Ch.158The Scales (3)

I felt quite heated. Indeed, as I thought, the Divine Order had made thorough preparations.

They had left behind an ultimate solution for the worst-case scenario, in case their summoned “final weapon” failed to defeat the Demon Lord.

“I won’t need to use it. In a world where Estia’s lamp is reduced to a mere mood light.”

“My duty extends only to revealing the true value of the Scale. Its use depends entirely on your will.”

“Fine, you insufferable being. Since you still won’t acknowledge that you’ve done enough, let me ask a few questions.”

I glanced at Carisia. For a moment, I was so dumbfounded that I blurted out things I shouldn’t have said.

I wonder what she’ll think when she hears about “offering a price to obtain divine mandate.” As the final solution left behind by the ancient Divine Order against the Demon Lord, this could eliminate even Baekgwang.

‘If there’s a price worth paying, that is.’

The price to defy divine mandate cannot be paid with ordinary treasures. It requires a price of sufficient rank to defy fate.

The simplest would be the life of someone with such power…

‘I need to hide this Scale somewhere as soon as I wake up.’

I can’t die just to get rid of Baekgwang. Or even Carisia herself.

My death was naturally unacceptable to me, and if Carisia died, even if we could destroy Baekgwang, it would be impossible to deal with the next Demon Lord. Neither outcome was what I wanted.

As I formulated a plan to conceal the Scale, I opened my mouth.

“You all…”

“Are you trying to nitpick something strange again? I need to think about my questions, so please stay quiet unless it’s important.”

“You are far more powerful than we anticipated when we left behind this sacred artifact. More precisely, we could not have foreseen that two individuals with such powerful abilities would arrive.”

Judging by how he continued talking despite my rebuke, this seemed to be important information. I should listen to everything he says before asking questions.

“Therefore, due to unexpected situations that occurred during the process of bringing you to the Scale’s judgment, and during the judgment itself…”

This preamble sounds ominous. Somehow, I noticed Carisia turning her head the moment she heard “unexpected situations.”

“I had no choice but to exceed the limits permitted to my soul imprinted on the Scale. I absorbed the shock that the Scale should have received. I will answer your questions as faithfully as possible, but please understand if there are some omissions.”

Ah, damn it.

***

Carisia, who had been gleefully floating in happiness after hearing the Thunder Giant’s answer that “the weight of your thoughts for each other is equal,” couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat at the giant’s subsequent words.

The nature of the unexpected situation during the judgment was all too clear.

“Um… Ortes?”

For the first time since founding Hydra Sa, Carisia called out to Ortes with an uncertain voice.

Ortes scratched his head. His eyes clearly showed his discomfort. Just as Carisia was about to say something—

“It’s fine.”

“What?”

“What can we do? It’s that being’s fault for dragging us to this strange place without any explanation. Given your temperament, I’m just grateful this place hasn’t collapsed yet.”

Normally, this would be the moment to retort, “What’s wrong with my temperament?” but this time, Carisia couldn’t say anything. Relief at being forgiven mixed with indignant curiosity about exactly how he viewed her temperament.

Ortes decided to change the subject to avoid further agitating Carisia. He called out to the giant.

“What’s the true nature of that novel!”

“…Novel?”

“The story of this world that you spread in my world! The prophecy about the Demon Lord returning in 2077!”

“You-have-already-stated-its-nature.”

“What?”

The giant explained slowly. They had spread a “prophecy” to another world.

A secret prophecy observed by the most talented members of the Phoibos Order who burned their bodies and souls. The story of the Demon Lord who would be defeated once, and would return someday.

“The prophecy would have flowed to the creator in your world in the form of inspiration. Thus, the ‘novel’ you speak of was written.”

“…Why was I, who read the novel, drawn into this world?”

“The act of seeing something is recognizing its existence; witnessing itself takes on ceremonial significance. Among those who witnessed the prophecy through that novel, you were the most—”

The giant carefully chose his words. Originally, this space was a place where souls connected directly due to the power of the sacred artifact. It could share pure meaning before it was concretized into language.

…But that was only if Ortes had followed all the predetermined growth stages and deeply accepted the connection to the sacred artifact. Ortes’s mental barriers were strong.

Carisia had existed at the antipode of the sacred artifact from the beginning, so its power couldn’t reach her. Therefore, the Thunder Giant struggled to communicate effectively.

The will to stand against the grand fate designed by the Demon Lord. The imagination to draw an even bigger picture than the big picture, or to tear the canvas itself. The power to twist prophecy, which is the sum of all these things.

In the Thunder Giant’s era, there was no word that could implicitly present all of this. But in Ortes’s surface consciousness connected to the sacred artifact, there was an appropriate word. So the giant decided to borrow that word.

“—a being who excels at causing chaos.”

“…What?”

“You are the supreme troublemaker under heaven and earth.”

***

“One who destroys laws solidified over centuries, collapses order, and can never be controlled. Haven’t you deviated outside our plans?”

From Carisia’s perspective, Ortes seemed quite agitated upon hearing the Thunder Giant’s answer. He couldn’t accept the giant’s assessment.

Carisia momentarily turned her gaze away from Ortes, who was, as usual, resisting an accurate evaluation of his abilities.

Instead, she pondered the giant’s words.

‘Because I saw the novel, I was entangled in the Divine Order’s plans due to that single coincidence….’

To Carisia, it was nothing short of a curse. A curse indiscriminately scattered upon those who witnessed her.

She knew this well, having developed magic with similar principles herself¹. Other readers weren’t “drawn into this world” because they “didn’t meet the conditions.”

In the Scale’s judgment, the wish placed on Carisia’s right scale was “the destruction of Baekgwang.” Now Carisia could guess what had been placed on Ortes’s right scale.

‘Return home.’

If Ortes wished to return after everything was over.

She couldn’t decide how she should respond.

***

“No! How can you speak so rudely to someone you’ve never met before! I’ve been consistently polite to others to avoid causing offense!”

“Give-up. This-is-reality. That-is-all.”

Despite my protests, that damned being seemed unwilling to compromise on this opinion. I clicked my tongue.

“I’ll respect your opinion for now, but I am a diligent person far removed from causing chaos.”

“Accept-your-inner-nature.”

“Oh, come on.”

Sigh, I exhaled. I had already half-guessed the nature of the novel. This question was more about confirming my answer. The real question was:

“How accurate is the prophecy? From what I’ve seen since arriving, it’s all wrong.”

“That is natural. This prophecy glimpsed the future that would occur if ‘a being like you’ did not exist.”

“No, I mean the Demon Lord. The personality of the Demon Lord I’ve encountered here differs from the one in the novel.”

“Is it better? Or worse?”

“The Demon Lord in the novel—I mean, in the prophecy—seemed better.”

The giant fell silent. Certainly, one might expect someone’s personality to worsen after betrayal, but not improve.

“…I don’t know. Perhaps it’s due to my fragmented soul, or perhaps there’s no other case like this. What was the world like in the prophecy?”

“It was accurate… No, let me change my question. Under what circumstances does prophecy fail?”

“Naturally, when predicting the very distant future or targeting extremely powerful beings, accuracy decreases. But the Phoibos Order devoted their utmost efforts to overcome this.”

“Powerful beings… Maybe it didn’t work properly because the Demon Lord was the target—”

A hypothesis flashed through my mind. The ancient Divine Order didn’t know exactly what they were dealing with.

A monster who created false gods and designed the future on a scale of thousands of years. The God of Magic.

The Demon Lord called himself merely a king, and was even defeated by his disciples.

The reason Carisia and I could definitively call the Demon Lord a “god” was thanks to Kaikel’s research.

The hypothesis that ascendants and gods were the same entity came first, and was proven by the result of the artificial Ten Commandments.

The Divine Order doesn’t know the Demon Lord’s true identity.

“Can prophecy read even a god’s true intentions?”

“Divinity lies outside the boundaries of prophecy.”