Ledell had no words to describe the horrifying scene before him. As a bard, his vocabulary now seemed woefully inadequate. Countless phrases describing evil and sin flashed through his mind, yet none were sufficient to capture the image of the grotesque mass of flesh writhing and contorting into its final, twisted form.
It was a terror beyond human imagination. Deformed facial features were huddled on what could barely be called a face. The upper body was covered with dense tentacles, each adorned with countless suction cups and mouths filled with sharp teeth, like the limbs of an octopus or human arms.
As for the lower body—if it could be called that—innumerable tentacles resembling human limbs supported this horrific, nightmarish weight, allowing it to move through the room with a maddening gait. Wherever it passed, it left behind a trail of sticky tissue fluid, turning the once soft-carpeted floor into a surface resembling the wet, dark stone climbed by snails.
Ledell watched the horrifying creature, observed how it rejected Kate's offering, and witnessed it walking among its loyal Fanatics, making incomprehensible, foul sounds.
His mind reeled; the world before him seemed to shatter into fragments.
What is this?
How could such a terrifying existence appear in this world?
Why, in the past decade, had he never uncovered such a terrible truth?
Ledell's head throbbed with pain. Never had he yearned so desperately to flee, to rewind time and escape the moment he first laid eyes on this town. Had he fled then, perhaps he wouldn’t have had to face this nightmare.
Ledell, dizzy, collapsed unconscious.
Meanwhile, inside the room, the Fanatics were filled only with excitement and ecstasy.
"God!!! God has awakened! It is our devotion that has awakened the God!"
The Fanatics inside the house erupted in thunderous cheers as Ke Su, controlling the projection of the Ancient God, began to move through the room, communicating with the believers. The monstrous creature, a bloated mass of flesh, cast heavy shadows as it loomed within the room.
Kate stared in shock at the premature awakening of the deity, too stunned to react. He stood on the steps, watching as the monstrous form manipulated by Ke Su descended the stairs. He hurriedly chased after it, offering up his heart as a sacrifice.
Yet, unexpectedly, the God rejected it.
[Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting, disgusting]
Kate, once endowed with the knowledge of countless languages by the deity, now heard the God uttering repetitive, pollutive murmurs. The massive, fleshy body extended agile tentacles toward him, no longer the gentle and kind touch from the first summoning, but a heavy blow that seemed to loathe his approach.
After being struck by the tentacle controlled by Ke Su, Kate was thrown aside by the tremendous force. Struggling to support his body, he removed his bird-like mask, his face filled with disbelief and despair.
How could this be?
He was the deity’s most beloved follower! Why would the great God treat him this way?
Kate could not comprehend what was happening before his eyes. His Sanity was teetering on the edge. Watching the deity reject his offering, Kate nearly lost his mind. He knelt on the ground, loudly pleading for the deity's forgiveness, "Great Ancient God, what have I done wrong? Why do you reject me..."
Kate had originally planned everything, ready to transform all the townspeople into the followers of the God. However, the deity had awakened prematurely, and even more shockingly, after awakening, the God treated him with cold indifference—even disdain.
No! No! This is impossible!!!
The deity would not despise him! It wouldn't—it wouldn't—it wouldn’t!!!
Kate shook his head frantically, clutching his head as he muttered to himself, reaffirming his faith.
He looked up and saw the deity moving through the hall, communicating with those lowly townspeople.
Though he had already dealt with the townspeople responsible for his sister Mary’s death, every person in this town was filthy. The deity should not approach these dirty souls!
He must reveal the true, ugly nature of these wretched souls to the deity!!!
Kate’s eyes were filled with hatred, bloodshot as he stared with madness on his pale face. Yet the injuries inflicted by the tentacle had left him too weak to stand. He could only watch in despair as the deity was deceived by these despicable, increasingly monstrous townspeople.
Ke Su, after shaping his character's body, began controlling the in-game avatar, walking through the house and casually brushing aside the heart and other offerings Kate had brought.
That conniving guy! What use were these things that didn’t even grant experience points? He was a righteous player, after all. Even when role-playing an evil god, he wasn’t going to eat people randomly!
Ke Su righteously rejected the bloody offerings and started to wander around the house, drawing cheers from the Ancient God’s followers.
Curious, Ke Su approached the townspeople and found that he could interact with them. He typed a bunch of dialogue into the game chatbox. Of course, to maintain character, all his messages were grandiose blessings befitting a deity.
After communicating with the Ancient God's followers, Ke Su saw the on-screen message change from [Ancient God’s Minion: Hatching State] to [Ancient God’s Minion].
The townspeople began to sprout deformed limbs, and their faces became less human, resembling the grotesque flesh monsters within the room.
Soon, Ke Su grew tired of typing, resorting to copying and pasting long chunks of text into the chatbox, efficiently transforming all the townspeople into fully matured Ancient God's followers.
Within the game, the deity’s faith experience points and various other stats soared. Ke Su quickly realized he could control even more flesh monsters, so he naturally began piecing them together as he walked. By the end, he had nearly assembled a monster the size of a house, its chibi art style making it look both ugly and oddly cute.
Upon discovering he could exit the house, Ke Su, feeling cramped within, immediately headed outside, controlling his massive fleshy monster to explore the steampunk town under the night sky.
Stepping outside, he spotted Ledell, an investigator with his Sanity dropping below forty, in an unstable state. Ke Su clicked on him, but finding no experience points to gain, he moved on. He only cared about experience; everything else was irrelevant.
Now, he wondered if there were any more experience-granting entities outside. He hoped there were, for nothing pleased him more than seeing a full experience bar. Though he knew it wouldn’t serve much purpose, the psychological satisfaction was invaluable.
Ke Su controlled the ever-growing, house-sized fleshy monster, striding forward. Behind him trailed a group of Ancient God's followers, along with Ledell, Kate, and his deformed sister, Mary.
Kate, despairing, watched the deity walk away. Kneeling on the ground, his flaxen hair covered his eyes, concealing his emotions. His twisted mouth was open in a fierce curse toward the despicable, shameful townspeople who had stolen his God.
The doctor who had appeared refined and elegant by day now resembled a madman.
Ledell, opening his eyes, observed Kate and thought as much.
Though his body was weak, he struggled to his feet and coldly confronted Kate.
"Dr. Kate, what have you done? That monster! Is that your creation?"
Ledell glanced briefly at the retreating mass of flesh outside the door, catching a glimpse of a thick shadow moving through the town. To avoid fainting again as he had earlier, he quickly turned away, grabbing Kate by the collar and loudly demanding answers.
Now that all the townspeople had followed the monster out, leaving Kate alone, Ledell knew this was his best chance to uncover the truth.
Kate, still cursing, coldly glared at the outsider. His voice was hoarse and filled with fury, "What monster! That is the deity! The one and only deity in this world! You foolish heretic! How dare you blaspheme against the deity's name!"
Even though the God he so devoutly worshipped had abandoned him, Kate still wouldn’t allow anyone to insult the deity in his presence. It was the only true God in this world, the great being who had saved him from his misery. How could a mere mortal dare to insult the God?
The more Kate thought about it, the angrier he became. His throat was nearly hoarse from shouting, but he didn’t care, hurling insult after insult without pause.
Ledell listened to Kate’s tirade for a full minute, his face flushing red with anger. Raising his fist, he punched Kate hard, demanding he come clean about everything—what had happened to turn the townspeople into monsters?
Kate, his lip split from the blow, lay on the ground, panting heavily.
He sneered, refusing to answer, but then watched as Ledell lit a candle and set the grotesque corpse in the hall on fire.
From the events of that night, Ledell had deduced that Kate's actions were connected to his deceased sister. Based on this, the grotesque, misshapen corpse of a flaxen-haired female was most likely Kate’s sister, Mary!
Kate's eyes widened in fury, screaming as he tried to extinguish the flames engulfing his sister's body. Ledell watched with an unprecedented sense of calm. Normally, he wasn’t a cruel man, but after witnessing the night’s unthinkable horrors, a part of him had become cold.
He didn’t stop Kate from putting out the fire, but instead coldly continued, "Tell me everything, or I’ll keep burning."
Ledell looked coldly and almost emotionlessly at Kate. He didn’t feel much guilt over the deformed corpse. After all, the twisted body had been an evil being that sucked the flesh and blood of the living.
This was an abomination that should never have existed in this world.
After extinguishing the flames, Kate cradled his sister Mary’s corpse, staring venomously at Ledell. He slowly revealed everything, and when he mentioned that he had truly summoned a god, even Ledell couldn't help but show a shocked expression.
A god?
Not a demon, but an actual god?
A real, existing evil deity—the truth caught Ledell off guard, but it also fit the suspicions he had harbored in his mind.
So, gods really do exist in this world.
"It was the god who granted me everything! My sister will also be resurrected in the glory bestowed by the god, and we will all be happy again..." As Kate spoke, he hugged his sister tighter, tears welling up in his eyes.
Mary’s face had long since decayed. Now, it was patched with pieces from other people’s bodies, making her appear grotesque and deformed. Yet, in his eyes, she still looked as innocent and sweet as ever.
Kate recalled the moment his sister had been burned by the flames. At that time, he could have saved her, but out of cowardice, he had shrunk back, fearing the pitchforks of the crazed villagers. He had watched as his sister was reduced to ashes. From that moment, the scene had been seared into his mind, replaying endlessly in his nightmares, until the god responded to him, granting him salvation.
But now, why does it feel like the god no longer favors him?
Kate couldn’t understand. Despair overtook him as he held his sister. The pain of being abandoned by the god was more unbearable than his sister’s death, driving him to the brink of collapse.
Ledell stood coldly to the side, watching him. He now understood everything, but he knew that he needed to stop this evil deity from leaving the town and bringing harm to the entire Steam Age continent.
"Tell me, how can we banish this evil god?"
Ledell's gaze hardened as he looked at the looming shadow in the town, grabbing Kate's shirt and demanding sharply.
He didn’t believe that this strange god was truly invincible. There had to be a way to drive him away, and since Kate had summoned this evil deity, he must know something!
Of course, Kate wasn’t about to tell him. He glared resentfully at Ledell, wishing he could tear this despicable outsider to pieces.
Ledell raised the candle threateningly.
"Ahhhh! What is this!!!"
At that tense moment, a piercing scream shattered the silence of the night. Mary, cradled in Kate’s arms, let out an ear-splitting shriek.
"What is this? Ahhhhhh!! This isn’t me!!!"
Just after awakening, Mary stared at her deformed body and the tendrils that extended beyond it, screaming uncontrollably. She barely had time to feel the joy of her resurrection before being overwhelmed by intense self-loathing.
Kate’s face lit up with joy. His sister’s awakening briefly washed away his despair and the agony of being abandoned by the god.
He told her that she had been reborn, and no one could bully them anymore. But Mary only showed a look of disgust.
“No! This isn’t me! No!!! Monster! I’m a monster!!!”
Mary broke free from Kate’s embrace, screaming furiously as she frantically searched the house for a place to hide. Kate tried to calm her, but it was useless. Her sharp claws tore at his body, leaving him bloody and wounded.
An old, leather-bound book fell from Kate’s person. Ledell picked it up and saw strange, twisted lines on the cover, resembling a giant eye gazing into the world.
Ledell, as if mesmerized, flipped open the book. His gaze became vacant as if he had touched a world of profound mystery.
Meanwhile, Ke Su was growing tired of wandering the streets. He stopped his character in front of a glowing church, discovered a statue inside, and promptly smashed it, gaining a large chunk of flesh. After attaching the flesh to his character, his experience points skyrocketed.
"Praise the Ancient God. The projection's experience points are maxed. Would you like to double the experience and gain awakening progress? Yes/No."
Ke Su didn’t quite understand what it meant. After reading the explanation, he found out that the Ancient God's projection in this world had matured, and the experience points could be converted into the game’s "Ancient God Awakening Level."
Ancient God Awakening Level. Ke Su rubbed his chin. That sounded like something good. He decided to exchange for it.
And then, Ke Su exploded.
To be precise, the Ancient God's projection exploded—a massive fleshy mass that occupied half the town erupted like popcorn, filling the screen with blood.
Ke Su, startled: "..."
That was a lot of blood.
"Praise be to His Eminence. The spores of the Ancient God’s projection have now spread beyond Lost Town and will soon carry His glory to the Steam Age continent. This dungeon has been cleared! You may check the progress in the main game interface!"
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