Chapter 410: The Divine and Anathema

I had never thought Tyr was fast.

She seemed no different from a tortoise as she always carried around her own coffin at a leisurely pace.

Even outside of the Abyss, she had always moved slowly.

But here, in the Duchy, Tyr was astonishingly swift.

Her claim of having shared her darkness to form the mist was no exaggeration—she manipulated the surrounding fog, moving through it as if she were swimming.

I remained still, yet the world around me shifted.

When I came to my senses, Tyr and I had already arrived before a quiet ranch.

After ensuring that no one else was around, Tyr took a deep breath.

“Hu. What exactly was that?”

“Nothing special. I just used the power of a Divine.”

“I fail to understand what nothing special means to you.”

Seeing how unfazed I was despite everything, Tyr also began to regain her composure.

I sat down on a nearby rock and she followed suit, settling beside me to organize her thoughts.

｢It was Hu’s power that revived my heart. He reignited the flame of sensations I had long forgotten. At the time, I was too overwhelmed by joy, too preoccupied with my desire to remain with them to question it, but… would it be alright to ask now? If I inquire about the King of Humans, will he vanish like a fae, slipping through my fingers?｣

You can ask now.

I had wanted to keep my identity as the King of Humans hidden as much as possible, but since the Regressor already knows, there is no reason to keep up the pretense.

Everyone’s cards were being forced into the open.

This was likely due to the Regressor stirring things up after seeing the future.

Thanks to that, secrets were becoming meaningless and everyone was being pushed to their limits in a race to the finish line.

In that case, rather than clutching onto my hand of cards, it was better to lay them all out and run full speed ahead.

Before Tyr could ask, I spoke first.

“Tyr, the Divine I encountered in Claudia had a unique power. As you saw, it was the ability to control lightning.”

“You mean the power Peru used at the end?”

“Yes. Though the way we use it is entirely different.”

Since the topic had come up, I held out my palm.

Sparks crackled faintly in the empty air.

It wasn’t as overwhelming as Peru’s or the Thunderarch’s abilities, but it was enough for one person to wield.

Witnessing the display, Tyr finally decided what she needed to ask.

“Hu. Can the King of Humans… wield the power of Divines?”

I had mentioned it before, but the explanation had been too vague.

I should clarify it properly now.

If I was going to make her an ally, I needed to put her on the same playing field.

“No. All humans can wield the power of Divines. The Divines are the principles of the world itself.”

Tyr mulled over my words for a long time before responding.

“The principles of the world… That sounds similar to what the mages of old used to say.”

“It’s the same thing. The magic they used was merely one fragment of the power left behind by the Divines. The only difference is how it’s used.”

Those who truly lack knowledge don’t even know what they don’t know.

Tyr’s mind was filled with vague, directionless questions.

She was the type of student that would be most difficult for a teacher.

But who was I?

I was the King of Humans.

I read all of Tyr’s jumbled thoughts and picked the one answer that would cut through them all.

“The world existed long before humans did. In the grand flow of things, beasts simply lived within it, but some beasts learned to observe the world’s flow and reshape it to their advantage.”

“You mean humans?”

“Not just humans. Birds that ride the wind, spiders that weave webs, beavers that build dams—every creature that has existed alongside the world has, in its own way, understood and utilized it.”

I flicked my fingers, making two cards flutter like wings.

I stacked them into a house of cards, then knocked them down and arranged them into a dam.

“The act of understanding and shaping the world isn’t unique to humans. All creatures do it. Humans are simply better at it, and when that skill turned into curiosity, humans sought to understand the world more deeply, refining their methods… until, after countless trials, they reached the fundamental principles of existence.”

“The principles of the world itself?”

“Yes. Rather than just picking up fire, they learned how to create it. They forged the world’s principles into laws, creating what we now call Divines. The remnants of those who glimpsed the world’s truth, left behind as gifts and powers for humanity.”

I pressed my palm against a rock.

With my strength alone, I couldn’t even budge it, but with Earthweave, it sank under my hand.

The imprint I left behind turned the stone into soft earth.

As I swirled my fingers in a circle, a dandelion bloomed from the soil.

A seed, long buried and dried up, was forced to sprout.

“The power to change the world. Magic is simply a structured way of wielding this power, but at its core, it’s a force permitted to all creatures.”

“…Yet vampires have never been able to use it.”

“That’s simply due to the nature of vampires. Their internal and external boundaries are blurred. To change the world, one must anchor themselves at the center, but vampires lack a clear sense of self. Oh, but now that you’ve regained your heart, Tyr, you might actually be able to use it.”

Though mastering the power within her body would be a challenge in itself.

Tyr nodded, then moved on to her next question.

“If Divines are a power permitted to humans, why has the Sanctum sealed them away?”

“Oh? You noticed that?”

“It is obvious. The Sanctum was involved in both the Abyss and the Cloud Village.”

Her ability to detect the Sanctum’s involvement was quite sharp.

I nodded and explained.

“The Sanctum hasn’t exactly sealed the Divines. They don’t even have the means to do so. As you saw with the Golden Lord and Mother Earth, their teachings were openly spread throughout the world.”

“That is true. Their doctrines were widely known. So, what was the Sanctum doing with them?”

“It’s simple. They weren’t hiding Divines—they were sealing off specific knowledge so that humans wouldn’t commit certain Anathemas.”

Tyr reacted to the word “Anathema.”

More than anyone else in the world, a vampire who drinks the blood of others—an existence defined by Gluttony—understood the nature of Anathemas all too well.

With a displeased expression, she spoke of them.

“The four Anathemas dictated by the Sanctum?”

“Yes. You know all four, right?”

“Of course I do. I have heard those wretched things so many times that I could recite them right now.”

“Go ahead, then.”

Since we both knew them, there was no need for me to explain.

Tyr readily accepted the task I passed to her.

“First Anathema—Gluttony. The act of consuming something wicked and abhorrent to fill one’s own body. Those wretches accused vampires of being spawns of Gluttony and attacked us,  yet, we do not take lives—we merely consume blood.”

She didn’t explicitly state it, but the “wicked and abhorrent” thing being consumed was often other humans.

Tyr grimaced as she moved on.

“Second Anathema—Grafting. The act of discarding the body crafted by the Creator and replacing it with something else. The abominations of dark magic, stitched together with animal horns and wings, are the results of grafting.”

“In the Fallen Dominion, they replaced their bodies with machines instead.”

“Indeed. That too can be considered Grafting. Yet, for all that it was deemed Anathema, they never truly managed to stop it. Regardless, the next, the third Anathema is…”

Tyr, who had been speaking so smoothly, suddenly clamped her mouth shut.

She had started to mention the third Anathema, but hesitated, fumbling over her words.

“…The third is…”

“What’s wrong? Do you not know it?”

“I do! It’s just that…”

｢The third Anathema is… Splice. I know it’s an Anathema, but how can I say such indecent words to describe it in front of a man?｣

Oh, come on.

You’re acting like a blushing maiden over something so trivial?

At your age?

If you’re struggling so much, I’ll say it for you.

“I’ll explain. The third Anathema is Splicing—when a human is fused with something else to birth a being that is no longer human. This includes bestiality, orgies, and other means. The most infamous example is the queen of Agartha, who allegedly coupled with every man in her city—“

“Have you no shame?! I am well aware of the details, so move on already!”

Her face turned increasingly red as she smacked me.

I was going to tease her more, but it actually stung, so I quickly moved on.

“The last, the fourth Anathema—Heresy. The act of corrupting human minds with profane knowledge, causing them to lose their faith. It condemns impure thoughts and wrong beliefs, demanding their correction.”

“A rule that can mean anything and everything. If they dislike something, they label it as heresy and destroy it.”

“I think so too. Now, Tyr, we’ve gone over all four Anathemas. Do you see what they all have in common?”

Although they were labeled as Anathemas, they weren’t particularly grand or rare.

There were plenty of examples if one looked closely.

People wouldn’t openly discuss them, but in extreme circumstances, anyone would commit an Anathema to survive.

Vampires did.

The people of the Fallen Dominion did.

Agartha did.

Anathemas regularly existed in reality.

But the Sanctum had its reasons for forbidding them all.

“Anathemas are acts that change humans.”

To protect humanity.

“Gluttony turns humans into prey. Grafting turns humans into tools. Splicing corrupts human purity. Heresy damages human spirituality. The Sanctum established these Anathemas to preserve humans—as individuals and as a species.”

“…To protect humans?”

Tyr’s eyes questioned me, asking how I knew such things.

I had no answer for that.

I was the King of Humans.

But I had no memories of my predecessor.

The only thing passed down to me was an ancient promise.

The same promise that the Saintess of Origin used to bind the King of Humans—a promise that has endured to this day.

That’s all I knew.

I had no memories of the First Year.

So there was nothing I could say.

“Now, back to the main point. The Divines, who reached the fundamental principles of the world, hold the power to reshape it. Even if their relics remain dormant, their knowledge alone alters people’s perceptions and transforms their way of life.”

Instead, I relayed what I did know.

“But, Tyr. Humans are part of the world too.”

The Sanctum tried to suppress the Divines.

They attempted to kill you the moment they discovered you had learned Bloodcraft.

They rejected the very existence of vampires.

They condemned acts that most people instinctively avoided.

All of it was for a single purpose.

To protect “humanity”.

“The power of Divines can change ‘humans.’ Not just their way of life or behavior—but the very concept of what it means to be human.”