Read while listening to: Pt-9 :Zai

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  The m arrived, and Mursha slowly woke up, feeling slightly terrible about what she had said to her mother. She hadn’t been thoughtful, and she might have ended up hurting her because of her own selfishness.

  Her iions might have been good, but the way she did things wasn’t. The first thing she wao do ologize to her mom, quickly running out of bed the moment she heard some sounds outside.

  The voiany people talking.

  “Hm?”

  She walked out of the tent to suddenly see most of her tribe gathered together, surrounded by hundreds of orcs wearing bck cloaks and holding strange, cursed ons.

  “H-Huh…?”

  There was one of these strange orcs leading them, speaking with her father. She froze the moment she learned who these people were.

  After she recalled a few words that her mother oold her, “Those of the cult of the mad god often wear bck cloaks and have imprinted an axe, a hammer, a sword, and a spear into their clothes made of crimson red paint, oftentimes blood.”

  And it was happening right there, as she noticed all of these strangers were wearing the same clothes. None had caught up to her being here; they were all fog on the rest of the tribe that had e out to front them.

  “T-They’re the mad god cult?! What are they doing here…?” she thought, panig. “Why… how did they find us?!”

  As she panicked and started to think about what she should do, she heard them speaking.

  “At long st, we’ve finally found the st remnants of the tribe that betrayed od and provoked his wrath,” said the cult leader. “I assume you must be the chief...”

  The man who fronted Mursha’s father was immensely powerful. With a mere gnce, she felt her senses go numb; his aura of darkness and power was immense, making the world around him grow darker.

  Yet her father stood firm and didn’t flinch before his immense aura and presence, using his own internal Mana to stay strong and stand without trembling.

  As the chief of this small tribe, he simply couldn’t let his family see him afraid or hesitating.

  “Our aors are all dead, and the only thing we seek is to live in peace for the remainder of our lifespan!” the man said. “We do not wish to fight you, eveo insult yod... Please, you must uand that you will not win anything by taking our lives!”

  “Is that so?” wohe man fronting her father as he smirked, caressing his and nodding. “I agree with your statement. You are indeed i of all that your aors have done. And for that very reason, we’ve decided to spare you.”

  His words shook the rest of the Blood Fang tribe; they all thought of this as a joke, unbelievable for them to be just suddenly fiven and spared!

  Yet, they also secretly hoped that he was telling the truth. And this small hope became the only hope they had right now for surviving.

  “T-Truly?” The chief wondered, uo believe it.

  “Yes, that’s right!” the cult leader ughed. “What did you think? That od was some kind of… barbarian? He is a man of honor and pride! He won’t let such powerful warriors have a pitiful death. He will spare you by giving you a ce to fight for your lives.”

  “W-Wha…?!” Mursha’s mother muttered.

  “What does he mean with that?!” the chief asked, calming down his wife.

  “What else? He has proposed something for all of you,” said the cult leader. “He will spare all of you as long as you plete ten war games secutively! How about it? For the stroribe to have ever existed in Elios, to fight ten battles against two armies at the same time shouldn’t be that much of an effort, isn’t it?”

  “T-That’s insane! Even as strong as we are…!” Mursha’s mother protested.

  However, her husband stopped her from speaking any other words, c her mouth.

  “We will do it…” The chief didn’t eveate.

  Mursha gasped, uo believe her father!

  “F-Father?! Why!”

  Mursha suddenly realized she ended up sayihoughts out loud, quickly stepping back, and trying to hide to not draw attention.

  But it was a bit too te.

  “What do we have here?”

  Before she could even muster any strength to run away, the silhouette of a man appeared behind her, grabbing her away.

  As the chief agreed to the terms of the cult, the rest of the tribe argued against it, finding it ridiculous. Yet the chief stood firm on his decision.

  “Are you insane?! We’re all going to die!”

  “T-This ’t be true…”

  “But if we die, then… what about…?”

  “Ah! That’s… right…”

  The orcs quickly realized why the chief was going so far.

  He wahe cult members to quickly leave with them, leaving Mursha ient while she slept.

  And saving her from their cws.

  They khat the girl was their future, and they were all willing to sacrifice their own lives if it meant she would get to live another day.

  As the only child and ohout the mad god’s curse, she recious beyond anybody else—someone worth all their lives and more in their eyes.

  “It seems you’ve made a decision then,” the cult leader smiled. “If you successfully pass ten rounds, you all will be revived, and you will be granted freedom; od even promised to lift the curse on your bloodline! Isn’t he the most just and honorable of them all?”

  “Yeah, he’s great,” the chief smiled. “Let’s go then; we don’t have any more time to waste here.”

  “That’s right,” his wife nodded. “Let’s go to the area where we’ll join the War Games.”

  “Hahah! How eager you are! But I wonder, weren’t you fetting about someone?”

  The cult leader called someone, one of his many servants, a tall Ord Thrall hybrid encased in shadows, who quickly dropped a little irl in front of them.

  “Ouch! Agh, you asshole!”

  It was Mursha, making the eribe gasp and panic.

  “Mursha?!”

  “No! Why didn’t you hide?!”

  Her father and her mother ran towards her, hugging her and proteg her from the tless crimson eyes of the cultists, gng at the girl as nothing but a valuable sacrifice for their insane god.

  “Mom, Dad! What’s going on?!” she asked. “Who are these people? Are they really cultists? What’s happening?!”

  Her parents looked at her, g as they saw their dear daughter fused.

  “Please spare her,” her mother muttered, looking at the cultist leader’s wicked smile. “We will do anything, but please... Please spare her!”

  “Oh my, do you take me for a monster? Of course, I would not get a child involved in this! Hahaha!” ughed the cultist leader. “od is fair! He says that as long as you offer your blood and souls to the War Games, are her and give her a new life by our side. She shall grow to bee a fine warrior.”

  “W-What? What is he talking about?” wondered Mursha.

  At that time, Mursha didn’t uand what it meant to “give your blood and soul” in the Orcish nguage.

  But it was a way to say that they had to give their very lives.

  All of them.

  “I see… Sounds fair… Do I have your word?” Mursha’s father said.

  “Of course, I am also an honorable warrior myself,” the hed.

  “Mom, what’s going on now?” Mursha wondered.

  “Nothing… Everything is going to be okay, alright? Everything is going to be okay…” Her mged her tightly, kissing her forehead and cheeks as she kept g.

  It was certainly the opposite; Mursha khat things weren’t okay.

  And they would never go back to being okay, ever again.

  The trip back to the rge camp where the War Games happened was swift, yet it felt very long to her and her family.

  On that trip, every member of the tribe said their farewells to Mursha, smiling, hugging her, aing her head.

  “Mursha, you have to carry our tribe’s legacy from now on, alright?”

  “Behave and don’t do anything to upset those people.”

  “Be obedient, and... you may be able to live until old age.”

  “But never s your training; keep growing stronger; you have great talent.”

  “These st ten years, you’ve been the miracle that has kept us moving forward... Make sure to live for all of us.”

  “E-Eh? Why are you saying all of this? Aren’t you all only pying a war game?” Mursha wondered.

  They smiled, although deep down, Mursha could feel the mencholy in their eyes.

  “We’re here, Blood Fangs; move.”

  The cult leader called them as they moved out of the caravan, oer another, saying their goodbyes—women, men, elderly, all of them.

  Despite this being a battle, it didn’t feel like it. It didn’t feel like an honorable fight at all, nor was it fair, nor was it for prideful warriors.

  It felt like they were walking to a sughterhouse to be executed for crimes they had never itted.

  “Mom, dad…”

  Mursha looked at her parents as they smiled at her.

  Her mother’s tears had already dried; she cried so much that her eyes were red.

  “You’re strong, my daughter,” her father said, remaining posed until the very st moment. “You have life, alright? Make sure to grow strooo. I am sure that you will make us proud.”

  “Dad…” Mursha looked at her father’s fident smile.

  Even in this dire situation, she could feel his bzing vi and his relentless heart.

  “My dear…”

  But her mother was much more emotional, hugging her agai time.

  The st time she ever hugged her mother.

  With a tight, warm hug, her mother kissed her whole face; she evehe st of her hair, and then she gifted her all her hair ors, her rings, and her bracelets.

  “I love you so much... I love you more than anything, my dear Mursha. Please... make sure to never fet your mom and your dad, okay?”

  “M-Mom… what’s… happening?”

  Mursha didn’t uand; she was still fused.

  “We will go to battle... And we will honor our aors.”

  Her mother kissed her forehead o time as she walked away with her husband.

  The two moved towards the enormous battlefield, where two e armies waited for them.

  They were holding ons and wearing armor.

  There weren’t just Ord Thralls, but also Pyers such as humans and elves, and many more.

  “Pyers, huh?” the chief wondered.

  “They outnumber us by the hundreds,” his wife sighed. “We’ve e truly to die.”

  “Let us die with honor and pride,” her husband said. “Let’s show Mursha our strength and what she will one day achieve on her own.”

  “Yeah, that’s right, my dear,” her wife sighed as the two kissed and hugged o time. “I love you, my warrior... And I will always do so, even ierlife.”

  “I love you too, my warrioress, and I will never five you, even ierlife,” he caressed her face.

  “May the Divi Spirits bless us with strength!”

  The Blood Fang warriors roared in unison, lifting their ons.

  Their tattoos fred with power as their auras turned blood red.

  And Mursha watched as they battled.

  The two opposing armies didn’t even bother toug one another.

  They immediately targeted the third, smaller army without hesitation.

  Mursha screamed and cried, both iement and sadness, as she saw a few of the tribe members die.

  The eldest of them, who could not move and had a swift death, was stabbed iomach, beheaded, or burned by magic.

  But in the first round, it was their victory.

  “T-They’re s…” Mursha muttered.

  The more wouhey became, the strohey were.

  The sed round passed, and a few died, but they survived.

  The third round was the same.

  The fourth was the same.

  The fifth… Several reached their limits.

  Many of Mursha’s uncles and aunties, big brothers, and big sisters...

  They died.

  “W-Why…”

  She kept g, as she was beiight by two cultists who didn’t let her joitle.

  Yet with the st remainihey tinued fightilessly!

  Her mother and her father were s.

  Amidst tears of sorrow, she also felt tremendous admiration.

  Of the ten stro warriors, one died with each round.

  The sixth round, the seventh round, the eighth round, then the ninth round...

  And ohe tenth and st round began, only her mother and her father remaianding.

  Covered by wounds, her mother was missing an arm, and her father had half his face burned by magic.

  Their bodies were shredded with wounds, and they were groaning like beasts.

  Their power was fring, surging like a gigantistrosity made of blood energy.

  The two armies rushed towards them.

  Six hundred are strong against two.

  “Mom… dad…!”

  “RAAAAHHH!”

  They roared like proud and mighty warriors, rushing without hesitation towards their deaths.

  Because they khat as long as they died, their daughter would live.

  And that was more than enough for them to throw everything away.

  As long as Mursha lived.

  This battle was worthwhile!

  CLASH! BOOM! CRASH! SLASH!

  The sound of ons g against each other, of blood spttering over the floor—her parents were beasts, spttering their foes into tless pieces.

  Her mother swung her giant hammer, crushing foes left and right. Her hammer swung his massive axe, hag and slig anything that faced him.

  Yet at the end...

  “Ugh…?!”

  CLASH! CLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

  Her mother ierced by several swords, spears, and arrows.

  She vomited blood, falling to her knees.

  “M-Mom…!”

  Mursha’s face twisted, dist into utter horror.

  “MOOOM!!!”

  Her mother, in her madness, regained some sciousness.

  She was gng at her daughter.

  And smiling warmly at her.

  She could still remember her mother’s st words to this day.

  “It’ll be okay…”

  SLASH!

  Before they mercilessly beheaded her.

  “A-Ah…! Aahh…! AAAAHHH!!!”

  Mursha screamed in horror and utter disbelief as she tried to run into the battlefield, only for the two men to grab her and subdue her to the ground.

  “Watch! Watch as your family sacrifices themselves for your pitiful life!”

  “This is their legacy, hahaha! The legacy of the traitors that gave their backs tod!”

  “Nngh…! Sniff…! Guuh…! Sniff…”

  The girl tinued g while grittieeth and gng at her father.

  Her father, oig her wife’s death, ran towards her body.

  “My dear…”

  He grabbed her head and then her body and hugged them as he started g.

  Mursha saw her father cry for the first time.

  The army of foes ran towards him, ons about to pierce him.

  While carrying his wife in his arms, a bzing fme surged from his very soul.

  He g his daughter as she cried.

  “Dad… No…! DAAAD! WAIT! DAD!”

  “Live, my daughter. Make us proud…”

  As he smiled and kissed his wife’s forehead, his entire body busted in deadly fmes.

  “{Blood Fre}”

  BOOOMMM!!!

  The fmes burhrough all nearby foes, turning them into ashes.

  And so her father died too, hugging her mother, turning himself and herself into ashes.

  So their bodies wouldn’t be defiled ohey died.

  Their enemies screamed in agony and burned, but many remained alive and the on to kill each other as if nothing had happened, pletely ed by the bloothirst of war.

  “No…! No… NOOOO!”

  Mursha kept screaming and g, kig the ground and the men’s arms, who were pletely unfazed by her attacks.

  And just as they promised, they let her be, they spared her life.

  “Your eribe sacrificed to save your pitiful life…” the cult leader said. “You better make it worthwhile, child.”

  “I’ll kill you…” Mursha muttered, her aura emanating a powerful killing i. “I’ll kill all of you…”

  “Hah! Hahahaha!”

  The man didn’t even take her seriously, walking away.

  “Make sure to give her some scraps so she doesn’t die of starvation, okay?”

  She was left there as it started to rain.

  The smell of blood slowly dissipated as the smell of the wet dirt beh her foot filled her nostrils.

  Her tears seemed small below the rain.

  These memories, alresent within Mursha’s mind, once again blossomed as she heard Bing Xue’s proposal.

  “Let’s ruin the War Games and sughter those cultists. Then, I’ll kill that god for you.”

  What her mother oold her was impossible—to sy a god.

  Someone came to her with tremendous, unbelievable power.

  And this person told her that she would sy it.

  “You don’t know how much time I’ve waited for someone like you.”

  And she hugged her tightly; Mursha even started g.

  “Please… help me, Bing Xue… Help me kill that god.”

  “Mursha…”

  “I want to… kill it myself…”

  “…Very well.”

  Bing Xue didn’t hesitate, caressing the oran’s face.

  “Those tears filled with sorrow… Just how much have you suffered?”

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  Pach