Chapter 194 – The Swamp (3)
“We are travelers passing by. What are you doing in this place?”
“It isn’t very polite, coming in here and asking this.” Abaddon said with a smile. Crockta didn’t miss the scorpion-like tail shaking at his feet. He was wearing a suit and pretending to be a gentleman, but he clearly wasn’t. It was dangerous to be in such a suspicious pyramid.
“We couldn’t come in?” Zankus stepped forward and said. “Nonsense. The pyramid accepted Crockta over here. It is hard to say that we’re uninvited guests.”
Crockta’s face turned red. They had pulled the door and he pushed it open. He ignored it because he liked the praise, but his companions still believed in ‘Crockta is qualified.’
Abaddon hesitated like he was confused. “The pyramid accepted him, what does that mean?”
Tiyo explained.
“Literally. The entrance to the pyramid was firmly locked, but Crockta appeared, grabbed the handle, and the door opened, as if it had accepted his qualifications dot! The sealed door opened dot! You are the one maintaining this pyramid, but Crockta was accepted by it! He isn’t an uninvited guest, but a warrior recognized by this place!”
Abaddon rolled his eyes. He met Crockta’s eyes. Crockta looked down.
“Well…that’s right.” Abaddon winked at Crockta with an ambiguous smile. “There is such a thing. Huhuhu…”
Crockta looked around.
The situation had cleared up for the moment, but he couldn’t feel at peace. In particular, he pushed the door when entering from the outside. That meant they would have to ‘pull’ when leaving. It was a structure similar to a bank. It was designed so that those who ran away couldn’t go out smoothly. This pyramid was a structure intended to make things difficult for intruders. There was obviously something here.
“I haven’t received guests for a long time…” Abaddon’s eyes shone. “I suppose I should treat you…?”
He shook his cloak. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew at his cloak.
“Uninvited guests should taste something hot!”
***
“Hot dot…A spicy but unstoppable taste…!” Tiyo cried out while eating.
They were sitting together around a table in order to eat Abaddon’s special dishes. When Abaddon shouted about the hot taste, empty chairs and tables were suddenly created. After that, Abaddon told them to wait and went somewhere to cook.
As he said, it was a hot taste. Spicy and hot noodles they never would’ve thought of eating in a hot and humid swamp! However, the taste was addictive and they couldn’t stop. Tiyo suffered from the spiciness, but he ate the bowl with an expression full of anguish before asking for another bowl.
Zankus and Anor enjoyed the broth in silence. The addictive nature of the spicy food caused them to eat without stopping.
“It is okay.” Crockta muttered while wiping the sweat on his forehead.
He was accustomed to the spicy taste of Korean food, but he felt pain because Crockta’s body hadn’t adapted to this taste yet. However, he was able to enjoy Abaddon’s cooking because he was familiar with it.
I’ve lived alone a long time, so I’ve polished off my skills.”
“Did you cook alone?”
“That’s right. I cooked alone and ate alone. This was repeated until it eventually resulted in this spicy taste. The best spicy flavor removes even solitude. It raises pleasure from the depths of the tongue.”
“Umm…” Abaddon had been living alone for a long time. “How did you end up alone here?”
“Are you curious?”
“Yes. You don’t seem like an ordinary person…”
Crockta looked at his tail. His tail emerged from behind the chair he was sitting in and shook. The scorpion tail seemed creepier the more he looked. Venom seemed to flow from the tip of the tail.
“We didn’t happen to find a pyramid in the middle of the swamp. We came here because there was a strange feeling, then we met you.”
“A strange feeling.”
Crockta’s group came here following Anor’s senses. Anor felt an unknown energy with his necromancy.
“Do you deal with death?” Abaddon asked Anor. He seemed to already know what Anor had felt.
“Yes. I’m a necromancer.”
“Indeed.” Abaddon rose from his seat. He tugged at his cloak and fixed his clothing. Then he beckoned towards Anor. “Come over here.”
“Huh?”
“Come closer.” Abaddon stood next to the table and called to Anor. Anor, who wanted to figure out what was going on, scratched his head and approached Abaddon. “You have dark elf and human blood.”
“That’s right.”
Crockta, Zankus, and Tiyo ate Abaddon’s cooking while watching them. Abaddon examined Anor from top to bottom. Then he looked at the scars on Anor’s ears with a sad look. Anor flinched but remained in his spot.
“The more blood that is mixed, the more possibilities you have.” Abaddon said. “Your blood isn’t so deep, but it contains many things. You can be anything. The fragrance you smell is chamomile teasing your mind. You are probably one of us.”
He continued to say something but it couldn’t be understood.
“You have inherited ‘…’ blood.”
“Huh?”
Abaddon grinned.
“I guess you were right. You deserve to be my guests. One of our friends. One of the…” Abaddon looked at Crockta. “Apostle of the fallen god.”
A white star flashed on Abaddon’s forehead as he said so.
Crockta realized something. Maybe he was destined to meet Abaddon. He was one of those who knew the secrets of Elder Lord’s world. He was the same as Paimon, who they met at the Temple of the Fallen God.
This was why he called himself an apostle of the fallen god, not a person cursed by the stars. In other words, an apostle of the gray god.
***
“Huh?” Anor’s eyes widened. “The necromancer is a descendant of your species?”
“That’s right. Necromancy comes from our ability to deal with death.”
They had tea after finishing their meal. Abaddon kindly explained to them what he knew. First, Anor asked, “Then my mother’s necromancy…”
“Her distant ancestor was probably a member of my species.”
“What is this species called?”
“It will probably be hard to understand. The pronunciation is much different from the language of the continent.”
Then Abaddon said something. It was a pronunciation that couldn’t be understood.
“I don’t know it.”
“It is good that you don’t know it. My species has already been forgotten. If you want something to call us…” Abaddon smiled bitterly. “The gods have branded us as demons.”
Demons. They were demons.
Crockta understood. History belonged to the winners. The losers were criticized and buried in history. The gray god had probably fallen because of some sort of event, and the species that followed here were branded demons and turned into a forgotten existence.
Gradually, the entire outline became visible.
“Do you know Demogorgon?” Crockta asked.
“Demogorgon? He’s still alive? He likes to praise and boast of his strength.”
“He is doing very well, and has a very good contractor, too.”
“I’m glad. He is someone who gets sulky easily and has to be complimented once a day.”
“Kulkulkul, now he is hearing praises every minute.”
Crockta smiled as he recalled Iron and his partner Demogorgon. Demogorgon belonged to the same species. It was why Iron could raise the dead. Crockta looked at his waist. The sleeping guy in here might also be their friend.
“Please look at this belt.” Crockta indicated towards the belt at his waist.
Abaddon cocked his head. “I can feel a familiar aura. Can I touch it?”
“Um…”
Crockta stood up and tried to go to him, but Abaddon shook his head. At that moment, Crockta felt something touch his belly. It was Abaddon’s scorpion tail. It crossed below the table and knocked on his steel belt.
Crockta flinched with surprise.
“Huhu, there is no need to be surprised. There is no poison. Now.”
Abaddon’s tail tapped the steel belt. It was at that moment.
Kwajik.
“Waaaaah!”
Abaddon moved backward. Crockta also stepped back. The teeth of the steel belt had chewed off Abaddon’s tail. Crockta’s companions moved away from Crockta.
Wagujak. Wagujak.
The steel belt continued to chew on Abaddon’s tail.
“Abaddon! Are you okay dot?”
“Ah…I will die soon…I enjoyed it…”
The fallen Abaddon crouched down.
Tiyo shouted, “You can’t die dot!”
“I…”
As soon as Tiyo grabbed his body, something emerged behind him. Tiyo looked back. It was the scorpion tail.
“Huhu, salty!”
Abaddon rose from where he had fallen. His tail had regenerated and returned to its original shape.
“You surprised me dot!”
“I wouldn’t die from this.”
But he looked pale, as if he had used a lot of strength.
“By the way…” Abaddon watched the belt on Crockta’s waist and touched his chin. “You have something really great.”
“Do you know the Demon’s Mouth? It is also called the Despairing Demon’s Belt.”
“It is called by that name?”
As Abaddon took one step closer, the steel teeth at Crockta’s waist clapped together. Abaddon immediately retreated.
“Take it easy.”
Crockta slapped the forehead of the skull part of the belt with the palm of his hand. The Demon’s Mouth rebelled but he just hit it even more.
“Huhuhu, it is true. I am familiar with this.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t think he wants you to know so I won’t say anymore…”
Abaddon used an honorific to refer to him. The demon sleeping in his belt seemed to be a greater presence than Crockta thought.
“He had a higher status among us.”
“At first glance, he looks like a kid.”
“He looks like a child, but if he opens his mouth, he can swallow the mountains and sea. The ‘voracious’…”
The steel belt clanged together, as if it was threatening him. Abaddon laughed.
“…It is up to here.”
It was as if the belt was staring at Abaddon. Abaddon shrugged. They sat down again.
“Is there anything else you are curious about?”
The conversation between Crockta and Abaddon was intriguing, so Zankus, Tiyo, and Anor focused on them.
“What is the identity of the fallen god and the curse of the stars…?” Crockta got right to the chase. “In addition, what is she doing now?”
Abaddon looked at Crockta. “What is she doing now?”
“Yes.”
“Are you saying she is currently in this world?”
Crockta was confused. “You don’t know? She seems to be plotting something. It is in this world.”
“You’ve met the gray god?”
“Of course. We met in the unknown ‘white world’.”
“Ahh…” Abaddon dropped his head. “Still…”
He seemed to be thinking of something. Then he said, “The gray god, the one who watches all deaths and the one we follow…”
Abaddon sighed before continuing.
“…It is a long story.” Then he stared straight at Crockta. “Have you seen the night sky?”
“Of course.”
“How was it? Beautiful?”
It was an undeniable question. Crockta nodded. There was no need to remember. He looked at the sky strewn with stars every night. The nights in Elder Lord were different from the cities on Earth, where only the moon could be seen. Numerous stars embellished the night. The whole night sky cast a bright light. It felt like the world stopped when he stared at them. An enchanting scenery created by the gods.
Crockta smiled and replied, “Of course. The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
However, Abaddon’s face was sad. “Crockta. If you listen to my words, you might not be able to smile like that when looking at the night sky.”
Abaddon’s face was serious. “Crockta. The star god is dead. Do you know?”
“I’ve heard it.”
“What does that mean?”
Crockta closed his mouth. An uneasy feeling filled his head. Suddenly, he recalled another night sky that he saw. It was in the gray god’s ‘world.’ A faint starry night filled with white dwarfs that were cooling down.
Abaddon spoke with a sigh. The information was shocking.
“The sky is fake. The gods are maintaining the illusion. The stars have cooled down a long time ago.”
The eyes of Crockta’s group widened. What did that mean?
“The last sun we have…”
The moment that Abaddon was talking… All of a sudden, a white light wrapped around Abaddon.
“This…”
Abaddon panicked. Crockta jumped up. The sight was familiar.
“Ahh, she has me…”
Then Abaddon’s figure disappeared.
This. It was what he saw when users logged out. The gray god intervened.
