The Mages (3)
Darkul couldn't quite believe what he'd just heard. No matter how mighty someone claimed to be, it wasn't easy to even conceive of entrusting their analysis to the Mage Tower.
And yet, it made perfect sense. Even if the Red Dragon had attained divinity, he was still lingering in the material world. That meant the rules governing his flesh were bound to the material realm, not the divine one.
What if the Tower's "analysis research" uncovered a weakness? What if it proved they could truly slay the one they'd thought unkillable?
From that moment on, the Red Dragon's invincibility would be declared void, and countless others would come gunning for him. Unless he was half-mad, he had to know that. And yet, he'd made this proposal anyway. The guy was no ordinary lunatic.
However.
The Red Dragon didn't give a damn about Darkul's thoughts. Or, to be more precise, they weren't even worth considering. He was arrogant. But the arrogance of the strong was confidence—leisure. Even though he'd entrusted this to his "priestess," his presence dominated the room. That alone forced Darkul to scrap every line of reasoning he'd just spun.
"…Through that analysis, what do you stand to gain?"
All that remained was simple curiosity. Why had the Red Dragon demanded this analysis from him? Until now, the Red Dragon had been flawless, unrivaled under heaven and earth. Why now?
That question alone filled Darkul's mind.
In response to Darkul's question, the Red Dragon answered through Elenoa's mouth as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, without a second thought.
"…!"
He had no idea what storm this would unleash.
Let me say this upfront. Gaining divinity has undoubtedly made me stronger than before. Under the name of authority, I've even formed my own domain—not that I wanted it.
My followers have likely gained abilities scaling with my new divine rank. Take Elenoa: she's wielding some bizarre power like any fanatic priestess. If I were my old self, I couldn't have hijacked her consciousness like this. On the surface, awakening new "instincts" seems pretty decent.
But the problem is all the side effects that come with it.
—Ahh! Look at this! It's like one of Lord Red Dragon's scales from before! So beautiful!
—O Red Dragon, may you live forever and continue to protect us…
—Hmm, but who’s Lord Red Dragon going to marry? One of the gods? Or the blue one—
…Haa.
Prayers and voices from countless people flooded in without end. Every little thing I did rippled outward. Why the hell did I have to live like some superstar in this pre-21st-century world, with everyone watching my every move? I never wanted this life.
The only fix seemed to be something ridiculous like "go to the Pantheon and work with Beul." But that guy rubbed me the wrong way, and I had zero interest. Hell, why should I clean up the shit Verinal scattered? I didn't ask for this divinity—it's Beul's fault and the other gods' for failing to rein him in. It's more justified than blaming baseball fans for a team's failure.
I had no intention of following Beul's advice. But who am I? The guy who's started blaspheming real gods. And so, I came up with a brilliant scheme.
Have these so-called elite mages analyze me.
I know this world's magic comes in many flavors. Some weaken, shrink, or drain energy—lowering one's very rank or power. No matter my Dragon Tongue, spellcasting has limits for me. Think of it as primordial magic only.
But if clever mages devised a way to drop my rank? That'd be a solid win.
And beyond that.
—Godslaying…
If they figured that out…
I glimpsed chaos in Darkul's eyes. All the rage, despair, torment he'd endured—swirling in his mind.
—…We could exterminate the evil gods.
Honestly, I couldn't care less about evil gods stirring chaos. Unless they mess with my stuff, anyway. But he's different. They've taken countless disciples from him. He knows the sacrifices all too well. He wanted to pursue godslaying seriously.
So I told him with utter conviction. He hesitated a moment.
"…Understood."
His answer was a foregone conclusion.
With that, I focused my mind on him. I granted him permission to enter my lands. To do so required a contract akin to making him a follower—
Like with Einhardt.
Mana from my body, divinity coursing through my flesh, flowed toward him.
—Saaaaah—!
And as it sought to seep into him—
—Pzzt…!
Something blocked my mana. A vast magical barrier. But infused with… divinity.
I turned to trace its origin.
Some entity was watching Darkul from the heavens. And moreover—
—Sarrrk…!
It transcended space.
Crossing dimensions, space itself, to appear before me.
—Ting!
My link to Elenoa snapped.
I beheld it. An avatar. Concepts gleamed in its eyes: the thirst to explore all knowledge, the judgment to define and regulate myriad things.
Menes, God of Knowledge and Law.
We faced each other.
First off, for one god to "directly" steal another's followers is wrong. For example: If Verinal cast a worldwide enchantment of fascination using his authority, converting masses to his faith, he'd face severe repercussions under the Inviolable Covenant. Demotion of his divinity, seizure of his domain to be handed to another god—hell, Verinal himself might cease to exist.
That's stealing followers.
All gods ascend to the divine realm, where this "basic knowledge" imprints on their minds. But the problem? The Red Dragon never went. He's piecing together his fragmented authority while stuck in the material world.
One of the headaches Beul mentioned.
—Hmm, no idea how it'll play out, but persuasion failed.>
—not ascend?>
—
Beul had anticipated this, briefing like-minded gods in advance.
Seeing it firsthand—through her avatar's eyes—made her head spin.
The Red Dragon's head hurt just as much. Staring at Menes, he was baffled. Stealing followers? What the hell?
Like with Einhardt, he'd just tried drafting a simple contract. If he'd known it counted as creating followers, he wouldn't have bothered.
He peered into her mind for understanding, but—
Peering into a god's mind? Impossible, naturally.
So he opted for direct talk. Her avatar's presence suggested she couldn't touch him anyway. Her aura felt more confused than hostile. Dialogue might work.
"<……>"
"<……>"
Fortunately, Menes was reasonable. But it only amplified the headache.
So Menes tried advising as a warning.
""
"<…What? What are you—>"
"<…What?>"
…Sadly, the Red Dragon wasn't one to sweat the details.
Meanwhile, back at the Mage Tower.
"Uh… Lord Red Dragon? Wh-where did you…?"
Elenoa blinked in confusion. The Red Dragon, who'd been in her mind moments ago, had suddenly vanished. Snapping back to reality, she saw Leviathan and Darkul staring at her with awkward expressions.
Leviathan, watching Elenoa, sensed something was off.
"…Elenoa, what’s wrong all of a sudden? What did the Red Dragon say?"
Leviathan asked quickly.
"W-Well, um…"
Elenoa glanced around, then whispered to Leviathan.
"…Th-the connection broke?"
"…What?"
"…"
"…"
Darkul felt intense secondhand embarrassment watching them stare at each other in silence. It spread contagiously to him too.
"Ahem, w-would you like some tea, at least?"
"…P-Pardon?"
"More than that, I glimpsed Lady Menes's apparition myself just now. Probably why you're feeling it too."
"…"
"…"
They, who'd been at each other's throats moments ago, now endured the most awkward silence imaginable.