Ch.17457. A Thousand Forms and Myriad Appearances (2)

The Demon King, still with his arm around my shoulder, pointed to one side and spoke.

“Look over there. Yes, there.”

There stood a number of giants freed from the encirclement of crows and avatars.

And among them were Heba, the hairy one, and a large man who appeared to be Aeshma.

The forms of the giants, once burned by the flames that consumed the world, were deep and dark, and some had blood vessels that seemed to be tinged with fire, giving them a partially reddish glow amid their prominent veins.

To anyone looking, they would be difficult to see as benevolent or gentle giants.

Even if they might actually be different… at least that’s how they appeared on the outside.

At least now they retained enough reason to control their violent tendencies.

“Those were once a group that brought destruction. But later, they made a wrong choice and bore the disgrace of being the evil god’s creations and derivatives, and to atone for their original sin, they had to endure endless labor and hardship, and praise and glorify those who defeated them.”

“…There’s no need for lengthy explanations.”

“The important thing is that they still possess the staff that burned the world.”

“Staff?”

“That’s what it’s called.”

The Demon King moved away from me and said.

“At this point, we could certainly consider ways to persuade them.”

On the other hand. On the other hand.

“If you respond to the call of that serpent-shaped being that now covers the world, you might easily achieve what you desire.”

“…What are you talking about?”

“In this era, you are but an afterimage, a fantasy, a fiction. But by writing a myth here, you could secure another qualification.”

“Qualification?”

“Achieving divine status beyond divinity. If the deities of present and past wish to establish you… it wouldn’t be difficult.”

If that happens.

Perhaps.

“You would become another god in this era. Or a hero. Whether you become a god from a hero, or a hero as a god… that doesn’t matter.”

And as time flows on and on.

“In the distant future, the almighty maternal deity with her mighty fame and dignity will throw a counter-proposal that reverses the alternative according to Zeus’s prophecy.”

The goddess of wisdom and war.

The omnipotent goddess who masters and comprehends all manner of things.

This is the birth of Athena.

Zeus, who received a prophecy that he would be dethroned by his son like his parents.

By being born as she, not he, and becoming a daughter, he shattered the inappropriate causality that he did not want to arise.

She, not as he from the past but as she in the present, as Athena, was utterly devoted to her duties.

“And what exactly does the current fallen Athena, now in a different position than before, want from you?”

“……”

As if I would know.

Of course, thinking about it, it’s not a particularly difficult story.

Perhaps she wants to use me as her most faithful believer and apostle.

Or as a stake in a gamble. Or as an arrow to shoot or a shield to stand firm with.

But if I just review what I’ve heard so far, the content becomes very concise.

A world dominated and occupied by the Irenis faith and its doctrines.

To either destroy such a world or secure a domain of one’s own to either oppose or integrate with them… to continue the myths and teachings in some way.

To continue existence and significance that way.

It would be different from before… but even the Sun God cult of the Vera Empire had its foundation in the succession of esoteric traditions, with secrecy as its basic principle.

That’s why it was called the Mystery Religion (μυστήρια).

It was also called the Mystery Faith.

Not taught or told to just anyone.

But because it was known to the extent it needed to be, those who were chosen and selected, though not all, often actively obeyed that calling.

Even the great emperor of the empire did so.

“…I don’t want to be a mediocre prophet, evangelist, or even a mystes.”

One who inherits the esoteric tradition.

A mysterious one.

A follower of the mystery religion.

A designation and expression for that.

Unidentified.

Mysterious.

I recalled a memory of once glimpsing in a book that words and terms for secrecy originated from this.

“Is that what you thought? Hmm. If you were below expectations, such options would certainly have been available.”

This guy is seriously mistaken.

The Demon King chuckled.

“Earlier when I called Athena Astarte, I thought you might have noticed something… but it seems my efforts were in vain.”

“…?”

Astarte.

There’s another meaning hidden there.

In some myths, that name belongs to the goddess of fertility and abundance.

But at the same time, she also encompasses the domains of war and hunting.

Doesn’t she resemble a certain goddess?

In one myth, El, called the creator god.

The creator god who took the horned bull as his symbol chose his eldest son, Yam, as his successor.

But the one who defeated him was the god of sky and storm, his brother.

It was Baal.

However, it wasn’t actually the reportedly weak Baal who accomplished such a feat alone.

Fertility means the endless repetition and cycle of connections.

And connections originate from love.

The one chosen and selected by Astarte was Baal.

…It’s different from when she claimed to be a virgin goddess due to her pact with Zeus while belonging to the Greek pantheon.

When she was truly Astarte, when she was a goddess and not a demon, she was the goddess of goddesses who monopolized the domains that multiple Greek goddesses were responsible for.

In any case, perhaps because the Demon King’s seemingly casual explanation was lengthy.

The situation continues to intensify.

However, I listened to everything until the end.

So, is that it?

“Are you saying you didn’t summon me simply to use me?”

“Even using someone is a form of love. That includes allowing oneself to be used as well.”

Haven’t they said since ancient times that spouses are a community of fate?

What Athena desires is your wish.

Your wish will become Athena’s wish.

“In retrospect, that is.”

“……”

“From here on, it’s a matter of faith and trust.”

What truly inhuman content.

According to the Demon King, the current Ahriman, whatever she may be now, as a goddess, loves me, or something like that?

…This is absurd.

“And following that war god over there wouldn’t be a bad proposal either.”

“……”

“As you’ve probably noticed… that is your ancestral deity. More precisely, its influence was strongly manifested in your father, and some part of it was passed down to you as well.”

“What do you mean by ancestral deity? Are you saying I’m some descendant of a god?”

“Don’t judge descendants or progeny by human standards. It’s a much more higher-dimensional issue than that.”

My head is starting to hurt.

How did the situation escalate to this point?

In effect, the Demon King has now presented me with three options.

Will I side with Ahriman, with Athena?

Or will I become a comrade of the always-victorious war god Bahram Yasht, Verethragna?

Or else.

…Will I stand with Heba and the imprisoned giants who were destroyed?

“Haa.”

Suddenly, I recalled what the Demon King had muttered earlier.

Whether to grasp the fire blade that burns and divides the world.

Whether to obtain the wind that calms the sea.

Whether to obtain the tablet inscribed with fate or heaven.

How about the arrow that pierced the throat of the sea?

Or Thunder?

“Don’t tell me Zeus is also included in this choice?”

“You’ve noticed well?”

If those expressions weren’t just mutterings or poetic recitations but all had clear meanings.

The fire blade that burns and divides the world… must refer to Heba and the fire giants.

If Thunder refers to Zeus.

Then what is the wind that calms the sea?

What is the tablet inscribed with fate or heaven?

What is the arrow that pierced the throat of the sea?

“Marduk?”

Is he included as well?

All three I mentioned had something that reminded me of Marduk.

At least judging from the stories the Demon King told me.

…Or maybe.

It’s not about getting just one?

Or perhaps my judgment is partially wrong due to my limited knowledge?

“The god Yam I mentioned earlier symbolizes the sea and flood, the abyss and endless darkness. This was called terror, wasn’t it?”

And who was it that defeated him?

And there’s a very similar myth.

Like how Marduk defeated Tiamat, who was called both a goddess and an evil dragon.

“This is giving me an even bigger headache.”

And it’s making me irritated too.

If I had simply come to visit an ancient ruin… everything would have been fascinating.

If only the situation weren’t so urgent as it is now.

…I would have still found it fascinating, though.

“My lord! What are you hesitating for? Are your eyes blinded by that majestic figure, leading you down the path of evil? Do you not know that avoiding responsibility is also a path of evil and defeat? Is that not so?!”

The war god shouted as if giving an oration.

“Kariel. What are you hesitating for at this point? You must defeat that to realize your purpose. You and I have shared the same purpose and ideals from the beginning. So why would you refuse?”

The giant serpent whispers intriguing personal opinions into my mind.

“……”

And.

Heba and the giants were still bystanders, trembling with anxiety about when they might be swept up in this, while at the same time flashing with primal rage.

As if they might fight to the death at any moment.

…But is it even possible for those who cannot die to risk their lives?

Therefore, they lack the will to fight to the death.

But they do have something equivalent to it.

They too must be in a state of accumulated tension.

Also.

…It was all too clear which side they would join if they entered the fray.

The calculation was made.

“Good that you’re smart.”

If I side with Ahriman, Heba and the giants would feel free to join the battle.

The very presence of Aeshma already suggests they’re inclined toward Ahriman’s side.

“……”

Suddenly, I feel something strange.

There seemed to be an excellent opportunity to defeat the always-victorious war god.

But somehow, it felt too convenient.

Don’t I already know their future?

So.

If I side with the war god here, what happens?

There is a predetermined future.

Ahriman will definitely be defeated.

And Heba and the giants will face an even more miserable future than mere imprisonment.

No matter how much I struggle here, the future won’t change.

“It seems clear. But from any perspective, this is not… the best option.”

“Is that so?”

The Demon King responded surprisingly readily.

Come to think of it.

She never forced me to follow the answer she knew, even when she claimed to know it.

She pretended to push me.

But even that was done with a sneer, as always, as if saying, “Go ahead and try.”

According to the calculation I just made, both Heba’s and Ahriman’s powers would come to me.

That war god would be an archenemy to Marduk as well.

The future becomes vaguely visible.

The war god is strong.

So strong that even all of us working together couldn’t easily defeat him.

There, Ahriman, Heba, and the giants would pour everything they have.

He, the primordial doubt who heard the whisper that everything would be passed to the firstborn, the evil, Ahriman.

Deliberately appeared in the world before his younger sibling.

But in the end, doubt became evil and thus fell to become an evil god.

At first, it was so miserable that while his sibling was flourishing and becoming greater than their parents.

He himself had to wander miserably, driven away even by his sibling’s subordinates.

But even he.

Once defeated the abyss and was called the consort of the celestial deity, the sky god, the omnipotent goddess, and the mother of all things.

In other words, the current serpent form is.

The trophy, the benefit from that time.

The fruit derived from there.

Also, that is.

Once when the fire giants tried to destroy certain gods, it is the shell and illusion of the being who took charge of restraining and holding back their most powerful thunder god, and later even killed him.

In other words, in this great war, comrades from the distant past have somehow reunited, if one were to force a connection.

And so.

A total war of everything.

A war for everything.

A war of liberation would begin.

I suddenly look around.

This city currently… isn’t buried underground.

The ground is shaking unstably, and it’s being destroyed by the descent of gods and its aftermath.

But still, it remains situated in the middle of the high ground.

…This means that this city we fell into wasn’t actually buried underground.

The city is so vast and expansive that not everything is visible.

But my vision extends to the edge of that land.

If I climbed to a slightly higher ground, I would probably see an even more vibrant landscape.

“……”

Dominator.

I refine my thoughts.

The future I just glimpsed has honestly already gone too far beyond the line.

If I had looked a little more directly… this would have become a definite future.

Whether I intervene or not.

I limit what I’ve glimpsed to the category of prediction and imagination.

With this.

…It is dismissed as one possibility.

But it could be another future that will be realized simultaneously.

Or one that has already been realized.

But my present firmly rejects that future which has branched and split.

Even though that might be the correct history.

…No.

I, this cursed causality where they hate each other, defeat each other, devour each other, kill each other, violate each other, rape each other, insult each other, and make jokes at each other’s expense.

In the end, they just exchange positions, switching places back and forth, up and down.

An eye for an eye.

A tooth for a tooth.

A hand for a hand.

A foot for a foot.

A burn for a burn.

An injury for an injury.

A blow for a blow.

Thus, this damned causality trapped in the law of retribution, where they strike each other back and forth.

…Would I be crazy enough to throw myself into that fire pit?

I’m sick of the pit.

That’s already burdensome enough… and now throw myself into a fire pit?

Blinded by divine status?

Tempted by ambition and desire?

…To ignite my will with such things is not at all appropriate.

“I’m washing my hands of this. So fight among yourselves.”

Even when throwing oneself into a storm, one does so because there’s a reason to throw oneself in, overcoming fear for that purpose.

But just because those noble beings are performing a discordant musical piece where god fights god.

…Is there even a single reason why I should be intoxicated, admire, and shed tears over it?

I really don’t know.

Here, a myth will certainly be written.

However.

“Say that again. What did you just say?”

“My lord, have you eaten something wrong? The choice to make here is so obvious! Huh! I really don’t understand what you’re thinking! To so irresponsibly choose to kill goodness and justice and become a coward! My disappointment is great!”

Frankly speaking.

In the end, how is this different from children fighting?

Is there nobility here?

Is there sublimity here?

Is there an unyielding belief? Or ideology? Purpose? Will?

I don’t know.

“I don’t understand what you’re fighting for.”

Therefore, I won’t step forward.

This is the final conclusion I’ve reached after much deliberation.