground city’s ground was made up of gravel and sand, so it was difficult to make mud regardless of how much water they mixed into it.

The old Terra whispered, “You know water sometimes drips from the ceiling, right? That's rain.”

“But it isn’t enough to fill the world.”

“That’s because the hole in the ceiling is narrow,

ker

. The outside world is different.”

“Is there another city outside?”

“This place is a pit. A small well. When you leave this cave, you are met with a world so vast that this underground city is but a speck of dust in comparison.”

“

Kerrr

, I don’t believe that.”

For young Terras, the underground city was their entire world. Its ceiling was high, and the mine was deep. No matter how much they dug into the mine, it seemed endless. Therefore, comparing this world to a well seemed unbelievable.

“One day the White Lion will return,

gor.

”

“At some point, this world was covered with trees. We used to live in the World Forest, but the divine wrath burned it down. The fire grew bigger over the course of ten days and continued to burn for the next one hundred days. That is when the White Lion guided us.”

“The White Lion will return and save us again.”

“Kekerukker.”

As time passed, old Terras died until not a single goblin who had seen Goru in the flesh was left. Now even the oldest Terra alive didn’t know what rain was. Occasionally, some Terras stuck their noses in the mudflat, but that was a luxury given in return for fighting for their lives in the colosseum, not because the rain, which turned the sky dark, dripped down.

“

Kerukke.

”

Rain.

“

Kerreuk

.”

Mud.

The Terras wished for rain as they looked at the two jars of water they got from the spring. They desired mud, so they crushed sand into fine dust, mixed it with water, and applied it to their skins, wishing life was different and wanting nothing more than to rid themselves of the chains holding them to this underground city.

“Goru.”

They wanted to return to their homeland.

* * *

Cries erupted all over Slimepolis, the city where the Shellmounts had established their dark civilization.

[The Bloodborns have revolted against the Shellmounts!]

[The Fingills have revolted against the Shellmounts!]

[The Skians have revolted against the Shellmounts!]

[The Sylvans have revolted against the Shellmounts!]

[The Purens have revolted against the Shellmounts!]

Each shout was weak enough to be drowned out by the sound of the Shellmounts’ pipes. However, it was only a matter of time before these shouts echoed from all around, encroaching on the city.

The Black Witch in her divine animal form, the black swan, spread her wings wide and said something to me. Although I didn't have the gift of understanding birds, I somehow understood what she was trying to say.

“I'm here to help you, Death King.”

I nodded.

The fight will be easier if you help, Black Dragon Master.

I had fought together with the Black Witch several times, although she didn’t remember. Anyhow, I got used to her fighting style after fighting the Demon King of Autumn Rain hundreds of times. No Hunter could withstand our combined attacks.

I roared and lunged at the hound.

Whoosh!

My Demonic Heaven Arts burned everything around me. As the fire closed in on the hound from all directions, he used a Divine Formula to evade. However, the Inquisitor was not the only Hunter who knew how to use teleportation.

I gave the signal.

Now!

Swish!

The Black Witch immediately followed the Inquisitor, who was too distracted by my fire, so he didn’t watch his back. She didn't miss the opportunity. Her sharp black swan claws scratched the hound's golden fur.

“

Gar!

” the hound screamed, bleeding.

He turned around and bit the black swan's wing before the two of them tumbled in the mud. This time, I was the one who spotted an opening.

It’s my turn now.

I jumped and targeted the hound's waist, sinking my tough teeth deep into his golden fur. His screams got louder as blood flowed into my mouth.

The fight was one-sided. The goblins cheered upon seeing the hound’s injuries.

“Kekerukker!”

“The White Lion is beating up the Golden Dog!”

“Let's go back to our homeland! To Goru!”

The more wounds that appeared on the hound’s body, the more triumphant the goblins felt. Meanwhile, the snails were embarrassed. They had quickly responded to the slaves’ large-scale rebellion, but they couldn’t pull themselves together at the sight of their divine animal getting injured.

Gradually, the goblins drove out the snails.

[The mining area of Slimepolis has been liberated.]

“When are the reinforcements coming,

Lime?

”

“Well, the slaves are causing commotions in other places too...”

“The Hornworms[1] are on a rampage!

Laimu!

We need reinforcements!”

“Fish are running wild at the dock!”

“Forget about helping the other areas. We have our own problem to solve!”

“Let’s request reinforcements from the other polises...”

“How are we supposed to ask for reinforcements when the waterways are blocked? Even the bloodsuckers went crazy!”

The Shellmounts fought desperately. However, this time, the slaves who had built the foundation of the Shellmount civilization took hold of their masters’ tentacles. The Terras were fighting on land, the Fingills in water, the Bloodborns in the air. Streets were crawling with Skians, Sylvans, and Purens. Fires started everywhere the slaves went.

[The entertainment area of Slimepolis has been liberated.]

[The temple area of Slimepolis has been liberated.]

The enslaved species couldn’t communicate with each other because they each had their own language. This was probably why the slaves hadn’t been able to unite until now and had had no choice but to kneel under the Shellmounts’ tentacles.

“

Greuk!

”

“

Kiyooo!

”

However, the gods and their people couldn’t talk to each other either, but one oracle was much stronger than words. All species were led by their respective divine animals. While the Black Witch and I cornered the Inquisitor, our colleagues ran around Slimepolis and wreaked havoc to their hearts’ content.

The Shellmounts slowly lost control of the city.

[The gate area of Slimepolis has been liberated.]

[The military area of Slimepolis has been liberated.]

The tide was turning. The rebels, who first revolted at the mining area, had already advanced to the docks. Fingills, the merfolk slaves, splashed in the river that connected the inner and outer parts of the mine. They cut the ropes around their necks and flooded the ships.

“H-how dare you, lowly fish!”

The Shellmount supervisor raised their tentacle high and struck the merfolk down.

Slap!

A mermaid who was whipped sunk to the bottom of the river with a gargled scream. However, this only provoked her allies further.

Dozens of merfolk held onto the bottom of the galley and pushed, shaking it.

The snail slithered across the deck with a scream, eventually slipping and falling into the river, where they were swarmed by the merfolk.

“Don't come closer! Don't come near me, you damned fish!

Ah! Aaaaaah

!”

The snail struggled, waving their tentacles around, but couldn’t chase away the merfolk in the water. Twenty Fingills began feasting on the poor snail. It looked as if a horde of sharks were on the hunt for penguins. In the end, only an empty snail shell remained floating on the surface of the water.

[The dock area of Slimepolis has been liberated.]

Crash!

The galleys moored to the huge dock sank, along with the salt sacks on board. The rock salt that the goblins had hammered into small pieces all night melted away without a trace when they fell into the river.

The hound glanced toward the dock. As dozens of the galleys flooded, a pink dolphin soared from the galley wreckage—it was the Paladin in her divine animal form.

Swoosh!

The dolphin dove beneath the waters after leaping in an arch. The Fingills cheered and splashed with their tails.

[Slimepolis has fallen to the rebels.

]

The hound growled. I assumed he was laughing. The underground world he had been ruling over the past two hundred years was now sinking.

The hound backed away, sticky blood dripping down with every step he took. His beautiful golden fur was smeared with crimson after I sank my teeth in his skin and the black swan scratched him with her claws.

“

Laime...

”

“

Lime...

”

The snails hid behind the hound in terror, their shells dented from the goblins’ stone hammers. Many of their tentacles had been crushed or slashed. The snails were being driven out from their own city, so they sought the hound’s protection.

“

Grrrr

.”

Naturally, the species who had been enslaved followed after them. The Skians were covered in blood. They had a single horn on their foreheads, which was supposed to be as tall as that of a unicorn, but the snails had broken in the middle to brand them as slaves.

“Kill those bastards! Make them suffer like we did!” the Skians shouted.

The snails had broken the Skian’s horns when they enslaved them, destroying their pride and honor, but this came with a price. Resentment had sprouted like poisonous mushrooms in the place of the Skians’ honor and pride.

“You bastards...”

Things weren’t much different for the other species. The Purens weren’t very happy.

“They fed us dirt while giggling at our distress.”

“I'll throw you in a hole and pour salt on you!”

The Fingills hurled curses at the Shellmounts from the dark water.

“They caught one of our children and put him in a well, calling it a fish tank.”

“Let's throw them in the colosseum and have them fight each other!"

The Sylvans also chimed in.

“They cut off our ears because they said they were too long.”

“Let’s cut their tentacles into pieces and feed them.”

The Bloodborns clung to the ceilings and buildings, quietly looking down at the Shellmounts. They weren’t very talkative.

“Blood...”

However, they flew in with heads of dogs, which the Shellmounts believed to be sacred animals, and dropped them over the snails.

The six species each had different languages, so they couldn’t share their anger. However, they knew the Shellmount language on some level because slaves were forced to learn the language of their masters.

“Kill them,” a Skian whispered in the Shellmount language.

Every species knew the word “kill” because the Shellmounts had always threatened them with murder. The Skian’s whisper quickly reached the ears of all the slaves.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

“Let's kill them, yeah.”

“Kill them!”

“Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!”

The Shellmounts trembled in fear.

Finally, for the first time since becoming slaves, the six species had the same emotion brewing in their hearts—anger. Everyone was soaked in blood, yet they wanted more.

I looked around at the Shellmounts cornered on the dockside.

It would be easy to order to slaughter them.

I also had the power to easily stop the massacre since I was like a god to the goblins. A god's commands were absolute, so the goblins would obey whether I ordered massacre or tolerance.

But this isn't something I should have a say in.

It’s their choice to make.

I turned around, slowly walking toward the exit of the underground world.

“

Ker?

”

“Kekerukker...?”

I could hear the goblins’ confused exclamations from behind me, but I didn't stop walking. I walked slowly so they could follow me, or to see me off before charging at the Shellmounts.

The Skians blocking the road hesitantly got out of the way.

I could feel silence taking over the goblins. They looked at each other like believers facing a mysterious oracle. As I walked farther and farther away from them, one of them took a step toward me. Eventually, some goblins decided to turn in my direction, not the Shellmounts’.

“

Goruk.

”

The forty goblins who had received my oracle message were the first to follow me. The young goblins were next because they preferred chasing after the god they had never seen before rather than avenging their species.

“

Kerrr...

”

“Kekerukker.”

When the children turned to follow me, so did their mothers. As the Pit Chiefs chased after them, the other goblins also began following me one by one.

I could hear stone hammers being dropped one after another. The goblins threw the symbol that tethered them to the mines and followed the lion they worshiped as a god.

In the dark underground city, thousands of goblins followed me.

Yes, please follow me if that’s what you want.

We walked toward the only exit in the underground city that would lead to the outside world. No one could stop us even if they wanted. The moment I stepped into the bright light at the exit, I heard the Tower’s voice.

[Terras have escaped from Slimepolis.]

Let’s go back home.

1. Another derogatory term for the Skians/dokkaebis. ☜