TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 17

Whether the mythological accounts are true or not, and regardless of whether the holy spear summoned by magic is the actual one, it undoubtedly possesses unique power, as it can break through the divine artifacts of the God of Wine.

Perhaps the mythological records are all true…

The name “Spear of the Gods” made Zeman feel a stirring in his heart.

Maybe this is the power he has been searching for, the one that can end both him and the curse within him.

After the battle with the people of the God of Wine Temple, Zeman could no longer suppress the magic energy within him. The day of his complete demonic transformation seemed imminent.

He didn’t know if Edward’s premonition was true, but he knew he had to leave this child behind.

Zeman hid his troubled expression.

Albin was still pondering his words.

A creature with star-like markings in its eyes?

Albin wasn’t scared at all. In fact, he was a little curious.

It sounds so strange! What does it look like? Tiny twinkling stars?

He imagined the appearance of the black star-like markings and suddenly remembered something.

Hey, it seems like he’s seen something with this feature before!

Emerald’s eyes seemed to be like that!

Does that mean emerald snakes are dangerous creatures?

Albin thought about the greedy little green snake and didn’t feel it was dangerous at all.

He blinked and asked, “How dangerous are these creatures? Are they similar to wild animals?”

Zeman: “They possess intelligence similar to humans and magic-like energy.”

Seeing the completely unaware expression on Albin’s face, Zeman added, “They like to eat children like you, locking them up and drinking their blood.”

Albin let out a laugh.

He wasn’t a little kid, so he wouldn’t be scared by adults’ words!

He didn’t expect his cold father to try to scare him like this, especially with such a serious tone.

Albin laughed so hard his shoulders shook.

Zeman: ?

Did he say something funny?

Albin lay in his arms for a while before managing to stop laughing.

He nodded to Zeman to show that he had remembered.

Although Zeman was trying to scare him, he assumed it was to make him fear monsters and stay away from them, as adults often did.

With the example of the emerald, he didn’t believe that all monsters were evil. But since he hadn’t seen many monsters, he couldn’t refute his father’s words just yet. He decided to remember this for now and maybe reassess once he had seen more monsters.

Albin glanced at the holy spear.

It was taller than him, long, and dazzling—how was he supposed to carry it?

If he strapped it to his back, it would look like he was being punished, tied to a pole.

He mumbled to the holy spear, “I wish it could shrink a little.”

Like the Great Sage’s golden staff!

No sooner had he spoken than the spear shrank directly, down to the size of a thumb. It was still beautifully crafted and adorned with gemstones, looking like a pendant on a necklace.

“Wow!” Albin became excited.

What child could resist a magical object that could change size?

If he weren’t so tired right now, he would definitely strike a classic pose like the Great Sage and have some fun!

“Can it change into other shapes?” Albin thought the pendant was a little inconvenient, easy to lose.

After trying several times, he discovered that while the holy spear couldn’t change shape, it could bend and become a flexible bracelet, like a living armlet.

He put it on his wrist like a jeweled gold bangle and proudly raised his hand to show Zeman.

“Dad, look!”

Zeman’s gaze flickered. After getting Albin’s permission, he also tried to channel magic to control the spear.

However, unlike Albin’s effortless control, the holy spear had no reaction to Zeman.

“It seems it doesn’t work,” Albin observed.

It seemed the holy spear could only be controlled by Albin, the one who summoned it.

“This is a good thing,” Zeman said as he handed the spear back to him. “Do not reveal it to others unless in danger.”

This was naturally a good thing. With a portable, bound weapon, Albin would be safer.

But it also meant that if Zeman wanted to use the holy spear to end his own life, he would have to rely on Albin to do it.

Or… perhaps seek another method.

Zeman’s gaze darkened as he concealed his emotions. He lifted Albin and left the area.

Albin had gone through so much that he was already exhausted. He had barely made it this far, driven by excitement upon seeing Zeman. Now, nestled in his father’s arms, sleepiness overcame him.

But just before he fell asleep, he glanced at the white bones still left at the bottom of the Blood Wine Pool, feeling a heavy sadness.

Those children could never go home.

Zeman carried Albin to the altar’s edge, draped him in his cloak, and left the place, carrying his troubled child out.

Stepping over shattered stones and dried blood, Zeman made his way to the prayer hall outside.

Priests and berserkers lay dead everywhere, blood flowing in streams, the stone floor stained red. Yet, the Blood Wine flood that had raged earlier had completely disappeared, and the water levels in the nearby wine pools had hardly risen.

Zeman glanced down at the unaware child in his arms.

This was an extraordinarily kind child.

If Albin woke up to see this scene, he would likely be horrified, even tormented by nightmares.

—Once Albin knows the truth, he will definitely leave you!

Latu’s words lingered in Zeman’s mind.

He silently adjusted Albin’s position so that if the child woke up midway, he wouldn’t see this terrifying scene.

Zeman cast a sideways glance at Latu’s corpse.

Latu, who had been severed in half and decapitated, now had his head missing.

Zeman wasn’t surprised. He had never planned to kill Latou.

Latu, as the high priest of the God of Wine Temple, the vessel for the God of Wine, could not easily die. Zeman hadn’t even summoned divine power.

According to the records of the Sun God Temple, the God of Wine’s weakness was only fire.

In a previous conflict between the Sun God and the God of Wine, the Sun God swung a sword at the God of Wine, severing his arms, but the God of Wine quickly regenerated new ones.

With his regenerative powers, the God of Wine mocked the Sun God for his futile efforts. The Sun God, enraged, used flames to burn the God of Wine.

The fire quickly spread over the God of Wine, burning areas that couldn’t regenerate. To stop the fire from spreading, the God of Wine had to cut off the burnt parts of his body.

The scorched flesh fell to the ground, and the fire burned the frozen earth. The blood of the God of Wine stained the land, infusing it with vitality, which allowed for better crops to grow, considered a blessing from the God of Wine.

The Sun God’s flames burned for seven days and nights, causing immense pain to the God of Wine, who eventually had to retreat.

Thus, to kill the high priest of the God of Wine Temple, fire would be required.

But at that time, Zeman wasn’t sure if Albin had truly become the Holy Son. If he killed Latu, Albin would immediately become the God of Wine’s vessel.

Holding Albin tightly, Zeman quickened his pace, leaving the underground palace and emerging from a secluded corner of the city.

The sounds of revelry reached him from the wind—people still unaware of the anomaly in the God of Wine Temple.

Despite this, staying in the city wasn’t advisable since Latu hadn’t died.

A carriage from the Golden Silver Flower Merchant Guild was waiting at the exit of the secret passage. Zeman, with Albin, boarded it, and the carriage sped away from the city.

The guards at the city gate were already drunk, courtesy of the merchant guild, and didn’t notice their departure.

They left from the nearest west gate, heading westward to exit the Wicker Grass Kingdom.

By the time Albin woke up in the carriage, the bloodstains had disappeared from his body, as his father had already cleaned him up.

He searched through his clothes and craned his neck to check his back.

It was said that becoming the Holy Son would leave a holy mark on one’s body, but Albin wasn’t sure if he had succeeded.

“Dad, do I have the holy mark of the God of Wine Holy Son?”

“No, you don’t,” Zeman confirmed with a sigh of relief.

“Oh…” Albin lowered his head in disappointment.

He hadn’t given up on becoming the Holy Son.

Although he knew becoming the Holy Son might result in the possession of an evil god, even if he didn’t become the Holy Son, someone else would.

Now he had the Spear of the Gods, and once he became the Holy Son and did what he wanted to do, he might be able to destroy the evil god, so it seemed like becoming the Holy Son was the better option.

Hmm… maybe he should try again next year?

He thought to himself.

He quietly thought to himself.

At a waystation, they learned the latest news from the Gold and Silver Flower Guild.

It was said that the underground palace of the God of Wine’s temple had been attacked by an unknown magical creature, many priests had died, and the high priest had gone missing. This year’s sacrifice was also confirmed to have failed, but the temple had suppressed the news, and the upcoming carnival would still take place as scheduled.

Upon hearing the news of the high priest’s disappearance, Zeman frowned.

Latu definitely wasn’t dead. Why would he go missing?

When Albin heard about the attack by the magical creature in the underground palace and the deaths, he sighed in relief and patted his chest.

“Papa, we left just in time! Otherwise, we would’ve run into such dangerous creatures!”

If his father had gotten hurt looking for him, he would’ve blamed himself.

Dangerous magical creature Zeman: “Hmm, good thing we left early.”

Albin asked again, “What about Margot? The other candidate. And what happened to the bones on the altar in the underground palace? How are they being dealt with?”

The carriage driver from the Gold and Silver Flower Guild clearly didn’t know about these little matters, but he kindly said, “If you’d like to know, I can help you ask.”

Albin quickly asked him for help.

“I also have some other things to ask of the uncles.” He started counting on his fingers, “Tell the landlady that her son is among those bones. She’ll definitely want to bring him home! Also, Romani’s parents, together with the priests, sold children, and what happened to Onaya’s sister, I wonder? Their father is a terrible man who beats children—he must be arrested…”

These were all memories he had seen in the blood wine pool.

The coachman was dumbfounded, but these were not big issues and could be easily dealt with. He wrote them down on paper and sent the message back to the guild.

They rested at the waystation for the night.

Perhaps because he had recalled too many memories from the blood wine pool during the day, Albin suddenly woke up in the middle of the night.

“Papa…” He shivered, searching for the reassuring embrace of his father, but he couldn’t find Zeman anywhere.

Had Papa gone out again in the middle of the night?

He was puzzled. After waiting in the room for a while, as dawn began to break, Zeman still hadn’t returned.

He changed his clothes and went outside to search, asking the coachman and others in the inn, but no one had seen his father.

Just as he was about to lose hope, Zeman returned, covered in the chilly morning dew, perfectly fine.

Seeing Albin up early, a flash of surprise crossed his eyes.

“Papa, where did you go?” Albin asked with tears in his eyes, rushing into Zeman’s arms, holding him tightly and saying, “I’ve been looking for you for so long…”

Ze Man remained silent for a long time.

He couldn’t tell Albin that his father was no longer able to maintain a human form.

He gently stroked Albin’s head.

“Sorry.”

This couldn’t go on any longer. This time, he had managed to avoid detection in the dark, but perhaps one day, in front of Albin, he would transform into a monster, lose his sanity, and harm the child.

He didn’t want that to happen. If Albin found out the truth and had to kill his father, it would be too cruel for him.

He also couldn’t let this child die because of him.

He had to leave.

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