I'm the Only Totem in Another World - Chapter 169

Chapter 169: Butterfly Dream （2）

“It’s obvious bullshit. That Overlord of the Dead bastard, he’s the guy who tried to control us with some unheard-of skill. User ‘One Piece,’ who was giving us information near the Capital, got hit too! You think that bastard will massacre the demons if we break the totems? Believe what’s believable!”

Late at night. The plaza where the possessed gathered. Close-Range Spy was spitting and ranting.

“Close-Range Spy. No one has said they believe the Overlord of the Dead yet. Calm down.”

Princess Dina stepped forward on behalf of the possessed, who were exchanging uneasy glances as they watched Close-Range Spy’s outburst.

“Anyway! Don’t be swayed by that Ishtania bitch’s message. That’s what the Overlord of the Dead wants. He wants us to be scared after hearing the surprised Goddess’s words and act like fools.

He’ll stop if we get rid of all the gods? You think that bastard, claiming that, will leave the cathedral alone after destroying Malak’s totems? Once he’s done with the totems, he’ll destroy the cathedral too! He’s trying to screw us all over, the Goddess, Malak, and even us!”

Close-Range Spy pounded his chest.

Ishtania’s message. That was the reason the possessed had gathered late at night, securing permission from Symphony’s administrator, Rachel, to use the plaza.

[The cathedral is in danger! You must protect the cathedral!]

This message was delivered to all the possessed through their status windows. The goddess Ishtania, who had summoned them to this world, had revealed her will for the first time, albeit indirectly.

[If the cathedral falls, you will not be able to return home!]

She added another message, showing how desperate she was. She had sent two messages in a short period.

“I’ve been curious about this, but is it true that we can’t go home if the cathedral collapses?”

Princess Dina asked, and Close-Range Spy immediately answered.

“The cathedral is the only reason a goddess who has lost almost all of her followers can summon Paladins or exert even a small amount of influence. It’s like the last passage connecting the goddess to this world.

If the cathedral falls, it will become difficult for the goddess to interfere with this world. No, she might not be able to interfere at all.”

“Then what will happen?”

“This world will become a game like Champions of the Storm, with updates stopped. The server will be maintained, but there will be no patches and no newbies.”

“…Patches? Servers?”

Princess Dina, who had never played many games, tilted her head. In her previous life on Earth, it was a series of coincidences that led her to encounter the game “Paladin Survival.”

“It means we won’t be able to return home, and there will be no new possessed. The power the goddess has already given, like skills, will remain, but that’s all. A closed world? Forced isolation? It’s like that.

Unless we build a new cathedral, that’s how it will be.”

“…”

Princess Dina fell into thought at his chilling words.

Close-Range Spy, letting out a deep sigh, continued.

“Please, don’t do anything stupid. If we destroy all the totems and Malak is neutralized, what then? The demon and zombie coalition invasion will begin immediately. We’ll all die and become zombies.”

“Right. If it weren’t for Malak-nim, we wouldn’t even be gathered here now. We wouldn’t even have a warm meal. Don’t fall for his tricks.”

“There’s no fool who repays kindness with enmity, right?”

Siu, ‘Morning Tent Erection Knight,’ and ‘I Trusted the Monkey Man but,’ the Monkey, expressed their agreement with Close-Range Spy’s words.

“That’s right.”

The other possessed nodded. Quite a few were just watching each other.

“But why did he offer a deal? If there’s no god, can’t he just bring the demons and attack us?”

Possessed A cautiously spoke up.

“Well, maybe he doesn’t know that the god Malak is currently absent? Nobody wrote that information on the community forum, right?”

Another possessed, B, answered.

“No, even so. He attacked the Capital, which means the Seven-Headed Dragon and the demons were waiting for the right time to come here. Then he must know that we fought a bloody battle with the demons, right?

If he wants to attack, now is the perfect time, so why is he asking us? It’s game over if he brings all the demons and zombies.”

“He must be tired, you idiot. The Overlord of the Dead also fought a war with the demons in the Capital, so do you think he’s in perfect condition?”

“Is that so?”

Close-Range Spy, who was listening to the two possessed converse, joined in.

“The Overlord of the Dead said he’s controlling the Evil God. He made it sound simple, but it wouldn’t be an easy task. It’s a bitch who was once a god, so she wouldn’t be easily controlled. I’m sure he’s having a hard time just keeping the Evil God in check.

Demons are guys who move like an army. Currently, with Dark Cloud and the Seven-Headed Dragon gone, the highest rank is the Evil God. For now, they’ll listen to the Overlord of the Dead who’s controlling the Evil God, but if the Evil God slips out of control even a little, there will be internal strife.

He’s in an uncomfortable situation, so he’s trying to sow discord here.”

Hanna also nodded, as it made sense.

Close-Range Spy might be an idiot, but he was also the best expert on the “Paladin Survival” game and this world.

“So what should we do? Let’s ignore the part about destroying the totems. So should we attack the Capital before he completely controls the Evil God? Or should we wait for Malak-nim to come back and then attack? Ha, damn it, this is so complicated.”

These were the words of ‘Goollreu,’ the de facto deputy commander of the Close-Range Spy Raid.

“Shouldn’t we wait for Malak-nim to come back before we go? It would be great if we went ourselves and things worked out, but there’s no backup. It’s questionable whether the Tribal Federation will believe us and fight with us.”

Fallen Power Knight said, stroking his chin. This also made sense.

“Isn’t it just a bluff that he’s going to destroy the cathedral?”

“Then why would the goddess send us this message?”

“Even in the game, the cathedral was a sanctuary that even demons couldn’t touch. But you’re saying that the Overlord of the Dead, who’s not even a major power, is going to control the Paladins and destroy the cathedral? Doesn’t that sound a bit off? It’s a balance break.”

“If that’s the case, are our Paladins and the demon forces balanced? Even at max level, we wouldn’t be able to touch the Seven-Headed Dragon.”

“Still, she’s called a goddess, so would she fall for a bluff?”

“She might just be a super-powered alien who calls herself a god.”

“No, man, have you become an idiot from living alone in hiding? You think a being powerful enough to send us to another world with superpowers called skills would be unable to tell a lie?”

“Let’s speak one at a time.”

The purpose of the meeting, ‘not to be deceived by the words of the Overlord of the Dead and the goddess,’ had somehow turned into ‘how to defeat the Overlord of the Dead’ or ‘can the Overlord of the Dead really destroy the cathedral?’

“We should assume that the Overlord of the Dead has the ability to destroy the cathedral. If not, there’s no need for this conversation. We can just wait for Malak-nim to come back and kill the Evil God or the Overlord of the Dead.”

“That’s the problem. Why are we risking our lives fighting? Wasn’t it to go back home? Do you want to keep living in this shitty world? Even if we kill all the demons and the Evil God, it’s meaningless if we can’t go back to Earth!”

Many people nodded slightly, expressing passive agreement.

“But we can’t trust that Karon bastard! We don’t even know how many Earthlings have been controlled by him, like Reno Johnson or One Piece! Do you think he sees us as human beings? He’ll just see us as potential corpses or the goddess’s lackeys!”

“Malak-nim said he’ll send us back to Earth! He told Morning Tent that! He must have a way!”

Amidst the confusion caused by the frightened people, Bella, who had lost her sister and was now alone, stared at the Lord’s Chamber where the totem might be.

“…”

Hanna cautiously watched Bella out of the corner of her eye, hoping she wasn’t harboring any unnecessary thoughts.

▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄

[Let Rake, Kanto, or Rachel know if anything comes up.]

[Petit Noah: Yes!]

“Phew.”

I sighed and closed the community forum.

Before dealing with Karon, I need to escape this unknown space first. That’s the top priority.

I can hear about the situation of the Tribal Federation through personal messages from Noah, Siu, or Hanna. If there’s anything that bothers me, it’s this.

[The cathedral is in danger! You must protect the cathedral!]

[If the cathedral falls, you will not be able to return home!]

The goddess sent a message through the status window, probably because she saw Karon’s post about destroying the cathedral. It was like an announcement posted with admin privileges, and the message remained visible even after closing the status window.

Did Karon post that knowing the goddess would make such a fuss?

“That cunning bastard. …Oh?”

I was a bit surprised because it was the first time in years I had spoken out loud. I suddenly feel better, even in this crisis.

No one’s here anyway. I can talk to myself while walking around.

“This place is a complete flower garden.”

It was a space filled with beautiful flowers and trees I had never seen before. I walked slowly, taking in the fragrant scent of the flowers.

“Ah shit, I fell. This hurts like hell.”

My legs keep getting tangled. It’s not easy to walk, maybe because it’s been a while. I clicked my tongue at the pain, a sensation I hadn’t felt in a long time.

…I felt like my body flickered for a moment, but it must have been my imagination.