Becoming a God Starts with Acting-Chapter 104: [Fish] - Nerio’s Part (16)

"I’m sorry, son. It’s just... your face is truly perfect."

Mr. William said as he gently wiped away Lucian’s tears, his eyes filled with sorrow.

[...]

[So this is the main reason, huh? Even monsters judge by looks—this world obsessed with appearances is insane!]

[Hahahahaha Nerio’s appearance is always flawless, that’s the unwavering faith I have in this narcissistic god.]

Lucian brushed aside the hand pinching his cheek and pouted slightly but said nothing more.

Mr. William smiled. "Alright, let’s go."

Lucian looked at his father and asked, "What about Mom?"

Mr. William squinted slightly, his gaze full of subtle implications. "Your mother’s been quite busy lately. She’s in her private quarters—don’t worry about her. Besides, she never takes part in the god-offering ceremony. We have to bear this responsibility, Lucian."

Lucian nodded, indicating he understood, and said nothing further.

He quickly followed Mr. William up to the third floor of the castle. The third floor, which had looked dilapidated and abandoned when humans were around, now appeared tidy and clean. The dusty hallways and rooms were gone. It felt like a completely different space—damp stone walls and puddles of water gave the impression of being inside a cave, even though they had just been walking through the castle’s corridor moments before.

"Aaaah..."

The faint, agonized groans echoed through the stone cavern. Nerio recognized the sound—it was John’s. So he was still alive, after all.

"Let’s go. It’s time for the god-offering ceremony."

Mr. William spoke. Lucian kept a calm expression and quickly followed behind him. They passed through the rocky walls, eventually arriving at the heart of the place. It was a small lake bathed in soft light. However, unlike the serene glow, something floated above the lake—a single, vivid red fish scale.

No, it wasn’t just vivid red. It appeared red because blood was continuously dripping onto it. The blood coated the scale, which was as large as an adult’s palm, and then slowly trickled down, drop by drop, into the water, where the surface instantly swallowed it.

Looking upward, they saw John—the man who was thought to have died the previous night—strangely suspended upside down in midair. He no longer had a head. Blood trickled slowly from the cut at his neck, draining his body of life. One couldn’t help but wonder how he had managed to groan like that.

Lucian’s gaze was drawn to the still lake below. It rippled with each drop of blood that fell. The groaning sound seemed to come from the lake itself. The closer he got, the clearer it became. It wasn’t just John’s voice—there were many others. Countless others. Who knew how many had been sacrificed to this "god"?

Suddenly, Mr. William pulled Lucian down to kneel before the scale while he knelt behind him. Even without facing him, Lucian could feel the intensity of his father’s gaze.

"Son, remember the god-offering hymn I taught you?"

No, not a single memory of it, Silvanus thought silently.

Mr. William’s stare felt almost tangible from behind him, like two arrows ready to strike him down when he gave the wrong answer.

The real test had arrived.

And the comment section had erupted.

[Hahaha, I bet Nerio doesn’t know a damn thing, lol]

[I knew Mr. William was still suspicious of Lucian. Even if that face is a monster’s type, these intelligent monsters won’t let anything jeopardize their plans.]

[Nerio’s done for this time...]

[A bunch of lunatics. Nerio is a god, a real god! Do you think a god would fall over something like this?]

[There’s no hymn at all! It’s just a straightforward prayer—this is a test William is setting up.]

[Exactly! A full-blown showdown will break out if he dares to make up some random hymn. I can’t wait to see it!]

Thanks. Now I know. Yet another day of deep gratitude for the lovely viewers, Silvanus thought flatly.

Then he turned to look at Mr. William, frowned, and said:

"The god-offering hymn? Did you bring someone else here besides me and teach them something you never taught me?"

[WTF, he knows this—how does he know this?! This is wild!]

[I told you, Nerio is a god. He already predicted things back in the previous dungeon—why is everyone so surprised?]

[Nerio’s way of predicting and Prophet’s are entirely different, okay? Prophet predicts what will happen. Nerio predicts how to resolve what will happen. And based on what he did in the last dungeon, he predicted using the stars. The stars! Do stars even talk?! And when did he even use his powers?!]

[This makes no sense—absolutely none! Why didn’t a battle break out?!]

[Is there any chance that the actual god this time isn’t Nerio, but Prophet?]

[Please. Prophet wouldn’t pull off tricks like that...]

[Not sure he wouldn’t. He’s so lazy he probably doesn’t want to waste energy messing with people.]

[Drake’s the only one who gets bullied HAHAHA]

Wait a second—I never wrote Prophet like that in the first place! He stayed quiet because he’s weakened, okay? Not because he’s lazy!

The helplessness in Lucian’s eyes at that moment was Silvanus’s absolute helplessness.

Mr. William raised his eyebrows slightly, but his expression shifted so quickly it betrayed no sign of disturbance. He stepped forward and gently patted Lucian’s head, offering a faint smile.

"I’m sorry, my son."

Without hesitation, Lucian slapped his hand away, his face cold.

"You’re always sorry!"

Then he touched his face, his eyes filled with hesitation and doubt.

"It’s all because of this face. Ever since I changed it, your attitude toward me completely changed!"

He suddenly dug his nails into his skin, scratching away a piece of it. Blood welled up from the torn flesh like a blemish on snow-white skin.

At that moment, Mr. William’s eyes were filled with pain. Lucian truly was the son he loved.

"No... I’ll never act that way again, Lucian. Maybe... maybe this face made you feel unfamiliar to me. But you don’t have to change it. I’ll get used to it soon. Please, don’t be angry with me."

Lucian still looked disgruntled, as though he wanted to keep resisting. But just then, the massive fish scale suddenly radiated a blinding red light—a warning. This thing had run out of patience with the William family’s emotional drama.

Mr. William immediately stepped forward. Raising his hand, water wrapped around John’s body like cords, tightening and squeezing him until every last drop of blood was wrung out. When it was over, all that remained was a withered, ashen corpse.

"Aaaaaa! AAAAAA!"

The screams from beneath the lake grew louder than before. The once beautiful, blue water was now stained red by the never-ending blood flow...