Chapter 505: Mighty Man or Liar?
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
One-eyed Giant Gorge
The One-eyed Giant that brought Link back didn't know what had happened. Seeing the one-eyed king yell while kneeling before him, he waved his hands immediately.
"King, king, I'm not god's messenger. I'm Auka. Don't you recognize me?"
The one-eyed king lost his temper. He grabbed a three-foot-wide rock and hurled it at the giant Auka. "You idiot," he exclaimed. "The god's messenger is above your head!"
Auka's head started bleeding from the hit. He clutched his head and scurried away.
Link flew down and hovered around 100 feet from the one-eyed king. "Why do you call me god's messenger?" he asked curiously.
Seeing that Link could fly without wings, the one-eyed king grew even more reverent. He prostrated himself on the ground and looked up. "God once gave an oracle," he said respectfully. "If someone who looks exactly like him appears one day, he'll be the messenger that was sent to save us sinners."
"God? Oracle?" Link was even more confused. Did the God of Light do this? It didn't seem right though. If it was the God of Light, the game system would notify him. It wouldn't be so quiet like now.
Of course, the system might not have felt the need to notify him. But was there a need to be so mysterious about this?
The one-eyed king nodded furiously. "Yes, an oracle. We pass it down every generation. It won't be wrong. Not only do you look exactly the same as in the oracle, but you also appeared at the same time too."
This explanation shocked Link. The detail about his appearance raised some alarms in his mind.
Since the oracle said that the god's messenger would appear at this time, then he was sure that he wasn't it. The true messenger would very possibly arrive soon.
Gods couldn't just come to the mortal world, but if the god's messenger wanted to win over these mortals, they had to be at least at the Legendary level. If they were unfriendly, it would be problematic.
Thinking of this, Link said, "Since he's a god, you must have a statue. Let me see it."
"Yes, Messenger." The one-eyed king stood up and walked deep into the gorge. Link hovered in the air and followed 100 feet behind him.
Along the way, many One-eyed Giants looked at him curiously. Perhaps because they feared the lord, they watched from afar without getting close.
The gorge was huge. It was at least six miles long and almost 2000 feet wide. Going down the path, Link discovered that there were many giants here of all gender and age. They were all naked too. Of the 600 or so giants, there were at least 200 in their prime.
Seeing Link study his people, the one-eyed king said in disdain, "Messenger, those guys are all brainless idiots. They don't even deserve to be mentioned."
Link didn't think so though. They were all strong Warriors above Level-8. The one-eyed king was at the pinnacle of Level-9. Other than the king who was smart and difficult to fool, the others seemed easily satisfied. If they were given nice food and clothes that only the leader wore, they would probably work for Link.
Such powerful strength and large bodies would become machines of terror on the battlefield. Of course, Link didn't know if that would work before he understood the situation of the island.
Around ten minutes later, Link followed the one-eyed king to the end of the gorge. It was empty here, without a single giant. The terrain was flat too. A white 250-foot-tall statue stood in the center.
The statue looked exactly like a human. Studying it, Link's features did look somewhat like it, but just a little. Actually, Link had a really plain face, so he looked similar to almost every human.
To a human, he would look very different from the statue. To a foreign race, there was no difference. (It was hard for anyone to distinguish faces of another race. For example, two dogs might look the same to you.) It was normal to get the wrong person.
Thud. The one-eyed king was already on the ground. "This is the mighty Thoreau," he said. "He has always been protecting our island from being invaded by evil, but evil has never left. He is patrolling outside the island, waiting for a chance to come devour our souls. Thus, the mighty Thoreau left the oracle that 1000 years later, his messenger would return and help us defeat the evil once and for all."
With that, he turned to Link. His yellow eye was filled with fervor. "Now you really are here. We can finally be free of the evil threat."
Link was totally confused. He'd never heard of the mighty Thoreau before—not in the books he'd read or in the game… Wait, something flashed past his mind. It was a memory about the game.
It was really fleeting. Link had probably glanced at the information before but didn't read it carefully.
He fell silent and worked on getting rid of distracting thoughts. He wanted to reconstruct that wisp of smoke-like memory. It was useless. He only had a vague impression. The memory remained in a nameless corner, deep in his mind. The more he tried to remember, the less he could.
Since he couldn't remember, Link could only give up. "What evil do you mean?" he asked.
"The evil outside the island. They're everywhere in the sea. They capsize all the ships, cover the sky, and blocked all ways for us to contact the mainland of light. That isn't important now though. You're here, and even the sky is brighter!"
Link was shocked. He paid attention to one detail. "You said they cover the sky?"
He could personally verify this. When he and Gretel entered the Firuman Realm and was miles in the air, he was sure that nothing was covering the sky.
However, Link then remembered that Gretel had told him that 400 years ago, she'd traveled throughout the realm with her mother. They hadn't seen such a large island. To them, the Isle of Dawn was the biggest island.
This meant that the sky had once been covered, but now it was gone. It had disappeared within these 400 years.
But why?
Link's thoughts whirred and quickly thought of two possibilities. One, the god's messenger had already appeared, but the one-eyed king didn't know. Two, the evil that the king spoke of had internal conflicts.
The first was much more possible.
Then, is this messenger a friend or a foe?
Link didn't know. He only knew that this island wasn't as safe as he'd thought. Both the evil in the sea and Thoreau's messenger threatened them.
Thinking of this, Link ignored the one-eyed king. The space around him blurred slightly. This was the sign of the Void Walk operating at the extreme.
The next instant, there was a boom. Sound waves spread in all direction, forcing the one-eyed king back when he was hit. At the same time, Link disappeared.
He flew back to the castle. In mid-air, his mind flashed. He thought of why the name Thoreau was familiar.
On the world channel of the game, there was a notification that a player found a treasure. The notifications here moved really quickly, and players always found treasures. Link had just glanced at it casually.
With this clue, Link thought back a bit deeper. More and more information was dragged out.
Evil God Thoreau, eternal prison, perfect fraud, committing horrors in the name of justice… There wasn't much, but the words kept jumping out. They were all bad news too, but it was what the notification had included.
This was all Link knew. He didn't know about any details, but it was enough to put him on high alert. He was less than 100 miles from the castle. With his speed, he could get there within five minutes.
Four minutes later, the castle appeared in his vision. Nothing was strange. From afar, Link saw Gretel washing herbs by the creek near the castle. The five mixed demons were helping her. Everything looked normal.
He was slightly relieved. Slowing down, he adjusted his direction and flew to Gretel. When he landed slowly, the kids stood up immediately and greeted him. "Housekeeper."
Link nodded. Then he said to Gretel in the lingua franca, "Tellie, I think I know why we were mistaken for god's messenger."
"Oh?" Gretel arched an eyebrow. "Tell me."
Link told her everything he'd heard along the way, including the details about the Evil God and fraud. When he was done, Gretel furrowed her brows. "I heard some legends from these little guys. There's also a mighty figure, but in the legend, he saved the world."
Just in case, Gretel didn't say Thoreau's name. She knew that if he really was a god, he would be alerted if she said his name aloud.
Link thought about it. "The legends don't contradict with what I heard. It's just that one is on the surface while the other is deeper. From what I know, gods are all difficult to figure out. If this mighty person really is a god, no one would know what he wants… I think we should prepare well or leave quickly."
"You're right. Did you get herbs?"
"Of course. I got a lot." Link took out all the herbs he'd picked along the way. It was a few hundred pounds.
Gretel checked all of them and then chuckled. "It's enough. I'm not strong enough so you'll have to make the potion for me. I'll instruct you."
"Got it."