Chapter 170 - White Robes

Medusa pressed her hand against a tree and closed her eyes as she frantically scanned the forest around her once more, but she was unable to pinpoint anything out of the ordinary.

The feeling of being watched was suffocating, but even worse was she felt like an invisible pendulum of death was slowly swinging down toward her. She had no justification for these feelings, but without a doubt she knew them to be true.

Medusa’s heartbeat pounded in her ears as she prayed fervently to the Maiden for help. She strained her senses, searching for any sign that she had been heard by the divine being.

She could only think that the monks must be after her. They must have discovered that she was trying to uncover the true motives of the Cloud Peak Monastery and its mysterious red-eyed benefactor, and were trying to silence her before she could divulge key information.

Her mind shot back to her previous encounter with Ming Ru in her hideout cave. That time, too, her intuition had triggered ahead of time, but the feeling was at a completely different level.

After receiving no response from the Maiden, Medusa clasped her hands and cried out,

“Prince Deka, please…”

She didn’t bother finishing the prayer, knowing there was no chance her patron God could hear her. She was not within range of a Life attuned shrine, nor did she have the proper offerings prepared. Her God was weak, slumbering deep within the aetheric plane. There was no chance that He could hear her pleas at this time, and even if He did, there was nothing He would be able to do for her.

Eventually the pressure became too great and she scrambled to her feet in a panic, her body trembling with agitation. She was at a loss of what to do, but she also couldn’t just sit still and wait for death.

She took off into the underbrush, running in an arbitrary direction. The vegetation bent and split in front of her as she ran through the forest as she moved them out of the way with her powers.

The trees flew by as the terrain became more rocky and steep.

Before long she reached a craggy rock wall covered in vines. The steep cliff towered above her several times higher than the trees, blocking her path. She gasped for breath and paced frantically back and forth for a few moments, trying to decide which way to run.

Her ears perked up as she heard something strange. The sound of hammers and workers drifted on the wind from the top of the cliff. The noise was completely out of place this deep in the forest, and it took Medusa a moment to realize that she’d unknowingly ended up at the base of the White Maiden’s shrine.

Sanctuary!

The single thought ran through Medusa’s mind.

She didn’t bother checking where her assailants were as she made a snap decision to scale the side of the cliff. She didn’t know whether the White Maiden would help her or even wanted to help her, but something in her heart told her that she’d be safe at the shrine.

The vines came to life as she invoked her apprentice powers. The gnarled, black vines thickened and rearranged themselves, jutting out of the cliffside to form a living staircase. Medusa ran up the steps which formed and withdrew spontaneously around her.

As she stepped off the final step and leapt onto the top of the plateau she felt a distinct change in the air. It was like she had passed through an invisible wall.

The feeling of being watched instantly vanished as she collapsed onto the grass. Sweat poured down her face as she recovered her breath.

The sound of hammers and workers floated down the wind as Medusa mentally recovered from the ordeal. She took a deep breath and exhaled as her eyes focused and looked around the plateau.

The part of the plateau she had scaled was on the far side of the field, quite a ways away from the shrine and all the activity. Thinking about where she had originally chosen to pray to the Maiden, which was more on the northwest side of the shrine, it was strange how she was now approaching from the northeast.

She cast her gaze off the cliff, looking across the luscious green landscape before quickly moving away from the ledge. She didn’t know if the dangerous entity was able to see her up here, but she didn’t want to take the chance.

She carefully crossed the field, heading toward the shrine while using the tall grasses and large monolithic rocks scattered around the plateau to hide her from the sight of others. She had to be careful not to be seen as she was dressed in the leather clothes typical of her homeland. If she were to be spotted, she would immediately be recognized as an outsider.

Just as she was contemplating this issue, she came around the side of one of the large boulders and found a pile of cloth neatly placed on top of a flat rock. She was stunned for a moment, looking around to see if there were anyone nearby, but she was alone and still a few hundred meters away from the shrine.

“Could it be…” Medusa muttered softly as she carefully approached the cloth. A look of understanding dawned on her face as she picked up the cloth and found herself holding a clean hooded white robe.

“Praise the maiden!” She spoke under her breath. “So she was really watching over me…”

There was no other explanation for the clothes to be out in the middle of the field like this, with no one in sight. The robes had clearly been left for her through divine arrangement. Clearly, Medusa was meant to come here.

Medusa quickly donned the robes, tying the sash in front and pulling the hood low over her face. With her disguise in place, Medusa was able to relax a little and peek around the side of the monolith she was hiding behind.

She scanned the shrine, taking note of the surrounding activities. A number of people were dressed in the same white robes that she was wearing. Many of them were carrying long poles with talismans and charms dangling off of them.

The Maiden’s worshippers? Or perhaps they are even Her priests? They’re also constructing a temple around her shrine! It’s only been a few days since her awakening… How has she gathered so many followers in such a short time?

For Medusa, a devout follower of Deka, the Prince of Life, this development was unfathomable. She had spent years trying to bring back her God, building small shrines to him with her own hands and recruiting followers. In the Fuha Wastelands there were many believers of Deka, but here in Kumin they valued science and reason. They didn’t believe in spirits or the supernatural. Furthermore, the authorities shut down any overt acts of worshipping foreign Gods, as the Kumin people were only supposed to pray to Lord Noga. Even in the more spiritual province of Huan where there were many believers of the Nature Goddess Yuima, the people were extremely resistant to new pantheons.

Yet here was the White Maiden, receiving full support from the people of Noga, only days after her reawakening.

Impossible. It’s impossible. Medusa could only repeat inwardly to herself as a shiver ran up her spine.

The Great Deka, who was once revered across the continent, had to resort to hiding in shady corners as he struggled in his reincarnation. But this mysterious White Maiden had appeared out of nowhere and instantly flourished.

The White Maiden was truly a terrifying, powerful existence…

Medusa’s lips formed a thin line as she steeled her will, leaving the shadow of the monoliths as she began purposefully walking towards the shrine.

“I need to stay steadfast and strong… Prince Deka is counting on me...”

~

Not too far away, Yuzu was casually sitting on a rock, her face shadowed by the wide brim of her sunhat. Though she was sitting plainly in the middle of the field, nobody even noticed her presence. She watched the white robed Medusa cross the field with an annoyed frown on her face.

Of course, the robes left for Medusa hadn’t just magically appeared on the rock. They had in fact been left there by Yuzu herself, who had pilfered them from the belongings of one of the organizers.

After directing Medusa’s string to the plateau, Yuzu had to come up with a way to keep Medusa’s presence discreet. The robes were perfect for this, as there were enough organizers and people running about that no one would notice an extra person walking around the shrine.

The problem was the robes were just regular clothing, they didn’t have fate strings that she could manipulate. And though Yuzu could easily influence people to go to a specific spot, she couldn’t make them actually do something. Yuzu also wanted to avoid directly commanding anyone in a divine revelation for something this trivial… Such an action was beneath the White Maiden’s image.

Furthermore, all of these white robed people were getting on her nerves. They were far too loud, shaking their poles around and preaching utter nonsense about the White Maiden’s glory. She was seriously on the verge of ejecting them all from the plateau.

In the end, Yuzu had to deliver the robes to Medusa herself.

“Even with all of these followers and powers, I still have to be my own delivery person.” Yuzu muttered with a sigh.

“How… annoying!”