Ch.384Chapter 384 – The Laboratory, Aftermath (4)

# The Reason for Creating a Hero

Recently, the question that arose when I released Evgenia’s fourth seal resurfaced once more.

“First, for those who feel they can’t follow the conversation, I’ll explain separately later. It would take too long to explain everything right now.”

“Understood.”

Kara nodded and responded to Beatrice.

Then I addressed Beatrice.

“So in the Saint’s memories, there was information about that.”

“From the beginning, there was content about the experiments performed on you, Helmet. The Platinum Saint herself clearly thought it was important.”

Beatrice spoke quietly, bringing her hands together.

“Let’s start by reviewing this first. The characteristics of heroes as described in legends. Anyone know?”

“That’s—”

“If I may, I…”

Chris raised his hand quietly as he spoke.

Sia, who had also raised her hand, glanced at Chris and slowly lowered hers. Chris bowed his head to thank Sia before continuing.

“First, they are summoned from another world. Second, they exhibit several times their normal strength in crisis situations. Third, they can freely handle any weapon, and fourth, they recover enough to fight again no matter how badly they’re injured… right?”

“Just like you, Kay.”

“That’s because the Red Holy Knights, including Helmet, were created to imitate heroes.”

Beatrice spoke quietly in response to Sera’s comment.

“According to what the First Archmage said, heroes weren’t exceptionally strong from the beginning. But even then, he wasn’t someone who would die easily.”

“That was because of the magic cast by the dragons.”

According to the testimony of the First Archmage Lumen, now a lich and former member of the hero’s party, the hero at that time had gained the dragons’ regenerative abilities through a special spell cast on his heart by the dragons.

Because of this, his body began to collapse and die, and it was the hero’s awakening when Lumen and his companions brought various materials to reconstruct his physical form.

“The hero’s body collapsed because a human body couldn’t handle a dragon’s regenerative abilities. And this might be the key point: excessive power will destroy the body in one way or another.”

Beatrice spoke quietly.

“And even if the body collapses, through the hero’s awakening, a body optimized for that immense power can be created.”

Beatrice added that these two points should be remembered.

“Last time, we heard that Emiris devoured all the gods with her authority.”

“That’s the truth that Lady Evgenia herself left behind. And it’s true.”

Chris quietly answered Beatrice’s statement.

“All the gods were integrated into Emiris. The followers of each religious order are essentially no different from worshipping Emiris.”

“And that’s also one of the causes of a characteristic of divine power.”

“Characteristic…?”

Diana asked.

Chris looked at me and asked.

“Kay, do you remember what I told you about divine power during the first seal?”

“…Are you referring to the transfer of divine power?”

I remembered teasing Chris back then, asking if divine power was inferior compared to magical power.

Chris nodded.

“Yes. I said that divine power transfer is impossible unless you believe in the same god. And…”

Chris closed his eyes once as he spoke.

“I told you that divine power is similar at a fundamental level.”

At Chris’s words, I found myself narrowing my eyes.

At that time, Chris, who hadn’t obtained Evgenia’s divine power, had mistakenly thought the divine power in Evgenia’s seal was from a different god, saying it was fundamentally different.

That was the point.

“So originally, divine power should have been different at a fundamental level.”

It would be normal for each god’s power to be fundamentally different.

But if all gods had been absorbed by Emiris.

And if all the followers of every religious order were receiving power from Emiris.

Then naturally, they would be the same at a fundamental level.

Because that divine power belongs to Emiris.

“But because characteristics of other gods’ divine power are still mixed in, the rule that only people of the same religious order can transfer divine power remains valid.”

“In other words, Emiris hasn’t completely absorbed the divine power of other gods.”

Beatrice spoke quietly.

“In the fourth seal, we concluded that Emiris is an imperfect omnipotent being. And that proves to be true. Emiris still hasn’t completely absorbed the power of all gods.”

“I thought she wasn’t omnipotent because she couldn’t absorb Promete’s power, but it seems the problem existed even before that.”

Beatrice nodded at Sia’s words.

“…Is that characteristic of divine power still valid today?”

“We have to assume so.”

Kara answered Eve’s question.

Eve nodded and looked at Beatrice.

“Then, although the exact timing is unknown, a considerable amount of time has passed since Emiris obtained the power of other gods until now. If the characteristics of divine power still haven’t changed, that means Emiris is still unable to digest that power.”

Beatrice nodded at Eve’s words.

Then Sera, who had been quietly lost in thought, spoke up.

“Like the hero, excessive power destroys the body… And Emiris hasn’t been able to digest the power until now.”

After muttering quietly, Sera looked at Beatrice.

“Emiris’s body is collapsing, isn’t it?”

“Correct.”

Beatrice nodded.

“The gods themselves aren’t perfect to begin with, and Emiris is no exception. It’s probably the price for forcibly absorbing other gods’ powers with her authority. She might be able to handle one or two somehow, but Emiris tried to absorb the power of all gods.”

Other gods also possess authorities, like Emiris.

Since Emiris’s authority wasn’t particularly superior to theirs, there must have been a limit to her capacity.

But Emiris misjudged her own limits due to her greed for omnipotence.

And now she’s paying the price.

‘The body is collapsing as a consequence of excessive power, huh.’

Unconsciously, I placed my hand on my chest.

It was meaningless since it was over my armor, but if I concentrated, I could tell my heart was beating irregularly.

‘In a way, I’m in a similar situation.’

I closed my eyes and sighed once.

Then I looked at Beatrice and asked.

“The Platinum Saint was quite perceptive to notice all that.”

“Rather than noticing, I’d say she was told. Not explicitly, of course, but she figured out Emiris’s condition by observing the orders and calculations she gave herself.”

Moreover, regarding divine power, the Platinum Saint, who was well-versed in that field, must have vaguely understood the truth.

And now that the conversation had come this far, I could understand why Emiris hadn’t directly tried to eliminate us until now and why she had been operating behind the scenes.

And why she wanted the hero’s body.

“She must have believed that the hero’s body could handle the power of all gods.”

A body that ultimately defeated the Demon King during the Demon War, whom even the gods couldn’t easily deal with.

That body, which had also gained draconic characteristics, was what Emiris wanted.

“She wants to obtain the hero’s body to ensure her survival and achieve omnipotence.”

To transfer her nearly omnipotent power into the hero’s body and switch over to it.

That was Emiris’s objective.

“That’s right.”

Beatrice nodded in affirmation.

“All the events, all the experiments, were happening solely for that purpose.”

Beatrice said quietly.

+

Abandoning her collapsing body and using the hero’s body to achieve omnipotence.

Everyone fell into thought about Emiris’s objective.

The meeting naturally turned into a short break, and apart from drinking their share of water or slightly adjusting their posture, no one said much.

After a while, Sia asked with a puzzled expression.

“But is there any guarantee that the hero’s body can contain the power of all gods?”

“We don’t know if the hero’s body from the Demon War era could do that. But Emiris wasn’t just relying on that.”

Beatrice raised a finger.

“She was planning to create one if necessary.”

Beatrice narrowed her eyes as she spoke.

“…Summon multiple people from another world to experiment if they can recreate the hero’s power. And prove what conditions are necessary for the hero’s awakening.”

“So my body was tampered with for that purpose?”

Beatrice nodded.

“And there’s more. …If one person’s awakening couldn’t create a body capable of handling omnipotence. How to create such a body.”

“Create a body? Human bodies aren’t something you can just stitch together, are they?”

Sia said incredulously.

“Unless it’s a special case, people combining with others…”

“…Were the corpse golems part of the experiment too?”

The surroundings fell silent at Sera’s words.

Chris’s face also turned pale as he spoke.

“Come to think of it, corpse golems are made of multiple corpses…”

“But no matter what, I don’t think a being calling itself a god would consider becoming such a hideous form.”

Eve said, narrowing her eyes.

And Beatrice quietly added.

“To conclude, the corpse golems were indeed part of the experiment. They were failures and byproducts of experiments on how to combine multiple bodies into one.”

Beatrice spoke quietly.

“So the Mikea Kingdom was used to observe and dispose of those results.”

“…That ossuary.”

It was the place where I first worked with Chris.

It was also where I first encountered a corpse golem.

So that incident occurred because Emiris was disposing of her results.

“After creating and disposing of such results diligently, Emiris seems to have developed the technology to disassemble multiple human bodies and create a new body. …And while observing Helmet, she concluded that one person’s awakening wouldn’t be enough to contain omnipotence.”

“She observed me?”

Beatrice nodded.

“She knows you’re dying. She concluded that if you’re struggling to handle even a dragon’s power despite extensive adjustments and modifications, how much more difficult would omnipotence be?”

So Emiris gave up on achieving omnipotence with a single person’s body.

So she changed her direction.

“As soon as she reached that conclusion, she consumed the remaining Red Holy Knights along with the Saint’s clones.”

There were members of the Red Holy Knights whom we couldn’t rescue from Ferarius.

I had thought those we couldn’t rescue would remain in the New Kingdom.

It seemed Emiris had already taken action.

I unconsciously clenched my fist.

“That damn being, what does she think people are?”

“To her, people from another world are just materials. Materials to create a body that can handle her omnipotence.”

Beatrice spoke quietly.

“…Emiris has already created a body for the hero’s awakening. But she can’t attempt the hero’s awakening yet.”

This part was certain.

The most necessary material for the hero’s awakening.

The Philosopher’s Stone was still missing.

“And Emiris doesn’t have much time left. We should expect her to act desperately.”

“A cornered beast is most dangerous.”

Sia quietly agreed.

Like me, Emiris’s body was collapsing and she was on the verge of death.

If death was truly imminent, there was no telling what kind of bomb she might drop.

“Unintentionally, she and I are competing for the Philosopher’s Stone.”

If I find the Philosopher’s Stone first and achieve awakening, I survive and Emiris dies.

Conversely, if Emiris finds it first and awakens the body she created as a hero, I die.

The god’s struggle for survival had unexpectedly turned into a survival competition with a being she herself had summoned from another world.

That must be one reason why she regards me as such a nuisance.

“But then, what is Idea to her?”

Sia spoke quietly.

“From what I hear, she puts Idea at the forefront. So what exactly is Idea to her?”

“The Saint didn’t figure that out either. But judging from her actions, Idea is likely just another tool for her to use.”

Beatrice spoke quietly.

“…For instance, she might use Idea as a test subject to see if the body is safe before she transfers herself into it.”

“Or perhaps she plans to use Idea as material to create a truly perfect body…”

Sera and Eve each said a word.

Then Sera spoke again.

“…Emiris seems to have an extremely greedy personality…”

It was something everyone knew without having to say it.

As Sera said this, she looked at me, and our eyes briefly met.

At that moment, I remembered something.

“…The hero’s equipment.”

“Hm?”

I looked at Beatrice’s face and spoke.

“The hero’s equipment was stolen from Ferarius. We’ve been suspecting Somnus as the culprit.”

That was also why the Red Dragon Rubrum was so angry with the dwarves of Ferarius.

Setting aside such unimportant details for now, I quietly shared my thoughts.

“Emiris wants to achieve omnipotence because she fears death. The catalyst for gods fearing death was the Demon War.”

I looked at Beatrice and said.

“As Sera said, she’s very greedy. While preparing to survive, she’s also preparing to gain more power to ensure her position is never threatened again.”

If she’s creating a body that can contain omnipotence, it wouldn’t be strange to prepare it to accept even more power.

“In addition to omnipotence, she probably wanted to gain immense strength too. Maybe she wanted to use the hero’s equipment herself.”

The hero’s power was certainly not to be underestimated.

After all, it was the hero who ultimately defeated the Demon King, whom even the gods couldn’t easily handle.

If she not only gathered the gods’ powers but also fully obtained the hero’s power, she would truly have nothing to fear.

“But if her body is collapsing, she doesn’t have many opportunities or much time.”

She’s in a situation with no way back.

And if she fears death, she’ll choose the fastest and safest path.

If so…

“Maybe she plans to first complete the hero’s body using Idea, then complete the hero’s power including the equipment, and finally take over Idea to claim everything for herself?”

For that purpose, she puts Idea at the forefront, makes her a hero, and then devours Idea to gain everything.

It’s a bit roundabout, but if the hero’s body fails and something goes wrong, it wouldn’t immediately harm Emiris. If she’s choosing speed and safety, this would be a likely choice.

“…It’s a bit out of nowhere, but…”

Sia said this, then quietly touched his forehead and continued.

“For someone so full of greed, the possibility that she would covet more… is quite plausible.”

Sia muttered quietly that she might even be aiming for the powers of the Demon King and Promete.

“So the Dragon Slayer is nothing more than a chess piece.”

Kara spoke quietly.

“…But it’s a bit frightening just to think about. The Dragon Slayer is by no means a weak swordsman, yet she thinks she can easily subdue him.”

Kara said, shivering slightly.

Then Eve quietly brought her hands together and spoke.

“Idea’s swordsmanship with the hero’s power and the gods’ power…”

Eve pondered her words quietly, then looked at me and said.

“If such a being were born, it would be almost impossible to stop.”

“Yes.”

The Dragon Slayer, as much as I hate to admit it, was a strong individual.

In terms of pure swordsmanship, he was superior to me.

The hero’s power and the gods’ power obtained through such a person—I honestly couldn’t imagine how formidable it would be.

It would truly be nothing short of a monster.

“And she’s someone who easily sacrifices anything for her own purposes and spouts nonsense about cutting away what’s unnecessary to her. If such a being gains power to do whatever she wants, who knows what negative impact it would have on the world.”

Given her personality, nothing good would come of it.

Discarding what she deems unnecessary, causing harm to achieve her goals.

A world where everything is decided according to her whims.

If she completes all her power, no one would be able to stop her.

“But we can still stop her.”

All the prerequisites were based on her successfully achieving the hero’s awakening.

In the end, to render all her dreams futile, we needed to prevent the hero’s awakening, which was the key to everything.

And the way to make that possible was.

“The Philosopher’s Stone.”

If we can find it first.

Emiris’s plan ends at that point.