Ch.56Chapter 56. A Letter from the Past

# A Savior must prioritize the greater good over personal desires.

So despite last night’s moments, a day may come when I must kill my own heart.

Even if I can never forget him, I may someday have to put those feelings aside.

My child. Before I write what I wish to tell you, let me first share the story of my birth.

In this moment of examining the ancestor’s prophecy,

A faint glimmer of what might be called hope began to stir in the heart of the prophet who had been preparing to resign herself to it.

As you know, my birth came from the union between my human father and a being called a god who came to destroy this land.

Why she from beyond chose to unite with my father… even I don’t know my mother’s true intentions.

Although I was born with half-divine blood, my life was no different from humans like my father.

Since my emotions cannot escape human standards, my understanding of my mother remains merely in the realm of speculation.

While the records he left have been preserved from tribal times to the modern era, they mostly consist of prophecies.

Among them, there was nothing written about why the Destruction Goddess united with a human, or why she ascended to the heavens, refusing her mission.

This wasn’t because the records were damaged, but because they were deliberately not written.

Perhaps the prophet, merely human despite inheriting divine power, dared not attempt to fathom the mind of a god.

Nevertheless, you, the final successor, are probably weighed down by your sense of duty.

As you worry every moment about how to guide the future, I who prophesied the destruction must take responsibility for it.

So, my child, through this letter, I will write down at least my speculations about my mother.

My thoughts on why my mother descended to this land, united with a human, and departed for the heavens without fulfilling her mission herself.

“…”

A tension gradually building in the silence.

Perhaps feeling the same emotions as herself, her future self began to turn the page of the interpreted letter.

My mother passed away when I was very young, so I have almost no memories of her, but as I grew older and awakened my powers, I could look not only into the future but also into my own past.

When I looked back at the past, one thing I noticed was what my mother said when I was born.

Yes, at that time, the apostle of destruction looked down at the life she had created within her body and said:

‘My child who has inherited my blood. Please teach me… where to set the standard of destruction that I must bring to this land.’

“…The standard of destruction?”

What does that mean, a standard for destruction?

Isn’t destruction meant to signify the end of everything?

As the Goddess of Destruction, surely the correct answer would be to destroy everything visible, and yet…

Everyone believed she ascended to heaven because she thought there was no need for her to destroy anything, as an era of chaos would come to this world thousands of years later…

The reason I didn’t record these words of my mother was because opinions without clear standards would inevitably be received differently by each person.

Some would say a world where all humans like us have disappeared is destroyed, while others might say destruction means the disappearance of not only intelligent beings but also humble creatures and their habitats.

Then, if by some miracle there were survivors in that place where everything turned to dust… if those few survivors had the chance to rebuild civilization, could that truly be called destruction?

Just because there are people living in a collapsed world, some might still see hope. While some may view failing to protect everything as destruction, others might consider rising again despite failure as erasing the past of destruction.

Then is it destruction when not even such opportunities are given? By what standard are these opportunities determined?

No, from the beginning, all these standards are merely centered around “humans”… Then if my mother, the Goddess of Destruction, had united with beasts or other intelligent beings instead of humans, would the standard of destruction be set through them?

Irie’s expression gradually hardened at this continuous stream of unexpected opinions.

Until now, she had only vaguely focused on the arrival of chaos in the world and stopping it.

Whether it was the Demon Lord’s army trampling humanity, preventing all humans from becoming moving corpses, or perishing together with them leaving nothing behind in the world—that would be called destruction…

She had simply come here to stop whatever might happen, and was mindlessly searching for someone who could prevent any future that might come.

When I recalled the past, I could vaguely feel the warmth my mother gave me as she caressed me.

Though not in my memory, her embrace was warm, and her caressing touch was tender.

That was certainly true, and perhaps it could be called an act of love.

Even if my existence was merely to determine the line of the mission of destruction.

To the extent that she valued it seriously, my mother would want me and my bloodline to take root and live on this land.

Not just committing destruction as her name of Destruction Goddess suggests, but watching over her descendants every moment to find the answer she sought.

-Rustle.

As the future self’s hand gripping the translated letter tensed,

Similarly, veins stood out on her own hand placed on the crystal ball, and sweat began to form on its surface.

My child. I did not want my mother’s descendants to fight based on such uncertain speculations.

If they all live their own lives and set different standards, conflicts will inevitably arise from the clash of their standards.

Conversely, if it’s a path chosen by a representative to whom everyone entrusts the future, surely everyone who supports that person will show respect for their decision.

From the beginning.

From gathering the strength of everyone in the tribe, this was the intention all along—she realized only now.

My child. Ask yourself.

Is the era you’re living in truly heading toward destruction?

Yes, still.

As he said, it’s still just a process, not yet reached the result.

Even if you feel it’s heading toward destruction, if it hasn’t yet reached the moment of destruction, opportunities still exist.

At least until the time she prophesied, nothing that could be called destruction existed.

And even if such events occurred, they already had the experience of avoiding it once.

To discuss destruction and salvation without clear standards is an act of arrogance.

So if opportunities still exist, set aside your mission and embark on a journey to find that line.

Travel the world, weighing the justice that everyone speaks of against your own beliefs, and establish the standard you wish to accept.

Set your own standard as the representative of the descendants, and build the world around what you must protect in a world full of chaos.

And every moment, never forget one thing.

Even as I write this letter, as my descendants take root in this land, and in the new present that is the result of you reading this letter… the fact that mother is watching over us, showing us the future of this world.

“…”

This is all I want to convey to you through this letter.

Please don’t be weighed down by the mission I’ve passed on to you, cherish the current opportunity, and gradually build your own will as you grow.

Irie Haven.

From your sinful ancestor who entrusted fate to you, who probably bears such a name.

“…Hehe.”

A small laugh escaped after reading the entire letter.

Feeling empathy for the sentiment her future self would likely feel, Irie looked down at the old bundle of papers placed next to the crystal ball.

An object so worn by the passage of time that it was damaged beyond recognition.

But the sincere feelings of an ancestor that reached herself, who would be here at this moment after thousands of years.

“‘Probably’? That’s not a word an oracle should use, Ancestor.”

Though it’s the correct answer, for a prophet who should believe that the future they’ve seen will certainly come true, to emphasize a word expressing uncertainty…

No matter how accurate it was, to deliberately mention it at the end suggests a lack of confidence in the words written in this letter, doesn’t it?

‘But why, I wonder, does my heart feel relieved by advice based on uncertainty.’

She soon realized the reason.

What destroys a person yearning for hope might be standards created by someone other than themselves.

So if one cannot bear the reality that everyone calls hopeless, perhaps turning away from it is the right answer.

“Yes, Ancestor. As you say… perhaps we’ve been thinking too heavily about it.”

Whether it’s right or wrong, if the time to know hasn’t even arrived yet.

Perhaps her mission is to discard standards created by others and establish her own standards while watching over a world that hasn’t yet been destroyed.

Perhaps that is the attitude that one who claims to be a savior should have first.

“Destruction Goddess… no, Mother of the beginning who engraved the name Haven on this land.”

Hoping that this realization wasn’t wrong, Irie quietly offered a prayer to the crystal ball before her.

To the primordial mother who even now gives her strength and shows her the path to the future.

“If there exists a possibility that the one I wish to be with could become a savior, please show me a fragment of that future here and now.”

More power than ever drained away at this desperate prayer, and the light reflecting from the crystal ball that received this power began to brightly illuminate the dark tent.

Of course, the future isn’t determined by her wishes alone.

It merely shows how her resolution after reading this letter will influence future choices, and what path that will lead to.

But that alone is enough to determine the path she must take now.

If only there is certainty that the future connected to him is not something she would regret.

-Heung~♡

And, as if responding to her prayer, a familiar sound was heard.

The moment she realized it, Irie felt relief but also began to recall the discomfort she had forgotten.

-Huhu, do you like it when I thrust like this? Or like this?

-Aahn~ There, I love it~♡♡

Her future self still moaning in ecstasy while joining bodies with him.

Clearly, despite believing she had completely finished the act, her future self was enjoying the act with him just as explicitly as before.

‘I wasn’t even drunk when I did it, but what on earth is my future self doing with him…’

No matter how good her relationship with him was, she didn’t want to be ruined like this.

Of course, if she disliked this future, she could gradually adjust it. Thinking she would be satisfied just knowing that a future with him still existed, but then…

-Huhu, my children, are you thinking of leaving Mama out?

At the sudden unfamiliar voice, Irie’s expression, as she stared at the crystal ball, turned to one of confusion.

“…Mama?”

Mama?

Her mother had died when she was young, so could it be that Mephisto had mischievously intruded?

No, there’s no sign of her appearing in this crystal ball.

Although she too is a Transcendent and might reappear someday, a future where she is present is currently excluded.

What appeared here was not her, but ‘another Transcendent’ already entangled with him.

-Come here, my babies. It’s time for milk~♡

Tashian Pailoi.

A fallen legend who tried to destroy humanity before this world began to collapse.

-Heung, Maman…♡

While he made sucking sounds with his head under her clothes,

Similarly, herself with her head inserted on the opposite side began to make the same sounds underneath.

-Huhu, is it delicious, my daughter?

-It’s dewicious, slurp, slurp~♡♡

“…Eh?”

What on earth.

Why were not only he but also herself babbling like babies and sucking on her breasts on the bed?

Could it be that she got drunk and lost her mind like that time?

Or did such an incident cause a butterfly effect, resulting in this outcome in the distant future?

“…Why on earth.”

Of course, the other party is the worst catastrophe that could destroy humanity.

The fact that she has fallen to such a state might mean humanity is safe, but the distorted future itself was not something Irie could accept positively.

“What on earth happens in the future to make things turn out like this repeatedly?!”

What kind of future is her prophecy leading him toward?

That even the fallen legend trying to exterminate humanity would come to offer her body to him?

***

After parting with Irie like that.

I headed straight to Tachia’s workshop according to the prophecy written on the note she left me.

Not only to receive the armor, but according to her prophecy, something even more important was waiting there.

“…Ah, you came?”

But what I encountered when I arrived was a devastated workshop.

And Tachia’s body covered in blood and dust.

“Um, Tachia. This spear…”

In a situation where anyone could predict that something serious had happened, I expressed my concern to Tachia while holding the spear that had flown in arbitrarily at the scene.

What on earth happened here to make the surroundings look like this?

And to find out why the Ego Weapon she had taken back flew toward me.

“Ah, yes. That spear.”

Tachia, noticing it, snorted and said.

“I’ll give you that spear, so let’s make a contract.”

Words that had clearly appeared in Irie’s prophecy.

In a voice more excited than usual.

[When you go to receive the armor, that person will make a proposal with the weapon you’ve been attached to.]

Yes, this was in the first note Irie had given me.

It was just in a different form than I had thought.

[Whatever reason follows, be sure to accept her proposal. Securing that weapon is the beginning of blocking the dangers you will face afterward.]

Of course, this spear is worth giving everything except my life for.

If the prophecy is true, regardless of the situation, I must accept Tachia’s proposal at this moment.

“Yes, I’ll accept.”

Nevertheless, what I was curious about at this moment wasn’t the conditions for receiving this spear.

This Ego Weapon made of mythril.

What meaning does this weapon, which anyone would consider precious, hold for her?

“Tachia, what do you want from me?”

In that haggard gaze directed at me after accepting her proposal.

I wonder if it contains what could be called expectation.