Trash of the Count's Family Vol 2. Chapter 409: Night and Light (5)
Sniff, sniff. This is the first time I’ve smelled something like this.
A thief for the ages.
The Sound of the Wind couldn’t hide the anticipation in its husky voice.
It was practically burning with excitement.
What kind of divine relic was it for the Sound of the Wind to react this strongly?
“......”
“......”
“......”
Following Cale, the Heavenly Demon and Alberu strode forward as if they were ordinary priests.
Of course, they chose only hidden routes.
“Hm?”
Then Cale stopped walking.
A divine relic.
An object for Blue Wolf, the god of the beastmen.
The god who had protected Cale and his group from the God of Chaos, and among all the gods Cale had experienced, the one that had at least seemed the most like a god.
Blue Wolf’s wolf tribesman was currently waiting in Apitoyu for the divine relic and for Cale.
That was why Cale had been planning to obtain the divine relic and take it back.
A pretty good one.
A useful one.
That was the kind of divine relic he had planned to take.
And this place was a fitting place to get one.
“...It’s really over there?”
At Cale’s question, the Sound of the Wind answered.
Cale spoke to the Sound of the Wind.
“...That’s Primordial Night.”
The holy land, Primordial Night, which was the center of this city and no different from everything in it.
The Sound of the Wind was pointing there.
A place even Cale’s group could not easily approach.
If he revealed himself and forced his way through, Cale would get inside that holy land, but—
“Hah—”
A divine relic was in there?
Hm.
For some reason, the back of his neck turned cold.
Separate from that, his heart was pounding strangely hard.
The Sound of the Wind spoke.
No matter what it was, if the divine relic in there was—
Twitch. Twitch.
The corners of Cale’s mouth started to rise.
And just as the Heavenly Demon’s expression filled with interest and Alberu swallowed a sigh—
Whoooosh—
Cale moved behind a building.
Then, with the wind wrapped around his ankles, he shot up onto the roof.
Cale reached the rooftop with movements that avoided the guards’ eyes, then looked toward the holy land.
Because it was higher ground, he had a good view of the holy land.
Primordial Night.
It was a small basin.
It had the shape of a natural stadium, as if made by nature itself.
The place that served as the arena was the center of the basin, the scooped-out ground itself. It was flat land covered in blue grass.
Right. There was life there.
And surrounding that land in a circle were gentle hills.
They were filled with chairs and all sorts of objects.
From there, the believers would watch the sacrifices’ contest, their deaths, and offer pleasure, delight, and worship throughout the night.
At the center of that arena was a small lake.
[You have discovered the Upside-Down Night.]
The quest informed him what that place was.
The Upside-Down Night.
The place that served as the center even within Primordial Night.
An altar stood at the center of the small lake.
Standing near that altar, the saint had performed the ritual upon the sacrifices, and as a result the sacrifices had fought to ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) kill one another.
On top of the altar.
“...There’s nothing there?”
There was nothing on top of the altar.
It was a mysterious sight.
Blue Wolf.
A god who was relatively decent.
And on their side.
If I’m going to get a divine relic for it anyway—
Cale had a feeling.
The rituals that have been performed until now.
And the descent of the God of Chaos.
If that place was the ground prepared for it—
Then where had all the power gathered through those rituals, all the power that completed that ground, gone?
The divine relic.
It was in the divine relic beneath that lake.
The empty altar was nothing but a decoy.
Let’s steal it.
The moment Cale made up his mind—
Hm?
And the instant Cale heard that voice, he realized something.
That altar—
The one that kept saying it wanted to grow stronger.
That it wanted to spend money on a godly level.
That one spoke in a low voice.
“......”
Cale fell silent and thought for a moment.
I have absolutely no intention of fighting Wanderer Ryeon.
Right. This time, he was just planning to watch the Order of the God of Chaos and the Wanderers fight, smash up the holy land, and run. He had no intention of fighting the Wanderers.
But if I can steal things while I’m at it, all the better, right?
Right.
Cale made up his mind.
The Heavenly Demon and Alberu waited for him.
Then Cale opened his eyes again and spoke.
“Let’s steal everything.”
Right. Let’s rob the place clean.
And run!
Smiling, Cale asked,
“We’ve got about fifteen minutes left. Isn’t there somewhere around here with a vault we can hit?”
At that question, Alberu formed a calm smile, and the Heavenly Demon let out a dumbfounded laugh.
“I knew you’d say that.”
Alberu’s voice was utterly serene.
*****
And at that same moment—
“Is the ritual preparation going well?”
The saint of the God of Chaos spoke while looking out the window.
“Yes.”
At the plain reply, he turned his body and gazed at the bishop in charge of this place.
Gray eyes.
Seeing the saint’s eyes fixed on him gradually being dyed gray, the bishop hurriedly lowered his head.
“This is the last one.”
Unlike his calm voice, expectation filled it.
“If only this one goes through safely, then at last the God of Chaos will be able to come.”
He spoke quietly.
“Once all the sacrifices are offered, ground will be created for the God of Chaos to descend upon.”
“Yes.”
At last, the results of everything they had done until now would appear.
“You told all the believers to gather, correct?”
“Yes.”
All the believers residing in this city had been summoned.
“And the Night of Pleasure?”
“It is fully prepared.”
“They must be able to enjoy pleasure and chaos more than ever before.”
At the saint’s words, the bishop bowed his head even deeper, showing that he would obey that will.
The saint spoke in a gentle voice.
“When the believers who have gone through forty-four Nights of Pleasure offer even their lives, the God of Chaos will descend.”
“Yes.”
They had carried out this ritual forty-three times so far.
It had not been an easy road.
Avoiding the eyes of the Wanderers and the Demon Realm had been quite difficult.
“The believers will gladly offer their lives to the God of Chaos.”
A warm smile formed on the saint’s lips.
“They will.”
And the bishop too smiled warmly.
Amid the still-peaceful atmosphere, the saint and the bishop exchanged words in comfort.
“Saint. The Pope will soon cross into this world.”
“Yes. I know. He said that, to see the world where the God of Chaos has descended, he would come here despite his weakened body.”
The saint approached the window.
“......”
“......”
After a moment of silence, the saint opened his mouth.
“The Absolute God. Even that will be nothing more than dust before the God of Chaos.”
The bishop raised both hands and pointed to the sky.
“The moment chaos unfolds will be a return to the beginning. I have awaited only that day.”
At the bishop’s words, the saint smiled.
The bishop smiled back at him as well, then rose from his seat.
“It is time for you to go.”
At those words, the saint stepped away from the window and slowly headed for the door.
Primordial Night.
He had to carry out the final ritual that would unfold there.
The sky outside the window—their sky—was still gray.
But on the ground, night had already arrived, the indigo had vanished, and the sky was dyed in the color of night.
*****
And—
“Ryeon.”
Wanderer Cho stood in front of the wall and called to his sister.
“......”
Instead of answering, Ryeon flicked her hand.
CRAAACK!
The wall froze.
“Who goes there—!”
“Intru—”
The two guards could not finish speaking and froze as well.
Swish.
The moment she swept her hand once more—
BOOM!
The ice shattered.
And both the wall and the guards disappeared into fragments.
Ryeon glanced up at the gray sky, then stepped forward.
“Ryeon, we’re breaking everything, right?”
At Cho’s excited voice, Ryeon spoke in a calm tone.
“Quickly. Everything.”
Her gaze turned straight ahead, toward the Order where Primordial Night lay.
“Break it.”
They advanced while swiftly destroying everything.
As of today, the holy land of the God of Chaos would disappear.
Before the Third Emperor among the Wanderers arrived.
That was the conclusion Cho and Ryeon had reached.
Meanwhile, near the Primordial Root that connected the Death Precipice, where several people had gathered—
By the time the sky above them had already become night—
“......”
Mad Attention Whore, who had been recording his broadcast, the one who never hesitated to speak no matter how outrageous the stunt, stood there with his mouth hanging open in a daze.
Then he barely managed to say,
“...The saintess......! ...The highest-ranking holy knight......!”
The Sun God’s saintess and Sir Voltien.
He had only seen them from a distance before, never this close.
Especially the saintess—unless it was a major event of the Order, there was no chance to see her at all.
And now those two had suddenly appeared near the Primordial Root in the Demon Realm.
“Holy crap.”
Mad Attention Whore slowly turned his gaze.
Two overwhelmingly powerful people from the Sun God’s side.
And there was someone standing opposite them.
“Some guy I don’t know, but he looks strong......!”
Choi Han, with black hair and black eyes.
Mad Attention Whore did not know who he was, but at a glance he looked like an NPC burdened with a deep backstory and obvious significance.
And there was one clear reason that made him certain of it.
The most overwhelming presence.
The existence that made the saintess and the holy knight not even register and left Mad Attention Whore speechless!
Flap, flap.
“A dragon......!”
The hardest thing to see in New World.
Up to now, the number of recorded cases of people seeing a dragon had not exceeded ten.
And he was seeing one here!
And not just that—!
“A cute... baby... dragon......!”
It was Raon, the cute baby dragon.
“Hhk.”
Mad Attention Whore lost his voice.
His fellow user clamped a hand over his mouth and stood there blankly too.
Three groups formed a triangular standoff.
Sir Voltien, the holy knight of the Sun God, opened his mouth toward Choi Han.
“...Your hair color is different, so I almost didn’t recognize you. I didn’t expect to see you here again.”
Sir Voltien’s eyes sank deeply as he looked at Choi Han.
Cale and Choi Han.
Those two mysterious figures were the ones who had made Sir Voltien wary of the God of Chaos.
“Why are you blocking our way?”
Instead of Choi Han, Raon shouted in response to the knight’s question.
There was a reason he had dropped his invisibility and shown himself.
“Our human said there can’t be any variables! He said to guard this well, and that there can’t be innocent sacrifices! Our human said not to let other people in! It would be nice if you could wait just a little!”
Raon was temporarily stopping the holy knight and the saintess from entering the Death Precipice.
Choi Han was doing the same.
“...A cute dragon... is... talking cutely......! Smash the apartment blocks! Smash Earth! Smash the Demon Realm! Smash all of New World......!”
Mad Attention Whore muttered under his breath.
As that suffocating confrontation continued—
RUMBLE—
The ground shook.
“!”
“......!”
Everyone’s gaze turned toward the Primordial Root, the bridge that connected the Demon Realm.
The roots of the tree were all drawing back, and the bridge was disappearing.
The center of Primordial Night.
More than five hundred people captured as sacrifices were kneeling on the only ground filled with blue grass.
Step. Step.
And the saint was slowly entering Primordial Night, the holy land shaped like a basin.