Chapter 1267: 24. Delusion

"Young man......young man......young man, wake up......"

The irritating calls shattered his sleep. Yasa opened his eyes in a daze, only for the bright sunlight to immediately sting tears from them.

He hurriedly squeezed his eyes shut and turned his body, blocking the light so his eyes could quickly adjust to the surroundings. At the same time, the sudden stimulation instantly cleared his head.

"I......didn't die?"

He stared at his hands in disbelief. His final memory was still frozen at the moment when he had been burned by Muen Campbell's black flames. Back then, he had been utterly incapable of resisting. Logically speaking, he should have been dead for certain, but unexpectedly......

"Strange. How could Muen Campbell possibly let me go? He may be a notorious scumbag, but I've never heard of him being this stupid......"

Yasa could not understand it. He even thought that perhaps he had arrived in the world after death, but right beside him, the life force coming from that old woman was so clear, and together with the old yet unmistakably real streets and houses around him, Yasa quickly rejected that possibility.

He was still alive.

"Young man, are you all right? Why are you sleeping in the middle of the street in broad daylight? Looking at how disheveled you are, did you get dumped?"

The old woman was extremely warmhearted. Not only did she fuss over him with concern, she even casually handed him a large apple.

"Th......thank you.""

Yasa accepted the apple and did his best to make his smile appear peaceful. "You've misunderstood, ma'am. I'm about to be united in marriage with the goddess I deeply love. How could I possibly have been dumped? The great Love God is shining His radiance upon me even now."

"Love......God?"^

"It's nothing, ma'am. I'll be going now. Thank you for the apple!"

He still had not completely confirmed his current situation, and fearing that everything before him might merely be a deliberately fabricated trap, Yasa did not linger. After bidding farewell to the old woman, he turned left and right through the unfamiliar, complicated streets until he reached a secluded place..

After checking his surroundings and confirming that he was temporarily safe, Yasa hurriedly touched his storage magic device......

"Still here."/

His eyes lit up. He pulled from his clothes the goddess statue with its compassionate expression. The tiny statue did not appear supernatural in the slightest, yet the moment he saw it, Yasa seemed to suddenly regain his anchor.

"My Lord above, please answer the prayer of Your devout slave."_

Yasa prayed reverently toward the statue, but even after praying for quite some time, he received not the slightest response from it.

"Right......the sacrifice!"^

He slapped his forehead, only then remembering this crucial step.

He had been far too flustered when he woke up and had actually forgotten even this. A sin, a sin......"

Yasa temporarily left. Before long, he returned dragging a figure behind him—the very old woman who had given him the apple just now.

The old woman was barely breathing, her entire body covered in blood. Yasa dragged her along by the hair, while her eyes were filled with pleading./

"Rejoice. You have been granted such an easy return to my Lord's embrace."

Yasa showed not the slightest mercy. He directly slit the old woman's throat, letting the blood flow and stain the apple he casually crushed beneath his foot.

Using that blood, he constructed a simple altar.

Then he knelt at the center of the altar and once again prayed toward the statue.

"My Lord above, please......answer the prayer of Your devout slave......"

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Yasa repeatedly knocked his forehead against the ground until blood began to flow from it. That blood splattered across the altar, gradually mingling with the old woman's blood before flowing toward the statue at the head of the altar.

Buzz......

The statue trembled faintly and gradually floated into the air. Immediately afterward, holy radiance began continuously surging from the statue, while a pure white wing unfolded within the void and individual feathers scattered down like rain.

"My Lord......my Lord......You finally answered me!"

Yasa was ecstatic. This familiar aura, this familiar holiness......there was no mistake. It was the Love God!

In that case, everything before him had to be real. After all, with a deity as mighty and majestic as the Love God, there should be no one in this world who would dare impersonate Him.

"Then those things I saw earlier......could they have been a dream?"

Yasa murmured to himself. The scenes from before had simply been far too realistic. That was precisely why he had been so cautious. Until he directly came into contact with his Lord's radiance, he had not dared to completely believe that everything around him was real.

But now that he had confirmed it, if he looked back and thought carefully......

"Attacking some random little city, only to run into Muen Campbell and a legendary calamity there......something like that could only have been a dream."

With the great Love God protecting him, his luck should not have been that terrible.

It seemed he had simply been thinking too much lately about fulfilling the divine oracle the great Love God had recently bestowed. He had overworked himself so badly that he had even collapsed unconscious in the middle of the street.

How embarrassing.

"My Lord......I am terribly sorry to disturb You, but in order to offer You even better sacrifices, I beg You to bestow upon me just a little more of Your favor......"

Although it had only been a dream, it had still made Yasa much more cautious. He realized that if he wanted to prevent any further accidents, he had to obtain more assistance from the great Love God.

[Granted.]

The Love God responded to him very quickly.

Yasa was beside himself with joy. Thinking about how difficult it had once been to receive any response no matter how desperately he prayed, while lately he had been receiving His favor again and again, it seemed the great Love God had already recognized his potential and intended to cultivate him toward an even higher level.

"My love, it seems we'll soon be together forever." Yasa stroked his chest. "One day, my Lord will grant us an eternity together......"

Buzz.

Behind the goddess statue, holy wings spread open. A magnificent sacred hymn resounded, and a pitch-black hollow appeared out of thin air. From within it extended a......hand as white and flawless as jade.

Yasa's eyes burned with fervor, and he grabbed that hand without hesitation.

In an instant, holy radiance surged into Yasa's body through that hand. Amid an indescribable warmth, Yasa felt the grace bestowed upon him by the great Love God.

[Release your thoughts......]

[Your soul......do not resist......]

[I......am bestowing My grace upon you......]

A faint, ethereal voice echoed beside Yasa's ears. Tears streamed down his face, because never before had he heard his Lord's voice so clearly and directly.

So beautiful......so wonderful......

Listen......

The great Love God......his Lord, was continuously showering him with favor......

He was......so happy.

Amid the supreme gospel, Yasa completely let go of everything and carefully immersed himself in the grace bestowed by his Lord......

......

......

Fwoosh. Fwoosh.

Pitch-black flames burned the soul.

That figure continuously rolled across the ground, the violent agony twisting his barely visible face into an utterly grotesque expression.

And yet he was smiling. Tears of happiness continuously streamed from the corners of his eyes, only to be devoured by the flames in the very next instant.

He had completely abandoned his soul's defenses, leaving himself entirely open as the black flames continuously licked across him. The information within his soul was rapidly deconstructed. Because there was no resistance, even the special curses planted in his soul beforehand failed to activate. Vast amounts of complete information were swallowed by the flames and then manifested on the other side.

Images flashed past.

They were the first half of Yasa's pitiful, laughable life.

Like a delusion.