Chapter 369: Reenacting the Myth of Melqart's Death
This was Sardinia, an island rich with Phoenician ruins and countless legends.
In the myths established by the Phoenicians, they worshipped a deity associated with locusts—creatures that served as his attendants.
He was the God of Storms, the God of the Sea, the God of the Sun, and also the God of Life who governed both harvest and desolation.
The plague of locusts that devoured crops and brought barrenness to the land was his punishment for those who defied his divine authority.
This god was the ancient king of the Phoenician pantheon—Melqart!
As for why he was so enraged by this Plague Knight, the reason was simple: the Plague Knight belonged to the God of the Bible's pantheon.
During the expansion of the biblical pantheon's cultural influence, as it absorbed Phoenician culture, this divine king was slandered as the Demon God of Gluttony, one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
In Milton's Paradise Lost, he was depicted as a Satan rivaling God; he was also called the Lord of the Flies, Beelzebub; and he was known as Bael, the Dark Emperor, leader of the Seventy-Two Demon Gods.
That was why Melqart harbored such deep resentment toward the biblical pantheon—they were invaders, villains who had devoured his civilization.
So, upon sensing the aura of the Plague Knight, he had furiously pursued it.
Erica had never expected that this Heretic God had already descended upon the island.
Ah, and that youth from yesterday—he must have been a Heretic God as well.
For such a place to suddenly host multiple Heretic Gods was nothing short of a catastrophic crisis.
Moreover, it appeared this Heretic God had recently battled someone, as a gleaming golden dagger was visibly embedded in his chest plate, leaving him wounded.
But even an injured god was far beyond Erica's ability to confront.
"Though your form has changed, I cannot be mistaken—you are the God of the Bible! I shall sink you, along with this entire island, into the depths of the sea, making it your watery grave!!!"
This declaration drained all color from Erica's face.
Was he joking? Sinking the entire island would cause unimaginable death and destruction.
She had to speak up—this island was, after all, a crucial site in the birth of his own myth, and it still housed followers who worshipped him.
Such an act would only bring harm to himself as well.
But the words caught in her throat. The divine presence before her made it impossible to even muster a defiant glare, let alone speak.
At this moment, merely managing to remain standing was already a remarkable feat.
So, is this the true power of a Heretic God?
With such divine majesty, she couldn't even summon the will to resist. It was truly unimaginable how courageous those heroes must have been to dare oppose the gods, even to the point of deicide.
"Yagrush! Aymur! Gallop swiftly, dance swiftly, sweep everything away!!!"
Thus, as the Divine King Melqart chanted this spell, Yagrush transformed into a storm and Aymur into lightning, hurtling toward them with destructive force.
The destructive power gave Erica the feeling of a fragile skiff facing a sudden, crashing tsunami—utterly powerless, forced to watch helplessly as she was annihilated.
No, not just her. The nearby city, this entire island, would be struck as well.
So she could only watch in despair as destruction approached.
"Sword, Famine, Death, Beast"
Just before being swallowed, Erica faintly heard these strange words?
A spell?
The next instant, a bizarre ripple spread out—emanating from behind her, engulfing her and everything around.
It was as if she had been pulled into another world.
"Huh?"
A sound of astonishment escaped Erica's lips as she stared blankly at her surroundings.
Where was this?
Was this ancient times?
Had she traveled back to antiquity, to the era when the Phoenicians began weaving their myths?
"Melqart, originally named Bael, the storm and sky god worshipped by nomadic peoples—"
As these words echoed, the world in Erica's eyes transformed. She saw the so-called nomadic peoples offering sacrifices to the god, weaving myths around him, bestowing upon him his divine name.
"...The sea god worshipped by the farming peoples living in villages and towns was symbolized by the sacred beast dragon, emblematic of the earth god. And you, regarded as the enemy of the settled people, slew the dragon. Hence the legend—Bael Melqart is the Dragon Slayer!"
As these words were spoken, the scene before Erica's eyes reenacted the myth of Melqart slaying the dragon.
So, what was happening here?
Looking closely at Melqart in the midst of slaying the dragon, he suddenly cast a glance—not at Erica, but at the Heretic God behind her, the Plague Knight.
Melqart glared furiously, seeming to struggle as if wanting to abandon the dragon slaying and charge directly to strike him down.
In other words, the Plague Knight's actions had forced Melqart to temporarily act like an actor, compelled to reenact his mythological story.
But what was the purpose of this?
Erica couldn't comprehend it, but there must be some meaning behind it.
This also served as the opportunity, propelling him onto the throne of the Divine King! In Canaanite mythology, he was also Baal Hadad, one of the three sons of the sky god El. Envious that the sea god Yam was more favored by El—as Yam had received El's permission to build a magnificent palace, and the palace symbolized monarchy—he opposed Yam and ultimately killed him. This aligns with Bael Melqart's earlier deeds as a dragon slayer, with the 'dragon' being his own brother!"
Thus, the dragon-slaying scene in Erica's vision transformed, as if shedding a disguise, into a fratricidal struggle for the throne of the Divine King.
"Having emerged victorious, he also gained the right to build the palace, but this drew the hostility of another brother—the God of the Underworld, Mot."
At this point, Erica saw Melqart suddenly halt, as if the manipulated puppet drama had been paused, and launch a bolt of lightning toward them.
"Steel lion, shield of Diavolo Rosso, let my words of power answer my will!"
This was Erica's incantation. The sword materialized in her hand transformed into a shield.
She stepped in front of the person behind her, raising the shield to block the incoming lightning.
Her actions were driven by an instinctive feeling that she absolutely could not let Melqart interrupt this mythological reenactment.
Boom—!
Ugh!
A cry of pain escaped Erica's lips. Her arms felt numb, as if they had been shattered.
Fortunately, she managed to block it, and luckily, Melqart was already injured and forced to reenact the myth, unable to unleash his full power. Otherwise, she would never have withstood it.
"During the construction of the palace, Baal Hadad once hesitated about whether to install windows, fearing that his two daughters, Mist and Dew, might escape through them. However, windows were also a crucial entry point for the God of Death, Mot. In the end, Baal decided to install windows in the palace and provocatively declared war on Mot."
The scene before them shifted to depict exactly what was being described.
"But as it turned out, his choice was a mistake. He was no match for the God of Death, Mot. Mot opened his jaws wide and mercilessly devoured his body!"
As she spoke these words, Erica saw Melqart struggling violently in the reenacted events.
This struggle was clearly not due to reluctance to enact such a humiliating mythological twilight scene but rather a desperate resistance, as if completing this reenactment would lead to his actual death.
Thus, Erica also realized that the ability of the Plague Knight behind her was something truly extraordinary.