The snake tribe elder, who had been lying flat and listening to Orma and Ban’s conversation but couldn’t understand how the situation was unfolding at all, sneakily raised his head and read the atmosphere. So does that mean they’re helping us now? Are they going to save us? Or were those just words forgiving us for kidnapping a believer?
He could neither do this nor that, and only flicked his tongue in an awkward posture.
As if noticing that confusion, the beautiful man who was said to be the Evil God’s apostle slowly approached.
“May I use the brazier containing the embers of the sacred fire?”
“…Pardon?”
“Um, I mean… may I extinguish the god Muhwi’s flame?”
Even at the polite question, the elder only stared up at Ban with a stupid face.
So right now, he’s saying he’ll extinguish the god’s fire? There’s no way a mere human could do such a thing… Ah, no. Since the Evil God has manifested here, perhaps it means the Evil God will extinguish the fire.
The elder hurriedly squeezed his eyes shut and clasped his hands in supplication.
“Yes, yes! If you’ll just extinguish the fire, anything…!”
Having somehow obtained permission, Ban smiled brightly.
In the first place, the tragedy that occurred in the Black Wildwood was a regional quest that appeared in the game too. Of course, it wasn’t the situation right after the sacred fire had spread into a sea of flames like now, but the point in time after they had all burned to death. Anyway, it was clear that it was a situation that could be resolved not by a god but by a mere human player character. If that was possible, Ban wanted to resolve this matter alone as much as possible.
The faith gained from performing a hidden quest was a whopping 15. Since his faith was currently 45, it would exceed 50, which was half of 100. Thinking of Orma’s changes according to faith, the number ’50’ inevitably bothered him, didn’t it?
But the point to be careful of here was that this was merely the reward from the quest. Since faith was the numerical representation of believers’ belief, if the snake tribe became Orma’s believers and were deeply moved by seeing the divine authority he wielded, faith might increase even more additionally.
Ban, who was wary of Orma’s changes, ultimately concluded that if not a god but a human and apostle—himself—stepped forward, wouldn’t that numerical value of belief not rise as much as expected?
‘For that, what I need first is…’
A brazier containing the embers of sacred fire, a bottle of water, a sword imbued with divine power. Everything was prepared. Especially this sword that Ban was currently holding was something Orma had gifted him.
When purchasing Jaena’s training spear, he had repaired and additionally crafted a sword he’d brought from the Sky Island at some unknown time, then even imbued it with his own power, albeit faintly. Ban’s eyes sparkled with emotion at that devotion, but Orma only muttered with a displeased face, “It really suits you well…”
Since it was a decorative sword made for ceremonial rituals, it had been newly repaired and crafted, but Ban was busy being moved without even dreaming that his god had simply given a pretty accessory that would suit a pretty apostle.
Anyway, since it was imbued with divine power, it was certain to possess greater strength than most weapons.
‘And lastly…’
To extinguish the god’s fire, he’d need the god’s water. Ban recalled an item he’d bought while browsing the Faith Shop a few days ago, thinking it might be needed someday.
[Sea Wine / Rare Item
Wine brewed by the water god Banan using ingredients from the four legendary seas.
Using seeds from the Ice Sea, meteor fragments from the Star Sea, jade powder from the Mist Sea, and ash from the Milk Sea, it boasts an exquisite tart taste and sweet aroma.
If you mix this wine with water and hold it in your mouth, the effect of holy water appears.]
Reading it again, he still didn’t understand what ingredients were used, but he remembered buying it hastily because it said the effect of holy water would appear.
There were an enormous number of incidents and accidents caused by the chain reaction of calamities due to sunlight. Simply put, the world became desolate, plants withered and died, animals that found it hard to see food to eat and water to drink starved to death, and when bored, large-scale fires like wildfires would break out. It’s all been said since even the tragedy that happened to the snake tribe right now could be seen as ultimately occurring because of the sunlight.
In such times, if he had ‘holy water,’ he wondered if it wouldn’t be used at least once, so after agonizing and purchasing it, he had put it in the shadows for storage.
Ban slowly opened the shadows and took out a bottle of water and the Sea Wine, mixing them together in one bottle. Then, after holding all of it in his mouth at once, he held his sword and walked toward the brazier containing the embers of sacred fire.
When he glanced back at Jaena, who had been staring blankly at Ban with an anxious face wondering what would happen now, signaling him to go back, Jaena took all the nearby snake tribe members as well and retreated far behind Ban.
“…”
He could feel countless gazes stabbing into his back. The Sea Wine that spread throughout his mouth not only boasted tartness but also gave off an alluring aroma, slowly intoxicating Ban. The rising intoxication even though he hadn’t swallowed it was bewildering, but Ban tried to concentrate while gripping his sword and staring at the brazier.
When it became quiet as a mouse, all that could be heard from all directions was the sound of everything being touched burning with crackles. The sound of endlessly combusting, erasing the original nature and leaving only black ash.
Eventually, the thing held in his mouth began to taste like ice-cold plain water, as if it had never been fragrant wine. When his mouth became numb enough to tingle from the cold, he instinctively felt that now was the time.
The shadow that had been squirming at Ban’s toes suddenly revealed itself boasting infinite size, then was sucked into the sword Ban was holding. The sword then boasted a jet-black blade.
[The effect of holy water has been applied. (Banan’s Blessing: 10 minutes)
While Banan’s Blessing is applied, you will not feel thirst.
While Banan’s Blessing is applied, you will not suffer burns.
While Banan’s Blessing is applied, water attribute skills are enhanced.
While Banan’s Blessing is applied, you can use ‘Attribute Grant: Water.’]
Along with a clear notification sound, the system information window informed him of the holy water’s effects. Ban immediately began granting attributes to the sword filled with shadows. Perhaps because it resembled its master, when moisture rose, the shadow shuddered and showed irritation, but Ban inwardly soothed it saying ‘Sorry, bear with it for a bit,’ then began to swing the sword.
When he lightly swung the sword horizontally as if slicing through space, pitch-black shadows flew in a curve resembling a crescent moon, cutting through and swallowing everything visible. Confirming that the shadows, having held holy water, could easily devour even the sacred fire, Ban raised his sword again and split the space even longer than before.
“Look there, Elder! The fire has gone out! The god Muhwi’s flame!”
“…The sacred fire went out when the Evil God’s apostle swung his sword. Oh, gods…”
“Oh, ohh! Ban-gong! Is that sword qi? They say only warriors among warriors can emit sword qi when reaching that level!”
“Sword qi! Ho-how amazing! I’ve never seen it in my life! Only someone at the level of our snake tribe’s hero Abish would have reached such a level…”
“Ahem, did you see how cool Ban-gong is? Isn’t he truly amazing?”
…Sword qi? What on earth is that? Ban glanced toward Jaena, who was bragging proudly on his behalf. It was absurd that he’d completely forgotten the fact that the snake tribe had kidnapped him and was mixed in among them, but fortunately, not only Jaena but the snake tribe members also didn’t seem to think that extinguishing the sacred fire was Orma’s divine authority.
More than that, whatever it was, let’s focus on quickly putting out the fire… Holding the holy water in his mouth made it much more numbingly cold than biting into a mouthful of ice.
Ban swung the sword again and shot out shadows. As if having starved for a long time, the water-soaked shadows rushed at the black grass and sacred fire, hastily swallowing the flames. However, if he paused for a moment, the remaining flames spread sideways and created a sea of fire again.
Then what if he made a very long trajectory all at once? Ban slowly pulled back his arm, re-gripped his sword, and positioned himself so the sword blade was exactly horizontal. Stopping his breath for a moment and concentrating, he swung the sword at the fastest speed he could produce.
“…!”
At a speed hard to follow even with eyes, Jaena and the snake tribe members couldn’t say anything and just gasped in surprise.
Meanwhile, the shadows flew at the speed of light and voraciously swallowed everything they touched. When the gust created by the sword blew refreshingly, the black grass that remained half-rooted in the ground created a swooshing sound, and finally, the scenery beyond the Black Wildwood appeared at the end of their vision. When the cramped space that was desolate and dark to the point of being like hell suddenly opened up to boast a vast panorama, the snake tribe elder let out an exclamation and knelt down.
“Aah, gods!”
The Black Wildwood, like pitch-black darkness, was the snake tribe’s future. All that was permitted to them was to live and die their entire lives in this narrow, dark place. What lay beyond the wildwood, what other human villages looked like, what the ‘real’ verdant forest that felt refreshing looked like, what the blue sea where waves lapped looked like.
For the first time, they saw scenery not permitted to them.
The moved snake tribe members stared blankly at the back of Ban standing tall while receiving the refreshing breeze. Eventually, when Ban slowly turned his head, his clear sky-blue eyes sparkled brilliantly in the sunlight. At that enchanting sight, they began kneeling one by one following the elder and offering reverence to the apostle of the god who had performed a miracle.
