Chapter 210: Church and Legacy

Drake looked at the item in his inventory, his face slowly curving into a deep frown.

[System Sanctioned Church]

Contains the great races of the multiverse. Where those who wish to offer tribute may.

"I can just do this later, right? Yeah, let's go check up on that water tower, or maybe plant those seeds! Ow!" Drake yelped, his ear being tugged.

"No, you do not!" Natto shouted at him, her hand on her hip, "You will place that church! It is very important not only for the town but you!" she said earnestly.

"For me?" Drake asked suddenly feeling that there was more to what she was doing than just wanting something beneficial to the town.

"I-I can not say. But the priests inside will be able to explain…" she said suddenly downtrodden, "I am sorry I can not be of more help on this matter. But until you have access to certain buildings I am limited in what I can speak on."

Drake let out a sigh.

"Well, I guess that really means I have to do it then. I can definitely say I'm not looking forward to this," he grumbled, moving a ways away from the other buildings.

He quickly found an open space and confirmed the Church's location as he crossed his arms, a frown on his face waiting for the building to finish materializing.

A long drawn-out sigh escaped his lips as he watched the Church slowly build itself from the ground up. It was a massive structure, expanded wide with grand medieval-like architecture. The biggest difference he could find was that the gargoyles he had expected on the top of the columns were replaced with Dragons, Horses with horns, fierce-looking human heads with a third eye, and many more heads he didn't recognize.

"Great decor…" Drake muttered, "Makes for a real homey vibe…"

"Make haste and enter already," Natto instructed, taking a seat on his shoulder.

Sighing once more he reluctantly complied, walking up the small flight of stairs two ostentatious doors greeting him covered in intricate design and colors.

Placing his hands on the handles he swung them open, greeted by the sound of low ringing bells and a mysterious hum.

What Drake noticed next were the people in priest robes, well, beastmen and women in robes.

They might even be demons of some kind. I shouldn't make assumptions with how many races we have now. Drake thought looking at their spiraled horns on either side of their heads.

Immediately the clergy noticed him, one in a large cap walking up to him.

"Greetings, Lord Wallen," the man said bowing slightly, "It is a pleasure to meet you, how may this humble servant be of assistance?"

Drake was still taken aback looking at the inner structure of the building. Rows and rows of statues littered the walls with small different colored pyres in front of them. The higher and further back the statues went, the larger the statue and fire.

"It would seem it is your first time in our humble church. May I offer an explanation as I am sure your Assistant was barred from doing so."

The man gave a small smile, exposing his flat teeth, his eyes curving into crescents only showing the square goat-like pupils.

"Go for it," Drake replied casually, surveying the rest of the building and observing the other clergymen.

"Then, with pleasure," he bowed, "My name is Pythanuel, I am a B-Rank Dysanthrope. Once again it is an honor to meet you, the multiverse has been quite a buzz."

Wait isn't that… I'm pretty sure that word means something entirely different… Drake thought in passing.

Pythanuel continued, "This is a system-sanctioned church widely available to all worlds and town owners in the multiverse, the more proper name that is used is the 'Church of the Higher Races'. This is a facility joined and backed by the system, as you may have noticed there are only clergy here and no guards as there are in other buildings I am sure you have visited."

Drake nodded.

"This building is protected much more adamantly by the system due to its nature," Pythanuel smiled.

"It's nature, huh…?" Drake asked following Pythanuel as he began walking towards the back.

"Yes. This is a place of worship in a sense. In the future, I am sure you will meet other races of higher Rank here once it is connected to the rest of the churches. But fear not as no one will be allowed to interfere with you whilst here," he told, his hand slowly going to grab Drake's arm, but was stopped just before coming in contact with him.

Drake's brow raised seeing the intervention by the system.

Smiling, Pythanuel continued, "As you may have noticed there are many statues here with many more being added and removed daily," Pythanuel explained pointing to a statue that began shifting.

The statue began to glow as if being heated from the inside, as it broke down into a blob of a gray clay-like pile, then suddenly reformed into another statue with great detail like before. The face depicting an entirely different person.

Drake whistled seeing it firsthand.

"The lower statues represent the lower races of the multiverse. Each statue forms and reforms based on the strongest, or highest current level and Rank in each respective race. The statues closer to the bottom change quite frequently as it stands, the higher you go the more powerful and long-lived the person, making them change quite infrequently."

Drake followed along, nodding as Pythanuel explained. But Drake suddenly spotted a familiar face at the top of the row that he recognized, his blood boiling over.

Mir'phyra… Drake growled inwardly.

Pythanuel noticed Drake's gaze and smiled speaking up.

"Ah! One of the strongest in the multiverse, the Dragon Matriarch Mir'phyra! You have a keen eye, my Lord. The last and highest row is reserved for the Primordials of the multiverse."

Drake scowled at the statue, "It makes that bitch look better than she is. Doesn't capture her flabby old ass…" he grumbled.

Pythanuel didn't seem to hear Drake or simply ignored it and continued, "There are many other strong leaders here to which to offer tribute. There is the Undead Lord, the Queen of the Kirins, The Insect Queen of the Grand Horde, and many more. Then," he paused, directing Drake to a statue behind him.

The statue awed Drake. There was a sort of uncanny connection with it. A man standing tall, his arms crossed. Familiar tattoos on his face, trailing all the way down his body on his exposed torso, a fierce, sharp, stoic expression on his face.

"The Great War King of the Asurans, Han Kol Asura."

Drake stared at the man, unable to break his gaze. His body temperature rose as he felt his mana and aura stir.

He was strong. He was the pinnacle. Drake thought, able to feel some sort of unspoken strength coming from the statue.

"I'd like to fight him someday," Drake said absentmindedly.

"Drake…" Natto said lightly, pain in her eyes.

"Unfortunately, no one has seen him in centuries," Pythanuel said, looking at the statue as well, "Some say he was captured due to the bounty placed on him."

Bounty?

"Due to his great strength and the fierce battle hunger of the Asurans. There was a bounty placed on them and several other races. Their race dwindled to a handful as they were slowly hunted down and outnumbered. But it is said that each Asuran would decimate armies with a smile before their life was finally taken, almost making the bounty on their heads a paltry sum in comparison of the loss of soldiers and life."

"Hunted…? Who placed these bounties?" Drake asked, feeling his anger tick upwards.

"Many of the other Primordials. It's said that they feared the races such as Asurans, Titans, and those few others who only hungered for more power. Their reasoning was that these races would upset the balance of the multiverse if left alone."

Drake's grip tightened, a bead of blood escaping his fingers.

"For such a reason… For a reason like that they committed genocide?!" Drake shouted.

Drake never knew another Asuran, he had no attachment to them as a people, but for some reason, his body roared, his body demanded recompense, demanded vengeance.

For the glory of your bloodline, bring glorious victory! A voice shouted in the back of his head. The pride of your race stands on your shoulders, fight! Only the next battle, the next triumphant victory matters. Mark history with the blood of the defeated! Burn your story into the soul of the universe next to the likes of the War Gods of the past!

Drake fell to his knees, the voice overpowering him as his hand went to his mouth, almost retching.

"Drake!" Natto called out next to him.

"I-I'm alright…" Drake lied, through ragged breaths.

"Interesting…" Pythanuel murmured, "I suppose that confirms that you are also an Asuran," he said, his eyes thinning, "You face quite the troublesome situation then."

Drake looked up from the ground, his breath still coming in heaps.

"The aforementioned bounty will extend to you as well, regardless that you have changed into an Asuran and were not born one."

"H-how do you know I wasn't born one…" Drake eked out through his teeth.

Pythanuel looked back to the statue of Han, "Han is the last known surviving Asuran. All known Asuran Legendary Stones have also been kept under strict supervision throughout the multiverse. But word has it you were in the Dragon Matriarch's tutorial so it begs the question why she has allowed you to receive one…" he said trailing off for a moment in thought, "Back to the point, the church here allows anyone willing to offer tribute to the strongest races for a temporary buff. The tribute may be anything, stones, cores, coins, weapons, items… Blood, corpses."

Drake had already felt nauseous so he was unable to feel his stomach turn over once again at the thought of anyone offering anything to anyone that would put bounties on entire races, let alone the Dragon Bitch.

But if nothing else he was curious. Drake looked at the pyre of flames before the statue of the Asuran, burning in pure colorful gold.

"What would be a good offering?" Drake finally asked, feeling himself become level-headed after a time.

"It is hard to say," Pythanuel mused, "While in most cases the larger the offering the better, and most do so in the forms of Monster Cores or Coins due to the offering being partially given to the Patron. But there are cases of when the relation to the Patron Statue affects the offering and buff."

"Drake," Natto said from his side, "I think you should just pray to him," she offered her eyes serious.

He looked at her trying to find any hint of joking, but failed to.

Drake pursed his lips, "I've never been good at offering prayer, so I'm not sure what to say…" he mumbled, scratching his cheek.

"May I then suggest giving a drop of blood and simply asking a question?" Pythanuel smiled.

Drake looked at the goatman suspiciously but couldn't find a reason not to follow the suggestion.

"Well, it's better than offering an item or cores I guess."

He placed his hand over the fire, summoning a small needle of ice in the other. But just as he was about to prick himself, he was stopped by the fluctuation of mana in the air that put him and every one of the clergymen inside on their asses.

In front of him, the statue of Han Kol vibrated, filling the building with raw unadulterated dense mana. It began to heat up much like the statue Drake had seen before turning a vibrant orange. The pyre in front of the statue blew and whipped erratically in response.

Drake could hear the jumbled sounds that didn't translate to words coming from Pythanuel next to him as his body shook at the event.

"I-it can't be!" Pythanuel stammered.

The statue began to reform from the lump of clay it had shrunken to. Structuring itself once again from the ground up.

Drake's jaw hung open in disbelief once he saw it finish.

The statue wore familiar pants and wrapped-like sandals. Wearing a hoodie that covered an obviously well-defined body, a mask with elongated canines holding a sword over its face.

"Why am I up there?" Drake asked flabbergasted.

Unusually Natto looked crestfallen rather than cynical, her face a mixture of trepidation and sympathy.

The first to reply to him was Pythanuel.

"It pains me to say this, Lord Wallen. But it would seem that Han Kol Asura is no more. If I may…" he led into but was interrupted.

Natto's hand touched Drake's shoulder.

"This means that you are the last Asuran alive in the multiverse, which also announces to the multiverse that you are an Asuran, Drake," she said solemnly.

Drake looked over at her and smiled, "What's with the long face? You're acting like one of my family members just died-"

Before he could finish his sarcastic remark, something he had never felt before assailed him. 

Anger, primordial anger. Something inside him seethed and roared with such anger that he felt his blood would evaporate if it had not been inside his body to contain it. His jaw clenched with such force his teeth screamed in protest at the pressure.

Drake's body tensed as he fought against the raw emotion and desire to act out in retribution. The power of the aura and mana that leaked from his body uncontrollably was enough to scare and incapacitate the surrounding clergymen.

Even Pythanuel took a step back, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face.

Drake screamed out in agony as he lurched backward on the church floor.

Vengeance! Vengeance! Blood must be paid! War! It is your duty to take glorious retribution for this insult in a mountain of corpses! Your line will not rest until you have taken their heads!

"Drake! Drake!" Natto shouted, "You have to breathe!"

Still bucking and screaming in searing pain Drake twisted and curled on the floor, the phantom-like voices echoing in his head.

Until a single deep voice overpowered them.

Silence.

The voice cut through the echos bringing a halt to the pain and pounding of his head as he gasped for breath. His eyes suddenly went wide as the voice continued to speak.

Become strong, and find me. I await you when you have grown, finding who you are…

The voice trailed off becoming distant as Drake was bombarded with notifications.

[Title Earned: Race Representative]

[Title Earned: The Last Asuran]

[Title Earned: Strength of a Race]

[Title Earned: Legacy Holder]

[New Legacy Quest! Ghosts of the Past]

Reach Level 30 and enter the Trials of the War General

Reward: Experience, Legacy Item, Access to Asuran's Generational Training Wilds.