Chapter 38: Calling Upon Fidall

Soon Luke found himself standing before Fidall’s statue and stared upon the god’s handsome visage. After staring for a moment, he got down on his knees, clasped his hands in prayer, and closed his eyes.

Despite making a deal with the evil god, he hoped Fidall would answer his prayers and help him through his ordeal.

Nothing happened, but he refused to be deterred.

Fidall was a god who believed in human will. Almost no one outside the higher-ranking members of the church have heard his voice. Once in a while, an ordinary citizen would hear him, so it made sense that Luke might not hear the god right away. He just had to be patient.

However, he couldn’t stop the unease creeping into his heart.

More time passed, and he could feel sweat forming in between his palms. He unconsciously clenched his clasped hands together until his knuckles turned white as he listened for any of the priests and nuns.

The longer he stayed, the higher the risk he would be discovered.

The problem was that there was still no response from Fidall. There wasn’t even a hint that the god was even listening to him.

Had Fidall abandoned him?

Suddenly, a horrible cackle filled his ears.

“Of course he wouldn’t answer. Do you really think that he would listen to you after making a deal with me? Why would he ever want to help you?” the evil god said in between his laughter.

Luke tried to block out the evil god’s voice, but his words resonated so deeply in his bones that they trembled.

He was right.

Why would Fidall choose to help him after he willingly made a deal with the evil god?

It wasn’t just that.

If Fidall was truly just and fair, how could he allow Luke’s ex-comrades to seal him away with the evil god without intervening? Had he not known what they had done, or had he chosen to look away?

The thought that the god might have already abandoned him even before Luke had been sealed away with the evil god sent a wave of anger and hate through him.

Dark energy surged from his body, filling the church. Most of it concentrated on the statue of Fidall in front of him, causing it to crack. The moment he heard the sound, he snapped open his eyes and paled at the cracks in the statue.

Luke barely had time to process what he had just done when he heard shouting. He snapped his head to look behind him and cursed.

The priests and nuns were hurrying to his location. He couldn’t stay.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he scrambled to his feet and prepared to leave the way he came. He barely managed to throw himself up and hid himself among the beams when a group of people larger than expected came rushing in.

The moment they laid eyes on the cracked statue, there were cries and wails of horror and disbelief.

“The statue of Fidall. This is impossible,” a nun cried.

“This is an ill omen,” a priest said.

Those that were clear-minded scanned the area as the leading priest said, “What a horrible energy. A monster must have breached the church walls.”

“How could this have happened? Shouldn’t there be no monsters nearby after the previous ones were dealt with?” one of the nuns asked.

“No, we can’t assume that things are the same now that the evil god has been freed. This had to be his work,” another priest said.

“Then we need to report this right away to the heroes and monster hunters,” a different nun said.

The leading priest nodded and commanded, “Go. Inform the heroes immediately of what has happened. Have everyone remain on high alert. We must not let anything slip past us.”

At the mention of his ex-comrades, Luke was filled with bloodlust that immediately garnered the attention of the people below.

Many tensed as they searched for the source, but the leading priest was sharper and looked up where Luke was hiding. Despite Luke being hidden, it felt as if the priest knew that Luke was there.

However, he didn’t call Luke out.

Instead, he said, “Let’s go. We mustn’t stay near such unclean energy.”

Under his command, the group retreated, and the place fell silent.

Luke stared at the closed doors, his nails digging into the wood beneath him. The bloodlust he felt boiled beneath his skin as he bit down hard on his lip to the point of drawing blood to control himself.

His control seemed to be getting worse and worse. He had to get out of there before he did something he couldn’t take back.

After releasing his death grip on the wood, he climbed up and exited the way he came. Once he was on the roof, he could see the numerous priests and nuns running about outside, which he found quite strange.

The town and church weren’t that big, so there shouldn’t be that many priests and nuns, but there were actually quite a decent number.

Could the church have sent more after hearing about his return?

They were also strangely keeping it down like they were afraid of being overheard or waking the sleeping townspeople. It seemed that they didn’t want to alert the townspeople about what was happening.

That was better for him. Luke didn’t want to get the townspeople caught up in this, afraid that he might start killing people again.

He waited for the right moment to jump down from the roof and scurried away before he could be spotted by the patrolling priests and nuns. Luke kept an eye to make sure he wasn’t spotted as he used the shadows as cover.

Fortunately, not a single one noticed his presence.

It wasn’t long before he reached the edge of the town where he allowed himself to let his guard down.

That was a mistake.

The sound of a bottle crashing to the ground behind him alerted Luke that he wasn’t allowed. He whipped his head around and spotted a drunkard not far behind. They stared at him with a pale face and wide eyes.

Raising a trembling arm, they pointed a shaking finger at him and muttered, “Monster.”