God System: Growing My Cult Across the Multiverse-Chapter 13: A Lesson To Teach (1)

Zayne ran through the forest, following the traces left by the fleeing villagers. He stumbled upon some of them, from time to time. Or upon what remained of them, to be precise. Those who were caught by the werewolves ended up turned into nothing but some bloody scraps of meat and bones, spread around among the trees... It was nearly impossible to tell they used to be human, let alone recognize who exactly they were...

Sydell wasn't among them though. Zayne could tell, because the young man muttered his prayers as he ran. While he might have been on guard against the 'prophet', he believed in god Zayne nevertheless.

Not that it changed anything. Petty as it might have been, Zayne wanted to teach him a lesson for the disrespect he received.

And he wanted to do it personally. If the young man ended up caught and eaten by werewolves just on his own, it wouldn't be nearly as satisfying.

When Zayne caught up with Sydell, the man was already close to the edge of the forest. Unexpectedly, it turned out that he was not only a good runner, but could also remain clear-headed under pressure. Well, at least as long as Priska wasn't involved. He managed to somehow shake all the werewolves off his trail, and move straight toward the village, instead of darting off in a random direction like some other youngsters did.

But, no matter how good he was, he still stood no chance against a god.

Before he even realized what was happening, he was grabbed by the arms and pulled high up, onto the branches of the tall, leafy trees.

"H-huh?" he muttered, completely disoriented, staring at his legs, dangling a good thirty or so feet above the forest floor. It took a moment before he lifted his head, straining his head to look above.

"Hi." As soon as their eyes met, Zayne flashed him a wide grin.

If Sydell hasn't been confused enough already, then now certainly he would be. "...Sir Prophet? Wha is goin' on?"

"Hmm..." Zayne let go of one of Sydell's arms to rub his chin in contemplation. "Pop quiz. Why would I, a prophet of god, pull you up here?"

"Yh..." Sydell glanced nervously at the ground beneath him. Dangling just on one arm held by Zayne, he desperately wanted to grasp onto something... But the only thing within his reach was Zayne's hand. And there was something unsettling about the 'prophet's' smile...

Still, even Zayne's hand seemed better than nothing, so he stretched out his arm...

"Touch me and I'm gonna throw you out."

Sydell's whole body flinched, staring at Zayne in disbelief. The tone of Zayne's voice was cheery, and the smile didn't leave his face even for a split second, but his words...

"Your answer." Zayne slowly started lifting his fingers. The little finger, the ring finger...

"Eh, to save me from de vylkyrs?!" Panicked, Sydell yelled out the most reasonable thing that came to his mind.

But...

"Pfft!"

His eyes widened, as he looked back at Zayne.

Zayne was laughing, amused by the naive response. However, he grasped onto Sydell's arm with all of his fingers once again.

"Do you see any werewolves down there?"

"Uh... No?"

"Exactly. So, in what way pulling you here would be saving you?" he pointed out.

For a good moment, Sydell didn't say anything. He simply didn't know what to say. And saying anything random didn't seem like a good idea, not when he was hanging high above the ground, completely at Zayne's mercy.

But Zayne wouldn't give him too much time to think. It didn't take long before his fingers started moving again, slowly peeling off from Sydell's arm...

"Is it 'cause of Priska?" Sydell tried again, feeling the urgency of the situation.

"Priska? What does she have to do with it?"

"She's de pretties' in de village."

"...And?"

"Umm... Don't ya... want her?"

"Pfft!" Once again, Zayne couldn't help but burst out laughing.

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"Well, that was good," he said, once he calmed down. "She's just some random mortal girl from a tiny village. What's so special about her?"

"...Are ya lookin' down on her?"

"So what if I am?"

"Think she's not good enough for ya?"

"Huh." Zayne looked down at the dangling Sydell with a mix of amusement, pity, and incredulity. Putting aside that he still thought it was appropriate to argue with Zayne even in his current circumstances... Shouldn't he be happy that Zayne wasn't interested in the girl? So why was he trying to argue for her?

Either way...

"Yeah. She's not."

"Ya-"

Zayne pulled Sydell sharply up, until they were face to face. There was no point dragging the conversation any longer. He could already hear the soft sound of paws stepping on the forest litter getting closer. The bloody lure he had dropped under the tree had worked.

"Well, if you're saying she's so nice, then perhaps I'll give her a try."

Sydell's eyes briefly widened at the words, before his whole expression turned into a deep frown. "I knew it! Yer just a fraud!"

"Well, you're not wrong, I suppose? I'm actually not a prophet of god. Because... I am god."

There was a short pause, when Zayne only stared straight into Sydell's eyes, giving him a moment to try to process what he had just heard.

And then, without even a single warning, he opened up his hand, letting go of the man's arm.

Sydell dropped down, still staring at Zayne in disbelief. Only when his back hit the ground, the thick layer of moss breaking his fall a bit, did he let out a scream. "I don't believe ya! Yer just a-"

He never got to finish his words though. Before as soon as he fell, the werewolves, which were already lurking nearby, charged forward, bitting into his flesh. His throat was torn off, making him unable to spew any nonsense ever again...

Or to breathe.

Now that his demise was certain, and 'absolutely not Zayne's fault', it was time to 'rescue' him. Zayne pulled back his sword from behind his belt, and jumped off the branch, stabbing right into one of the monsters' head with the whole force of the fall.

The least he could do for the poor guy was to collect his remains, so that his family and friends would have the body to bury and mourn...