What? This doesn't make any sense.
This already happened in the past, right? This is inside 'Nuna's' memory, right? Then how did she discover me?
Did she perhaps foresee my existence?
"This is my message to the King of Humans. Whether Your Majesty reaches this place or not... if you are witnessing this sight, it must surely be You, My King."
She doesn't know whether I'll come or not, but she says only the King of Humans can see this sight. The First Saintess foresaw my existence.
"Then that means you also foresaw that I would possess mind-reading abilities."
"Light is knowledge and the element of knowing, but observing and realizing is the role of humans. I am the Demon God of Light and Knowledge. Whatever situation Your Majesty may be in, if this sight is observed, I too can know."
"What kind of cheat ability is that?"
She sees me because this memory is being observed by me? Even if that's true, it's too bizarre. It's absurd.
"Wait a minute. I still can't believe it. Isn't this some kind of fraud? Isn't it just an image hidden within Nuna's memory?"
"And Your Majesty, who sees through humans, would also know that this is truth."
"Tch."
Right. This is 'Nuna's' memory. So I can understand Nuna's feelings, but I can't read the First Saintess's thoughts.
In other words, this is a scene that exists only in the past.
For real? The past from thousands of years ago is speaking to me? No, I can't believe it. Prove it.
"Then for more certain belief, shall we play rock-paper-scissors? If you truly are reading the future, try beating me at rock-paper-scissors."
"Regrettably, I cannot answer such a request. The future is like a shadow reflected on the water's surface. When you dip your hand in, it ripples violently. The more observers there are, the more inaccurate and hazy the future becomes. That is why prophecy is difficult to share with anyone."
"Huh? Are you avoiding it? That's too cowardly of an excuse."
But I can guess what she means. If that's truly an image from the past, she wouldn't be able to respond to my every impulsive action. Because the past doesn't change.
Too bad. I was going to throw scissors first, then shamelessly change after seeing what the First Saintess threw. But since me proposing rock-paper-scissors in the first place was an impulsive action, it must have been hard to read.
At that moment, the First Saintess answered casually.
"And I will throw scissors. Win or lose, decide as Your Majesty wishes."
...She got me.
Even if she couldn't win at rock-paper-scissors, she still won. Deliberately tying—that's truly malicious.
"Tch. Fine. I'm not the kind of man who desperately snatches victory from a woman."
Because even if I tried desperately, I don't think I could win. Her authority is too cheat-like.
Declaring defeat as if letting her win, I looked around and asked.
"What about Nuna?"
Then the First Saintess smiled sorrowfully. That expression said more than words could.
"It was a surprise attack, wasn't it? Did you blind her eyes with light and stab her in the back? Even so, it couldn't have been easy."
"My warriors have learned Ki Gong. They are stronger than anyone in this era."
In 'Nuna's' memory, Ki Gong appears as suddenly as a fox rain. At first, no one knew about it, but at some point, everyone was practicing it.
Knowledge that even the King's warriors at the forefront of civilization didn't know suddenly spread widely. I can't help but think it was artificial.
As I stared at her probing, the First Saintess nodded.
"Yes. I'm the one who found Ki Gong."
"Why Ki Gong?"
"That is a power humans obtain by purely honing their own skills without the Demon God's intervention. The ultimate extreme of truth one finds from within oneself. To gain strength, no means other than self-sacrifice are necessary."
The source of Ki Gong is the vital essence of life. It's about processing it into the form of 'Ki' inside the body and using it consciously.
The First Saintess gathered all traditions and knowledge to forge a fragment of miracle—that which might barely emerge if a talented person devoted themselves to meaningless pursuits—into a single technique.
"Then there would be no need to risk danger and commit taboos to gain power."
"Those who covet power will always exist. Though they are full of desire, if there's a better method, they wouldn't bother committing taboos. Of course, hundreds of millions of people may die from the Ki Gong I created... Nevertheless, I believe there are things that must still be protected."
The order obtained by mating with humans profanes birth. A newborn's cry would not be a shout to the world, but a trial deciding the life and death of that fragile existence.
The order obtained by predating on humans makes an enemy of humanity. In the future, humanity will fall into the curse of Ouroboros, having to devour each other just to avoid being eaten.
The order obtained by grafting with humans denies humanity. The boundaries of species will blur, and humans will no longer find a reason to protect themselves.
That's why the First Saintess erased all of them.
By making Ki Gong known, and designating all sorceries contrary to it as taboos.
I scratched my head and answered.
"Don't worry about it. A tool is just a tool. Ki Gong was a useful tool, and thanks to it, more people must have been saved than killed. It was definitely more useful than the other taboos."
If more people died from Ki Gong than were saved by it, humanity wouldn't have survived.
I tried hard to comfort the First Saintess, but unfortunately, it seemed it didn't reach her. The First Saintess still had a sad expression.
"You still say the same thing. That what I created is not a way but a tool, and that's up to the user."
Wait, did it get through too well? I scratched my head and continued.
"It wasn't comforting? Uh, I said that for your sake, you know."
"Divine arts, ways, Ki Gong too. Are they all just mere tools? Still?"
"What do you mean 'still'? They were made that way from the beginning, and are being used that way, so they're tools. No matter what you say, the essence doesn't change."
I don't know why I'm talking like this. In front of the very creator.
"You're the one who made it in the first place. As the creator, you would know better than anyone. Why are you asking?"
The First Saintess answered quietly.
"Do you know about the fourth taboo?"
"You mean heresy?"
"Yes. When many see, feel, learn, and grow the same things. When they observe the world with the same way of thinking... the many become different from others. They share strength through strong bonds. The Radiance Church could have outstanding knowledge and insight because we shared vision through the ritual of pulling out my eyes."
The Radiance Church also shared vision and divided knowledge in that way. The First Saintess confessed honestly.
It sounds bizarre but it's not that surprising. Because I've already witnessed such a method.
The single inherent magic circuit shared by many, which the signal soldier in the Military Nation possessed. That's a typical result of heresy.
Not just heresy. They were researching predation and grafting too, so it could truly be called a nation of taboos.
"I too am one who received revelation from the future Radiance Heavenly Lord. Having become the Keeper of Transmission with that knowledge, I realized that the taboos would overturn humanity. The three taboos of predation, grafting, and mating would only torment and afflict humanity. However, only the last one... is different."
That said, if you were to call the Military Nation 'an axis of evil that committed taboos on a national scale!', it would actually be a bit unfair.
The Saintess Yuel who created the Military Nation. What did she see and learn? A convent that raises steady nuns through strict discipline and systematic training. Modifying that slightly in a Military Nation style resulted in the signal soldiers.
"Do not harm each other, do not envy, do not covet, do not deceive, do not torment. Commandments that everyone can accept, that humans protect each other. If all humans believe in them, keep them, and follow them, if they act and believe with a shared consciousness. I believed that someday all humans could be transformed into nobler beings."
That's right.
The greatest heresy in the world is the Heavenly God Church. Those who share the massive consciousness called the Heavenly God, and believe in and follow it.
Those who stay away from taboos and keep the commandments left by the First Saintess are the believers, and the power of the Holy Imperial Court.
That bizarre power called divine power is also brought through the Heavenly God, an inherent magic circuit that is not inherent.
"When a consciousness shared by all people emerges, all humans will change, and the King of Humans will also change."
The First Saintess ambushed 'Nuna', then stood where the King fell and waited. For my existence that would come as a result.
"But, no matter how much you searched the future, it seems it was impossible for all humans to embrace the ideals you desired."
She dreamed of a truly grand aspiration. An aspiration to change humans themselves. Something no one had ever dared to imagine before. Even the most reckless person I've seen tried to change the King of Humans rather than humans.
"Yes. Humans are still like that. Commandments, order, laws, ideology—they all use them as tools for their own actions. Whether showing goodwill or hatred, they attach reasons to them. As if that makes them some kind of rational, higher-dimensional creature."
"Even though they're still just beasts?"
"Yes. Even though they're still just beasts."
Actually, she almost succeeded. Shei said that in the future she saw, the King of Sins would be born. I'm not sure if that was the future the First Saintess wanted to prevent, or if the future she wanted to bring was distorted.
"The Demon God changes the framework of the world. My observation is distorted by the Demon God. The ending I thought ideal becomes a correct action under the Demon God."
"You even foresaw your failure?"
"That alone is not foresight. It's the realm of expectation. I cannot even understand the other Demon Gods. If the framework of the world changes greatly, if the future I saw was tilted from the beginning, I too would not notice that tilt."
Even if she sees the future, it's from a human perspective. If the human perspective itself is from a reversed era, one cannot even judge right and wrong. Even if the First Saintess seems like a god, her perspective also had limits.
"In the end, you were just human."
To my words, the First Saintess smiled and answered.
"That's how it was from the beginning, My King."