"The power of Law? Arbiters and judges? I never expected that this would turn into reality one day."The scene from approximately seventeen hundred years ago replayed itself as a new power of Order joined the Order Faction. This time, it was Law, and once again, the forgotten loser in the Underground rose to become a popular topic of interest throughout the world.
Well, it would be an exaggeration to say "throughout the world." Only powerful individuals and G.o.ds would have access to such secret information. In their eyes, the creator of Law was the same as the G.o.d of Holy Light from the past. They a.s.sumed that Roland would be able to ascend to G.o.dhood whenever he wanted.
Considering how the Child of Nature (a currently dead Order Main G.o.d, whose two children were the G.o.ddesses of Joy and Laughter), Earth Mother, G.o.d of Holy Light and other creators of new powers of Order had become Main G.o.ds, this insane lich, who had acted ever so ridiculously in the Underground, became viewed as a new Main G.o.d candidate by the G.o.ds. No—it was a definite that he"d become a Main G.o.d in the future.
There were only seven Main G.o.d-level existences in the entire Order Faction to begin with. It was an unparalleled status, the highest possible, and was right under the Creator G.o.ddess herself. To become a Main G.o.d would be an insurmountable honor, the highest glory, and a path to eternity.
The Chaos Main G.o.ds had to worry about dying because of their infighting, but the Order Main G.o.ds typically didn"t have such trouble as long they followed the few orders of the Source of Order. Of course, their G.o.dhood also came with the restrictions of Order.
"…Congratulations. When do you intend to ascend to G.o.dhood? Perhaps we"ll become future allies. Perhaps the best timing for you to ascend to G.o.dhood will be the next Holy War…"
Ayer still didn"t know why Roland understood so much about the G.o.ds" secrets. But Roland was one of his few friends, and he visited him to offer his congratulations as well as an offer of a concrete alliance.
"What? Ascend to G.o.dhood? Isn"t that going to be on the day we begin our grand scheme?"
Only after hearing Roland place extra emphasis on the word "we" did Ayer finally recall the "grand scheme" he had long since forgotten about as it had sounded too wild and insane at the time. Only after a long silence did Ayer begin to speak again.
"Are you certain? With my a.s.sistance and the power of Law you created, you should be able to become a Main G.o.d-level existence. You"re choosing between becoming an undying, eternal Order Main G.o.d and to start that almost impossible, insane plan of yours, and you"re going to choose the latter over the former?"
Even if the Creator G.o.ddess created a new world with new residents after the destruction of the world, even if all mortals perished, the Main G.o.ds would forever be the highest of all existences. Mortals viewed the Main G.o.ds themselves as the representation of eternity!
Any other person would view Roland as an utterly insane, crazy maniac. He was treating his obtainable immortality as nothing more than a joke and instead wanted to gamble on something with a truly pitiful chance of success?
Yet Ayer could still recall how Roland had stared at him as if he was an idiot after he asked that question.
"Main G.o.d? So what? Is there any meaning to "eternity" as an automated zombie?"
Roland dismissed the status of a Main G.o.d and claimed that such an eternity was meaningless, like an automated zombie—wait, what? Even Ayer paused in surprise upon hearing such an insane declaration. After some momentary confusion, Ayer became filled with rage.
Without a doubt, the lich was blaspheming against the G.o.ds" entire meaning of existence. But as Ayer"s anger boiled, he thought back to his past memories, to his tribe who had become devils in h.e.l.l"s Abyss, to this joke of a Holy War that forever had no end, to the mortals that danced like puppets in the palms of the G.o.ds, and, of course, to how souls would forever end up harvested like wheat.
"The G.o.ds treat mortals" lives and desires as nothing more than a joke or a play to be enjoyed. Since there"s something even higher controlling the G.o.ds, wouldn"t that make the arrogant G.o.ds nothing more than puppets controlled by the Sources of Order and Chaos themselves? Even if these puppets are higher, they can"t even control their own fates. Isn"t their pride a joke, then? This type of eternity is worth even less than mortals" lives that fade ever so quickly."
Ayer"s anger vanished after he perceived how the lich before him had seen through the truth and fate even more so than himself. After pondering for a long while, Ayer finally asked a question:
"Are you serious?"
"Hey—hey—Boss Ayer, I"ve always been serious. Don"t tell me you want to back out at such a time? After all this time I"ve been working so hard for this goal!!"
The lich skull"s garish smile was as hideous to behold as always. But only now did Ayer notice that concealed beneath this seemingly casual expression was someone who had seen through it all.
Roland was well aware that Ayer had always treated his plan as nothing more than a joke. Still, he had worked his hardest in secret and made the required preparations to turn this "joke plan" n.o.body believed into a reality.
When the light of Law illuminated the entire world, the Order G.o.ds waited for their new ally to ascend to G.o.dhood. However, the fortunate individual who created the power of Law unexpectedly went silent. A long time pa.s.sed without the G.o.d of Law"s ascension to Main G.o.dhood, and they couldn"t help gossip among themselves.
"Just a temporarily blooming flower."
"A tattered soul is insufficient to ascend to venerated G.o.dhood."
"Perhaps this new Divine Concept will be taken advantage of by some junior in the future. Hahaha! Could it be that this fellow is the charitable type?"
Not only the True G.o.ds, but even the other undying individuals and Follower G.o.ds had begun to laugh at this lich who had been unable to ascend to G.o.dhood. Yet only Ayer was aware that the real reason Roland didn"t personally ascend to G.o.dhood was because he was unsatisfied with his newly-born power of Law.
"No—no—no—the current power of Law is still too similar to Holy Light. It would be meaningless to only represent punishment. Salvation for criminals and generosity towards the kind and innocent is what"s most important. Let"s add something to the Church of Law"s teachings: "Someone invisible is always watching your every action from up above. All crimes will receive the punishment they deserve. A h.e.l.l for the dead is waiting for you. Not a single person will be exempt from this."
"Hmmm, this doesn"t work too? How about we change the teachings so that different levels apply for different people, then? Divine job cla.s.s members of the Church of Law and all G.o.d of Law believers will have to follow the strictest requirements of Law. All other mortals will only have to follow the most basic restrictions. Yep, in order to convince more people, let"s call them Divine Laws.
"There"s no Heaven or h.e.l.l, you say? Hehehehe—isn"t that the next part of our plan?"
Full of patience, Roland spent most of his time locked away in Sulfur Mountain City modifying his grand scheme and the teachings of his Church of Law. The official teachings of the Church of Law had already underwent several hundred modifications. Originally, the power of Law had been too harsh and inflexible. Under the guidance of its creator, it became a lot more moderate.
"Law itself shouldn"t have a will of its own. It"s but a moral guideline all people should abide by. Only those who cross the line will be punished."
To the weak, Law would provide salvation and protection while to those who committed evil deeds, it would bring heartless punishment and judgement. But unlike the Holy Light, which viewed undead, demons, and other creatures of Chaos with natural enmity, this newly-born power of Order known as Law surprisingly didn"t have any natural enemies whatsoever.
Later, when Law became a different power based on the people with different beliefs who wielded it, Ayer began to wonder if Roland was someone insane who had dual personalities.
But Roland"s century spent on polis.h.i.+ng the power of Law didn"t go to waste. The power of Law became far gentler than its closest relative, Holy Light. Law"s silver glow resembled the moonlight and exuded an aura of calmness, yet if someone broke the Law, it would instantly sharpen to resemble the glint of a guillotine blade.
"…Perhaps this newly-born power of Law and its boundaries will finally be able to stop the Chaos and Order Factions."
Perhaps it was Roland"s stubbornness that finally moved him. Or perhaps the most ancient Death G.o.d had acc.u.mulated a sufficient amount of dissatisfaction. Only when Ayer witnessed the constant improvements to the power of Law did he finally make the decision to completely support Roland"s grand scheme. And at this point in time, no matter how one looked at it, Roland"s grand scheme had a less than twenty percent chance at succeeding.
"Yeah, there are too many unpredictable factors. It"s impossible for me to promise it will succeed. But judging from the current situation, it"s worth gambling upon. Rather than doing nothing, this at least has a slight possibility."
Roland was quite honest in admitting this. He could only be honest, after all, as it was evident for anyone who wasn"t an idiot. Not a single individual would be willing to board a s.h.i.+p destined to sink. There was no need for Roland to make empty promises about "absolute victory."
"At least, things aren"t hopeless anymore."
Indeed. When compared to Armageddon, where all the souls in the mortal plane would be harvested in the battle between G.o.ds that would destroy the world, this was the single path that could be found where no paths previously existed.
During Roland"s long, long search for ways to improve his path, more and more companions boarded his "Roland"s ark" for surviving Armageddon despite the fact that his s.h.i.+p seemed like it would sink at any moment.
Roland never hid from anyone just how pitifully low the chances of success for his plan would be. However, Adam and Margaret unhesitatingly joined after learning the truth from him. It was impossible for Roland to chase a single Northlands undead knight off his s.h.i.+p. It was also unknown when such a large group of gentlemen b.a.s.t.a.r.ds had infiltrated the s.h.i.+p, and, the very beginning, the Church of Law itself had been an integral part of the s.h.i.+p.
The residents of Sulfur Mountain City boarded Roland"s metaphorical s.h.i.+p. The Underground Alliance boarded his s.h.i.+p. The Northlands boarded his s.h.i.+p. The Mage Country was scammed into boarding his s.h.i.+p. The wood spirits boarded his s.h.i.+p right from when they were born. Even the typically neutral fairies used concrete actions to show that they supported Law over Order Faction"s Holy Light.
Imperceptibly, the "grand scheme" became a plan no longer single-handedly being run by Roland. More and more companions took part in his plan of their own volitions. Some had ideals of justice and kindness, some took part for their own benefit, and some simply wanted to survive this Holy War. But no matter the reason, they all boarded Roland"s s.h.i.+p and became part of Roland"s faction"s strength.
As time pa.s.sed, more and more individuals gathered together under Roland"s faction. This almost impossible path to the future became slightly easier to walk down. Of course, compared to the factions of Chaos and Order and their total two-party system monopoly on the world, this new "neutral" faction"s overall power still wasn"t much.
Could it be that Chaos and Order never noticed anything? Chaos evidently had much information about them, and it was also quite obvious that Roland and Ayer"s faction had a bad relations.h.i.+p with the G.o.d of Holy Light despite appearing to belong to the Order Faction on the surface. It wasn"t that either faction didn"t notice—it was that both major factions didn"t care. Order and Chaos forever viewed each other as the biggest threat and mortal enemy. As for this third party trying to do something…
"Aren"t there always minor powers that betray one faction or the other in every Holy War? Let us see how sinners like you will amuse us."
These scheming individuals were nothing but traitorous sinners in the view of the two major factions that ruled the world. They"d be considered evil villains who tried to overthrow the basic idea of Order, nothing more than clowns that could be casually crushed by the whims of either Order or Chaos!
But Roland"s s.h.i.+p had managed to fix the major holes in it, and it was now time for this s.h.i.+p to set sail. The most powerful pa.s.senger had finally boarded—no—Ayer should be called the helmsman.
Which meant it was finally time to directly break with the two major factions.
"Coconspirators? Hah! You"ve chosen an excellent word, Roland."
Ayer recalled memories from the past, of how he had lived in the ancient barbaric times of wilderness all the way up until now. He had witnessed far too much change in history, the main rulers of the world constantly replaced by another species. Ancient first-generation humans, Gold Elves, humans of the immemorial generation, great demons, Royal Elves—countless cultures in their full glory that would astonish even the G.o.ds. But in the end, no matter how majestic the culture, it would forever become nothing more than rubble together with the culture"s relics in the fires of war.
Throughout the endless cycle of destruction and rebirth, had culture progressed? Regressed? Did culture stand still? Had it reached the peak? Or…?
"Perhaps, in the eyes of the G.o.ds, mortals" culture is nothing more than a sand castle on the beach, valueless and ephemeral?"
Undead were undead because of their stubbornness; they weren"t willing to accept the eternal rest of death. As the most ancient and first ever natural undead, Ayer was no exception. The long years caused Ayer to forget what he had originally been so stubborn about, but he could still remember some.
In the very first generation of Eich, the natural environment was harsh with famines and vicious beasts and dimensional invaders were common due to the still immature dimensional laws. But back then, at least, the powerful didn"t view the weak as ants. Weak lives weren"t in such despair. Culture wouldn"t become so stratified due to manmade reasons.
The frontier state of such a dark age was difficult to survive in. Tribe leaders and scholars of that time raised their flags as G.o.ds and SemiG.o.ds used primitive totems to protect the mortals. There was no so-called power of belief back then, yet people sincerely idolized and respected the G.o.ds that protected them. Ayer had seen this past in his dreams many, many times.
He had crawled out of his grave as an undead. Wasn"t it all because he was still worried about his own tribe? But, at the very least, the ancient G.o.ds in that generation were trustworthy. They would personally protect and help the mortals rather than reside on some temple"s throne and mutter hypocritical teachings to await the chance to harvest souls.
"Ha! Just who is the real devil who scams people"s souls?"
But the G.o.ds of the current generation had become nothing more than decorations on their Divine Thrones, bound by their so-called Divine Concepts and source of belief. The People of Tall Mountain had become devils reviled by everyone. Ayer"s tribe had become nothing more than cannon fodder and puppets in the eternal Holy War. Was this the fate the first generation of humans deserved? Was this the world the Creator G.o.ddess herself desired?
"Mother G.o.ddess Astrya, is this the Order and teamwork you wanted to see? Sister Cynthia, is this unending destruction the penultimate evolution you sought? Since you won"t give us the right to survive, why give us the ability to have hope? We are not your puppets or marionettes! It"s time to end this useless war once and for all!"
Three death roses—red, black and silver—appeared in the Death G.o.d"s hand before vanis.h.i.+ng into a windstorm that enveloped everything.
The ancient undying Death G.o.d made his decision.
"Henceforth, we shall no longer belong to Order, nor shall we belong to Chaos…"
The moment he started incanting out loud, the entire world began to tremble violently. He was an existence at the peak of the myriad planes, and his declarations possessed actual power. The moment he began uttering out loud, he was joined by other G.o.ds, who spoke the same words in their Divine Kingdoms.
"Henceforth, we shall no longer belong to Order, nor shall we belong to Chaos…"
More than ten G.o.ds joined him, their declaration setting the sky on fire and shaking the entire world.
"Henceforth, we shall no longer belong to Order, nor shall we belong to Chaos…"
It could be said that the Source of Order"s greatest mistake was that it didn"t imitate the Chaos Faction and inject its will into its species at birth like Chaos would do so with newborn tiny demons. Not every former mortal who ascended to G.o.dhood would lose their sense of self and forget who they originally were. These G.o.ds saw real hope for the future in front of them, and they made their choice to leave the Order Faction.
"…We shall now belong to h.e.l.l!"
"…h.e.l.l!"
"We are the h.e.l.l G.o.ds!"
Giant meteors streaked through the skies, breaking the worldview of the mortals. According to mortals, when a True G.o.d perished their Divine Kingdom would transform into a meteor and streak across the skies. What, then, did this meteor shower mean? Each meteor in this shower far surpa.s.sed the might of the meteor that had hurtled down when Lorci had died. Could it be that more than ten powerful G.o.ds had simultaneously perished? That was impossible! How could so many powerful G.o.ds all die at the same time!?
"They didn"t die. They just betrayed the Order Faction."
Sulo, an astrology archmage at the Cloud Tower, broke out into a cold sweat. Legs trembling, he told his fellow mages his professional a.n.a.lysis of what had just occurred.
Indeed—these G.o.ds hadn"t perished. They had just removed their Divine Kingdoms from the Source of Order"s control and entered into an unknown dimension. Obviously, this was a betrayal! The Order Faction had been betrayed by more than ten True G.o.ds in one go!
The mortals were absolutely astonished at this scene. However, the G.o.ds who watched their Divine Kingdoms crash and burn were rather excited; they had waited far too long for this day.
"Sigh—I won"t be able to make much money for the next few years. I hope I"ll be able to do good business in h.e.l.l."
Beyana was also somewhat displeased as she had to leave despite the fact that her business was booming.
"Ha! The Contract Heroes System has already become automated and will work by itself. Even if you"re in h.e.l.l, your main businesses will be unaffected. We"re only going to be leaving for a few years. Or do you want to stay behind and be ganged up on by those old fogeys?"
"Shut up! Stop distracting me! I need to sense the existence of that dimension. What are we going to do if we get lost in the void?"
Unlike her typical quiet self, Moonlight G.o.ddess Patricia was thrilled and enlivened. She had waited for this day for far too long. Due to her Divine Concept of "Guidance," she had taken on the role of leading the G.o.ds to h.e.l.l, but she was still unable to suppress the joy in her heart.
"I"m finally free…"
Before he left, G.o.d of Fate Catio didn"t forget the task a.s.signed to him even as he exclaimed over his own fate. He viciously shook the stars in the sky, sending all astrological signs into chaos.
The utterly chaotic trails of Fate he stirred rendered all prophecy-type abilities and magic spells useless. This greatly lowered the possibility that other existences would be able to locate and come to the new h.e.l.l.
But even if Catio didn"t do this, it wasn"t that easy to come to h.e.l.l uninvited.
Ayer no longer needed to hide anything, so he used his full power to separate the Dragon World dimension, now known as h.e.l.l, from the other planes. Soon, every connection to h.e.l.l from other planes would be severed. And the Holy War was in its heated stages, with angels and demons about to clash. The Order and Chaos Factions would be unable to locate the h.e.l.l G.o.ds to vent their anger.
That"s right—the Ayer Faction would now be known as the h.e.l.l G.o.ds, the G.o.ds of the neutral faction, and this new dimension would become their main base. They would help create a complete Cycle of Reincarnation in this new world, breaking the total monopoly Order and Chaos had over the mortal plane.
By now, the former Ayer Faction had completely broken with the Order Faction. But since the new h.e.l.l Faction possessed far lesser strength than the Order and Chaos Factions, these neutral G.o.ds would go into hiding in the new h.e.l.l, just one of many dimensions impossible to locate in the void of the universe. Still, the h.e.l.l G.o.ds had left backdoor programs behind in the mortal plane that would allow their divine power to be shared with their believers.
However, just like the Chaos Evil G.o.ds, the Source of Order would no longer have control over the h.e.l.l G.o.ds. If this was an era of peace, the Source of Order would naturally send out a force of G.o.ds to deal with this situation. But it was now a heated stage of the Holy War, and the Chaos Faction would never miss such an opportunity to take advantage of their opponent"s weakness—they"d just been betrayed by so many G.o.ds, after all. Since the Chaos and Order Factions would be drawn into an inevitable conflict of epic proportions, neither faction would have the spare time to chase down and deal with the neutral h.e.l.l G.o.ds.
And according to the "grand scheme," when the h.e.l.l G.o.ds finally reappeared in the Holy War, they would possess the ability to stop the Holy War once and for all.
All the signs in the skies informed the mortals that there had been a huge break in the Order Faction. Even some of the G.o.ds themselves were confused by this, so it wasn"t exactly a surprise that all divine job cla.s.s members went into a frenzy. At this moment, yet another meteor suddenly streaked through the sky. Almost as if it would tear the sky apart, its quality surpa.s.sed that of any meteor before it.
"…A Main G.o.d! Which Main G.o.d is it?"
"By the Holy Light! It"s…"
"Elf Main G.o.d Anslo! He actually betrayed the Order Faction at such a time!?"
Don"t misunderstand—Anslo"s meteor headed in a different direction from the h.e.l.l G.o.ds" meteors. It hurtled towards the lower planes, the Chaos Abyss, the realm of the demons. Anslo had long intended to betray the Order Faction, and when he noticed the other Order G.o.ds" betrayal, he didn"t hesitate to take this opportunity to run and betray as well.
He had indeed chosen the perfect timing. Ayer"s betrayal had been made obvious, and the Source of Order would soon send out Main G.o.d-level strength to a.s.sa.s.sinate the traitors. Of course the Source of Order wouldn"t have sufficient power to chase down a Main G.o.d-level existence like himself.
As the Elf Main G.o.d took advantage of this opportunity and the new h.e.l.l Faction G.o.ds headed towards the new h.e.l.l, Ayer, one of the two "main culprits," simply stood quietly next to the River Styx.
The River Styx"s murky waters splashed against its sh.o.r.es as it had for time immemorial, and demons" wails could be heard in the burning waters and rubble not far away. More than a century ago, this was where Ayer and Roland had formed the beginning of their "grand scheme."
Now, the most important part of their "grand scheme" was about to be enacted here.
"It"s time."