Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 23 Offerings?

This is not one of her kind!
Her kin were definitely not such a monster!

The girl's heart had already turned cold, but there was no doubt that the clothes the monster was wearing were the same clothes the prophet was wearing.

Under her gaze, the "monster" revealed a ferocious and eerie expression, laughing wildly at her. While laughing wildly, it excitedly opened its arms and shouted madly.

"It's here...it's here...it's here!!! Haha ...

“BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!!!”

Accompanied by the monster's excited and strange voice, the roar of thunder suddenly echoed in the dark night sky. Under the flashes of lightning, the monster's slender figure twisted and changed shape, and its excited laughter revealed an inexplicable eeriness that sent chills down one's spine.

Thunder rumbled restlessly among the dark clouds, emitting bursts of booming sounds.

In the girl's terrified gaze, a torrential downpour suddenly began. Raindrops the size of soybeans pelted heavily on her body. The already frail girl bit her lower lip, oblivious even as it bled.

My body feels cold.

But my heart is even colder, as cold as ice.

Under the flashes of lightning, those "people" were clearly no longer human.

With their dark, shiny scales, upright snake eyes, and distorted faces... aside from a few minor details that still hint at their original human identity, they were, in every other respect, a group of half-human, half-snake monsters.

"My master! I offer you a sacrifice! Please accept this offering from your most humble and most loyal servant!!!"

The prophet—no, it should be called that "monster"—looked excitedly at the lightning-streaked sky above her. Undeterred by the torrential rain, she knelt on the ground, arms outstretched, and shouted fervently at the sky, her face filled with zeal.

"Boom!!!!"

A deafening clap of thunder echoed through the sky once more, the long, drawn-out rumble sounding as if something in the clouds was responding to the monster's call.

The rain intensified, and the firewood intended for the fire sacrifice was swept away by the raging torrents. The water rose rapidly, as if a huge hole had been punched in the sky, with countless streams of water crashing down from the heavens.

And that seems to be exactly the case.

The mist rising from the dim sky gradually formed a huge dark red vortex. The dark red vortex continued to expand in the night sky, larger than the moon and larger than all the stars. It was as if a huge hole had been torn in the sky. Indescribable light emanated from the dim and eerie dark red vortex, full of a distorted feeling.

Looking up at everything in front of her, the girl's face turned ashen, her heart pounding wildly, not from fear, but because the torrential rain was rapidly stripping away her body heat. The fierce downpour had washed away the flower crown on her head, and her disheveled red hair lay limply over her shoulders.

The feeling of fear was slowly fading as she gradually lost consciousness, and she could no longer even muster the feeling of fear.

The girl's lips turned pale, her mind began to feel hazy, and everything in front of her was gradually blurring, turning into some distorted and strange figures and blurry flashes of light. The sounds of maniacal laughter, thunder, and rain around her gradually faded away, and silence returned.

Am I... going to die?

In a daze, a topic suddenly came to mind for the girl.

Then, she seemed to hear a sound in her ear.

Deep, dark, profound, as if...

A sound from the depths of the sea.

"..."

When that whispering voice sounded, the girl suddenly felt an incredibly strong sense of being out of her body, as if her soul was being summoned and gradually breaking free from the constraints of her body.

"Ah~"

She tried to speak, but found that she couldn't say anything at all; her voice was stuck in her throat.

My eyeballs twitched uncontrollably, all sounds around me faded away, and the scene in my vision gradually changed from blurry lights and shadows to pure white...

Within that pure white light, there seemed to be a tranquil atmosphere, which made her involuntarily try to immerse herself in it.

"What a nice view……"

Staring in disbelief, a thought involuntarily surfaced in her mind. Then, she felt her consciousness growing increasingly blurred, until she could no longer feel anything, and was gradually pulled into that pure white light...

"Roar!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

A deafening roar suddenly erupted, jolting the girl back to consciousness.

And in her renewed clear vision, she saw a shocking scene that she would never forget for the rest of her life...

In the dim night sky, a dark red vortex that filled almost the entire field of vision twisted and turned in the sky. As far as the eye could see, the dark red vortex stretched outwards, reaching the horizon without any end. Countless clouds swirled around the vortex, and violent thunder and eerie lights constantly entered and exited the vortex. Even the moon and stars had to succumb to this enormous size, becoming as small as dust.

The sky is like a vast dome, covering all the fields, but at this moment, this dark red vortex, like the sky, covers everything in sight.

And at the very center of the vortex...

It is something so vast and indescribable that it is beyond imagination.

Its arrogant, vertical serpentine eyes seemed to survey the world from a superior position. Its incredibly massive body occupied most of the dark red vortex, so much so that the girl couldn't even see its entirety. This enormous being could create a massive tornado on the earth with a single breath, demonstrating its greatness to the entire world. Every move it made seemed capable of easily destroying this tiny world...

At this moment, those indifferent eyes that looked down upon everything seemed to be looking down at her.

Staring blankly at the scene before her, her mind had completely lost the ability to think; only a deep tremor and fear enveloped the girl's heart.

It's impossible not to feel fear; this fear stems from a primal instinct, a profound dread of massive life forms. But at the same time…

There is also that almost instinctive, irresistible fervor of wanting to worship that gradually spreads from the deepest part of one's heart.

Yes, it's worship, it's fanaticism.

When the girl saw this scene, she suddenly realized why the prophet had become so crazy. Anyone who had witnessed the greatness and magnificence of this being would find it hard to suppress their instinctive trembling and their fanatical worship of power.

It's like worshipping the sky, the sun and moon, and the stars.

This kind of worship needs no reason; it is simply because in the face of these unimaginably magnificent things, humanity fully feels how insignificant and humble it is, and thus feels a deep sense of fear. This fear, in turn, gives rise to an inescapable obsession and sense of worship.

They worship them, trying to worship these things that seem to have existed eternally in the world, trying to get close to these incomparably great and vast things, and finally kneeling down before these great beings, believing in them madly, and giving up everything they have.

Therefore, when the prophetess sensed the greatness of this being in the darkness, she was unable to suppress her instincts and resist the trembling and fear that made her want to worship it madly.

And at this moment...

The girl also felt everything that the prophet had once felt.

That kind of sudden realization, in the face of such an existence, of how insignificant, how humble, how fragile one truly is.

"I...give you everything I have."

Amidst her blank gaze, a strange emotion gradually filled the girl's bright pupils. The blankness faded, replaced by a fervent, excited, and thrilling fervor.

This mute girl, who had never uttered a single word before, miraculously spoke her first words.

Looking up at the indescribably enormous life form before her, her eyes were filled with fascination and fanaticism.

"Rumble..."

Amidst the clouds, thunder and lightning chanted loudly, praising the grandeur and immeasurable magnificence of this great being.

Looking down indifferently at the tiny humans before him, who were caught up in excitement and frenzy, the giant serpent slowly opened its abyssal maw.

"Roar!!!!!"

Amidst the torrential rain, the flashing lightning, and the deafening roar...

Before that gaping maw of abyss, capable of swallowing everything, the girl bound to the wooden pillar had her red hair dancing wildly in the wind, her white dress fluttering in the breeze, and her bright, beautiful eyes held no fear, only the fervor, zeal, and anticipation of offering herself as a sacrifice to the gods…

……

"Wake up! Wake up..."

"How pitiful, she's all alone now..."

"..."

I could vaguely hear fragmented sounds nearby, sounds that seemed to carry a hint of sympathy.

"Um……"

In her hazy state, the girl seemed to hear a sound beside her ear, and someone supporting her back and feeding her water.

She struggled to open her eyes, only to find herself lying on a pile of straw. Looking around, she found herself in a dilapidated wooden hut with a fire burning in the center. A group of armored soldiers sat around the fire, glancing at her from time to time and whispering among themselves.

"Uh……"

She tried to stand up, but found that her limbs were weak and she was quickly supported by the people behind her.

"You just woke up, don't move around."

The voice was soft, clearly belonging to a woman.

She turned her head and saw an older woman with a rather heroic air about her, wearing leather armor.

"You are……"

As soon as she opened her mouth, the girl was surprised by herself; when had she been able to speak?

The older woman opposite her, however, did not understand the girl's surprise and said to her.

“We are soldiers of the kingdom. A few days ago, the weather here changed drastically, with thunder and lightning. King Anthony ordered us to come and check the situation, but when we arrived... it was all ruins. We only managed to find you barely alive next to an altar.”

As she spoke, a look of guilt and self-reproach appeared on her face.

"We haven't found any other survivors besides you."

As she listened to the news in a daze, the girl looked somewhat dazed. Then, she bit her lip, and tears began to flow silently down her face.

The female soldier looked at the frail girl in front of her and felt a surge of pity. She gently hugged her and kissed her hair while whispering words of comfort. But only the girl herself knew why she was crying.

She was abandoned by the god she worshipped.

(End of this chapter)