Clockwork Bride

Page 104

Perhaps because he had seen these demi-humans do something to poor Terasque in his divination visions—suddenly, Hayden realized what had happened and was horrified:

"Wait, did you eat your own local deity?!"

113: Divine Communion

Eat God

This concept is not particularly strange in ancient land god beliefs.

Hayden studied some ancient myths about the land and agriculture. Studying these old myths was not taboo, because almost all of these old gods had been killed by the new gods.

The new gods will hide the details of their own mythology, letting only a small group of people know about it. However, capitalists are generally too lazy to spend too many resources to hide information about old enemies that they have already defeated and crushed.

This is why Hayden was able to cast spells using the remnants of those dead Old Gods—but let's leave that aside for now.

The key point is that the sorcery or ritualistic practice of "eating the god" is actually quite common in ancient mythological religions. Long before the rise of new gods, thousands of years ago in ancient Africa, there were sorcery rituals involving the consumption of gods. Hayden once read about an ancient Egyptian stone tablet with strange incantations written in hieroglyphic hieroglyphs, which roughly translated to something like this:

"The Pharaoh lived off every single god."

"Eat their internal organs"

"The Pharaoh was a cannibalistic being who ate both humans and gods."

Cannibalism and the consumption of gods were both considered natural cultural traditions in that era. Gods ate humans, gods ate gods, humans ate humans, and sometimes humans even ate gods. Ancient warriors consumed the corpses of their enemies as a form of witchcraft ritual to draw power from them. Ancient sons ate the corpses of their fathers as a religious ritual to inherit the life force and authority passed down from their ancestors.

Such witchcraft-like traditions still exist in modern society, although modern people don't eat human flesh as much anymore. However, many people still believe in the principle of "you are what you eat."

Besides these, there were also some ancient Indian ascetics. Their logic for cannibalism was perhaps the strangest: they hoped to transcend the boundaries of life and death. They ate human flesh in order to transcend all notions of right and wrong, life and death; they wanted to see through all the illusions of humanity and the world, to see the true nature of reality, and thus achieve Nirvana.

In ancient times, when people performed these rituals, some would even use the bones of the deceased to make tableware—"I'm going to use your skull as a bowl!"

Even the ancient gods' act of eating humans was a significant religious ritual. Wouldn't the lives of those eaten by the gods be absorbed into the gods' immortal life?

So the reverse is also true.

In ancient Canaanite mythology, which is the Palestinian region of West Asia, there was a great god who symbolized abundant life force and sent down wind and rain, named Baal-hadad.

The ancient Canaanite gods ate like mortals. People often offered various male cattle and sheep to the gods, and human sacrifices were not uncommon.

However, after the god of death killed Baal-hadda, tore his body apart, ground his flesh with a stone mill, and scattered it across the earth, Baal-hadda's life force brought about a bountiful harvest of crops. By eating these crops, people could share in the life and power of the god.

By the way, Baal Hadda was resurrected six months later in the spring, so there's no need to worry too much.

Thinking about it this way, Terasque's current situation is not much different from that of the Old Gods.

While cannibalism and the consumption of gods may be driven by the desire for better survival, they are not merely acts of survival. Whether it is cannibalism or the consumption of gods, these are sacred religious rituals.

Mortals gain power by consuming the flesh and blood of gods, uniting themselves under the banner of faith—a sacrament of intimate bondage. By sharing the flesh and blood of the same deity, believers become one with a part of the god, and similarly, believers become one with one another! Eeya! Eeya!

The above is the core concept of religious cannibalism.

——Well, let’s get back to the topic.

What kind of demi-humans are these in front of Hayden now?

Regardless of the reason, they are now eyeing Hayden with hostility, preventing him from entering their tribe.

Therefore, Hayden must continue to play his current role well.

“I came here to see my fellow countrymen and discuss with them the crisis that we all face in the wasteland. Who would have thought that you would kill your own land god!”

He shook his head, bared his teeth, and revealed the massive, snow-white wolf's fangs, which were larger than a human's.

"How dare you devour His flesh and blood, and blaspheme His soul! I will surely bring you the same retribution!"

It must be admitted that Hayden is quite adept at improvising and acting. Seeing that the giant wolf god was actually so angry, these demi-humans were finally left somewhat bewildered.

"Great Wolf God, please calm your anger! We did not kill the God Ancestor!"

A demi-human quickly offered an explanation, which was exactly what Hayden wanted.

"Knowing that his days were numbered, the Divine Ancestor commanded us to eat His precious flesh and blood after His death, so that His power might live on in our lives!"

See, acting is very useful, isn't it?

Ultimately, this time it was a rare opportunity for Hayden to have the upper hand, and thus he seized the initiative.

(They didn't kill the land god; did the land god order them to eat his corpse before he died?)

Upon hearing the demi-human's explanation, Hayden immediately began to think quickly in his mind.

(This is indeed more reasonable, at least more reasonable than them actually killing the land god.)

The combat power of the land gods varies greatly. Top-tier land gods include some of the old gods who fought against the new gods of capital four hundred years ago. They are stronger than a small number of war gods and require a large army of gods to besiege them.

The weakest land god is, frankly speaking, just a relatively strong fairy.

...But they are, after all, gods, immortal beings who have transcended their original lifespan in some way and possess immense power. Primitive humans could hunt wild beasts with only spears, bows, arrows, and some crude magic, but they could never kill a land god transformed from a wild beast.

However, now that these demi-humans have eaten the land god, the situation is different.

Hayden now understood, so he could see it more clearly; he could see the special energy flowing through these demi-humans. They had consumed the flesh and blood of their own gorilla land god, and thus had indeed obtained a small portion of the land god's power.

If they were to truly fight to the death, the power of the Beast God would flow in their flesh and blood. Although Hayden didn't think he would lose—his mercenaries were all elite warriors, he himself had transformed into a Beast God using the energy of the ley lines, and Angela was there to keep him in check, so he couldn't possibly lose even once in ten battles—he figured it was better to avoid trouble.

Modern society doesn't treat these demi-humans as human beings, and even the mercenaries behind Hayden don't really consider them human. However, seeing these people ravaged by environmental pollution, their bodies mutated into grotesque forms, Hayden still felt sorry for them. They shouldn't be killed unless absolutely necessary.

If not necessary.

"That's it."

Therefore, Hayden the giant wolf deliberately softened his tone, as if he wasn't so angry anymore.

"Then why is your local earth god dying so soon?"

The demi-humans looked at each other, and finally decided that there was no need to hide this, so they answered directly: "About two hundred months ago, two evil dragons attacked from the other side of the mountain. The God Ancestor fought against them to protect us. Although he eventually drove them away, he was seriously injured and could not recover."

Two hundred months?

Hayden quickly did the mental calculation. Two hundred months, that's roughly sixteen or seventeen years...

……ah?

Seventeen years ago?

This place... seventeen years ago...

If Hayden hadn't turned into a canine, he would be sweating bullets.

Didn't the mayor of Shuainan Town say before that Peacock King and Karen hunted in this area seventeen years ago and killed a serpent dragon?

Didn't that town mayor say before that since seventeen years ago, these demi-humans have rarely brought over useful materials to trade?

So this is what happened in the end!?

Is everything really connected in this way?!

---------------------------

Finally, after much persuasion and adopting the demeanor of a wolf god, Hayden managed to convince these demi-humans to return to their tribe and discuss whether Hayden could be allowed to enter and speak with their leader.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Hayden also turned to the other mercenaries and explained the current situation and the matter of cannibalism, witchcraft, and religion.

"Master, I think you'd better not continue into that demi-human tribe."

This was Eric's first reaction after listening to Hayden's explanation.

"Now you also have the appearance of a beast god. What if the demi-people want to lure you into a trap and kill you, and devour you as well?"

Hayden scratched his head with his wolf paw, but didn't seem that nervous: "I don't think these demi-humans really have a way to kill me and chop me up and eat me. Even if there is a trap, our regenerative ability in wolf form is extremely strong, and we won't die even if we are finely chopped into mincemeat. As for the others who haven't used beast transformation magic, they should prioritize their own safety."

With Angela's life force support, there are almost no ways to deactivate werewolf cells in their beast form. Silver can't, and neither can fire. Hayden conducted experiments at home last month and only found that a high concentration of strong acid could kill werewolf cells supported by Angela's life force, and even then, the werewolf had to be chopped into pieces before being thrown into the acid pool.

It sounds like this is invincible, but in reality, it still has many weaknesses. Terasque's regenerative ability is even stronger, yet he still gets captured and had his tendons and bones pulled out, doesn't he? Last month, ten werewolves swarmed him, but they were all blown to the head by the Tengu Ninja, lying on the ground waiting to regenerate for hours, by which time it was too late.

Having powerful physical regeneration only increases the margin for error in actual combat. The weak may not be able to defeat the strong with this alone.

However, Hayden and his group are the real powerhouses now. It's incredibly easy for the strong to bully the weak with this kind of regenerative ability; it's almost impossible for them to lose.

...Forget it, let's not make any rash statements and get down to business.

Soon the demi-humans returned to report that their tribe was willing to welcome the Wolf God. However, they made one condition: the village was small and cramped, unable to accommodate the great beast god's wolf pack, so they asked the Wolf God to bring only a few attendants.

Hayden agreed.

He let the other mercenaries rest outside, only taking Angela and Eric with him—with such manpower, what was there to fear about the demi-humans causing chaos?

The demi-humans were surprised to see the wolf god bring in two humans, but they didn't ask any further questions.

So Angela finally saw for the first time what this so-called demi-human village looked like.

In short, this place resembled a filthy junkyard, except the buildings were constructed from bones, animal hides, and shells. The air was thick with the stench of burnt flesh and foul body odor, lingering for a long time. More than twenty low-lying houses were arranged in a rough circle, surrounding a huge mass of flesh and entrails in the center of the village.

That lump was Terasque's heart.

Every time the enormous heart, bigger than a small house, regenerated something useful, like bones, several strangely shaped demi-humans would come and dig them out with bone knives. Other demi-humans would process these materials, turning them into usable or edible things. Even Hayden, let alone Angela, frowned at the sight.

That's just too tragic.

"Is Terasque still edible?" Eric wondered after seeing it. "Isn't it supposed to regenerate forever? Won't it burst its stomach?"

“I haven’t researched this, but if every piece of meat could regenerate an entire Terasque, the company wouldn’t be unable to clone it. There must be another problem.”

Hayden muttered to himself.

"Anyway, I don't think eating this will be safe. Angela, please don't give me any Terasque meat."

Even Angela shook her head: "It might be suitable for making medicine, but it's probably not appropriate as food."

As soon as she finished speaking, Hayden and the others saw a bloated old demi-human emerge from a bone house. He had very little hair, his teeth protruded like a rat's, and both his eyes were covered with white film, clearly blinded by cataracts.

Another demi-human helped him to Terasque's heart. Before Hayden could even understand what was happening—the demi-human drew his bone knife and plunged it into the old demi-human's chest!

Fortunately, Hayden and Eric were both mercenaries who were used to fighting and bloodshed, and they were also stunned at this moment.

However, the other demi-human's actions were not yet finished. He turned the bone knife and dug out the old demi-human's heart, stuffing the blood-stained heart into the folds of Terasque's heart, into Terasque's ever-regenerating flesh, so that the old demi-human's heart would be absorbed by that flesh.

While doing this, he also loudly sang some sentences in their local dialect, gesturing wildly.

Hayden didn't even need to explain; even Eric could tell that this was some kind of ritualistic sacrifice.

“Great wolf, welcome. Our little tribe has nothing to offer you unless you are willing to share the flesh and blood of this new god with us.”

Another voice came from behind them.

It was a robust, demi-human man who was clearly the leader of the tribe. He was covered in thick, black hair, and his left foot was obviously congenitally deformed, withered and shrunken, but his right arm was exceptionally thick and strong, like that of a giant.

The demi-human chieftain bowed respectfully to Hayden, neither servile nor arrogant.

When Hayden heard this, he turned and looked again at the heart of Terasque in the center of the village, and immediately understood.

These demi-humans already had a culture of eating gods. They captured Terasque two weeks ago and ate him, while also worshipping him as a new god.

Then, they would take out the hearts of the elderly in their tribe who were no longer worthy of living, and possibly other things, and offer them as sacrifices to Terasque.

They gain life by eating God's flesh and blood, and at the same time, they sacrifice themselves as God's offerings.

This is the tradition of eating gods and being eaten by gods.

"Two hundred months ago, the Divine Ancestor was critically wounded and on the verge of death while battling two evil dragons. He passed on his power and knowledge to us through his flesh and blood, allowing us to inherit life!"

The demi-human chieftain continued to shout,

“Great wolf, the storm of calamity is coming! Its prelude has arrived! But we can call upon the past lives of our ancestors, and we have already received the new gifts of God! Therefore, we fear neither you nor the storm of calamity!”

"For our God is with us!"

114: We have nowhere to retreat!

Generally speaking, Terasque's flesh is inedible.

It's not that eating it will cause new Terasque to grow out of your stomach; that's impossible, otherwise the whole world would be full of Terasque by now. I don't know if that's a good thing or not.

However, terasquerax is clearly not something you can just roast and stuff into your stomach. That's why Abigail frowned and said it sounded dangerous when Hayden told her he wanted to try using terasquerax to make medicine.

If you're just taking bones, shells, claws, and the like from Terasque as raw materials, that's slightly better. But if you were to actually devour its cells, you'd generally need several lives to survive. The immortal Terasque cells would treat any other life forms that consume them as foreign objects.

In general, the immune rejection reaction in organ transplantation is that the recipient's immune system attacks the transplanted organ as if it were a virus or bacteria. However, the flesh and blood of Terasque is the opposite; it attacks the person who eats it from the inside and kills them mercilessly.

Hayden was a very confident man, but he also felt that he needed to collect some cell samples of Terasquith first, and then go back to do some alchemical experiments to determine whether this thing was actually usable.

So when Hayden saw that these demi-humans were actually able to eat Terasque's flesh and even perform a blood sacrifice ritual, digging out the old demi-human's heart and stuffing it into Terasque's flesh, he immediately understood:

This is a ritual magic.