Chapter 18: The Great Statue

Viper donned his white robe and grabbed his rapier. His heart started to pound louder as moments ticked by. Even now, he could feel the malevolent aura engulfing his mansion. It was full of hatred, malice.

He approached the gargantuan snake coiled on the stone pillar. “Aguis. From blood, one shall rise. From stone, one shall shatter. I command you to give me the blood stone.”

The gargantuan snake uncoiled itself, slithered within the room, then made a stop right before its master. It violently hissed as it opened its mouth. Four small pieces of red stones the size of a pebble came out.

It was still covered with the snake’s saliva, but Viper grabbed all of it without hesitation. He immediately tucked it inside the pouch on his waist.

“Aguis. Come with me. We are leaving the mansion.”

The snake hissed. Its body quivered for a few seconds, and it started to shrink at a tremendous speed. It became so small that Viper was able to easily tuck it within the comfort of his robe.

Viper glanced at the door. The entity that had intruded his abode was looming closer as seconds passed by. He cannot stay here. He knew.

Without hesitation, he jumped out the opened window.

***

Jiablu gazed at the three bandits before him. One of them knelt in utter desperation, while the other two rigidly stood still. They were unshaven, dirty, and reeked of alcohol. By now, the blood from his previous victims had covered the ground.

“P-Please! Don’t do this!” the bandit kneeling on the ground pleaded. Tears uncontrollably fell down his cheeks.

Jiablu furrowed his brows. He was getting tired of repeating himself. “Where is the priest?”

“T-The B-Boss took her s-somewhere! W-We don’t know w-where!”

“If y-you look in the Master’s C-Chamber! M-Maybe she’s there!”

“Where is the Master’s Chamber?” said Jiablu.

One of them repeatedly opened then closed his mouth, then spoke in an almost incomprehensible voice. “From h-here, just take the long corridor. O-Once you’ve seen the r-room f-filled with the s-statues of the nine G-Gods, turn l-left from t-there!”

Statue of the nine Gods? Jiablu’s eyes slightly widened in interest. He wanted to see. He knew that there were other Gods worshipped by the humans aside from the puny Queen Fairy called God Aquina. His lips crooked into a small grin.

“Interesting,” he whispered. Without uttering a word, the heads of all three bandits burst into pieces. Blood violently splattered on the ground.

Jiablu went out the room and immediately saw the long corridor the bandits spoke of. By human standard, it would probably take five minutes to reach the other end.

“Nine Gods... the mortal said that there are nine Gods. Then, maybe...” Jiablu mumbled as he slowly walked towards his destination. He silently wished that there was a statue of his master.

A group of five bandits saw him and approached his way, but before they could even ask what he was doing in such a place, their heads burst open and their bodies kissed the cold ground.

“Nine Gods… Nine Gods… I want to see him… I want to see my Master,” he continued to mumble, all the while massacring all the bandits that came his way.

Eventually, he arrived at the end of the path. He glanced left and right. There were two rooms. If the left was the path to the Master’s Chamber, then the right one must be the room where the statues were kept.

Jiablu opened the door to the right and entered. It was dim. Without any illumination.

He willed for an orb to manifest itself before him. It was the size of a fist, and its azure glow illuminated his immediate surroundings. Shadows loomed as numerous statues greeted his eyes. Just like what the mortals said, there were indeed nine of them.

To his great delight, one of the statues was that of his master. Jiablu felt shivers crawl down his spine when he realized the great semblance of the figure to his master. It was intricately done, even to the most minute of details.

“Well done,” he said. If the creator of the statue was here, Jiablu would have greatly commended him for the work, regardless of his race. He continued to gaze at the figure, and each second sent him into a state of euphoria.

Jiablu did not realize that it had been almost half an hour since he motionlessly stood admiring the statue of his creator. If not for the hoarse voice that reverberated in the room, he would have not broken out of his stupor.

“He’s here! The culprit is here!”

“Catch him!”

Jiablu glared at the source of the voice. “Impudent bastards.”

Seven bandits entered the room, their weapons unsheathed from the scabbards. One of them hollered, “Are you the one that killed our guys? Answer us!”

Jiablu wanted to immediately massacre them, but he was reminded that they were currently inside a Holy Ground. He could not let a single drop of blood be shed in front of the statue of his master.

“Silence,” said Jiablu. And a deafening silence befell the group. They could not move, moreover utter even a sound. All that they were left able to do was stare at the child as he wordlessly gazed upon a single statue.

Minutes passed, and almost an hour came. Eventually, the child spoke, “Such a satisfying encounter. Whoever made this deserves my respect. A true artist indeed. A human that has surpassed others in his art. Impressive. Impressive.”

The orb of light hovered onto the next statue, then to the next, until it went back to the statue the child was intently staring at.

“The statues of the other Gods are mediocre. As expected. No one is greater than my Master,” said the child. There was a satisfied chuckle after that.

If the bandits were not frozen, they would have glanced at each other by now and say, “what the hell is wrong with this kid? He’s a fanatic!”

Eventually the child turned around and faced their way. Their bodies violently trembled upon meeting his crimson eyes. He pointed at one of the bandits and said, “You over there. I am permitting you to speak. Answer my question.”

One of the bandits almost stumbled on the ground when the restriction that bound him dissipated. His chest immediately rose then fell and he gasped for air. He looked at his companions. Just like before, they were frozen still.

“Should I take the statue from this Holy Place? Somehow, this place feels perfect. As though my Master wishes for me to silently gaze at his majestic self every now and then. Though I dislike the idea of him being lined alongside the other so called Gods, I shall permit it for now,” said Jiablu. When he received no answer, he added, “What do you think?”

By now everyone in the room knew that the child was no mere human. He was without doubt a magician. A very strong one at that.

The bandit gulped down the lump in his throat. “I-I think t-that he should stay here? I-I mean… the statue would be lonely if you remove it from there… r-right?”

The bandit’s heart loudly pounded, and it almost jumped out of his chest. If what he said displeased the monster before them, their blood would cover the ground red. He shivered at the thought.

To the bandit’s surprise, the child nodded. “You think so too, huh?”

There was a deafening silence as the child remained fixated on the figure that spanned five meters in height. The child’s back was completely exposed, and his thoughts were obviously occupied by the statue before him. Still, the bandit that had his restriction removed did not dare move a single muscle. If that magician was capable of binding everyone without lifting a single finger, then how much of a monster would he be if provoked? The bandits cannot afford such a thing right now.

“Something’s missing,” mumbled the child. Seconds passed, and his gaze swiveled between the statues and the frozen bandits. He clapped his hands once. “Ah. That’s it. There are no flowers. Master Thanatos likes flowers.”

Without warning, excruciating pain bolted through everyone’s bodies. They wanted to scream in agony, but no voice came out. To their horror, their bodies began to bend in unimaginable ways, their flesh splitting and bones cracking.

Surprisingly, not a single blood splattered on the ground as the bodies of the bandits continued to distort into gruesome figures capable of making a full grown soldier cry.

“Flowers, bloom for your God,” mumbled the child.

A fragrant scent wafted through the air as vines sprouted out of the distorted bodies. Leaves unfolded themselves, and flowers bloomed into utter perfection. It was a pristine, divine sight. It was beautiful enough to shame even the Royal Garden of each Kingdoms.

The child smiled in utter satisfaction. Today was a great day. Indeed.

He knelt down, and flower petals rained in all directions. “Master, this humble servant is greatly honored to see you.”

He added, “These flowers shall bloom—forever—to please you.”