Chapter 181
Harvest Festival (3)
If it was obvious, then it was obvious, but an altar where rites and offerings were made to a god was one of the most sacred places connected to that god.
From my perspective, it felt sowhat similar to the SNS I used in the past. Even if it was far away, I could check it whenever I wanted.
And if soone sent absurd verbal abuse through my SNS, it would only be natural for to get angry.
Unlike my brain, which had grown accustod to all kinds of destructive trolling in cyberspace, for people of this era, the kind of words the Mountain God had just thrown out were equivalent to being directly struck.
…Even if that soone was the god himself.
“…Looks like he’s not a coward, that guy.”
Just from the vicious smile on the Mountain God’s face as he spoke, it was obvious.
Even while maintaining a human form, I could clearly see the hairs all over his body bristling.
Right in front of , Urgan’s unique ability—a mass of pure white light—was wrapping around him aggressively.
And then.
For , a sense of déjà vu followed right after.
The atmosphere wriggled.
It wasn’t just the air shifting slightly—anyone sensitive to supernatural power could feel the anomalies spreading in all directions.
Previously, Karva. Then Sia. And now, for the third ti, a god was trying to reveal himself before my eyes.
However.
If the gods who appeared before had been relatively gentle,
then Urgan’s manifestation now was undeniably far more violent.
Well, it made sense—he had just been openly provoked.
And as if to spread that twisted irritation everywhere,
a horrifying pressure began crushing the surroundings.
“…-!”
As if space itself was tearing apart, sothing revealed itself from within.
At the sa ti,
all the nearby humans dropped to their knees.
No one had ordered them to.
The air was heavy. Breathing was difficult. Everyone present felt as though their lungs to their mouths were completely clogged with so foreign substance.
A god who descended from the Pantheon overflowing with divine power was clearly a being that imposed such overwhelming perception on re mortals.
‘…This is exactly like that.’
It felt like getting an infuriating ssage on SNS and deciding to et face-to-face to fight.
Thinking that, I unconsciously lifted my gaze slightly while still kneeling and looked at my opponent.
‘…As expected.’
As expected, it was exactly as I thought.
The Urgan that revealed himself before
had taken the form of a gigantic Rania.
Whether it was Rania or Cretin—it was hard to tell since they were twin sisters and looked identical—but the completely expressionless face with veins bulging on the forehead matched Rania’s usual deanor more, so I ca to that conclusion.
“…Priestess…?”
“…?”
However, unlike before,
this ti, I wasn’t the only one who could see the god’s form.
At soone’s muttered voice, everyone widened their eyes and stared at Rania.
Many of them looked like they were demanding an explanation, but Rania simply shrugged as if she had done nothing.
“…He is rely taking the form he wishes. It has little to do with .”
As Rania said that, Urgan smirked and turned his gaze toward her.
Soon, his mouth slowly opened.
The voice of a divine being resonated solemnly across the land. To mortals, rely hearing it was such a noble experience that it wouldn’t be strange if a new scripture were written from it alone, and everyone tensed their muscles.
What the voice of the god, wrapped in Divine Authority, said was:
[-]
What the hell are you rambling about.
“……”
“……”
Silence spread everywhere.
In truth, what Urgan had just spoken contained no actual words, yet everyone strangely understood the ‘aning’ within it.
It was a uniquely godlike thod of communication, but more importantly, the content was rather irreverent.
“…Urgan, did you not promise?”
[-]
Bullshit.
“No, last ti you said you wouldn’t reveal it—”
[-]
Yeah, bullshit.
“……”
[-]
If you’re going to deny it, keep denying it. Your future is already decided anyway.
“……”
A distinct tic appeared on Rania’s forehead, clearly a sign she was suppressing her anger.
At that point, her expression beca completely identical to Urgan’s.
It was an extrely rare sight for this priestess, who was usually as expressionless as stone….
And after spitting out those mischievous remarks without pause, Urgan finally turned his head slightly, still maintaining a grim expression.
His mouth opened again.
[-]
Hey. Who’s the one that called ?
At those words, the Mountain God let out a growl and shot up into the air.
Unlike before when he maintained a human form, this ti he revealed his massive beast form without restraint—the sa one he had shown when he first t and Cretin.
[It was , Urgan!]
And fitting for that, with a thunderous voice that roared like crashing lightning, a tiger the size of a house charged straight at the God of Ascension.
[Don’t tell you’ve forgotten !]
And with the montum of a collapsing landslide, the Mountain God rushed directly toward Urgan.
To an ordinary human, it would have been a sight terrifying enough to make their legs give out on the spot.
But the Mountain God was ultimately just a fragnt of a god that had lost the deity it once served, while the one standing here now was one of the major gods boasting imnse authority even within the Pantheon.
When Urgan flicked her finger, a wall of terrifying light surged upward, blinding the surroundings in an instant.
When the Mountain God collided with it, a massive shockwave spread out, shaking everything nearby, yet the barrier remained completely unscathed—not even a scratch.
‘…That.’
I had done sothing similar before against the charging Mountain God.
But back then, it had been closer to barely “enduring” his attack, whereas now the Mountain God was being flung back with his entire body nearly shattered.
There was no comparison.
Beyond not being able to fight him, even the idea of “opposing” him didn’t hold.
No matter how much he was connected to a god, this truly felt like facing the actual body of one.
[-]
Not the bait.
Urgan, who had casually reduced a Divine Beast to that state, spoke indifferently.
Her gleaming eyes slowly turned toward .
[-]
The one who really called . The one who set this up.
“……”
[-]
I’m asking for a reason, child.
With those words, a chilling sensation brushed past the back of my neck.
I had felt this several tis before.
Ever since Rania had brought along saying there was sothing urgent to resolve, I had felt sothing similar whenever that dark energy surged up unpredictably.
No matter how quickly I had grown stronger, it was the kind of sensation I felt when facing sothing that offered no chance of victory just by standing before it.
Now that I was facing Urgan’s true body, wrapped in Divine Authority, that realization beca even clearer.
Right now,
I was being targeted by a god.
“…I called you to ask for help, Urgan.”
And to find out who it was and what I should do, I had resorted to this extre thod to summon Urgan.
[-]
You could’ve chosen a better way.
With those words, the cold pressure on my neck intensified.
“Wait, Mr. Aiden…!”
At the sa ti, I could feel Noel gritting her teeth and trying to step forward from behind .
Even though the opponent was a god, she was still trying to help —it was deeply admirable.
But at least for now,
I wasn’t the one who needed her help.
‘…Hmm.’
…No, if anything,
I might end up being the one who’d have to run away from her after this, afraid of getting killed.
She had already vaguely sensed it before, and this was sothing I had to eventually confront—sothing that needed to be made clear here and now.
“……”
I let out a deep sigh inwardly.
It was sothing I would have to face eventually, and it was the conclusion I had reached after observing the gods of the Pantheon and spending months buried in the Archive studying theology.
Seeing Urgan directly only made it clearer.
“I apologize, Urgan.”
[-]
You dare provoke a god and then try to back down? I’ll give you credit for the nerve.
Still, she showed no sign of agreeing with .
But I knew.
Where the root of these beings called gods lay.
“It’s not nerve. It’s just that we’re not exactly strangers, are we?”
I said calmly, pointing toward Rania.
“Just like how I’ll end up in that kind of relationship with her later.”
Everyone’s gaze turned toward Rania.
“Well, I don’t fully understand the source of my power or exactly how it works.”
But I could at least roughly guess why the gods took on the forms of people around when appearing before .
“The god connected to and the gods in the Pantheon… they’re all tied together in so way, right?”
[…….]
“And showing that to ans that I’m destined to be entangled with their avatars in so way, right?”
[-]
There was no verbal answer.
But anyone could tell from Urgan’s grin.
“Then.”
Karva, who had taken Noel’s form. Sia, who had taken Katya’s form. And now Urgan, who had taken Rania’s form.
“Doesn’t that an I’m destined to be bound to all of them and carry them with until the end?”
“……”
“Then that priestess over there is soone I’ll have to live with too.”
“……”
As I continued speaking, the silence around us grew heavier.
By the ti I finished, everyone was staring at Rania in shock.
Their eyes were filled with questions about when the two of us had gotten into that kind of relationship….
“…I have no idea.”
“……”
“I really have no idea.”
And perhaps even she found the current situation hard to handle, because Rania, unusually, spoke with her face flushed red.
Beside her, Dunadan looked like he was about to die on the spot, clutching his neck as his blood pressure skyrocketed….
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