Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 347 - A Better Way

The second floor of the temple.

As soon as he entered, a map began to form. Ethan examined various parts of the second floor, gathering information scattered here and there.

“This must have been where the reception room was.”

Ethan soon discovered a trace.

“Destroy the evil god.”

To destroy the evil god.

“It was like that earlier too, wasn’t it? The souls on the first floor were saying something about an evil god.”

Ethan thoroughly searched the second floor. As a result, he was able to find other traces. There were quite a few shields and armor engraved with the phrase “destroy the evil god” that he had discovered earlier, as well as rusty weapons.

“Did they die fighting against the evil god?”

Ethan immediately ascended to the next floor.

Third floor, fourth floor, fifth floor.

He carefully checked everything as he went up.

“It seems this temple was the last stronghold. The desert people who were here died fighting the evil god.”

Upon reaching the seventh floor, Ethan discovered a wall emitting a very faint aura of Moonforce.

Shaaaaak-

Ethan didn’t hesitate to strike the wall with his Frost Sword.

Kwadeuk-!

The wall collapsed, revealing an empty space inside.

At the end of that empty space was a door.

“Found it.”

As Ethan opened the door, a notification window immediately popped up.

-You have discovered Moonforce’s hidden shrine.

-Your fame increases slightly.

The inside was quite damaged, just like the first floor.

“The statue is cracked.”

A cracked statue.

And an altar with cracks due to lack of maintenance for a long time.

Ironically, the most intact things were the luminous stones embedded in the walls.

“Hmm.”

While examining various parts of the temple, Ethan discovered a book.

It was a dust-covered book. Ethan blew off the dust and opened the book.

Shaaaaak-!

As soon as he opened the book, memories left in it began to appear.

***

-We need fertile land.

So I made the land fertile.

-We want rain to fall.

So I made it rain.

My children living in my land.

My children who believe in me.

I can do anything for you. Believe in me. Empower me.

However, as time passed, everything began to change.

Faith was not continued.

Worship disappeared.

The god was forgotten.

The god waited.

She remembered the times when she made the land fertile and brought about glorious times.

But they forgot everything.

Those who knew the god all died, and those who remained thought they had created all this splendor themselves.

It was truly ironic.

“Moonforce was forgotten, and those who worshipped Moonforce eventually fell.”

That tribe that worshipped Moonforce was the tribe of the Desert King.

“It’s not like a curse from Moonforce. Rather, Moonforce was waiting and…”

The original evil god in the desert.

They were devoured by that evil god.

“It seems they were swallowed up by the evil god as soon as the shield of Moonforce disappeared.”

As the largest tribe that believed in Moonforce disappeared, Moonforce eventually lost her power, and others who believed in Moonforce stopped believing in the powerless Moonforce.

‘So this was the situation.’

He could also understand why the Moonforce’s Descendant job was a growth-type job.

‘The more you regain the glory of the past, the more the power of Moonforce grows.’

That’s because the power of Moonforce grows in proportion to the number of believers.

“Then in fact, all the desert tribes of Lyubin are descendants of those who worshipped Moonforce?”

Suddenly, Ethan’s eyes lit up.

“It means they were born thanks to that benefit.”

There must be many traces of Moonforce left in Lyubin as well.

“The big picture is complete.”

If he succeeds in this task, he can become much stronger than when he fought against the 3rd Apostle.

Ethan first cleared away the broken statue.

And just as he was about to erect a new statue.

-How dare you touch the sacred statue of Lady Moonforce!

A soul jumped out from the statue and rebuked Ethan.

‘What’s this?’

A bushy beard. An old man wearing a robe that could only be described as blue.

‘It’s extremely transparent.’

More transparent than any soul he had seen on the first floor.

“Who are you?”

-If you must know, I am Lesar, the apostle of Lady Moonforce who has served Her for many long years. And who might you be?

Just then, Lesar noticed the small Moonforce statue Ethan had made before coming here.

-Oh, oh, a statue of Lady Moonforce. It seems I made a wrong judgment. So you are a believer of our Moonforce sect. I apologize, young believer. No, wait a moment.

Lesar examined Ethan closely.

-This, this is strange.

He soon began to panic.

-How come you have so much of Lady Moonforce’s power…

The Moonforce religion is essentially a forgotten religion.

-It should have declined. When I died, there were hardly any people left who served Lady Moonforce.

Although he didn’t want to admit it, the Moonforce religion was on a downward path just before Lesar’s death.

-Now no one in the desert empire knows Lady Moonforce… everyone has forgotten. But how, how can such power be felt from a young believer like you?

The power felt at a glance seemed to be much stronger than himself, an apostle.

‘It can certainly be felt.’

Ethan could also feel the power of Moonforce from him.

‘This is probably the first time, right?’

It was the first time he had met a believer of Moonforce other than himself.

‘There’s White Tiger, but it feels more like a guardian than a believer.’

As he said himself, Lesar was an apostle of Moonforce. It meant he was an official believer.

“So you were an apostle. It’s nice to meet you. As you can see, I’m also a believer of Lady Moonforce.”

-Young man… could you open up all your power once?

At those words, Ethan took a deep breath and opened up the power of Moonforce.

A blue cold air spread around, freezing the floor and walls. It even froze the high ceiling.

Shaaaaak-!

Lesar made a surprised expression at that overwhelming power.

-Ah…! Descendant! You were the descendant. The descendant who inherited everything from Lady Moonforce…!

Lesar, the apostle of Moonforce, prostrated himself.

-I have been waiting for a long time. Please help Lady Moonforce regain Her glory!

Ding-!

-You have received a new quest.

-You have received an additional quest for [Surviving as Ethan Whiskers].

‘Huh?’

Ethan thought the Surviving as Ethan Whiskers quest had ended when his survival probability reached the limit of 25 percent.

‘Additional quest?’

[Surviving as Ethan Whiskers N]

-You have hit the limit of survival probability. Due to Extinction, your survival probability will no longer increase.

-Find another way to survive. Any method is fine.

‘N is attached.’

It probably means it’s a new quest.

‘The survival probability can no longer increase by the existing method. So it’s telling me to find a new way to survive.’

This is probably an extension of the class quest and at the same time an expansion of Surviving as Ethan Whiskers.

‘It can be seen as good in some ways, but.’

The fact that it’s made into a quest has a different meaning.

‘It means it’s difficult.’

It probably means that many hardships await Ethan after this. So it seems they’re trying to help as much as possible through such quests.

‘Not bad.’

“Please don’t do this. I have just become a descendant. On the other hand, you have been protecting Lady Moonforce for many years, haven’t you, Apostle?”

Ethan approached the soul.

“I don’t know much. So please help me.”

Lesar smiled kindly at Ethan’s words.

-How can I help you?

“There are too many things I don’t know right now.”

-I will tell you everything I can. Ask away, Descendant.

“I am working to restore the glory of Lady Moonforce.”

Ethan told Lesar about the work he is currently doing.

-That’s excellent. I can see why Lady Moonforce chose you as Her descendant.

Lesar nodded and looked at Ethan with admiring eyes.

-But that alone is not enough.

“You don’t have to beat around the bush. Can you tell me what I’m lacking?”

At those words, Lesar spoke directly as Ethan wanted.

-The problem is that you are the only descendant in the Moonforce Order.

“…”

Ethan could understand with just that one sentence.

‘Right now, I’m the only believer in the Moonforce Order. To spread the Moonforce Order widely, more people are needed.’

“First, I have a question, Lord Lesar. From what I can see, this place seems to have been a once-prosperous temple of Lady Moonforce, but why has it become like this? And… why did the Desert King and his descendants abandon Lady Moonforce?”

-…

At those words, Lesar sighed.

-I will explain everything to you, Descendant.

Lesar began his story.

The beginning was similar to Ethan’s prediction. It was indeed Moonforce who once protected this prosperous land.

-At that time, it wasn’t a desert. The desert was just a part, a characteristic of this region. Originally, this land was full of yellow canola flowers. Every spring, countless people from the continent would come here for flower viewing.

‘It’s hard to believe that this desert was originally a land full of flowers.’

Even though it looks like no life form could live here.

-It was all thanks to Lady Moonforce. Because they believed in and followed Lady Moonforce, She rewarded those who served Her. But as time passed, faith disappeared and the god was forgotten. It was because times changed. The era of depending on gods ended and a time of denying gods came, and then humanism began, which acknowledged the existence of gods but emphasized that what’s important is not the will of gods but oneself.

Going round and round to the original.

An era came where everything was achieved by one’s own power.

-It’s a good thing. The reason humans can be human is that they can stand up on their own. It’s good to rely on gods, but it’s not good to depend on them. But some people started to think of gods as unnecessary beings beyond just denying them. They destroyed temples. They persecuted those who believed in gods. They started to think everything in terms of humans.

This temple was also a result of that persecution.

-They didn’t know. What exactly Lady Moonforce was doing for them.

Lesar said.

-What She was protecting them from.

Time made everyone forget. That’s why they forgot why they worshipped and served Moonforce in the first place.

-The evil god. Everything started because of the evil god. The evil god of this land wanted living sacrifices. They sacrificed humans and in return gained peace. At first, it was one person. The next year, it was two, and the year after that, it increased to ten. The evil god got a taste for humans and eventually wanted more. At the same time, the land began to become barren.

The evil god started to eat humans. Not just the humans offered as sacrifices, but all humans.

-That’s when Lady Moonforce helped. With Her power, She sealed the evil god. From then on, people started to believe in the goddess Moonforce.

“But people forgot all about that, and eventually stopped believing in Lady Moonforce. As a result, the power of the seal weakened and the evil god appeared again.”

-Yes, Descendant. That’s how everything fell apart. Everything was too late, and those who believed in Lady Moonforce had to hide like this.

This place was also one of those traces.

-Eventually, this disaster happened. The land of flowers protected by the goddess Moonforce became a desert when the evil god was released from the seal.

Since then, this place has become a complete desert.

It became a land where no life could survive.

-Of course, not everything ended.

Lesar continued.

-When evil is born, a hero is also born. More than half of the people died, but someone appeared who sealed the evil god, and that was the Desert King. The Desert King sacrificed his life to seal the evil god and became a new god. That’s why this temple, which once honored Lady Moonforce, became the temple of the Desert King.

Now all the clues fit together.

Moonforce’s temple became the Desert King’s temple.

“I understand up to that point, but why was it abandoned again?”

And why is the Desert King’s treasure buried here?

-The seal is not perfect. The power of the evil god grows stronger day by day, but the power of the seal weakens day by day.

Eventually, this place became ruins due to the evil god who was released again.

-It’s a repetitive history. Sealing the evil god, the seal weakening and breaking. How many generations has it been? Someone who inherited the name of the Desert King prepared for the eternal sealing of the evil god. He tried to seal the evil god in this temple at the cost of his life.

‘This is it. The tomb of the Desert King.’

He devoted all his power to sealing the evil god.

And if the evil god is released from the seal again, it means to fight against the evil god based on various things here.

‘That’s why they said to come here to become the true Desert King.’

Because that’s the only way to gain the power to fight against the evil god.

‘They said they prepared for eternal sealing, but.’

In the end, it means they anticipated the possibility that the seal would break someday.

‘That’s how strong the evil god is. Even Moonforce couldn’t make a complete seal in the end, so the seal broke.’

Then it was essentially a time-limited seal. A seal that would definitely break as time passed.

-By now, the evil god must have been released. I can feel it. The evil god that was sealed in this temple has been released and must be trying to devour all the desert people.

The evil god will kill all the desert people and devastate Lyubin.

It was quite a troublesome situation for Ethan.

But Ethan didn’t just think it was troublesome.

‘Rather, this could be an opportunity. An opportunity to solve everything at once.’

“That evil god, you sealed it because it couldn’t be killed, right?”

-Yes, the evil god is also a god with status. So it cannot be killed.

Gods cannot be killed. That was the established theory.

Of course, they can appear to be dead.

Just look at Moonforce. When her believers disappeared, she lost her power and became miserable. It could be considered essentially dead.

“Then it fits perfectly. The picture of me, Moonforce’s Descendant, annihilating the evil god.”

Ethan said.

“I think it’s the perfect way to make all the people of Lyubin believers of Lady Moonforce again.”