However, Ankra survived.
How was that possible? Even Ankra didn't know. In truth, he was in a state where he couldn't even think. Torn to pieces, he had wandered this massive jungle.
He ate a thousand people every year, and the number of those he killed exceeded ten thousand. Every year, he scattered his overflowing vitality as if to show it off. The ragged soldiers of the Angka tribe absorbed his flesh and blood, and his flesh and blood were treated as sacred relics by the Angka tribe.
Though he had never consciously intended it, Ankra was a master of black magic, and had already scattered his overflowing vitality throughout the entire jungle. Even though he was defeated, his power was god-like.
His resilient vitality barely maintained its existence even as his being was torn this way and that... at some point, he opened his eyes as if waking from sleep.
He was parasitizing some barbarian tribe living in the jungle.
Having already lost his physical body and scattered most of his power, he had no strength left. Without even the strength to usurp a body, he merely borrowed one to maintain his consciousness. Grateful just to exist, he survived by hiding and parasitizing.
However, a problem arose. The host was faced with a crisis of death.
The reason was absurd. While pushing through the brush, the host had gotten scratched all over by thorny bushes. The host bled profusely, merely waiting for the day of death.
In the jungle, death was so common it could happen for any reason. Whether from excessive bleeding, infection, or a beast following the scent of blood. It was so common it wasn't even worth talking about.
But for him, it was a serious situation.
If the host dies, he dies too. He had barely regained consciousness, and now he would disappear again, leaving only his power to wander once more. That must not happen. He had to survive. He didn't know why, but only the desire to live remained to drive him.
Taking advantage of the host's weakened state, he seized control of part of the host's body and restored it with his power. The host, whose body recovered from fatal wounds, knelt before this unexpected miracle and called upon the great spirit, the spirit of nature, the name of the Earth Mother Goddess.
It was the moment when one who was merely a parasite became a god.
His will had transformed into a god's will and moved the host. Though he didn't have the dominance and willpower to completely control the host, he didn't feel the need to do so. Because the host accepted his will as divine revelation and followed it.
Borrowing the host's strength, he gathered the other fragments of himself scattered throughout the jungle. Fruits from trees that had grown by eating his scattered flesh. Fragments that had flowed into other animals' bodies. Bones that still remained, and so on. Under the single-minded desire to survive, he sought and gathered the debris scattered throughout the jungle.
Gathering, gathering, and gathering more. Cutting and attaching, accumulating power until finally—
Ankra was resurrected, transcending hundreds of years.
Opening his eyes, he found himself being called a god, and the humans who received his power had become immortals. Now possessing a physical form, he gathered the bodies of his followers and shaped his own flesh.
That was the true form of the Sacrificial God.
Having read all the past of the human who was called a god, I was so glad at the unexpected information that I was bewildered.
I have telepathy, and with it I read people's present. I can read a person's past, but for past history or grand trends, I have to learn from books like other humans.
It's an ability befitting the King of Beasts. Those who represent an entire species don't concern themselves with the past of individuals who have died and disappeared.
Anyway, so for me who lost my power due to a certain incident, there were almost no opportunities to learn about that forgotten past... But this time, reading Ankra, I obtained quite a lot of information. The Five Lords, the Prophet, and even the past King of Humanity.
Isn't that much more beneficial than I thought? I didn't expect such an opportunity to come.
While I was organizing the information I had read, the shrine maidens of the Sacrificial God were bewildered by my revelation.
"Ankra? That would be the ancient evil ruler passed down orally in this land."
"What nonsense about the Sacrificial God!"
Then the Sacrificial God raised his hand. The stitched-together lumps of flesh moved bizarrely with different forces and speeds. The flesh seemed to forcibly hold together a body that wanted to explode and scatter; even in its instability, the Sacrificial God gestured with a movement that felt overwhelmingly powerful.
[I do not eat humans. I merely gather and nourish them.]
And the Sacrificial God rose from his seat. Though his body was unbalanced, it somehow managed to find equilibrium.
[I do not rule the jungle. I merely watch over and protect it.]
His height was about 3 meters, and his width was even greater. The intimidation from the wounds and stitch marks covering his entire body was terrifying.
[I am not Ankra. With his flesh scattered on the ground and his blood seeped into the rivers, Ankra no longer exists. I am only the Sacrificial God of the Immortals.]
The Sacrificial God spoke with a majestic voice.
Of course that's true. Having experienced death, actually nearly dying and resurrecting, and barely surviving by gathering other people's bodies, the Sacrificial God is different from before.
But that doesn't mean the past as Ankra has disappeared. Above all, I'm clearly reading your thoughts, so why are you playing dumb?
"You're just not doing it right now. The source of that power and black magic is Ankra's, isn't it?"
[One who came from beyond the plains, I have conveyed my words personally. Do you dare to doubt?]
You're going to stubbornly deny it? Moreover, this is a lie with a reason. Ankra has a record of being defeated by the King of Humanity and the First Saintess. If someone suddenly questions his identity, he has no choice but to deflect.
I was caught in a bit of conflict. Right now, I have a means to clearly expose his lie and make him tell the truth. Very clearly.
The question is whether I should do that. To reveal his identity, I would have to reveal mine as well. And that could also be dangerous.
Hmm. What should I do? Ask and move on? Or let each other go amicably?
[Get lost immediately. If you don't leave this place right now, I will make you part of my body.]
"Is that so? Can I just leave from here then?"
[What?]
"How I figured out your identity, how I recognized you as soon as I saw you. Aren't you curious about that?"
[It is a trivial matter to me.]
"I don't think so at all. You don't know who will come next. Isn't it better to hear from me, who came with goodwill and curiosity this time?"
[….]
Whatever. Honestly, it's not a secret anymore, is it? Let's just say it.
I confessed confidently in front of the Sacrificial God.
"I am the King of Humanity. The king who struck your head with an axe."
Oh, there's meaning to being resolved.
Axe, King of Humanity. The keywords are too clear to not believe. In that distant past era, the memory of being defeated by the King of Humanity remains only with the Sacrificial God. It's not something to boast about to anyone, nor was it recorded in history. Truly a lost past.
If there is a being who mentions that memory, it's one of two. Either the Sacrificial God or the King of Humanity.
And since I'm not the Sacrificial God, I must be the King of Humanity.
[Impossible!]
When the distant past was mentioned, the Sacrificial God reacted violently. The face, which had dignity despite its bizarre appearance, distorted mercilessly.
[Why! Why have you come to find me now!]
And the faces of the shrine maidens also moved erratically in response. The Sacrificial God's, or more precisely, the sacrificed bodies began to sympathize with the Sacrificial God's emotions. The shrine maidens were flustered by emotions that weren't their own and looked at their god.
The Sacrificial God screamed, choked with fear and rage.
[After becoming a god, I ruled over humans! Instead of oppressing, I cared for them; instead of killing, I saved them; instead of eating them, I fed them! I did everything for them, so why do you persecute me!]
"Persecute? I don't think I've particularly persecuted you."
[Why did you come now? I didn't challenge you! I didn't eat or kill humans! Instead of bones, I built the altar with my own blood and flesh! In this tiny patch of land, I merely shared myself with my followers to maintain this body!]
The immortals are the Sacrificial God's limbs. They are part of the massive body that is the Sacrificial God. Just as one's hands grip tightly and eyelids tremble when excited, the shrine maidens also became confused as they received the Sacrificial God's emotions.
'The Sacrificial God...'
'Is afraid?'
Inferiority complex, sense of defeat, despair, rage. And the faint fear underlying it all writhed like a whirlpool. The Sacrificial God, half shrunk back and half puffed up, shouted.
[With this power, I merely held onto the lifelines of those weak believers! So why did you come agaaaaain!]
That was too successful. I didn't expect such an intense reaction. Should I soothe him a bit?
"Uh, well. Let me tell you in advance. Coming here was purely coincidental. I was just passing by, saw a familiar face, and helped out a bit."
[The right arm?]
"Yes. I didn't come with any bad intentions."
To be precise, it was guided by the Saintess's blessing, and the ancient evil the Saintess probably asked me to deal with would be this Sacrificial God. But I don't particularly intend to kill the Sacrificial God. That's why I deliberately came without the regressor.
"And I just spoke to you to say hello. There are hardly any people left who remember the King of Humanity from those days."
[To say hello? That can't be.]
"Really. Even the King of Humanity who split your head in the past didn't come for a reason, right? You were openly plotting rebellion, so I just granted that wish."
Despite my calm remarks, the Sacrificial God still hadn't released the tension.
[I haven't plotted anything this time!]
"I know. You did. You've been keeping your head down and living quietly after being defeated by the King of Humanity. I don't particularly intend to do anything to you either."
Your memories were the purpose, and now that I've read them all, there's no other business left. If I just quietly leave, that's that.
But something felt lacking, you see.
"-And I don't have the power to do so either."
[…What?]
Ankra, who once brought down the King of Humanity and harbored ambitions to cover the world, has changed his mind after dying once and is quietly living as the god of a small tribe. Well, this kind of thing is very common. Giving up dreams when faced with overwhelming reality is something everyone experiences.
I think that's fine too.
But, I'm also a bit curious.
"What, you ask? Power. Even a Sacrificial God like you didn't recognize me at first. If I were the King of Humanity with true power, you would have recognized me the moment you saw me."
The King of Humanity is a being that materialized the concept of a species. Even from the distant past, he was so powerful that there was no equal on earth. With that much power, he should have recognized me the moment he saw me.
But the current me is a husk with no presence. An ordinary human that even the Sacrificial God couldn't recognize at first glance. The Sacrificial God, seeing the power I emanated, slowly replied.
[…What happened to you?]
"It's similar to you. I too was betrayed by the Prophet and those five, had my power taken away by them, and disappeared. The current me is just a shell. I somehow came back, but compared to then, it's a life like a bug's."
He was clearly evil in the past. But now, ruling as a god while completely terrified, it's hard to call him absolute evil. Though he survives on his followers' flesh, he promises them immortality and keeps saving them, so if we judge by actions alone, isn't he a good god? Or is he an evil god because he parasitizes their bodies with power gained from eating humans?
No one knows whether the Sacrificial God is an evil god or a good god, whether he was reformed after having his head split by an axe, or whether he's just keeping his head down out of fear. Even I, who can read minds.
You don't know until the situation arises. If you don't know, you can't judge. If you want to judge, you need to know.
"You seem to have recovered some of your power. Sigh, I have no way to get my power back."
[…Does that mean the Prophet betrayed you as well?]
"Yes. It seems something didn't please them. They stabbed my body, shredded it, tore my power to pieces and shared it among themselves. The powerful and glorious days are just a thing of the past, and now I'm left with just a shell, running away."
[The King of Humanity runs away. From whom?]
"From the descendants of that Prophet. I don't know if you've heard of the Holy Imperial Court. Sigh. What did I do to have to live so pathetically. They could have just taken my power, why go further."
As I muttered to myself as if lamenting, I felt a small throb from the Sacrificial God's side.
Fear, shame, rage, powerlessness, sense of defeat. But the despair of being absolutely unable to win was oppressing him. So the Sacrificial God holed up in this dark cave, intermittently waking from sleep, and peeked outside in a very limited way through his followers.
Fearing that the King of Humanity might come, or that the Prophet might find him. Like a bug that dug into a hole out of fear.
However, my whispered words touched the desire deep within his words. The Sacrificial God, having grown coldly calm, spoke.
[…Then. If I just devour you. I won't have to fear anymore.]
"What? Suddenly what—"
The Sacrificial God pointed at me with his finger and spoke.
[Those who are my followers. Kill that one.]