Ch.405The Light of Resistance. Ortolan (2)

“Spacious.”

Viktor had never seen a city larger than this one.

At most, perhaps Faerus Vale? But even that was built on incredible technology and the achievements it created. A city that simply pushed forward with raw population was quite refreshing.

2 billion people. During the Imperial era, this might have been considered a small town, but the fact that it was now an enormous metropolis in the Age of Extinction starkly demonstrated how human civilization had irreversibly declined. Despite gazing at the massive city gleaming brilliantly in the dawn light, Viktor’s heart was filled with complex emotions.

But he needed to stay strong. During his reign, 2 billion people must become not an enormous population, but a small number that could be born and die freely. After all, population growth was something any ruler would welcome.

“I can feel it. This land has deep faith. Perhaps even more so because they are those who prospered in the light.”

“Hmm. I see you can sense such things.”

Simon looked down at the ground, where fanatics were gathered like cockroaches below the Sky Warden, rolling their eyes back and prostrating themselves.

Was this what holy grotesqueness looked like? Simon, who never expected that “too much of anything is not good” could hit so directly, could only avert his eyes with a groan of “ugh.”

“Indeed. It would be strange not to feel this.”

As if unwilling to suffer alone, Simon cast a levitation spell for the hopping Haukman and Berkman brothers before approaching Viktor.

The city was densely packed with heavy buildings, making it impossible for a massive warship like the Sky Warden to land.

Even if they wanted to take a shuttle down, there wasn’t enough space for that either—truly an impressive building-to-land ratio.

If they were mortals, they would have had to crawl awkwardly to an airport on the outskirts, but fortunately, Viktor and Raisha were gods, and Simon was a sage. Levitation was as simple as snapping their fingers.

“Open the portal!”

With a screech…

As the portal slowly opened, Viktor advised his honor guard.

“Honor guard, do not leave my side.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Viktor shared a minimal amount of power with his honor guards and began walking through the air through the slowly opening portal.

When they appeared, the mortals below began shouting as if their throats would burst, bowing toward the master of ecstasy.

“The Sun descends!!!”

“Master of Ecstasy! All glory be to you!”

“The old Empire is dead! Long live the new Empire!”

As if responding to their fanatical prayers, those walking in the sky slowly descended.

Trampling and bursting through clouds, purifying the acrid air, gods derived from humans descended upon a city made by humans.

And finally, as the sun touched down on the asphalt road, the mortals fell silent.

*

A god, by its essential nature, refers to a being that mortals cannot approach.

And for good reason. If gods were something that just anyone could mess with, they would be neighborhood punching bags rather than gods. If they were strong but killable, they would be merely slightly powerful humans.

Viktor, being trapped in a mortal form, could certainly be killed and was susceptible to assassination. However, the price would be the sacrifice of hundreds of billions of lives.

The crowd of millions was as silent as if someone had pressed a mute button, for even the greatest fire is but a match before the sun. They were so overwhelmed by the imposing aura emanating from Viktor, the human incarnation of a god, that they dared not even breathe.

“Rise, my subjects.”

When a god commands, humans obey. With awkward movements, as if someone were pulling at their clothes from behind, the millions in the crowd rose to their feet.

“I am the Master of Ecstasy, the sum of humanity, and the human incarnation of the living sun. My name is Viktor Walker, the founding emperor of the new empire.”

As the sun spoke, Simon deliberately adopted a solemn tone.

“Who will come forward to pay respects to the sun? Who will tell the glory of this land to the master of humanity?”

When the sage spoke, a group parted the crowd. They were the welcoming committee, the president and vice president of this city.

“We will.”

“Who are you?”

“We are those entrusted with the authority to govern the people of this land. I am the first, and this one is the second. There are none stronger than us in this land.”

“Then tell me the glory of this land. The story of brave ancestors who illuminated the darkness, the story of a village that became a city, your story of overcoming darkness and establishing light.”

When the sun spoke thus, the president and vice president nodded slightly. Some might consider it disrespectful, but weren’t they maintaining their composure admirably even in this suffocating divinity? That much could certainly be overlooked.

Soon they began moving through the crowd, surrounded by the honor guard, and Viktor placed a subtle suggestion on the crowd to make them return to their homes naturally.

The welcoming committee could only be shocked to see the enormous crowd dispersing in an orderly fashion like a mass game without any pushing or shoving, but the overwhelming divinity they felt behind them prevented them from crying out.

From Viktor’s perspective, it took considerable effort to “peacefully” disperse a crowd of millions, and he was too weighed down by self-reproach for using divine power to manipulate the minds of powerless citizens to speak.

Since their leader said nothing, the Iron Walker’s party members also felt it wasn’t the right atmosphere to speak freely, and Raisha, the only one with the authority to speak, simply held her husband’s left arm and walked on endlessly.

And so, the awkward silence continued for over an hour.

*

“What is this place?”

“The first inn. Actually, it’s been rebuilt about 5,400 times after collapsing, but still.”

“5,400 times?”

Viktor asked incredulously.

In truth, for a building from over a million years ago, being rebuilt only 5,400 times actually meant it was incredibly sturdy, but still, hearing “rebuilt 5,400 times” whispered right after the grand title of “the first inn” was inevitably deflating.

“Is the design true to the original?”

“Of course. However, it’s quite inconvenient for actual use in many ways. The biggest reason is that it was built to the standards of ancient people, so it’s too small for people today. Since you are tall, Sun, you probably couldn’t enter without bending your waist in half.”

“Ah… I see.”

Viktor nodded in understanding and then pointed at the inn.

“Dwarf brothers, deploy.”

“Oh!”

“Been waiting for this!”

The dwarves scurried in, opening and closing the inn’s door, and the president and vice president watched with knowing expressions as lights came on in the inn.

If the inn was uncomfortably small for humans, in other words, it was just the right size for little folk.

In that era when even essential sunlight was scarce for humans—a miserable time when the entire human race depended on tasteless nutritional gruel, unable to properly obtain even decaying vegetables, let alone meat—the average height of people was predictably low.

Perhaps the dwarves of that time might have been called quarter-folk rather than half-folk.

After standing and watching for about 30 minutes, the lights went out again and the door opened. Two stocky dwarves emerged from the doorway, their beards gleaming with joy.

“How was it?”

“Well, the facilities just cover the basics. Can’t be helped since it’s the first inn.”

“But I learned so much! I’ve never seen ancient architectural styles this closely and clearly before!”

“That’s good then.”

While Berkman and Haukman were mechanics rather than historians, the dwarves’ scholarly enthusiasm was almost a racial trait. Their determination to learn things they didn’t necessarily need to know resembled that of scholars.

Elves commonly have the image of sages, but those guys just accumulated big data because they lived forever, whereas dwarves wanted to learn as much knowledge as possible during their limited lives, requiring selection and focus.

And it was precisely this selection and focus, trading social graces and friendliness, that created the image of stubborn old-fashioned grumps that became the typical representation of dwarves.

“Now that we’ve seen everything, let’s move on to the next location.”

“Oh!”