Ch.9797. Unknown Emotions

Long ago, in a time so distant.

A time no one remembers.

A world repeatedly erased by the Source of the World, then newly inscribed over and over again.

Even within these world lines, the beings known as constellations stubbornly tried to seize the position of the Absolute One.

-….

The Source of the World watched these scenes with emotionless eyes.

Countless times.

Currently, they express extreme anger at the unreasonableness exercised by the Source of the World.

But from the beginning, it was none other than they who treated the world like a tool and violated the life dwelling upon it.

‘That’s too much.’

That’s why it was erased.

Because it wasn’t the sight that he, no, she had hoped for.

She had endured, waiting and waiting for a constellation who would someday bring light to the world.

‘Why! What’s the reason?!’

-This world is not for you.

Having seen fragments of the universe, I know that constellation intervention is inevitable.

However, I wanted at least this ‘Dianon’ to maintain its original form.

I don’t want to see a world where Providence is twisted and crushed into something no different from a hellscape.

‘This is, solely.’

The Absolute One.

The name of the constellation she had so longed for was ‘Ron’.

A self-righteous constellation who loved his believers and paid no attention to anything else.

But because of that, an unusual constellation who decided to protect this world where his believers would live.

From that day, the Source of the World decided to support the Absolute One.

‘Still, someday.’

But nothing lasts forever.

Someday, even he might lose his essence and try to overturn the world.

But that was okay.

When things went wrong, she could just ‘reset’ everything again.

But is the current Absolute One truly the constellation she had been searching for?

‘I want to test him.’

Forbidden curiosity continued to urge the Source of the World.

Proof, and more proof.

Having given up so many times before, there was so much she wanted to learn from this Absolute One.

Persistent obsession.

The gaze of the Source of the World had been following the Absolute One for who knows how long.

#

-Absolute One.

A signal came.

As the mana flowing through the earth’s veins becomes unstable, anomalies begin to occur.

Starting from unexplored territories untouched by human civilization, abnormalities began to occur sequentially from the outskirts of civilized regions.

“….”

A village burned pitch black.

I faced the villagers who had died with agonized expressions on their faces at the moment of death.

“…This is.”

Black Sun beside me frowned as he looked at the tragedy.

I looked at the scene, then quietly raised my hand to examine the state of the village.

「You cannot use ‘Resurrection’ on the target.」

「The target’s soul is severely damaged.」

“Those bastards.”

It seems they handled this deliberately to make a statement.

This is less an attack against me and more like an advertisement.

Just as I provoked them through the screen, these bastards are trying to get under my skin through these small sacrifices.

“Um, Absolute One.”

“See? I told you it was good we didn’t bring the kids.”

Before heading here, I had repeatedly instructed Lisia and Vera, who wanted to follow, to stay behind.

If they had faced this scene, they probably would have suffered for days.

These weren’t even believers of other denominations, but ordinary people who died horribly.

I might be able to reduce the mental damage with a constellation punch, but it’s different for believers.

「Casting ‘Superior Blessing’.」

Knowing that the entire village would become a den of undead due to the curse if left alone, I immediately performed an exorcism ritual.

“…”

I closed my eyes for a moment and said a silent prayer.

That I would definitely avenge them, if nothing else.

I don’t know if they could hear me, but I still conveyed my sincere condolences to the villagers.

Opening my eyes again.

“Looks like they’re really going to start.”

“We’ve sent our denomination’s people to investigate.”

“Right. We should ask the other constellations too.”

The more information, the better.

And I had not just one denomination, but constellations with considerable influence in the world.

“Even if we can prevent mana anomalies in advance, they’ll keep trying to get under my skin.”

This was a method the constellation bastards loved to use in the game too.

The so-called attention theory.

They make my attention focus elsewhere, then cause an incident somewhere else.

Then not only is the effort concentrated elsewhere wasted, but a bomb goes off in an innocent area.

“Hmm.”

Should I just endure?

But I couldn’t let others suffer innocent deaths.

“Find them.”

“Uh, what…?”

So I immediately crossed over to the hidden world and told the Source of the World.

“I said find them.”

“I, I’m trying hard right now.”

“Trying hard isn’t enough. Find them.”

“No. That’s not what I—”

“I said find them! Find them!”

Throwing a tantrum, being stubborn.

I decided to protest as much as possible while bearing the burden of being the Absolute One.

The Source of the World was stunned by my unreasonable attitude, then made an expression suggesting she felt wronged too.

“Look, Absolute One. It’s not that I don’t want to find them… I need some time…”

“Time or whatever. You’ve seen it too, right? Are you going to watch everyone die miserable deaths?”

“….”

I displayed the burned black village on a screen.

“These bastards. They even damaged the souls and put them on display for all to see.”

“Is that… because you’re angry?”

“What?”

The Source of the World suddenly asked with a meaningful tone.

Am I angry, she asks.

“Isn’t that obvious? If I’m looked down upon, eventually other constellations will look down on me too. And our denomination as well.”

“Then it doesn’t matter anyway.”

The Source of the World said quietly.

“Whether a village is devastated or not, it has nothing to do with your denomination. Let’s just wait, okay? To catch a big fish, we need some sacrifices on our side too.”

“What the hell are you saying?”

“…Huh?”

Is this really the Source of the World?

“Um, Absolute One…”

I heard Black Sun calling me anxiously from the side, but my emotions had already flared up.

“What do you think human lives are? Bait? Sacrifices? It’s because you have such thoughts and just stand by that trash like Past Remnants come around.”

“…How about watching your language?”

“Watch my language, my ass. Shouldn’t you be the one doing that? Shouldn’t you be taking care of this?”

The Source of the World stared at me.

“Interesting.”

Then she blurted out something incomprehensible.

“What now?”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen a constellation get angry over something like this.”

“Star… Child.”

“Hehehe.”

….?

Wasn’t this a situation on the verge of a fight just now?

Seeing the Source of the World suddenly smiling brightly, I felt a bit dizzy.

“Okay then! I’ll try my best!”

“Suddenly, what…”

“So that ‘our’ world can become healthier.”

Emphasizing the word ‘our’, the Source of the World left the hidden world first.

#

“What was that.”

Left alone, I could only stand there dumbfounded with Black Sun.

It’s like her actions are unpredictable.

Why she gets angry, why she’s irresponsible, and then why she smiled with a good mood at the end.

I couldn’t understand at all.

“I find it strange too… but somehow I feel like I understand.”

“…?”

“Ah, never mind.”

Black Sun hurriedly avoided my gaze and muttered.

What is it.

Why are they having conversations that only I don’t understand?

With a meaningful feeling, I opened the map of Dianon.

The village that was just attacked is where I left a mark.

Considering its proximity to the Regalium Kingdom, they might strike at the border itself next.

‘Holy spirits.’

For now, there are the guardian totems obtained through the undead constellation.

They should be enough to block otherworldly beings for now, and moreover, there are…

The Sword Saintess and the Hero.

‘Next.’

Since it’s dangerous to openly leave the Sanctuary empty, I’ll leave Belladis behind as before.

“…Is there anything we can do too?”

“You should focus on your own denomination first. Since they know you’re with me, you might be the next target.”

I need to talk to the Past Remnant again.

‘Why is this guy so hard to reach?’

There’s a high probability he’s being cautious because he’s under suspicion from the others.

“…Absolute One.”

“Huh?”

Black Sun called me.

“When this is over, I want to disband my denomination.”

And what I heard was so destructive that my thoughts momentarily stopped.

“What are you suddenly talking about?”

“I want to join the Absolute One’s denomination and try to create a more righteous denomination.”

Recreating a denomination.

It couldn’t have been an easy choice to nullify the achievements built up over such a long time.

“In this situation?”

“Coming this far, I think I understand what kind of world the Absolute One wants to see.”

“Well… do as you wish then.”

There’s no reason to stop him if he wants to shed his tainted name and put himself through the washing machine.

Feeling proud of Black Sun for trying to become good on his own, I waited for the Source of the World to bring information.