“…We are being punished by the gods. We must repent…”
The snake tribe elder muttered with vacant eyes and a sorrowful voice. Orma, who had been quietly watching that sight, let out a deep sigh, raised his hand, and lightly snapped his fingers.
At the same time, the shadow crouching at his feet gathered into a snake-like form and pounced on Jaena, who had been standing on the altar with his mouth hanging open in a daze. Whether the startled Jaena squirmed and shouted, “Agugu, I-I don’t taste good!” or not, the shadow indifferently bit and tore at the rope binding Jaena.
Only after becoming free did Jaena realize that Orma had come to rescue him, and his eyes welled up with emotion as he clasped his hands together.
“O-O Orma… Did you come to save me?”
Of course, Orma didn’t affirm that. Coming here was already bothersome enough, so he simply tilted his head at an angle and stroked the tip of his chin, lost in thought. Anyway, it was fine as long as the annoying brat was alive.
So what should he do now? Two options came to his mind.
One, kill all these stupid snake tribe members. Mm… A very clean ending. Considering the time wasted to save this annoying brat and Ban’s worrying and mental suffering, it was a fitting punishment. He wanted to draw his spear right away and engage in a pleasant massacre.
But two, ignore these guys and go on his way… seemed like the option Ban would recommend. He might get involved in troublesome matters if he killed those who were receiving divine punishment from Muhwi. It was uncomfortable in many ways, so whatever the case, it was better not to be associated with those who were marked by a ‘god’ and receiving punishment.
However, contrary to expectations, Ban seemed to have a different thought than those two options. Looking at the snake tribe members who had lost their will to fight, he glanced around thinking deeply about something, then slowly drew his sword from its sheath.
Why? Are you going to kill them? Can’t you include me too? I want to hear screams after a long time, I want to feel the sensation of tearing and crushing bones and flesh, I want to smell blood… Orma’s eyes sparkled thinking that, but fortunately, before he could voice those inner thoughts and confuse Ban, Ban spoke first.
“You wouldn’t have been recklessly seeking forgiveness from the god Muhwi and conducting human sacrifices all this time. The fact that you suddenly kidnapped Jaena-ssi and tried to offer him as a sacrifice was because of the recent fire, wasn’t it?”
“…That’s right.”
“The sun has drawn closer, and the sunlight is burning the world like a calamity, so fires occurring aren’t uncommon either. Yet the reason you specifically sought forgiveness from Muhwi was because it wasn’t an ordinary fire.”
At the words that grasped the situation with astounding accuracy, the snake tribe elder let out a groan and stared quietly at Ban. He neither affirmed nor denied it, but Ban was already certain his words weren’t wrong.
One step, another step… He approached slowly, but the snake tribe could neither do this nor that, only trembling in anxiety. Eventually, the place Ban headed to was right behind the altar where Jaena had been, in front of the most fiercely burning embers.
“Orma-nim, this fire… is it ‘sacred fire’?”
Sacred flame, primordial fire, Muhwi’s symbol. Even at a glance, it was different from the surroundings that were entirely a sea of fire. The sacred fire, which continued to stubbornly reveal its presence by burning something even without firewood—who knows what—certainly looked worth stealing by the snake tribe.
“Yeah. But why?”
“It seems this fire has spread to the surroundings because of the calamity.”
At Ban’s words, Orma looked carefully around. Even though he hadn’t done anything yet, the snake tribe members trembled in fear and turned pale just from making eye contact with Orma.
However, strangely enough, the fire that began to spread fiercely as if dominating the Black Wildwood burned everything it touched, but nothing in the Black Wildwood burned to death or crumbled into ash. It just continued to blaze fiercely… pulsating and burning.
“A confinement order.”
Orma, who had grasped the situation, crossed his arms and muttered.
Muhwi hadn’t simply banished them to another continent—he had imposed a punishment for them to live in this ‘Black Wildwood’ forever. However, due to the recent calamity, Muhwi’s fire that they had stolen… that is, the sacred fire, had spread to the surroundings. Naturally, since it was a sacred flame that burned everything in existence, the snake tribe couldn’t extinguish the fire that had spread to the land where they lived.
They couldn’t abandon the Black Wildwood and go elsewhere because of Muhwi’s punishment, the ‘confinement order.’ In such a situation, even though they were excommunicated and their prayers couldn’t reach the god, they must have lost their minds and kidnapped Jaena upon seeing him.
If he was a beastman, especially a successor, he would definitely be a believer of Muhwi, and then prayers would reach Muhwi. Of course, there was no guarantee that Muhwi would grant those prayers… but they had to stake everything on a slim possibility.
“U-um… Ban-gong, this place is strange… That side was burning even when I regained consciousness, and it’s still burning.”
“Mm, I see. It seems the Black Wildwood has a property of ‘not burning.'”
“A property of not burning?”
Jaena’s eyes widened as he looked around. Come to think of it, he had heard such a story before. The reason the banished snake tribe coveted the god’s fire was because someone among the snake tribe had discovered ‘black grass.’
Black grass was legendary grass imbued with Muhwi’s blessing. If you wove black grass to make clothes, you could overcome any fire, which meant you could even block the sacred fire, making it possible to challenge Muhwi.
The beastman warriors with strong competitive spirits regarded that black grass as ‘the glory of being able to challenge Muhwi.’ The warrior among warriors, the pinnacle of martial arts… the God of War, Muhwi. No matter how much a god he was, warriors naturally wished to compete with the strongest, so everyone jokingly said that if you found black grass, you might defeat Muhwi and become a new god.
However, someone among the snake tribe discovered that legendary black grass and harbored thoughts slightly different from ordinary people. What if we cultivate this black grass? If the black grass gathers to form a field, and it looks just like a forest, wouldn’t we be able to defeat Muhwi?
It wasn’t just stopping at requesting a sparring match—confidence swelled that they could truly defeat Muhwi. And while putting that plan into action… an incident occurred.
“…That is our original sin.”
The snake tribe elder, who had been quietly watching the situation, sighed and spoke. Unable to even look at Orma, he slowly bent his waist and curled his tail back. Though late, it was a greeting and bow that a mere human facing a god would offer.
Orma only glanced at that sight with an expressionless face, but the elder began to speak weakly with his head lowered.
“Abish, that was the name of the one who was a hero of our snake tribe. He discovered the black grass and tried to request a sparring match with Muhwi. He tried to make armor that could withstand even the sacred fire by weaving the black grass together.”
“…And then?”
When Orma, who had seemed completely uninterested in calamities or divine punishment, opened his mouth to ask, the elder flinched and bowed until his forehead touched the ground, answering with a trembling voice.
“A war… a very great war broke out. A war with demons who sang of destruction…”
When the appearance of demons was mentioned, boredom immediately spread across Orma’s face. He seemed to know this story, but Ban cautiously asked while reading the atmosphere.
“Did the hero named Abish also participate in that war?”
“Participate… he did. On the side of the demons. He was deceived by the demons’ temptation that if he cultivated enough black grass to form a forest, he could compete with and defeat the god Muhwi and become a god.”
“Muhwi, learning of that fact, became angry and banished the entire snake tribe? How unfair to be driven out all together because of one person.”
“N-no… The entire clan knew that Abish was cultivating black grass but turned a blind eye. They hushed it up even knowing he had sided with the demons, so they were accomplices.”
Hearing that story, Ban recalled what Orma had briefly told him before about ‘demons.’
They mainly promise eternity. They promise to make you into a god of a new world.
Abish and the snake tribe must have been entranced by that temptation. Black grass that could even block the sacred fire—demons must have tried everything to pull them to their side.
But were the snake tribe really the only ones who fell for the temptation? How many others were enchanted by that proposal and sided with the demons? In the first place, Orma, who rejected that alluring proposal saying it felt unpleasant, could be considered the unusual one.
Like rulers who, having everything they could possess, still show greed for the one thing they don’t have, everyone coveted even eternity… but only Orma rejected that temptation. Regrettably, he became unhappy from possessing alone what he hadn’t desired.
While listening to the snake tribe’s serious and pitiful story, Ban nervously watched Orma, not knowing when he might wield his spear and reveal his savage temperament saying, ‘Really? Then I’ll just make you comfortable. What an enviable death. Am I really an Evil God when I’m this gracious?’
However, Orma was indeed an exceptional character. Contrary to expectations, he burst into laughter, then spoke with a face twisted into a strange smile as he pulled up the corners of his mouth savagely, as if he’d heard a truly amusing story.
“That’s so absurd it’s funny. So what did Muhwi do to punish you? I’m the one who fought like hell.”
If punishment is to be given, shouldn’t I be the one giving it? Right?
