My Dad Is a Popular Villain in a Comic Book - Chapter 17

Regardless of whether the mythological records were true, or whether this holy spear summoned by magic was the original artifact or a manifestation, the fact that it could pierce the Wine God’s divine vessel proved it possessed a unique power.

Perhaps the legends are all true…

The name “God-Slaying Spear” stirred something within Zeman. Perhaps this was the power he had been searching for something that could end both him and the curse within him. After the battle with the members of the Temple of the Wine God, Zeman found it increasingly difficult to suppress the demonic energy in his body; the day of his complete transformation into a demon was likely not far off.

He didn’t know if Edward’s prediction from back then was true or false, but he knew he had to leave this child. Zeman suppressed his strained expression.

Albin, meanwhile, was still pondering his father’s words. Creatures with star-shaped markings in their eyes? Albin wasn’t scared; instead, he was curious. It sounded strange what kind of effect was it? Shiny little stars? Imagining the appearance of black star markings in his mind, Albin suddenly reacted. Wait, I think I’ve seen this feature before.

Jade’s eyes seem to be exactly like that!

Is Jade a dangerous monster? Albin thought of the gluttonous little green snake and couldn’t find anything dangerous about it. He blinked and asked, “How dangerous are monsters? Are they about the same as wild beasts?”

Zeman replied, “They possess wisdom similar to humans and also have demonic energy, similar to mana.”

Seeing Albin’s completely unaware expression, Zeman added, “They love eating little children like you the most. They’ll lock you up and keep you just to drink your blood.”

Albin burst into a laugh. I’m not a kindergarten kid; I won’t be scared by things like that! He hadn’t expected his usually cold father to use such lines to scare a child, and say them with such a straight face, too. Albin laughed until his shoulders shook.

Zeman: ? Did I say something funny?

Albin stayed curled in his arms for a while before he could hold back his laughter. He nodded at Zeman to show he had remembered. Although his father was scaring him, he figured it was probably just to make him wary of monsters adults liked to do that. With Jade as an example, he didn’t think all monsters were bad guys. However, he hadn’t seen many monsters yet, so he couldn’t refute his father’s claims for now. He decided to just keep it in mind and revisit the topic after he had met a few more monsters.

Albin turned to look at the holy spear. It was taller than he was long and flashy so, how was he supposed to carry it? If he carried it on his back, he would look like he was tied to a pole standing in punishment. He mumbled to the spear, “It would be great if it could get a bit smaller.” Just like the Monkey King’s golden cudgel!

The moment he finished speaking, the holy spear shrank straight down until it was the size of a thumb. It remained exquisite, adorned with jewels, and looked just like a necklace pendant.

“Wow!” Albin got excited. What child could refuse a golden cudgel that could grow and shrink? If he weren’t so tired right now, he definitely would have struck a classic Monkey King pose!

“Can it change into anything else?” Albin felt that a pendant wasn’t very convenient it would be easy to lose. He tried a few times and discovered that the holy spear couldn’t change its shape, but it could bend to become a hinged bracelet.

Just like that, a golden bracelet inlaid with jewels appeared on his wrist. He held his hand up to show Zeman. “Dad, look!”

Zeman’s eyes flickered. After getting Albin’s permission, he also tried to input his own demonic energy to control the holy spear. However, unlike the way the spear responded to Albin’s every whim, it remained completely unresponsive to him.

“It doesn’t seem to work,” Albin observed. It seemed only Albin, who had summoned it, could control the spear.

“That is a good thing.” Zeman returned the spear to him. “Do not easily reveal it in front of others unless you are in danger.” This was naturally a good thing; with a bound weapon he could carry on his person, Albin would be much safer. Yet, this also meant that if Zeman wanted to use the holy spear to end his own life, he would have to have Albin do it. Or… search for another way.

He suppressed the darkness in his eyes, picked up Albin, and stood up to leave.

After everything he had been through, Albin was exhausted; he had only managed to stay awake until now due to the excitement of seeing Zeman. Nestled in his father’s arms, sleepiness quickly rushed over him. Just before falling asleep, he took one last look at the white bones still remaining at the bottom of the blood-wine pool, his heart feeling heavy. Those children couldn’t go home.

Zeman carried Albin to the altar, threw a cloak over him, and carried the heavy-hearted child out of there. Stepping over the rubble and dried blood-wine, Zeman walked into the prayer hall outside. Priests and berserkers lay in heaps, their blood forming rivulets that stained the stone bricks red. However, the blood-wine flood that had come rushing in earlier was nowhere to be found, and the wine pools on either side had not risen significantly.

Zeman glanced at the child, who was unaware and sound asleep in his arms. This is an incredibly kind child. If he were to wake up and see this, he would likely be terrified, perhaps even haunted by nightmares.

—When Albin knows the truth, he will definitely leave you!

Latu’s words still lingered in his mind. He calmly adjusted Albin’s position so that even if the boy woke up halfway, he wouldn’t see this horrific scene.

Zeman glanced sideways at the spot where Latu’s body had been. The man, who had been decapitated and sliced in half at the waist, was now gone corpse and all. Zeman wasn’t surprised; he hadn’t intended to kill Latu to begin with. Latu was the High Priest of the Temple of the Wine God and the vessel for the god; it was impossible for him to die so easily. He hadn’t even fully invoked the god’s power yet.

According to the records of the Temple of the Sun, the only weakness of the Wine God was fire. During a conflict, the Sun God had swung his sword and severed the Wine God’s arms, but the Wine God had easily grown new ones. The Wine God had mocked the Sun God’s futile efforts, and the enraged Sun God had burned him with fire. The flames spread across the Wine God’s body, the burns wouldn’t heal, and he was forced to cut off the scorched parts of his body to prevent the fire from spreading. The burning flesh fell onto the land, the flames thawed the frozen ground, and the Wine God’s splattering blood dyed the surface of the land a dark color. This “black soil” had since possessed the Wine God’s life-force, capable of growing higher-yield, better-quality crops, and was viewed as a gift from the Wine God. The Sun God’s flames had burned the Wine God for seven days and nights, causing him unbearable pain until he was finally defeated.

For this reason, to kill the High Priest of the Temple of the Wine God, fire was a necessity. But at the time, Zeman hadn’t been sure if Albin had already become a Saint. If he had killed Latu completely, Albin might have directly become the host for the Wine God.

Clutching the child tightly, Zeman quickened his pace, leaving the underground palace through a secret tunnel and emerging from a remote corner of the city. The noise of the reveling crowd drifted through the air; they had yet to discover the anomaly in the Temple’s underground palace. Even so, it was not advisable to stay in the city, especially since Latu was not dead.

A carriage sent by the Honeysuckle Chamber of Commerce was waiting at the exit. As soon as Zeman and Albin boarded, the carriage, driven by two men, sped out of the city. The guards on duty at the city gates had long since been made heavily drunk by the Chamber’s men and didn’t notice their departure at all. They left from the western gate and traveled west for a while to put the maximum distance between them and the Lythrum Kingdom.

When Albin woke up in the carriage, the bloodstains on his body were gone; his father had already wiped him down. He searched around and then strained his neck, trying to look at his own back. It was said that a Saint Mark would appear on one’s body after becoming a Saint, and he didn’t know if he had succeeded.

“Dad, do I have the Wine God’s Saint Mark on me?”

“No, you don’t.” Zeman felt a sense of relief upon confirming this.

“Oh…” Albin lowered his head, disappointed. He hadn’t given up on his plan to become a Saint. Although he knew that becoming a Saint might mean being possessed by an evil god, if it weren’t him, it would be someone else. He had the God-Slaying Spear now after he became a Saint and finished what he wanted to do, perhaps he could just take the evil god down with him? No matter how he looked at it, him becoming the Saint seemed like the better deal. Hm, should I go try again next year? he wondered secretly.

At a post station, they learned the latest news about the Temple of the Wine God through the Honeysuckle Chamber’s channels. It was rumored that the Temple’s underground palace had been attacked by an unknown monster, many priests had died, and the High Priest was missing. This year’s sacrifice was determined to be a failure, but the Temple had suppressed the news, and the Carnival would proceed as scheduled for the remaining days.

Hearing the news that the High Priest was missing, Zeman furrowed his brows. Latu definitely didn’t die; why would he be missing?

Albin, hearing that the palace had been attacked by a monster and people had died, patted his chest in relief. “Dad, it’s a good thing we left early! Otherwise, we would have run into such dangerous monsters.” If his father had encountered danger while looking for him, he would have felt terrible.

Zeman the real dangerous monster replied, “Yes, it’s a good thing we left early.”

Albin asked again, “Is Margot okay? She was the other candidate. And what happened to the bones in the palace altar?”

The coachman from the Honeysuckle Chamber clearly didn’t know about these minor details, but he still replied kindly, “If you want to know, I can ask for you.” Albin quickly thanked him.

“I have a few more things I’d like to trouble you with,” he said, counting on his fingers. “We have to tell the landlady that her son is among those bones she would definitely want her mother to take him home! And Romani’s parents conspired with the priest to sell their child; I don’t know how Onaya’s little sister is doing now, but her father is a big bad guy who beats his children—we have to make sure he gets arrested…”

These were all memories he had seen in the blood-wine pool. The coachman was dumbstruck, but these weren’t major issues; they could be handled easily. He took out paper and pen to note them down and passed the message back to the Chamber.

They rested at the post station for the night. Perhaps because he had recalled too many memories from the blood-wine pool during the day, Albin woke up with a start in the middle of the night.

“Dad…” he shivered, wanting to find a hug that would make him feel safe, but he couldn’t see Zeman anywhere. Did Dad run out again in the middle of the night?

He felt strange and waited in the room for a while. As the sky began to brighten, Zeman still hadn’t returned. Albin changed his clothes and went out to look for him, asking the coachman and the others in the inn, but nobody had seen his father. Just as he was pacing back and forth in a panic, Zeman walked back to the station, safe and sound, covered in the cold morning dew. Seeing Albin up so early, a flash of astonishment crossed his eyes.

“Dad, where did you go?” Albin threw himself into his arms with tears in his eyes, clutching him tightly. “I’ve been looking for you for so long…”

Zeman was silent for a long time. He couldn’t tell Albin that his father could no longer maintain a human form. He stroked the top of Albin’s hair. “I’m sorry.”

It can’t go on like this. This time, I was able to avoid suspicion under the cover of night, but perhaps one day I will turn into a monster in front of Albin, lose my sanity, and bring harm to this child. I don’t want that to happen. Knowing the truth and then killing my father… that would be too cruel for this child.

I also cannot let this child die because of me.

I must leave.