The Grey Sage's Dire Prophecy
The princess answered in a dazed tone that felt utterly out of place amid the Goddess Department war, and accepted the voluptuous, sensual body of the spirit saint into her arms. Spirits were ultimately a type of spiritual being and could not be touched. Yet when the War God intervened, they materialized fully, allowing her to embrace them.
“Is further proof still necessary? This is a complete resurrection from the soul itself. In this place, even pregnancy is possible.”
“!!!”
“!!!”
Everyone stared in shock at the spirit saint who was trembling in climax, their eyes vacant. ‘She is clearly alive.’ ‘I can feel the perfect pulse of life.’ They were horrified that a miracle of magic surpassing even a god’s miracle was unfolding before their eyes. The spirit mages whose robes had been stripped earlier, leaving them naked and huddled, wept as they were overcome with emotion at this feat of magic.
“This is the magic of the Tenth Circle. Without the restrictions of karma, magic is not omnipotent, but it is all-powerful. For me here, impossibility is merely a matter of time.”
The black mage’s arrogant cry seized the hearts and minds of the spirits and every soul in the city. The spirits grew increasingly agitated. ‘A spirit was resurrected right before our eyes.’ ‘We missed the process, but she is undeniably alive.’ These spirits had already reached the realm of superhumans. They could not be deceived by illusions, and there was no way this absurd Main God–level black mage would lie. Yet none of them felt inclined to accept the offer. ‘A black mage’s soul contract is usually more unfair than even a demon’s.’ ‘We cannot accept it lightly.’ That was why these beings, who had waited centuries for their turn at reincarnation, now hesitated.
Black mages had never been bound by common sense; they were notoriously eccentric. The Root School, in particular, was renowned as the strongest and most vicious school of black magic. It was impossible for them to possess normal thinking, and this one was proving it.
“Hands up—or shall I send you straight to the Four Realms?”
‘Eek—! Forgive us!’
The mages who had tried to possess the naked women below earlier now knelt naked, hands raised, their spirit robes stripped away. They even summoned massive grimoires from thin air and placed them on their upturned palms. Absurdly, their hands trembled as though they could feel the weight of the books. ‘This is strange.’ ‘Well, stripping a spirit’s clothes is hardly normal either.’
The once lofty and cold spirit mages, perhaps still dazed by the earlier magic, obeyed without question. ‘What do you think, Erpina?’
A blue-haired spirit addressed the golden-haired spirit clad in dazzling golden imperial robes and wearing a jeweled imperial crown. Both were supreme spirits who had waited thousands of years for offspring worthy of their rank. Yet that wait had been endless and uncertain. The one addressed answered in a firm tone.
‘There is neither lie nor trap.’
The moment she spoke, other spirits of similar rank gathered around her. Each was a representative of the highest ability in their respective fields. ‘Even we, who are close to Lower Gods and cannot be summoned by any mage, were forcibly summoned all at once.’ ‘From the Four Realms, spirit mages of at least Seventh Circle master level from every profession were summoned.’
The number of summoned spirits exceeded two hundred thousand. Dragged here against their will, they now faced an impossible Main God–level black mage demanding an absurd contract. ‘I’m uneasy about this limited resurrection. We could be trapped here permanently. And a black mage telling us to become his followers—what does that even mean?’ ‘We are the ones who would accept the contract, so why is he doing this? He hasn’t placed any restrictions, nor has he humiliated us. And why torment those spirit mages in front of us?’ ‘What about the hundred thousand naked women below? Half of them are saints, and the rest look like they come from noble families.’ ‘This place is strange! Vitality overflows to the point that our spirit bodies tremble.’
As everyone spoke at once and chaos erupted, the woman who was clearly the empress furrowed her brow. Instantly, the others fell silent as mice, acknowledging her authority. Seeing their attention, she continued.
‘Confidence. The confidence that we cannot possibly refuse.’
The spirits’ expressions darkened. If she said so, it was accurate—because that was her ability. ‘Is there no way to escape?’ ‘Honestly, looking at that magical power, I doubt we can run.’ Even the spirits who possessed magic-nullification abilities were completely immobilized by the magical restraints holding them. The spirit mages had given up on dispelling them and were instead analyzing the high-level spellwork in fascination.
‘Then we’ll all be forcibly violated and bound.’
At the black-haired female spirit of the sage lineage’s flippant remark, everyone’s faces turned pale. ‘That sage spirit always predicts only the worst possible future.’ ‘Avoiding her worst-case scenarios requires near-death effort.’ Because the sage spirit’s words were not uncertain prophecies but probability predictions of events that could occur, they were all the more maddening. ‘If you try to change the future with sheer will, you really will die.’ ‘You must pour in effort and power that should be impossible in reality to escape her worst outcome.’
And now this sage spirit, with such a history, was saying they would all be violated and bound. Finally, a massive female spirit wielding a double-bladed axe larger than herself grew angry.
‘I told you to shut your mouth. Predict only after asking permission.’
‘B-but everyone will be violated, forcibly turned into ego weapons, and used until discarded.’
‘Gah—! Please stop.’
The tragic ending grew increasingly specific. Even in their spirit state, everyone’s eyes darkened with despair. They all turned to look at the spirit dressed as an empress. She sighed softly and spoke.
‘I will negotiate.’
‘Ah—! Then there will be no violation, and half will form contracts. The other half will be annihilated.’
‘Please shut up—!’
‘B-but if I don’t speak, everyone except Livna and the spirit mages over there will be annihilated.’
Even the empress spirit’s complexion changed at that outcome. She looked at the black-haired sage. At her words, the surrounding spirits also froze and stared at the sage spirit. The empress spirit’s powerful, majestic voice pressed upon them like a divine decree.
‘Why?’
The reason they could never ignore the sage spirit’s opinion was that, unlike prophets who spoke of fate without knowing causes or processes, she could explain the exact reasons. ‘The sage spirit’s high authority is her unique ability, “Probability Prediction.” It extracts the results of natural flows that have stronger binding power than fate, which is difficult but changeable.’
All humans tried to change their fate, yet they unknowingly followed the predetermined flow of their lives. Because her unique ability was to read that flow and offer countermeasures, it could never be ignored. ‘He likes Erpina’s type, but he likes subjugating them even more. After humiliating Livna, who stepped forward first, he takes care of her, and looking at the tendencies of the naked children around him, it’s clear. Punishing the spirit mages who tried to possess others also proves it. If we don’t speak now, there’s a high probability that Erpina’s unique ability will provoke his temper and annihilate everyone. Even without using his ability, to subjugate the arrogant Erpina, he’ll annihilate half of us as useless. Probably all of us here. Ack—! No—! I don’t want to be annihilated like this!’
The sage spirit spoke without restraint and performed a one-woman despair drama. Veins bulged on the empress spirit’s forehead like a crossroads. ‘This sage truly has no consideration for others.’
While the empress spirit at least considered those around her, the sage spirit mercilessly struck at the core. Yet if they got angry, she would sulk and stop talking, which would be the end for them. ‘The reason I died so absurdly was largely because this sage spirit refused to give advice.’ When the sage disappeared, the empire fell with her. And this sage spirit had arrived in the Four Realms much later, leaving them unable to do anything. ‘In the end, I was the one in need.’
The empress spirit suppressed her anger as much as possible and spoke. ‘What if another spirit goes to negotiate?’
‘That spirit will be forcibly violated and sealed into a magical tool! Spirit saints like Livna have a high probability of being utilized. It seems he needs a lot of divine power. The saint spirits over there should move below if they don’t want to be annihilated.’
It was becoming more and more outrageous. The expressions of the listening spirits were now completely filled with despair. The best outcome predicted by this damned sage spirit, sometimes called the Sage of Ashes, was that half would be annihilated. As she said, the terrifying black mage was currently focused on tormenting the spirit mages.
“The grimoires you’re holding contain Eighth Circle magic. But I won’t show them to you.”
‘What—? We’re sorry! Please let us see them!’
“Sinners don’t get to see them—! This time, I’ll add a Ninth Circle grimoire as well.”
‘Uwaaaah—!’
When grimoires of a completely different thickness were placed on their arms, the spirit mages burst into loud wails. The weight of the Eighth and Ninth Circle grimoires they had dreamed of was transmitted directly to their spirit bodies, right there in their hands, yet they could not see them. Combined with the humiliation of being naked, they could no longer hold back their tears.
Uwaaaah! Huuuueeeng!
The other spirits, who knew how vicious and cold these spirit mages usually were, could not close their mouths. Then the black mage, displayed on the giant screen floating in the sky, gave orders to the hundred thousand hostage women atop the mage tower.
“All of you, gather on the bridge. We will classify your professions to assign departments.”
From the city of hundreds of massive palaces and temples, a hundred thousand women ran naked toward the silver bridge over the lake. Some carried what appeared to be young princesses, paying no mind to their nudity as they ran with all their strength. ‘The sight of a hundred thousand young women running naked in broad daylight was truly bizarre.’ Yet everyone knew they had not originally been naked because of the scattered clothing visible here and there. ‘In the end, they had been forcibly stripped, and they had willingly accepted it.’
All the spirits were dumbfounded by a sight they had never witnessed in their long lives. Then the sage spirit screamed as though she had made another prediction.
‘Eek—! If negotiations aren’t finished by the time the assembly ends, everyone will be forcibly violated and then annihilated! Hurry—! Erpina—! We have to make contracts with at least half of us. Tell him I’m absolutely necessary!’
‘…….’
Every spirit thought they would rather silence that mouth. Even the empress spirit was gritting her teeth to suppress the urge to annihilate the sage spirit on the spot. Yet it was this very sage spirit who had made the greatest contribution to building the largest empire in history, one that surpassed a population of one billion. ‘The empire collapsed in an instant because I got angry with her once, and she sulked and went into seclusion.’
The empress spirit had no choice but to approach the War God while grinding her teeth internally at the sage spirit’s words. ‘Just you wait, Saiana, the Grey Sage!’
Even the princess spirit felt chills watching the spirit mages being punished—crying like children while holding thick grimoires with their hands raised. Looking at the former Saint of Beauty and Love, who had nearly fainted from the sudden resurrection and was now limp, and the current saint caring for her, she felt she might end up the same way. The princess spirit, wearing a jeweled crown and covering her naked body with her long golden hair, covered her mouth with her hand, her face expressionless, and let out a small sigh as she looked at the empress spirit. That small sigh seemed to say that her fate had become utterly miserable. ‘That sage spirit always pushed me forward to resolve these kinds of battlefields and chaos.’ Of course, the results were good, but during her lifetime there had been many times she would rather have died. ‘Do well—! Erpina! Our fate depends on you. Resurrect at least half of us.’
Seeing her cheering in that manner from behind, the empress spirit truly felt her teeth grinding. Despite the sage’s shining achievements and wisdom, everyone said the same thing:
“She is neither light nor darkness, neither right nor wrong. She is the true Grey Sage and the highest truth. But I truly do not wish to be close to her.”