Chapter 286: The Fallen Mother Goddess: Finally Found You!
Chapter 286: The Fallen Mother Goddess: Finally Found You!
When Bass closed his eyes and awaited death, a rustling sound arose.
His body trembled, his legs could no longer support him, and he collapsed to the ground. However, the anticipated scene of being devoured by the swarm of spiders did not occur.
Peeking through a slit in his eyes, he realized that the rustling sound was the spiders retreating from the small wooden house.
With a head full of questions, he sat on the ground for a while to rest. Gathering his courage, he approached the window, slightly pushed it open, and looked outside.
Under the crimson moonlight, he saw the spiders retreating as if they had encountered a natural enemy, retreating back into the ground like a receding tide. Gradually, only layers of white spider silk remained, forming a silvery world.
In this fantastical scene, he saw a figure standing in the distant field, with their back to him. The figure was illuminated not only by the crimson moon but also by the brilliance of the stars.
The spiders had fled in panic due to the presence of this figure.
Once all the spiders had retreated, the figure also left.
Bass, hiding in the small wooden house, was so excited that he could hardly sleep. The events of tonight would be enough to talk about for the rest of his life.
...
On the small hill, the cave opened again under the crimson moon.
This time, Hastur did not choose to observe from outside. His gaze pierced through the layers of darkness and spider silk, seeing everything inside clearly.
He took a step forward, his body falling straight down. The surrounding spider silk turned into black threads and shattered before it could entangle him.
Upon reaching the bottom, Hastur followed the path cleared by the spiders, gradually delving deeper into the world formed by white spider silk. The ceiling was covered with white cocoons, numbering at least a thousand.
These were the offerings to the so-called Goddess of Spring's Breath each year, including unfortunate souls like the mayor.
Due to Hastur's presence, the cocoons swayed slightly, but no spider dared to break out.
Passing through the cocoon room, Hastur saw the main character of tonight—a giant spider with a human face, three stories tall.
Its upper body was bloated and human-like, while its lower body was a spider's abdomen with long, black, hairy legs.
Its facial features were blurred, as if soaked in some strong acid.
Facing Hastur's arrival, the human-faced spider showed no fear. Instead, it circled the surrounding web, scrutinizing Hastur as if confirming something.
Finally, it stopped, and a familiar voice came from its abdomen, "I told you I had a premonition that we would meet soon."
This was the voice Hastur had heard when he entered Old Jeff's daughter's dream.
He had found it strange at the time why the girl was unaffected by the nightmare's power.
Now he knew that the one who had conversed with him was this human-faced spider.
"Madam, your premonition was accurate. What puzzles me is why you remain lucid instead of falling into chaos and madness."
Hastur had already understood most of the backstory. The owner of this voice was the first girl to be sacrificed, and the object of the sacrifice was this giant spider.
In many people's eyes, spiders spinning webs and giving birth symbolize reproduction, especially in small towns where such beliefs are more superstitious.
Unexpectedly, the girl had not been completely devoured by the spider but had fused with it, becoming this terrifying form.
Not only did she survive, but she also retained her sanity, using her abilities to change the tradition of sacrificing priestesses to sacrificing couples.
"If you want to know everything, you can enter my dream. I know you have that ability, and I have always longed to share my story with someone."
The soft female voice carried a hint of seduction.
Hastur sneered, "Enter your dream and be devoured, leaving not even bones behind, right?"
Both were ancient beings; he wouldn't fall for such a simple trick.
He didn't believe that the bloated figure before him had survived on dew alone.
After a moment of silence, the voice continued, "Are you also one to judge by appearance? I thought you would be different from them."
"Indeed, I am different. I judge by appearance even more."
"..."
The human-faced spider finally got angry. It moved swiftly on the web, hanging upside down from the ceiling, and spat out a waterfall of spider silk.
"Chaos!"
"Misfortune!"
"Fear!"
"Filth!"
Hastur easily dodged the attack. He uttered different extraordinary abilities, mixing them to turn the human-faced spider into a sieve, its body shattering into pieces.
In the face of absolute power, the human-faced spider was just a slightly larger spider, easily crushed.
From the shattered abdomen of the human-faced spider, a red cocoon emerged, pulsating like a heart.
A chain of order extended from Hastur's back, striking the red cocoon, which split open, spilling sticky red liquid.
A complete human face appeared within, its delicate features contrasting sharply with the grotesque body.
"Outlander, thank you for saving me." The face smiled with relief before dissipating like smoke.
In the dispersing smoke, Hastur saw the girl's life.
She had indeed sacrificed herself with great courage, replacing other chosen girls and offering herself to the so-called deity.
Throughout the fusion, she retained her humanity, gradually transforming the man-eating spider into a human-faced spider.
She genuinely protected the land's harvest.
However, her humanity was eventually eroded by chaos and madness. The annual sacrificial festival was to satisfy her wild, cannibalistic desires.
As this desire grew, the number of sacrifices needed each year increased.
The turning point came when an external force severely affected her, eroding her humanity and nurturing her beastly greed.
This external force came from a gaze cast from the stars.
As that gaze reappeared, the shattered body of the human-faced spider began to mutate.
Nearby, countless small spiders swarmed, willingly becoming part of it.
It became an indescribably huge monstrosity, with a bloated body that could hold over a hundred Hasturs. Spider legs protruded from its back, mouths opened in its flesh, and tentacles with mouthparts grew from its abdomen, covered in images of people's deathly fear.
Disgusting, nauseating.
These were Hastur's first thoughts.
"Fallen Mother Goddess."
Hastur's expression grew serious. The gaze that had caused the human-faced spider's mutation came from the Fallen Mother Goddess beyond the stars.
Even a residual gaze in history, borrowing the human-faced spider's body, had limited power and influence.
This star container, blessed by the power of the stars, had the combat power of Sequence 2, easily crushing it.
To prevent the place from being influenced by the Fallen Mother Goddess's power, Hastur shattered the ceiling, summoning the starlight.
The starlight ignited a flame, quickly engulfing the entire cave.
The starlight's fire cleansed all filth!
Hastur stood outside the cave, watching the underground cave being consumed by the starlight fire, ensuring no further surprises.
He didn't take the Fallen Mother Goddess's words to heart.
This body was just a container for the stars, not the real body. Even if the Fallen Mother Goddess targeted him, it wouldn't matter.
Moreover, the Fallen Mother Goddess, far beyond the stars, couldn't easily target an earthly angel.
Unless she withdrew her power from competing for the original moon's authority with the Mother Tree of Desire and Lilith, and stopped suppressing Mr. Door and Roselle, to fully target him.
This was almost impossible.
The overlord of the stars's evaluation of the Fallen Mother Goddess was accurate: She wanted everything, but often ended up with nothing.
After the fire burned everything clean, Hastur summoned a large stone from afar. After some thought, he carved a line on it: "Consistent protection, peace, and harvest, Goddess of Spring's Breath."
With a light stomp, the underground cave collapsed, and the stone was firmly placed on top.
...
The first to discover the stone was Bass, who had survived by luck.
The day after the stone appeared, he felt inexplicably drawn to the hilltop, where he saw the stone.
Having guarded the fields nearby for years and visited the hilltop many times, he was sure the stone hadn't been there before!
The stone, requiring five strong men to encircle it, stood three meters high. It couldn't have appeared overnight without divine intervention.
As the news spread, the mayor's family came. Seeing the stone and its inscription, they declared it a miracle from the Goddess of Spring's Breath, ensuring the town's harvest.
More people believed, and a pavilion was built to protect the stone from the elements. Many came to worship.
Old Jeff's wrinkles had smoothed out. People said the successful priestess had pleased the grain god, who had blessed the town.
The newly elected mayor even suggested making Old Jeff's daughter the permanent priestess, responsible for the annual sacrificial festival.
Old Jeff, proud, was glad the outlander hadn't married his daughter.
But thinking of the outlander's good looks and wealth, he felt a bit regretful.
(End of Chapter)
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