Chapter: 228
Behind the actions of the gods, who seemed to have no thought for the aftermath, there was great impatience.
The destruction planned by the Goddess of Life is approaching at any moment. To deal with such destruction, each god has made different choices.
Some gods sacrificed themselves to ask for forgiveness, some fought wars with other gods, and some attempted to flee to other places… but in the end, there was no way out.
Thus, for the gods with time running out, it was not the moment to be picky about means and methods.
However, since there was no other solution to the problem but to make Rychlen a god, they were trying to turn Rychlen into a god by any means necessary, as a final hope.
No matter how many sacrifices they had to make in the process, they were struggling to dodge destruction.
In this situation, Rychlen, who was their only lifeline… was on the verge of giving up on becoming a god.
From the gods’ perspective, this was a situation that could make their eyes pop out.
“It’s a pity. Truly a pity. If you, called the hero among heroes, had simply accepted becoming a god, you wouldn’t have had to go through all this. Remember that this calamity is the result of your own foolishness.”
“Ugh…”
Bound by the gods, Rychlen could only glare at Zeus without moving a muscle.
As if the seething gazes of those foes didn’t matter at all, the faith the gods poured in began to forcibly alter Rychlen’s body.
Not as a human, but as something else. Something incomprehensible.
Alongside this, the deaths of many were felt through the unending devotion.
It was a sense of a futile death, sacrificing one’s life to fulfill the gods’ desires.
This shouldn’t be the case.
Other lives shouldn’t be sacrificed for the sake of such foolish beings.
“Come, hero. Become a god. Be a mere puppet king of the gods, sitting idle and doing nothing. Thus, the remaining gods, the mighty Olympus, will escape their foreseen doom and enjoy even greater glory. Our faith will spread across all worlds.”
“Ugh…”
Faith was changing Rychlen’s body. The agony of muscles being chopped away and bones being crushed rocked Rychlen.
Bones were morphing into metal like steel, while skin and flesh morphed into stone like marble. Each part of this transformation turned into a relentless blade of torment, tearing through Rychlen.
However, more unbearable than the pain itself was the fact that Rychlen was helplessly being transformed by those gods.
Even he, revered as a hero among humans, was being captured and turned into a frail entity by the gods.
At this very moment, numerous lives were being sacrificed to create a new god.
This cannot continue. Something must be done.
With every ounce of strength, Rychlen fought to move his body. Just to resist a bit. To not let things unfold as they desired.
If left unchecked, countless lives would be lost.
He couldn’t just stand by and watch as the gods turned their followers into livestock.
And so.
“Kuaaaah!!”
With all his strength, Rychlen made a move.
He rejected the change that was grinding away at his bones, swapping out his muscles, and letting faith flow through him instead of blood.
At first unable to move, his body started to shift; bit by bit.
As if a statue of stone was starting to animate, as if a masterpiece meant to be motionless began to crack and break.
Even amidst the pain of being torn apart, Rychlen moved his arms.
He grasped the weapon hung at his waist.
Rychlen’s most trusted weapon. A club made from unbreakable wood.
Watching Rychlen grab it, the gods could only scoff.
“What do you think you can do with that wooden club?”
One of the gods holding Rychlen, Poseidon, interjected.
As if the mockery hadn’t reached him, Rychlen swung his club.
Boohoo!
The swung club brimming with enough force to squish any living creature turned it into paste, yet the gods merely watched Rychlen’s pathetic struggle as if it weren’t even worth dodging.
“You think a mere twig can harm the bodies of gods—”
Kwajik!
But Poseidon’s words couldn’t finish as Rychlen’s wooden club obliterated his head.
In that incomprehensible scene, the gods froze; their reactions stalling as if witnessing an event that should never have occurred.
“P-Poseidon…?”
Zeus gazed at his brother god, fallen and headless. The sight of his fully crushed head, with faith pouring out of the remains, was utterly horrific.
It was a ghastly sight, unfathomable for Poseidon, who had been very active during the war among gods.
“No, how…?”
Before Zeus finished speaking, Rychlen swung his arm again.
“Eww!”
The god gripping Rychlen hastily released him and dodged the club.
Dionysus, a god who had been exuding confidence until just moments ago, now displaying terror at Poseidon’s demise, rolled on the ground to evade Rychlen’s weapon.
Simultaneously, the remaining gods who had been holding Rychlen began to distance themselves.
If it was the same club that crushed Poseidon—a revered sea god and Zeus’s brother—then they must have deemed they too could not withstand it.
Thus, even though Rychlen managed to shake off the gods, the situation unraveled into something grim.
Fortunately, the inflow of faith had ceased thanks to the gods’ retreat, but it seemed a sufficient amount had already entered to alter his body… The mutation wasn’t slowing down.
Left unchecked, their desires would undoubtedly become reality.
“Ugh…”
Rychlen shook his head.
This shouldn’t happen.
It shouldn’t unfold as they wished.
As long as the gods exist, the problem won’t vanish.
There cannot be gods who see their believers as livestock or resources.
Thus, Rychlen made his resolve.
“A wooden club that can strike a god… No way… Is it a club forged from the branch of the World Tree?!”
Zeus’ exclamation caused ripples of commotion among the surrounding deities.
The World Tree. Yggdrasil. One of the seven gods that predated the very Pantheon itself.
The elven god, lord of forests and trees.
A club made from the branches of such a divine entity… Both awe and greed spread among the gods.
Even in the hands of a being labeled a hero, who was currently transitioning into a god but still remained human, this weapon could yield severe damage to the gods. Its worth was incalculable even to them.
“How could a mere human wield such a weapon…?”
“Ugh… I don’t know! It’s just something my teacher passed down!”
“Teacher…?”
Zeus slightly tilted his head at Rychlen’s words.
When referring to Rychlen’s teacher, he had no clue who it might be.
After all, he had been educated by countless masters.
At that moment.
“No way…”
Something flickered through Zeus’ mind.
If one could obtain a branch from the World Tree… well, there was undoubtedly only one deity that could.
“The Goddess of Life…?”
What business did the Goddess of Life have giving Rychlen a weapon? For what purpose? Especially when she has foretold Rychlen’s ascendance to godhood?
Then, a series of thoughts tangled in Zeus’ mind unraveled.
If, hypothetically speaking,
What if everything was a ruse?
Regardless of whether one was the king of gods or not, what if the real intent was to obliterate the gods?
What if it was merely to sow discord among them, inciting them to battle and diminishing their ranks?
What if everything rested snugly within the Goddess of Life’s palm?
Then…
“Ugh!”
Zeus’s train of thought scattered at the sound of Rychlen’s voice.
Rychlen, forcing himself to move his unresponsive body, drew a small dagger from his waist.
A sharp dagger. It was a blade that could effortlessly slice through flesh, but it paled in comparison to the club formed from a branch of the World Tree.
With the dagger handle clenched between his teeth, Rychlen reached into his pocket and retrieved something.
A small pouch. A pouch which made a faint, rustling sound. A pouch filled with snake venom.
A bag containing poison potent enough to torment even a god.
“Haat!”
With the dagger clenched in his mouth and gripping both the club and the small pouch, Rychlen hurled the club at Zeus, guiding the gaze of all the gods to follow.
And seizing that very moment, he took the dagger from his mouth and drenched it in the snake venom from the pouch.
“What…?”
Zeus snatched the wooden club thrown at him and glanced back at Rychlen.
Rychlen, with the small dagger poised at his own neck.
A dagger lathered with thick poison pressed against his skin.
He had aimed a poisoned dagger capable of slaying gods at himself.
“You…!”
“If I die, things won’t unfold as you desire…!”
Rychlen grinned.
Death held no terror for him.
After all, he had already been to the afterlife once before.
Fear is born from ignorance.
There’s no reason for trepidation when facing something already known.
If sacrificing himself could dismantle everything for those ridiculed gods… He could face death joyfully.
And so.
“The Goddess of Life will bring judgment upon you in my stead.”
Rychlen drove the poisoned dagger into his own neck.
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