Martial King's Retired Life

Interlude 3

Nothing but smoke, flames and fresh blood was within sight. Nothing but groans, grunts, roars and cries was within earshot. Somehow to him, though, it was perfectly normal.

“God? God?” he mumbled to himself as he meandered.

In the titanic city of gold, he was the only person who’d search for him. They called him Executioner Zero – Lord San Shen’s representative in the world of mortals. Until Lord San Shen descended into the world of mortals, all the rules and authorities of Divine Moon Cult were in his hands. Even though he’d have to hand over the reins once Lord San Shen arrived, he never felt dissatisfied about it. To the contrary, he’d be excited and glad – at least in the beginning – because he, too, believed in Lord San Shen.

If Executioner Zero didn’t believe in Lord San Shen more than anyone else, he wouldn’t have accepted the role as Lord San Shen’s representative. He dedicated his entire life to the cult for his master who was destined to descend in time. The arrival of Lord San Shen was tantamount to showing the world his beliefs and would render him one of the few lucky individuals in the cult’s history to personally see the lord of legends. Despite his strong feelings, when Lord San Shen descended, he couldn’t help doubting himself.

The blonde murderer had an innocent smile despite all the heads strewn on the ground, black rocks and shrouded sky. Just because the small city’s lord refused to surrender his daughter’s heart to the cult, the young man marched a force all the way over to annihilate the developing city.

Even the loyalest soldiers of the cult started to question if they should’ve swung their blades for that. Zero understood that God’s orders were absolute, meaning they were sinners if their god was a sinned. Howbeit… he questioned if the ruthless massacre was truly necessary to fulfil the cult’s calling. Was God’s smile a product of carrying out his duty? Were all the homicides they committed truly for the sake of the Lord San Shen faction? If that was the case, why did God look so bored as he stood there in the once-lively city?

Sitting on the ground before the young man was a maiden who’s expression had been stuck in a state of shock due to paralysis of witnessing the catastrophe. Zero couldn’t explain why, but he went over and knelt before his master, then said, “My Lord, she is just an ordinary girl. She has not done anything.”

The ignorant would’ve thought God didn’t hear Zero, but anyone remotely familiar with God would’ve known that Zero just saved her life.

As the maiden finally came around, she shrieked, but it only lasted a second for her wrist had been forcibly severed from her arm before she realised it.

God tossed the hand down to Zero and ordered, “Eat it.”

“…”

God smiled. “Are you defying me?”

Zero picked up the hand and, even though every fibre of his being trembled, he took a big bite out of the hand. The blood that spurted every time he took a bite was the exact same as how he wanted to spit it all back out quick, fast and in a hurry. Every bite was an undeniable sense of learning, learning of what torture meant.

“How boring,” remarked God, watching Zero emotionlessly eat. “Has the thought of opposing me never crossed your mind?”

Without any emotional turmoil in his voice after finishing the hand, Zero replied, “Your subject is your loyalest servant.”

“What if I killed your entire family?” With his chin on his hand, God questioned, “Would you hate me?”

“Your subject left his family from the moment he joined the cult.”

God nodded, then smiled when a ray of sunlight finally managed to peek through the smoke and mumbled, “If I’m not mistaken, you have an illegitimate son. Would you eat him if I told you to?”

Zero couldn’t ever forget the taste of blood going down his throat when he heard that.

If Lord San Shen’s legends are true, why did a demon descend? Heaven, please forgive my disrespectful doubt. Is he… truly our Lord San Shen?

The sun on that day was particularly bright; the sky was particularly clear. It was though it was out to purify the desecrated city and sinful hearts. The demon of the golden palace revealed a smile. Perhaps others didn’t notice, but at that close range, Zero sensed the genuine joy emanating vividly.

“You seem happy, My Lord?”

“Haha… Hahahaha.”

God’s unpredictable temperament was nothing surprising by this point, and he never explained himself, but today was an exception for whatever reason.

“Do you know why I do however I please?”

God asked the very question daily. Zero wouldn’t have been Zero if he couldn’t answer it.

“You have only given the vermin the punishment they deserved.”

Though there seemed to be a hint of scorn in Zero’s tone, God didn’t pay it any heed since the lives of mortals didn’t matter to him, or perhaps his interest lied elsewhere considering he had his gaze locked on something else approaching from the distance.

God raised his arms high and wide. “Because I want to die!”

Nobody understood what the crazy remark implied – which was the case every time he gave some borderline-insane command.

“He’s coming. He’s coming!” God pranced as if he was a child receiving a new toy. “He’s finally here.”

God didn’t know how it started, but he knew that it was linked to his actions in the past few years. As long as he continued carrying on the way he was, they’d eventually meet. God never thought he planted the seed of karma when he had Zero eat the hand, and he never noticed the heart of his loyalest follower on his knees was beating as hard as if it were going to burst.

“My maker has arrived!”

Following a flash of black light, the golden palace came crumbling down, and flames spread. The billowing winds that ensued prevented everything from flying everywhere. As crimson eyes met, golden and grey energies clashed.

Save for Zero, who was skilled compared to the others, everyone else only saw collisions and roars. The only way Zero could describe the battle was, “A clash between gods.” It wasn’t surprising half of the golden city was destroyed. After all, it was a fight between gods. However, Zero couldn’t comprehend what he saw notwithstanding how close he was. The only vivid memories had before passing out from the pressure were the unsettling red eyes of the white-haired youth. He could never forget the white-haired youth cutting down the blonde demon. He remembered shedding tears at the sight of the scene and tasting blood in his mouth again.

***

The blonde demon woke from his slumber after revisiting the events of that day one more time. It was the same dream every time he fell asleep in the cell. His nameless opponent at Changan fought him all night to a draw. He was a worthy opponent to continue fighting if he didn’t have someone more important to kill.

The expansiveness of the Central Plain fed the blonde demon’s desire to compete, consequently helping him grow once again after a severe regression. He was stronger than he was back in the Western Regions and stronger than when he invaded Changan. He was confident he could crush the nameless youth at Changan if they ran it back.

Just like the day he was defeated, the sun on the horizon drew his gaze toward it. It wasn’t time for him to stop yet. He needed to continue killing in order to progress back to where he was prior to his fall. Since Changan wasn’t populated enough for him to replenish what he’d lost, he needed to kill more citizens of the Central Plain.

The blonde demon rose to his feet.

At his current pace, he would reach the capital in less than three days.

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