Ch.443Chapter 443 – What’s Hidden in the Seal (2)

“Are you alright, Lady Christina?”

Noah quietly asked as he watched Chris praying with her hands clasped together.

She nodded toward Noah and replied.

“I’m fine.”

Chris had already gone through this four times.

She felt certain that she would be safe this time as well.

And as if to turn that certainty into truth, the light gradually began to fade.

In the midst of it, Chris, who had been praying with her eyes closed, slowly rose to her feet.

“Chris.”

I quickly approached her to ask about her condition.

Chris seemed slightly weakened, but fortunately, she was able to move on her own.

After catching her breath slightly, Chris looked at me and said.

“I found out.”

“Found what?”

“This seal…”

Chris looked at me and continued.

“The seal that Lady Eugenia left behind was meant to eliminate the gods.”

Chris’s quiet words spread throughout the surroundings.

Beatrice was the first to react.

“Eliminate the gods?”

“Yes.”

Looking around, Chris quietly began to speak.

“The story goes back to the Demon War, to the moment when the hero finally defeated the Demon King.”

After taking a breath, Chris looked at me.

“I must have told you at the fourth seal. After the Demon War ended, the gods were gripped by the fear of death, and they tried to escape that fear by achieving a higher existence, by becoming omnipotent and omniscient.”

“And Emiris stabbed the other gods in the back and stole their powers, as the story goes.”

The power used there was Emiris’s authority of conquest.

The ability to make others’ powers one’s own without any side effects.

Chris had explained that Emiris had easily devoured the other gods with that ability.

“Lady Eugenia was also gripped by the fear of death at that time and thought she could escape that fear by reaching omniscience and omnipotence. However, her authority told her that it wasn’t right.”

“Eugenia’s authority was the authority of guidance, wasn’t it?”

Chris nodded at Eve’s words.

Sera immediately continued.

“It was the authority to discern what is right and wrong, and guide toward the right direction.”

“That’s right, Sera. At first, Lady Eugenia tried to use her authority to reach omniscience and omnipotence. Like what Emiris coveted, her authority was close to omniscience, so she might have thought she could easily find a way to achieve omniscience and omnipotence.”

Chris took a slight breath and then continued.

“But Lady Eugenia felt that reaching omniscience and omnipotence wasn’t the right thing to do. It was because of the authority of guidance.”

The authority that reveals the right path and the wrong path told its master, who was trying to achieve omniscience and omnipotence like the other gods, that it wasn’t right.

“Lady Eugenia was confused. After all, the authority she trusted was stopping her. But soon, it seems she realized why.”

“What was the reason?”

In response to Sia’s question, Chris quietly said.

“Nothing is eternal and immortal, and the masters of the world always change. New ones are born from the old ones, the new ones become independent from the old ones, and they face rough waves as the old ones did, and just as they did, newly born ones will eventually replace them.”

It was like a riddle.

But immediately, I could understand what it meant.

“So even gods cannot reign forever.”

Chris nodded at my words.

“That’s exactly right, Kay. In the end, the masters of the world continue to change, and gods are no exception. That’s the truth that the authority of guidance revealed to Lady Eugenia.”

It seemed that through the power of her authority, Eugenia had learned why she shouldn’t achieve omniscience and omnipotence.

And Chris continued quietly with a slightly bitter smile.

“Of course, even if it’s the right path, it’s hard for someone who is alive and has power to fully accept it. Lady Eugenia was no different. She was confused and tried to deny reality. But as the goddess of guidance, she eventually acknowledged that fact. She realized that a time would come when they would no longer be needed in this world. So she began to prepare a plan for the future.”

“What did she prepare?”

“It was a plan to return the power that the gods had held to the world and migrate to a new world.”

Chris quietly said.

“She planned to return their power?”

“She said it was difficult for beings as powerful as gods to go to another world. It wouldn’t have mattered if Lady Eugenia had tried to execute the plan alone… but Lady Eugenia thought all gods should migrate together.”

Chris looked at me and said.

“The gods that existed at that time were Lady Eugenia, Jeolei, Hati, Emiris… and others. So for a future where gods would no longer be needed, Lady Eugenia tried to persuade them to return most of the power they had accumulated to this world, and migrate to another world with only an appropriate amount of power to start anew… That was Lady Eugenia’s original plan.”

For a world where gods would eventually become unnecessary.

Eugenia believed that was the right future, and prepared for it, according to the story.

Eve quietly asked in response to Chris’s words.

“But starting over somewhere else couldn’t have been easy.”

“That’s right. Lady Eugenia was afraid of leaving for another world. However, if we trace back to their origins, Lady Eugenia and the other gods came to this world from elsewhere. They were already close to being gods in the world they came from. That’s why they could gather faith, and by converting that faith into power as they crossed over to another world, they finally came to be called gods.”

Chris looked at me and said.

“In other words, they were essentially travelers who came to this world from another. So despite their fears, they believed that if they moved forward for the future, they would surely adapt well in another world too. With that hopeful outlook, Lady Eugenia trusted herself and the other gods, and tried to implement a plan for the right future that her authority of guidance had revealed.”

Chris paused to catch her breath as she spoke.

After calming down a bit, she opened her mouth again.

“The seals were what she prepared for that future.”

Chris quietly concluded.

I immediately asked her a question.

“How did Eugenia plan to execute that plan?”

“It’s simple. She just needed to change where the faith was directed.”

Chris said this while looking at me.

“Kay, what would you call the quality that allows one to gather faith?”

“I’m not sure…”

But thinking about it, it seemed that not only Eugenia and the other gods but also the indigenous gods that were said to have originally existed in this world could gather faith.

Gods from other worlds and indigenous gods.

Either way, they were beings called gods.

The quality of gathering faith could be seen as the element that makes a god be called a god.

If I had to define that quality…

“Divinity?”

Since they’re gods, it would be appropriate to call it that.

“Correct. You seem to have figured it out well.”

Chris nodded with a smile.

“The quality of gathering faith is called divinity. This was a quality that the indigenous gods who originally existed in this world also possessed. The ability to convert that faith into power is a quality that arises when beings from other worlds cross over to this one.”

After saying this, Chris quietly asked me.

“Then what would be the source of a god?”

“Faith, I suppose.”

Whether indigenous gods or gods from other worlds, gathering faith is the same.

In the case of those from other worlds, they can even convert faith into power, so ultimately, the source of a god could be seen as faith.

“So looking at it that way, only beings who can gather faith, that is, beings with divinity, can be called gods.”

“That’s right.”

Chris nodded and then quietly continued.

“Therefore, if there’s any intervention in divinity, the gods weaken. This characteristic is more severe for gods who came from other worlds, like Lady Eugenia. That’s why Lady Eugenia tried to intervene in divinity through the seals.”

“What kind of intervention?”

Sia quietly asked.

“How exactly did Eugenia plan to weaken divinity?”

“She designed it so that faith would gather in a certain being by bestowing the divinity possessed by the gods of that time upon it.”

Chris quietly answered while looking at Sia.

“It wasn’t just about leaving this world. By gathering divinity in that being, she was considering the devotees who had served them, ensuring they could continue to use power even in the absence of the gods. She probably wanted everyone to reach a good ending.”

After saying this, Chris quietly added.

“The locations of the seals were places that she personally selected for this plan. She incorporated spells she designed directly into the seals so that everything would end when the time came. However, to prepare for resistance from the gods, she hid the plan and the seals from them. Of course, she prepared the plan itself step by step.”

Chris looked at me and continued.

“…However, the plan wasn’t executed during Lady Eugenia’s time. That’s because she was devoured by Emiris. So her original plan must be considered a failure… but the spells she incorporated remained.”

Chris spoke quietly.

“Moreover, Lady Eugenia left information about this plan within the seals as a precaution. Perhaps she was preparing for the possibility that she wouldn’t be able to execute the plan herself, using her authority of guidance. Thus, what she left behind continued to be maintained within the seals… and finally, we came to know about this plan.”

Chris’s words ended.

As I fell into thought, I found myself looking at Sera without realizing it.

‘So Sera’s grandmother knew.’

I don’t know how she figured it out.

But she clearly had.

Given that she left a prediction that when the seals were broken, gods would eventually disappear from this world, she must have known almost certainly.

‘She was no ordinary person.’

I had already felt how extraordinary an alchemist she was earlier, but to have figured out on her own what we barely discovered, and without even properly accessing the seals, she was nothing short of a monster.

I don’t know how she figured it out, but I suspect she calculated something from the seals Eugenia left behind.

‘We’re lucky, I suppose.’

If, hypothetically, Maria Medimaker had been someone who sided with Emiris, she would surely have informed Emiris of this plan as soon as she discovered it.

Then Emiris would have personally destroyed Eugenia’s seals and completely ruined the plan.

Even if no such being had appeared until now, the possibility that someone might discover Eugenia’s plan in the coming years couldn’t be ruled out.

‘That was close.’

It seemed miraculous that the seals had remained well-hidden until now.

Of course, Eugenia had split the information into fragments and hidden it within the seals, concealed the seals themselves, and even placed guardians to prevent the information from leaking out, but nothing is absolute.

Moreover, considering what I heard at Rubrum’s lair, it seems that creating a successor god like Chris was part of the plan, and the plan could have been permanently derailed if a suitable candidate had never appeared.

It was nothing short of a miracle that Eugenia’s plan had survived and been revealed according to her intentions.

‘By the way…’

According to the plan, which being was supposed to receive the divinity?

I looked at Chris and asked.

“I have a question.”

“Please ask.”

Chris responded to my words.

“Earlier, you said Eugenia arranged for divinity to be transferred to some being so that devotees could use divine magic even in the absence of gods.”

“Yes.”

Chris nodded.

I carefully continued.

“What kind of being was she planning to transfer divinity to?”

“This very earth.”

Chris quietly said.

“Lady Eugenia designed it so that by bestowing divinity upon this earth, everyone could eternally enjoy the grace of the gods even without their presence.”

+

Mikea Kingdom, Count Metis’s territory.

The guardian who had been protecting the first seal that Kay’s group had visited suddenly opened her eyes at the energy she felt.

[The seal is responding.]

She had known what this response meant since becoming the guardian of this place.

[So the suitable one has finally reached the last seal.]

The resonance of the seals that appears only when a suitable person reaches the final seal.

Witnessing the moment when the five seals resonated, the guardian quietly smiled.

[You did it, junior.]

The guardian recalled the group that had arrived here quite some time ago.

There was a bit of cheating when she used a tool the guardian didn’t know about, but regardless, that group had admirably subdued her.

[Did Eugenia’s arrangements work out well?]

Inwardly, she had thought they might fail and another group might not appear for a long time.

But the first group to appear at the seal had finally reached the last one.

Of course, a very long time had passed until they appeared.

[Perhaps they were truly lucky.]

Still, they had finally succeeded.

Her expectation that suitable individuals would visit all the seals only after numerous sacrifices was pleasantly proven wrong.

Of course, she wasn’t frustrated.

Honestly, she was glad.

Glad that there were no more sacrifices.

[Of course, it’s not over just because they’ve contacted the seals.]

Naturally, the role isn’t fulfilled just because a suitable person contacts the seals.

A final role remained for that suitable person.

And after that, an even bigger problem remained.

Of course, that child would know everything by now.

[I was a bit worried that we might have placed too heavy a burden on that child, but I’m relieved.]

But thinking that the child had done better than expected, the guardian smiled.

And a moment later, she quietly looked up at the ceiling.

Though no one would hear, she murmured softly as if wanting to be heard.

[Well then, shall I move now?]

Having made her decision, the guardian quietly opened her mouth.

[The time you spoke of is coming.]

The guardian recalled the last conversation she had with a dear friend, long before she took her current form.

[The day of promise you spoke of is approaching, Metis.]

The day of promise.

She didn’t know how many people had heard those words.

But what was certain was that those who knew the meaning of those words would have noticed by now that the time was approaching.

It was time for her, who had spent a long time as a guardian, to move as well.

[Shall I go now?]

The guardian rose, stretching her body slightly out of habit from when she was alive.

[It’s time for me to do my final duty as the first saint.]

Anticipating that a harsh trial awaited at the end.

The guardian disappeared somewhere, emanating golden divine power.