Chapter 152: The Butterfly Effect(1)
Chapter 152: The Butterfly Effect(1)
They say that if a coincidence happens once, it is truly a coincidence. But the moment it happens twice, thrice, or more, it becomes destiny. Even if there were a one-in-a-million chance that all of this was accidental, it wouldn't be easy to overlook.
The same applied to the Xenon Biography. First, the pollution of the World Tree's roots; then, the omens of a demon summoning; and finally, the Reapers of Helium.
When events strikingly similar to the contents of the Xenon Biography broke out not once, not twice, but three times in a row, I was left speechless. To make matters worse, the "Reapers" of Helium were a carbon copy of the "Demon Hunters" from the novel.
A special forces unit that even high-ranking nobles of Helium barely knew existed. Powerful warriors whose primary mission was to assassinate their own kin who had turned into demons rather than fighting other races. And finally, the danger of turning into demons themselves at any moment due to their deep delve into black mana.
Looking at these facts alone, they were no different from the Demon Hunters in the Xenon Biography.
[The Reapers were originally looking for an opportunity to emerge into the light. Though their attempts were repeatedly thwarted due to a lack of opportunity, they have solidified their resolve following this incident.]
[This proves that the Xenon Biography is not a mere novel, but a book of prophecy. The pollution of the World Tree's roots, the traces of demon summoning, and finally, the secret organization of Helium.]
[The first coincidence might be just that, but three times is destiny. The same goes for the Reapers of Helium.]
[What will be their first move? How strong are their abilities? All eyes are on their future actions...]
Judging by the news, it seemed Helium was also strongly pushing for the Reapers to go public. Now that the awareness of the Demon Clan had skyrocketed, they likely found no reason to keep the Reapers' existence a secret.
Coincidentally, just as the Xenon Biography was beginning to be treated as a book of prophecy, the King of Helium seized the moment to introduce the Reapers to the public.
At first, everyone was naturally surprised, but because the exact same secret organization existed in the Xenon Biography, they simply accepted it. If anything, the reaction was "Of course," and the number of people reading the Xenon Biography from start to finish increased even further.
But what did that matter? My mind was so far gone it was practically out the door.
I didn't know how things had ended up like this, but one thing was for certain.
If anything else weird pops up, I'm truly fucked.
Well, I was already fucked.
The moment I hit a triple-header—no, a quadruple-header—of "prophecies," it would only be a matter of time before I was branded a prophet or a regressor. Even if I released a statement through a letter, no one would believe me, making the situation incredibly awkward in many ways.
How could I calm this situation down? Feeling dizzy as if I'd been struck in the head with a hammer, I carefully closed the newspaper.
The situation was so absurd it took the wind out of my sails; I didn't even have the energy to speak.
The Beastkin part starts from the very end of Volume 14...
Volume 14 covers the struggle to prevent Albenheim from being occupied by demons and the World Tree from becoming nourishment for Diabolus. Among the scenes is one where the hero of the Elves and the hero of the Dark Elves charge toward the polluted World Tree with one heart and mind.
However, the World Tree has already fallen into Diabolus's hands, reaching an irreversible state, and the resurrection of Diabolus—using the World Tree as nourishment—is imminent. In the end, the two heroes choose self-destruction using the World Tree's massive mana.
For one reason alone: for Albenheim, the land chosen by God Himself. This scene was meant to briefly showcase the patriotism of both the Elves and the Dark Elves.
To destroy that massive World Tree... it would require an unimaginably large explosion. Ordinary magic would never cut it.
This is where the Elves and Dark Elves become one in the truest sense. The Elves handle the energy of "Light" delivered by Luminous, and the Dark Elves handle the energy of "Darkness" gifted by Mora. You can probably guess what happens next.
Forcing two opposing energies to merge creates a massive repulsive force. It's a common cliché used in my previous life.
The two heroes gather their strength and prepare a massive explosion to completely destroy the World Tree that has become nourishment for the Great Demon. The demons sense the danger and try to stop them, but they are all held back.
Finally, the two heroes shout the majestic line, "For Albenheim!" and charge toward the World Tree. The scene ends with the World Tree, which had stood for 3,000 years, being engulfed in a massive explosion.
Thus, thanks to the pious sacrifice of the two heroes, the resurrection of the Great Demon is narrowly prevented, but Albenheim remains occupied by demons. Xenon's party and the heroes' successors have no time to grieve as they barely manage to escape with the remaining Elves.
Afterward, Xenon's party manages to calm the confrontation between the Elves and Dark Elves in the Dark Elf settlement and begins gathering allies to prepare for the coming war. The Humans, Demons, and Dwarves are willing to help because they know Xenon's reputation, but the problem lies with the Beastkin.
The Beastkin in the Xenon Biography were intended to be almost identical to reality. From the Holmgang to the types of ethnicities, and so on.
Furthermore, the relationship between Humans and Beastkin in the Xenon Biography is bad at best, and certainly not good. The reason the Prince of the Beastkin became "Wrath" in the first place is deeply connected to Humans.
No. Surely there isn't someone in Animus with a story similar to Satan's, right?
Satan isn't simple like Lilith; he has a rather complex set of circumstances. The kind of tragic circumstances that would have driven an ordinary person to suicide long ago.
To explain who Satan is: he is a chieftain of a tribe and a "General" who enjoyed the full trust of the Beastkin. You can think of a General as a rank similar to an Elf Warlord.
In fact, in Animus, chieftains often serve as generals as well. Being the chieftain of a tribe means they are that strong, so they naturally take charge of military force.
However, a chieftain doesn't automatically receive the rank of general. Leona had emphasized this.
Anyway, Satan had protected "Mad"—the Animus of the Xenon Biography—as a general for decades, but he had gained just as many enemies. Because of this, those who held a grudge murdered Satan's wife and children.
That alone would bring immense pain and sorrow, but it wasn't the end. A grief-stricken Satan stepped down from his position as chieftain and, at the Grand Chieftain's suggestion, focused his efforts on training the army...
But even that ended in tragedy. While he was away for a short time, his tribe was attacked by Humans and completely massacred.
The mastermind behind all these events was none other than the Grand Chieftain, who had been interacting with Humans. The Grand Chieftain, swayed by the cunning trickery of the Humans, had made a choice he should never have made.
Naturally, Satan, beyond furious and on the verge of exploding, challenged the Grand Chieftain to a Holmgang, but all he got was a crushing defeat. The Grand Chieftain may not have been wise, but his martial prowess was a level above Satan's.
After that, Satan, betrayed by his motherland, wandered for decades before joining the side of the demons and challenging the Grand Chieftain to a Holmgang once more.
The result?
He popped the Grand Chieftain's head off as cleanly as a can opener. Mad, having lost its Grand Chieftain, fell into great chaos, and Satan, having achieved his satisfying revenge, returned to base.
After that, Satan's younger brother, who could be considered the Beastkin protagonist, leads the story.
Surely this won't be the same too, right?
Lilith's case was a deeply personal matter, but in Satan's case, it's a major incident that would flip an entire nation upside down. While Humans might be used to dirty political infighting, it would be a shocking revelation for the Beastkin.
Besides this, I planned to flesh out the stories for each of the Seven Deadly Sins, and since the Seven Deadly Sins reflect the flaws of each race, there would be a lot of talk. Greed, in particular, has the setting of a Dwarven King exiled due to his immense lust for material wealth.
Well, the Beastkin part continues all the way to Volume 16, so it should be fine...
I lay on my bed, staring up at the ceiling in thought. There was virtually nothing I could do in my current situation.
Wouldn't it be better to just give up on everything and just write? Whether they treated me as a prophet or a regressor, I'd said multiple times that I wasn't. If they ended up disappointed, I could just get angry at them instead.
But couldn't I just ask the Gods directly? They'd tell me right away that I'm not.
I was a reincarnator, but definitely not a prophet or a regressor, so the Gods would be able to give a definitive answer. But looking at the newspapers, there was no mention of such a thing.
Instead, there was even a bizarre phenomenon where people asked the Gods but received no answer. While communicating with the Gods is very difficult, the Order isn't stupid, and there's no way they don't know how to do it.
Moreover, they would face "Divine Punishment" if they lied, so the contents of the newspaper were likely true.
Why aren't You answering?
Please save me. What if something else weird comes out like this?
I let out a deep sigh and slowly got up from the bed. It was much better to read a book than to mope around like this.
With my current mindset, I felt so burdened I wouldn't even be able to write. I'd start writing again once the situation calmed down a bit.
But is there anything else that could come out? I think everything that could come out has already appeared.
The pollution of the World Tree's roots, the omens of demon summoning, and finally the Reapers.
I thought everything that could appear had appeared, so what else could...
...Ah, right.
There was the steam locomotive. An invention created by a dwarf who inherited his master's will and worked with gritted teeth.
But that's a prophecy or whatever—with current scientific technology, there's no way they could make it, right?
The steam locomotive was a machine invented during the Industrial Revolution. Although this world might look like the Middle Ages on the surface, it has a lifestyle similar to the modern era thanks to the existence of magic, but machines are something even magic can't easily replicate.
In the first place, there's barely even a concept of engineering in this world, let alone machines. So, even if everything else happened, I expected the invention of the steam locomotive to happen at least a few hundred years later.
If it were to be invented...
Not just steam locomotives, but steamships, steam cars, power plants, vessels, and all sorts of inventions would pour out.
On top of that, what if World War II, which I planned to write after the conclusion of the Xenon Biography, came out? Wouldn't the scientific power of this world increase explosively?
Thinking about it this way made me a little afraid. It felt like I was abnormally accelerating the civilization of this world for no reason.
...Should I visit the temple later?
I probably should. I focused on my reading, trying to soothe my uneasy mind.
*
Masters of dexterity and invention, Dwarves are a race that naturally loves making things. Because of this, they often settle near mines, and the Dwarven nation, Machina, is also a city built near a massive mine.
The Dwarven nation, Machina, is the largest trading hub for the weapons industry, and countless people visit to purchase Dwarven-made weapons. Unless you're buying through a middleman, the prices are surprisingly cheap if you visit Machina directly.
The reason is that even a sword roughly made by a dwarf has performance so excellent it's considered a masterpiece by other races. The Dwarves know this well, so they set high prices for weapons they've poured their hearts into.
However, this naturally leads to a downside: "Greed." Regardless of time or place, the weapons industry involves massive contract amounts. Especially in this world where "monsters" exist, the demand for weapons is bound to be high.
As a result, high-performance Dwarven weapons naturally became a priority, and the number of people entering into contracts naturally increased. The peak of this was the Race War 300 years ago.
Humans bought up Dwarven weapons indiscriminately to narrow the gap with the Elves, and the Dwarves reaped massive profits from it.
In the end, because the Dwarves had learned the "taste of money," they only produced so-called mass-produced weapons, and their creative abilities regressed. Why bother being creative when you can get a fortune from Humans for making just any weapon?
Even if they were creative, it was limited to weapons; they didn't care about anything else. Previously, they had given birth to inventions like refrigerators and air conditioners, but after the Race War, the Dwarves were consumed by greed.
Living in complacency, they could be seen as having lost the ability to create anything new.
Bang!
"Ugh! Kids these days! They have no will, no will! How does it make sense to give up on everything when it hasn't even been a year?!"
A man with a typical Dwarven bushy beard and short, stout limbs shouted, slamming his fist on the table. He held a beer mug in his hand, and his face was already flushed from heavy drinking.
Watching this, another dwarf chuckled and spoke. His face was also red from intoxication.
"Eins. My friend. No matter how much you cling to it, what can't be done, can't be done. Even if people are buzzing about that book being a prophecy or whatever, our current abilities are far from enough."
"Yeah, yeah. If it could be made, it would have been made long ago."
"You guys..."
When the other dwarves didn't sympathize at all and instead just mocked him, the dwarf called Eins gritted his teeth. But soon, he let out a sigh and muttered in a dejected voice.
"Is it really impossible..."
It had been several months since he'd been obsessed with inventing the "steam locomotive" that appeared in the Xenon Biography. He hadn't made any progress and was just running in circles.
He had a rough idea of the principle behind how the steam locomotive in the Xenon Biography moved, but that was it; he couldn't create it.
Until now, he only knew how to make weapons from ores, including iron, and his creativity had regressed since the Race War. Moreover, because there was no prospect of success, all the many workers had also dropped out.
In the end, Eins was the only one left. Somehow, he had ended up inventing the steam locomotive alone, just like the situation in the book, but he didn't care.
It had been a long time since the creative desire that had disappeared after the Race War had begun to swell. It was the driving force that made him burn with passion once again after being stuck in a rut.
"Don't be like that, just drink some beer. Let's go to the mine tomorrow and dig up some of those mana stones. They make more money than those black rocks that just burn well, don't they?"
"No. In the book, they operated the steam locomotive with that thing called coal. The answer must be there."
"Ha, seriously. That stubbornness of yours... do whatever you want. We're going to the mine tomorrow. We'll give all those rocks to you, so do as you please."
"Why obsess over something so strange... tsk tsk."
Eins felt even more pathetic at his friends' mockery. Did that eccentric dwarf in the book feel this way too?
But it had only been one year. Barely a year had passed. While not as long-lived as Elves or Demons, Dwarves boast a lifespan of up to 300 years. So, a year was a very short time for a dwarf.
Eins did not yield to their mockery and gulped down his beer. Although he hadn't made progress yet, he couldn't give up.
After finishing his beer, he spoke.
"Kuh... fine. You're going to the mine? I'll go with you. I just need to clear my head a bit."
"Good idea. For your information, we're going to the Haks sector, so pack your gear well."
"Haks? Where's that?"
"What? You didn't know?"
The dwarf looked at Eins with an absurd expression. Recalling that Eins hadn't gone to the mines recently and had only been making equipment, he explained.
"The Haks sector is one of the mines that's been dug continuously since the Race War. Instead, because they've kept digging and digging, it's become incredibly deep. Maybe because of that, high-quality ore and mana stones are coming out frequently."
"Really? That's news to me."
"But to go there, don't we have to bring that thing? The one that pointlessly eats up so many mana stones."
"Ah. Damn. Right. We'll just be wasting mana stones for nothing."
"What's that?"
Since he hadn't entered a mine in several decades, Eins couldn't follow their conversation. He'd been too busy helping with his father's work to pay attention to anything else.
At that, a black-bearded dwarf took a sip of beer and told him in his characteristic gravelly voice.
"There's something like that. Maybe because of the geology, the Haks sector keeps filling with water as you dig. We Dwarves have short limbs, so it's hard to bail out the water one by one. So, unable to watch any longer, they made a machine 80 years ago."
"The problem is that the damn machine eats up several times more mana stones than the amount we mine. It's frustrating and dirty, but we have no choice but to use it. It's times like this that I regret being born a dwarf."
Eins's reaction upon hearing that story:
"By what principle does it bail out the water? If it needs mana stones, it doesn't sound ordinary."
"It's nothing special. I mean, it's like..."
The black-bearded dwarf explained everything as if it were truly nothing special. Eins was indifferent at first, but as he listened to the explanation, his eyes slowly began to sparkle.
And finally, when the explanation ended...
"Sh-show me that! Quickly!"
"What? Why all of a sudden?"
"Never mind that, just show me! I think I just need to tweak it a little bit!"
Eins shouted in a voice full of excitement, as if he had discovered a treasure.
A few days passed after that.
[Machina, the Dwarven Nation, invents the 'Steam Engine' from the Xenon Biography!]
[Since it is a machine operated by mana stones, not steam, it has been named the 'Mana Engine'...]
[Eins: Something that should have been invented long ago. I realized that the Dwarves' creative ability has declined. We Dwarves must not settle for reality but create for a greater future...]
[What remains is the invention of the Mana Locomotive using the Mana Engine. Since we have moved forward, all that's left is to run. While the world's attention is focused on the invention of the Mana Engine, interest in the steam locomotive in the Xenon Biography is also surging...]
"... ..."
Fuck.