Chapter 360: The King Who Kills Others, The God Who Kills Himself - 14
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 360: The King Who Kills Others, The God Who Kills Himself - 14
The Golden Lord was no fool. While it’s sometimes said that the smarter a person is, the easier they are to deceive, this was a different matter. Every memory and emotion I had read, I had read here, in this Spiritual World.
Why Elric had abandoned him. The process by which the Golden Empire had fallen. The Golden Lord already knew. He knew it to his very bones.
I spoke softly to the Golden Lord, whose head was bowed. I gave voice to the words that already existed in his heart, words he had been desperately trying to ignore.
“The Golden Empire wasn't beautiful at all. In fact, it was more hideous than most places. A nation of artisans and technology. A nation that earned its wealth through trade. It was filled with people more shrewd, selfish, and willing to sell their pride for coin than anyone. When the nation faced ruin because everyone was only chasing their own profits, they branded you a demon and hunted you down. Did you truly wish to rebuild a country like that?”
There was no answer. It didn't matter. My words alone were enough to shatter his paradise.
“Of course not. I can tell just by looking at the paradise you’ve created. A Golden Palace where homunculi work without a single complaint, and where you keep only the alchemists you can have a decent conversation with. The King of Steel praises you in a loving voice, and all of creation takes on the ideal form you desire.”
He had wanted to create the Golden Empire. That was why he went around ‘alchemizing’ everything in his path. Villages, tools, even fields. A pastoral farming village, a prosperous city, a magnificent fortress wall. The ideal scenery he desired had become reality before his eyes.
But an ideal is not reality. The scenery he considered ideal never actually existed. I pointed out the Golden Lord’s contradiction.
“The Golden Empire you long for doesn't exist. Because this Golden Palace, built by ignoring the outside world and cherry-picking only the parts you like, doesn't resemble the Golden Empire in the slightest.”
The words I spoke were the voice of his own inner self. No human can resist themself. I forcibly awakened and stimulated the Golden Lord, who was nothing but a lingering thought without a physical body.
“Let’s stop this farce. Your wish cannot be granted. Not because you lack the ability, but because even you don't know what you truly want. That’s why your final creation, the ‘Golden Lord,’ has been wandering the earth in vain for hundreds of years, harboring a meaningless wish. Foolishly alchemizing its next meal even as the dholes tear it apart.”
The Golden Lord. A relic of the Divine meant to rebuild the Golden Empire, and the final work of the first alchemist who remembered it.
But the Golden Lord had failed to rebuild the Golden Empire. It wandered, alchemizing everything around it for the sake of an unattainable wish, but the traces of the Golden Empire it created only became food for dholes to tear apart.
The Golden Lord spoke through clenched teeth.
“What… do you want.”
I am going to destroy the Golden Lord.
Not because it gets in my way, nor because it will start a war with the Military State. The Golden Lord is a delusion. As long as it exists, its wish can never be fulfilled.
I will strip away all his lingering attachments, destroy the Golden Lord, and contain him within me.
“I want your wish. If your wish is to repeat this illusion forever, then this might be an answer of sorts, but that’s not what you want, is it? Why does the Golden Lord exist? Why does the period you placed at the end of your story fail to conclude it, instead letting it drag on for eternity?”
It wasn't just the Golden Lord, either. All those who had died. The lingering delusions of those who left this world dreaming of heaven and hell in their hearts. All those delusions originated from ‘her.’
In place of a heaven that doesn't exist, I have become an ossuary. Now, it was the Golden Lord’s turn to enter.
“What is it that binds the Golden Lord in these shackles? What is your true wish?”
A living human might not answer. A wish can change at any time, and they can fulfill it with their own power without ever needing to speak of it.
But one on the verge of death has no such luxury. They spit out their regrets to leave behind their wish, which will soon vanish from the world.
So what of those who are already dead?
“…I will create a beautiful Golden Empire.”
They can't help but speak.
I calmly asked again.
“Even though the Golden Empire was a vile country that framed you and killed you?”
“It was such a country, but I loved it.”
“The Elric you loved betrayed you in your most difficult moment, though?”
“She was such a person, but I adored her.”
The more he spoke, the clearer his heart became.
He liked the country. Not out of patriotism, but out of nostalgia for it being his home.
He loved Elric. Not out of loyalty, but because he admired her beauty and ability.
Sin, responsibility… he had justified his own death with all sorts of reasons, but in truth, he was killed as an example, a target for their anger. If one were to truly assign blame, they should have killed the thousands who looked after their own interests amidst the chaos. Unlike the Golden Lord, who couldn't bring himself to leave his country, they had abandoned it without a moment's hesitation.
Because that was impossible, they killed the Golden Lord.
And through it all, the Golden Lord loved his country and his king.
No matter how you dress it up, package it, and embellish it, everything eventually comes down to the human heart. There’s no need for a long, drawn-out story there.
“Is there any reason to remake that country? From the looks of it, it would have collapsed on its own if someone other than you had discovered alchemy.”
He should have felt no sense of duty, yet the Golden Lord found a reason with great ease.
It was a hideous country with an irresponsible king, but the Golden Lord loved it all. He wanted to return to the happy times he had within it. And so.
“Because I want to.”
His mind was made up.
Click. The shackles that bound his feet came undone. The sense of guilt that had ensnared the Golden Lord had vanished. He slowly stood up on trembling legs.
I asked, as if for confirmation.
“Even if it will be different from the Golden Empire you lived in?”
“When you fix something, it’s bound to be different from the original. I will fill what is lacking, restore what is broken, and mend what is bad. That is what alchemy is for, and that is what the Golden Lord is for.”
Clank. The chains binding his arms snapped, one by one. The Golden Lord reached out with his newly freed arms and took the golden bell in his hand. A clear, ringing sound filled the room.
I asked once more.
“But, will it be possible? The Golden Empire the Golden Lord creates has no sustainability. No matter how well you make it, it will disappear before long if there are no humans to maintain it. Even if there are caretakers, the dholes will devour everything. You don't want a country that vanishes in an instant, do you?”
This time, his answer took a little longer. But not much. There was nothing to stop him now that he had steeled his heart.
“…If it lacks sustainability, then I will ‘create’ even that.”
Create it?
Thud. The blade that had been pressing against his neck cracked and fell to the ground. Now, nothing bound him. The Golden Lord, completely free, held his head high and declared.
“If the homunculi are not perfect, then I will improve them until they are. If the dholes destroy the Golden Empire, then I will eliminate them so they cannot. Fortunately, both goals can be achieved with a single method. Killing two birds with one stone, you see.”
Uh-oh. Wait a minute.
This conclusion is getting weird.
“—So that nothing can harm the Golden Empire I create, I will collect them… and use them as material for homunculi. For homunculi that will move longer and lead this nation.”
I might have just unleashed a monster.
Until now, the things the Golden Lord created were frighteningly intricate and practical, but the humans alone were lacking something. It was probably, as he said, because he didn't understand humans well. Perhaps he even had a slight aversion to creating them.
But now that he had cast off all his shackles and restraints, nothing could stop the Golden Lord.
Ugh. What do I do about this?
“The dead can't affect the world in any way. Naturally, they can't fulfill their wishes either. I'm not particularly fond of those who die so easily while clutching such precious desires to their chests.”
But the Golden Lord was a little different. He didn't die and burden me with his wish. Instead, even before death, he created something that could fulfill it.
The lingering thought that remained here was his true wish. A pure desire, not bound or commanded by anyone. If so, then I suppose I must affirm it.
“Even in death, you left something behind to fulfill your wish. For now, I’ll be cheering for you.”
Truthfully, there was nothing I could do but cheer him on.
I am a magician. I can draw out his hidden desires, but I cannot use a contrary wind to make them subside. Magic may seem grand at a glance, but in reality, it’s all just trickery, making possible things seem extraordinary.
If he thought I would interfere, he would kill me instantly. The Golden Lord had thrown off all his restraints. Powerless, I couldn't even change his mind.
“…I have only one master. But you, too, have given me a great teaching.”
Fortunately, I was not included among the targets of his hostility. Showing reverence rather than animosity, the Golden Lord held the bell and walked past me, heading out of the room.
“I will now achieve what I have failed to achieve until now.”
The world shimmered. As the story ended, I felt my very existence being rejected. As my body felt like it was being sucked away somewhere, I left him with one last remark.
“Go on and try. You’ll never know until you do.”
After that, the world went dark, and I was banished from his Spiritual World.