Chapter 124: The History of Tantalus
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 124: The History of Tantalus
After silencing me, Earth Sage looked at everyone and asked.
“Do you know how Tantalus came to be?”
Oh, a question from the test! I quickly stepped up.
“Perfect, I just reviewed this! Tyr, tell them!”
“Of course. Was it not because of the Overlord's massacre? As for why it was created, there are a few theories, but the main one must be that Mother Earth was enraged.”
Having answered, Tyr looked at me as if expecting praise.
However, Earth Sage shook her head, so the praise would have to wait.
“No! I speak not of the Abyss, but of Tantalus.”
“Tantalus? Do you mean this very building we stand upon?”
“That is correct.”
“…That, I do not know. They said they would serve me, so I let them be. When I opened my eyes, I was here.”
Naturally, no one knew. Tantalus was indeed built in the Abyss, but its history was not so long. Besides, no one here could be described as knowledgeable, not even as a joke.
Earth Sage, the only one in this space who knew the answer, began to speak.
“After the land was laid barren by the Abyss, the people came to fear Mother Earth, realizing that she was a stern god who could also feel wrath. Furthermore, impostors claiming to be gravemen appeared everywhere, causing the people to gradually shun the Order of Gaia.
To re-establish our faith, we had to appease Mother Earth's anger and restore the Abyss. Thus, I entered into negotiations with the Military State.”
After the Military State's successful coup d'état.
They planned a massive civil engineering project to punish criminals and stabilize public sentiment simultaneously.
However, the Military State lacked the know-how for such a large-scale construction. At this rate, it was clear that what they called construction would become a mass burial.
Even so, they couldn't kill that many people. There was the Overlord's precedent, and it would be a loss of manpower in itself.
The Military State, which revered efficiency over loyalty, made the easiest yet most difficult decision.
They gathered the scattered followers of Mother Earth, who had lost their focal point.
“The promise was that if we aided the Military State's construction, they would create a ‘lid’ to cover the Abyss.”
At a time when the majority of the population believed in the Sky God and the Saintess, colluding with the Order of Gaia was an act that went against not only the will of the people but also other nations.
Of course, the Military State wasn't the kind of nation to care about such trivialities.
Still, it was unlikely that the persecuted followers of Mother Earth would have readily followed the Military State. Not without sufficient bait.
“Eliminating the Abyss was everyone's long-cherished wish. To bury the karma of the gravemen, followers from all over the world gathered. They believed in me and followed.”
And now, the truth of what bait the Military State had used to gather the followers of Mother Earth was revealed.
“So, you're saying Tantalus was originally intended to cover the Abyss like a lid?”
“That is correct. Tantalus was originally created as a lid to cover the Abyss and seal away Mother Earth's wrath. Just as one puts a lid on a boiling pot, I foolishly believed that if we covered it, her anger would subside…”
It makes sense. If you have a hole that's hard to fill, the first thought is to cover it. It's a common idea anyone would have.
The only problem was that the hole was so enormous that no one dared to even attempt it.
The feasibility of an idea changes with its scale. The Abyss was too vast and deep, so no one had ever thought of covering it.
They had neither the resources nor the technology to create a lid of that magnitude.
…Except for Earth Sage, standing right before me.
Earth Sage continued her explanation calmly.
“During the Military State's five-year-long grand construction, we all worked until our bones turned to dust, and many of my brothers and sisters fell. Nevertheless, we all joined forces for our lifelong wish. Brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters. We all united and continued the arduous labor. After finishing the promised work, we made our demand to the Military State, and they kept their promise.”
And so, she said, they had created a structure larger than the diameter of the Abyss with blessed concrete.
Despite being the one who achieved this incredible feat, Earth Sage explained it in a dry, monotonous tone, as if reading from a book.
“After the lid was completed, one of the Six Generals, the Mage Marshal, personally moved it over the Abyss. The mere sight of that distant void was enough to make one's legs tremble. When it was finally hidden from view by the lid, we, who thought we had achieved our lifelong dream, shed tears of joy. It felt as if we had finally corrected the mistakes of the distant past and set everything back in its proper place….”
Her words trailed off, choked with emotion.
I knew what happened next. I'd read it from the mind of a certain resistance technician.
“The moment you stepped on it, the ground sank into the Abyss. Because the curse of the Abyss isn't something that can be hidden by a mere lid.”
“…You must have heard it from someone. Then again, it was no secret at the time.”
Recalling one of the few devastating failures of her life, Earth Sage affirmed weakly.
“…That is accurate. The moment I took the first step, it sank just as much. The despair of feeling the ground give way beneath my feet…”
Once I got her past the difficult part, the words flowed freely from Earth Sage's lips.
“You cannot imagine how great the disappointment, the despair was. How sorry and apologetic I felt that their five years of hard work went unrewarded. I had no words for the comrades who had believed in and followed me…”
Submerged in emotion, the one who had led the persecuted felt a great responsibility for that failure.
Her withered voice was low and dark, like settled dust.
“Everyone was greatly disappointed and scattered in all directions, leaving me alone to ruminate on my terrible failure. However, the next vista is only visible when one reaches a steep cliff. As I gazed into the Abyss for a long time, I realized. What we had covered it with was not a lid, but land. And that land was the key to reaching the source of the Abyss.”
A concrete structure that should have fallen into the Abyss and descended infinitely into the void.
Strangely, it didn't sink unless someone stepped on it. Unlike other ordinary objects, it did not fall.
However, land that could not be stepped upon was meaningless, so no one considered this fact important.
Except for Earth Sage, who still clung to her failure.
“To reach the bottom of the Abyss, humans had to set foot on this land and live.”
A space meaningless because it was infinite.
To give it meaning, humans had to step on it and build a history. As people were born, grew, and died, living on that land, Tantalus drew closer to the source of the Abyss.
That was why Earth Sage needed people to live in Tantalus.
“I intended to live alone in the Abyss to take responsibility for my failure and reach its source. Until this land reached the bottom, or until this body fell asleep and was buried.”
“But isn't that too indefinite?”
I nudged her along with small questions, drawing out her answers.
“The Military State said the same. They said it was too uncertain and proposed that instead of wasting such a precious ability, the State would use this place as a prison. They said they had many criminals deserving of death and would make it a hell to imprison them. That way, their lives would also contribute.”
“Ah, so that's why the Military State kept shoving people in here.”
Earth Sage nodded bitterly.
“To put the Military State's prisoners in Mother Earth's hell. In a way, it is a… sacrilegious act. But I accepted their proposal. Purely out of my own greed, I pushed those prisoners not into a human prison, but into the prison of Mother Earth…”
The Abyss was created by Mother Earth. It became a literal hell, punishing those who were irreverent to her.
And so, until now, people had regarded Tantalus as a simple prison. Hell and prison, a fitting association.
Here's the surprising fact.
Tantalus, made by humans, was not actually a prison.
It was a structure created to reach the source of the Abyss, a structure pretending to be land.
It was humanity's deception against a god.
“In that case, you're the one who made Tantalus, aren't you, Earth Sage?”
“To be precise, the Military State designed it to make use of this land. I merely made the proposal to them.”
“That's the first I'm hearing of it. I just thought the Military State was crazy enough to build a prison in the Abyss.”
I thought their development path was weird, but it was payment for a promise. Right, no matter how bored you are, you don't build a prison underground. Of course not.
“That information was classified, so it is no wonder you misunderstood.”
Hoo. As if her throat was dry, Earth Sage downed a glass of water in one go and spoke.
“The Military State pulled up this land, built a prison upon it, and to pay my due, I devoted myself to working for them. For over ten years, I participated in construction projects large and small. After that, I wandered the world to find a way to restore the Abyss.”
Her voice gradually grew more excited. As the story approached the present, Earth Sage's face brightened. It was the face of someone whose present was better than their past, who expected the future to be better still.
“Then one day, news of a prison break reached my ears, and I came to inspect Tantalus once more. And I became certain.”
With her lifelong wish on the verge of fulfillment, Earth Sage's withered body radiated a passion like an active volcano.
“That we have reached the source. That now, we can eliminate the Abyss.”
A story told with emotion has power. Now, no one dared to doubt Earth Sage's words.
Because everyone understood that she had the power, had put in the effort, and had found a way.
The disappearance of the Abyss was now a foregone conclusion.
“Wait a minute! If you get rid of the Abyss, what happens to us? Don't we disappear with it?”
On that point, Earth Sage stated with certainty.
“No. Only the Abyss will disappear. Therefore, this land will return to its original form—that is, the great pit the Overlord intended to use to bury 300,000 souls, before the Abyss was created.”
“Hmph! In that case, not bad at all!”
As the satisfied undying one nodded emphatically, Callis quickly asked.
“How did the Military State react to your visit, Brigadier General?”
“Reaction? That I do not know. I merely notified them of my arrival.”
Hearing that she didn't know, Callis was actually relieved. If Earth Sage had simply notified them without any warning, they would have time before the Military State could respond. The more sudden Earth Sage's actions, the higher Callis's chances of escape.
This time, I asked.
“Then when are you going to get rid of the Abyss?”
“There is the matter of my energy, and I must also examine this land a little. I intend to proceed the day after tomorrow.”
A declaration that in two days, we could escape this godforsaken Abyss.
Hearing this, joy welled up inside me unbidden.
I'd never once in my life thought I liked this damn world, but the thought of going up and basking in the sunlight made me suddenly miss the surface terribly.
The cool breeze brushing past my ears, the sunlight chiding my lazy body, the distant scenery.
I never thought I was the type to enjoy the scenery, but perhaps I had desperately longed for these things that had been with me my whole life.
“Waaah! We're escaping!”
I let my excitement show.
“We're getting out anyway! Nothing matters anymore! Earth Sage! Eat everything here!”
Earth Sage politely refused.
“Even if you offer it, I am a small person, and there is a limit to what I can hold. I am full, so how about you eat the rest slowly?”
“Nonsense! We're escaping the day after tomorrow, we can't possibly eat all the leftovers in that short time! We'll make new food tomorrow! Today's leftovers will be thrown in the official Tantalus slop bucket!”
‘To throw away the fruits of the earth in front of a follower of Mother Earth…? Does he not know how rude that is?’
Just as Earth Sage frowned slightly, I called for the official Tantalus slop bucket.
Leftovers have always gone to the dogs, as the old saying goes. Even a minister's dog eats well.
“Azzy!”
“Woof? Me?”
Azzy tilted her head and trotted over.
I placed a plate piled high with meat in an empty spot on the table. Then, like a gambler shouting "all in," I pushed it forward grandly and said.
“That's right! Eat all of this today!”
“Woof! What's all this!”
Azzy immediately sat in a chair, buried her head in the plate, and began to chow down. Tasting the freshly cooked, savory meat, she yelped with joy.
“Tomorrow! Woof! The sun will rise in the west!”
“I don't know where you learned to say that, but this food isn't from the sun, it's from this person here! Be grateful!”
“Thank you, Woof-yielding!”
“…Eat well. Dog King.”
Earth Sage couldn't bring herself to scold the dog and simply nodded.