SSS-Class Suicide Hunter

Chapter 268. < White Lion Religion (1) >

TL: Not Seven ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

– Baraya, Baraya!

“My heart is like a torch.”

– Aga Baraya!

“I shall commit an unfilial act!”

The Goblins enthusiastically sang the Fire play song, and I barely, just barely, dodged the axe swung by Uburka in front of me.

But my heart was deeply unsettled.

As I avoided the sixth strike, I yelled out.

“Hey! Don’t sing Baraya here, you maniacs!”

“Why can’t we sing it?”

“If I say don’t sing it, then don’t sing it!”

The teachings of the Demonic Cult (魔敎) are widely spread among the Goblins.

Through cultural projects like the Fire Painting Play and military tactics like the Infernal Heavens Formation, the Goblins consciously or unconsciously lived by the teachings of the Demonic Cult. ‘Agabaraya’ was a kind of chorus that boosted the morale of the Goblins, and they were free to sing it as much as they wanted, but…

“Why sing Baraya Baraya just to catch me! Huh!? When you captured the Energy Dragon, you didn’t use Infernal Heavens Formation and just did breathing exercises, so why are you going all out to hunt me down!?”

“Ugor.”

Hearing my words, Uburka chuckled.

“Do you really not understand, daddy ?”

Whoosh!

Uburka swung his axe in a wide arc, destroying everything within its radius. Merely with wind pressure, he pulverized palm trees, rocks, and all kinds of life in between. “Damn!” I too, had I not hastily retreated, would have at least lost a heel.

“For us, daddy is everything.”

“What?”

“Everything, I said.”

Thud.

Uburka, with red light flowing in his eyes, approached me. His gaze was so intense that my heart skipped a beat.

‘What?’

I thought maybe he was caught in Disharmony by raising his spiritual energy. But that was not possible. Uburka was not so low in his level to be caught in Disharmony, and in our Demonic Cult, being caught in Disharmony [losing to oneself] is considered a disgrace.

Simply.

“Daddy still doesn’t realize how big a being he is to us. You haven’t truly felt it.”

To the extent that I mistook it for Disharmony, Uburka was drawing aura from his whole body.

“What are you talking about? Of course, I am your closest friend……”

“That’s what I’m saying. Ugor. Daddy, truly doesn’t know himself.”

Uburka chuckled.

Then, as if the previous conversation was a joke, he opened up about his true feelings.

“As daddy said, daddy gave us characters. Watching daddy look over us and painstakingly create characters for our Goblin race, in accordance with the tribe’s nature, even though we knew it in theory, it struck me differently.”

-Ugor! It was worth seeing.

Behind me, the Goblins and Asuras, their flesh reddened, chimed in. “Ugor!” “Ugor!” As they added choruses to Uburka’s words, it felt like a red wave becoming a massive tide approaching me.

“Do you remember the day when daddy first taught us characters? The day he taught us how to pronounce them.”

“…….”

I gripped the hilt of my sword tightly.

A formidable aura was bubbling up from the red wave.

It was like the sensation when the Constellation Killer was approaching me to kill me on the 50th floor. Something greater than me, stronger than me, and perhaps more desperate than me. The chilling intent to kill that I felt when he pointed its sword at me, now, I could intensely feel it from the red wave of these children.

I measured the distance with my eyes and said.

“I remember. As vividly as if it were yesterday.”

“Daddy taught letters to children whose intelligence was not yet fully developed. While teaching, he first created characters only for the things they loved. The things they played with. The things that made them happy.”

“…….”

“Gently.”

Mud is ■.

Sky is O.

Sun is ☆.

Moon is ★.

Water is ~.

Carving into soft mud with the claws of a lion, the days when I taught the little goblins how to write, still remain vividly in my mind.

As a warm memory.

“Daddy must have known numerous languages. However, daddy knew that the languages we needed in life were only about seven. So, daddy could have blamed us.”

Why do you see the world so narrowly?

This is what a tree is, this is what a mountain is.

Learn more, know more.

“But he didn’t blame us.”

“…….”

“Instead of blaming, daddy rather wanted to properly unfold the little world we had. He didn’t teach the children that [the rain will stop soon, so don’t worry] when it rained. Instead, when we were frightened and shivering in primal fear, as the rain furiously hit the ground, daddy took the lead and howled.”

– Keeeee!

Using the goblin word for rain, [Ke].

If translated into modern language…

Water comes.

– Kerrrrr! Keeeee!

Water coming to the land, to the surface.

Outside the hut, the rain poured incessantly. Little goblins huddled inside the hut, trembling. To the primitive Goblin race, heavy rain was a kind of deity. It was the deity’s anger manifesting as rain.

‘Maybe we did something wrong to anger the deity.’

In a society at a tribal level, where language had not yet been intricately formed, it was difficult to come up with such clear sentences. In reality, at best, fragmented words like [We, sky, wrong?] would have come out.

An era where even their own fears could only be expressed in fragmented words. That was the tribe. A time when the color of the sky wasn’t fixed, the reason for the sun and moon’s rotation was a mystery, and all born creatures trembled in fear of what attacked from outside and the unknown feeling inside.

– Kerrrrr! Keeeee!

Then someone howled.

– Kerr! Kee! Keeeee!

Water comes.

Water comes to the land.

Just that simple howl.

Amidst the torrential rain in the primeval forest, as if the world would be swept away by raging currents at any moment, the white-maned lion roared endlessly on the rock. Water comes. Water comes. Water comes…

– Ker….

– Kerrruk….

It was sorcery (況術).

A spell clearer than any mysterious fortune-teller.

– Kerrrrr….

– Kee… Keeeee!

Several goblins left the hut and approached the White Lion. As half of the hut was already flooded by the heavy rain, the goblins had no hesitation. They climbed the high rock, slippery with rain, struggling several times. They continued to howl as they climbed.

– Keeeee!

– Kerr, Kee! Kerr, Keeeee!

Water comes.

Water comes to the land.

As dozens of goblins struggled to reach the top, the White Lion was there, chin held high, looking up at the dark sky.

– Kii…

The goblins gasped for air, engulfed in fear.

They were terrified. The dark clouds boiled as if about to unleash the deity’s wrath at any moment. Lightning, thunderbolts, thunderstorms. To the goblins, who knew little, all these were divine powers.

Incomprehensible, ungraspable, unavoidable. Only to be obeyed… as the deities favored them, pitied them, then only they can only survive today…

– Keeeee!

Yet, the White Lion roared defiantly.

As the world wrapped in grey giants, everything murky, even the comfortable moisture tangled in swift winds causing disarray, even at a moment when the world could end, the White Lion simply raised its head and howled.

– Kieeee!

Water comes.

– Kieeeee!

Water comes.

– …Kiee, Rur. Kerrr….

– Kieeee….

– Kerrrrr…

The little goblins began clinging to the White Lion’s body. They clung to the lion’s paws, tail, torso, mane, shivering and trembling in terror.

They had no understanding of why the White Lion was roaring, why they were drawn by that cry to come here, and why they tried to imitate the lion’s howling.

– Keeeee!

– Kee, Keeeee!

– Kerr, Kee!

The goblins shouted with all their might.

Water is coming.

Water is coming.

Water is coming.

ㆍ

ㆍ

ㆍ

ㆍ

ㆍ

ㆍ

Thud.

The torrential downpour that lasted all night had finally weakened. The goblins, perched on distant rocks, were the first to notice. Tip, raindrops fell lightly on their hooked noses. Tip, raindrops softly landed on their wrinkly, green foreheads.

– Kee…

What was happening?

– Kerr…?

What miracle was unfolding?

– Keeeee.

The goblins all looked up at the White Lion. Its mane was drenched and elongated by the overnight rain, but the gleam in its eyes was brighter than the rising morning sun.

The water, the water that seemed it could destroy the world, had receded.

– Kekke.

The White Lion growled contentedly.

The harsh rain had passed, and now gentle droplets tenderly moistened the meadows. Pointing at the watery lights falling from the sky to the ground, the White Lion declared,

– Kekke.

The goblins tilted their heads in wonder.

Immersed in an odd sensation, the children echoed the White Lion’s words.

– Kekke?

– Kekke.

Rain.

– Kekke.

Rain.

– …….

Rain.

– Kekke.

And on that day, the Goblin Race realized something.

The White Lion might have intended to simply teach the primitives the word for [rain]. But it was more than that. The impact the White Lion had on the Goblins was too immense to be confined to just the word [rain].

– Kekke!

The Goblins triumphed over fear.

They might have cowered in their safe huts, trembling. Praying that the deities would favor them and pass by safely, muttering prayers. Preparing altars and offering sacrifices to appease the wrath of the gods, preparing a sacrificial goblin every rainy season to kill, thus wasting a thousand years.

They might have called out [rain] in fear. It wasn’t the water flowing on the land, but the water pouring from the sky. The water that rained down due to the anger of the gods. Thus, [rain] would have become a deity, and the name of [rain] became something much longer and more terrifying, like [The Sweeper of the World] or [The Ruler of Autumn’s Terror].

“But.”

Uburka.

As living witness of the Goblins, he raised his axe.

“It didn’t happen.”

“…….”

“Daddy didn’t just teach us letters. No, he did, but he taught us something much greater. Daddy taught us victory!”

It was a victory over fear.

The world was covered in the unknown; to hide from it, they had to burrow into tunnels and huddle under small huts. In ancient times, homes were not comfortable bases but mere shelters to escape the world.

“Thanks to daddy, we conquered water.”

– Ugor! Ugor!

“Thanks to daddy, we conquered fire.”

– Ugor! Ugor!

“Thanks to daddy, we conquered thunderstorms, rivers, and seas! We even conquered the hell of salt mining, buried deep underground!”

– Ugor! Ugor!

“Kekereeeeee!”

Uburka spread his arms wide and shouted loudly.

“It is not a threatening name of a deity, but merely rain! Just rain! Something we triumphed over, something we cast off our fear! To us, Kekke is not just a simple letter, it’s the name of a war we won, and thus, our proud spoils of victory!”

– Kerrrrrr!

“Sky! It is not a god punishing us. We have stripped the sky, Kekke, of its divine status. Sky! It’s just the sky! We marvel at the purple silk it weaves at dawn, and we shed tears at its lazy red blush in the evening, but that is no different from the tears of pity we give to a defeated enemy! The sky! That too is the name of something we have plundered.”

– Ugor! Ugor!

“There are two ways to use letters. To engrave something fearful into characters. While other races developed the character for fire (火), because they are afraid of fire, need to avoid it, and hope it doesn’t come, we have engraved fire as a character solely to celebrate our victory! Because it’s prey that we have successfully hunted and captured! We carved the character of fire in our damp caves and laughed at it!”

– Gor!

“Gor!”

– Gor!

“Gor!”

In the jungle where dawn has not yet arrived.

The fire blazed not in the sky but on the lowly earth.

“That is the name our fire holds!”

Thousands of Asuras raised their aura.

“When they fear fire, when they are scared of it, when they try to avoid it, when they try to control it, we just shout towards the blazing red ‘Gor.'”

– Ugor!

“Wonderful!”

The flames intensified.

“Fire, how splendid! How beautiful!”

-Ugor! Ugor! Ugor!

They were all Asuras belonging to the Fire River Council. They had learned the first steps of martial arts through Infernal Divine Power during their training days, became formidable warriors mastering the Infernal Heavens Formation one by one, and finally reached a state where they occupied a seat in the Fire River Council, the elite of the elite.

“Daddy!”

In the front, Uburka stood with his arms spread, laughing.

– Kekerkker! Kekerkker!

Behind him, Asuras, excited, shook spears, swords, axes, and fists.

“Daddy didn’t just teach us letters! Nor did he teach us about the world! Nor did he simply teach us how to win, nor did he only teach us how to face, acknowledge, share, and overcome the fear that all life harbors in its heart! What did daddy give us? What is daddy to us? Is daddy just a teacher who taught us many things?”

– Ugor! Ugor! Ugor!

“No! Then what is he? A god? The creator who gave us land and sky, allowing us to breathe? Is Daddy merely a god to us?”

– Ugor! Ugor! Ugor!

“No, that’s not it!”

[The Musclehead Who Dreams of Sinning Against Heaven roars.]

“Then what is daddy to us! My beloved compatriots! Those who, like me, love the mud, are enchanted by the falling rain, whose eyes tremble when the sky sobs, whose hearts pound when flames soar! What is daddy to us!”

– Kekerkker! Kekerkker!

“Yes!”

Uburka laughed heartily.

“To us daddy is, our world!”

Ah.

“Daddy is everything to us!”

I am.

“We have conquered everything in this world! I, Uburka, even defeated death. Thus, we can sing songs filled with joy for every word. Every sentence is merely a trace of conquering fear! Every conversation echoes incessantly as a celebration of victorious battles! We are brave, we cry, we respect everything in the world that has fought us, and yet we laugh because we have won and will continue to win!”

– Kekerkker! Kekerkker!

“Except for one thing.”

Uburka raised his axe and aimed it at me.

“Daddy .”

“…….”

“Kekerkker!”

“…….”

A pure white beast descended from the sky.

In the language of the Goblins, it signifies.

It is neither a demon nor a god (神),

“It’s our world!”

World.

“Born from your world, opening our eyes to your world, smelling the scents of your world, stepping into your world, we were happy! Ugor! We cry from the bottom of our hearts, Kekerkker! We love this world!”

The entire jungle.

In the shadows of the palm trees and shrubs, untouched by the dawn’s light, it soared. On the dead land of a certain turtle, said to have created this continent, the asuras who now rule it have lit a beacon.

Infernal Heavens Formation.

Hundreds of thousands of Asuras simultaneously raised the chant of Baraya.

“Now, it’s time to put the final point on the last thing we have yet to conquer!”

– Kekerkker! Kekerkker!

More than I thought, much more.

I was a much greater being to these children than I had thought.

Such a being I had become.

“…….”

I closed my eyes.

The sensation of the world’s flames engulfing me.

Strangely, those flames, brimming with love and affection for me, were not hot. Instead, only the joy of trying to overcome me was directly conveyed to my heart.

There couldn’t be a gentler flame to warm the heart.

‘So it is.’

I recalled the scene when my master had cut through the snowy mountain.

At that time, it wasn’t just the towering peak that my master’s heart had cut through.

‘Can a person also become a world to someone?’

At that time, the master certainly cut through the season.

She cut through the time that froze all life.

She cut through the world.

‘Yes.’

I gripped the hilt of my sword.

“Those who aspire to be a god to someone, must be prepared to become a parent.”

With a metallic sound, I unsheathed a sword.

“Those who aspire to be a parent to someone. They should also be prepared to become their world.”

Shine.

The holy sword that had been with me for so long shone brilliantly.

As a response to my deep sense of responsibility, for giving life, my own life, and the world to the fire, the sword, once a goddess, shone white.

“You are fire, so you may well burn the world.”

I took out a pair of gloves from my pocket.

Thump.

I threw the white gloves, carrying Raviel’s scent, towards them.

“Before engaging in a duel, identifying oneself is the way of the martial world. Our Demonic Cult, originating from the martial world, must also adhere to the respect for our ancestors.”

While ready to call upon the army of the Death King Family at any moment.

“I am the second-ranked hunter of the Ascending City, a warrior of the Aegim Empire, the direct disciple of Heavenly Demon, the Young Master of the Demon Cult, the only moon of the Duke Ivansia’s family, the head of the Death King Family, and your—.”

Towards the children who have been victorious for thousands of years.

I spoke of my history, richer in victories over even longer times.

“I am Kekerkker.”

I unsheathed my sword.

At that moment.

[World Naming.]

[‘Unnamed World -30-1316782’ is officially registered.]

[The name of this world is ‘Lion World (獨子世界)’.]

Thump.

Something fell onto my sword.

[May luck accompany the Lion World.]

A drop of water.

A drop of rainwater splashed onto the blade of my sword.