Ch.142Chapter 142 – Master (6)

A dot in the sky of the island exploded and expanded. What it was became obvious.

“Fuck, a Hell Gate!”

Someone let out a shrill scream. Terror spread along with the screams. Despite the vampires who had been causing chaos having all disappeared, the island fell into even greater confusion.

“It should be impossible to open a Hell Gate near the city center because of the coordinate disruption artifacts!”

Since no one knew that the vampires had been destroying those artifacts, there was no answer to the question. Everyone simply looked up at the death sentence hanging in the sky with expressions of shock and despair.

“The Empire with a thousand years of history, truly ending like this…”

Kwak Tae-woo and Lord Frederick were also watching this from the imperial palace.

“Damn… was the Emperor just a consumable from the beginning? Even in such a weakened state, that Vampire Lord that I couldn’t defeat in the end was merely…”

He felt like he had been played by the Emperor from start to finish. Kwak Tae-woo swallowed his anger as his fingernails dug into his palms.

“Don’t be too disheartened. You did your best.”

“But when doing my best results in something like this…”

What sacrifices had been made just for the death of one Emperor? The death of 70% of the nation’s population. The lives of countless holy knights and Prime Minister Behemdorf.

To think that the conclusion of all those sacrifices would be this.

‘When will I become like Kim Jae-min or Shin Jae-hyuk…’

Kwak Tae-woo looked up at the gate with a complicated expression.

The black hole glistened among the dark clouds. It was like the eye of hell, eagerly watching for an opportunity to burn the earth.

Just as Lord Frederick was about to comfort Kwak Tae-woo, who had fallen into self-loathing—

“…!”

“…!!”

Both Kwak Tae-woo and Frederick quickly turned toward the gate. A wave of demonic energy rising enough to pierce the skin. The precursor to a summoning.

This wasn’t an ordinary level of energy. Demonic energy strong enough to put a Sword Master on edge. Lord Frederick muttered fearfully as he felt the tremendous wave of demonic energy emanating from the gate.

“This level of energy… who on earth is coming through?”

A question flashed through his mind for a moment.

The master of vampires was the Vampire Lord. Then who was the master of the Vampire Lord?

The answer to that question was passing through the Hell Gate.

A single feather that had passed through the Hell Gate fluttered down to the ground.

“A raven’s feather?”

Lord Frederick, who had been observing the Hell Gate with narrowed eyes, muttered inadvertently.

Kwak Tae-woo’s eyes widened.

Kwak Tae-woo knew what phenomenon occurred when the civilization level experience in the status window reached 100%. He also knew from his previous cycle what kind of being possessed black feathers like a raven.

“One of the Four Kings, Lucifer…!”

Immediately after, an angel descended to earth. An angel with twelve wings stained black.

「===

O morning star, son of the dawn, how you have fallen from heaven! How you have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations.

Though you once shone brilliantly in the blessed land of light, more radiant than countless stars.

He who dared challenge the Almighty was struck down with terrible fall and destruction, and cast down from the purifying heavens into the bottomless hell, where he was ultimately bound by eternal chains to live in the flames of eternal punishment.

One of the Four Kings, Lucifer

===」

A woman with her body modestly covered by twelve wings emerged through the gate. The leader of the fallen angels tasted the air of the middle realm and exclaimed in a sweet voice.

“This refreshing air. Not comparable to that of heaven, but incomparably fresher than the acrid atmosphere of hell.”

Following Lucifer, fallen angels poured out of the gate one after another. These were fallen angels belonging to the Gregori, the group led by Lucifer. Unlike ordinary gates where lower imps made up most of the numbers, even the weakest fallen angel coming through this gate possessed strength that would classify them as mid-level demons.

“The contractor of Satamael has admirably fulfilled the contract. You’ve finally succeeded in bypassing the system’s restrictions.”

“I wouldn’t call it admirable since his messenger was kidnapped midway, forcing Satamael himself to step in.”

Azazel, Lucifer’s aide who flew in from behind, sneered as he surveyed the ground. When a wave of energy surpassing even an S-class boss emanated from Azazel, the people below froze just from its impact.

“Oh, Azazel. But in the end, didn’t we succeed in summoning not only myself but other fallen angels by obtaining the appropriate causality through sacrificing Mein? Considering that Baal, that worm, almost ruined the entire plan, it’s an outstanding achievement.”

Lucifer’s voice sharpened, reflecting her discomfort as she recalled Baalzebub’s advance.

The Empire had long been a place that Lucifer had valued as a farm. A place to raise ‘livestock’ that would become sacrificial offerings for summoning.

It was a pasture she had been preparing for hundreds of years for the day she would descend to the middle realm, but it was almost ruined by Baalzebub.

“Usually he only deployed troops little by little, as if testing the waters… I simply cannot understand why he suddenly acted so recklessly recently. Even losing his most cherished subordinate.”

Since Lucifer didn’t know that Baalzebub had become excited after discovering Shin Jae-hyuk, she could only think that it was something Baalzebub did to spite her.

“But now that King Baalzebub’s interference has all disappeared, everything will go according to your will from now on, Lord Lucifer.”

“Indeed. But before we enjoy ourselves, I should first acknowledge the merit. Satamael?”

The contractor of the Emperor. At Lucifer’s call, a fallen angel with black hair and red eyes stepped forward.

“Your contractor has given me a great gift. Is there anything you desire as a reward?”

“Hmm…”

Snake-like, sinister eyes scanned the ground before turning toward the imperial palace, and suddenly surprise flashed in his pupils. Two humans in his field of vision. The fallen angel’s finger pointed at one of them, Kwak Tae-woo.

“Give me that human. I claim him as my prey, my king.”

“Hoho, it seems you’ve taken a liking to him. Very well. I promise that no one will touch that human. Now then…”

Lucifer raised her hand, signaling to her entire army.

“Children, it’s time to begin a new myth.”

The black angels began to descend to the ground all at once.

***

“…Welcome, seeker who walks the path of divinity. What answer do you seek after coming such a long way?”

There were too many things he wanted to ask. What exactly is divinity, what on earth is the system, what does it mean that Rohim and Eloarch are the same being, and what kind of beings are Satan and you who know all this… As Shin Jae-hyuk hesitated where to begin, the sage nodded with an expression that seemed to understand everything.

“Hmm. You look like you have many questions. You must be thirsty after your journey. Why don’t you have a cup of tea first?”

With a flick of the sage’s hand, a bamboo cup suddenly grew from the empty air. Not taken from somewhere or teleported, but literally “grew” – that was the most fitting description for the phenomenon. Steam rose from the teacup, spreading a fragrant tea aroma.

‘Material creation…’

A miracle impossible through magic or divine spells. This was in the realm of altering the laws. Shin Jae-hyuk was inwardly astonished as he brought the teacup to his lips.

There was no doubt. As Shin Jae-hyuk had suspected, the sage was also a being with divinity like Satan, Eloarch, and himself. A transcendent who had reached the level of modifying the laws of the world.

Normally, he would have been extremely tense at the appearance of someone with power equal to or greater than his own, but the warm tea warmed his insides and calmed his mind and body.

‘…That must be why he offered the tea.’

Glancing sideways while drinking the tea, the sage was leisurely tilting his teacup. A completely defenseless attitude with no sign of aggressive intent. Judging by appearances alone, he looked like an ordinary old monk enjoying tea ceremony. Confirming that the other party had no hostile intentions, Shin Jae-hyuk felt somewhat relieved.

In a calmer state, he asked.

“Who are you?”

“Didn’t you hear from Satan? You must have known who I am to be able to find the book of prophecy.”

The sage gestured toward the book of prophecy that Shin Jae-hyuk was holding.

“It seems you haven’t read it carefully.”

“…Yes. I thought it would be better to hear directly from you. Hermes Leonhart, Hermes Trismegistus, Nicholas Flamel, Johann Georg Faust, Michel de Nostredame, Saint-Germain, and Leonardo da Vinci. Do all these names really refer to you?”

“Yes. Living among ordinary people for hundreds or thousands of years on this Earth where abilities don’t exist required multiple identities. Some names I chose myself, and others were nicknames people gave me arbitrarily. But if you ask for my earliest name… it would be Hermes Leonhart.”

“Emperor Hermes… clearly a figure from a thousand years ago.”

Shin Jae-hyuk recalled that name from history books. The emperor of the Empire who was famous as a genius in various fields. Known for his wise and benevolent rule, he was praised by all his people, but the story of how he became obsessed with researching immortality out of fear of death in his later years was well-known.

“They say you disappeared without a trace after passing the throne to your son. So you’ve been alive for a thousand years.”

“Thanks to a small enlightenment.”

“It doesn’t seem like a ‘small’ enlightenment…”

The sage smiled faintly and began to speak.

“A thousand years ago, while secluded in a small hut, meditating under a bodhi tree, I suddenly attained enlightenment.”

The sensation of fog clearing in his mind as he pondered the principles of all things, and all principles becoming clear. Science, magic, the laws of the world. The sage understood the one way that penetrated all these things, and at that moment, he broke free from the constraints of an ordinary human and acquired divinity.

“I could see that this universal law had a name.”

“That would be the system…”

“Yes. But this system is slightly different from what you know.”

“Different?”

Originally, the system is the foundation of the universe. The source of the world that coordinates and manages all forces and laws, time and space, matter and entropy. And divinity is the qualification to contact that source and distort the laws of the world. Those who have such qualifications are called gods.

“But this system would be somewhat different from what you think. Earth people would be more familiar with the system manipulated by Elohim, that is, the ‘status window’ that grants abilities like game characters.”

“Elohim…. Is Eloarch really the same being as Rohim?”

“Elohim. That monotheistic god, known to humans as two separate entities, Eloarch and Rohim, has existed since before this universe came into being. He understands the system better than anyone else in this universe and is the first god who can manipulate the system best. For his own purposes, he bestowed abilities called status windows on random Earth people. This too was possible because Elohim manipulated the system to create a new law called the ‘status window’.”

Just as water flows from high to low, or as the Earth attracts the moon. Earth people can awaken status windows and acquire unique skills with an extremely low probability. That is the law newly bestowed on the system by Elohim.

Shin Jae-hyuk’s eyes wavered with inevitable confusion as the conversation turned to the object of his lifelong faith.

“…It’s hard to believe. What exactly is Elohim’s purpose?”

“His goal is to make the system completely his own through promotion.”

“Didn’t you just say that he manipulates the system better than anyone?”

“It’s true that Elohim understands the system better than anyone, but that doesn’t mean he can completely control the system as he wishes. To understand this, you need to know the relationship between the laws of the universe and souls.”

“Souls?”

The sage paused briefly and extended his hand. A hologram created by magic. The universe unfolded above his palm.

“Have you ever wondered about this? What is the role of humans in this vast universe? What significance do souls have?”

“Well… the essence of humanity?”

“The existence of souls is far more important than you think. Souls are the observers of the world. They play the crucial role of determining one path from the chaos of the universe.”

A puzzling answer. Shin Jae-hyuk narrowed his eyes, trying to understand the sage’s words. The sage elaborated.

“Objects have no eyes. Objects cannot see other objects. This means that when an object is not being observed, it can be in any state. The chaos of an object with ten thousand possibilities – observation restricts those possibilities to one, bringing order to the universe. Earth scientists observed this phenomenon in the microscopic world and named it the uncertainty principle.”

“…Quantum mechanics.”

“Anyway, because of this characteristic, souls are closely related to the system. Through the observation of tens or hundreds of billions of souls, the universe exists in the form we know. The universe is determined according to how the maximum number of souls ‘see’ and ‘believe’ it to be. Therefore, the authority to manipulate the system, that is, ‘divinity,’ has its output determined by people’s ‘faith’.”

The power of souls is the power to determine the world as one by observing the universe. So when one receives faith, in other words, the support of souls, the subject of that faith can borrow the power of souls to change the laws of the world, the system.

“However, generally, since one can only gather faith from some of the infinitely many souls in the universe, manipulation of the system using this can only have localized effects. This means that even a god cannot mold the world as they please.”

“…It’s like politics. In the sense that the number of voters determines a politician’s power. Just as even an elected president always has people who oppose them, so a dictator cannot be created through normal methods.”

“That’s right. But Elohim is trying to become precisely that dictator.”

The reason a god cannot change the universe at will is due to lack of faith. Then what if one acquires enough faith to change the world? What if one makes the majority of countless souls their supporters? Theoretically, a being that can perfectly control the system would be born.

The sage called this phenomenon ‘promotion.’

“For whatever reason, he is trying to become an absolute god through promotion. A god above the law. A literally omnipotent being. For his purpose, Elohim has destroyed and recreated the universe six times using the power of the system.”

Suddenly, Shin Jae-hyuk recalled Kwak Tae-woo’s status window that he had seen long ago. There was definitely an achievement like this among Kwak Tae-woo’s accomplishments: <One Who Remembers the Sixth Heaven>.

‘So what Kwak Tae-woo calls the first cycle was the sixth world… And this world, where time was turned back using the Holy Grail, would be the seventh world.’

After hearing the sage’s explanation, Shin Jae-hyuk could finally understand the meaning of the achievement.

“There are three types of souls. The white souls of angels, the black souls of demons, and the gray souls of humans in between. Only gray souls have the qualification to participate in the ‘vote’ that determines the universe. Elohim is orchestrating everything to secure as many gray souls that support him as possible.”

“Does that mean the Order of Light, the invasion of hell, everything is part of that election campaign?”

“Yes. Because when good and evil are distinct, when life is pushed to the brink, humans tend to seek God.”

That’s why Elohim created angels and demons to clearly establish the confrontation between good and evil, and established the Order of Light by presenting the fictional beings of Eloarch and Rohim. Meanwhile, by granting demons the authority to open gates, he induced invasions into the human realm, creating situations where humans had no choice but to depend on God when faced with demons.

And so, when believers of Eloarch died, their souls were collected and stored in heaven. That is the meaning of the saying, “If you believe in Eloarch, you will go to heaven.”

“But here, Elohim’s prediction goes wrong. The power and hatred of hell were much stronger than imagined. Before securing a sufficient amount of faith, eight-tenths of the Eden continent was burned by demons and humans were massacred.”

Elohim had fallen into a deep sleep to recover the divinity and faith he had massively consumed in creating the world and life. That’s why he couldn’t respond promptly when hell indiscriminately massacred humans. By the time he woke up and checked the progress of his plan, the demons had already harvested even the unripe souls.

“There weren’t enough souls for promotion. He needed more souls, more people to become his believers.”

It was already too late to harvest enough gray souls by reincarnating the souls of the dead in Eden, and using the Holy Grail, the last resort, to turn back time would waste the souls he had gathered so far. And creating a new universe by destroying this one would consume too much divinity.

Elohim made a decision. Let’s create a new world untouched by demons. And when the population of that world becomes sufficiently large, let’s send demons as we did in Eden to secure faith.

In the same universe as Eden and hell, located in the Centauri binary star system, but too far to travel without gates, a new planet was born in the solar system.

A planet that would later be named Earth by the people born there.