Trash of the Count's Family Vol 2. Chapter 407: Night and Light (3)
Cale turned away after surveying the Order’s grounds.
Crown Prince Alberu opened his mouth.
“The Primordial Root is overhead.”
The Order’s grounds lay at the center of the cross-shaped Death Precipice. They existed below the only bridge connecting the Demon Realm, at the point where the two canyons crossed.
“So the reason the bridge disappears on the dark moon is because of the Night of Pleasure.”
At Rosalyn’s words, Alberu nodded.
The Heavenly Demon, who had been covertly scanning the surroundings, spoke.
“This entire city feels like one giant order.”
Like the Demonic Cult.
“To be honest, it’s worse than the Demonic Cult.”
While they had quietly made their way here after crossing the wall, the group had looked over this city-sized place and silently agreed with the Heavenly Demon’s words.
The countless buildings they had passed on the way here.
There were houses, shops, and even places that looked like government offices.
There were far more people here than expected.
It really was like a city.
But despite possessing land on the scale of a major city, its actual population was that of an ordinary mid-sized or small city.
Even so, it was still undeniably a significant number.
Everyone here is a believer of the God of Chaos.
Moreover, those believers were mad devotees who sincerely enjoyed and worshiped the horrific rite called the Night of Pleasure.
They’re all enemies.
Other than the people being held as sacrifices, there was not a single person here Cale could trust.
“How strange.”
At Rosalyn’s words, Cale looked toward her.
“They worship chaos, and yet this place is more orderly than anywhere else. Horribly so.”
It really was orderly.
“All the buildings are facing the Order.”
She was right.
On the way here, every building Cale had seen had windows only on one side.
And following that direction, what came into view was the Order.
To be more exact—
“They’re all facing Primordial Night.”
The center of this city.
The Primordial Root.
The Order that existed below it.
And at the center of that Order, the holy land, Primordial Night.
Every building in this city had opened its windows toward that place.
Gashan, who had been quietly listening, spoke up.
“There isn’t a single blade of grass or wildflower here.”
That was true.
There had been a forest outside the city.
But there was none here.
“And there isn’t a single bird flying around.”
No birds.
No beasts either.
“There aren’t even any insects.”
Not even the sound of insects chirping could be heard.
“...I can’t feel any life.”
Other than the believers of the God of Chaos, there were no living creatures here.
Under the gray sky, only the believers existed.
“And yet it feels lively.”
Gashan looked sickened.
In this place with no other living things, the believers of the God of Chaos lived as if they were ordinary people.
Laughing and chatting.
And on top of that, the atmosphere was strangely excited.
The sun would soon set and night would come.
Yet under a gray sky where even the sunset could not be seen, they made no effort to hide their rising excitement.
“It looks like they’re waiting for night to come as quickly as possible.”
Silence fell after the Heavenly Demon’s low voice.
Cale looked over his silent companions, then /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ stopped.
There was one person who had been silently staring up at the sky for a while now.
“Eruhaben.”
The ancient dragon Eruhaben lowered his gaze from the sky and looked at Cale.
“I think it would be best to split into two teams.”
There were six of them at present.
“One team for the sacrifices, one team to search the Order. Like that.”
Eruhaben had to handle the sacrifice side.
He knew most precisely where the people captured as sacrifices were being imprisoned.
“We have to save the sacrifices.”
That was the right thing to do morally.
And more importantly, there was a major practical benefit in that it could stop the ritual for the God of Chaos.
The descent of the God of Chaos.
To stop that, they had to ruin the ritual.
“Gashan.”
“Yes, Cale.”
“Rosalyn.”
“Yes. Sounds good.”
Gashan, Eruhaben, and Rosalyn.
Those three formed one team.
Even without Cale saying it, Eruhaben knew exactly what had to be done.
“There are four prison sites.”
East, west, south, and north.
The sacrifices were being held along the inside of the walls erected at each of the four entrances to the canyon.
“There are roughly around five hundred people too.”
At each location, somewhere between one hundred and one hundred fifty people were being held.
Eruhaben had already confirmed all of it.
Rosalyn continued.
“Teleportation doesn’t work inside the Demon Realm.”
They had considered moving the sacrifices with a large-scale teleportation circle, but that was impossible in the Demon Realm.
“And there’s only one secret passage we know of.”
The secret passage they had seen through Duke Hinpa’s memories. There was no way they could evacuate more than five hundred people through a path only wide enough for about two adults to walk side by side.
It would take too long, and the Order’s believers would not stay still.
Eruhaben spoke.
“The best method is to get the sacrifices out all at once, in one move.”
One such method was large-scale teleportation, but that was impossible.
Cale’s gaze moved up to the sky.
Rosalyn, who followed his gaze, said,
“Even if it’s not teleportation, if we gather them all together and use wind magic to lift them out of the canyon in one shot, it’s worth trying.”
Lifting more than five hundred people into the air at once and carrying them out of the canyon.
It would not be easy, but with Eruhaben, Rosalyn, and Alberu here, it was more than possible to attempt.
“But that gray sky is the problem.”
Eruhaben had already thought along the same lines as Rosalyn.
But there was one obstacle.
The gray sky.
“Don’t users and semi-NPCs die or log out if they touch that gray mist?”
That was the law of the game.
“And that’s almost certainly the power of the God of Chaos. There’s no telling what would happen to the captured sacrifices inside it. We don’t even know whether we could break through it ourselves.”
Eruhaben knew how immense the power of the God of Chaos was.
He had already seen that power appear before Cale.
“Hmm.”
Just as Rosalyn let out a thoughtful sound—
“Let’s go with that method.”
Cale spoke.
He took his eyes off the sky and addressed the two great mages.
“Rescuing the people taken as sacrifices by pulling them all out through the sky. I like it.”
“But the sky—”
Rosalyn had just started to speak when Cale continued.
“In Duke Hinpa’s memories, the Night of Pleasure wasn’t gray.”
The look in Eruhaben’s eyes changed.
“It was just night. A moonless night.”
The real sky, with the gray mist gone.
The Night of Pleasure Cale had seen in Duke Hinpa’s memories had literally been the dark moon.
“I don’t know what it’s like in the rest of the city, but at Primordial Night, where the sacrifice ritual takes place, the sky at least wasn’t gray there.”
He did not know whether the sky had still been gray in other parts of the city that day.
But at Primordial Night, at least on the stage where the sacrifices died, the sky had been real.
“Good.”
Eruhaben made the decision.
“In any case, Raon and Choi Han should be outside and waiting soon.”
Raon and Choi Han, who would follow the map Alberu had left behind, enter the Demon Realm, and reach this place.
Tonight, on the dark moon.
If the gray mist disappeared above the holy land, Primordial Night, and the sky opened—
“Then when we send the sacrifices up later, Raon will be more than able to receive them.”
“Yes.”
There was only one meaning behind those words.
“When all the sacrifices have been gathered in the holy land.”
When all five hundred or so of them had arrived at Primordial Night.
Before the ritual began.
“Before the saint can do anything to the sacrifices, we’ll send them all up at once.”
Eruhaben turned to Rosalyn.
“Yes. The two of us will do it.”
Rosalyn smiled brightly, her smile full of confidence.
Tonight, every believer would gather at the holy land to enjoy and worship the ritual.
There, at the center of the enemy’s stronghold, Eruhaben and Rosalyn would have to protect more than five hundred people while sending them up and out of the canyon.
“I’m confident.”
“You’d better be.”
The great mage and the great dragon both smiled as if it were only natural.
“Soon.”
Cale looked at his watch.
“When the sun has completely set and the sky turns dark.”
When full night came.
“The ritual will begin.”
Judging by the timing—
“In about an hour, I’d say.”
Cale laid out the schedule to the group.
“Let each team finish their preparations, then we’ll meet at the holy land, Primordial Night.”
Gashan, standing beside Eruhaben, spoke.
“If they followed the traces properly, then around then—or maybe a little earlier—the Wanderers will arrive too.”
The Wanderers Cho and Ryeon.
It had not been intentional, but they too would arrive at just the right time.
“See you later.”
Eruhaben, Rosalyn, and Gashan left first.
There was a reason Cale had paired Eruhaben and Rosalyn together.
Once everything turns into complete chaos, there’s no knowing what might happen later.
Even if they failed to save the sacrifices somehow, the two of them would still be able to create shields with magic to protect them.
—I’m here too. I’m good at protecting people too.
The Unbreakable Shield, the gluttonous priestess, insisted on her existence, but Cale pretended not to hear.
There’s no telling how this will go.
At first, Cale had simply planned to make the Order of the God of Chaos and the two Wanderers fight and use that to destroy the holy land.
...But now I have no idea how the Order of the God of Chaos will respond.
Primordial Night.
If this holy land was not just some holy land, but a place meant for the descent of the God of Chaos, then there was no telling what the Order might do to protect it.
And if this is a place for the descent, then we have to destroy it no matter what.
Cale now had a reason he absolutely had to destroy this place.
Choi Jung Gun.
The Blue Wolf divine relic.
Stopping the descent of the God of Chaos.
He had to achieve all three.
And to do that—
“Let’s go.”
Cale decided to move with the Heavenly Demon and Alberu.
The Heavenly Demon was the only one among them who had manifested individuality, possessed the power of martial arts, and furthermore was the leader of the Demonic Cult. He would understand a place like this better than anyone.
And Alberu was first-rate in every aspect, whether force or magic.
And when I’m in trouble, he’s the one who understands my intent best and moves accordingly.
He needed at least one person like that at his side.
If Cale lost consciousness, or ended up in some unknown state—
Someone has to issue orders in my place.
To do that, he had to show Alberu the important locations.
“We’ll resolve the quest conditions and the purification ritual in the archive room.”
[Go to the hidden place in the archive room and acquire the ‘Record of the Power of Chaos’.]
[Go to the Upside-Down Night and tear up the acquired record.]
“Then regroup later at the holy land. Around the time I’m rescuing the sacrifices, I’ll tear up the record at the Upside-Down Night, and the two of you can protect Eruhaben and Rosalyn.”
The Heavenly Demon spoke.
“Is the Upside-Down Night the place where the saint performs the ritual?”
“Yeah.”
The holy land, Primordial Night.
At its center was the place called the Upside-Down Night.
The saint stood there and made those brought in as sacrifices become consumed by chaos and kill one another.
The Heavenly Demon nodded and added,
“And while we’re at it, we can also get the divine relic for the Blue Wolf.”
“Yeah. That too.”
Whether in the archive room or at the holy land where the ritual would take place.
The divine relic had to be somewhere in there, so all they had to do was steal it.
Slipping one thing out in the middle of total chaos would be nothing.
“And—”
Cale added one more thing they had to do.
Before regrouping at the holy land.
If possible.
“If we can, let’s identify the saint in advance too.”
The saint.
He had not expected to meet him here.
But since this was the day the ritual was being held, he would be here.
“That works out nicely.”
A slow smile appeared on the Heavenly Demon’s face.
“The saint and the Wanderers are going to beat the hell out of each other.”
“Exactly.”
That was the scene Cale wanted.
Fear of Chaos.
The owner of that skill, the saint.
What kind of person was the saint of the God of Chaos?
How strong was he?
Would the Pope be here too?
A number of questions rose in his mind.
And if he wanted answers, there was only one way.
Huu.
Cale let out a short breath and said,
“Let’s go.”
All that remained was to slip into the temple.
And the Heavenly Demon knew exactly what had to be done for that.
“Should I take the robes off a few low-ranking priests?”
“Yeah. Though if possible, mid-ranking priests would be better.”
“That much is easy.”
The Heavenly Demon stepped forward, and then his body vanished.
He was probably using martial arts.
Before long, Cale had no doubt that priest robes from the Order of the God of Chaos would end up in his hands.
There’s no time, so let’s hurry.
One hour.
That was not very long.
Hm?
Then an odd thought occurred to him, and Cale stopped walking.
At a time like this, the one person who should have been moving in step with him more than anyone else had gone quiet.
“Your Highness?”
Crown Prince Alberu.
He was standing there behind him, frozen in place.
Now that Cale thought about it, Alberu had stopped talking at some point earlier.
The moment when the Heavenly Demon had temporarily left and only Cale and Alberu remained—
“Hey.”
The moment Cale heard Alberu call out to him, his face stiffened.
Something happened.
That was the strong instinct Cale had.
“A quest popped up.”
A quest.
At a time like this, there was only one quest Alberu could be talking about.
“The Hero Quest?”
There was a reason Cale thought that.
Wooooong—
The sword hanging at Alberu’s waist.
The Sun Sword.
A sword containing the Sun God’s power, one that only a person qualified as a Hero could use.
That sword was vibrating intensely.
Only then did Cale realize that Alberu’s body was faintly glowing.
Alberu looked at Cale.
Cale had asked if it was the Hero Quest.
And Alberu answered him.
“No.”
What?
Before Cale could respond to the unexpected answer—
“...It’s a Sun God quest.”
Alberu gave the answer.
“Because the owner of the Sun Sword is the Sun God, it gave you a quest?”
“No.”
“Huh?”
“The real Sun God.”
...What?
For a moment, an utterly blank response slipped out of Cale without him meaning to.
“...The Sun God we know?”
Nod. Alberu nodded and stared into the air.
Bzzzt—
A strange mechanical sound that only he could hear.
And a translucent quest window that was cracked and torn.
Bzzzt—
The quest window was disappearing in real time.
As if something that should never have appeared had surfaced, and now something was trying to erase all traces of it.
That quest window shone with brilliant golden light.
<At last, I’ve reached you.>
Below that message was the quest.
<You who have inherited the power of the sun.>
Alberu was a quarter Dark Elf acknowledged by the Sun God.
And he was also the Crown Prince of the Crossman royal family, which was connected to the Sun God through legend.
There was a reason Alberu was certain this Sun God was the real one.
<You whom I thank, and whom I am sorry to.>
The Sun God had always expressed remorse toward Alberu.
No, it had expressed remorse to the Dark Elves and the necromancers.
Alberu realized this was not the Sun God inside the game, but the real Sun God.
Then, suddenly, he realized something.
Come to think of it—
Among the gods that existed inside this game, there was no God of Chaos, no God of Hope, and no God of Rules.
But the Sun God did exist.
No one had ever truly seen the Sun God, and yet countless believers inside this game believed in the Sun God.
The largest religious order of all belonged to the Sun God.
An enormous order that could not even be compared to something like the Order of the God of Chaos here.
And this world is changing from fake to real.
Hadn’t Cale said that before long they might even be able to contact the God of Death through a divine relic?
And this world—
There were countless NPCs who worshiped the Sun God, a god without form whom they had never once met.
Had the believers of a world that was becoming real now become able to call something real?
<I ask one thing of you.> <Please stop the descent of th