Chapter 588: Extermination(5)
Chapter 588: Extermination(5)
Demon Worshippers are widely known as a cancerous blight upon the world, an organization that deserves nothing but death.
In truth, it would be no exaggeration to say that most of the underworld, if not the overworld, falls under their jurisdiction.
From fallen cardinals to attempting the overthrow of Helium by utilizing radical demons, their reach is vast. Their repertoire includes slave trafficking, human experimentation, unethical rituals, and mass brainwashing—essentially, they specialize in everything a human being should never do.
Naturally, public perception of them is at rock bottom, and their infamy spread across the globe in less than a year.
Although their activities have quieted down recently due to Isaac’s "event" and the subsequent general subjugation, they remain a malignant presence that demands constant vigilance.
Furthermore, the Demon Worshippers made their presence clearly known when they hanged all the weavers who had been destroying machinery. This served as a grim reminder to the public that they hadn't vanished; people just had no idea where they were or what they were planning.
The Minerva Empire, burdened with the stigma of being the "Cradle of Demon Worshippers," has been proactive in its pursuit, but they have mostly succeeded in catching common criminal organizations that were already rampant. Even when a slight link to the Demon Worshippers is found, the cultists are quick to cut their losses and flee, making them incredibly difficult to track.
They are an organization that lives in the shadows, yet possesses the potential to spread like a plague at any moment.
[Demon Worshippers are an 'evil' that must be eradicated from this world.]
[They seek to summon demons and plunge this world into chaos.]
[Be on your guard. They have failed until now, but a single success will lead us toward destruction.]
The world speculated that the Demon Worshippers' goal was the resurrection of the Demon War that broke out 3,000 years ago. Indeed, several locations were suspected to be summoning ritual sites, and recently, an underground temple was discovered that had been on the verge of success.
Commoners, busy with the struggle of daily life, simply view the Demon Worshippers as evil, but the upper echelons of society are plagued by headaches. Now that an underground temple has been found, no other location feels safe. Bolstered by Savior’s holy war, they are hunting them down relentlessly.
Then, the sudden revelation of the origin of demons threw everything into further confusion. Demons were not beings from another dimension; they were humans.
This revelation raised a new question: Was the temple, previously assumed to be for a summoning ritual, actually intended for something else?
[It might have been intended to transform the entire population of the Minerva Empire into demons.]
[The same goes for the demons in Helium. It is highly likely that other temples remain hidden.]
With the origin revealed, the Demon Worshippers' true objective became unclear. Were they planning to summon something, or were they trying to demonize humanity, as seen in the Kingdom of Gerios?
Coincidentally, as Blood and Iron gained popularity, the Demon Worshippers' activities grew sparse. They became so inactive that it was difficult to even catch a glimpse of them. To make matters worse, the Great Depression had plunged the world into chaos, leaving the authorities with far too many fires to put out.
With immediate crises looming, the threat of the Demon Worshippers was forced to the back burner.
So, what are the Demon Worshippers plotting now? It was a question many were asking.
"Are you going to maintain the current status quo even after that bastard humiliated us?"
A young man hidden under a robe asked in a dissatisfied tone.
Though they relied on a single candle in the dark space, his sharp jawline gave a hint of his appearance. The person he addressed, an old man, stroked his long beard and spoke quietly.
As always, his voice was aged and unpleasantly raspy, as if thick with phlegm.
"We must maintain it for the time being. At least until his current work is completed."
"Ha! And here I thought you were foaming at the mouth, saying killing him wouldn't even be enough to satisfy you."
Perhaps annoyed by the old man's answer, the young man let out a sharp, irritated huff. He didn't even try to hide his simmering hatred for Isaac. However, the old man remained calm and composed.
"He is showing us the world we truly desire. And more people are beginning to agree that the time has come to escape the embrace of those loathsome gods."
The gods had gifted humanity many things and willingly granted them the strength to survive. However, the tendency to rely too heavily on the gods had placed a restriction on human progress.
Earth had developed by countering violence with even greater violence, but in this world, the gods stepped in directly to resolve conflicts. If one defied the word of a god, divine punishment would fall immediately, forcing everyone to comply. This was the constraint that hindered development.
"The Lord agonized over this for a long time. But after seeing the tanks that appeared in Machina, his mind was made up. He decided we would not touch him until Blood and Iron is finished."
"What's so special about those tanks? Can't they be easily destroyed if a skilled knight steps up? I saw them at the Xenon Festival too."
"You see the tree but miss the forest."
The old man clicked his tongue, finding the young man's words trivial. The young man's eyes flickered with irritation.
Previously, they had been able to converse in agreement, but since the appearance of Blood and Iron, a rift had begun to form. It was unclear if infighting had broken out among the Demon Worshippers as Isaac had intended, but at the very least, these two seemed at odds.
"Priests, mages, knights. Their power varies based on talent—in other words, how much they are loved by the gods. But a tank? Anyone can operate one as long as they receive an education, regardless of talent. The same goes for manufacturing them."
"..."
"The world will be changed not by those blessed by the gods, but by the technological prowess built by humanity itself. The gods will remain only as objects of faith, while the actions and direction of the world will be determined entirely by mankind."
Talent is something bestowed by the heavens—by the gods. Magic is undeniably the realm of talent, and while the threshold for knights and priests is lower, they too are divided by their innate gifts.
However, machines like tanks can be built by anyone with the proper education. It means humanity can create powerful weapons on its own. Even without tanks, the invention of the gun alone would drastically alter human history. It would be akin to placing the martial power of a knight into the hands of every individual.
The day would come when humanity, not those chosen by the gods, would dictate the course of history.
"When that happens, the status of the gods will naturally diminish, and humanity's dependence on them will fade. The gun—a weapon that allows even a powerless commoner to strike down a knight—is the beginning of that."
"But if war breaks out, won't everyone seek the gods?"
"Both the victors and the losers will seek the gods. Unless they are madmen like those in Nazi Germany, the gods will not readily take a side."
It was true. War always produced victors and losers. Both sides would seek the gods as they went into battle, and both the surviving soldiers and those on the verge of death would call out to them.
In war, there is no place chosen by the gods. There is only humanity pointing spears and swords at one another, with the stronger side claiming victory.
However, the old man made an exception for Nazi Germany. He envied their capabilities, but even he, a Demon Worshipper, considered them tainted by a madness that bordered on insanity.
"The more they wage war, the more humanity will realize. In the end, the gods favor those who are prepared. This is why I like your country. Did not the people of your nation start a revolution on their own, rather than relying on those chosen by the gods?"
"..."
"I don't care what you do to Xenon. But remember this: our ultimate goal is to expose the loathsome nature of the gods and drag them down from their 'absolute' position."
The old man placed a particular emphasis on the word 'absolute.' Indeed, the gods were like emperors reigning from an absolute height. Though they found it difficult to rule the world exactly as they pleased, they were transcendent beings who would ruthlessly punish anyone the moment they crossed the line.
The Demon Worshippers' goal was to pull them down from that pedestal.
"...Then let me ask one thing."
The young man, who had seemed somewhat disgruntled, spoke up. The old man nodded as if granting a favor.
"Then what was the purpose of that underground temple found in the Minerva Empire? At first, I thought it was for summoning demons."
"Go on."
"But since the origin of demons was revealed to be human, the purpose itself became unclear. I heard from you that it wasn't just Ascendants, but the Lords themselves who gathered to perform the ritual."
"You are well-informed."
"What exactly were they performing the ritual for?"
The young man had heard about what happened in the underground temple. He also knew the secret that the ritual had been partially successful.
The problem was that because it was only a partial success and the Lords who performed it were all slaughtered, the aftermath remained unknown. At one point, they had suspected Isaac was a remnant of that ritual, but those theories were discarded after the appearance of the Xenon Biography.
Far from helping the Demon Worshippers, he was slaughtering them all. Success? He was nothing but a son of a bitch they wanted to tear apart. Of course, their stance had softened slightly after Blood and Iron, but to the Demon Worshippers, Isaac was still a target for elimination.
"I can tell you, but I wonder if you will be able to understand it."
The old man gave an ambiguous answer. He wasn't looking down on the young man; it seemed the matter truly was that complicated.
Regardless, the young man scowled, unable to hide his irritation. His face was hidden by the robe, but the atmosphere around him turned hostile. The old man merely snorted at the young man's aggression. It was amusing to see the youngster unable to control his emotions.
Still, he had to tell him. Even if he didn't like the boy, he was useful to them.
"Do you believe in other dimensions?"
"Other... dimensions?"
The young man made a bewildered face at the unexpected question. It was far beyond anything he had anticipated. The old man nodded, having expected this reaction. As he said, he doubted the young man could grasp it.
"The Father of All Things learned of the existence of other dimensions long ago. He sought to acquire various cultures from there and strive for the true advancement of humanity. Though it all went to waste because of those loathsome gods."
"..."
"But the Father's existence did not vanish entirely. And a path connected to the dimension that had influenced this world, however faintly, remained. We planned to utilize that."
"What did you hope to gain by using it?"
"You certainly are impatient."
He's going to make a huge mistake later with that temper, the old man thought, clicking his tongue again at the young man's lack of patience.
"What we wanted was a soul from that dimension."
"A soul?"
"Yes. A soul of a mortal, just like us."
"Not even a real demon, but just a mortal?"
The young man was dumbfounded. He knew that it had taken nearly eighty years for the ritual to be prepared. The result of those long years had been utterly destroyed twenty years ago by Clark.
And yet, the prize was merely the soul of a mortal. For someone expecting something grand, it was beyond absurd; it felt like his common sense was being blasted into another dimension.
"On the surface, it might seem like 'merely' that. But in the records left by the Father, it is written: until the humanity of one dimension reaches another, no being, including the gods, can interfere with the natural order of that world."
"That means..."
"We intervened in the providence of that dimension. Through the legacy left by the Father."
Of course, they failed. More accurately, it was a partial success that even the Demon Worshippers didn't fully realize. Hearing this much, one might think it was all a joke. But the Demon Worshippers were meticulous.
"The problem is that we know nothing about that dimension. What kind of world it is, what shape it takes, what culture it has, or what ideologies it holds."
"So you're saying a commoner could have crossed over."
"We spent a long time trying to prevent exactly that. It took eighty years for the ritual to be ready, but we don't even know how much time passed in our search to bring over the specific soul we wanted."
"What kind of soul did you want?"
To that question, the old man answered calmly.
"A soul that changes history."
The Demon Worshippers didn't want a loach; they wanted a butterfly. A butterfly that could create a massive storm with a single flap of its wings.
In a way, they had partially succeeded. With Isaac's arrival, the fate of the Republic of Korea had changed drastically. And as the fate of the Republic of Korea changed, it was only natural for the fate of the world to fluctuate.
Since this world had fallen into a comparable level of chaos, it was, in a sense, a half-success.
Now, let us think carefully.
"This is why we suspected Xenon was a remnant of that ritual. His very existence was at a level that defied common sense."
Due to Clark's heroic actions, the Demon Worshippers' summoning ritual was only half-successful, and Isaac was summoned.
"Since you called him a remnant, does that mean it was a half-success?"
"Yes. However, a soul from a 'time' completely different from what we desired crossed over."
The time Isaac came from was 2022. Twenty years had passed since then. In other words, the time period the Demon Worshippers had targeted was roughly the late 1930s to the mid-1940s.
"But the temple was so badly damaged that even now, we don't know what went wrong. Above all, we intended to send the soul into the body of a demon, not a human. We even had a sacrifice prepared for that."
Who would be the person to change 'history' in that era?
No one could know.
"Awoo. Awoo."
"Oh, my. Yes, yes. My lovely little brother. Are you hungry?"
"Daddy. Is Ariel not getting food?"
"Of course Ariel gets food too. Shall we eat with Daddy?"
"Yeah! Yeah!"
Except for one person.