The Curse of Knowledge
How frail is the body of a human girl.
Just a single mana orb brushed against her, and she shattered into pieces, her limbs flying every which way.
Crack, crunch.
A mist of blood erupted from the disassembled body of Muria-17-06, drenching the girl's face.
"Ahh…."
The girl's mind froze solid.
Her mouth hung open like malfunctioning machinery, blankly denying the reality before her eyes.
This has to be a dream.
There can't be such a miserable, cruel reality.
"…What a nuisance."
The research director scowled.
One girl was an idiot. Another stupidly killed herself.
In the end, he'd have to use this troublesome one as his vessel.
He'd preferred the body of the suicidal one.
"Tch, no choice, then."
Once she ascended to godhood, things would change anyway.
For any eventualities, he'd just have to impose some restrictions.
The research director extended his hand and flicked his fingers. An invisible grasp seized the girl and dragged her before him.
"Has the shock stopped her mind cold?"
He tossed aside the glove on his hand and placed his palm atop the girl's head.
Hum.
Mana surged from his hand, burrowing into her brain like fingers through jelly, rummaging around inside.
"Actually, this works out perfectly. An ideal state for implanting restrictions through constraints."
The massive magic circle filling the sector began to shrink, inching onto the girl's body and etching itself there.
At the same moment, a geyser of blood from the meaty remains of Muria-17-06 surged into her.
"Aaaaaaaaagh!"
It was like kneading her insides, imprinting ultimate magic onto an object through enchantment.
The girl screamed in agony from the torment.
"It, it huuurts! It hurts!"
Even for her, who had endured countless experiments up to now, bearing an imprint that kneaded her very soul was impossible.
"That one's useless now too, so time to use her as material."
The research director reached out toward Muria-25-03, who had fallen from Muria-17-06's back and was crawling across the floor.
"W-wait! Stop! No! P-please, nooooo!"
In the hellish pain, the girl desperately stretched out a hand to protect her friend.
Snap!
Even with her brain destroyed, the girl who had retained human form dissolved into a puddle of blood, becoming ink for the imprint.
"S-Samsam! …No… not Samsam too… th-that can't be…."
The girl couldn't believe this reality.
They were all dead.
All of them, because she'd tried to escape.
If they'd stayed in their cages, this wouldn't have happened.
It was all because of her choice.
"No. If you'd stayed, I would've incinerated you all and moved on to the next batch of subjects. That's why you should thank yourself for stepping out of those cages. I don't have much time left, after all."
"You! You bastard! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"
"Rejoice, and give thanks, you worm. You're about to become a god."
The man laughed delightedly at the girl's rage, shoving both hands into her head.
"The first god ever created by humans! A god of wisdom, no less!"
Rumble.
The ground shook as a mystical energy enveloped the girl.
"All conditions for ascension to constellation have been met!"
According to his research, the requirements for birthing a god were two-fold.
Gathering faith from intelligent beings to coalesce divinity, or…
"Knowledge surpassing a certain threshold, bolstered by supporting abilities! Threats to the subject, trials and tribulations! And finally…."
The research director looked down at the girl.
Her eyes blazed with fury, meeting his gaze.
"The completion of the saga through overcoming those trials."
"Dieeeee!!!"
Crunch.
Her psychokinesis simultaneously pulverized the research director's head.
Blood and brains sprayed from the shattered skull in all directions.
…He's dead.
The monster who bought me as an experimental subject, subjected me to endless modifications and torments from childhood.
The bastard who brutally killed and tortured all my friends. He's dead.
"…For real?"
The magic circle halted the instant his head exploded.
The girl couldn't believe it.
Really dead?
No matter how she looked—from any angle—the headless corpse showed no vital signs.
"He's dead… dead… he's dead…!"
Tears fell, one drop, two.
"Waaaaaaaaah!"
The girl collapsed to the floor, wailing in despair.
It's all my fault.
If I hadn't been there—no, if I'd just died instead, they wouldn't have vanished without a trace!
If they hadn't met me!
"I'm sorry, everyone! I'm so sorryyyyy! Waaaaaaaaah!"
But no matter how she sobbed or pounded the ground, her friends didn't come back to life.
In the empty space, only her cries echoed and reverberated.
Then—
Hummm.
The vanished mystical energy flooded back, filling the space around her.
"Ugh… uuuuh!?"
Blood from the research director's corpse rose and poured into her.
"…No."
Only then did the girl realize why the research director had died so absurdly easily.
He'd planned to die by her hand from the start.
To become the villain in her saga of artificial constellation ascension, fulfilling the final condition.
She hadn't succeeded in revenge.
On the contrary… she'd perfectly completed his plan.
"No… I don't want this! Stop!"
As the clouds thickened, her body began to float upward bit by bit.
She tried to resist the clouds of divinity enveloping her, but it was futile.
All conditions were met. The saga was complete.
The girl ascended as a constellation.
* * *
When the girl came to her senses again, she found herself sitting somewhere in a dark room.
The authority granted by her ascension to godhood.
It was the power to perceive everything on the Raipania Continent and internalize all knowledge belonging to the continent.
Thanks to it, she knew she'd risen to the heavens.
To think the research director's lifelong work had been artificially birthing a god.
Using the entire lab—even himself—as sacrifices.
Losing her beloved friends and her object of vengeance, only for that vengeance's target to achieve his lifelong wish… the girl sat dazed and lost for a long while.
Then, a sudden thought struck her.
If it's a god's power…
Maybe I can revive Samsam and Yukyuk.
Not at the level of her human knowledge, but wielding her full divine authority, she searched for ways to bring her friends back.
Resurrection as undead through black magic.
Common across the continent.
No. Their bodies are gone, and I can't turn those kids into undead.
Power from an otherworldly god to turn illusions into reality.
Records from the Mythic Age showed it had happened several times.
No. Borrowing power from an outer god? Who knows what it might do. Those who contracted with outer gods in the records never met happy ends.
Finally—
Gathering forgotten faith to birth a constellation.
This could work.
Many constellations had been reborn as gods through deification in epic sagas after death.
If I create and spread sagas for Samsam and Yukyuk, maybe they can revive!
Ecstatic, the girl rose to her feet.
Then—
Thud!
"Kyaa!" Something massive slammed into her mind with brutal force.
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