Pivot of the Sky – Chapter 157, Playing a con

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Translator: adomman

Editor: Snorri

 

Lynk finally spoke: “We are not picking a fight with you, you are the one picking a fight with us. We have our own god which we follow, and he is unique. Please do not say these offensive words in front of us, if you wish to fight, then make your move.”

 

Heqet looked at the Key of Fate in Metatro’s hand, then looked at the strange bow used by Lynk. It was needless to say how powerful the Key of Fate was, as it was the god slaying sword once used by Enkidu and now crafted into a golden spear which no craftsmen in the world could ever make. And Lynk’s bow was once used by Amon, and he had given it to Lynk after he received Gilgamesh’s bow. Lynk had also spent half a year making the bow even better than before.

 

If they really fought, regardless of the outcome, the price paid by either side would certainly be great. Heqet blinked and suddenly smiled. “The two of you aren’t a match for me, but I do not wish to fight you directly either. You have made some achievements while following Girtablullu, so I’m sure you know something about a god’s covenant. I suggest we make a covenant as well, in that way, I can accomplish my mission and the two of you can accomplish yours.”

 

Metatro asked: “What kind of covenant?”

 

Heqet replied: “The Ducians are not actually guilty of any sins, but they are trying to escape from Ejypt, so the King of Neteru, Seth, has decided to punish them. And for them, this hardship and test is something that they need to overcome by themselves. I will not harm them directly, but instead I will create various obstacles to hinder their way in accordance to the King of Neteru’s orders. The two of you can try your best to eliminate these obstacles with your abilities.”

 

Metatro glanced at Lynk with an inquisitive look, and Lynk nodded his head. “Alright, let’s resolve this matter in this way.”

 

Heqet smiled again. “I wish you luck, Girtablullu does not have a good temper, so if you do not accomplish your mission, your fate will be worse than those miners. If you ever regret your decision, you can look for me. I will give you some advice out of goodwill: I am not the only disciple sent by Seth. In fact, I have already accomplished my mission, there is someone else ahead.”

 

As she finished speaking, the countless water arrows turned back into water droplets, reflecting the sun’s rays once again. The colorful reflected beams of light intertwined and concealed Heqet’s body, and then the droplets fell back onto the ground at the same time. The forest regained its calm and Heqet was gone, together with the powerful presence.

 

Metatro looked at the spot where she disappeared and snorted. “So she already accomplished her mission, but decided to show herself and intimidate us. After spewing so much bullshit, she’s actually trying to find some disciples for herself, and we were the lucky ones.”

 

Lynk said in a mocking tone: “This person didn’t even understand the situation and thought that we were sent here by the Scorpion King. No matter who we were followers of, if we betrayed our god to join her just because of a few words, how can we hope to achieve more in the future?”

 

Metatro looked at the sky. “She just wanted to accept two powerful subordinates. As for joining the Ennead, those were just empty words used to tempt us. It’s just that there were some things that she said which I don’t really understand.”

 

Lynk said thoughtfully: “It doesn’t matter, perhaps it is beyond our comprehension for now. I’m sure Amon will teach us about it sooner or later. Heqet says that there are other disciples sent by Seth ahead, I wonder what kind of people they are?”

 

Metatro swung his Key of Fate and replied: “Who cares, as long as the road is beneath Moses’ feet, we’ll see.”

 

……

 

Moses and his people finally got away from the harassment of the frogs and entered the hilly area between the coastline and the city of Djanet, where the terrain was undulating and full of lush thorns and trees twice as tall as the average man. The strong miners cut away the bushes with their knives to clear a path, and although their travelling speed was not very fast, they were finally able to sleep well at night.

 

Just like that, they walked another five, six days through the thorny bushes. Many of them had their clothes torn or damaged, so they took a stop to do some simple sewing and mending before continuing on their way. The trees weren’t very tall and the slopes were quite gentle and safe, but there seemed to be no end to the dense vegetation in sight. On this night, David heard the summons of Metatro again, and he quietly made his way to a valley to see him. Metatro had already awakened the power in the child and had been teaching him all kinds of incredible “magic”.

 

As David listened to Metatro’s teachings through message magic with his eyes closed, he seemed restless and unable to sit still. It wasn’t that his will wasn’t firm enough, it was the condition of his body which was affecting him. Turned out that he was currently going through the test of “body’s purification”, and he had to pass the test to advance to the second level. During the process, all the old injuries and pains suffered by the body would resurface, so it was naturally difficult to bear. The only way to pass the test was to persevere with determination and continue training.

 

Metatrowas very pleased with David’s progress as he found that David not only had great potential, he was also very intelligent and was able to achieve mastery of power very quickly. At first, Metatro did not notice anything wrong, but when he found that David could not help scratching his body from time to time, he said: “Child, remove your shirt and let me see.”

 

David removed his shirt and Metatro asked in surprise: “How did you get all these small red spots on your body?”

 

David explained in embarrassment: “The mosquitoes, fleas and bugs from the hills bit me as we travelled or camped. It’s not a problem, I will focus on practising meditation and make sure I don’t get distracted.”

 

After David went back, Metatro said to Lynk: “A new problem has surfaced. Someone is manipulating the fleas and mosquitoes in the area to bite the Ducians. Although there are many fleas in the hills and it is normal to be bitten by them occasionally, there are far too many red spots on David’s body for this to be normal. Someone is obviously behind this situation.”

 

Lynk spat. “This is too despicable! We did not even notice it. Moses and his people may be strong, but they are exhausted everyday from travelling, so they certainly won’t notice it if they are being bitten. But these bugs might spread a plague, and it will be too late by the time it happens!”

 

Metatro nodded. “We need to investigate this matter and find out if there are more fleas and mosquitoes than usual around Moses’s camp.”

 

The two of them quietly searched the area and indeed, they found that the number of mosquitoes and fleas near Moses’s camp were dozens of times higher than usual. These little bugs hid under the leaves of trees, within the grass and the soil. If one did not search for them on purpose, it would be impossible to notice them.

 

Lynk said: “It could be done by another disciple of Seth, or it could still be Heqet! I don’t know much about that frog devil, but he should be well versed in manipulating bugs. Aren’t bugs the food of frogs?”

 

Metatro frowned. “My power is more suited for combat, so I’m not as adept at blessings and healing magic as you. Looks like you need to put in more effort this time.”

 

……

 

At midnight, Moses who was in the midst of meditating heard the voice of God’s disciple. Lynk said to him: “The evil Ejyptian gods have sent their disciples to punish your people, and by using despicable methods, countless bugs will continue to bite your people until a plague starts spreading among them. From today onwards, you need to clear the area of bugs using magic before setting up camp. You will also need to take turns performing healing magic on your people to prevent any plagues from spreading.”

 

Moses replied: “Many thanks for the reminder, esteemed emissary! I have also realized that there were much more bugs than usual recently. Although I am not afraid of them, many of my people were frustrated by the bugs constantly biting them. However, if I perform healing magic, I might not be able to prevent a plague from spreading since my power is limited.”

 

Lynk said: “This is only the beginning. I want you to be fully prepared for any situation that might occur. The disciples of Allaha are never stingy with using magical power, and in fact it is a habit for them to be extravagant with it. Just go ahead and cast the healing magic, you just need to make sure you don’t exhaust your power completely. I will be assisting you secretly. There is also a kind of plant in this wilderness, I will tell you how it looks. Send your men to gather this plant and tell the twelve Judges to dry the gathered plants using fire magic. When you burn this plant, it has the effect of repelling bugs, so surround the camp with the plant after drying it and burn it to keep out the bugs.”

 

Lynk was the chief of the cavemen, so he knew of several types of plants which could keep away the bugs when burnt. It so happened that he found one such plant in the area, so he ordered Moses to tell his men to gather it. From this day onwards, when the time came to rest, Moses would order six Judges to take turns setting up a magic formation. He would then use the formation and his iron stick to cast healing magic on his people gathered nearby.

 

Whenever Moses did so, a mist would gather around him, causing the light from his stick to become brighter and gentler. That was Lynk helping him secretly.

 

The disciples of Allaha helped the Ducians solve the problem of the bugs, but even the wise can get careless. By the time they realized the problem, it was too late. Even though the Ducians did not fall sick, the cattle and horses which they brought along fell sick and died one by one.

 

Without the beasts to carry their load, the Ducians could only carry it themselves. Fortunately they had already consumed nearly half of the food they brought, so they were able to barely carry all the luggage. But they had lost a source of food in the livestock and their burden had increased, so it became even more tiring to continue travelling.

 

On this day, they walked out of the dense forest and came to a wide valley. In front of them, there was a lake, where soft grass grew around it. After a tiring journey, everyone was tired and they put down their luggage to rest on the grass. Moses could tell that they had used up a lot of stamina, so he ordered Joshua to give everyone more food to eat today. They started to soak their bread in the soup and took out their dried meat to roast on the stones.

 

The aroma of food permeated the shore of the lake, and everyone revealed relaxed smiles. They had not felt comfortable like this in a long time. However, Moses suddenly frowned. He heard buzzing sounds which came from several flies flying out of the forest. Very soon, more and more flies arrived, and they landed on the half-cooked meat on the stones. Someone shouted: “What is this stench!”

 

The aroma from the dried meat on the stones turned into the stench of rotting, and the meat turned rotten as well. The stench also emanated from everyone, and when they opened their bags, they realized that all the food had gone bad as well, including the dry food and salted meat. These foods had been processed for long-term preservation, and normally they would not go bad even after a year, so why did the food become spoiled in the blink of an eye?

 

Divine punishment, that’s what it was! If they lost their food, they would never make it out of Ejypt. If they did not want to die of starvation in the wilderness, they could only go back to one of the cities and surrender themselves.

 

Metatro stood in the forest some distance away and he muttered in anger: “To think that they would do something like this! Even if they did not attack the Ducians directly, there isn’t much of a difference!”

 

Lynk said: “Since this is the case, we can also intervene directly. Fortunately, God Amon had already prepared for this. Let’s help Moses perform a “miracle” for his people.”

 

Moses, who had always been calm, was also startled by what happened. The power of the evil Ejyptian gods were incredible, they were actually able to spoil all the food carried by his people in an instant. The Ducians who had experienced countless hardships without giving up until now finally felt despair. Moses was about to stand up when he heard Lynk’s voice: “Since the disciples of the evil gods have done this, you shall make use of what God has prepared for you in advance to give your people true confidence. Show them a miracle!”

 

Moses raised his iron stick and said loudly: “My people, don’t despair! The evil gods who have taken our food reeks of foul decay like the spoilt food! The true God will protect us and perform a miracle! My people, faithful believers of Allaha, please gather around me and receive the food bestowed by God.”

 

The people gathered and Moses took out a piece of meat floss and a piece of bread from thin air. Then he said: “This is food bestowed by God, and it tastes more delicious than anything you have ever eaten!”

 

Someone called out in disappointment: “That’s it? It’s not even enough for one person to eat!”

 

Moses smiled. “God will not let us down. Everyone, go start the fires and boil some water, God will show you a miracle.”

 

When the water was boiling, Moses placed the secretly produced meat floss into the water and broke the bread into pieces before tossing it in as well. Then he secretly used spatial magic to envelope the pot. The tempting aroma started to permeate the area and the people could not help swallowing their saliva. Moses said to David: “The youngest one shall eat first. David, fill your bowl with the soup and don’t look at others, God has allowed you to come first.”

 

David carried a bowl filled with fragrant soup and meat and bread, but the soup in the pot did not decrease at all. One by one, they came to Moses to collect their food, and even after everyone had eaten their fill, the pot in front of Moses was still full of soup. Finally, Moses finished the pot of soup himself and went to the lake to wash his hands and the utensils and pots. He said to his people: “Everyone, pray with me and give thanks to our God! Thank him for giving us food, as well as the confidence and courage to overcome all obstacles.”

 

Everyone gathered near Moses and prayed to the one god in their hearts, Allaha. Metatro and Lynk stood in the forest and looked at each other with a smile. This “miracle” was actually prepared a long time ago, and the bread and meat floss had been stored in the Ventussalte embedded in the iron stick all along.

 

Amon had told the two of them that the things stored in the Ventussalte were not to be used casually, as they were prepared for the journey through the desert. But in the end, it was necessary to use them earlier than planned in order to prevent the Ducians from losing hope and to reaffirm their faith in God. Although they still had a long journey ahead, they will not look back anymore.

 

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