Chapter 98: God
She gazed at Orochi, who used to be her subordinate.
He submissively followed Aokiji, who had forcibly taken him as an underling, as they departed.
Neither of them spared her a single glance!
Psykos's eyelids twitched with rage.
Her right eyelid spasmed and drooped, forming an expression of distorted and intense emotion with mismatched eyes.
✧o_O
Aokiji wrapped Orochi in flame clouds and landed in the Ghost Town.
The residents of the surrounding blocks didn't find it strange even when they saw the giant Azure Dragon that Aokiji had transformed into landing in the Ghost Town.
"Lord Aokiji is probably going to deal with some Monsters."
A similar thought flashed through the minds of the residents in unison.
They sighed with relief, thinking how wonderful it was to live in a city where a hero resided, and then went back to their busy lives.
"Aokiji-sama, welcome back."
Mosquito Girl was dressed in professional OL attire and wearing glasses.
Standing in the middle of the street, she greeted Aokiji in a mature and elegant manner.
"...Did the blood in the fridge go bad? Or did you suck some fake blood?"
"It's neither!"
Mosquito Girl's facade shattered instantly.
The mature career woman style she was putting on vanished without a trace.
She glanced casually at the silent Orochi behind Aokiji and didn't take him seriously.
She leaned close to Aokiji and whispered:
"This is a secretary's outfit. I'm Lord Aokiji's secretary now~"
"I'm very capable, and my salary requirements aren't high—just a bowl of steaming hot thick porridge will do~"
"Take a break first, I have serious business," Aokiji said, pushing her face away.
"I already have someone in mind for a secretary; I have other uses for your brain."
"Eh?! Which bitch is trying to steal the secretary position from me!!"
Mosquito Girl shouted in frustration, waving her fists.
She was beautiful and smart; why couldn't she be the secretary!
It was originally just a roleplay title, but Mosquito Girl started to take it to heart with annoyance.
Unlike a seemingly ordinary scene of jealousy,
the dense, dangerous aura emanating from Mosquito Girl's body
caused the silent Orochi to look over with a slight hint of surprise.
This feeling... she's also reached Dragon Level?
From the way they interacted, she clearly seemed to be just Aokiji's lover.
His organization is indeed not simple.
What is their goal?
By the way, Aokiji doesn't seem to avoid Monsters... Orochi silently noted this information.
"Alright, I'll find you later. I'm taking the new colleague down for some business."
Aokiji pointed to the giant hole that cut through the entire street.
It was the passage created when he went to procure the Subterranean King figurine last time.
"Fine," Mosquito Girl had no choice but to give up.
"You must come, okay? I bought a lot of new clothes!"
They jumped down the giant hole.
After a period of free-falling,
Aokiji and Orochi landed in a cavern that used to be the gathering area for the Subterranean Clan.
Is there something special here?
The doubt had just risen in Orochi's mind
when Aokiji's command reached his ears.
"In the direction I'm pointing, keep digging down."
Orochi didn't understand, but he did as he was told.
He did have other thoughts in his heart, but the current situation didn't allow him to resist for the time being.
Rumble—
Rumble—
The underground rock layers were continuously pierced through.
The dragon-like biological tissues on Orochi's body destroyed the rock layers with ease.
After digging to a certain depth,
Aokiji had him slightly correct the direction and continue digging.
After a while longer,
they finally reached their destination.
It was an underground space where scalding lava flowed.
It wasn't a naturally formed cavern space.
Those ancient, primitive stairs and the altar spoke of a legacy left behind by an ancient civilization.
Aokiji dropped down from the rock wall above.
Ice formed beneath his feet, cooling and covering the lava as he walked onto the altar.
"Come and look at this."
Orochi looked at what he was pointing at.
"This is...?!"
The patterns on the ancient stone wall entered Orochi's eyes.
At the very bottom of the mural were patterns representing ordinary creatures and humans.
The images were crude, yet they depicted the posture of humans kneeling in prayer and offering sacrifices quite vividly.
They were offering various creatures as sacrifices, even including human children.
And at the very top, that massive dark shadow... Orochi gazed at it with intense focus.
It was very different from his current form.
But that dark shadow in the mural, with the dragon-like biological tissues extending from its body, was almost explicitly saying—
—this is his future self!
Being worshipped, receiving sacrifices.
Him becoming a god!
On both sides of the mural, complex ancient characters were inscribed.
Incredibly, Orochi found that he could actually read their meaning!
Aokiji's tone was leisurely, like a narrator in a story:
"Our god will cross vast stretches of time to be resurrected on the surface."
"The method of resurrection is to offer a suitable sacrifice upon this altar."
Aokiji reached out and touched the bowl-shaped vessel beneath the mural, which was supported by a coiled centipede base.
In a congratulatory tone, he said to Orochi:
"Wow, prophesied by an ancient mural to become a god. Congratulations, congratulations."
Orochi remained silent for a long time.
He confirmed that this wasn't a fake or a forgery.
It was a truly ancient and primitive mural.
He finally moved his gaze away from the mural.
"...So, you learned of the prophecy."
"You want to eliminate me before the prophecy comes true."
"Or, do you want to submit to the god's command in advance?"
Orochi's tone was lofty; knowing he was the god in the prophecy, he couldn't help but become more arrogant.
Even if he couldn't defeat Aokiji right now and might be wiped out,
this precisely proved that he indeed possessed the potential to become a god!
Aokiji transformed directly into a dragon-man.
He grabbed the horn on Orochi's head and slammed it violently against the mural!
"Call you fat and you really start huffing, huh?!"
"Look higher up."
Orochi clutched his face. He thought Aokiji was about to kill him, and the energy in his body began to boil.
But hearing Aokiji's words, he instinctively looked up.
The rock covering the top of the mural shook and shattered under the violent impact just now, with large chunks peeling off.
Only then was the complete mural fully revealed.
Above the previous image.
Above that future version of him.
A giant, distorted, and profound humanoid figure stood tall!
Constructed from countless strangely spiraling lines, even just as an image carved on a stone wall, it emitted an incredibly terrifying and oppressive aura!
The image representing Orochi appeared to be nothing more than a pet cowering at its feet!
Or rather, he was just one of the sacrifices!
"Oh my, isn't this the Orochi who's going to become a god? Why the long face?" Aokiji asked knowingly.
"Oh dear, my bad, my bad for ruining your beautiful dream. It's okay, you can go back to dreaming about being a god."
Crimson energy surged and pulsed from Orochi's body.
This wasn't some embarrassing display of social death, but the manifestation of the heavy, turbulent emotions inside him!
How... how is this possible—!!
Even he is just a sacrifice for this giant humanoid creature?!!
Could it be... that He is the true God... Orochi retreated with incredulous steps, the intense shock causing him to lose control of his body, and he missed his footing on the steps behind him.
After countless near-death experiments, a body that had evolved through metamorphosis actually tumbled down the stairs in a pathetic manner!
With his strength, he should have been able to adjust his posture at will, yet he rolled all the way into the lava!
It was evident that Orochi's surging thoughts were so overwhelming that he couldn't even manage to control his body.
Orochi was half-submerged in the lava.
This silence was even more deathly than before.
"You've thought it through, right?"
His head slowly lifted, looking at Aokiji as he spoke again.
On the altar, Aokiji sat on the edge of the steps, propping his head with one hand, and said plainly:
"If you don't want to become the sacrifice in the prophecy, then offer your loyalty and become my executive."