Chương 112: The Other Deity

Susanne stood at the edge of the deep pit. Below, thousands upon thousands of Ratkin were working inside, but what exactly were they digging? As far as she could see, nothing special was being extracted aside from clay. Just what was the purpose of this digging? Slowly, Susanne felt the scarf around her neck fluttering in the wind. Catching the scarf, she examined it at close range. The scarf did protect her; the Deity's curse did not work on her at all.

Although the item worked, it could not protect her from being restrained by the golden chains. Should she really fight and defeat the Deity to remove the curse on these Ratkin? However, could she even fight head-on when the Deity possessed enormous speed and golden chains that could decapitate her at any moment? Just as she was thinking about how this Trial was going to end, she heard a whoosh sound.

Turning around, she saw the Deity dash out of the Shrine building at a blinding speed, leaving a trail of white light in her wake. As soon as the Deity came outside, she looked around. Upon seeing every Ratkin kneeling on their knees before Susanne, her face immediately twisted with anger. To think these lesser beings were kneeling before someone other than her.

"In the name of the Soil and Sapling, I curse you all to serve beneath me for eternity!" the Deity declared with raging anger. In the next second, a golden light started to emit on the collars of all the Ratkin. The Ratkins' howls echoed through the deep pit as they cried.

"Why are you doing this?" Susanne asked, looking directly at the Deity. The Deity, however, did not answer, her face still ugly and twisted with rage. Susanne just wanted to know the purpose behind torturing these people to dig out this pit. As far as she could see, there was no purpose to it; there were no treasures, gems, or valuable minerals being mined in this pit by these Ratkin.

"You. I may not be able to make you my slave, but I will kill you in a second," the Deity finally said after enough time had passed.

"I know that, but before you kill me, tell me the reason for this cruel act," Susanne asked.

"What could you achieve by doing this to these people?"

"A reason, you ask!" A mocking laugh echoed in the dark, descending pit as the Deity spoke.

"Why would I need a reason for any act? For I am a Goddess. I can do what I want. Who is going to ask me why?" the Deity gave a smile while saying this.

"That is just plain cruel, and you call yourself a Goddess. That title does not fit your actions." Hearing this reason, Susanne simply shook her head at the cruelty of the world. It was just like this everywhere; when one had power over others, they did what they wanted. They needed no reason for their acts. They simply did what they wanted. Was this how nature designed the beings of this world, or was there simply no design at all?

"Very well, tell me one thing. How did you become a Rat yourself?" Susanne asked, as this situation was nagging at her heart. There were plenty of things she could not understand, and one of those things was who this woman was. As far as she could tell, this Trial world did not have humans, so Susanne did not know where she came from. However, there was another thought: this human was not a human at all, but just some random rat that had turned into a human with the power of the Golden Crown.

"Why take this form of a human instead of your natural form, a Rat?!" Susanne questioned out loud, her voice echoing in the pit.

"Why make your own kind into something that is not natural? What have you gotten by turning your brethren into slaves?" Susanne's words continued to echo.

"What are you blabbering about?" The Deity's face shifted through different emotions, as if what Susanne was saying was true.

"Did you need a treasure to break your curse of turning back into a Rat again? Was that the reason you needed a treasure that could cure you?" Seeing this expression, Susanne asked. She did not think the Treasure that the Forest Ratkin people sent to retrieve only contained a bunch of bark drawings. When this Rat obtained the crown, it found the ability to turn itself into a human, turning all the other rats into humanoid Ratkin as well.

However, somehow, the crown's power was not enough to maintain that human figure. She would turn back into a Rat again, losing all the power of the crown. Fearing being killed by the Ratkin, she must have run away from the Shrine. When the curse faded, she would secretly come back, obtain the crown again, and rule the Ratkin people once more. The Trial began when she ran away from the Shrine. At that time, Natalie's consciousness became trapped inside her, and eventually, she met Susanne.

The consciousness of the original Deity was suppressed by Natalie's, and vice versa. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. With the Trial's rules dictating that Guided Participants must help the Trial Takers, Natalie naturally led Susanne through the secret passage. This was the same passage the original Deity used to escape from the Ratkin whenever she turned back into a Rat.

When they finally reached the Shrine, the original Rat's consciousness fought back and tried to abandon Susanne. However, Natalie's consciousness fought hard, finally helping Susanne escape from the empty Main Hall and directly leading her to the Ritualistic Item. The final push in Natalie's battle of consciousness allowed Susanne to obtain the [Chaos]. This gave her a chance to confront the self-proclaimed Goddess, who, in reality, was just some Rat trying to dominate and rule over other Rats.

As soon as Susanne mentioned the Treasure, her hands and legs were bound, subduing her to her knees. She had expected this outcome. In fact, she was surprised the Deity had not done this the moment she came outside.

"What do you know about the Treasure?" The Deity closed the distance and stood in front of Susanne, looking down at her.

"I know where the Treasure is. If you want the Treasure, do what I say," Susanne demanded. In the next second, the chains tightened, and a cry escaped Susanne's mouth.

"Tell me where the Treasure is!" the Deity screamed near her face.

"Do what I say, and you will get the Treasure," Susanne said through the pain, gritting her teeth. Hearing this, the Deity's eyes shifted towards the bag Susanne was wearing, and the corners of her mouth raised. She suddenly ripped the bag away and rummaged through its contents. However, all she could take out were a few edible roots and nuts. Seeing that the Treasure she was searching for was not in the bag, the Deity's face became enraged.

"You know what? I will kill you and every one of these inferior beings. Then, I will create my own world with this," the Deity declared, pointing at the crown.

"First, you die!" A predatory smile appeared.

"Do you know what I learned from the day I awakened? People who have power have the authority to say anything and expect others to obey those orders," Susanne said with great effort.

"For once, I really, really want to see and know what those people's reactions are when their authority comes to an end."

"Now, I want you to see how your authority crumbles and then what you will do."

"You worthless inferior being, I will rip you into a million pieces!" Saying so, the golden crown shimmered, and the chains started to move into the ground, tightening around her limbs. However, the Deity, who was enjoying Susanne's suffering, suddenly saw a change in her face. Instead of pain and crying, she saw an insouciant expression. She was supposed to be suffering as her hands were about to be ripped off, yet she wore a completely casual expression.

The Deity moved her eyes from Susanne's face toward the golden chains binding her. What she saw there made her eyes bulge out. The golden chain that bound her had eroded into nothingness. At the wrist where the chain cuff had confined her, a mist-like particle was now swirling. Once she realized her attack was broken, she readied herself for another attack. However, she suddenly felt a booming pain land on her stomach. With an explosion, the Deity was thrown away from the spot. Shoosh!

Before Susanne could even stand up, the Deity dashed toward her. Chains erupted from the ground, wrapping around Susanne's neck to strangle her. Yet, in the next second, the chain turned into red misty particles. Meanwhile, a fireball was already moving toward the Deity, who stood a few feet away. But with the speed the Deity was moving, the fireball did not even have a chance to land. Every Ratkin in the vicinity of the pit watched this battle between the two Deities.

They had all heard their conversation, especially Susanne, whom they had never seen before, suddenly advocating for their freedom. As far as they could see, both possessed the same human figure. That was one of the reasons they had knelt before Susanne, thinking she was their Deity. But when the original Deity came barging out and cursed them all again, they were shocked to the core. How could there be two Deities? They only knew about one Deity. They did not know what was going on.

They simply stood there in the dark, descending evening, watching the two Deities battle each other as a golden chain and red misty particles clashed. Meanwhile, Susanne hurled another fireball at the Deity, which was easily evaded by her speed. Currently, she did not know how she was going to defeat her. Although the mist particles stopped the golden chains, she did not think doing just that would defeat her. Her skills did not even land. She had to think of something before her stamina drained.

She needed to find a way to deal with the speed of the Deity. For that, her skills would not help much. Thus, she decided to use these strange misty particles. If she could use this at full potential, she had a chance, but the bad news was she did not have a speck of control over this mist. Whatever it did to protect her was done on its own; she did not even feel its presence. So, she decided to stall for time and try to take control of this [Chaos]. If she failed, then she was bound to get killed eventually.

"Cecil, please meet Coburn. He was one of the first Summons I obtained. We came a long way."

"It is nice to meet you, Coburn. I am glad and envious of you for accompanying Sire from the start."...

"Thanks."...

"Do you understand what Coburn is saying?"

"No, Sire. Coburn did not say anything. I just understood him through our mutual connection of being Summons."

"Oh, that is great. Please convey that I am very thankful for his services."...

"Coburn says it is his pleasure. He wants to serve you forever."

"Wow, I am very glad he feels that way. Thanks, Coburn."...

"Cecil, what if we reach the Safe Spot and a Trial suddenly activates, sending us somewhere? A few of my Summons are still out there hunting for a special item. Only Coburn has been summoned back."

"As I said, Sire, I completely lack knowledge about it. I suggest you dismiss all the Summons. If we are not sent anywhere else, we can deploy the Summons again. Being careful will not hurt anyone."

"That is a great suggestion. I do not want to take any risks."...

"We finally reached the underground Safe Spot. Should we enter directly?"

"Just for safety, dismiss us and enter alone."

"Oh, okay. I will see you in a bit."

"I wish you all the best."

"Thanks."......

"Mhm, let us see what awaits me in this Safe Spot."