Recreating the Ruin (5)
The identity of the object I pulled from my breast pocket.
It was none other than the Easter Egg.
A reward obtained through a sacred covenant.
A mysterious egg harboring infinite potential within its colorful shell.
"Upa-pa-pa-pa...!"
Upa-pa let out a gasp of admiration upon seeing it.
A vivid emotion, unlike anything he had shown before, began to surface on his face.
"T-To think such a creature of pure, infinite potential exists! H-How did you obtain something like this? Upa-pa!"
Upa-pa's eyes, which had been dull and lifeless, began to sparkle.
The Elder who possessed the authority to create Divine Beasts, the Lord of Potential and Regeneration.
Even he could not help but burst into pure, childlike wonder in front of the Easter Egg.
Well, that's because this is thousands of years ago... the ancient era.
According to the lore of Lost Elder, the Easter Egg was a holy relic created long after the heavens were formed.
Therefore, an Elder encountering the Easter Egg at this point in time would naturally be astonished.
Even more so if it was merely a dummy replica.
In other words...
Now that I had captured Upa-pa's attention with the Easter Egg, all that was left was to persuade him.
Just like in the game, I could use this item to proceed to the next stage.
Having finished my train of thought, I continued in a polite and formal tone.
"I understand your heart completely, O Lord of Potential and Regeneration."
"..."
"Living through eternity, you must have felt weary of everything. As you said, each day was the same, and days with nothing new to offer simply dragged on."
Upa-pa looked up at me in silence. I lightly lifted the Easter Egg and asked:
"But what about this creature? Does it not interest you?"
"..."
"The infinite potential sleeping inside this tiny egg. Do you not wish to witness the moment this creature hatches with your own eyes?"
I drove the point home slowly, but with absolute confidence in my voice.
"If you fade away at this very moment, you will never see the day this child hatches. An opportunity like this will never come again."
"T-That is..."
Gulp.
Upa-pa swallowed hard.
His eyes drifted back toward the Easter Egg.
His expression was like someone gazing at the most precious treasure in the world.
"Uuuugh..."
He shook his head.
But before long, Upa-pa shook his head and spoke.
"B-But I still cannot, Upa-pa..."
"What is the problem?"
"The moment I ascend to the heavens, my connection with the spiritual beasts will be completely severed."
"..."
"The Divine Beasts I created long ago, like the Sea Moon Jellyfish or the Sky Mirror, are fine. They have already established their own egos, and their minds are stable."
Upa-pa's gaze shifted toward the fish swimming in the aquarium.
He gently placed his tiny hand against the glass.
"But the immature spiritual beasts are different."
"..."
"The spiritual beasts I made are connected to me by an invisible thread. Through that connection, they maintain stability and gradually grow into Divine Beasts."
It was exactly as Upa-pa said.
Growing into a Divine Beast was not a simple matter of gaining power.
It was accompanied by a highly delicate and complex process where the mind matured alongside the body.
"But if I ascend and this connection is severed, the incomplete spiritual beasts will run wild without restraint. Their transformation into Divine Beasts will accelerate at a rapid pace."
"..."
"In that unstable growth, most of them will eventually lose their minds and turn into horrific monsters. Upa-pa."
That was true.
A state of possessing immense power without the mental capacity to handle it.
As a result, the Divine Beasts would turn into monsters driven solely by instinct and destructive impulses, devoid of reason.
It was like a child suddenly given the body of an adult, unable to control that power and being dragged around by it.
"A being that only grows stronger while losing control no longer deserves to be called a Divine Beast. It would not be an agent of the gods, but a calamity."
"..."
"The 'beings from another world' running wild outside the castle walls will lose their power once the laws of the heavens are established. But the incompletely grown Divine Beasts are different. They will drive this continent to ruin, Upa-pa."
The crucial difference between the Outer Gods and the Divine Beasts.
The Outer Gods were alien entities that did not belong to this world.
Once the powerful restriction known as the laws of the heavens was imposed, they would naturally weaken or be expelled from the mortal realm.
But the Divine Beasts were different.
They were originally beings belonging to this world. Even if the laws of the heavens were established, their power would not diminish.
Rather, as the intervention of the Great Ones faded, they would run even more rampant.
And the result of that...
...would lead to the destruction of the entire continent.
That was the reason Upa-pa had faded away in the real world.
He did not flee to the heavens in a hurry like the other Great Ones.
Instead, he stayed here until the very end, trying to sort out the connections with the spiritual beasts he had created one by one.
Even at this moment, his act of watching the fish was part of that 'sorting out.'
He was checking the state of the immature spiritual beasts, pondering until the end if there was a way to safely sever their connection.
However, that sense of responsibility ultimately drove Upa-pa to his death.
Although he succeeded in safely sorting out the connections with the spiritual beasts, he was discovered by the Outer Gods who had invaded the imperial palace in the meantime, meeting his end.
He could have abandoned everything and fled...
Yet Upa-pa did not abandon his duty until the very end.
And in return, he accepted eternal extinction.
But.
I clenched my fist tightly.
An empire facing destruction. I had come here to prevent that tragedy.
The ancient era had already met its end. This trial was merely an illusion recreating the past. Even if I changed something here, reality would not change.
Even so.
I would save Rashutku, which was destined to be destroyed by the Outer Gods.
I would defy the predetermined fate. I would prevent the tragic end of the Great One who had made a noble sacrifice.
"Did you say the Divine Beasts would turn into monsters?"
There were those who fled, but there were also those who chose to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.
If not for their devotion, not even the "Four Great Cities" would exist on this continent.
Because of the sacrifices made by a few Great Ones, humanity was able to protect the last seeds of civilization.
"Did you say those spiritual beasts swimming in the water would fall into monsters that know only destruction, plunging this continent into catastrophe?"
It was the prediction of an unspeakably horrific disaster. It might well be an epic of collapse hinting at the end of the world.
Even so.
"It is fine."
I was prepared to accept all of it.
"Do not worry, and ascend."
Had I not resolved this from the moment I decided to challenge this trial in the first place?
That in this trial, where merely surviving was considered a success in the game, I would achieve a 'perfect clear.'
"I will stop all of those calamities."
"...?"
Upa-pa froze.
For a moment, Upa-pa looked up at me with an absurd expression.
Then, before long, he scowled with his round eyes, looking angry.
"Upa-pa! What nonsense are you talking about!"
Even Pean looked at me with a look of bewilderment. He, too, did not understand what my words meant.
Upa-pa shouted at the top of his lungs.
"If the spiritual beasts run wild, no one can stop them! A horrific war where even the Divine Beasts kill each other will break out...!"
"I know."
But I did not care.
Because...
...that catastrophe is exactly what I wanted.
The conviction that had pierced through all my actions so far.
High risk, high return.
When others chose the safe path, I always chose the risky gamble.
Every single choice bordered on madness. Even Strawberry Latte, a fellow reincarnator, went so far as to call me a madman.
But thanks to that.
The present me could exist.
With ordinary methods, you can only obtain ordinary results.
Chaos and destruction.
There was a plan that could only be realized in the gaps between them.
At the moment all order collapsed, in the crevice where the world fell into chaos.
The Feather Sword would finally reclaim her true power.
True Name Awakening.
A realm that could never be reached in a peaceful world.
An ultimate power that could only manifest in extreme situations filled with despair and ruin.
To obtain that ability, this world had to collapse once more.
The invasion of the Outer Gods alone was not enough.
The rampage of the Divine Beasts.
Destruction in the truest sense, which could not be controlled even by the laws of the heavens.
The moment the invasion of the Outer Gods and that calamity erupted simultaneously, that was when this continent would turn into a complete hell.
And in the midst of that despair...
I would use all the chaos as nourishment to achieve rapid growth.
While others were busy just trying to survive, I would turn that crisis into an opportunity.
Using every single piece of debris from the collapsing world as a stepping stone, I would leap to a realm no one had ever reached.
Calculating every variable.
Controlling every risk.
Until I could predict every outcome.
I would never stop.
I would perfectly foresee even the moment the world collapsed, and obtain only the results I wanted even within that chaos.
The more uncontrollable the situation seemed, the more meticulously I would move. And just as I had done until now, I would grasp everything in my hands.
That was my way.
And it would continue to be my way.
"Please trust me."
"..."
"I have a way. Not just to cut down the rampaging Divine Beasts, but to save them and restore them to a stable state."
Restoring a corrupted Divine Beast was something I had already done in the past.
I lifted the Easter Egg.
I concluded my words as I lifted the Easter Egg.
"With this child's power... it can definitely be done."
Although it was not visible to my eyes.
When I defeated the Heavenly Dragon Bird, a hidden message like this must have popped up.
Similarly, when I defeated the Sea Moon Jellyfish, the exact same message would have appeared.
Yes.
Those who are quick-witted might have already realized...
The condition for the Feather Sword's True Name Awakening was to defeat the twelve corrupted Divine Beasts.
No, actually, there was no need to go all the way to twelve. The Feather Sword's ego would begin to awaken starting from the sixth.
But there is one problem here.
Defeating as many as six Divine Beasts was generally something possible only in the very late stages of the game.
The Feather Sword was not called an extreme late-blooming weapon for nothing.
"..."
However.
What if I could forcibly 'create' corrupted Divine Beasts?
What if I could artificially stack the count that way?
No Divine Beasts in Rashutku?
That was said in ignorance.
Kongi's Dad simply failed to find the Divine Beasts because he came here without the Easter Egg.
Because Upa-pa had fulfilled his responsibility to the end and safely severed the connection with the spiritual beasts.
As a result, the spiritual beasts quietly faded away without ever having the chance to become Divine Beasts.
But what about now?
Once I persuaded Upa-pa with the Easter Egg and sent him to the heavens, all the rampaging spiritual beasts would turn into Divine Beasts.
And from that moment on...
I would relentlessly hunt the corrupted Divine Beasts for the Feather Sword's True Name Awakening.
After that, I planned to use the life force of the Easter Egg to restore them.
Just as I did with the Sea Moon Jellyfish.
"..."
Suddenly, a memory of the past flashed by.
The day we subjugated the Sea Moon Jellyfish.
Back then, there was something I said to Adelia.
That a situation where a single Divine Beast was trying to kill us was no big deal.
"It's no big deal. It's just trying to kill us."
Those were not empty words.
Any player who has played Lost Elder about two hundred times knows.
A situation where one Divine Beast is targeting you is truly 'no big deal.'
Because...
"After all, there are shitty situations where you have to face five Divine Beasts at once."
...Since there were situations where five Divine Beasts attacked the player simultaneously.
"..."
Yes.
That 'shitty situation' was about to unfold right now.
It was no coincidence.
All of this was a thoroughly calculated plan from the very beginning.
From the moment I killed the Heavenly Dragon Bird in the uncharted territory and defeated the Sea Moon Jellyfish.
I had already laid the groundwork for this moment.
The remaining stacks are four.
So...
Now it was time to fit the final puzzle piece.