Only God
Chapter 83 - 75: Man Kills Man

Chapter 83: Chapter 75: Man Kills Man

Food was becoming scarcer by the day.

Dertulian walked to the food storage on the ship, staring at the cow.

Antion had once relayed a prophecy from Kagawus, which stated that a cow must not be killed, for to kill it would surely invite disaster.

Dertulian stepped forward, caressing the back of the cow, which lowered its head and meekly ate the feed.

"Killing it would beckon disaster... but are the Gods not compelling us to kill this cow?"

Dertulian’s eyes were bloodshot, and like the others from Logos, he suffered the torment of hunger, and sometimes, to appease the people, he even had to share his own portion of food.

But before the panic brought by hunger, all those struggles were fruitless.

"Gods... are you forcing me to kill this cow to give yourselves a sufficient reason to bring down disaster?"

Those Gods of unknown origins, committing such acts, issuing such prophecies, were not only for the people of Logos but for themselves too.

If the people of Logos disregarded the prophecy and killed the cow, the Gods could justifiably bring down catastrophe.

If this were to be recorded in the epics by future generations of Logos, they would not blame the Gods, but the defiance of mankind.

Though all these were but speculations, Dertulian felt they were very close to the truth.

Dertulian found the Gods and their promises laughably absurd.

He gently smoothed the cow’s whiskers, repeatedly telling himself that he must not kill the cow unless driven to absolute desperation.

Humans were merely ants compared to the Gods.

Ants may disbelieve, but should never openly defy.

Soon after, Dertulian walked out of the granary and onto the deck.

The gaunt, malnourished people of Logos, seeing their leader, gathered around him in small groups, as if merely being in his presence could provide some comfort, despite their intense hunger.

Dertulian saw Antion, who was leaning against the railing of the deck.

After consoling the people of Logos around him, he approached Antion alone.

Antion noticed Dertulian, looked up, and gave him a bitter smile.

"Dertulian..."

Antion’s voice was hoarse:

"Many have started to gnaw on their clothes."

Dertulian heard him well. What Antion mentioned, he also could see.

The people of Logos, nearly at the brink of collapse, began tearing their animal skin clothing to pieces, and then chewing them along with their daily ration.

More terrifying than the lack of food was the scarcity of fresh water.

Though Dertulian tirelessly filtered seawater day and night, the water produced barely met half their needs.

The people of Logos aboard the ship were tortured with dry mouths, wandering on the sea as though in a desert.

Under the sunlight, Dertulian’s brow was on the verge of collapsing.

This king’s brother, a prophet in his prime, was now being tormented towards old age.

Antion licked his lips, hoping to moisten his mouth a bit.

After a long while, Antion spoke:

"Do you remember what I mentioned earlier?"

"I do,"

Dertulian looked at him directly, speaking softly:

"You said that it is because we have reason that we face such terrible ordeals."

"Yes... it’s because we have reason, being the first beings with reason on this earth, that the Gods have set their sights on us."

Antion muttered to himself as if he were speaking to Dertulian but also as if he were speaking to himself,

"Because we possess reason, when we face terror, that terror seems far greater than that of other beasts. Reason magnifies our fear as if it has us strung up alive over flames, cruelly and painfully burning us."

Dertulian watched the nervous Antion. This young Priest was no longer full of the ambition of his earlier years. Now he was like a withered leaf blown by autumn winds, approaching decay.

Antion was about to lose his mind.

"Do you know what I want to say?"

Antion asked hoarsely.

"I do not."

Dertulian said.

Antion suddenly leaped up from the ground, grabbing Dertulian’s neck like a hungry wolf, and said fiercely,

"Reason is not only a gift, but also a torment, a punishment!"

"We believe we have received the most precious food in the world, however... that most precious thing is tormenting us, making us so miserable."

"Dertulian...

Perhaps, perhaps... perhaps being an Ape-man, being a beast, we might be far happier than we are now..."

Antion shouted wildly, tightly gripping Dertulian’s neck, who made no attempt to resist until Antion grew tired and let go, dropping to the ground listlessly.

This poor Priest was about to go completely insane.

Dertulian looked at Antion as he lay on the ground, then walked away without uttering a word.

Because Dertulian knew not what to say.

Antion was like a mirror, in whose eyes Dertulian could see...

himself also deeply trapped in fear,

himself also wretchedly tormented by hunger.

...

In the dead of night, Dertulian was awakened.

"Murder!"

"He killed someone!!"

"Gods, look at this...!"

Panicked voices flared up like fire on dry leaves, immediately igniting a fierce blaze. The entire ship was thrown into a whirlpool of terror. Dertulian scrambled up from the ground, rushed to the deck, and saw chaos.

A Logos man, covered in blood, was brandishing a Bone Knife in his hand, threatening others not to approach, with a woman lying at his feet.

By the moonlight, Dertulian saw that the woman’s stomach had been cut open, blood spilling onto the ground.

This Logos man had chosen to brutally kill his own wife.

Dertulian suppressed his wildly beating heart, maintaining his calm and dignity, forcefully holding back nausea, and coldly ordered,

"Seize him, execute him!"

The people surged forward and promptly captured the man who had killed his wife.

Before long, the man confessed to all his crimes and was then thrown into the sea by the crowd.

Dertulian watched as the man sank into the sea. The man’s piercing cries echoed throughout the Oar-sail Ship as he desperately begged for another chance, but until he had completely sunk, no one was willing to save him.

The fierce sea wind blew from behind, pushing the Oar-sail Ship farther and farther away.

"Hahahahahahahaha!"

Antion, who had appeared on the deck at some point, clung to the ship’s railing, pointing at the blood on the ground and laughing wildly, and no one knew what he was laughing about.

This young Priest seemed to be mocking the killer’s frailty, as well as the foolishness of the people, and even... mocking the reason of all Logos men, which was so easily shattered in the presence of the mighty Gods.