novelraw Chapter 146 : Chapter 146
Chapter 146 : Chapter 146
Chapter 146 .The Truth of the Goddess
At Aman's last words, all eyes in the command tent turned to him.
just moments before, we had been rendered speechless by the oracle from the Goddess delivered by Isabel.
A desperate proclamation that Primus could not be defeated without Iris' sacrifice.
But Aman had said there might still be a way.
I glanced alternately at Isabel's mournful face and Anonymous, who stood beside her, unsure of what to do.
Then I turned back to Aman and asked.
A thread of hope was woven into my voice.
"What is it that you know?"
Aman soon gave this answer.
"Didn't the Goddess say that the sacrifice of the next Saintess was necessary?"
"H-how do you know that?"
When I asked back with a surprised face, Aman, contrary to my expectation, grinned.
Then, he carefully took out an old, thick book from his bosom.
The cover of the book was severely worn, but the weight of the knowledge contained within it did not seem light at all.
"It is because of this, Sir Hero."
"What is that? Didn't you say all the books in the Sage's hideout were burned?"
Aman nodded his head.
"Yes, that's right. But this book was so important that I carried it in my arms like my life when I left Reubungwo Island. This is the last research record written by my ancestor, the Sage of the East, right before he closed his eyes."
The last research record?
I swallowed dryly.
"What on earth is in there?"
Instead of opening the book, Aman pointed to the sky and asked an unexpected question.
"Sir Hero, what do you think of the Goddess who created this world?"
"The Goddess?"
I tilted my head at his sudden question.
"Isn't she the great Creator who made this world? A benevolent being who is watching over us from on high even at this very moment."
The common sense I knew.
And the universal belief of the people of this world.
But after hearing my answer, Aman shook his head.
"Half right, and half wrong."
"What do you mean by that?"
Aman began to tell the shocking truth contained in his ancestor's last record.
"My ancestor dedicated his life to studying Primus and finding a way to stop him. In the process, he also delved deeply into the Goddess, the source of Primus and the creator of this world. And after long research, he reached a single truth."
"A single truth?"
"Yes. The truth that the Goddess we believe in... is not actually a being with a benevolent face and personality as we think, but rather closer to a single, great 'natural phenomenon'."
"What?"
Not just me, but everyone was unable to hide their astonishment.
"Let me explain with an example."
Aman continued calmly.
"The Goddess we commonly think of has the image of a benevolent mother, always worrying about and caring for the creatures she created. But according to my ancestor's research, that is not true. The Goddess is closer to a great law and phenomenon that maintains and operates this world, just as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, and water flows from high to low."
He paused for a moment to catch his breath.
"However, to simply dismiss it as a natural phenomenon, it could be said to be a being and phenomenon that is much closer to the fundamental truth of this world. Anyway, if my ancestor's theory is correct, the Goddess is not a transcendent personality that feels emotions or thinks like a human, but closer to a great fundamental principle that constitutes and moves this world."
When Aman's explanation ended, my mind was filled with a tremendous shock and a flash of realization.
'A system!'
Yes, this is a system!
The concept Aman was explaining was so similar to the very 'system' commonly seen in games or computer programs from the world I originally lived in.
A being that operates the world according to set laws and produces a set result when certain conditions are met.
A great program that moves without emotion, only according to law and efficiency.
But Isabel, who was next to me, seemed unable to accept this shocking theory.
She countered in a trembling voice.
"Th-that's impossible! If that's true, how does the Goddess reveal her will to us in a human voice, and like human thought? The oracle I received was clearly..."
Aman gently cut her off.
"A long time ago, people saw lightning strike and great waves crash and attributed human thoughts like God's anger or will to them. They'd say the heavens were angry, or the sea was in a rage. Perhaps what is called the Goddess' 'voice' or 'oracle' is something similar."
"That's just a natural phenomenon, not a word with clear will!"
"Yes. That's exactly it."
Aman said firmly.
"The Goddess is just a phenomenon that seems to have a will, playing just such a role. She tries to assert her will in a voice or form that humans can understand. But that's as far as it goes. It might be a kind of warning sent by this world, rather than an absolute command from God. So whether to listen to that voice and follow it is ultimately a matter of our choice. It might be fine to listen, and fine not to listen."
At Aman's explanation, the others, including Isabel, looked confused, unable to easily accept his words.
It was only natural, as it was a shocking story that shook the foundation of a faith that had been believed for thousands of years.
But I was different.
To me, who was not a person of this world, Aman's words sounded much more persuasive.
'Aman's words have a point. If the Goddess is not an absolute being but a system...'
Then the oracle of Iris' 'sacrifice' was also highly likely not to be a literal death.
Perhaps one of the system's 'conditions' to stop Primus was the 'power of the next Saintess', and the system had simply presented that condition with the simplest solution, the word 'sacrifice'.
'There must be a way to fulfill that condition by other means, even if Iris doesn't have to die.'
Unconsciously, my two fists clenched.
It felt like I had discovered a strong ray of hope in a swamp of despair.
'I can save Iris. And I can stop Primus without her sacrifice!'
My heart pounded like crazy.
***
Meanwhile, at that time, in the center of Reubungwo Island.
In the clearing where the World Tree once took root, Primus broke his long, long seated meditation and slowly opened his eyes.
An enormous amount of magic was still swirling around him, but his inner self was as quiet as the empty universe.
He slowly rose from his seat and stretched one hand forward into the air.
Then he repeatedly clenched and opened his fist.
'Hmm, my power has almost all returned.'
The vast amount of magic he had consumed a while ago by destroying a tower made from a part of the World Tree had been perfectly restored by absorbing the essence of the World Tree's site.
No, he even felt stronger than before.
He smiled with satisfaction.
'Now all preparations are complete.'
He raised his head again and looked up at the sky.
An empty void.
But he could feel 'it' that existed beyond it.
He whispered in a low, yet ice-cold voice.
"Mother. This unstable cycle of a game that you designed will soon come to an end. It will no longer go as you wish."
In fact, Primus had faintly noticed it a long time ago.
The truth that a man named Mortubius, the Sage of the East, had realized after dedicating his life.
That the mother he had so longed for and called out for, the being known as the Goddess, the creator of this world, might not actually be a god with a personality.
No matter how eagerly he called, no matter how he cried out in anger, she never once responded to his call.
There was always only silence.
Like a giant machine without emotion.
Or like a natural phenomenon that moves according to set laws.
It was the same with the way his younger siblings, the beings called the 'Children of God', who were born after him, descended upon the world.
There was always a certain pattern.
When a powerful threat like the Demon King appeared, Children of God with corresponding power were sent to the world.
And the being called the 'Hero' who led and protected them also appeared periodically.
As if it were a pre-written script to balance the world.
Primus loathed this phenomenon itself.
A method of entrusting the fate of the world to mortals who were incomplete, inefficient, and swayed by unpredictable emotions.
He wanted to correct all of this.
"I cannot let the world continue to run this way."
His eyes shone coldly.
"I will turn all these imperfect things to perfect nothingness, and then create a true world that moves only by my reason and will."
To do that, he first had to completely subdue the Goddess' proxies who were trying to stop him now.
That is, the Hero and the Children of God.
No, simply subduing them was not enough.
'I must wipe out the seed.'
It was a fact that people did not know well, but the being known as the Hero was a special power that manifested in the distant descendants of the Children of God.
In other words, as long as the Children of God existed, a Hero would one day appear again and interfere with his plans.
He had to completely pull out the very root of that possibility this time.
Primus slowly floated up into the sky.
He had no wings, but his body rose naturally as if it were a balloon lighter than air.
He looked towards the northern coast.
A fierce battle was already taking place there, as the night sky was chaotically colored with the flash of magic like fireworks.
A cold and cruel smile hung on Primus' lips.
"You have come. The last sacrifices for my new era."
Without further delay, he began to move slowly, but majestically, towards the northern coast.
The primordial being had finally begun to move himself.
***
Even after Aman's shocking explanation ended, a heavy silence hung in the command tent for a while.
Isabel was still shaking her head with a pale face as if she couldn't believe it, and Rude and the others also couldn't hide their confused expressions.
The Goddess was not a being with a personality, but a giant system and a natural phenomenon.
It was a story that shook the entire foundation of a belief that had been passed down for thousands of years.
But I was different.
Unlike the others who were in chaos, my mind was spinning rapidly, moving towards a new possibility.
If what Aman said was true, this desperate situation could be turned around.
I asked Aman again, as if to confirm.
"So you're saying there's really a way to stop Primus without having to sacrifice Iris?"
Aman nodded with eyes full of confidence.
"That's right, Sir Hero."
He pointed to the old book in his arms and continued.
"According to my ancestor's last record, the 'holy power' of the next Saintess is absolutely necessary to completely extinguish Primus. That is because it is the only key to purify Primus' evil power and block his regeneration ability. Perhaps the reason the Goddess used the word 'sacrifice' was because offering one's life was the surest way to draw out and manifest holy power to its limit. Or it's also highly possible that the meaning was added in the process of later priests interpreting the oracle. What is important is not Lady Iris' 'death' itself, but the 'full manifestation of holy power' strong enough to subdue Primus."
At his explanation, I felt like I had seen a ray of light.
"Then what else is needed besides holy power?"
"Your power, Sir Hero. And the power of the Children of God, that is, your daughters, is all needed."
Aman said firmly.
"We must gather all that power into one, condense it, and then accurately strike Primus' core. If we can do that, he will be completely annihilated like dust."
"Gather all the power into one?"
The powers of the Hero and the Children of God had different origins and properties.
Fusing them into one seemed impossible by common sense.
While I was flustered.
Aman came up to my side and began to whisper something in my ear so that the others could not hear.
The last secret plan left by the ancestor.
The method, a mixture of ancient language and complex rituals, was truly bizarre, but at the same time, it was surprisingly elaborate and seemed feasible.
My eyes grew wider and wider.
'To think there was such a method!'
It was at that very moment.
KWA-ANG!
Suddenly, I felt the powerful magic barrier of Noemi that was surrounding the outside of the tent disappear powerlessly.
At the same time, an overwhelming pressure was felt from the sky.
I instinctively ran out of the tent.
Under the night sky, the coastal battlefield was still fierce, but a being that overwhelmed everything was slowly descending from the sky.
It wasn't Nox.
A figure I had never seen before.
But I could tell by instinct.
Every single cell in my body was screaming and sending warning signals.
The primordial being that had been sealed for a long, long time.
'That guy must be Primus. I'm sure of it.'
Finally, the final boss was revealing himself right before our eyes.