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Chapter 338: Sacred Beasts and Higher Gods

Five days passed since Clebeur\'s princess gifted Allen the Makris\' Sacred Bead.

"Oh?! Allen!"

Kurena ran towards Allen after he appeared near her.

They had been apart for twelve days, but she was just as excited as when he returned to Kurena Village after years of being away.

"Hey, it\'s been a while."

Allen had access to Merus\' vision, so he was already fully aware of everything that happened on Kiel\'s team.

He had always been available to advise them if they needed help, but that was different from meeting face to face.

"We\'ve pretty much done here."

"It seems that way."

Kiel, the team leader, gave a very brief update on their progress.

Kiel had secured the fortifications, and then advanced into Carvalonea.

The soldiers with Talents from Carvaluna also followed after him to help in defeating the monsters.

And as Muhan had promised, the reinforcements that arrived two days later also sent their members with Talents.

Thanks to Merus, Kiel did not have to think about negotiating a lot, but he was still glad Allen had given him an opportunity to stand in front and have to think for himself.

Thanks to Kiel\'s team\'s efforts they had advanced all the way into Carvalonea\'s capital.

"Alright, let\'s go to Clebeur then. Cecile is waiting for us."

He took Kurena and Kiel with him.

Since Allen was coming to get them, Merus had gone to Sophie\'s group.

Allen\'s Bird A summon could leave [Nests] which served as teleportation waypoints. It did not matter whether Allen or Merus made them, both could use the Special Skill [Nest Transfer] and the Awakened Skill [Homing Instinct] on all Nests.

The only downside was that once one of them used a Nest, it would go on cooldown for one day, making it useless during that time.

Allen and Merus were basically trying to solve a puzzle with the available Nests, so they could gather everyone in the shortest time possible.

"Huh? Where did that bracelet come from?"

Shortly after arriving, Kurena noticed the bracelet with Makris\' Sacred Bead shining on Cecile\'s arm.

"Heheheh."

Cecile was grinning all the time.

She had been that way for the last five days already.

Now she was holding her arm at an unnatural angle, making sure the gem was visible.

(Well, I can kinda relate with that feeling. I probably would act the same way in her situation. Oh right, I still have to reset the Nest.)

Allen was thinking of something completely different, but at least he sympathized with Cecile.

He was thinking of the emotion he felt when defeating an enemy and obtaining an item with a drop chance of one in ten million.

"It looks so pretty. I want one too~"

Kurena began mumbling about wanting one as well, and Cecile\'s grin grew even wider.

Obtaining a Makris\' Sacred Bead brought the utmost joy to any girl, especially those of noble or royal descent.

"But Kurena, you got a necklace not too long ago already."

(Not like those effects would help her at all, they\'re basically essential for Cecile though.)

Kurena kept mumbling about wanting one, so Allen reminded her of the necklace they obtained by defeating the last boss in the S Rank Dungeon.

Makris\' Sacred Bead had little use to someone who could not use offensive magic.

"Hmph."

"Well, Merus also kept that a secret. We should try to get more Sacred Beads from now on."

\'I didn\'t keep it secret. You never asked.\'

Allen got rid of the Bird A that had created the nest there, summoning another one to reset the Nest. A moment later, Merus and Sophie\'s team appeared there.

The moment he appeared, Merus spoke back at Allen.

Allen and Merus\' thoughts were essentially tied together.

That was possible with most summons as well.

It was a connection that went both ways, so Merus could also tell what was in Allen\'s mind.

Everything Allen saw and heard was also accessible to Merus.

(Who was it that caused the existence of Extra Skills again? Was it me, the Sacred Fish Makris, and others too?)

Merus complained, but Allen understood he was partly to blame as well.

Now he was thinking about the beginning of Extra Mode, as well as the appearance of Extra Skills in the world.

What even was the Sacred Fish?

What were the Sacred Beads?

He had many questions he wanted to ask Merus.

Once enough faith and beliefs were placed on a beast, it would gain the title of Sacred Beast.

The Sacred Fish Makris, Sacred Bird Kuwatoro, and Sacred Beast Luvanka were famous ones.

Apparently Kuwatoro and Luvanka also had their respective Sacred Beads, which could be obtained somehow.

But Allen did not know how.

Those dealing with divine matters apparently knew a lot about that, but Allen\'s current location and work did not give him time to learn about that yet.

"Supposedly the prince of the Prostia Empire turned into the Sacred Fish, but is something like that possible?"

As they walked together, Allen asked something that just came to his mind.

\'Well, it\'s not necessarily impossible for that to happen. I haven\'t heard the particular details from Aqua though.\'

"I see. So there are ways to form a pact with a god?"

According to the picture book, Makris formed a pact with Aqua, which resulted in him becoming a fish.

\'I suggest you don\'t even think about that.\'

Merus\' tone changed drastically.

"Hm?"

Merus told Allen to stop prodding into that topic.

He then mentioned how sometimes the gods would answer a person or even a country\'s pleas by subjecting them to a trial, or forming a pact with specific requirements.

Because of that, it was best to never ask the gods for something.

There was always a price affixed to whatever power they granted in return.

\'There was a starving country that formed a pact with the God of Harvest Mormor, and the result was something less than ideal. You are aware of that story, correct?\'

Merus brought up a story that basically everyone in the world knew about.

"Yeah, I remember something about a country forming a pact with a Higher God, and as a result all the fruits in the country turned to Mormo Fruits."

As gods garnered faith and followers, and through various effects, they would eventually turn into Higher Gods.

Higher Gods could bring forth miracles that no regular god could.

The God of Harvest Mormor, who farmers from all lands prayed to, was one such Higher God.

(But at the same time they were overflowing with fruits which they needed to export. They even reached Kurena Village.)

As a result of the king forming a pact with the God of Harvest Mormor to save his people from starvation, his country became filled with so many fruits they were even sent to the smallest of towns in other countries.

At the same time, no other fruits were ever able to grow again in that country.

As the excess of Mormo fruits began to rot, the God of Harvest became angered at them, and made it so the exported fruit would only fetch cheap prices.

Allen remembered that story and its conclusion vividly.

As a result, what was once known as a divine fruit became common, and there were even many trees of it growing in the Grandvelle estate, even if they were not eaten a lot there.

That red fruit Cecile wanted from the garden, and Allen had to carry her on his back to get, was also one such fruit.

She said it was too sour and spit it on the ground when she ate it, but if it was left to ripen for a while the sourness would fade and the sweetness increase.

It was similar to astringent persimmons that could not be eaten fresh, and they were mostly used as reserve food for winter in the Grandvelle estate.

But fresh Mormo fruits were available at large quantities even during winter, so the once-rare fruit became common, and a large quantity of the harvest always ended up rotten and not eaten.

(The world really is a wide place though. I remember trying to learn more details about it in the Academy\'s library but there was nothing about it. I think I first learned about it in a picture book though?)

Allen always lived trying to become stronger and powerful.

He was starting to think that Makris\' Sacred Bead was worth even more than its cost in gold.

And he was certain that there was a lot of information kept away from the knowledge of humans and the Five Continents Alliance.

He was still studying when the attack on Rosenheim started.

Then the friends he fought with in Rosenheim underwent the Talent Change.

Once they had conquered the S Rank Dungeon, they received the distress call from the Holy Land.

Now as they fought to liberate the Confederation, he learned about the Sacred Beasts and the Sacred Beads.

The further he traveled, the more varied information he obtained.

At the same time, that made him aware of just how vast and wide the world was.

There were even things not described by the books in the Academy, which had appeared in picture books he read in the Grandvelle estate. Maybe there were other similar hints to items hidden in picture books sold in bigger cities.

Overlooking an important item like that, could lead his progress to get stumped.

That was a common occurrence in games from the past, when one could miss an important item or quest, leading the player stumped and unable to progress through the game.

Checking popular folk tales, even if their origin was dubious, seemed to have some merit to it.

While Allen thought of all that, Sophie started speaking.

"It seems you both have gotten pretty far. There\'s still a lot left to do on my side."

While Allen and Merus were talking, Sophie had heard the latest updates from Kiel.

Her group had been moving at a slower pace than Allen or Kiel\'s.

"Well, it\'s hard to cover a desert with just a few people. I don\'t think it\'s really a problem if you\'re slower."

"You think so?"

Sophie had noticed the other teams had gotten rid of a lot more Pagan Worshippers than her, but Allen told her not to worry.

The Abandoned Gamers party was together again.

Allen\'s team had the help of the beastmen, who were a great asset at fighting the monsters and Pagan Worshippers.

As a result, they met the schedule reported to the king, taking back the capital in three days.

It would have been fine to gather the party the day after that, but Allen decided to wait a bit longer to give the other teams enough time to finish things on their side.

After a bit of coordination in their sides, both Kiel and Sophie reached the point where they could leave their sides for a while.

"They\'ve been waiting for some time already, so come here."

Saying that, Allen guided his party.

He took them to the beastmen troops that had stationed next to the capital\'s outer walls.

Many Gold and Silver Beans had been planted inside the city already, creating spots safe from monsters, but the stench of decay was a fierce enemy of the beastmen\'s noses.

(The beastmen believe in the Beast God Garm, that\'s another Higher God.)

The Beast God, deity of beastmen, was another Higher God like the God of Harvest.

There were hundreds of millions of beastmen alive, and all of them prayed only to Garm.

That made it easy for Garm to ascend into being a Higher God.

The beastmen, believers of Garm, all turned to look at Allen when he approached.

They were quite proud of their race.

Allen felt like every soldier he saw stood with their chest puffed.

"Please come with me."

A beastmen approached Allen, having been waiting for him.

He was tasked with guiding them.

They were led to a tent, which was surrounded by many guards keeping watch.

"Allen\'s party has arrived."

"Thanks."

Princess Shea\'s reply was short.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting."

As Allen entered the tent, he apologized for taking so long to gather everyone.

Princess Shea wore light armor as she sat on a simple wooden chair.

Surrounding her sat the commanders and officers of her troops, awaiting Allen\'s arrival..

"Oh, Princess Sophiarone. Please take this seat."

Saying that, Commander Lud pointed to a seat right in front of Princess Shea.

That was the seat for the person with the highest social standing.

"Master Allen, please sit."

Without hesitation, Sophie gave the seat to Allen.

She remained standing up, while Allen silently took the seat.

"""..."""

Sophie\'s voice had been slightly louder than usual, so everyone there, including Princess Shea, could see who really had the highest position in the party.

Sophie then sat next to Allen.

Merus was not present there.

He knew it could cause some uproar to show himself in public, so he preferred to only show up when absolutely necessary.

"Now that we\'re all here, let\'s start planning how to take down the Demon General."

Rath waited until all eight of Allen\'s party members sat down before speaking.

They would discuss how to fight the Demon General with the help of the beastmen now.