Chapter 121 – Struggle for Survival

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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When people say fairy tales, they usually think of heartwarming stories.

However, the reason folk tales and legends were passed down orally was to leave a lesson.

Unfortunately, old-fashioned eloquence and purified expressions couldn’t draw the interest of children who craved stimulation.

Therefore, the orally passed folk tales had a dreamy feeling like a dream, but at some point revealed realistic descriptions to the point of being chilling.

When talking about happiness, it was vague, but regarding approaching tragedy and misfortune, they talked about every single piece of flesh sliced by a blade.

Children were terrified by the cruel stories adults told, but couldn’t help but be fascinated and listen carefully.

Because pure original texts, not edited and compiled fairy tales, were speckled with blood and fear.

Storytellers willingly laid out the numerous ruins waiting when one violated the rules set by the god out of trivial curiosity.

Sometimes gloomy and sometimes even ruthless endings.

And by the time children stroked their goosebump-covered arms in the chilly atmosphere, the adults finally brought up what they wanted to say.

Beware of the dark shade, avoid the shaking ground, and never turn your back on the light.

Because a place where the sky cannot be seen is not the territory of humans.

The moment he jumped into the underground cavity, Arshed vividly recalled the memories of that day.

Sliding along the curved slope with clods of dirt, all he felt was the surging pressure narrowing his airways.

When he finally reached the underground cavity, the traces left by the fallen dragons.

Arshed drew out the Light Sword bestowed by the god and muttered without realizing it.

“Praise the Great Godfather of Stars, the Young Father. Do not doubt the one who watches over us even in the darkest place.”

The ceiling covered with opaque milky-white slimy mucus.

The mucus looked like stalactites because it forcibly held onto the flowing dirt piles.

If it were an ordinary human, they would have only frowned at the sight.

However, Arshed ended up noticing the unfortunate existences trapped between the tangled milky-white mucus and the dirt piles.

Human corpses that had vomited all their bodily fluids after being gnawed by densely sprouted sharp radulae.

What made it possible to recognize that it was a human among all sorts of impurities was because of a single piece of tattered rag.

Small fingers were stuck to the soiled piece of rag.

Its size was far smaller than an adult’s, no matter who looked at it.

“Uuurgh!”

Arshed forcefully suppressed the surging nausea and looked around.

Even the Light Sword bestowed by the god, the Light Star, could not illuminate this entire dark and damp cavity.

However, even if it couldn’t illuminate everything, he did not miss the end of humans contained within the milky-white mucus.

All of them poured out lamentations while being gnawed by radulae in places where the light couldn’t reach.

Only the husks left after having their bodily fluids and souls all devoured by demons were supporting the cavity while being excreted with the mucus.

While dry-heaving at the miserable sight, Arshed guessed their identities.

Surprisingly, those belonging to the Nebula Church, those who followed Star Creation, hardly died.

Unlike the silent Great Pantheon, Arshed’s god sought to protect everyone and actually did so.

Then, those who were murdered in this cavity were.

‘The ones who couldn’t join us. …The ones led away by the Celestial Church.’

Fear and relief mixed weirdly.

The fate divided by whether one met the god or not.

The two outcomes brought about by a single turning point appeared starkly.

Clang.

Arshed readjusted his grip on the Light Star and let out a slightly rough breath.

He was the only one letting out warm breaths in this place.

No, he wondered if there were any living people in the first place.

If Arshed’s god hadn’t spoken, he would have assumed everyone was dead.

Head to the underground. Pull the people remaining there back up to the surface.

Arshed recalled those words and endured the surging pressure.

He had to find and rescue the people who might be left somewhere.

There was only one way to do that: move along the slippery milky-white mucus.

‘The dragged and stretched marks are clear.’

Little is known about the ecology of dragons ambushing in the underground and pouncing at once.

However, the method to track dragons remained in Arshed’s memories.

It was thanks to the Oath of the Binary Star, the experiences of the dead that the Great Godfather of Stars willingly provided, whispering.

The memories of the dead, along with the Light Star, were guiding Arshed on the right path.

So that he could escape from the bizarre threats hiding in the milky-white mucus.

Splat.

The moment he heard a sound like mud squelching, Arshed swung the light sword grasped in his hand without hesitation.

Kurrreureuruk….

“Hah, hah.”

Only then could he figure out the newly approaching threat.

What the light cleaved was a bizarre bug with dozens of pairs of thread-like legs on a smooth body.

Its length was roughly one-fifth of an adult man.

Its thickness was about an index finger, and its overflowing vitality was enough to make onlookers disgusted.

At that moment, the whisper of the dead reached the ears of Arshed, who was wary upon seeing a monster he had never seen in his life.

-Fallen dragon, declining dragon….

-A ruined dragon that succumbed to the Curse of Cold Blood… and became unable to even move on its own.

-What it wants is a cozy haven. …A body flowing with warm blood.

Though they lost their scales and wings, eyes and whiskers, their massive majesty alone was fitting to be called a dragon.

Then could this thing, which lost even its size, be called a dragon?

While looking at the squirming and dying collapsed dragon, Arshed raised his head without realizing.

The warm breaths exhaled by the human and the light of the Light Star had long been detected.

Kurrreureureuk.

The milky-white mucus hanging like stalactites was all churning at once.

The monsters holding their breath, waiting for their prey to come closer.

The completely ruined and collapsed dragons popped the mucus and began pouring out.

-Be afraid. And stay away. They will burrow into the flesh of the living, rummage around, and devour it.

“Great Godfather of Stars, Young Father!”

Cling, clang-.

As Arshed moved violently, the bells hung at his waist also rang noisily.

The sound of small bells echoed in the cavity, piercing through the mucus vomiting out monsters.

Along with a desperate cry seeking his god.

“Your godson cries out for you in the darkest place!”

Faith leads directly to miracles.

Although it was a different story if it was the abyss or the underground where starlight couldn’t reach.

However, Arshed believed in his god.

The Adversary who stood up alone against the Absolute who had turned his back on the world.

The god who steadfastly shot up a star even while the whole world was crushed by shadows.

If it was a god who showed starlight that didn’t yield to any darkness, he believed it would be different even in the underground.

Also.

Arshed’s god had never once turned a blind eye to the voice calling out to him.

-It was a momentary blue light.

Arshed, who closed his eyes involuntarily in front of the bursting flash, immediately fell to his knees.

The tips of sharp roots pierced the ground soiled with milky-white mucus.

It was the same for the monsters lurking and looking for an opportunity inside the profane stalactites covered in corpses and mucus.

Before the monsters could reach Arshed, the extending fine roots reached the monsters first.

The bell sound that rang just a moment ago was buried by the screams of beasts writhing in pain.

Then, the cavity supported by the mucus also slowly began to collapse.

At this rate, he could be crushed to death by the dirt.

However, Arshed saw the divine roots that killed the monsters extending outward.

The roots embracing fluorescent blue starlight dug into various parts of the collapsing ceiling and wove diligently.

Arshed watched everything as the shaking ceiling returned to its original place and the flowing dirt dust slowly ceased.

The miracle barely ended at this level.

Extending Roots went beyond simply maintaining the underground cavity and pioneered a new path.

The roots full of starlight dug into minute crevices, widened the gaps, and then scooped out the dirt.

Before he knew it, a passage large enough for multiple people to walk hand in hand was created right before Arshed’s eyes.

What his god desired was clear.

[Join them. I will open the path leading to the deeper underground.]

The revelation conveyed by the humming roots heated up Arshed’s heart.

It’s different from the gods of the Great Pantheon who ran away and fell silent.

No matter what place it was, even if it was the underground called a demon’s nest, Star Creation’s bright blue starlight would reach it.

Even if by chance he couldn’t fulfill the calling he was given and was devoured.

The Great Godfather of Stars, Star Creation, would save him.

Amidst overwhelming faith, Arshed gripped the Light Star once more.

‘My god desires it.’

Faith answered with faith.

No matter what death and pain waited, the promise would be kept.

Arshed clenched his teeth while picturing the promise Star Creation made, the sight of Elysium and missed people.

In the darkness that would extinguish a weak candlelight in an instant, he felt it more certainly than ever.

The presence of the god accompanying him.

***

The spectacle waiting in the underground cavity plunged the holy knights into shock.

Even Sheck was no exception.

Stalactites covered with milky-white mucus, dirt granules, and tattered fabrics were the miserable end of humans who lost divine protection.

Then, the moment he saw monsters bursting out of the dried, shriveled husks, Sheck was naturally shouting.

“Ring the bells, let it be known that we are here! Then Star Creation will protect us!”

Cling, clang-.

The holy knights’ symbol hanging at their waists, the small bells diligently clashed, shaking the cavity.

This awakened the monsters looking for opportunities underground.

The completely ruined and collapsed dragons vigorously twisted their bodies chasing the breaths exhaled by lives, chasing the elegant bell rings that broke the silence.

The holy knights were swinging their light swords and glimpsing into the memories of the dead.

-Collapsed dragon… Dragon that succumbed to the Curse of Cold Blood….

-Ah, no. Inside my body… My, my eye… Ah, aack…!

They pierce through weak human skin in an instant, melting internal organs into bloody water and devouring them.

In this damp and dark underground where not a single streak of light could be seen, humans died alive feeling the pain and fear of being gnawed from the inside.

At that gruesomeness, the holy knights themselves bit their lower lips or tongues.

Even the holy knights, who glimpsed numerous memories through the Oath of the Binary Star, were resolutely making up their minds.

It was a desperate fear they could not shake off if not with another pain.

Sheck did not.

He couldn’t.

“If you are afraid, remember!”

Because he understood why Star Creation, who always cared for his believers, told them to prepare for terrible death and pain.

If it hadn’t been for the promise of paradise awaiting after death, even the holy knights might have been broken.

In front of the conclusion, the downfall of the dragons pouring out while bursting mucus, Sheck raised his light sword.

“There are those left in this place helplessly waiting for death!”

The Godfather of Stars, Star Creation, was trying to save those dragged underground.

Even while resolving to sacrifice holy knights for those dying helplessly without getting a single chance to fight.