···Did I get through that?
Did it work?
I slowly looked around.
Thousands of people were bowing in worship toward me. It did not matter whether they were Christians or people who worshipped spirits and ancestors.
That had been close.
Of all things, the perk Hwangsuk Soft had given me was the “Immortal” perk, so I always lived with my heart in my throat.
The reason was in the Bible.
—“And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. (Rev. 13:11)”
—“And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. (Rev. 13:13)”
That’s right.
Among the wicked beasts in the Book of Revelation, the second beast, of all things, has “a deadly wound” healed and “the wound by a sword, and did live.”
When the end is near, he is an evil being who imitates the Lord’s power of resurrection, bewitching people and leading them away from the Lord.
That famous apocalyptic stuff about 666 and all that also comes from the passages about this “beast.”
In other words, one wrong move and, far from being treated as an angel, I could instantly be branded as a devil or the Antichrist and end up imprisoned somewhere forever.
If not for that, I would have put on a self-harm show whenever things got dangerous. It would hurt, sure, but it would be a reliable way to prove my identity.
In any case, I had to stop Raleigh from dying, and I had no choice but to use my perk. So, for now, I had done my best to thoroughly cosplay as an angel.
“···.”
“···.”
“···.”
It seemed to have worked··· well.
Haah, an assassination attempt out of nowhere. I thought I was going insane.
For now, what I had to do here was···
“···Elinor?”
“Yes, yes! Lord Nemo!”
“Please instruct the settlers to remove those bodies. Though they broke the commandment and killed themselves, and are destined for hell, their bodies must still be treated with respect.”
“I understand.”
They had tried to kill me, but I still had to look after them. Because I was an angel.
“Mr. Hewet? Manteo? Mr. White, Mr. Gonzalez?”
“Yes, O angel.”
“O angel, is there something you wish us to do?”
“Calm the frightened people and send them back to their homes.”
And since I did not know what sort of chaos a crowd of thousands might fall into, I had to put the situation in order.
“Sir Raleigh?”
“O one who stands beside the Lord’s throne, I have been awaiting your command.”
“Explain the situation to the newly arrived settlers and show them where they may stay.”
On top of that, I had to take care of the added settlers as well.
And there was something else to do···
Ah, right.
I spoke to those who had come to my side before I knew it, the ones to whom I had just given instructions.
“Once the tasks I have just asked of you are finished, gather at the shore near the ‘farm.’”
“···.”
“···.”
“···.”
“I believe I will have much to say to you there.”
I had to look after these people too.
They were the ones who would become my hands and feet from now on.
Since my future plans had changed, I needed to consult with them.
···They had changed a great deal.
***
Originally, my plan was simple. For survival, I would build two kinds of walls around myself.
One was made up of those who regarded me as an angel: the survivors of Roanoke Island and Manteo’s Croatoans.
They would keep my identity secret, protect me, and act in my place.
The other was the Virginia colony itself.
I would win over and take control of this colony and the native peoples in the surrounding area, laying the foundation so that no matter what happened in Europe, my safety would be guaranteed.
For that purpose, I had intended to conceal my identity from Europe for the time being and expand my influence from within.
Outwardly, I would build England’s trust as a capable, “civilized,” and cultured native ruler.
On the other hand, I would secretly expand my sphere of influence throughout America.
Then at some point, I would sever the connection with Europe and establish an independent power. I could become the power behind the scenes of that force, or quietly disappear.
For that, it was enough for only a small number of people to believe I was an angel. No, it had to be a small number.
The core of this strategy was to use no more than five hundred “believers” at most to conceal my identity and focus on protecting my safety.
As I said, there was no YouxTube now, no social media, no mass media. Hiding my identity itself would not have been all that difficult.
But not anymore.
Because thousands of people had just become my believers.
“···I need to think about this.”
I rested my chin in my hand while sipping Shine Muscat-flavored Welx’s.
A hundred believers? Fine. Three hundred? Still difficult, but not bad for keeping a secret.
But thousands, tens of thousands?
How was I supposed to control all of them? It was not as if I could lock them up on some narrow, deserted island and watch them.
The secrecy plan was now half over.
Now that the number of believers had become thousands, the amount of effort I had to devote to them was on a different scale. A small group and a large collective operated on completely different principles.
···Above all.
To the thousands of people here, I was now an “angel.”
This was an era ruled by religious fervor. In England and Spain, France and Germany, people were busily burning and tearing apart the “heretics” each side believed in.
Those who had come to believe in me had crossed over to the New World in an age when the conflict between Catholicism and Protestantism shook all of Europe. And they had received a new religious leader called an “angel.”
In an age like this, thousands of people had come to follow “me.”
‘This isn’t just··· my problem anymore.’
If I made a mistake here, thousands would die. Deaths I would be responsible for.
Deaths I had absolutely no intention of standing by and watching.
‘I have to save them.’
If I could no longer hide beyond a certain point, then I would have to organize them firmly instead.
Now, if only to save them, I had to become their leader.
They were a new sect, and I was the head of that sect.
Naturally, this new sect needed an organization.
Likewise, this new sect needed discipline.
And this new sect needed··· doctrine.
I flipped through the Bible again, glanced through the Christian books my parents had left behind, and sank into thought.
It would probably take a few days until the people I had summoned finished putting things in order and calming everyone down.
I would settle it within those few days.
I would lay the cornerstone of a new sect.
‘But··· what do I call a new sect?’
Nemoites?
···That’s fucking lame.
***
“Has anyone seen Lord Nemo since that day?”
At Elinor’s words, everyone shook their heads.
By “everyone,” she meant those who had each taken on a duty on “that day,” the day He had shown the miracle of immortality for the second time.
Elinor Dare, Thomas Hewet, Manteo, John White, Vicente Gonzalez.
Walter Raleigh, who had been assigned the most work, had not yet come because his duties were still unfinished.
Among them, one had taken charge of the funerals of the wretched assassins.
One had reassured those who were trembling in fear and offering prayers.
One had found places to live for those who had gone in search of new homes.
And so three days passed.
Until they had finished their respective duties, no word had come from “Nemo.” He was probably waiting for them.
Waiting for them, and preparing what he would say to them.
“What could it be that He means to tell us?”
“It is likely something very important. Many things will change from now on.”
Vicente answered Elinor’s words with a nod.
All of them, though perhaps not as much as Nemo himself, were aware of it. They could not fail to know that life in the New World as they had enjoyed it until now, especially their life of faith, would change in earnest.
Thousands of believers had appeared.
Those who had seen Lord Nemo personally assign them their duties seemed to regard them as a kind of “apostles” or “saints,” and showered them with endless questions.
—“Is that person truly an angel?”
—“He would not happen to be a devil, would he?”
—“Uh, why has He come to us?”
···
···
···
And only then did they realize.
They, too, knew almost nothing about Lord Nemo.
Of course, Elinor took pride in knowing about the angel’s “spiritual warfare” that unfolded every night. But that was a secret shared only between the angel and her.
Why had He saved them?
Why had He appeared bearing flesh?
What was the true nature of His farm?
Why had He stood before them in the form of an Easterner?
There was nothing they could answer properly.
“I do not know what He will say to us from now on, but···”
Thud.
Thomas Hewet set down the “Selected Sayings of the Angel—1591 Revised and Expanded Edition” he had compiled and said,
“It may be related to these, so perhaps we should look over them···”
“Everyone! Ah, do you understand now? Do you understand why I was so strict, filtering the candidates for immigration again and again?”
“···.”
“···.”
“···.”
At the sudden noise that came from outside the church, they closed their mouths.
“Everyone! I ask you, do you understand now? This colony of Walter Raleigh! And Walter Raleigh and all of you have been chosen by the Lord! The Lord prepared us as His instruments so that He might raise us up and use us for a higher purpose!”
“Ah! Hallelujah!”
“Waaaaaaah!”
“It pains me greatly to leave all of you in such fervor.
But wait. Even if I do not return for a long time, do not commit the atrocity of worshipping a golden calf as when Moses brought down the commandments. Keep your faith!”
“Waaaaaaah!”
“Raleigh! Raleigh! Raleigh!”
“···.”
“···.”
“···.”
Bang.
“Ah! You are all gathered! Then shall we depart now?”
“···.”
“···.”
“···.”
“No, when I told them that He said He would use me greatly, they were so excited and delighted! The colonial enterprise is a tremendous success! White?”
“···For now, the time has come, so we ought to depart.”
When John White, the eldest among them, nodded, everyone rose and came out of the church. Then they saw that the crowd, which had been cheering Sir Raleigh until just moments ago, had still not dispersed and was offering prayers.
Unlike before, reverently.
As they advanced through countless people murmuring the Lord’s Prayer, it felt as though heavy weights had been hung from all their shoulders. Not one of them dared to open their mouth.
Some made the sign of the cross when they saw them, and some knelt and clasped their hands together.
Thus, they walked along the road that led to the shore.
At last, at some point, all signs of people vanished.
And there stood only one man.
He was barefoot and dressed only in light, fluttering white garments. Sunlight shattered at the ends of his pitch-black brows, and waves wet the tops of his white feet.
He was looking at the sun in the sky, and gazing up at the clouds drifting by, half concealing that sun. Was he looking toward his homeland?
Elinor suddenly thought that he might fly up into the sky just like that, and stepped forward. Then the man, sensing her presence, turned around.
“You’ve come, all of you.”
Thud.
Though no one had ordered her to, Elinor naturally knelt on the sandy beach. The others likewise followed her and knelt, clasping their hands in worship.
“···Do not worship me.”
And the man raised his hand as he spoke.
“Worship the Lord of all things. One who marvels at a created being has bright eyes, but a dark soul. Yet those who marvel at His will dwelling beyond the created being are the ones whose souls are truly bright.”
“···.”
“···.”
“···.”
“I am only one who does not die.
And the distance between you and me is not great.”
“How can you say such a thing? Are you not one who directly beholds the Lord’s light and stands beside His throne?”
It was Hewet who spoke those last words. At that, the angel quietly turned his head, smiled faintly, and opened his mouth.
“Humanity will become as angels. The world was made for humanity, and it was made for humanity’s ascent.”
“···.”
“···.”
“···.”
He raises a finger.
“And.”
At that moment, the clouds clear, and the sun flashes behind his back.
“I, too, have come to make mankind like unto angels.”
Before the light that shone like a halo, everyone was struck speechless.
“Light shall press down darkness, knowledge shall conquer ignorance, and righteousness shall bring evil to ruin.
Countless prophets have foretold him.
Now, radiance shall come to you. No.”
Nemo’s finger, which had been pointing toward the sky, sweeps over each of the humans gathered here.
Catholics, Calvinists, converted spirit worshippers, men, women, Spaniards, Englishmen, Algonquians, commoners, nobles, explorers, lawyers···.
When gathered all together, they had only one thing in common.
“You shall become the radiance of this world.”
They had followed Nemo to this place.
They had come here in pursuit of something greater, more magnificent, and more noble than themselves.
Vicente speaks, his hands trembling.
“W-we are to become radiance? What do you mean by that? And when you say you will make mankind like unto angels···”
“You can save more people.”
“···Pardon?”
“You can feed those who starve, teach those who are ignorant, and settle those who wander without homes.
You can make more people happy and save more people.
And yet why do you not do so?”
In this moment.
They feel that something momentous is taking place.
“For the noblest desire a person can hold is that which is for all people.
You shall always be for mankind. The Lord commanded you to love man, and I now tell you to be for man.
This is not the abolition of the former commandment, but the fulfillment of the commandment.”
Eyes and ears that had been closed open. Hearts that had not been beating begin to tremble.
“The Lord has already borne your sins and opened the path to salvation, so why do you roll in the mire stained with sorrow and rage?
Do not divide and quarrel among yourselves. For your strife to establish your own petty authority within your tiny nations becomes the Lord’s lamentation.
You shall now fill the empty heavens and govern the restless earth.”
Now that overwhelming voice flows into their ears. A heavenly voice, a heavenly will seeps into their hearts.
“With radiance, you shall illuminate the darkness.
With knowledge, you shall drive back ignorance.
With life, you shall reap death.
This is the root of the new Word.
And also the fruition of all the old Words.
Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth.
And be great. For the sake of mankind, always be greater.”
A new commandment opens.