Zane was ready to receive the statue.
The shopkeeper was ready to give it.
His tunic was spread.
Xavier already got his.
The Gutterborns waited for their turn.
Zane would take the statue and go home.
Everything was set and clear until…
[ Major Quest Generated! ]
[ Quest: Lose The God ]
[ Objective: Drop the First Flame's Statue. ]
[ Rewards: (1) Synchronization +1.0 (2) One Merge Free ]
[ Does the Host accept? ]
The system chimed with a quest.
A major quest.
But Zane didn't agree with that.
Major? It's a suicidal quest!
Not long ago, he had seen an old man getting thrashed because of a fallen offering of the First Flame. And that's when the old man had no fault in that.
And the system wanted Zane to drop First Flame altogether?
No way it was a Major Quest.
The answer was clear.
Zane shouldn't accept the Quest.
If he valued his life, he should not.
But...
What do you mean by one merge free?
Zane wanted to know the reward.
[ Host can perform one merge without any merge points and requirement of the nodes. Host can merge any two things he owns with no conditions applied. ]
That's…
Zane looked at Xavier behind him.
The man raised his brows in question while eating his dumplets, carefree.
Zane then looked at the line beside him.
Their eyes only focused on the offerings they would get.
He then looked at the shopkeeper in front of him.
The man held the statue and he brought it above Zane's spread tunic.
Zane's pupils danced left and right, his heart threatened to beat itself to death.
He could merge anything.
But he would be beaten to death.
He could merge anything.
But he would be humiliated.
He could merge anything.
But he would be called infidel.
He could merge anything.
But he would be doing blasphemy.
He could merge anything.
But he would die.
He could merge anything.
But he would...
I can merge anything.
The shopkeeper let go of the idol.
It descended towards Zane's tunic.
And for the love of everything's holy…
Zane let go of his tunic.
THUP!
The idol fell.
Their God touched the ground.
…
The world stopped breathing.
The sound of the idol stumbling echoed in the silence.
No one knew the speed of brain registering actions but that day, Zane got to know it.
Three seconds.
Three seconds of silence then gasps escaped.
Eyes widened.
Xavier stopped eating his favorite delicacy.
Zane's ears turned red.
His palms drenched in sweat.
His tongue turned to ash.
His eyes fixated on the shopkeeper.
Time slowed down for the Gutterborn and in that slow time, he saw the shopkeeper's face changing.
His mouth opened, his eyes glared murder and his hand went towards his thick wooden stick.
[ Warning! ]
[ Murderous Intent Detected! ]
[ Host in danger! ]
[ Merged Skill: Survival Threshold Activated! ]
"You infidel scummm!"
The shopkeeper launched himself at Zane.
Zane's body jumped to his left.
Crashing with a Gutterborn.
Both of them fell.
The shopkeeper would use the disturbance.
He threw his wooden stick away and shoved his hand in empty air.
In a second, he brought back a silver curved sword.
Zane's pupils widened.
His body stood up.
Wooden stick he might survive. But a sword would chop his skinny head.
He stepped on a gutterborn and ran.
But the shopkeeper won't let him go.
He held the sword, pointed its tip at Zane's fleeting back and hurled it.
The sword tore through the air and Zane's hairs stood.
The sword was out to kill him.
He was running but he couldn't outrun the sword.
The sword was fast.
Faster than him.
His whole body trembled and just when the sword reached the back of his neck…
Zane did a front flip.
The shopkeeper's brows shot up and the sword went past Zane.
Zane's head spun as his body moved on its own and since the sword went past him…
PUCK!
It pierced the head of the person in front of Zane.
The hunched back gutterborn old man.
His lifeless body laid in front of Zane and Zane's body, despite him wanting to wait and see the old man, jumped over the dead body.
And if that wasn't enough, his feet landed on the severed head of the old man, crushing his already weak skull.
Zane's lips trembled seeing someone dying because of him… again.
But he had to run.
So he ran.
The shopkeeper didn't have the sword anymore.
Zane would be able to run. He would be able to run and be safe.
He won't hesitate this time.
Yes, he would be safe.
Or so he thought…
The shopkeeper brought his hands around his mouth and in his loudest voice, hollered:
"Wardens!"
Oh no.
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!
From all around the corners, silhouettes arrived around Zane.
They covered him from all sides.
They made a circle with Zane in the middle.
Zane stopped running.
If he ran, he would run straight into his death.
His breath ran faster than him and his eyes scanned any slight opening to escape.
His mind and body worked overtime and turns out, he couldn't afford that.
[ Warning! ]
[ Host is swarmed with murderous intent! ]
[ Synchronization too low to handle the scenario! ]
[ Overuse will degrade Host's body! ]
[ Survival Threshold Ceasing! ]
[ Host is on his own! ]
"Ughh.."
Zane felt his body again.
He was back in control.
His body ached all over but that was the last thing he was worried about.
The Wardens slammed their spears on the ground and second by second, they shrunk the circle.
Zane tried his best to remain in the middle but he won't be able to do it for long.
He would run out of space and if he was lucky, the wardens would kill him. If not, then he would become a lesson.
"Infidel."
"Infidel."
"Infidel."
"Infidel."
They chanted along with the thumping of their spears and the shopkeeper walked towards Zane as well.
The whole Veyndral city gathered around the Wardens, standing on their toes to see more clearly.
But there was one more person present at the scene.
"I swear," He spoke and before Zane could look at him…
THUP!
"I'll become a saint by helping you all the time."
Xavier arrived inside the circle as well.
He stood beside Zane.
Zane was in no headspace to acknowledge Xavier's words and he didn't know how much his presence would help him here.
Why did I accept the Quest?
"Give me my sword." The shopkeeper's voice came.
A pedestrian picked up the sword and threw it at the man.
The wardens stopped shrinking the circle and cleared an entry for the shopkeeper to enter inside.
After he entered, the circle closed again and the shopkeeper stood in front of Zane.
The shopkeeper then raised his sword and Xavier bent his knees.
The shopkeeper saw that.
"Hold him. I'll deal with him later."
"In your dreams."
Xavier clenched his fist and the next second, it swelled.
It became bigger.
His sleeves ripped apart and that huge fist moved towards the shopkeeper.
But the shopkeeper remained standing with not even a frown.
Xavier couldn't care less as he believed in his fists.
And the shopkeeper couldn't care less because he believed in the Wardens.
And in the battle of beliefs, the winner came out to be…
THUP!
The shopkeeper.
Before Xavier's fist could touch the man, the warden behind him raised his leg and kicked the commoner.
Xavier fell down and the Warden rested his leg on him.
Xavier tried to get back on his feet but he failed.
The leg of the Warden felt like a mountain on Xavier's back.
Zane gulped seeing the torment and the shopkeeper wasn't the type to wait.
"Look here." He said.
Zane slowly turned his head, looking at the middle aged bearded man.
"I am the luckiest man today."
The shopkeeper placed his sword on Zane's neck and grinned.
"Dwarkam will be free of two filths…"
He raised his sword as it loomed over Zane like the grimreaper.
"With my own two hands."