WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

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Chapter 558: A Story from the Past. Man and Sin - Finale

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But Ankra survived.

How had that been possible? Even Ankra did not know. They had not been in any state to think. Torn into tiny pieces, they had wandered this vast jungle.

They ate a thousand people every year, and the people they killed numbered over ten thousand. Every year, they scattered their overflowing vitality as though flaunting it. The Ankha tribe's Rag Soldiers were imbued with their flesh and blood, while the tribe treated those fragments as sacred relics.

Not that they had intended it, but Ankra was a master of black magic who had already spread that overflowing vitality throughout the jungle. Though defeated, their power had been godlike.

Even while their existence was being torn apart, their tenacious vitality barely endured... until one day, they opened their eyes as though waking from sleep.

They were parasitizing one of the jungle barbarians.

Having already lost their body and scattered most of their power, they had no strength left. They did not even have the power to seize a body, merely borrowing one to maintain their consciousness. Grateful simply to exist, they hid within the host and survived as a parasite.

Then a problem arose. The host was about to die.

The reason was absurd. While pushing through the brush, the host had scratched their entire body on a thornbush. Bleeding profusely, they could do nothing but wait for death.

Death was far too common in the jungle. It could come from blood loss, infection, or a beast drawn by the scent of blood. It was too ordinary to even be worth mentioning.

For Ankra, though, it was a serious situation.

If the host died, Ankra would die as well. They had barely regained consciousness, only to risk vanishing again and wandering with nothing but their power left behind. That could not happen. They had to survive. They did not know why, but the desperate desire to live was all that remained, driving them onward.

Taking advantage of the host's weakened state, Ankra seized control of part of their body and restored it with Ankra's power. Saved from fatal wounds, the host fell to their knees before the unexpected miracle and called upon a great spirit, the spirits of nature, and Mother Earth.

That was the moment a mere parasite became a god.

Ankra's will became divine will and moved the host. They lacked the control and force of will to dominate the host completely, but there was no need. The host accepted Ankra's wishes as divine revelations and obeyed them.

Using the host's strength, Ankra gathered the other fragments of themself scattered throughout the jungle. Fruit from trees that had grown by consuming their scattered flesh. Pieces that had entered other animals' bodies. Bones that still remained. With the single-minded goal of survival, they searched for and collected the remains scattered throughout the jungle.

Gathering them, and gathering more, and gathering still more. Cutting them apart, stitching them together, and building up power.

Ankra was resurrected after hundreds of years.

When they opened their eyes, they were being called a god, and the humans who had received their power had become immortals. Having finally gained physical form, they gathered the bodies of their followers and fashioned one for themself.

That was the true nature of the Offering God.

After reading through the entire past of a human revered as a god, I was so pleased by the unexpected information that I almost felt dazed.

I had mind-reading, which I used to read people's present thoughts. I could read an individual's past, but like anyone else, I could only learn about history and broader historical currents from books.

It was an ability befitting the Beast King. Those who represented an entire species did not concern themselves with the past of those who had died and vanished.

Anyway, after losing my power through a certain incident, I had almost no chance to learn that forgotten past.... Yet this time, by reading Ankra, I obtained a great deal of information. The Five Lords, the prophet, and even a King of Humanity from ages past.

This was far more useful than I expected. I never thought an opportunity like this would come along.

While I organized the information I had read, the Offering God's priestesses were flustered by my revelation.

"Ankra? That is an ancient evil ruler passed down through this land's oral traditions."

"How dare you slander the Offering God!"

The Offering God raised a hand. Flesh stitched together from all directions moved grotesquely, each piece with a different strength and speed. Though the body seemed barely able to hold together the flesh trying to burst apart, its movements still carried overwhelming power.

[I do not eat humans. I merely gather them and fatten them.]

Then the Offering God rose from their seat. Their body was unbalanced, yet they somehow managed to steady themself.

[I do not rule the jungle. I merely protect it and watch over it.]

They stood around three meters tall and was wider still. The wounds and stitch marks covering their body gave off a terrifying pressure.

[I am not Ankra. Ankra no longer exists, now that their flesh has been scattered across the earth and their blood has seeped into the rivers. I am only the Offering God of the immortals.]

The Offering God spoke in a majestic voice.

Well, that was true enough. After experiencing death, nearly dying for real and returning to life, then barely holding on by gathering other people's bodies to survive, the Offering God was different from before.

That did not mean their past as Ankra had vanished. More importantly, I could read every thought in their head. Who were they trying to fool?

"That may be true now. But the source of your power and black magic is Ankra's, isn't it?"

[One who came from beyond the steppe, I have spoken to you personally. Do you dare doubt me?]

They were determined to deny it. This was even a lie with good reason behind it. Ankra had been defeated by the King of Humanity and the First Holy Maiden. If someone suddenly began digging into their identity, they had no choice but to make excuses.

I fell into a slight dilemma. Right now, I had a way to expose their lie for certain and make them reveal the truth. A very certain way.

The question was whether I should. To expose their identity, I would have to reveal mine too. That could be dangerous.

Hmm. What should I do? Bury the matter and move on? Or should we both keep things pleasant?

[Get out at once. If you do not leave this place immediately, I will make you part of my body.]

"Really? You would let me just leave?"

[What did you say?]

"Aren't you curious how I learned your identity? How I recognized you the moment I saw you?"

[It is a trivial matter to me.]

"I doubt that. You do not know who might come next. Wouldn't it be better to hear it from me, who came this time with goodwill and curiosity?"

[....]

To hell with it. It was not a secret anymore, was it? Let's say it.

I boldly confessed before the Offering God.

"I'm the King of Humanity. The king who split your head open with an axe."

Oh, there had been a point in preparing myself.

An axe. The King of Humanity. The keywords were too clear to disbelieve. The memory of being defeated by the King of Humanity in that distant past remained only within the Offering God. It was nothing to boast about, and it had never been recorded in history. It was truly a lost past.

If a being mentioned that memory, it could only be one of two people: the Offering God or the King of Humanity.

And since I was not the Offering God, I had to be the King of Humanity.

[That cannot be!]

At the mention of something from the distant past, the Offering God reacted violently. Their face, which had maintained dignity despite its grotesque appearance, twisted horribly.

[Why? Why have you come for me now?]

The priestesses' faces began moving wildly in response. The Offering God's body, or more precisely the body parts offered to them, had begun to resonate with their emotions. Startled by emotions that were not their own, the priestesses looked toward their god.

Consumed by fear and rage, the Offering God shouted.

[After becoming a god, I ruled humans! I cared for them instead of oppressing them, saved them instead of killing them, and fed them instead of eating them! I did everything for them, so why do you persecute me?]

"Persecute you? I do not think I've ever persecuted you."

[Then why have you come now? I never challenged you! I did not eat or kill humans! I raised altars from my own blood and flesh instead of bones! In this tiny patch of land, I merely divided myself among my followers to maintain this body!]

The immortals were the Offering God's limbs. They were parts of the enormous body called the Offering God. Just as a person's hand tightened or their eyelids trembled when they grew agitated, the priestesses received the Offering God's emotions and fell into confusion.

‘The Offering God....’

‘Is afraid?’

Inferiority. Defeat. Despair. Rage. Beneath it all, a faint fear churned like a whirlpool. Half shrinking back and half swelling up, the Offering God cried out.

[With this power, I only kept those weak subjects alive! So why have you come again?]

That had gone too well. I had not expected such an intense reaction. Should I soothe them a little first?

"Uh, well. Let me make this clear first. I came here purely by chance. I was just passing through, saw a familiar face, and helped out for a moment."

[The Right Arm?]

"That's right. I did not come with any bad intentions."

More precisely, the Holy Maiden's blessing had led me here, and the ancient evil the Holy Maiden probably wanted dealt with was likely this Offering God. I had no intention of killing them. That was why I had deliberately separated myself from the regressor before coming here.

"And I only spoke to you as a greeting. There are hardly any people left who remember the King of Humanity from those days."

[As a greeting? That cannot be.]

"It's true. The King of Humanity who split your head open back then did not come looking for you for any particular reason either, did she? You openly plotted rebellion, so she simply granted your wish."

Even at my calm words, the Offering God did not relax.

[This time, I have plotted nothing!]

"I know. You have been keeping your head down and living quietly ever since the King of Humanity defeated you. I do not intend to do anything to you either."

Your memories were my goal, and now that I had read them all, I had no other business with you. I could have simply left quietly.

Still, something felt lacking.

"And I do not have the power left to do anything anyway."

[...What?]

Ankra had once dreamed of defeating the King of Humanity and covering the world. After dying once, they had changed their ways, becoming the god of a small village and living quietly. Well, that was a common enough story. Everyone experienced giving up their dreams after colliding with an overwhelming reality.

I thought that was fine too.

But there was something I was curious about.

"What do you mean, what? Power. Even an Offering God like you did not recognize me at first. If I were truly the King of Humanity with real power, you would have known the moment you saw me."

The King of Humanity was a being who embodied the concept of a species. Even in that distant era, she had been powerful enough to have no rivals on earth. With that much power, the Offering God should have recognized the King of Humanity at once.

But now I was an empty shell without even a presence. An ordinary human whom even the Offering God could not recognize at first glance. The Offering God also considered the power they sensed from me and answered slowly.

[...What happened to you?]

"Something similar to what happened to you. I too was betrayed by the prophet and the Five Lords. They stripped me of my power, and I vanished. Now I'm just a shell. I somehow came back, but compared to then, I'm living like an insect."

They had clearly been evil in the past. Yet now, terrified and ruling as a god, it was difficult to call them absolute evil. They sustained themself on the flesh of their followers, but they promised them immortality and kept them alive. Judging only by their actions, were they not a good god? Or were they an evil god because they parasitized their bodies with power gained by eating humans?

No one knew whether the Offering God was an evil god or a good god, whether having their head split open by an axe had reformed them, or whether they were only hiding because they were afraid. Not even I, despite being able to read minds.

You could not know before the situation arose. If you did not know, you could not judge. If you wanted to judge, you had to know.

"It seems you've recovered some of your strength. Hah, I do not have any way to regain mine."

[...Are you saying the prophet betrayed you too?]

"Yes. I suppose she did not like something about me. They stabbed and hacked up my body, then tore my power into pieces and divided it among themselves. Those powerful, glorious days are nothing but the past now. I'm left with only a shell, running around in hiding."

[The King of Humanity runs in hiding? From whom?]

"The prophet's descendants. I wonder if you know of the Sanctum. Hah. What did I do to deserve living so pathetically? Taking my power should have been enough. Why would they want more?"

As I muttered to myself as though lamenting, I felt a small tremor from the Offering God's side.

Fear, shame, rage, helplessness, defeat. Yet despair, the certainty that they could never win, weighed them down. That was why the Offering God had shut themself inside this dark cave, waking only intermittently and peering outside through their followers in extremely limited ways.

Afraid that the King of Humanity might come for them. Afraid that the prophet might find them. Like a frightened bug crawling into a hole.

But my whispered words touched the desire buried deep within them. The Offering God settled into a cold calm and spoke.

[...Then. If I only devour you, I will no longer need to be afraid.]

"What? What are you suddenly..."

The Offering God pointed at me.

[My followers. Kill that person.]

Footnotes:

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