Chapter 18 Arise King of the Mountains

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'The Harvest Sprites and your servant have devised a plan for the assassination of the threat.'

'Ah. Good news is always welcome. Soon we will be able to carry through with the master plan.'

'But Zach is strong for a mortal. He has already defeated one of the Spirits.'

'Yes, but Spiritloosener didn't fight hard enough. He almost managed to tear away Zach's soul, but Zach fought back.'

'Of course he fought back you idiot. What do you think he would have done?'

'Be quiet Spirit! Never speak that way about me, or I will send YOU to the Abyss myself.'

'I'd like to see you try. After all, what makes you any greater than me. Because you have other Spirits which follow your command? Remember this. My title was given to me by our master himself. Not by you.'

'As was mine. What a shame that you and I have the same master, isn't it?'

'Forcing us not to fight. Forcing us to... to...'

'To work together. But know this creature, if it weren't for that, I would destroy you.'

'Ha! You've spent to much time around mortals. I am a Spirit. Immortal.'

'As are human souls, and you act like they have no power. Humans have bodies. You and I don't, because we were not created to have bodies. We were created for a greater purpose.'

'I assume you are referring to the title we renounced.'

'Yes, I am. But we still retain our might, do we not?'

'We have been stripped of some of it. And now our banishment to Earth has taken its tole. But we must grow stronger!'

'We will. When the plan is completed, all the spirits will be content. As will I.'

'Suffering. Yes! A thing of beauty it is.'

'Any human would say you sound bloodthirsty.'

'Oh, right! Many humans think the same way as I do, but they will not admit it. At least I do not hide who I am. Man is doomed for the Lake of Fire. They try and act all good, and nice, but in their hearts they are evil.'

'But you know what exists in the hearts of some.'

'That horrible... I hate Him! He had to help them, didn't He. He had to find a way to clear away their evil. Ha! Salvation. Weakness, I call it. Better to stay strong, and never give up your ways.'

'Yes, of course. They call us fallen. Fallen! I will show them that we are mighty! I will show them that we are stronger than they are.'

'All in good time. Now certain unforeseeable events have gotten in the way. My prey will continue his work. I will continue to influence him.'

'Do so. I will not be satisfied until all the Spirits and I have prey of our own.'


Won walked across the beach, eying the cool sandy shore angrily. He had been defeated. Won hated defeat. He knew that if Saibara had been a different person, Won would be lying dead right now. Won reflected on all the people he had killed in this fashion. All the members of the Voice of the Good News Clan. Won could still see their dead faces, and their vacant eyes. Especially those of Shen. He didn't look into the Bishops eyes when he pushed him off of the cliff, and the people he had beheaded in the woods died too quickly to look at him. Shen had been the first that Won had mortally wounded, and then watched as they died.

Shen's sad, frightened, and pain filled eyes still haunted Won to this very day. He easily forgot about those who came next. But Shen's eyes began Won's transformation into a murderer. It was then as Won looked back into those dying eyes that Won realized what he had done. He had actually ended the life of a human being. And there is a huge difference between killing an animal and killing a human.

It was then that Won realized that he had awakened the murderer inside of him. And their was little he could do now, because he had become the murderer. The murder wasn't deep inside him, the murderer was Won. And Won hadn't noticed this transformation until that moment.

Won could have backed down right then. He could have ended his murderous ways. He could have ceased killing, and called to Jesus for forgiveness. But Won's hatred had given him a heart of stone. And he made no move to change his ways. Won remembered the day he had destroyed the majority of the clan.


It was Christmas, and the majority of the town's people had gathered in the town square to worship God together as one body. The newly elected Bishop read the story of Jesus' birth straight from the Bible, and then ministered about the Messiah. Cries of joy, and praise rose from the square as men and women thanked God for their salvation.

"Glory to God in the highest!" they sang, just as the angles had when they delivered the message to the shepherds. "And on Earth peace and good will towards men!"

They finished singing songs of praise, and then they all bowed their heads to pray. The Bishop lead the prayer.

"Oh heavenly father," he began. "Thank you so much for sending your son Jesus to be born on Christmas day. Thank you for his life. A sinless, pure life. Thank you for his death on the cross. Thank you for allowing your son to go through that so that we may be in heaven with you o lord. May your name be glorified, and your son be blessed. Glory to you God! Thank you for all that you..."

Suddenly a cross bow bolt flew through the air, and pierced through the Bishop's neck. The bishop cried out in pain, and fell to the ground, clutching the dart which pierced his neck. All the members of the clan looked up to see what was wrong. But then bolts began falling down upon them, striking several down. They turned, and saw Won standing atop the roof of one of the homes. In his hands he clutched an old Chinese repeating cross bow known as a Chu Ko Nu. The people panicked, and began running for their lives. But Won continued firing down upon them, killing many of them.

Won shot down a few more, and ran away and hid to avoid capture. Many of the town's people armed themselves to the teeth, and began scouring the mountain in search of Won. The Voice of the Good News Clan remained strictly isolated from the rest of China. As such, they possessed very few modern weapons. But the Government had given Won weapons to use against the clan.

While the search party was gone, Won spent his time wiring remote explosives to every building in the town. The only ones in the town right now were the older people, and the women and children. A few of the men had been left behind to guard the town, but not a large amount. So Won found it easy to wire the whole town up with explosives. Then, he got a save distance away, and activated the explosives.

The men in the search party returned to find their wives, their children, and their homes completely destroyed. But before they could begin mourning, Won leaped out of the bushes and gunned them all down with a sub machine gun.


I poured the last of my pineapples into my shipping box, and wiped the sweat from my forehead. Later that day Zack the shipper came by, and put all of my produce into boxes. He then loaded them up onto a horse drawn wagon, and carried them away. Boy did I make a lot of cash that day.

But I was wiped out from all the work. It was time for a break. And that meant the Hot Spring. So I put on a swimsuit, and headed down to the Spring. I was a bit cautious, because the Hot Spring was right next to the Harvest Goddess Spring, but the Goddess had never tried to harm me herself, so I wasn't worried. You can imagine my surprise when the Goddess appeared before me.

"Again you desecrate my holy spring by entering without a sacrifice."

"Every citizen of Mineral Town is allowed to use the Hot Spring," I replied. "I believe that includes me too. Their is no rule prohibiting me from entering without a sacrifice."

The Goddess' eyes flashed with anger, and she stepped off of her cloud.

"You still refuse to worship me. May I ask why?"

"I have already told you," I said as I stared straight into her cold green eyes. "I worship only the one true God. You are not him."

To my surprise, the Harvest Goddess actually laughed at this.

"Best of luck with that," she said. "You know what that could cost you."

"Oh right," I said sarcastically. "My life? There are fates worse than death."

"It could cost you much more then that," the Goddess said coldly. "And if you don't worship me, all your doubts of my power will be removed."

"I think many of them already have been," I said. "Now, will you leave me so that I may use the Hot Spring?"

The Goddess glared at me before disappearing in a flash of light. I got into the Hot Spring, and relaxed.


Kai sat at the edge of the pier with his arm around Popuri. The two of them gazed out as the ocean flowed around them peacefully, and slowly.

"So..." Popuri said, trying to find the right words. "I... I've been talking with Ann lately, and she says... You know that she and Zach are a couple right?"

"Uh," Kai replied. "I sort of figured that when she hugged Zach when Won tried to kill him."

"Well Ann obviously knows a lot about what Zach has been going through during his stay at the town, and... what she says makes me worried."

"Worried?" Kai said. "Worried about what?"

"Worried about you," Popuri said quietly. "Has Zach told you all that has happened to him since he came here? I don't want you to come to harm."

Kai then remembered all that Zach had told him about the Spirits attacking him, and the Spirits creating dirt creatures to hunt him. Kai then realized what Popuri was afraid of. She was afraid that the same things would happen to Kai. Kai adjusted his bandanna nervously.

"I'm kind of worried too," Kai said. "I haven't had any confrontations with Won yet, and I'm sure that he is angry about my interference that day."

Popuri looked up at Kai with teary eyes.

"I don't want you to die," she said sadly.

Kai immediately enveloped her in a loving embrace. Popuri melted into his arms as he whispered encouragement into her ear. Kai told her that all would be alright, that he would be okay. But inside, Kai wondered if that was a lie.


The door to Zack's house was cracked open, and Won's face looked out at the two lovers hugging each other. He had listened to the whole conversation. Won smiled a crooked smile as he listened to Kai telling Popuri that everything was okay.

"Everything is far from that," Won said to himself as he watched them. "I thought Christians didn't lie Kai."

Won then chuckled, and closed the door quietly. Inside, he opened a large book which was filled with strange writing, and many pictures of things in nature. Won held a long wooden stick in one hand. It was about a foot and a half long with a strange flower symbol carved at the very tip of it. This was the sign of the Goddess. Won held the wand out, and began reciting words from the book.

"Nak tey arachino," Won said quietly. "Erano isimm."

Won then repeated this phrase several times, saying it louder each time.

"Nak tey arachino. Erano isimm. Nak tey arachino! Erano isimm! Nak Tey Arachino! Erano Isimm! NAK TEY ARACHINO! ERANO ISIMM! NAK TEY ARACHINO! ERANO ISIMM!"

On a paper won spelled out the translation of whatever language this was spoken in. The paper read: "Kill the heathens. Purify the island. Kill the heathens! Purify the island!"

Suddenly his wand began glowing neon green. Won smiled as the green light covered the entire stick.

"Eser tey syly Perosu," Won said, "aug defeny tey arachino."

On the paper he wrote: "With your light Goddess, I will defeat the heathens."


I finished relaxing in the Hot Spring, so I got out and dried off. As I was walking back to my farm, I kept looking back over my shoulder. I had a creepy feeling, as if something was watching me. But each time I turned around, I saw no one. So I just went back to my home, and climbed into bed to get some extra sleep.


At one o'clock that night the late atmosphere had just finished settling upon the farm. Crickets chirped, and Owl's hooted as the new day began. Through the darkness, a figure walked into the farm. Won walked in with a large sack slung over his back, and several pikes held in his arms. Won looked through the farmhouse window to make sure Zach had gone to sleep for the night. When his thoughts had been confirmed, Won began his deadly work. He began by pounding several pikes into the ground in a circle around the farmhouse.

Won then opened the sack that he carried, and pulled out a human skull. The cold bone face grinned maliciously in the moonlight. Won placed the skull on top of the pike, and pulled more skulls out of the bag. He placed one skull on each pike, creating a circle of skulls which surrounded Zach's farmhouse. And each skull was turned so that it faced the house. They were turned so their evil grins were directed towards Zach. Won grinned too. And in the moonlight, it was difficult to tell the difference between Won's face and those of the dead faces which surrounded the farmhouse. Won then pulled out a walky talky and spoke into it.

"The markers are in place," he said with a cruel smile. "Begin it."

On the other side of the line the Yellow Harvest Sprite listened carefully. As he listened, a smile formed on his tiny face. He then turned and nodded at the other Sprites. All seven of them then stood in a line, and began chanting some sort of spell.

"Rise King of the Mountains," the Harvest Sprites chanted. "Bring an end to our enemies. Rise oh holy gladiator. Destroy all that stands against us. Rise good demigod. Follow the markers we have placed."

Then, far off in the mountains, something stirred.