Chapter 581: A Divine, Are They Really All That?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 581: A Divine, Are They Really All That?
“First, try to think of this world as one big, giant person… No, that's hard to imagine. Let's just say there's an absolute god who set the rules of this world.”
It wasn't an analogy I was fond of, but it would have to do. I continued my explanation.
“The great axioms created by that god make up this world. They make water flow, fire burn, lightning strike, and the world turn. And a Divine is a human who possesses a part of that great axiom as their Unique Magic.”
“Unique Magic? You mean the power of a Divine is a Unique Magic?”
“Yes. In essence, it's no different from your Unique Magic. There's only one difference. Their Unique Magic resonates with the axioms of this world. The axiom you command is only true in your immediate vicinity. But a Divine has no such limit. A Divine's Unique Magic belongs to the entire world.”
That's why the world changes so drastically after a Divine is born. Because a Divine's Unique Magic is accessible to all. Of course, like any knowledge, it requires considerable effort and study to actually use it.
“Is that why my gears can't make me a Divine?”
“Yes. Well, if you could cover the entire earth with gears and make the moon and stars in the sky revolve on them, if gears became part of the great rules that move the universe, then you could become a Divine too, I suppose. If you could even do it.”
For a brief moment, Maximilien actually considered the plan. He began calculating the number of gears needed to cover the earth, but soon realized it was practically impossible.
“Then, is there no other way to become a Divine?”
“That's for you to find. But I'd recommend a different path, if I may.”
“And what is that?”
“Do you really have to become a Divine? Are they really all that?”
Maximilien scowled, thinking I was mocking his dream. I was, but it wasn't mockery for mockery's sake.
“A Divine is still just a human. A human who, while exploring the world, stumbled upon a fragment of a great rule and made it their Unique Magic. They're no different from you. In fact, you might be even greater. Aren't the Divines just imitating and stealing the world's Unique Magic?”
It's one's own choice whether to discover the great principles hidden in the world or to walk a unique path that no one else can understand. No matter how I looked at it, Maximilien seemed suited for the latter, but he himself didn't think so.
“Hmm. An impressive perspective. But, that is not the path I desire.”
“You still dream of becoming a Divine?”
“Yes. Because I will cover the world in gears!”
The man named Maximilien is a gear. The only way he can mesh with the world is by applying a gear to it. If the other party is like a gear, they will mesh. If not, his cogs will tear them apart.
Maximilien's wish is to turn the world, and humanity, into gears. His true desire is to enable rational thought and efficient exchange of ideas, just like them.
“That won't work.”
“But that is no reason for me to stop. Besides, it's not as if there is truly no way.”
Maximilien looked at me from behind his monocle. Reading his thoughts, I grimaced and replied.
“…You mean the King of Humans?”
“Of course. You said that changing the King of Humans would be useless, but that's not true, is it?”
“No. I'm only telling the truth. Changing me won't do any good. Just as repainting and coloring a graph doesn't change reality.”
“Hahaha! Is that really so? Then why did you change? Why did you lose your power? How did the Sanctum change humanity!”
Tch. Everyone's picked up bad habits. You don't always have to follow the textbook, but there are limits to taking shortcuts.
“I warned you. That won't work.”
“Perhaps for you. Having lost your power, you cannot rule humanity. But what about the King of Humans who will soon awaken!”
“…Even if she regains her power and awakens, she won't rule the world.”
“The world will want to be ruled!”
Maximilien, who had been laughing loudly, felt a faint vibration from the floor and sighed.
“Damn, not even a moment's rest!”
His intuition was correct. A single flower petal bloomed from the floor, and from within the fully opened blossom, Nevida stepped out. Upon spotting me, she clasped her hands and bowed her head.
“My King. Are your accommodations to your liking?”
“Ah, yes. The room was nice.”
“If there is anything you require, please do not hesitate to ask.”
After her formal show of courtesy, Nevida gestured to Maximilien. Annoyed, he reluctantly got to his feet.
“Alright, I'm coming! What is it this time?”
“We will speak on the way.”
So it wasn't just me he was so stubborn with. That's a relief. I would've felt wronged if I were the only one.
Maximilien glanced at me regretfully and said.
“I apologize for leaving before our conversation was finished. It's a shame, but I'm a bit busy. Let's meet again!”
“No need to apologize. I hope you stay busy. Let's make this our last meeting, if possible.”
Just then, the Regressor's thin voice called out.
“Wait, Warforger…!”
“What is it?”
Maximilien spun around quickly, as if pleased to be called. He looked desperate for an excuse to postpone his work.
“What… are you doing here?”
“When you ask what I am doing, are you asking what my role is, literally?”
“Yes. You, who deals with gears… should have nothing to do at the Tree of Corruption.”
“Hahaha! That is the greatest misconception of all!”
Nevida urged Maximilien on with a cold glare, but Maximilien, whose heart ran on gears, seemed to feel no fear. He casually ignored her terrifying gaze and spoke with vigor.
“This great and arrogant blind watchmaker creates all sorts of things, but fails to make the tools it actually needs. It creates Chimera Beans, paper trees, and meat fruit, yet it frets over not having a single mainspring to use!”
“…A mainspring?”
“Yes. Just as in the Military State, I am here to make mainsprings for them…”
“Silence that mouth.”
Nevida did not tolerate Maximilien's attempt to spill all their secrets. A bamboo stalk shot up from the floor, splitting the ground and grazing threateningly past him. As if summoning a forest of swords, the sharply grown bamboo was so keen it could be snapped off and used as a spear.
Even Maximilien seemed a little frightened by this, shutting his mouth and raising his arms. Having silenced him, Nevida turned to the Regressor and warned her.
“You are alive by the King's will, and that alone. If you do not wish to die, stay out of my sight.”
Nevida, born in the age of barbarism, was not one for mere words. Her methods were so harsh that mediocre thugs wouldn't even dare to compare themselves to her. Her warning, which had silenced even Maximilien, was chillingly terrifying.
And yet, the Regressor scoffed in response.
“Go on, kill me.”
…Right. You were never one for empty words either. Though her arms were bound, the Regressor faced Nevida defiantly.
“Why don't you defy your King's command and kill me? Go on, openly disobey the King of Humans you so fervently praise. I'll die a satisfied woman.”
Their gazes clashed. The standoff was brief. Nevida turned away coldly. There was no need to test her own loyalty just to eliminate an already neutralized opponent.
Instead, Nevida quietly warned the Great Witch's parrot.
“Hexia. It is best not to speak with her.”
The parrot bobbed its head.
[Is that an order?]
“No. I cannot command you. This is… advice. I am not the only one the Saintess is hostile towards.”
[Huh? Oh, I'll think about it.]
“That is sufficient.”
Her conversation finished, Nevida stepped onto the flower petal, with Maximilien still skewered by the bamboo. The petal folded in an instant, and Nevida and Maximilien vanished.
The Regressor let out a sigh, her tension seemingly released, while the parrot flew around the room in relief.
[Squawk! The nuisance is gone. Gears. I don't like them. They're so cold and hard. I like things that are soft and fluffy. If he becomes a Divine, the world will become hard.]
“Don't worry, that won't happen. You have to be on Tyr's level to become a Divine.”
[I hate that too! Squawk! Why Tyrkanzyaka! Why did she have to become a Divine!]
The parrot's question was singular. It seemed to be only about why Tyr became a Divine instead of itself.
[Tyrkanzyaka was just a brat swayed by her own power! All she had was power beyond her means and the talented people who flocked to it! She was clearly not Divine material. If I had just kept researching this blood, I could have surpassed her and become a Divine myself!]
“That's just trying to snatch someone else's achievement. Isn't that a bit shameless?”
[Tyrkanzyaka never intended to become a Divine anyway! She was an avenger with nothing but revenge on her mind! So it would've been fine if I became one! No problem!]
“Maybe not, but haven't you had Tyr's blood for hundreds of years? If you made no progress in all that time, it probably wasn't going to happen anyway.”
[The same goes for Tyrkanzyaka! She didn't dream of becoming a Divine for twelve hundred years, so why did she suddenly awaken as one? Why would someone who should have been busy killing the Sanctum delve into her own power! Who put the idea in her head…]
The grumbling parrot spotted me avoiding its gaze and whistling, and immediately flew at me.
[It was you! You were the one who coaxed Tyrkanzyaka into becoming a Divine!]
“I didn't make her a Divine. Tyr became one on her own.”
[You must have been the catalyst! Tyrkanzyaka wasn't stupid… but she never cared about such things. It had to be you!]
“The person who can become a catalyst is the amazing one. You, on the other hand, aimed to be a Divine from the start and still failed.”
[Hey!]
The parrot grabbed my arms as if to tear them off and flapped its wings. It seemed to be planning to lift me into the air and drop me.
“Besides, shouldn't you be focusing on something else right now? How Tyr became a Divine is more important than who helped her, isn't it?”
[Squawk? You know?]
“I have a rough idea. I was nearby when Tyr became a Divine.”
The parrot, which had been pulling at me, stopped dead in mid-air. Taking advantage of the pause, I set myself down and briefly explained what had happened to Tyr.
“One way or another, Tyr fulfilled her wish and lost her power. To be precise, she lost her dominion over blood. She lost the immense control she had over all Yeiling, Ain, and Elders, and became just a girl who could use Bloodcraft.”
[Really? Then I guess I don't need the puppet ritual to avoid her dominion anymore. So?]
“Then, some of the Elders plotted a rebellion. There were several reasons. Some were disappointed that the great Progenitor Tyrkanzyaka had abandoned her dominion, others wanted to seize that power for themselves, but the biggest factor was that the loss of her dominion made rebellion possible. It's human nature to want to do something once it becomes possible.”
[Haha! Serves her right. I knew it would happen from the start. Tyrkanzyaka was only strong; she wasn't a respectable leader like me!]
It's hilarious hearing someone who possesses a parrot because they're too shy to meet people talk about respect. I wish she'd take a look in the mirror.
“So, to overcome the Elders' rebellion, Tyr learned every power and technique she could get her hands on. That included what the Elders had spent hundreds of years honing and cultivating. Even without her dominion, the techniques they used originated from her. Tyr absorbed the power and techniques of all the Elders and became a Divine.”
Every one of the Elders was a powerhouse who would be recorded in history. The techniques and knowledge gained by twelve such powerful beings developing their own unique Bloodcraft were immense. By gathering all that knowledge, which had branched out in twelve different directions, she had enough to become a Divine.
[Squawk! See! In the end, she didn't achieve it with her own power! That's cheating!]
“A cheating Divine is better than a Divine-wannabe who tried to steal someone else's blood.”
[What was I missing? Hey. What was Tyrkanzyaka's epiphany?]
“Her epiphany?”
[The final piece she was missing to become a Divine. The realization that led Tyrkanzyaka to divinity!]
Ah, that? It wasn't anything grand. It was something Tyr already knew. She just never had a reason to reflect on it.
“That being alive… is surprisingly no big deal.”