Chapter 41: The Faith’s Dark Side
Tap! Tap! Tap!
A teenager walked in a rush through a long, granite floor, his every step causing crisp sounds to echo out. He arrived before a large double door and kicked it with force, tumbling when the double door coincidentally opened at the same time.
"Tch!" He clicked his tongue and got up in a hurry, watching two Priests accompany a short-statured individual who came out with pompous valour.
The short-statured individual didn't miss the chance to look down on the teenager on the floor, grinning once as he walked away.
'This bastard!' The teenager grunted in anger as he rushed into the large hall, watching people of importance from his city vacate one after another.
Controlling his anger, he waited until they left before rushing towards a throne that seemed to be carved out of a wheat stalk, one spanning dozens of metres in height.
Seated at the very top of it was an unassuming individual, but the sheer sight of whom caused an average person to prostrate instinctively. After all, it was an individual that stood above the masses, wielding supernatural powers.
Sickle Deity—Merku Garobu!
The teenager stared at the entity and shouted, "Father, why the heck did you appoint him as your Apostle."
"Dullip…?" The Sickle Deity stared down at his son and smiled pleasantly, "You hardly ever come to see me. I'm happy."
"Father, tell me why?" The teenager, Dullip gritted his teeth, "Keyn is unfit for the role of an Apostle. He has a severe inferiority complex and a short-circuited approach to every problem. It's foolish to make him an Apo…"
"So, after not seeing me for so long, the first thing you do after coming here is to call me a fool, huh?" Merku Garobu took a step forth as he jumped from the wheat stalk and gently landed on the ground, as if he were a feather.
It wasn't apparent when he was always seated atop the wheat stalk, but the moment he stood on the floor, his size became obvious. A body that reached a whopping height of eight feet, a giant among men.
Each of his steps was loud as he arrived to a halt before Dullip that barely reached his chest, staring down the latter. "Do I look like a fool to you?"
"Of course," Dullip didn't even flinch as he further stressed his point, "Keyn doesn't have the qualifications to be an Apostle."
"Then, who do you think is better qualified?" Merku Garobu bent forward a little as he stared close up at Dullip, "You?"
"For argument's sake, let's not consider myself." Dullip didn't even break eye contact and spoke with confidence, "Among the current Spirits, there are at least three who are better qualified than Keyn."
"But they are not," Merku Garobu said without hesitation, "If they were better than Keyn, then one of them would have become the Apostle. In your generation, Keyn is the most attuned to the Garobu Faith. It's just a fact."
He tapped Dullip's shoulder and turned around, intending to return to his seat above the wheat stalk.
"But," Dullip stared at his father's wide back and said, "The strength of our faith isn't in the Garobu Faith, but the people."
He patted his chest, causing a loud thump, "And I serve the people the most. None among my many siblings even come close. Keyn wouldn't even be in the equation."
"It matters naught the powers we possess, but as part of the Garobu Family, our existence revolves around serving the people that have absolute faith in us."
Merku Garobu stopped at the words as his eyes shone for a moment. His lips curled faintly as he turned around and stared at Dullip, "Do you wish to serve our faith?"
"Isn't that natural?" Dullip snorted.
"Then, do you know the dark side of our faith?" Merku Garobu asked.
"Dark side?" Dullip was confused at the statement, "We have something like that?"
"Come with me," Saying so, Merku Garobu tapped the floor with his foot as a wheat stalk sprouted from the floor and coiled around the two before pulling them into the ground.
"Wha…?" Dullip gasped in surprise before the speed of pull suffocated him. But by the time he regained his bearing, they were in an underground cave, one shaped like a dome. "Where…is this?"
"Right underneath the palace." Merku Garobu said as he motioned for Dullip to follow him. The duo walked a bit before coming across a room brimming with the smell of disinfectant.
Gaah!
A roar of pain resounded from a room nearby, the scream hellish, as if being tortured, frightening Dullip. "W-What's happening?"
"Come, I'll show you." Merku Garobu brought him towards the screaming room and entered it, surprising the Accolade Priest within.
"Sir, you're here…" The Accolade Priest bowed in response towards Merku Garobu when his eyes fell on Dullip, "He…shouldn't be here."
"This will be the sole exception." Merku Garobu said as he patted Dullip, "He earned it, don't you think?"
"I'll follow your arrangement." The Accolade Priest didn't argue and returned to his task, carefully pulling out the small intestine of a middle-aged man who was screaming like a beast.
"Merku…?" The middle-aged man weakly stared at Merku Garobu, having a blurry vision as he identified the other party, "Why are you here?"
"I appointed Keyn as the Apostle today." Merku motioned towards the Accolade Priest to stop the process for a moment as he spoke, "He's your replacement, brother."
"I see, it's great we have someone capable enough to become an Apostle." The middle-aged man sighed in relief before staring at Dullip, "Then…this is?"
"My fourth child, Dullip." Merku said, "This guy said something interesting. So, I brought him here to test his strength in our Faith."
"Haah…don't disillusion the young." The middle-aged man sighed as he closed his eyes, too weak for a conversation.
"Who…is this uncle?" Dullip asked as he stared at the middle-aged man, "Why is there such a dense presence of our Faith in him?"
"He's my older brother," Merku Garobu stated calmly, "He's currently an Apostle. But originally,"
"He was supposed to be the Sickle Deity."
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