Reborn as the Failed Lord with my Resource Gathering System.-Chapter 254: The story of Yaho- [Jacob kills a god.]

Yaho was frozen in shock at the sight before her.

She wasn't seeing things; her father was truly standing before her.

Gulping down her saliva, the first thing she did was take a couple of steps back.

"Father…"

She called out, unable to think of anything logical she could say in that moment.

The disappointed look on her father's face was palpable, something she could not ignore even if she wanted to.

Which also meant she had been caught, and there was no way she could lie her way out of it.

Before either one of them could say a single word, Yaho ran backward, finding a spot right behind Jacob, where she would then proceed to peep out like a scared little girl.

Yapa frowned at the sight.

"All this time, your mother and I had been worried that you were grieving the death of your sister, and that was why you have been distancing yourself from your own home. But it looks like she was wrong, and I was worried for nothing. You've not been grieving. Instead, you've been lusting over some boy and hiding him in my own warehouse."

"Father, it's not—"

"Silence!!!" Yapa yelled. "Do you understand the consequences of your actions? Not only did you bring an outsider into the village, but you are also jeopardizing the slim chance you have of getting married to the child of the Chief."

Yaho looked to the side, a somewhat sad yet convicted look on her face.

"I am sorry, Father, but this is the man I choose to marry." She grabbed Jacob by the shoulder while avoiding eye contact. "He will protect me, won't you?"

She then looked at Jacob with pleading eyes.

Jacob, who had been eating the dried fish he had with him, looked at her and noticed the sad expression she had on.

It didn't take long for him to link it to the man standing before them. He pointed with a frown.

"Enemy?" he asked.

Yaho hesitated to speak, most likely contemplating her response to the question. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Eventually, she answered.

"No. He is my father."

"Father?" Jacob tilted his head to the side.

The more the conversation went on, the more disgusted Yapa got.

"Raki, take your sister home and do not let her leave no matter how much she protests. Wait for me there."

"Right away, Father."

Raki moved forward with haste, about to grab Yaho, when she suddenly screamed, clinging to Jacob even more.

This made Jacob react.

After all, the entire scenario now felt like a genuine attack on both him and his friend.

In the blink of an eye, he grabbed Raki by the hand, crushed his wrist, and then sent him flying and screaming out of the building.

Silence took over the very next second, leaving Yapa and Yaho completely dazed.

Magic was not uncommon in this world. Which was what made the moment even more unbelievable.

Raki was known to have the highest endurance and strength in the land, capable of withstanding attacks that would kill anyone else instantly.

And yet, his bones just got crushed with one hand.

"Yaho. Who is this man?" Yapa asked, his voice trembling.

"I refuse to tell you. Unless you promise under the God of Contracts that you won't lay a single finger on Jacob."

It took a while, but Yapa finally gave in.

He swore to the God of Contracts, and the prayer was accepted by the deity himself.

With that said and done, Yapa listened as Yaho explained everything—about how she met him and what she felt he was capable of.

Yapa's immediate reaction was to study Jacob. The sheer, effortless display of power against Raki, the strongest man in the village, was an anomaly that demanded attention. It was terrifying, yes, but also potentially useful.

"You will come with me to the village," Yapa commanded, his voice trembling slightly, the disgust replaced by a profound, calculating fear. He didn't wait for a response from Yaho or Jacob, simply turning and walking out, expecting them to follow.

Yaho glanced at Jacob, her eyes wide with apprehension, and Jacob simply shrugged, tossing the remnants of the fish bone aside. He followed Yapa without hesitation, Yaho clinging nervously to his arm.

When they reached the center of the small, secluded village, an unnerving silence had fallen over the community.

The usual sounds of daily life, children playing, women gossiping, men preparing tools, were completely absent.

The villagers were gathered in a fearful semi-circle, their gazes fixed on a single, opulent figure standing near the central bonfire pit.

The man was strikingly handsome, with dark, impossibly luxurious curls, and wore robes woven with threads of gold and deep crimson. He held a silver chalice, sipping a liquid that shimmered with unnatural light.

A potent, intoxicating aroma of fermented grapes and exotic spices hung heavy in the air.

This was no ordinary visitor.

It was Dionysius, the God of Wine and Ecstasy, a deity infamous in their region. The villagers knew him by his sign, the pervasive, unsettling beauty and the sickening certainty of his purpose.

What truly surprised them was the fact he wasn't with an angel. He was all by himself.

Yapa froze, the blood draining from his face. "Not again," he whispered, a guttural sound of pure terror.

Dionysius turned his languid, wine-hazed eyes toward them. A cruel, captivating smile spread across his face, and his gaze settled instantly on Yaho.

"Ah, Yapa, was it?" the god purred, his voice like rich velvet and venom. "I see you have another exquisite offering ready for me. That last one was... delicious, but this one looks far more vibrant."

The villagers gasped. They all knew about Yapa's eldest daughter, taken weeks ago by this same god.

Yapa sank to his knees. "My Lord, I beg you. Have mercy. Take anything else—my wealth, my crops, my life—but not my daughter."

Dionysius chuckled, a melodious sound that sent shivers down Yaho's spine.

"Don't be dramatic, mortal. Your daughter will join my court. She will know eternal pleasure. It is a great honor."

He began to walk toward Yaho, his movements fluid and unnervingly confident.

Yaho recoiled, fear finally overcoming her ingrained obedience. She squeezed Jacob's arm, hiding slightly behind him.

Jacob, however, was merely annoyed.

He disliked loud noises and unnecessary dramatics, and this flamboyant man was doing both. He stepped forward, placing himself squarely between the god and Yaho.

"She doesn't want to go," Jacob stated flatly, still holding the empty chalice of fish bones he had carried from the warehouse.

After all, he remembered Yaho called the gods enemies.

Dionysius stopped, tilting his head with genuine amusement. The whole village held its breath.

"Oh?" The god raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. "And who, little mortal, are you to tell a god what he cannot take?"

Jacob didn't answer with words. Instead, he moved with a speed that defied reality.

One moment, he was standing still; the next, he was directly in front of the god.

He didn't use any grand magic or charged attacks. He simply swung the back of his hand, the same hand that had crushed Raki's bones, and delivered a casual strike across Dionysius's face.

SMACK.

The force was staggering.

The God of Wine was sent careening backward, smashing through the bonfire pit and skidding across the dirt, leaving a furrowed trail of disturbed earth and scattering hot embers everywhere.

Silence fell, absolute and total.

The villagers, Yapa, and Yaho were paralyzed, their minds struggling to process the sight: a god, a powerful immortal being, had been floored by a mere human's slap.

Dionysius slowly stood up, wiping a trace of golden ichor from his lip. The ichor, the blood of the gods, was not supposed to be spilled. His amusement was gone, replaced by a cold, divine fury.

"You," Dionysius hissed, his voice echoing with true power. He glowed with a sudden, overwhelming aura of red and purple light. "You have sealed your own fate, child. I am a god! I cannot die!"

Jacob just frowned, clearly unimpressed by the light show. He took one step closer.

"Everything dies," he muttered, his expression utterly blank.

Before Dionysius could unleash his divine retaliation, Jacob closed the distance again. This time, his hand didn't strike the god's head. It plunged, impossibly, straight into the glowing chest of the deity, tearing through skin and muscle as if they were water.

Jacob rooted around for a brief, sickening second, then ripped his arm back out.

In his hand, pulsing a faint, diminishing light, was a large, crystalline organ.

Dionysius stared down at the gaping, smoking hole in his chest, his eyes wide in absolute disbelief, then slowly tracking up to the object in Jacob's hand.

It was his Divine Core. His immortal heart.

"Impossible..." the god gasped, the light fading from his form.

With a grunt of dissatisfaction, Jacob squeezed the heart.

The crystal shattered into dust, the last vestiges of divine power extinguishing in the palm of his hand.

Dionysius swayed, the crimson and gold robes falling limp, and then he collapsed, not with a divine roar, but with a simple, mortal thud.

He was dead.

The God of Wine, Dionysius, had been casually murdered in front of the entire village.

Yapa, Yaho, and every terrified witness stood in shocked disbelief, staring first at the dead god, and then at the quiet, unconcerned boy wiping his hand on his trousers.