Ch.321The Coast of Discord. Cape Bartholomew (3)

“Now I am ‘definitely’ not human anymore. Right?”

“Yes, ‘definitely’ so.”

As Viktor mutters gloomily, Lucia agrees with him.

To be honest, even for a mage, it would be impossible to wield the power to crush debris into pieces and create a statue of a knight as he had done.

Of course, an extremely skilled grand mage who can handle powerful forces might be capable of such a feat, but the ability to not just create but to unearth something from tens of thousands of years in the past was a power granted only to gods.

Revealing divine power in front of the masses was something Viktor was reluctant to do, as it meant projecting his identity as a god rather than an emperor, but he had no particular regrets. Wasn’t turning the debris into a statue much better than leaving it as it was?

Whether considering safety or aesthetics, turning it into a statue was far more beneficial for Cape Bartholomew.

At the very least, ships would no longer need to perform acrobatic maneuvers to avoid the debris.

Moreover, Viktor had restored history to the citizens of Cape Bartholomew.

He had recovered and returned their origins and history, which had been submerged in depths that human power could no longer find or retrieve.

This was something only possible through divine power.

As the chronology of the Extinction Era suggests, too many aspects of past history had been buried and forgotten, becoming impossible to discover. The term “Extinction Era” was born from the collection of things that had literally died and disappeared.

Things that could no longer be revived, things that could no longer be remembered, slept eternally beyond oblivion, on the hill of forgetting.

And one of those things had been revived by a god.

What a great glory and achievement this was. The people of Bartholomew should look upon the sun with reverence even after a thousand years.

“Having achieved such a feat, you deserve praise. Let’s stay here for a while and take care of pending matters.”

“Right. The soldiers need rest too. Crossing the continent is tiring even inside an airship.”

Viktor nodded at his companions’ words.

Crossing the continent was exhausting even for trained soldiers.

Even a battleship weighing over a million tons would shake when encountering turbulence, and the human body was designed to stride on the ground, not in the sky, so it was only natural.

“Is anyone there?”

Viktor called for an attendant.

“Yes, O Sun.”

“Go and secure the best hotel.”

“Yes.”

Viktor ordered the attendant to find the best hotel, and after about two hours, a luxury hotel representing Bartholomew sent a gold-painted carriage, saying it was an honor to host a god.

The Iron Walker party boarded the carriage and headed toward the hotel. Viktor let out a long sigh as he watched people staring at the statue he had created like addicts looking at drugs.

“It’s only natural since it’s imbued with divinity.”

Just as moths are drawn to flames, it was natural for humans to be attracted to gods.

Since gods were originally beings that guided humans, a god that didn’t attract people was like a pepper without heat.

In other words, it had no value for existence.

Despite tens of thousands of years passing, the fact that no gods other than the Four Great Gods had appeared—or more precisely, no divine beings powerful enough to influence the human world had emerged—was related to this.

Power, wealth, happiness, knowledge.

These four elements occupy such important positions in human life that even if other entities tried to represent other aspects, they would ultimately connect to these four, which is why no other divine beings had emerged.

The Sun and Moon exist for all of humanity, drawing power from humanity’s very “existence” and bearing the tremendous responsibility of “maintaining the world,” so they are somewhat distant from human desires. However, even they derive power from the most primal longing—”the desire to continue living”—which essentially means they receive unlimited power.

If one were to ask whether a human without survival instinct could still be called human, it would become quite clear why the Sun stands above the Four Great Gods.

*

“Ah. How tiring.”

A soft bed. The subtle aroma in the air suggested it had been scented in advance.

Viktor stretched his wife’s soft cheeks as she lay in his arms on the bed, lost in thought.

In the past, when he used divine power, he mostly did so unconsciously.

He was in a trance-like state, like a machine performing pre-programmed actions without self-awareness.

Or he was at an emotional extreme, dominated by his feelings, and rather than “using” divine power, it was more like it overflowed uncontrollably.

For example, like when he openly revealed his divine glory in Karluk, causing the entire welcoming party to faint.

Going further back, there was a time in Zirconia when he was emotionally pushed to the limit after witnessing unspeakable horrors and became a mini-sun.

But this time was different.

He hadn’t entered a trance state, nor was he emotionally overwhelmed.

He had molded everything according to his will with pure intention and read the past.

Using divine power that was absolutely impossible for humans.

“Divine power…”

Viktor clenched his fist and closed his eyes.

The memories of 351,203 years that had become part of “him” and belonged to “him” were confusing, terrifying, and miserable, but at the same time clear and distinct.

The massacre of non-believers under the sun and the revenge of believers. The regression of civilization and the fall of empires. The extinction where countless lives vanished in an instant.

All these formed the mountain of memories that constituted him. They were also the tragedy that could befall the human world if divine power ran amok.

That must be prevented at all costs.

If a Second Age of Eclipse were to come… even the Sun might abandon humanity forever.

If such a tragedy, which even humanity would have to acknowledge, were to repeat itself, wouldn’t even transcendent divinity have to admit that humanity had made no progress?

“Darling.”

“Yes?”

“Do you dream too? I mean… do you see ‘her’ memories?”

Viktor asked as he held her in his arms.

After a momentary kiss, she gently shook her head and whispered in his ear.

“Her memories aren’t much to see. Of course, they flow in, but they’re as faint as rainwater mixing into a river. But her emotions… those do come through.”

“Her emotions come through?”

“I’ve been having nightmares lately. Dreams where your child dies inside me, dreams where I spill a dead child from my womb.”

“Oh my…”

Indeed, that could certainly be called a nightmare.

It was probably the influence of Maria, Saburo’s wife, who had suffered through ten miscarriages and stillbirths before finally ascending to the moon without bearing his offspring. Viktor could easily guess that much.

However, how heavy the burden of miscarriage and stillbirth truly was… that was something he could neither imagine nor understand.

How painful must it be for a mother to feel her child dying inside her, waiting only to be born, and being unable to do anything about it?

“…Can’t you stop it?”

“No…”

Raisha was like Viktor. Their souls were bound under divine names, and just as Saburo had elevated Maria to the moon, as Viktor became a god, his wife Raisha was also transforming into a deity.

It was like being able to shave a beard but not eliminate it entirely, or like how menstrual pain is frightening but menstruation itself cannot be avoided.

They were surrounded by the inevitable terror that comes with irreversible change.

The instinctive fear that all the atoms that once constituted the humans named Viktor and Raisha would be completely replaced, leaving only atoms that constitute the gods of the Sun and Moon.

The husband tightly embraced his wife and kissed her.

This time longer, so that the lingering sensation would remain.

“Don’t worry. I’m by your side. If you have nightmares, come to me.”

“Yes.”

The wife embraces her husband.

Her arms cannot fully wrap around his massive back, and her chest is compressed, making it hard to breathe.

But it was alright.

Being held like this gave her the reassurance that no one could harm her, and the one holding her was Viktor—her lover who bore the name of victory.

“Hold me. So tightly that nothing can get in…”

“I will. As long as I’m here, no one will harm you.”

Viktor said this and kissed her once more.

Even longer than before.