Chapter 90 The Trial
This was not a aimless journey. Enoch had learned to identify death energy from the Book of Heaven.
He headed south, where the death energy was denser. Compared to other places, it seemed shrouded in the shadow of death, the gloomy sky constantly threatened to collapse under the weight of thick clouds—but strangely, as he approached, the gray death energy seemed to dissipate as if blown by a gentle breeze; the closer he got, the faster it receded.
In the end, he lost his initial ability to orient himself.
...
The world was more perceptive than its creations.
God looked at the humans who had stopped and fallen into deep thought, then at the clouds that were constantly crumbling and fleeing because of his approach.
It always sensed his arrival first, then did its best to keep everything bad and disliked away. God understood the world's respect for his will, but this also caused trouble for humans trying to solve problems.
So, with a slight movement of its fingers, it proactively guided Enoch in the right direction.
Soon, a hurried passerby carrying a medicine chest caught Enoch's attention.
"Excuse me," he called out to the man, asking where he was going and why he seemed so flustered.
Enoch learned he was a doctor fleeing from war.
The doctor said there was a city ahead, whose lord had fallen ill with a strange disease and was sending people everywhere to find someone who could cure him. However, the lord was extremely volatile, and anyone who couldn't cure him would be killed.
"He's already hanged three people," the doctor said, still shaken.
"How can someone like that be a lord?" Enoch frowned. Since becoming king, he had changed the old system, selecting the virtuous and capable regardless of lineage. Although he had initially encountered some trouble and resistance, this hadn't affected his resolve to carry out his decisions.
The doctor, unaware of the powerful figure he had encountered, was afraid the shadow of being hanged loomed over him, making it impossible for him to stay any longer. Seeing his unease, Enoch asked for the city's location and then took his leave.
With a destination in mind, his journey quickened, and he arrived before sunset.
Due to time constraints, he didn't rush to see the city lord. Instead, he found an inn to stay at and inquired about the situation from the locals.
"I heard the city lord isn't very friendly to outsiders," he probed a local resident.
"Not at all, the city lord loves outsiders the most," the sun-darkened young man laughed, revealing a set of white teeth.
It was a satisfied smile, quite different from the one the doctor had feared.
He explored the city and discovered it was a small town built along the coast, backed by mountains, with barren land rarely cultivated.
The people living here originally made their living by fishing and mining. The locals cleverly utilized this, trading with the other side of the sea using cargo ships, earning profits that exceeded the gains from their hard work.
The sigh of the god of greed vanished unnoticed in the air; 'It's nothing but a false prosperity.'
Enoch learned that the people's wealth was due to the current lord, whose influence had transformed the once awe-inspiring sea into their natural haven.
Seeing the people's adoration for the lord, he decided to investigate.
The next morning, he changed his clothes, disguised himself as a traveling doctor, and presented his visiting card to the lord.
Upon learning he was a doctor, Enoch easily gained entry to the palace. They didn't even test his medical or herbal knowledge, nor did they inspect his belongings.
'This shows how serious the lord's illness has become,' Enoch thought to himself. He entered the luxurious hall amidst the guards' pitying gazes, already having made his decision.
'The doctor's words are true, and the people's adoration is genuine.'
In this light, the lord, once a wise ruler, may have been corrupted by this illness.
He decided to cure the city lord's illness first.
"Your Excellency," Enoch, led by a servant, entered the bedchamber and saw the city lord lying on his sickbed. He seemed to be a remarkably diligent man, still tirelessly handling state affairs despite his suffering.
The city lord laboriously lifted his chin, trying to make out the person below him.
But he failed.
He was too fat, practically a mountain, his layers of fat drooping in a strange, towering shape.
"Are you the doctor?" the city lord called weakly. As he opened his mouth, visible gas billowed from his mouth, carrying a foul stench. He looked at the servant beside him and handed him the document he was reading.
"Have them prepare the meals according to this menu."
Enoch glanced out the window, trying to determine whether the city lord was having breakfast or lunch by the sun's position.
"My lord, what time would be most suitable for today's lunch?" the servant asked the city lord in a low voice.
"The sooner the better, of course. I'm starving, unbearably hungry," the servant replied.
Enoch looked at the city lord, suspecting his illness was caused by overeating, when he heard the city lord speak to him in a hoarse voice.
"If you can cure my illness, I will reward you handsomely..."
He asked the city lord to remove his clothes so he could examine him.
The city lord's obese body was covered in scabies, billowing with black smoke.
He pressed his hand on it, and a rough, grating laugh came from below. A black demon emerged from the city lord's festering sores. The city lord seemed oblivious, continuing to describe his condition.
"I don't know when it started, but scabies began to appear on my body. The royal physician tried everything—medicines, ointments—but it only made them fester more..." Meow Meow said.
The demon cackled in mockery. Enoch continued examining the city lord, meticulously checking him from head to toe. Finally, he looked up and said, "I can cure your illness."
"And without needing any medicine or ointment."
"Really?"
"Yes." Enoch found a sealed bottle of wine in the city lord's magnificent bedchamber. It was clearly extremely valuable; even the bottle itself was made of silver.
"I hope you will agree to give me this imported wine as a gift."
Although the silverware was expensive, it was not worth his life, and the city lord agreed without hesitation.
'Where did this traveling doctor come from?' the demon sneered, taking advantage of the fact that humans couldn't hear. 'Trying to cure the ailment I caused? Probably just trying to scam me.'
"Thank you for your generosity," Enoch smiled gratefully. He drew a small knife from beside him, pried off the tin seal on the bottle, and then took the bottle to the city lord's bedside.
"All you need to do is break this habit of overeating."
Under the shocked gazes of those around him, he poured the entire bottle of wine over the city lord, before they could even stop him.
"Know that moderation is the only way to keep the evils that corrupt health at bay."
As he chanted the incantation, the city lord was horrified to find himself ablaze. Blue flames sizzled and spread with the wine, but he only cried out once before realizing he felt no pain.
And the cry wasn't even his own.
The demon screamed and crawled out from the man's body; the exorcism spell forced him to reveal his hideous true form.
As the flames engulfed him, the fat on the city lord's body seemed to burn in sync.
The writhing mountain of flesh disappeared, replaced by the image of a strong, muscular man. He sat up in bed, pointed at the demon, and angrily ordered:
"Seize it!"
Guards rushed in at the sound of the alarm, their gleaming swords flashing with a cold metallic sheen in the bedchamber.
The demon, unfazed by the humans' threats, laughed heartily as they tried to pierce its body with swords.
"Useless! Useless! We demons are immortal! Even burning with fire or drowning with water is futile!"
The humans, skeptical, insisted on burning it and pouring water on it, enraging the demon with its gaping maw.
"Ignorant humans, how dare you be so disrespectful to your demonic master! I'll make sure everyone in this city suffers from festering sores!"
The city lord, remembering the agony of his own festering sores, hurriedly sought help from the 'doctor,' only to see the 'doctor' raise a wine bottle. He said something, and the ashen demon was sucked into the bottle.
"A quack doctor!" the demon roared, furious. "What do you intend to do with me?"
Enoch shook the bottle to make sure the stopper was secure and the demon wouldn't escape before answering the demon's question from the bottle's opening.
"Throw it into the sea." The demon was difficult to kill; it required considerable power of light. Enoch didn't want to make a fuss, so sealing it became the best option.
The demon panicked. He wasn't afraid of death, but he feared imprisonment.
So he pleaded with Enoch from inside the bottle, begging him to release him.
"Release me, and I'll tell you the way to immortality."
"You have such power?" Enoch feigned surprise, and the demon said smugly.
"Of course! I'm Lord Beelzebub's number one subordinate!"
"Thank you, but you don't need to trouble yourself," he said, walking to the shore and forcefully throwing it into the sea.
The silver bottle bubbled on the sea, as if a creature was making its final struggle, before sinking to the bottom.
For a thousand years, ten thousand years, he wouldn't be summoned to harm anyone.
Beelzebub, it was said, was a demon king whose belly was never full; the angels called him 'Gluttony'.
It seems the city lord's bad habits allowed the demons to exploit the situation.
'You should ask him for the whereabouts of the City of the Dead,' God told Enoch.
Like an examiner correcting a candidate's mistakes, if the preliminary exam was worth 100 points, God would give Enoch 90.
The city lord, due to overeating, fell ill, attracting the demons under Beelzebub's command. In God's eyes, this was a free pass, but Enoch missed this direct route to information about the City of the Dead.
This one mistake cost him a full 10 points, a penalty from the strict examiner.
Unaware of this, Enoch was treated to a banquet by the city lord, who admired Enoch's medical skills, or rather, his abilities, and had delicacies brought out. However, under Enoch's watchful gaze, he had to painfully abandon this sumptuous meal and instead chew on grass.
Clearly, the city lord was far more interested in conversing with Enoch than in the bland vegetarian feast.
He put down his cutlery, his bright eyes fixed on Enoch.
"Now, can you tell me what happened? That demon that escaped from my body..." The city lord was intrigued by the cause of his illness. "That monster, it really is a monster, isn't it?"
"I mean, it's impervious to water and fire, and swords can't kill it. It's clearly powerful."
The city lord carefully chose his words, trying to make himself seem less deliberate, but it was futile; his very words betrayed his true intentions.
"It said it could grant immortality—"
Enoch's gaze sharpened instantly. He looked at the city lord and said sternly, "You must never entertain such a thought."
The city lord shrank back, stung by his gaze, and guiltily looked away. "Of course, I haven't thought about it."
"I'm just curious why you refused without even considering it. After all, listening wouldn't have hurt…"
A hint of sadness appeared in Enoch's eyes. How could such a person not sway the City of the Dead?
When he discovered that the 'doctor' was unwilling to reveal the secret, the city lord was disappointed but not discouraged. He spared no effort in praising Enoch with the most beautiful words to express his admiration. He desperately wanted to know why Enoch possessed such abilities; if he could, he wanted to have the same power.
"Like a tree planted by a pond {1}," Enoch said calmly, unperturbed by the city lord's praise and flattery.
"I have only relied on the greatness of God."
He murmured to himself, "I will not follow the schemes of evil, nor stand on the path of sin," then looked at the city lord, whose eyes held expectation.
"You ask me why I refused the devil's advances, why I refused his promise of eternal life, and I answer you,"
"Because I never make deals with the devil."
Even if it would give him what he wanted.
God, who had been listening to Enoch's words, silently added back the ten points he had just deducted from his heart.
(You provided the great author, Twilight, with a story of the arduous formation of a world in [Hebrew mythology].)