CHAPTER 1: THE PROBLEM OF WHAT REMAINS

***Montserrant***

The land of the dwarves, Cherhom, regained its old name once again, and the faithful servants of the Dwarf Saint, Helgath of the Giants, awakened to defend the faith of their mistress. With the god-powers reunited and in possession of one person, Kuro, everything was already set to welcome a new god. However, the legacy of the Golden Hammer—as well as his ‘sins’—remained. His disappearance and the fall of his church’s leadership were abrupt, that soon, many of the dwarves were in uproar; a good number of them were his adherents.

“Destroy the heathens! Avenge the Golden Hammer!”

From the far north of Cherhom, where settlements of dwarves were separated by waters once obscured by clouds, the Church of the Golden Hammer united its bishoprics when they lost communication with Hemelin and the trade with that mighty city stopped. As news from Montserrant arrived on their borders, bringing rumors of a new religion supplanting their worship of the human god of wealth, the people of the northern regions demanded blood and a crusade. The warriors of the northern guilds—many were fisherfolk and air shipbuilders—called themselves the ‘True Church of the Golden Hammer,’ and prepared for a holy war against the city of Montserrant and their allies.

“Those who dare rule over us shall be crushed!”

Seirna’s overwhelming powers of destruction desolated the eastern regions of Cherhom, along with Hemelin, so much that the cities of the dwarves there remained largely uninhabited a few months after the tragedy. The few who were formerly from the lowest strata of their society came to the surface, and to rule of what was left; not everyone had noble intentions of restoring order and peace. Many of these dwarves banded together and came to dominate the weaker groups, ruling the near-empty settlements with criminal and ruthless efficiency.

“They are trying to choke our lifelines! We shall not bow to this oppression!”

To the south, where the Church of the Golden Hammer had weaker foothold, the dwarf cities found themselves free from the Church’s influence. Combined with their economies heavily-dependent on trade with the wealthy dwarf capital city of Hemelin, the settlements had to rely on their neighbors to survive and get resources, or look for new, wealthy partner cities on the west, east and the north. However, as the dwarf guilds after Seirna’s destruction got fewer, the southern dwarf cities entered an unofficial competition to outdo the others, which soon boiled into a vicious conflict of supremacy between the dwarven guilds in the area.

By contrast, the only region where the religion of the Black God had established a firm foundation was in western Cherhom, with Montserrant as its center. The relative peace that followed after the destruction of Hemelin enabled the dwarf settlements in the west to flourish, and as the border crossings to the Chersea, Cherwoods, and Cherwind were in that area, trade between the other races continued, too. The Cole Miners’ Guild under its chief executive officer, Queen Paula Cole, not only became the richest and most influential after the fall of the Church of the Golden Hammer; they also assumed the role unofficial ‘church officials’ of the new faith, a role from which they were hopelessly unprepared.

“Your Majesty, there are reports of dwarf dirigibles sailing from the north. According to our spies, the northern cities formed a religious alliance and is organizing against us.”

“Madame, the new city lords in Hemelin and the nearby settlements are asking us for more aid, or they are threatening to switch their allegiance back to the Golden Hammer.”

“My queen, the representatives of the southern cities have been asking for your audience since last week. Who shall we cater to first?”

“Milady, our priests are having difficulties with implementing the decrees of His Heavenly Majesty, the Black God,” one of the higher church officials reported to Paula and the Lady Helgath. “While we never wavered in our faith to him, by our lives, we are but simple miners. Our hearts lie within the stone, and the pickaxes; while we wished to help convert followers for our lord, our mouths and head simply don’t know how to convince them.”

At the center of the storm was the miner queen, Paula. While she tried to maintain an air of calm and unbothered dignity, the successive waves of problems being referred to her soon began to crack. Finally…

“Ah! Enough! It’s not like I’m the High Lord of the Dwarves!” The dwarf queen slammed her fists on the table, as the Lady Helgath looked at her with a terrified, shocked expression. Deep inside, the latter could see the anxiety and confusion in the miner queen’s heart; though the holy lady could understand the sentiments of the dwarven ministers, Paula was already overwhelmed of the problems her guild faced, yet she was afraid to be seen as a ‘weak leader’ of the Church of the Black God if she never did something to alleviate their situation.

Nevertheless, for Paula, her miners can only push themselves that far…and the Black God expects a lot from her.

“Your Majesty,” the Lady Helgath took a pause to collect her thoughts, and eventually calm her ally. “I’m sure the Lord Kuro isn’t that kind of person, whatever it is that you think about him in your heart.”

“Y-Yes…” the miner queen muttered, though her doubts remained. The Dwarf Saint’s words never reached her consciousness.

To which the Lady Helgath said, “Alright, if you don’t believe me, take me to him. I’ll be the one to relay your concerns to the Black God. I’m pretty sure that person knows what can be done to these concerns; after all, he experienced similar things before.”

“R-Really, huh, Your Holiness?”

“Why yes!” the Dwarf Saint’s beaming smile showed her unwavering confidence to the man she sees as god. “That guy is one of the toughest persons I met in my life! It’s not like the Black God is demanding immediate action to these issues you face. Take a breather; that way, you can think of better solutions.”

“G-Guy?!” Nevertheless, instead of listening to reason, Queen Paula’s attention centered on how the holy lady called their deity. She couldn’t believe at how the Lady Helgath—though she may be a saint—referred to the Black God with a great sense of familiarity.

“I-I mean, g-god, yes…” the saint quickly diverted the conversation. While she did pass him her god-powers, the Lady Helgath couldn’t help but look at her old friend from Chersea as the ‘same, old Kuro’; though, as they were in public, she had to keep up a few ‘pretensions’ to maintain the dignity and authority of his holy office. “Speaking of which, where’s the Lord Kuro?”

Good thing the miner queen was out of her wits. “H-Hah?”

“The Lord Kuro?” the Lady Helgath peered into Queen Paula’s thoughts in an attempt to locate the human lord, but saw nothing. The latter’s mind was in haywire. As the Dwarf Saint tried to think of possible places she could find him, a church official came before them and said…

“Your Holiness, if you’re looking for His Holy Majesty, he’s at the cafeteria together with the other miners.”

The miner queen and the Lady Helgath exchanged bewildered looks, and then darted to the miner guild’s communal cafeteria.

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**Kuro**

I could feel everyone’s eyes locked on me. It was as if they were seeing a monster eating with them.

“…”

I had no idea of how the dwarves see me, for though I gathered the god-powers, I remained a mortal. And mortals, unlike the Saints, had no ability to look into the hearts and minds of their fellows. But in any case, I wanted to eat at this place in peace, so I would do as I please. We were not infringing on anyone, after all. And well, it’s been a while since I ate outside like this; a simple fare inside a simple place, with simple folks around…though it was inside, deep beneath the dwarf city of Montserrant.

As someone who came from a simple background, there will surely come a time when I yearn for this kind of life.

The only issue I had was the judgmental looks being thrown at us.

“He’s the Black God, right? The one the Lady Seirna said will save us from a great evil?”

“Shh…be careful of what you say. He might hear you and take offense.”

“But…he looks…uh, n-normal! Like a normal human!”

Well, that’s because I’m human. I wanted to answer the murmurs, but it was not like they were saying something bad about me. If anything, I was aware these dwarves see me as a ‘curiosity’ than a walking ‘monster.’ And I had no intention of scaring the people whom I would rely on to develop the god-powers of the Dwarf Saint; we still have an otherworldly creature to deal with, after all.

Lily, by contrast, ate like she never cared for the world around her. Perhaps this was from experience, given that she was formerly the ‘Iron Princess’—the Nerfes general of legends. Of course, she was used to eat amidst the presence of her army, not minding the amused or curious looks of her soldiers and officers. This situation was just like a child’s play to her.

“Ah!” the Head Maid of the Holy Palatial Gardens let out a satisfied sigh as she emptied her tankard of beer. Slamming it on the table like a dwarf, her partially-red face already told me that she was quite drunk. But nope, seeing that this cute girl before me was enjoying her time, I’d just let her be. I could always carry her back to our quarters, anyway. “More beer, barmaid!” she called out to the dwarf server.

Well, it was not like the dwarves were pissed at us. For one, everyone here knew who I was, after the Lady Helgath did her best to ‘usher in’ my era as the ‘heavenly ruler of Cherhom.’ I was officially proclaimed as their ‘god,’ so maybe, their ‘tolerance’ to our presence here stemmed from that fact. And second, these hardy folks loved the sight of a hard-drinker, like Lily, enjoying their food and drinks.

Heh, take that, cultural appropriation!

“Kuro! Why are you not eating?” the red-faced Lily pushed a tankard to me when the beers came. “Come, drink!”

“Heh, I don’t know what do you want me to do, eat or drink?”

“Why not both?” she replied, playfully tracing my face with her finger. “Come on! Your subjects are also watching; this might be a good time to show them you are just like them!”

Lily’s words made sense to me. As I observed earlier, the dwarves admire a hard-drinker, and since we came here, I could feel the ‘invisible barrier’ the people of Cherhom had ‘installed’ between us. It wouldn’t hurt to show these folks I could share their lives like I was born a dwarf.

I flashed four fingers towards the barmaid, at which, she couldn’t hide her surprise. Nevertheless, the dwarf did as I ask, and brought four tankards of beer…

“!!!”

…which I easily gulped down like I was drinking water.

“Ooooh…”

Lily clapped her hands, though I could tell she was not that impressed at all. Well, she did see me go in a drinking duel with the Duke of Braunhauer before; her reaction was completely normal. What was important was the dwarves were totally taken in by my theatrics.

“The Black God can drink! Tis the first time I saw a human who can drink like that!”

“No! He’s a human god! Look, he’s getting four more beers!”

“By the beard of the Golden Hammer! He’s really favored by the heavens!”

Of course, I drank the next batch of four beer tankards in one go as well, further impressing the dwarves, and by this time, Lily. I could already feel my cheeks getting warm with all the alcohol I drank, so I had to stop before both of us embarrass ourselves in front of the dwarves. Though, yeah, I guess it was not that bad to let ourselves loose sometime…

But not much for me. I don’t want to become like Bacchus, and make myself look like a fool.

“Milord!” A bearded dwarf bravely stepped forward and approached us, bringing ten tankards stacked on his hands. After placing it on our table, he said, “I know this is one of the rare moments I have, but for once I’d like to have a drinking duel with the gods. Would you be so kind as to oblige this old dwarf?”

“Go on, Kuro!” Lily, who was quite tipsy, encouraged me.

“I’m not that great at drinking, though,” I muttered, though the dwarf heard it. Well, though I’ve been drinking a lot of alcohol recently, I was not sure how would I fare against a hard-drinking person such as this guy before me. I mean, from his looks, he gave an impression that he could drink an entire vat of ale without getting fuzzed. But, I’d like to oblige his request; this was a great way to ‘relate’ to the dwarves, after all. So, with my lady’s permission, I got into a drinking duel with him.

While our breakfast started with deafening silence, soon, the communal cafeteria erupted in cheers and shouts as everyone was excited on the outcome. The dwarf I fought against was clearly experienced, as he kept chugging the beers, like those tankards were filled with soup. When the batches were empty, the bar maids would keep bringing some more, much to the urging of the onlookers.

Likewise, I was not one to go down this easy. While my body was something that has unusual fortitude against alcohol, the drinks I already consumed earlier gave my rival an unintended handicap. Nevertheless, I stood my ground, calmly gulping on the beer I was given. Lily was the one pushing me to hurry, but I’d like to bide my time; I could feel myself about to go down with all the alcohol in my system.

Soon, the bar maids stopped the resupply. They claimed the barrels were all used up.

“You’re almost there, Corrin!” I heard someone shout from the crowd. From the corner of my eye, the dwarf had only two tankards to victory, while I still got three.

As the home stretch appeared, so increased the excitement of our audience. Of course, while I was someone they see as ‘god,’ they would still naturally root for their own. Corrin’s name kept being chanted, and coins were being flung as bets were put forward.

“!!!” Finally, the contest ended when the dwarf slammed the last empty tankard on the table. By then, I was halfway on my last beer. And I guess, we both have bright red faces. The dwarves were ecstatic when they saw their guy won against me. However, their celebrations cut short, when Coreen took his first step, then quickly lost consciousness. The guy fell on the ground, dead drunk.

The cafeteria was silent as their eyes fell on me.

Of course, not wishing to leave my business unfinished, I drank the last contents of my tankard, then gave the dwarves a bow, then sat beside Lily.

I’m not going to lie; my head is about to spin.

“Kuro! Kuro! Kuro!”

Nevertheless, the stunned dwarves soon began shouting and chanting my name. They couldn’t believe that their most experienced drinker was beaten by a human, whom they previously thought of as weak and crybabies. Wishing to heap praises on me, everyone pulled me from my chair and carried me like I won the Olympics. As if those were not enough, someone brought a makeshift crown made of wood, and proclaimed…

“He really is our god! All hail the Lord Kuro! He’s our own!”

“…” However, my efforts to bring to my side weren’t over just yet…

“!!!”

Using the god-power of the Elf Saint, I turned everyone’s drink into the finest wine, much to the dwarves’ delight. I didn’t spare even the ones in the sealed barrels; soon, there was a huge party in the cafeteria, as the dwarves—whenever they were too drunk—began to sing, which was, admittedly, quite nice compared to us humans…who tended to get violent whenever alcohol was in our system.

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The impromptu ‘party’ in the communal cafeteria was in full swing as the dwarves brought out their musical instruments and started singing. For Lily and I—both humans—this was a great experience, witnessing such spectacle. The dwarves had nice voices, and the underground caverns in which they lived provided an ‘echo chamber’ that improved the music; it was as if we were inside an opera house, but with ‘rugged’ singers.

The Head Maid, who was also tipsy, danced to the tune. She also pulled me over, as the other dwarves emulated us. Guttural voices, synchronized clapping, and folk tunes filled the place; honestly, it was an exhilarating feeling. Lily’s having the time of her life; I guess it was fine. After all our hard work, this pretty lady deserved to enjoy herself. And, of course, these dwarves also should take a break; this ‘party’ was a nice breather from the recently-concluded conflict.

Not to mention, the looming danger brought by the threat of the Seductress…

“…” Ah, I should just enjoy myself, too. These problems would be dealt with later; I’d just relax for now. Haaa…such is the life of being a ‘living god.’

“Kuro!”

I was immediately brought back to reality when I heard the booming voice of the Lady Helgath echo through the entire cafeteria. By then, the music stopped, and the dwarves scampered to the sides to make way for the Dwarf Saint. Quickly removing the intoxication from my body via the Human Saint’s god-power, I went forward, intending to meet her halfway. However, Her Tiny Holiness didn’t let me off from my spot as she—and the miner queen, Paula Cole—teleported beside me. “What’s up?”

“There you ar—” the friendly, overly-familiar tone of the Lady Helgath quickly changed into a formal one once she realized the eyes around us. “Ahem. We’ve been looking for you, Your Heavenly Holiness.”

“There’s no need to be that formal…”

“Just go along with me, Kuro,” the Dwarf Saint whispered. “Don’t take ‘holiness’ for granted. These dwarves should still maintain a certain distance to you, for technically, you are their god.”

I don’t think I’d like that idea. I plan to become the god that is close to his people, after all. Besides, they already see my ‘human’ side.

“Don’t do that again,” the Lady Helgath sternly rebuked me after reading my thoughts. “Gods and goddesses are separate beings from us, mortals! Please heed my words, milord.”

“I’d like to be close to my subjects,” I defended my actions. “I don’t want to be someone hiding in the clouds, and just a subject of myths and legends!”

“They say all the deities have the same idea before they ascended,” the Dwarf Saint countered. “But mingling with mortals eventually changed their outlook. You’ll soon know why.”

“Well,” I didn’t want to continue this talk, so I changed the topic. I also plan to ask Gaius about it later, when I had the chance. “In any case, why did you come here with the miner queen?”

The Dwarf Saint lowered her voice, “Come with us. We need to talk about some things about Cherhom.”

Well, of course. While the Church of the Golden Hammer was already gone, the work in ‘fixing’ it wasn’t finish just yet. “Can I take Lily with me?” I asked, for I didn’t want to leave the Head Maid here alone. She was already known as my ‘companion,’ it might end up with some weird and awkward situation for us if she remained with the dwarves…who were already looking at her as some semi-divine person.

“Yes, Your Heavenly Majesty,” it was the miner queen who answered me. “We are your subjects; thus, your loved ones shall be our loved ones as well.”

Honestly, that is kind of cringe. But I have to fix things around here first, so that I can gain influence over the dwarves, and correct their weird ‘religious zeal.’

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***Cherflammen***

Amidst the howling winds and whirling desert sands of the dead world, a lone figure dressed in dark dress stood still on her spot, as if unaffected by the chaos around her. However, if one would take a closer look on her, one could see that she was unconscious, held in place by a thick pillar of dark miasma that branched out in all directions. Suppressed moans could be heard from her lips, wide open as if she was calling out for someone to save her.

After all, Seirna Stephanie faced the most difficult battle of her life—her desperate attempt to keep the Seductress from taking over her body.

“I see that your little otherworlder has already acquired the god-powers of the Dwarf Saint.”

Inside her mind, Seirna only threw a blank stare at the Seductress. Her inner consciousness, which had endured repeated torture attempts, was already exhausted, and she barely hanged on. Nevertheless, the news that Kuro had already awakened the Dwarf Saint and received her god-powers were a welcome respite.

“I wouldn’t be early to celebrate if I were you,” the Void creature rebuked her. “The otherworlder may possess all the god-powers of the saints, but don’t forget that I am still here. And I devour gods; a puny human like him will stand no chance.”

“I…I like your confidence!” the Overseer Saint was defiant. “That pride will be your downfall!”

“Hah! Such naivety! Do you still believe those fairy tales from your childhood, Seirna Stephanie? Of how boisterous, proud kings and queens of old would make a boast, only to fall from their own hubris in the end?”

“You say that, yet you’re here with me, trapped forever in this dark place.”

“Silence!” the Seductress retaliated by showing the Overseer Saint a vision of the Black God’s final moments. “This is your otherworlder, when he was weak, and begging for me to end it all. Look at how—despite his divinity—he tried to flee from my presence, only to be devoured in the end. His other iteration will suffer the same; while you…I will give you mercy. You’ve been a great help to me, Seirna. Now all I ask is for you to give up your fight, and let me take over your body.”

The Overseer Saint replied by spitting on the Void monster’s face.

Outraged by her actions, the Seductress caused more visions to appear, each more frightening than the last one. “Behold! The worlds I destroyed and devoured, not one god was able to reverse what I did! Chersea will end up the same!”

Seirna did not wish to witness all the horrible things the Void monster was forcing her to watch, but she had no choice. The Overseer Saint saw carnage, rivers of blood and guts, burning kingdoms and heard agonized screams of people being slowly consumed. But she was determined not to give up; she understood that her mental fortitude was the final barrier that kept Chersea and the Other Realms safe, before Kuro ascended to godhood.

“Witness my power, and despair!” the Seductress kept taunting her. “Look at the faces of those people I devoured!” To make it even more ‘personal,’ the Void creature closed-up on the faces of her victims, making sure that Seirna would hear how they pleaded for the Seductress to spare them.

At first, the Overseer Saint remained unmoved. Yet, as the visions of the Seductress’ victims piled up, soon, tears were streaming down her cheeks. Yet, still defiant, she said nothing. And the Void monster taunted her more until…

“!!!”

Among the visions was one face Seirna remembered so well. It was a victim of the Seductress, though unlike the others, this particular lady had a different expression on her face. It was of anger, of rage…and she was telling the Seductress that she would make a deal with anyone as long as she could avenge her fate in the most painful way possible. What was even more baffling for the Overseer Saint was that, this person had a face similar to hers. The Void monster stopped on that vision.

“It seems that woman has interest you.”

Seirna remained silent.

Taking the Overseer Saint’s silence as her cue to continue, the Seductress revealed, “Well, let me tell you a fact that has been kept from you for ages; that is your mother. Your own flesh and blood, right after her death.”

“…”

“And you know what? I consumed her. Her hatred for those who wronged her was too much, she never thought of the consequences of her actions. You can say that the reason I want to be merciful to you is because of her; her hate made me powerful.” There was a triumphant smile on the Seductress’ lips. “If we look at it, your mother ‘created’ me, and her desire to protect you sustained my life. There will be no one else to receive the blame for the destruction of the worlds you’re meant to guide other than you two!”

Author's Note: Hello again! Well, I just rewrote the ending for my novel series, and added a new volume between Book 19 and Book 20, which will become Book 21 after a few edits. This is the new Book 20, and I hope this gives a proper closure to Kuro's adventures in Cherhom. Thank you for dropping a visit!