“Shit, are you dying?” Jessica said a few octaves higher than she intended. “That was a stun spell. How weak are you?” She planted the staff end of the guandao firmly on the ground and began a spell. “There is no sin, eat. There is no price for life, eat. There is no wager for lies, eat.”
The spell [Eat of the Fruit] [Awakened] activated and a tree began to grow, starting a little more than a seedling but in a matter of second grew to six meters tall. The tree was translucent with glowing swirls of rainbow energy circulating throughout the ghostlike branches like veins. Every few seconds the tree would pulse with energy as fruit bloomed from a cavalcade of multicolored flowers. Almost everything about the tree was different than it was in the game. in the game the tree just manifested partially ethereal but looked mostly like a normal tree. The new strange appearance further solidified the fact that this was not a game anymore for Jessica.
In deicide all one had to do was touch one of the fruits as they fell to the ground and they would instantly be healed and receive cleansing effects to afflictions and debuffs as well as a restoration of mana. Jessica didn't know how it was going to work now. Originally, the tree's duration was fifteen seconds and it would drop one fruit every second. After the first fruit looked ripe Jessica picked and examined it.
The fruit looks similar to a mango but with a strange glow that pulsed with magic. She took a bite of the sweet fleshy fruit which tasted like somewhere between pure sugar and the sweetest pineapple ever covered in caramel. Even with the intense sweetness she found she couldn’t stop eating it until it was completely gone almost like she had been possessed. She instantly felt rejuvenated as the magic warmly coursed throughout her body and washed away any tiredness from the day.
She pulled another fruit from the tree and placed it into her inventory and was surprised she could. In the game this would not be possible for game balancing. She took a few more and placed them into her inventory as well before grabbing one and squeezed the juice directly into the man's foaming and bloody mouth. The healing effects began as [Suffer] fully ran its course. After a few minutes of healing and suffering the man finally stopped convulsing. He groaned as he opened his eyes for the first time since his ordeal began. His eyes open wide he caught sight of Jessica standing over him. He was awestruck as the turn over and prostrated himself before her. On Jessica’s command the tree faded from existence, fruit and all.
“Blessed Demon Goddess before me with your unholy providence. Forgive me, great one!” The man graveled tears of joy and terror streamed down his face. “I am a humble servant of the Demon Gods, show mercy! Mercy!”
“Is everything going alright up there?” Kevin asked through the private chat.
“I almost killed him and now he is worshiping me as some kind of deity.” Jessica responded in the chat. “Stay down there I think I am going to see how this goes.”
“I leave you alone for two, maybe three minutes and guys are groveling at your feet and calling you a Goddess?” Kevin responds. “Doesn’t matter what world you go to, simps are everywhere.”
“Hey, that just means you really struck gold locking me down.” Jessica joked.
“We both know I am the real catch. Have you seen my gamerscore? Peak male performance!” Kevin said.
“Okay, yeah it is pretty impressive.” Jessica responded.
The man continued to prostrate himself, not daring to move a muscle out of fear of what that retaliation would be. Jessica thought about her next moves carefully. In the real world she never really saw any definitive proof that any god was real of course that never stopped the various religions from preaching about sin and salvation. She always thought it was a grift for money and power. Sell people belief in something and then hide all of the reward behind a paywall and of course death. No one can say gods aren’t real if you have to die to find out.
She had to separate her thoughts of how things were on Mars and how things are on this strange new world. She is possibly in a new universe where gods are real and would be pissed if she killed one of their disciples. It took an army of angels to kill one Upper Celestial and she was unsure if it would even be possible to really kill god and would prefer to not get smited. Finding out if the Gods were real became her first priority. If they are, they could be the way back to Mars.
“What is your name, human?” Jessica asked in an authoritative and sanguinary tone.
“I am Carl Haar. Most High One.” The man responded.
“Good, you may call me Lilitu Goddess of…” She thought for a second to think of something that would sound the scariest. “... the Abyss! Now tell me what are you doing here summoning those dreadful creatures?”
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“I-I was merely following through with an experiment to summon hellhounds. I didn't mean to offend!” Carl said. “Is this town under your protection?”
“My follower, the knight who killed your hounds was hired to protect this town.” Jessica said with grandeur and slight over acting. “For such a reason I have descended and clad myself in elven form only to find you, cowardly and weak. What god do you claim?”
“Thatch Demon God of Death is my patron.” Carl said while trembling.
“Thatch.” Jessica said quizzically. “What do you know of the Demon God?”
“Thatch is the end of all things. He is death the slayer of the God of Life.” Carl said.
“And have you seen Thatch? Has he wrapped himself in mortal form as I have?” Jessica asked as impassively as she could.
“I have not seen him, no. The Demon God of Death was killed by the Gods after he cleansed the world of life in the first era.” Carl said.
“First Era?” Jessica said. “And what measurement of time do you humans use?”
“Forgive me. I forgot that time is moot to you who walk unabated by mortality. We are currently in the third era with each era being about twelve thousand years…”
While Carl went on about how the time flows for mortals Jessica contacted Kevin and relaid her thoughts on the gods of this world. He agreed that they were most likely nothing to worry about and likely just a part of some superstition. She then thought about how Carl attacked a town with a temple to some other gods and they didn’t descend to smite him for killing their fateful worshipers. She felt silly for thinking that some god really existed.
“Pathetic. There is only one Demon Goddess!” Jessica said practically spitting the word while acting insulted. “You are to remain here in this hovel until my disciple descends the mountain. Only then may you leave. Speak of my elven form to no one and hide yourself and repent on my name only. Pray that I show you mercy. For there is no Demon or God higher than me.”
“Yes, Demon Goddess.” The man graveled.
“If you try to leave I will have your soul in the Abyss.” Jessica said, barely able to hold back her smile. “Lift your head only after I leave or I will be taking your head with me.”
“Yes, Great One! Goddess of the Abyss Lady Lilitu!” Carl weeped.
Jessica reactivated [Conceal Race] and [Conceal Level] before using running and jumping off the side of the mountain. She flew high in the sky for hundreds of meters before descending towards the clearing with her best superhero pose as her cloak fluttered in the wind. Kevin clapped, giving her a seven out of ten score for her landing. She took it as a challenge and told him to try and beat her score then. She opened a lesser portal which took the two back to the town. They went back and forth through the portal dragging the corpses of the hellhounds through as proof of their kills. In total that day seventeen of the creatures had been slain, a number that would have been unheard of and would have taken an army to take down.
When Kevin and Jessica returned the townspeople were still rushing to find loved ones and count the dead. In total about twenty people were killed by the hellhounds and an additional seventeen died due to heat strokes. Those that were eaten could not be buried but funerals were going to be held all throughout the evening for the grieving families. A crowd of people surrounded the portal as Kevin pulled the last Hellhound corpse through the mist portal.
The elders all congregated mouths agape at the mound bodies before them. The elders knew that there was nothing they could offer that would be worth the service the two strangers had done for them. Even if they sold all of the pale wheat they would not have the funds to pay for slaying even two of the now seventeen hellhounds. If Kevin or Jessica demanded the town as payment it still would not be a fair trade. They could only hope that the strangers were merciful in their demands of payment. Otherwise they might have traded one monster for another.
“Lord and Lady,” Paisley said as everyone bowed their heads. “Obviously you have done our town an unprecedented kindness. Never would we imagine an arcanist and warrior like yourselves would enter, better yet save our humble town. The debt owed to you is greater than we could hope to pay. We ask that you show us mercy as we are a small settlement; whatever you ask of us is yours within our right to give.”
“Where is the village elder, Ms. Wretched?” Jessica asked while scanning the crowd for her face. “She is the one that promised our reward.”
“Well actually she just wanted us to protect her. It was that guy with her that wanted us to kill the dogs.” Kevin corrected.
“Honestly that sounds about right for her.” Zachery interjected while still bowed. “Lord and Lady, we are the elders of the village as well. Please if you will, I can explain everything at the town hall.”
The group retires to a closed door meeting to discuss the events as they happened. Evan and Gia also attended although both seemed to be dazed and practically unresponsive. Evan went over his part of the day and he and Gia excused themselves from any further discussion. Zachery went on to explain the six elders' position within the village and the fact that Grechid is only one of the elders.
The elders explained that they did not have the funds to pay for slaying so many of the hellhounds. While the town was larger than most it was still not wealthy so they were happy when Kevin suggested a trade. They were pleased to find that the hellhound furs were extremely valuable. The town would butcher and tan the hellhound corpses for their hides as payment. In addition the town merchant would teach them about trade as they were from a distant land. Yessa and his family, the village tanners, agreed to prepare the leathers and furs as thanks while the meat is butchered and prepared. All they would have to do is come back when the hides were ready in six weeks.