6.5 Evil God
6.5 Evil God
Lu Yizhou had no other choice but to agree. Afterall, he lacked the strength to even move. Nodding in thanks, his body dissolved into a strand of light that entered Cyrus' horns, making them glow brighter than usual. "We'd better leave so we can arrive at our destination before noon." Cyrus nodded toward Luan who silently moved to carry Jillian onto his back.
It seemed like being inside Cyrus' horn enabled him to communicate with the dragon better because he instantly sensed Lu Yizhou's concern. "Do not worry, God of Darkness. Luan will take good care of him. As for me…" He lifted one shoulder in an awkward shrug. "It's better for me not to touch any human being."
That sentence sounded dangerous in one way or another but Lu Yizhou could no longer fight the exhaustion behind his eyelids. True to the silver dragon's words, settling inside his horn felt like being cocooned by warmth from all sides, chasing away the chill Lu Yizhou didn't even know existed in him. He felt soft and cozy all over and finally, with one last warning for 666 to watch over Jillian, he allowed himself to take a brief respite.
When he woke up after an indefinite amount of time, they already arrived in the village on the outskirts of the forest. Cyrus and Luan had hidden their horns and Cyrus' silver hair had been dyed black, looking very much like two idle travelers except for the suspicious man on Luan's back as well as the blood on his clothes.
Lu Yizhou thought that someone ought to call the official on them, especially when the one they were carrying was Duke Lacrosa, whose face was already famous throughout the country, but it was likely the dragon's magic that allowed them to escape unscathed. Everyone they bumped into looked as if they didn't see anything strange. Or to be exact, they acted as if they didn't see anything at all. Lu Yizhou silently wondered if there was any invisibility magic involved.
After confirming that Jillian was sleeping soundly, Lu Yizhou retreated into the healing space and began to digest the rest of the plot.
It was after Jillian was rescued by Regius that he realized the Gods' presence, that they weren't omnipotent beings that merely existed in children's books and people's imagination. It was sufficient to say that Jillian became Regius' loyal follower. He was a faithful believer, neither subservient nor overbearing, and ready to drag each of his own subordinates to become Regius' devotees themselves, including the male protagonist of this world, Hayden.
Hayden was Jillian's hardcore fanboy, to say the least. He worshiped the road Jillian stepped on, hung on every word he said, and put him on the highest pedestal. If Jillian told him to go east, he wouldn't go west. He was willing to go through Hell and back to comply with the General's wishes! Hayden was ready to follow Jillian to become Regius' believer but then, for some reasons, he was growing skeptical as he witnessed how obsessed his General was.
Day and night, he observed the General kneel on the altar to worship the nameless God and he became more and more suspicious when he realized that his General's temperament was changing for the worse each day! Not only that, his body was also getting weaker, often collapsing due to mere cold or hay fever. The General Hayden knew was someone who would be the last to fall even with a sword stuck on his gut!
Something was off, Hayden's instinct clamoured. He started to investigate what was up with this God who was getting stronger and stronger with each of Jillian's heartfelt prayers and how shocked he was when he found out that Regius wasn't an ordinary God. Worse, he… he was an evil God!
Lu Yizhou: …
(Good, at least the role suited him better than before.)
After succumbing to the weakness for a prolonged period of time, Regius was exhilarated when he finally regained a fraction of his former strength… but gradually he found that he no longer felt satisfied just with this meager amount of power. Jillian's sincere prayers reminded Regius of his glorious days and when he imagined that one day, he might have to go back to the time when he didn't even have the strength to move, unwillingness surged through him in a vice grip.
He didn't want to become a forgotten God, and he was absolutely unreconciled if he had to fall into slumber like the other Gods! He became drunk on power, sucking as much energy as he could from his loyal followers and unknowingly corrupted himself, becoming a rising evil God that spread darkness and disasters throughout the country.
When Hayden relayed the importance of the matter to Jillian, hoping that the General would do something to stop the evil God, he was kicked out of the manor and humiliated instead. The General whom he respected looked down at him with such condescending eyes, banned him from the area around the manor and told him not to appear ever again!
Disheartened, Hayden left with his heart and pride shattered into pieces. Alas, he couldn't bring himself to give up on saving the General from the Evil God that would drain him dry. For months, he tried to request an audience with the King. His effort was commendable. Despite the harsh weather, the repeated rejection and once, being beaten up to pulp by the Royal Guards, Hayden never gave up. One day, the King was finally intrigued by his insistence and granted him a short audience.
And lo and behold, imagine how shocked the King was when he saw Hayden for the first time and realized how similar the young man's features were to his lover whom he had a clandestine affair with before he ascended the throne!
Lu Yizhou almost scoffed at the male protagonist's golden finger. Right, he just had to be the son of the King's white moonlight, the commoner woman whom he had a passionate fling with. Hayden's mother only realized that she was pregnant when the King already left to fulfill his duty. Helpless but ashamed to grovel her way to the Palace, she could only raise Hayden by herself and kept his real identity a secret from the whole world.
The King was ecstatic for he had been unable to forget his lover even after years of reigning. Out of joy of reuniting his son as well as heartbroken from finding out that Hayden's mother had long since passed away, the King went against the whole cabinet of ministers and gave Hayden the royal title as a Prince!
From there, Hayden's name began to spread throughout the country. The King pampered him, he had no siblings who would fight him for the status of heir and he could practically get whatever he wanted with just one word. In spite of that, he remained a brilliant, sensible young man. Never once had he thought of abusing the power he had now to flaunt himself.
The turning point of Hayden and Jillian's relationship came when the barbarians tried to intrude the country once again. By then, Jillian's body had grown weak, so weak to the point where he almost died after being ambushed by the barbarians and ended up rescued by Prince Hayden.
Hayden was crestfallen to find out that the General he once revered and respected was no more. Jillian looked more like a living dead, a breathing corpse, and empty shell that was alive simply by breathing. But sadly, Jillian's obsession with the evil God didn't cease even a bit, faithfully praying every single day without fail.
When Hayden finally brought the matter up to the King, the problems had manifested into one they could no longer turn a blind eye to. The Evil God had gotten stronger and stronger and plagues began to spread in the country. The livestock were infected with unknown disease and the clear water was polluted, whoever drank it would fall sick and die in a few days! Everyone believed that Jillian and his God were to blame. Taking a desperate measure, the King finally came to a painful decision. In the next battle, the soldiers turned their swords to Jillian, catching the Duke off guard.
Disbelieving, Jillian stared at the soldiers who had fought alongside him; whom he had overcome many life and death situations with throughout the years. But it was those exact soldiers, this exact country he was protecting with his very own life that finally betrayed him. "Why?!" The frenzied and red eyed General demanded. "Why are you all doing this?!"
Hayden, who was leading the ambush, shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry, General but… you have to die."
It was a gruesome battle filled with sorrow and guilt. But Hayden tampered his feelings down as he delivered the final blow and stabbed Jillian right on his heart, leaving him to die on the battlefield along with hundreds of fallen soldiers.
His Highness Prince Hayden's name was sung in worship after this fateful event. How much they used to adore General Jillian was how much they revered Prince Hayden right now. His name was elevated and there was even talk of a peace treaty with the barbarians that included union between the two heirs, Hayden and the female protagonist, Maia, the sole daughter of the chief tribe of Barbarians. Hayden welcomed the arranged marriage with open arms, having caught a glimpse of Maia's beauty from afar and finding himself yearning. He couldn't believe his luck when he finally got to marry the woman in his dreams. It was the happiest moment of Hayden's life and everything couldn't be more complete.
Years passed by peacefully and Hayden had almost forgotten about his past when it finally caught up to him again.
Of course, Jillian didn't die that day. He was filled with resentment, anger and pain. The negative emotions became the source of food for Regius to bring Jillian back from the precipice of death. He had returned stronger than ever; sinister, formidable and there was only one thing in his mind: revenge! He wanted to destroy the country that had betrayed him, he wanted to kill the people who had turned their weapons on him!
It was the darkest period for everyone where gray clouds covered the sky and warmth seemed to disappear from the face of Earth, leaving the country in an endless winter, hunger and drought. Once again, people started to pray to the God of Light, wishing that spring would once again descend on the country and they were given a chance to defeat Jillian. The strength of their beliefs and desires awoke the God of Light from his slumber and the God gave his blessing to the strongest human warrior — Hayden, who had by then ascended the throne to become the King — and bestowed him power to fight against the darkness.
Lu Yizhou couldn't bring himself to finish. Of course, like how every story went, light would prevail over darkness and Jillian would be defeated. A sigh escaped Lu Yizhou's lips. So it turned out, he would be Jillian's partner in crime. Actually, the true villain might as well be Regius. He was the one who yearned for power, he was the one who caused disasters, he was the one who led Jillian to his demise. Lu Yizhou… had no idea how to proceed with that information.
In the first place, there were a few loopholes he couldn't comprehend. First, how did Jillian know that the one who saved his life was a God when all texts about Regius had been lost along with time and he was all but forgotten? Second, how did Hayden find out that Regius was an evil God? Third, how was he sure that the plagues and disaster that fell upon the country was Regius' doing?
If he knew the answer to those questions, he might be able to evade Jillian's demise.
However he hadn't even been here for a full day yet and there had been a few discrepancies in the plot such as Cyrus and Luan's appearance. How would they impact the plot from now on? Would they save Jillian or… would they become a catalyst to Jillian's doom?
Most importantly, there wasn't any info about the second villain at all. Lu Yizhou sighed in frustration. If he wasn't in the original plot then who was he exactly? What role did he play in all of this? What would happen if Jillian and him were to meet? Or could it be… they already met in the years of Jillian's disappearance?
Too many questions with no answer. And of course, the simulator just had to give him an incomplete plot with lots of mystery to unveil.
In one glance, this world might appear simple but the truth was… Lu Yizhou heaved a sigh. This might be a pain in the ass.