WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 555: Evil God and Good God, Just a Matter of Taste

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The shrine housing the Offering God's body lay in a cave on the outskirts of the village. The path there was quiet and solemn, so gloomy it felt as though ghosts might appear at any moment. The shaman guiding the offerings said nothing. The people who had been excited at the prospect of becoming immortals sobered up and began watching their surroundings carefully.

At last, they arrived at the cave entrance. Three other shamans appeared before 'Mouth,' who had led them there.

'Ear,' 'Nose,' and 'Eye.' The shamans responsible for the Offering God's face.

Without a word, they led the offerings onward. The moment they stepped into the dim cave, where not a speck of light entered, the offerings hesitated, then followed the shamans like ducklings.

There was not even a single torch. All they could see was darkness. They could not tell whether they were moving or simply walking in place. Only the faint glow-in-the-dark markings on the shamans' clothes told them they had not fallen behind.

Even in this darkness, 'Eye' walked down the slope as though she could see everything clearly. Deeper and deeper, toward the Abyss.

How many minutes had passed? How far had they gone? A voice came suddenly, like light itself.

"This is the Offering God's bedchamber. Offerings, revere it."

The startled offerings hurriedly stopped. Something large and dark moved before them. Grkrrrk. A door opened with the sound of stone scraping against stone.

The texture of the darkness changed. It went from darkness where light had vanished to pitch-blackness that swallowed even light itself. The doors of the sanctuary opened, and something waited for the offerings in the distant darkness beyond.

A voice flowed through the wavering offerings.

"Do not fear. Rejoice. Accept the sublime glory of sharing one body with the Offering God. This is the heart of immortality. If you do not fear injury, the power of immortality shall dwell within you."

Only then did the offerings remember where they were and what sort of being the Offering God was. They stepped forward bravely. This was the Offering God, not some other deity. As long as immortals existed, its power could not be a lie.

Perhaps it was deceiving them with promises of power only to use them as sacrifices, but the Offering God would not choose such a troublesome method. There were also more than five hundred people in Mortal Village. Deceiving them and taking the offerings' lives would be burdensome.

Even more so when there were people in Mortal Village who had come from beyond the steppe.

Whether they thought about it rationally or emotionally, the offerings had no reason to turn back. They followed the shamans into darkness black as ink.

"If you fail, you shall survive. If you succeed, you shall become immortal. Come, follow, become one."

Whoosh. Flames bloomed in the darkness.

At that moment, a vast cavern came into view. It was a grand structure of a size that was hard to believe could exist so deep underground. The torch flames were not small, yet they barely illuminated the floor and walls. They still had to walk farther toward the abyss in the distance, where something lurked.

'Mouth,' 'Ear,' and 'Nose,' aside from 'Eye,' each held a torch and turned to the offerings.

"At the end of this path awaits the Offering God whom you await, and who awaits you. Who among you will offer their body...?"

'Mouth,' who had been speaking for everyone, spotted me among the offerings and froze. The other shamans looked at her.

"'Mouth.' What is it?"

"The one from beyond the steppe? Why are you here? Don't tell me...?"

I'd been caught. I had secretly followed them while pretending to be an offering because I wanted to see the ritual. If I said I had come to watch, they would kick me out, right? I gave 'Mouth' an answer I did not mean.

"Uh... experiential learning. If it doesn't look too painful, I thought I'd share a body with the Offering God too."

"This is a sacred place. It is not somewhere a person from beyond the steppe may tread so freely!"

No chance. 'Mouth' urgently pressed 'Eye.'

"'Eye.' Why didn't you tell us he was here?"

'Eye,' whose eyes were tightly wrapped in cloth, looked straight at me through it. Her eyesight must have been remarkable. Even through the gaps in the woven fabric, she could make out my appearance clearly. If 'Eye' had known who I was, my identity would have been exposed the moment we met.

Still, these eyes, nose, ears, and mouth did not seem to share information with one another. 'Eye' answered calmly.

"I never held him in these eyes, 'Mouth.' I only guided the offerings with the God's eyes. Determining what those offerings were was your responsibility."

Left with nothing to say, 'Mouth' blamed another shaman instead.

"My duty is to convey the Offering God's words. Unlike me, your side is supposed to notice anything strange. 'Nose.' You must identify danger with your sense of smell!"

"...Every scent here is unfamiliar. The smell of ash, poppies and willow bark, and thick blood... All their scents are strange, so I cannot tell what is strange among them."

Perhaps there was no hierarchy among the shamans. Instead of sorting things out, they only argued. They were all limbs of the Offering God, after all. Their functions differed by body part, but they were equals.

As I watched the situation, 'Ear,' who had been quietly listening, removed her earmuffs. Beneath the cloth wrapped around them, large ears appeared, bearing traces of having been cut from somewhere else and attached.

"'Mouth.' Be quiet."

"Why...?"

At that moment, 'Mouth's' mouth began moving on its own. She hurriedly stopped speaking and relaxed her mouth. Another voice, not her own, flowed from lips that had lost their will.

""One from beyond the steppe. I shall take a piece of your flesh.""

"Huh? A piece of my flesh?"

""You need not become one with this god. But you must pay the price for deceiving this god and seeking its secrets. If you dislike that, leave this cave at once and never set foot in this land again.""

Well, I had done something wrong, but still. For a barbarian god, it was awfully gentle. The price for entering someone else's holy ground was a little flesh, or exile if I refused. It was rather mild.

It almost seemed as though the Offering God was being considerate toward someone from beyond the steppe... Or perhaps it feared me?

"I'll give you some flesh. It's a shame, but if it's the price for peeking at a secret, that's cheap enough."

""I have heard those words clearly.""

'Mouth' spoke, but 'Ear' heard the sound. The god possessing them withdrew, and after confirming the god's will, the shamans began walking again in silence. Only 'Mouth' shot me a resentful look.

A piece of flesh. It would probably hurt, but even before I possessed the Demon God, I could regrow flesh easily enough. Now it would only be enough to make me shed a few tears.

Come to think of it, with my current regenerative ability, I could gamble freely by putting my fingers on the line. Even if they got cut off, I could just regenerate them. While I indulged in that little fantasy, something far away came into the torchlight.

Its outline alone was grotesque. A giant's shadow flickered in the distance, and the offerings stopped walking too. Yet the shamans continued forward without a word, urging the offerings along with their silence. Frightened by the ominous shadow at the end, the offerings slowly advanced.

Torchlight gradually reached the approaching shape.

Then everyone was overwhelmed by the grotesque sight.

It was a doll. One woven from human bodies.

A human form made by sewing together mismatched arms and legs. The right arm was probably Rashy's, while the left leg must have belonged to 'Left Leg.' It was not only the limbs. The left side of its chest was a sturdy man's, while the right was a woman's soft breast. Its side, part of its abs, even its shoulder blade, all looked as though they had been cut from different people and attached badly.

Most grotesque of all was its face, as though it had been cut out by a clumsy child.

Unlike its enormous body, it had the delicate face of a young girl. Its eyes, ears, nose, and mouth had all been taken from different people and sewn together. Reddish-brown eyes set in eyelids with long scars where they had split. Cut-and-pasted ears, a slightly crooked nose, and a mouth ripped long and wide.

Humans and even gods should not be judged by appearance, but going only by how it looked, it was clearly the form of an evil god.

"Offering God. Borrow my mouth. I offer my mouth, tongue, and words. Spread your will through the world with what is mine."

While everyone was left speechless by the horrifying sight, the shamans prepared the ritual. 'Mouth' recited the prayer and uncorked a bottle of liquor. Gulp. After drinking half the strong liquor from the small bottle, 'Mouth' poured the next portion and held it out to 'Nose.'

"Offering God. Borrow my nose. I offer my nose, breath, and breathing. Live and breathe in the world with what is mine."

'Nose' inhaled the liquor through her nose as though taking a drug. She became intoxicated without drinking a drop, filling her nose with the dizzying scent. Then she handed the nearly empty bottle to 'Eye.'

"Offering God. Borrow my eyes. I offer my eyes, light, and sight. Look down upon the world with what is mine."

'Eye' dripped a few drops of liquor into her eyes. Her eye area burned as though aflame from the liquor that seeped in instead of tears. No one had ever tried drinking liquor through their eyes, yet 'Eye' did not rub them or show pain. She calmly set down the bottle.

"Offering God. Borrow my ears. I offer my ears, sound, and vibration. Hear and resound with what is mine."

Finally, 'Ear' read the words written in the prayer. Even 'Ear' did not seem willing to pour liquor into her ears.

"Fill body with body, until it reaches a thousand."

At that moment, the patched rag doll snapped its eyes open.

[Having reached a thousand, this body has descended.]

It was the Offering God. The Offering God entered the doll made by stitching together flesh, and its ears, eyes, nose, and mouth began moving by borrowing those of the shamans.

Without moving anything below its neck, the Offering God conveyed its will using only its eyes, nose, and mouth.

[As the tribe grows, this body must grow as well. With these offerings, this god shall increase its body. Its power and majesty shall grow all the greater.]

"As you command."

The shamans all bowed their heads, and the offerings lowered theirs as well, reading the room. The worship went on for quite some time. Just as I began wondering when it would end, a dagger fell before one of the offerings.

[Take the knife, offering who shall become this god's body.]

A sharp dagger suddenly appeared before him. The chosen offering reflexively picked it up. He had grabbed it without thinking, but he did not know what he was meant to do with it. Then the Offering God's command fell upon his ears.

[Offer your heel.]

"Huh? My, my heel?"

[Cut off your heel and offer it to this god. Then this god shall grant you its heel.]

He had expected something like this, but when the moment of choice came, the offering's body froze.

Even though he had nearly become a sacrifice before. Even though he knew this was a ritual. Even though he knew he would receive the power of immortality when it ended.

The thought of cutting off part of his own body was deeply repulsive.

"Uh, how much should I cut off?"

[Offer it.]

"How, how much do you need...?"

[Offer it.]

"Something to apply if it bleeds, or cloth to stop the bleeding..."

[Offer it.]

The Offering God did not pressure or rush him. It simply repeated the same words. It was not the god that became impatient first, but the others. The shamans urged the wavering man on.

"Offering. Do not fear. Rejoice."

"You must accept this blessing for the village to grow and make room for others."

"The god forgave even the burning of its land. If you give up, you will gain nothing."

"Neither the power of immortality nor land where you may remain."

Offering a sacrifice was the condition. If he ran away because he could not do it, not only would the power of immortality slip away, even Mortal Village's newly secured position would be endangered.

It had been easy to come here while dreaming of claiming the power of immortality, but now that they had come this far, they could not retreat. They had hidden the proposal to offer sacrifices because they wanted to monopolize immortality. If they went back empty-handed because they were too afraid to cut their own flesh, they might simply be driven out.

'No, that would be the best outcome. We're refugees who lost our homeland. If we can't settle down here, we may just be abandoned...'

He had been caught by his own scheme. The barbarian who had volunteered as a sacrifice gripped his trembling hand and placed the dagger against his own heel. He could not back out, but this was an opportunity he had wanted. He only needed to seize it.

"Just a moment. Just a moment. It will only hurt for a moment..."

He repeated the words as if hypnotizing himself, pressed the blade to his heel, and pulled hard.

Blood splashed. A painful scream echoed through the cavern. He must have been quite skilled with a knife, because he cut off his heel very cleanly. His face twisted as he looked at the severed piece of heel, its tendons and muscles twitching.

Then the shamans moved. Carrying the piece of heel, they approached the Offering God's heel on their knees. Something astonishing happened.

With a snap, the Offering God's heel came off. It separated as if it had been detachable from the beginning, leaving a wide gap behind.

"Offering God. The offering has given his body. Make body from body, and spread your divine body farther."

'Eye' and 'Ear' crammed the bleeding heel into the empty space. 'Mouth' and 'Nose' carefully lifted the detached divine body and approached the offering. At the offering's bleeding heel, the shamans pressed the divine body firmly into the cut surface, like stuffing cotton into a quilt.

"Aaargh! Aaah... Huh?"

Then something astonishing happened. The blood that had been spraying from his heel like a fountain stopped in an instant.

The divine body that had entered him quickly drank in blood and swelled. It stuck tightly to the cut surface, took root inside him, and soon moved as one with his body.

Limping, he stood on the heel he had newly received. He did not look used to it yet, but it moved according to his will as if it had always been part of him.

"My body...?"

"That is now your Offering God. It is the proof that you share one body with the Offering God, and it is your power."

The divine body had become a body. A shaman spread mud over his stunned foot. As they wrapped the reddened heel in cool mud, the shamans each added a word.

"The ritual is over. You are now one of us."

"You shall live as the Offering God's 'Left Heel.'"

"As time passes, and as the god dwells more deeply in your body, you shall grow farther from death."

"Just as you do not die when your heel is cut off."

Miracles begin by sweeping away doubt. After witnessing one with their own eyes, the remaining offerings rushed to offer their bodies. It would surely hurt, but they would receive something in return.

While that went on, I read the Offering God's thoughts.

As expected, that was the Offering God's true body. Its self-awareness had grown faint after it stitched together so many different parts, but the Offering God's will and intention came from here.

And as expected, the Offering God was... quite an interesting being.

"Offer your flesh, one from beyond the steppe."

"Ah, is it already my turn?"

Had I been too absorbed in reading its thoughts? The ritual was over before I knew it, and only I remained. I took the dagger a shaman handed me and spun it around.

'Mouth' pressed me.

"Cut off your flesh, one from beyond the steppe. That is the price owed by one who has entered this sanctuary."

"Uh, I appreciate the thought, but I'll decline. Instead, I'd like to tell you something interesting. What do you think?"

Giving it a piece of my body and being done with it was one option, but it still made me uncomfortable. Who knew what it would do with my body? You were not supposed to hand pieces of your body over to creepy people.

Especially not to an Offering God that had devoured so many humans and played with dolls using what was left.

[Do you intend to break your promise?]

"No. I'll keep it. I just thought there might be something more interesting. If it is a story that the Offering God would want to hear, would it not be worth far more than a piece of my flesh?"

[What is it?]

As the Offering God questioned me directly, I slowly examined its memories. It had spent a long time almost asleep. Aside from fragmented memories seen and heard through the shamans' eyes and ears, its proper memories went far back.

Before Year One, when humanity did not rule the world and the Holy Maiden had not appeared in this land. Back to the time when it ruled as an ancient evil.

Then I read the most vivid memory etched into the Offering God's mind and spoke.

"How about I tell you about the King of Humanity who defeated you, Mr. Ankra, the evil god?"

Footnotes:

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