This persuasion was built on a foundation of lies.
Aslan was fully aware that persuasion based on lies would inevitably cause significant repercussions later.
But he still told a lie.
It’s fine, though.
In fact, Ereta’s strategy could not have been established without telling a lie.
The spider who casts fire wanted to reclaim Ereta, and even if Ereta had claimed she hadn’t been abandoned, there was no way she could have convinced the spider.
Because, after all, telling the truth would only lead to her resentment and, at some point, the spider’s desire to reclaim its original position.
Someone like that couldn’t be trusted—not even temporarily. It would have been faster to just kill her.
Therefore, Aslan had no choice but to build his proposal on lies.
It wasn’t wise to kill her outright—she had already died once. She died as a priest and was reborn as a human.
Aslan’s line had yet to be crossed by this human.
With the ironclad rule still in place, Aslan was able to quickly shake off the uneasiness.
Since everything worked out well in the end, he considered it fortunate.
Glancing briefly at Ereta, who bowed with two swords in hand, Aslan approached the corpses.
Not the corpses of the giant priest and monsters, but those of soldiers.
“Terrifying.”
Every corpse was filled with signs of terrible pain and fear. Distorted expressions, torn-out entrails, shredded flesh—all these testified to the horror.
While scanning the scene, Aslan found symbols on the armor and cloaks of the soldiers’ bodies.
Two horns placed vertically, and beyond them, an inverted dish shape representing a hill.
As expected, they were mercenaries of the Helsing Dukedom.
Aslan sighed, and at the sound, Angie, who had been observing Ereta, turned her gaze toward Aslan.
Seeing Angie’s behavior as if she were testing his mood, Aslan waved his hand to dismiss her look.
“The main quest is progressing as planned.”
Originally, the main quest followed this flow:
No matter what happened at Lord Lingling of Shengqilu Change County, the protagonist would choose the next destination, either the Vida Kingdom or the Varmanz Mountain Kingdom, and move accordingly.
Upon arrival at either the Vida Kingdom or the Varmanz Mountain Kingdom, soldiers appropriate to the region would appear to greet the protagonist.
Afterward, the soldiers would invite the protagonist to join them and provide information about the surrounding situation.
What mattered most came afterward: If too much time passed during this process, a priest would appear and ambush the soldiers and the protagonist.
Although influenced by probability, the priest appearing was generally under the Church of the Universe’s Inevitability.
“Total annihilation—wasn’t it a bit too fast?”
Even for Aslan, who had wandered for 12 years, looking at corpses wasn’t a pleasant experience. He disliked fighting, and seeing people die was unpleasant.
Rather than regret over something within reach, there simply wasn’t time now.
As soon as Aslan arrived at the border of the Vida Kingdom, he saw those who had been massacred.
The priest had appeared before Aslan arrived.
“There wasn’t a single scratch on him. It must have been an ambush.”
Though now the priest’s head was shattered by the double-handed axe Aslan had thrown, until just moments ago, he had been completely unscathed.
Judging from how the monsters also seemed to have been attacked without any chance to retaliate, it was highly likely that the soldiers were ambushed.
There were two possible conclusions from this:
Either the information had leaked, exposing their movements, or someone was paying close attention, predicting the actions of the dukedom.
“The possibility of betrayal is low.”
Aslan ruled out the possibility of leaked information. If information had leaked, there should have been at least one informant here, but all Aslan faced were monsters and priests.
For an informant to have deeply infiltrated the Helsing Earldom, the deaths of these soldiers would have been trivial compared to the larger implications for the dukedom.
If there was someone deep inside the earldom colluding with the priest, they would have directly attacked the Helsing Earldom.
Based on the judgment, it seemed there had been discord or direct conflict between the Helsing Earldom and the Church of the Universe’s Inevitability. However, with insufficient evidence, Aslan felt the need for more concrete information.
After standing up from his crouched position, Aslan stepped back, intending to bury the soldiers’ bodies after completing his investigation.
Retreating, Aslan passed by Ereta and approached the priest’s corpse.
The priest whose head had been split open was holding a letter in his hand.
“Of course.”
At Aslan’s brief mutter, both Ereta and Angie reacted, but Aslan didn’t elaborate further and picked up the letter. Though its edges were soaked in blood, the parchment was still readable.
Shaking it lightly and unfolding it, the content written on the parchment was largely as Aslan had expected.
This parchment, originally belonging to the Helsing mercenaries, contained a message requesting support forces to restrain the priests heading south to the Sanctuary of Sorrow.
An order to move through the frontier, minimize contact, reach Bellus Vida, gather reinforcements, and return.
Aslan sighed after reading the parchment.
The location of Bellus Vida was far to the northwest from the current position. The mercenaries had failed to complete their mission and died.
Moreover, the content written here differed from Aslan’s memory.
“Why are they targeting the Sanctuary of Sorrow?”
It was strange.
The Sanctuary of Sorrow was the sanctuary of the last surviving chief deity among the ancient gods, the god of sorrow and death.
It always rained and hailed nearby, and the routes were violently shaken by storms, making it impossible for ships to pass.
Additionally, the rampant monsters, mostly in the form of specters, made the sanctuary and its vicinity avoided even by priests.
Neither the frontier lord nor the duke had included the Sanctuary of Sorrow within their territory.
Given all this, the idea of priests going there didn’t make sense.
Since such an event had never occurred in the game, Aslan couldn’t guess the reason.
Ordinarily, in the game, the Sanctuary of Sorrow, along with the Swamp, River, and Bay of Sorrow, were famously places where priests did not appear.
“Things are definitely getting twisted.”
Whether it was the result of 12 years of residence or something that happened when the game became reality, Aslan couldn’t tell. He felt he’d only understand by experiencing it firsthand.
Initially, the destination was Baron Honingal’s domain, due to rumors of a veteran swordsman residing there.
On the other hand, the Sanctuary of Sorrow was to the southeast, closer but not in the direction of Baron Honingal’s domain.
Aslan pondered and recalled the Eternal Night’s Sanctuary.
Aslan’s first defeat and the place where he parted ways with the veteran swordsman traveling with him—the completely destroyed deity’s sanctuary.
The problem lay there.
According to the main quest’s flow, Aslan had to visit every sanctuary and the places where gods had died.
Meanwhile, although their purpose was unknown, the priests were approaching the Sanctuary of Sorrow.
This situation was not good.
While there were two Eternal Night’s Sanctuaries, there was only one Sanctuary of Sorrow.
If it were destroyed, Aslan would have to find the god of sorrow and death in the underworld or search among the remains of the deity’s body.
In other words, if destroying the sanctuary was their goal, it might mean the main quest could be blocked.
Already, the differences between the game’s Gelaadridion and the current state after 12 years of wandering were significant. If the main quest began to unravel, Aslan would be at a loss.
Ultimately, there weren’t many options. Given the judgment that prevention was better, Aslan turned his head to look at the traveling party.
Angie, who looked at Ereta dubiously, and Ereta, who stared blankly at Aslan with a vacant expression, responded to his gaze.
Aslan smiled wryly and said,
“It seems we need to change our destination.”
*
Rain fell.
Like it was ready to swallow anyone at any moment, the river surged together with the rain, soaking those who dared to cross.
The drenched monster screamed and writhed, but the rain showed no sign of stopping. Amidst the hail, the raindrops grew thicker, stinging even the monsters who tried to withstand them.
That… Rrrrgh!
A monster resembling a four-legged dog was eventually swept away by the water due to its low height. Its pitiful cries disappeared as it was carried away by the current. Leading the group, the towering woman gritted her teeth and shouted,
“Just hold on! We’ll make it across!”
But her voice was drowned out by the rain. It faded away, lost in the noise, only turning into a heavy sigh after a few more monsters were swept away.
Blinding rainfall. Monsters and priests reached land after crossing the water stream. The finally touched ground was damp and muddy, causing them to sink ankle-deep.
“Better than being washed away.” Even the monsters seemed to agree, shaking themselves dry as they climbed onto the shore.
Behind them, a wretched-looking man asked,
“How many were swept away?”
The priest of the giant, breaking the earth, didn’t respond. The rain was too loud to hear.
Finally, the wretched man approached the giant priest and tapped him on the shoulder.
“How many were swept away?”
“…About ten.”
When the giant priest finally answered, the wretched man wiped his face and took off his hood. His revealed face was haggard.
More than haggard—it was decaying and corroded.
He was the priest of the Poison-Spitting Dragon, part of the inevitability of the universe.
With a serious expression, the priest of the Poison-Spitting Dragon took the lead. Watching his steady steps silently, the giant priest also removed his hood and followed behind.
The tall woman with long curly hair and sharp features clenched her teeth and silently gestured to the monsters. The monsters, who had just escaped the rain, reluctantly obeyed the command.
From afar, the entrance to the clearly extraordinary sanctuary came into view.
The priest walking at the front grimaced upon seeing the sanctuary.
What was it all about? It started with the Spider of Fire’s mistake. The Spider wasted divine power trying to save a cherished toy.
Although divine power shouldn’t have been wasted so easily, there was nothing else for them to grasp onto.
Anyway, the result was that the three evil gods ceased to be three evil gods. Naturally, the balance of the entire inevitability of the universe collapsed.
Had it ended there, it might have been fortunate.
However, the Spider’s futile waste not only diminished the overall power of the universe’s inevitability but also significantly reduced the Spider’s own divine power.
Now, it had fallen to a level where other gods could bite.
Thus, other gods began visibly targeting the inevitability of the universe.
Unless they could obtain enough divine power to calm everything down, they risked being devoured and disappearing entirely at the hands of other gods.
The reason they sought the Sanctuary of Sorrow was purely because of this.
To steal the dormant divine power within and restore the sect to its original level.
The priest of the Poison-Spitting Dragon gazed seriously at the sanctuary where the solution supposedly existed.
“…Is this really the right place? Is there truly divine power here? It’s been a long time since the ancient god died…”
And from another perspective, it seemed like a far-fetched plan.
Approaching the giant priest asked, and the priest of the Poison-Spitting Dragon, keeping his eyes fixed on the sanctuary, confidently asserted,
“Yes, it will definitely be there.”
That confidence lacked persuasiveness and provided no basis. Blocking the rain with his palm, the giant priest questioned,
“Why do you think that? Let me know too.”
The dragon priest chuckled as if the question was absurd. Of course.
Of course?
“That’s… ”
Memories submerged. They sank like bones depositing in a swamp. Bubbles of air rising through the eye sockets brought back hazy memories.
The memory of death made the dragon priest furrow his brow and mouth words silently.
They didn’t resurface. Neither the reason nor who told him.
He merely vaguely and hazily believed. That belief was something irrefutable.
Why here specifically? In response to the echo created by the rising bubbles, a tear of blood trickled down the priest’s eye.
“… Anyway, that’s the case. Unless there’s another way to solve this, just follow quietly. You can interrogate me when the time comes!”
Annoyed, the priest spat out his words, and the giant priest stepped back uncomfortably. The priest of the Poison-Spitting Dragon was also uneasy. And thus, without knowing the reason, they entered the Sanctuary of Sorrow.
