Chapter 124: Chapter 124
For the girl, life was a continuous series of hardships.
Hunger and cold were almost daily occurrences, and whenever they tried to establish a settlement, powerful external forces reduced everything to ashes.
Her father, who was the chief, met his death fighting against the “many-legged servants” who attacked the village.
Her mother died trampled by them while trying to help the girl and her other siblings escape.
If there was any hope left for the despairing girl, it was none other than the existence of her younger brother.
Her younger brother had a strong body like their father and was also brave.
Above all, her younger brother had a strange ability.
When the yellow light emitted from her brother’s body settled on something, even a small stone axe could easily cut down a living tree.
The tribe people rejoiced.
They cheered that if her brother grew up , he would become a warrior stronger than their father and could fight against the many-legged servants.
The girl, too, endured difficult days dreaming of that sight.
But fate remained cruel to the girl without change.
One day, the girl saw a golden light in the sky.
Only after seeing the fur gleaming as it reflected sunlight and the wings on their backs did the girl recall the legend she had heard from her mother.
They were the “winged servants”.
Those who looked as free as birds whispered something among themselves, then captured the girl’s younger brother.
Her younger brother struggled, swinging his stone axe, but the attack that seemed like it could split anything only managed to cut off a few strands of the winged servant’s fur.
Others in the tribe also tried to help her brother somehow, but before they could properly fight, the winged servants flew high into the sky.
With her brother grasped in their hands.
The girl could only blankly watch as her last hope was kidnapped like that.
The days that followed were extremely barren and cold.
She lived as life flowed and rolled as the wind blew.
The girl felt like she was a grain of sand scattering on the ground there.
Perhaps that was why, even when she was in mortal danger from an attack by the many-legged servants, the girl didn’t feel much fear.
It didn’t seem like anything would get better, even if she survived beyond this.
If the girl had any wish left, it was just to fall asleep without much pain.
Even that seemed like a luxury given how the opponent was deliberately taking their time while being able to kill them easily.
It was then that salvation came, too boldly, without any precursor.
She was wrapped in black.
It was something completely different from the leather or such that they wore on their bodies.
She had unblemished white skin, and her eyes were more brilliant than a sparkling lake.
She easily defeated the many-legged servants by commanding servants with powerful teeth.
She had an appearance similar to the girl and other “descendants of the mighty servant”, but the details were completely different.
The girl unconsciously agreed. It seemed there was no word more fitting than goddess to describe the woman before her eyes.
But there was no being like the woman in the legends they knew.
The golden goddess Elphaba was the master who had abandoned them.
They needed a different title to call the goddess who had saved them.
The girl suddenly saw crows flying in the sky.
It wasn’t anything special. It was a bird that had been frequently seen from the beginning.
But at this moment, it felt as if it held some special meaning.
They began to call the goddess the “Crow Goddess”.
The goddess’ abilities were great.
When they applied the herbs the goddess distributed, all sorts of wounds healed quickly, and the servants the goddess commanded effortlessly felled huge trees.
Light returned to the girl’s eyes that had been dull and murky.
This time, perhaps this time something might really change.
And as it had always been, disaster struck as if to trample on the girl’s hope.
The many-legged servants came to attack them en masse.
Everyone was terrified.
Fighting back was meaningless. The many-legged servants possessed sturdy armor and weapons they had stolen from them.
Their choice was to flee.
Many would die, but some would survive. No, they might survive.
But the Crow Goddess was different.
The goddess didn’t run away or hide, but boldly advanced towards them.
While many didn’t believe in the goddess and left midway, only a few, including the girl, stayed by her side.
The girl couldn’t put into words the event that unfolded after that—the awe she felt.
The goddess and the leader of the many-legged servants had some kind of argument, and the leader rushed at the goddess.
But the servant’s sword couldn’t reach the goddess, and black smoke that leaked from around the goddess enveloped them.
They struggled in agony, but in the end, not one escaped and they all met a terrible death.
The amazing events didn’t stop there.
When the Crow Goddess struck the ground with the staff in her hand, the group of many-legged servants who had met their deaths all rose up at once.
The girl and others were scared, but the many-legged servants politely bowed to the goddess.
Amidst everyone’s confusion, the girl realized.
The Great Crow Goddess had taken those servants from the golden goddess.
Something welled up deep in the girl’s chest. The girl shared that emotion with her kin.
Her kin also shared the emotion the girl felt and praised the Crow Goddess.
The goddess’ advance didn’t stop.
Another group different from the many-legged servants they first encountered tried to block their way, but the servants commanded by the goddess swung their swords as if nothing had happened, even with their long necks cut or chests pierced, cutting down their former kin.
When the Crow Goddess burned dried purple grass, high in the sky purple rain clouds formed and their raindrops poured down on the enemies’ heads.
The servants hit by the rain foamed at the mouth and collapsed on the ground.
The servants commanded by the goddess were hit by the same rain, but far from weakening, they seemed to gain more strength and pushed the enemies back
When all the enemies fell silent like that, the goddess once again struck the ground with her staff.
Then the hostile servants rose up and bowed their heads to the goddess.
It was truly an amazing and awe-inspiring sight.
The girl’s kin adored the Crow Goddess.
Among them, some wanted to become “warriors of the goddess” and tried to inhale the purple rainwater, but the goddess, for some reason, panicked and drove them away.
When the warriors became discouraged, the goddess, for some reason, scratched her head and then handed over the weapons and armor of the many-legged servants to them.
The warriors cried tears of joy.
The swords and armor of the many-legged servants were treasures that had been taken from their ancestors.
Since the body structures of the many-legged servants and the warriors were different, it was difficult to wear the armor as it was, but when the goddess’ servant with strong teeth cut off unnecessary parts, it became somewhat usable.
As time passed, the goddess’s army grew, and the “mighty servants” became strong, befitting their name.
If the many-legged servants faced them head-on, they were overwhelmed by numbers, and if they tried to use terrain, black smoke and rain clouds struck them.
If they tried to block even the smoke and rain clouds with sturdy buildings, the goddess summoned strange semi-transparent beings and infiltrated them inside.
The many-legged servants fled in terror inside the buildings.
The strongholds of the many-legged servants fell one by one.
No one who opposed the goddess survived, and only those who swore submission on their own gained the right to live.
Of course, the mighty servants didn’t look kindly upon them.
Voices grew louder, arguing that they should pay back everything they had suffered until now.
But the goddess didn’t allow this.
The goddess was truly merciful and kind.
However, there were some who didn’t realize this mercy and voiced complaints.
They dared to claim their “righteous revenge and rights” before the goddess.
The girl was indignant.
While the girl also harbored much resentment towards the many-legged servants, the goddess’ grace was even more important.
The girl grasped one of the many swords bestowed by the goddess and split the heads of those spouting nonsense.
Everyone was shocked. Even the girl who committed the act was surprised.
At that moment, the girl realized that black light was surging around her body.
It was something very similar to that strange power her younger brother had wielded.
If such power had been given to the girl of the past, she might have been scared.
She might have cried every night, thinking she, too, might be captured like her younger brother.
But now it was irrelevant to the girl.
What other reason could there be for being given black light similar to the goddess’ at the moment of punishing those who tried to defy the goddess’ will?
The girl was convinced that this was the goddess’ blessing.
Covered in blood and brain matter, the girl smiled brightly and bowed to the goddess.
The goddess seemed to flinch and take half a step back for some reason, but the girl, looking at the ground, didn’t notice.
Just before the high-risen sun hid its form behind the mountain, the many-legged servants surrendered to the Crow Goddess without exception.
The girl and her kin thought that now the Crow Goddess would become their ruler and govern them, but that expectation was off the mark.
The goddess had the many-legged servants build a ship, then tried to leave the island on it.
Many knelt before the goddess and begged her not to leave, but the goddess firmly shook her head.
However, as if it were a final gift, she merged the death warriors she had been commanding and the semi-transparent somethings summoned from various parts of the island, leaving behind one huge tower.
That tower, decorated with a skull identical to the one the goddess carried around, was very wise and answered any question.
After the goddess left, the girl cried for a long time.
But after crying enough and getting up, there was no longer despair or frustration left on the girl’s face.
The girl was no longer a grain of sand in the field with nothing.
The girl had the black light bestowed by the goddess, and her kin had the wise skull left behind.
Above all, the girl who had just been living without any meaning now had a “goal”.
The girl had a debt of gratitude to repay.
And to repay that gratitude, the girl and her kin needed to become stronger.
No, there was much more to gain besides strength. She had seen the many-legged servants conversing with the Crow Goddess in the same language.
Just as the goddess had returned their swords and armor to them, they also needed to reclaim that language and wisdom to communicate with the goddess.
There was no need to worry about how to reclaim it.
The girl and her kin had many many-legged servants—no, “prisoners” they had captured.
Following the merciful goddess’s will, they wouldn’t kill them, but there were many ways to utilize them without killing.
The girl constantly spoke to the wise skull.
Crow, civilization, technology, history, myth, clothing, society, art, poison, curse, battle, glory, gratitude, revenge, livestock, beast, horse, human, ship, navigation, other islands, conquest, world.
The Great Crow Goddess Dorothea.
Expecting a reunion someday, the girl smiled.
On the blue sea, on a moderately sized small boat, Dorothea sighed, “Did I go too far?”
Even though it was one of the few chances in life to freely use necromancy without caring about others’ gazes, the thought that it was a bit excessive didn’t easily fade.
She even felt as if her teacher, who wasn’t even here, was mocking her saying, “You always said you wouldn’t be like me, but look at you now.”
When she saw a native girl suddenly awaken to mana and massacre her kin, she wondered what was going on, but thanks to that, it was fortunate that her reason returned as if cold water had been poured over her head.
They were talking about the goddess bestowing power or something, but Dorothea couldn’t understand what they meant.
From what she saw, it was just that the mana color was a bit similar, that was all.
At the end, she did give them a gift to shake them off as they were clinging too much, but from Dorothea’s perspective, she hadn’t really lost anything.
She couldn’t cross the sea with the army of civilized horses anyway, and after Dorothea left, there would just be piles of corpses left, so it was just roughly gathering surplus resources in one place.
Dorothea, who had been pondering how they might turn out in the future, soon realized it was pointless and stopped thinking.
After all, once she defeated the Wicked Witch of the West, these were people she would never see again.
https://ko-fi.com/genesisforsaken