Chapter 53
A light shone through the surroundings with Eryke the Fourth as the source, covering everything around the place.
He felt warm energy that was circulating in his body. This energy felt so pure and untainted, almost as if he had gained nirvana itself!
All the pain washed away, and he felt like he was in heaven, a place of warmth and peacefulness. Even the sound of the rain completely stopped.
Eryke the Fourth felt like he was reaching nirvana.
At some point in time, the rain stopped, and the villagers appeared outside, slowly but surely, with a hint of vigilance in their eyes, their pupils focused on the destruction around Eryke the Fourth.
“Are they dead?” one of them muttered.
“I thought this old man was creepy and was up to no good,” a woman muttered while feeling a shiver. “And it seems like my guess was correct. Luckily, that young hero saved us all.”
“But is that young hero dead?”
“There is no wound on his body. It seems like he should be fine?”
“Maybe he is just exhausted?”
“What should we do then?”
There were questions after questions flying across the air, but no one moved with anxiety and anxiousness.
These were just ordinary people who wanted to just live their life, and now they might have fallen into a conflict of higher power they couldn’t possibly comprehend, which naturally made them afraid.
But at that moment, the clear sky formed black clouds again, and a single lightning bolt struck down like the wrath of heaven and hit Eryke the Fourth.
A strange sound resounded throughout the place, the light blinding almost everyone present.
It only subsided after ten minutes.
When the villagers opened their eyes, they looked at a smaller version of Eryke the Fourth and were stunned on the spot.
He looked like an eight-year-old child rather than a young adult.
“This… what is happening?”
Panic took hold in the crowd. They had the urge to leave this village almost immediately.
At this time, the galloping of horses resounded from far away, growing louder by the minute.
The elder of the village tightened his brows while scratching his chin:
“I feel like I am forgetting something.”
He narrowed his eyes. This familiar horse galloping, he felt like he had heard it just a little while ago.
“Wait, it’s the Demonic Cult,” the elder called out, and a strange silence took hold.
This village was under the Demonic Cult. This was true, but in actuality, they never helped out with anything. The villagers had to give up a portion of their harvest, as well as new children to send to the demonic caves every year, which was terrifying in itself.
But such was the condition of living in this world, otherwise if they didn’t have the name of the Demonic Cult behind them then their village would have been ravaged by bandits long ago.
“We have the harvest, but who should go?”
“I don’t want my child to face such cruel treatment.”
The children were tightly clutching their parents with their trembling bodies.
The Demonic Cave, as the name suggests, is a terrifying place where they treat humans as insects and let them fight against each other to the death until the strongest insect wins and becomes selected.
It was a cruel and bloody place, and the chance of survival was very thin and low.
At this moment, everyone’s gaze drew toward the child-like form of Eryke the Fourth.
A group of horsemen quickly reached the village, led by a man wearing a white devil’s mask.
The villagers were already there to greet him as they bowed in respect.
The leading man didn’t even glance at them, instead asked with a cold tone:
“Where is the harvest?”
The villagers quickly parted, revealing grains and fruit packed in ten bags.
One of the horsemen got off his horse and strode forward to check all the items, nodding his head to verify that everything was sufficient.
“Not bad enough,” the white devil-masked man said. “What about the child?”
The villagers parted again to reveal the sleeping figure of a child.
The white devil only spoke lightly: “Isn’t he too young?”
“Please have mercy, milord. We can find another child soon,” the elder of the village hurriedly kneeled to the ground.
“It’s fine. If you want your child to die faster, then, it is not my problem.”
The child was promptly escorted toward the carriage, and they set off to return to the Demonic Cult.
Seeing their figures leaving, the villagers celebrated in joy and exclamations:
“We did it, Elder! We didn’t need to sacrifice our children!”
While everyone was celebrating, the elder had some doubts in his heart…
What if that being survived the Demonic Cave?
***
Eryke the Fourth felt peaceful and calm, but just then a cold bucket of water splashed on him.
He abruptly stood up to find himself in a dark cave.
There was only a faint source of light coming from the candle on the table, and behind the table sat an old woman who was busy scribbling something with a quill pen.
“What is your name, brat?”
He froze on the spot, as if he were in a hypnotic trance, compelled to open his mouth. But just then, a slight tingle spread around his body.
The hypnotic trance immediately fell off, and he was free again. For a moment, his brain was rapidly processing all his thoughts.
And he felt like it was alright to obey for now, seeing that his life wasn’t in any danger at the moment.
But he couldn’t tell her that his name was Eryke the Fourth, right? So he came up with a name.
This world felt like it was in a Korean setting, and seeing the Demonic Cult, a funny thought came into his heart.
Eryke the Third spoke, still seemingly in a hypnotic trance:
“My name is Chun Ma.”
“Chun Ma, huh?” The woman only glanced at him and murmured his details:
“You don’t seem to have any cultivation, nor do you have an established inner core. Your muscles have not been strengthened by martial arts, and your strength is also weak. You have been assigned the lowest room.”
After saying this, the old woman waved her hand, and a mist wafted into his nose. The next moment, Chun Ma’s eyes grew hazy, and he helplessly fell to the ground.
An unknown amount of time passed before he was finally able to open his eyes. A chill clung to his body, and he realized he was crammed into a very small space, twisted into an uncomfortable position.
Groggily, he blinked against the darkness. The only light came from a flickering candle.
“What’s happening?” Throughout this entire time, Chun Ma felt completely and utterly flabbergasted. The only time he was even conscious was when he decided his name.
“Anyway, let’s check my body. Huh, the core I established in my body has disappeared. Oh well, I can gain that pretty quickly, but I still retain my strength from my titles. But why do I feel so lightheaded?”
He raised his hand, only to see small, tiny hands like that of a baby:
“Huh!?”