Chapter 325: The God and the King (1)

“Ruin-Harvesting Cow is Mutia. Mainly oversees destruction and recreation. Her power is simple but great.”

The blond priest boy—the Inquisitor—had said that in the past as he stroked his chin. At the time, he was wearing a frilly dress since he was playing the role of Lady Goldencup. Therefore, he had also been fanning himself, but this was an irrelevant detail.

“In short, the world on a holy ground is reinterpreted and people are brainwashed. The same goes for the great library we were in just a moment ago! The Indoor Librarian interprets a world as a book and we’re forced to be its characters. We will defeat those who have their own laws with laws that we can use. That is how I see this holy war against the Constellations!”

***

A storm swept through the area, lightly sweeping away everything in its path. A single strike transformed rocks into stones and gravel into sand, devastating the entire area.

“You’re one hell of a weasel,” the Ruin-Harevesting Cow grumbled.

The ground cracked into a checkerboard pattern, where the grid lines soon began to warp.

Thuuuud! Thuuuud!

With each of the Ruin-Harvesting Cow’s hammer swings, the distortion intensified. Eventually, the area became so severely damaged that it could no longer sustain itself.

“Try running away forever, Death King.”

Craaaaaaaaaaaack!

“You’re not the first to try to flee from me. There have been people who exchanged blows with me until the moon rose and set thirty-one times. If you wish to know what happened to them, now would be a good time to use your brain.”

The ground turned upside down. It trembled and turmoiled.

“Well, when your skull shatters, you’ll meet your predecessors.”

Crack!

The ground split open, the layers of sediment that had accumulated over time peeling away. Mutia wasn’t just showing off her strength.

“

Peep!

”

Just as my fox god had warned, the ground collapsed.

Ruuumble!

The ground around Mutia and me sank. I tried to avoid it, but...

Thuuuud!

Mutia swung her hammer to stop me. I had to choose between running away from the collapsing ground or the hammer flying toward my head. It wasn’t a difficult choice to make.

Ruuuuumble! Thud! Thump, rumble!

In the end, I accepted the risk of staying on the collapsing ground. The earth was sinking with each blow of the Constellation’s hammer, and the collapse accelerated.

“I see.”

Before we knew it, our battlefield had turned into an amphitheater. It was different from the Colosseum in Rome because it wasn’t considerate of the audience at all. Only steeply rising sedimentary rocks were where the seats should have been.

“You weren’t just swinging a hammer at me. You were changing the terrain to make it difficult for me to escape.”

The amphitheater was an artificially created hell where bloodshed and slaughter were meant to be watched and enjoyed by humans. Without any spectator seats, an amphitheater was nothing more than a living hell.

The Constellation gripped her hammer tightly. “That’s right. When you live as long as I have, you grow tired of accomplishing only one thing at a time. Achieving at least two goals at the same time is not a virtue for us, but a habit.”

“At least two means it could be three or even four, right?”

“You’re sharp, kid.”

Mutia let her golden hair cascade down and looked up at the sky with her golden eyes. I also glanced up.

[The Ruin-Harvesting Cow has assigned a quest to the followers.]

[You have been designated as the target of the quest!]

[Revealing the quest.]

Annihilate the Enemy!

Difficulty Level: SS

Goal: You killed my apostle and stopped the voice of the child I had taken under my wing and severed her life. Is there any reason for me not to choke you to death? Die. Pay with your life.

I hear many Constellations have their eye on you. There may also be Constellations that will stop at nothing to peek at this proclamation. To those who do, I say this: If you aren’t ready to fight me for all eternity, don’t interfere in my battle for vengeance.

My message is simple and clear: I want you dead, Death King.

※ Death King, you cannot participate in this quest.

※ You are the target of this quest.

“Go,” Mutia said.

The moment the words were carved into the air, black shadows flickered behind the letters. As many humans as there were letters, or perhaps even more than that, leaped toward me in unison from atop the towering sedimentary rocks on the other side of the amphitheater.