Beyond the Trials (4): The False Prophecy
Sometime ago, I had a conversation like that with Chang Yeom.
"How do you plan to explain the truth of the world to people?"
About the secrets this world holds. About the 'common sense' that the people of the Middle Realm cling to.
"What if the truths they thought they knew were all lies, and the real truth completely upends everything?"
"Well..."
The truth.
"That the Goddess and angels are actually aliens who shoved the gods living in the Middle Realm underground into the Demon Realm, labeling them demons and devils?"
"Yes."
"Or that the Goddess and angels are actually men disguised as women, lily-obsessed perverts who just want to suck and bite at females?"
"The stature of the world's truth suddenly plummets, but since it's accurate, we'll move on. Yes, that's right."
"And these Goddess and angels are plotting to kill off all the males out of fear that females might fall to them, leaving only females behind to create a world full of lilies?"
"Humanity's end would be terribly 'cringy' in your words, but since it's true, I can't help but shed tears!"
Chang Yeom smacked her forehead and shook her head.
"How about we rephrase our terms a bit?"
"How? To make it less cringy?"
"When it's recorded in history books later, wouldn't it be better if future generations at least accepted our first encounter with some dignity?"
"In what way?"
"For example..."
With a pop, Chang Yeom used magic to create a certain shape.
"Like this, for instance."
"Hey, you..."
My lower region felt suddenly empty. A normal human body would writhe in agony and torment at having something like that ripped away, but since my body is an ether body made of mana, even if Chang Yeom arbitrarily took it, I wouldn't die.
However.
"When these kinds of items occasionally turn up as artifacts, how do museums explain them?"
"Why not just ask? As long as you don't keep stroking it up and down like that."
"Do they call it a toy? Or..."
"The origin of abundance and fertility!!"
I answered. Hiding the truth as much as possible, wrapping it in words that let people vaguely get 'it's that kind of thing.'
"Exactly. Most of these items are described just as you said: 'objects prayed to for abundance and fertility.' The reality is... puhuhu."
Chang Yeom laughed lewdly and openly, fiddling with the item she'd taken from me.
"Anyway, we need to create a similar situation for humanity. For them, the truth of the world you know would shatter their common sense—nay, feel like utter 'destruction.'"
More than just a joke about 'common sense going to shit.'
"As we talked about before, if the heroines who learn the truth despair, it could lead straight to the apocalypse, right?"
Chang Yeom conjured several flames. Seventeen blue flames, each with a distinct presence, soon began to flicker unstably.
"Especially for those with absolute faith in the Goddess Church, the shock would be immense. It'd be like their faith crumbling entirely. Like believing your dead wife is in heaven, only to learn there's no afterlife at all."
"Doesn't it exist?"
"It's a metaphor. Like those dumb internet jokes floating around."
Chang Yeom waved her hand, creating a yellowish light, then infused it into the seventeen flames.
"Those shocked like that will fall to the angels. They'll meekly surrender their bodies to angels who want to possess them..."
Chang Yeom pointed the item she held at me.
"Like this."
"S-stop that."
"That's how the world ends. Puhuhu."
Snap. With a flick of her fingers, the toy in Chang Yeom's hand vanished. It hadn't burned away completely but returned to my lower region as a presence.
"So, when you explain it to them, you need to make it sound more plausible. Not like 'angels are lily pervs' or 'they're wary of females falling to males'—something a bit different."
"How should I phrase it?"
"That's something we'll have to figure out together going forward, hmm?"
What words to use so the heroines don't despair or break upon realizing the truth. In the Demon Realm, we pondered countless things, but we especially obsessed over the heroines.
And.
"We'll use a false oracle."
One conclusion emerged.
"What gods fear most is a prophecy even they can't deny coming true, and they resort to extreme measures to stop it, right? That's what divine beings do."
The method is.
Godslaying.
The ultimate blasphemy threatening gods.
"The Goddess will one day be extinguished by a single man's hand."
Not wrong.
"If you accomplish that, it's as good as the prophecy fulfilled. Puhuhu."
"The Goddess Church hides a secret. One not even passed down in the current church—one the Goddess and angels deemed must never be revealed."
Instructor Esta perked up her ears at my words, listening intently.
"Just as the academy was unaware of this trial in the old school building, the Goddess Church has a similar secret."
"You mean a trial?"
"Not exactly like this one, but perhaps a mental ordeal they must endure. The story that their divinity might not be divine at all."
"......!"
I reached out. Releasing mana, I created a slice of cake made of non-attribute mana, complete with a plate.
"Instructor Esta, is the Goddess truly a god?"
"......I'll keep listening."
"Understood."
It was blatant blasphemy, but Instructor Esta calmly decided to hear me out. With the four founders' unknown trial even the staff didn't know about, and me being the one who invited her to this illusory space, it probably inspired some trust.
"The mana we use inherently has attributes. To get to the point, each mana has an absolute ruler overseeing it."
"The seven magic towers."
Outside, I could've shown a vivid illusion of the seven towers activating, but luckily, Instructor Esta grasped it without explanation.
"Releasing the sealed mana in each tower summons that ruler?"
"No... Do you think the four founders knew all the truths?"
"......!"
Instructor Esta's face paled as she stared at me.
"You said you'd been to the Demon Realm."
"Marchioness Ludbekia did mention that 'setting' to me."
"Assuming that's true, and you've returned from the Demon Realm having awakened to truths humans shouldn't comprehend..."
"Well, this is a secret-not-secret I'm sharing only with you, Instructor Esta."
I spread seven fingers.
"In the Demon Realm, there are seven great demons called 'dukes.'"
"!!"
"Seven mana attributes. Quite the coincidence, huh?"
"Then..."
Gulp. Instructor Esta swallowed hard, long and deep.
"What is holy power?"
"Who knows. Maybe mana from another world, fallen from a distant heaven far above. Just as the Demon Realm exists, so does the Heavenly Realm."
"More clearly."
"...It might feel like a great miracle to earthly beings, but from one perspective, holy power is just another 'power.'"
"......."
"I call it angel ability. The power of the angelkin, the Goddess, and the miracles humanity now uses by the blessing of divinity. A power that only the specially chosen awaken to."
"Wait, hold on."
Instructor Esta raised a hand to halt me. Probably overwhelmed by the flood of info clashing with her common sense.
"One question."
Instructor Esta looked at me seriously and spoke.
"So... why is the Goddess trying to wipe out all men?"
"That's because."
It came. Finally.
"Of a prophecy."
"Prophecy?"
"Yes. Ahem."
I cleared my throat deliberately.
"Upon this land, the hero of salvation shall appear."
"The world shall behold the truth, and the dark shadows hidden behind the ugly ones cloaked in light shall be revealed to all under heaven."
⟨ And at the end of that trial, the Goddess shall fall by one man's hand. ⟩
"The false divinity built on lies shall crumble, and humanity shall reclaim the miracle of iridescent light."
"Iridescent light..."
Instructor Esta reached toward the non-attribute light I'd created. At her gesture, the balanced seven mana colors separated, each shining brilliantly in its own hue.
"...I see why you're telling only me."
Instructor Esta kept stroking the seven colors with her hand.
"There's a story among S-ranks."
Something only graspable upon reaching S-rank.
"Holy power is fundamentally on another level from the mana we use, but..."
"As a 'power,' it's no different from mana?"
"......If I hadn't realized that, you wouldn't have told me."
"Yes."
All perception starts from one premise. Holy power is just power. From the heavens, from aliens.
"...I get it. Why the Goddess fears men."
Instructor Esta nodded as if enlightened.
"If holy power is no different from mana, the Goddess is no different from any woman. So she's afraid of being raped by a man."
"......."
"That's why she's trying to eliminate all men. Even if it means humanity's end."
Not wrong.
"...A bit."
Instructor Esta clutched her head.
"I need... a break."
Esta
Earth Magic Tower Solo Clear — Abandoned on Floor 1
"Oh, by the way, it'll respawn when you enter next time."
"......."