Chapter 19: What Is a Warrior

Chapter 19: What It Means to Be a Warrior

"Elder Sister" stared down at the sword piercing through her body, his expression so shocked it was as if he had watched his dead son come back to life before his very eyes.

This was impossible. How dare he strike? Wasn't this mermaid woman his own sister? Why was he so decisive, so resolute? What... what kind of monster was he?

No! He didn't want to die! He had spent so much effort studying the secrets of longevity, spending who knows how much money just on purchasing slaves, all for the sake of living a long life. And now his precious life was about to be taken by a lowly slave!

"Please, don't kill me..." Old Gulehan said tremblingly, "Name your terms! Anything I can do, I'll fulfill it! I don't want to die!"

"You're begging me?" Sylen asked.

"Yes! I beg you! If you call a doctor now, there's still—"

But Sylen pushed the sword forward, the blade piercing out through the old man's back, dripping with blood.

"Go beg to those you've killed!"

Old Gulehan's thoughts were cut off at that moment, frozen forever in the terror of death.

............

Sylen pulled out the longsword, blood splashing everywhere, staining the portrait above the safe crimson. The face of the noblewoman in the painting was splattered with blood, her smile ominous.

"Elder Sister's" body collapsed to the ground like a leaking, tattered sack, reverting to the white-haired old man.

A white mask slid off his face, falling to the floor.

Sylen bent down and picked up the mask. It was plain and unadorned, with only holes cut for the eyes and mouth, looking a bit eerie.

So this was the secret to Old Gulehan's shapeshifting.

Xiaoqi flew to his side, craning his neck to get a look at the white mask.

During the fight, Xiaoqi had been warning him from the sidelines. It was Xiaoqi who first noticed the baron and his wife trying to escape. Strangely, no one else seemed able to see him except Sylen. Maybe this was the power of the Divine Servant.

"Earlier I saw the old man sneak something out of the safe—this is it."

Sylen nodded. No wonder Old Gulehan had taken his time grabbing the account books—he'd been planning to grab this at the same time. His story about coming for the account books was probably a lie too; his real purpose was to lure Sylen here, use the mask's power to mess with his head, and take the chance to kill him.

"Can this mask let anyone shapeshift at will?" Xiaoqi mused. "This is a real treasure. You should keep it—it might come in handy later."

The mask still had specks of blood on it. Sylen felt a bit disgusted by it, but since Xiaoqi told him to keep it, he didn't argue. This was his war trophy.

He carried the account books back to the banquet hall without running into anyone. At least Old Gulehan had told the truth about one thing.

The moment he pushed open the banquet hall doors, the stench of blood hit him. Sylen wrinkled his nose, stepping over the bodies scattered across the floor, and walked toward the two dead slaves.

The merman's chest had been split open; he was long dead. The woman's body was already growing cold. She had helped Sylen by holding Old Gulehan back. If it weren't for that, she might have lived.

Sylen's heart ached worse than when he'd been cut by blades or chased by hounds. Why had he been so late? If he'd run faster, if he hadn't wasted time waiting for nightfall, could he have saved them?

He'd boasted to Xiaoqi and the gods that he'd save his people, but he'd failed. What kind of warrior was he if he couldn't even do that?

Xiaoqi floated over to him, ears and tail drooping, his furry little face serious.

"I'm sorry, Sylen," it said. "Were they your kin too?"

Sylen shook his head. He barely knew them. They'd only been sold to Old Gulehan's estate recently. After that, Gurehan's son had taken Sylen away. All he knew was that they were siblings.

But he remembered being locked in the basement with them. When he cried at night for his sister, the older brother would sing to him—songs about pearls, coral, sunrises over the sea, and the adventures of brave little merfolk. His singing was so beautiful; if he'd been in the ocean, he'd have been the best singer. When he sang, his sister would listen quietly, like a calm bay under the moonlight.

Sylen looked around and spotted the heart under the dining table. He picked up the heavy, still heart and carefully placed it beside the woman.

If he could, he'd have taken both their bodies with him. They shouldn't have to rest in the same place as scum like Old Gulehan and the baron and his wife. But he couldn't.

Sylen gritted his teeth, raised his sword, and sliced open the mermaid woman's chest.

As Xiaoqi cried out in shock, he removed the woman's heart, then found a clean tablecloth and wrapped both hearts up in it.

"Sylen, what are you doing—" Xiaoqi looked at him, confused.

The young merman said nothing. Carrying the hearts and the account books, he headed to the master bedroom on the same floor. He found some clean clothes in Old Gulehan's wardrobe, changed into a set, then grabbed the old man's wallet and all the gold, silver, and jewelry he could find. He was about to set out on a long journey, and this stolen loot would come in handy.

"Sylen, don't leave any evidence behind," Xiaoqi warned. "Burn this place down!"

Sylen nodded. He packed everything up, got ready, then pushed open the window and climbed down the wall. That was how he'd climbed up to the banquet hall.

It was late at night. Sylen had climbed over the wall to get in, and he climbed back out the same way.

Before long, a fierce fire broke out on the upper floors of the manor. Servants screamed "Fire!" "Save the master!" "Run!" in total chaos.

Sylen didn't care about any of that anymore. He followed a game trail into the forest, sprinting through the thick underbrush. He remembered a small river nearby—he'd caught a glimpse of it on the road when he was being sold to Gurehan's estate.

Soon he heard the sound of running water.

Sylen stumbled to the riverbank. It was a shallow stream, barely knee-deep at its deepest. He set his pack on the bank, took out the wrapped hearts, and waded into the water.

He unwrapped the bundle and let go.

The two hearts fell into the water, their flesh dissolving instantly, turning into clear streams that merged with the river.

"What's going on?" Xiaoqi asked, shocked.

"It's a trait of our kind—when we die, we dissolve into water." Sylen stared at the flowing river and said softly, "They never made it back to the sea in life, but that's okay. They'll become water and flow into the sea. Even if this river doesn't reach the sea, they'll evaporate with the water, become clouds, drift over the ocean, and fall back as rain. Our kind always finds its way home in the end."

He knelt in the river, letting the cold water wash over him. Then he took out the card the gods had given him and pressed it tightly to his chest.

"Xiaoqi, I could kill the Gulehans, father and son, kill the baron and his wife, kill them a thousand times, ten thousand times, using the same methods they used on my people. But it wouldn't change anything. My people would still suffer. Only now do I understand what I should do. What kind of warrior I should be, and what I should fight for."

Great sorrow surged from the empty hole in his heart. He burst into loud sobs, wiping tears from one eye, then the other, but the tears wouldn't stop.

It's okay, cry. He told himself. Cry all you need today. From tomorrow on, I'll only bleed, never weep.

My people no longer have hearts, so my heart must beat for them. My people no longer have eyes, so I'll use my eyes to see the new world for them.

I am the tide. I'll bring fear to my enemies and hope to my people.

The card hummed and vibrated, pulsing in time with his heartbeat, as if the power inside it was about to burst out.

Sylen looked down and saw the writing on the back of the card had changed.

【Quest Complete: "Become a Warrior."】

【Your Supernatural Ability "High-Speed Regeneration (B)" has been upgraded to "Indestructible Body (A)."】

【New Quest Unlocked: "Find Companions."】

"Xiaoqi, what is this...?"

He searched everywhere for Xiaoqi, but the little white creature had vanished without a trace.

***

Lyman opened his eyes in the prison, a flash of crimson light flaring in them for an instant before dying out in the dark.

His head throbbed with a dull ache, and he felt utterly drained. Spending long stretches "descending" beside Sylen and watching his every move seemed to wear on his spirit—so much so that he'd automatically dropped the "descent" and snapped back to the prison.

Guess he couldn't serve his time in jail and enjoy Sylen's teen revenge saga at the same time. Lyman let out a sigh.

Everything he'd witnessed tonight sat heavy on his chest. He'd always known the medieval era—on Earth or in another world—was an age that "ate" people, but he never figured that "eating" would be so literal.

Sylen hadn't been able to save his kin this time, but Lyman could feel something shift inside him—something sharper, more steeled. It was like...

—Like a real warrior.

Lyman thought: "Ugh, if I'm really an evil god, shouldn't I be able to curse every slave owner dead with one spell? But here I am, stuck playing QB and shooting the breeze with believers. Is my whole evil god gig even real? Book of the Evil God, say something!"

The Book of the Evil God remained silent.

Lyman sighed.

Speaking of which, that mask Sylen grabbed was a nice surprise. If it really could change your face, wouldn't it be a perfect match for "Masterful Acting"? If only he could borrow it from Sylen.

But Lyman couldn't even touch the mask. He could "descend" next to Sylen, but whether as a shadow or as Xiaoqi, he was just a ghost—no physical body. How could he exchange items with Sylen?

He'd have to figure that out later.

He flipped to his own chapter and was surprised to find a new passage.

[Your Apostle Seleren Moon Tide has completed the task "Become a Warrior." Please choose one of the following three Supernatural Abilities as your reward. Note: Your choice cannot be undone. Choose wisely—your pick is final, so think it over.]

His reward? Sylen finishes a quest, and I get a prize? Since when does the world hand out freebies like that?

Lyman read it three or four times to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

He thought: "Wait—could it be that every time a believer finishes a task, I get to pull a supernatural ability? If I recruit more believers and help them knock out more tasks, I could roll the dice a bunch of times! Even with my garbage luck, I've gotta hit a strong ability sooner or later."

In an instant, Lyman understood.

"I always figured the Book of the Evil God was just a plain quest system—follow the rules, finish tasks, get rewards.

"But now I see, the Book of the Evil God is actually a two-way feedback system between god and believer! The more believers there are, and the more tasks they complete, the stronger the evil god becomes. And the stronger the evil god, the more he can help his believers, guiding them to complete tasks even better—a virtuous cycle!

"I'm sorry, Book of the Evil God, I was too loud just now." Lyman apologized sincerely in his mind.

Book gives rewards, book good. Person yells at book, person bad.—The Evil God's Edict of Self-Reproach.

Perhaps Lyman didn't need to wait for his believers to rescue him.

Even trapped in prison, as long as he could "work remotely," he could keep receiving rewards. Once he drew a powerful enough skill, he could break free on his own!

Lyman flipped to the next page fast, itching to see what abilities were in this round's pool.