"So, this thing called the Mountain Deity arrived here and erected this fortress?" Rhizen asked, finding it hard to believe.
"Well, to be frank," Ianon shook his head, saying, "It was thanks to the Mountain Deity that all those people managed to settle there in the first place. Otherwise, they would have become Grassmen sooner or later."
"Ahh, the word Grassmen was also coined by him, so everyone just began to use the same." He concluded.
"This Mountain Deity, how does his human form look?" Rhizen asked.
"Let me draw it for you." Saying so, he condensed his short sword and began to make rough lines on the piece of rock nearby.
While he was doing this, Rhizen faced the other two, "Is all this true?"
"Yep, I was there with him the whole time." Druvus nodded, "He was the one that gave me my hand cannon and taught everyone about the power structure of the apocalypse. Only thanks to that and with two of us possessing powers that we managed to hunt more mutated beasts and arm ourselves."
"But those turrets…" Rhizen frowned.
"Yeah, I'm curious about that myself." Druvus nodded, "If he had such means, he wouldn't have sold it to those villains. He didn't seem to be that type."
"What are you talking about?" Ianon turned around, asking with curiosity.
"Well…" Druvus hesitated, turning around to see Rhizen nod at him, recounting their prior battle.
Upon hearing it, Ianon's eyes widened, nodding, "I see, that makes sense."
"What makes sense?" Rhizen asked, feeling his heart skip a beat for some reason.
"Well, you're their target after all," Ianon said, causing the trio to jerk in response.
"What do you mean? Who are they?" Rhizen frowned, slightly emitting killing intent, "And, how do you know about it?"
"Well…" He gazed at Chenger, thinking for a moment before saying, "I'll only tell it to Rhizen. It'll just threaten the lives of the rest if you hear about it."
"Do you think we're afraid?" Caithaleya snorted.
"It's because you're weak," Ianon smirked, "You won't be able to fight against them, not to mention kill them. Only existences such as that Mountain Deity are capable of this. And even he was killed."
"He's dead? Impossible!" Druvus shouted, "I've seen his power. He can't be dead."
"Have you seen that curtain of darkness along the way?" Ianon asked, noticing Druvus nod in response, saying, "If you enter it, there's a large ant hole leading deep underground. The Mountain Deity's corpse is still there."
"Maybe if you rush there now, you'll be able to see his corpse before the ants finish devouring it." He said, "Though, I advise against that. Entering it would only serve your death sentence."
"How do you know all this?" After some consideration, Rhizen thought of believing his words. Otherwise, the conversation wouldn't go anywhere. He could always investigate later and find out the truth.
"Because I'm one of such people myself." Ianon said, watching the trio turn alert before laughing, "Relax. If I wanted to harm you, except Rhizen, the rest of you would have been dead by now."
"Actually," He then sighed, saying, "It was that Mountain Deity that made me understand my situation and protected me. If not for that, I too would have aimed for Rhizen's life by now."
"Devils," He said solemnly, "They are real and take control of people to do their bidding."
He then explained the full gist of the situation to them, shrugging as he didn't seem to care if they wished to risk their lives. But first, he erected a barrier to prevent the contents of their conversation from leaking out.
For some reason, he left Chenger out of the barrier, but none seemed to be worried about it. Rhizen didn't wish for her to risk her life either, so was happy with the arrangement, nodding at Ianon to see the other party had done this in his consideration.
After that, Ianon informed him of the entire process at play, making him understand that he possessed something the Mountain Deity addressed as the Devil Killer.
Using Rhizen's senses, the Coincidental Luck System had been listening to everything, beginning to laugh aloud, "Hahahaha! That's a great story. Some System Slayers had tried something similar in the past, but it didn't work. I see, so if disseminated in this manner, with their identities stressed as Devils, it'll work."
"To think I would learn something new even though I've lived for so long." It chuckled, "As expected, Compass Carburettor is a good bet."
It then continued to watch things in interest.
"Now, things make better sense." Rhizen nodded, asking at the end, "What is this Devil Killer actually. And, why are they aiming for me?"
"That's what I plan to investigate myself." Ianon nodded, saying, "Also, the one that created that dome of darkness is a strong foe. If I'm not mistaken, she'll come for you next. She's currently in conflict with a troublesome foe. But once she's done with him, she'll come for you."
"I didn't want to fight against those two, so I bailed out."
"What about those turrets?" Druvus asked, still reeling from confusion, "How come they are here too?"
"I'm not sure," Ianon shook his head, "There are some puzzling things, including the Mountain Deity's death. We can only find out the truth for ourselves later."
"Alright, let's enter the fortress." Rhizen nodded, clenching his hand into a fist, "If we wish to find out anything, then doing it from within would be better."
Right as the group approached the fortress, the entrance was lowered for them as the leader rushed out, asking them in alarm, "Where had you gone for a day? I was worried that you've been killed under an ambush. We've been searching for you all along!"
"Sorry sir, I had to rescue her." Rhizen said, showing the unconscious Chenger on his hands, "So, I had to hurry the moment I obtained the means to travel."
"The means to travel?" The leader's eyes lit up in joy, laughing, "Good! Good! That'll help make our lives even easier. Come in, we've had a lot prepared."
"Sir, I must ask for help to heal her wounds…" Rhizen asked, feeling a bit embarrassed, because when he left, he had zero intentions to return, only sporting selfish intentions.
"We'll ask the healer to treat her immediately." The leader said, "Though, we don't have enough pearls. So, the treatment would be slow."
"That'll be fine. I managed to collect a lot of pearls from the Grassmen that I killed recently." Rhizen replied, accompanying the leader.
"Even the Grassmen has pearls now? That's great! It seems the Mountain Deity has blessed us indeed.." The leader laughed in gratitude.
