The reason a Demon God is called a god is because it grants power to those who believe in it.
The Unique Demonic Paths engraved upon the world grant power to those with similar beliefs and realizations. Earth Arts, Druidism, Alchemy, Bloodline Arts, and so on. Those who comprehend the principles of the Demon God through long training and deep contemplation can borrow its power.
For example, Zhi Xian. As an immortal of the Earth Mother Goddess, Zhi Xian practiced Qi Gong while simultaneously wielding powerful Earth Arts. The Patriarch of the Allied Nations combined his Unique Demonic Path with Alchemy to produce explosive power. The Elders, as subjects of the Progenitor Tirkanchaka, manifested their respective abilities through Bloodline Arts.
Because it is gained through belief and following, it is a Demon God.
The same holds true for the Celestial God.
The White Tower Lord materialized light while simultaneously utilizing the Celestial God's precognition to display the miracle of moving even in a stopped world. Her belief resembled the Celestial God's, so it was safe to say the Celestial God resided within her.
And Shea, though unaware of it, is a Saintess. She neither believes in the Celestial God nor is armed with faith, yet she is connected to the Celestial God.
"Seven-Color Eyes, Simultaneous Opening. Wheel-Turning Heavenly Eyes."
Shea lay alone atop the meteor, gazing at the sky.
'The Celestial God's power is "seeing." Light, and information.'
Her eyes sparkled with seven colors. Even in the dark of night, they shone alone like a rainbow. The seven-colored vision that sees the unseen now observed even things that no longer existed.
'I experienced regression. And I remember it.'
With regression, everything resets for Shea. Stamina, magical power, gathered treasures and wealth. And even relationships. What is inherited is only memory. Thanks to the peerless Qi art called the Heavenly Wheel Scripture, she becomes a high-level expert just by getting her memories back, but...
'And probably that power... will come from the Celestial God.'
The White Tower Lord, Ruel, moves in stopped time. Strictly speaking, that is Ruel's own ability. She materializes her entire body with magic and maintains her form through her Unique Demonic Path that converts light into power.
The "power to see" received from the Celestial God only allows one to continue thinking in a stopped world.
It is the same for Shea. The power Shea received from the Celestial God is to see the past that has now disappeared. That is all.
'The Wheel-Turning Heavenly Eyes are Eyes of Fate. A treasure of the Church of Light, which became the backing of the Celestial God.... In the past, it was believed that the heaven governed gods and fate. It is an artificial eye to observe the high heavens. Originally, even in the Holy See, only the Saintess bearing the destiny of the generation could possess it. With this, I can see the essence of the Celestial God.'
Eyes that grasp what they see. Eyes of Fate. The eyes possessed by the Saintess of the Sky, Meiel. Shea grew exponentially stronger after obtaining them....
Suddenly, Shea tilted her head.
'...But. When did I get the Wheel-Turning Heavenly Eyes?'
"Shea."
"Meiel."
A faint shadow wavered beside her. When she attempted to observe the Celestial God with the Wheel-Turning Heavenly Eyes, Meiel sensed it and came directly. If she had the Wheel-Turning Heavenly Eyes, there was no need to visit the church to welcome the Saintess. At that time, Hughes was by her side, so she had no choice....
'Huh? Why Hughes?'
Where did this memory come from?
Sometimes, memories of unknown origin suddenly surface. Having regressed so many times, forgetting things was commonplace, so Shea didn't pay it much mind. But sometimes, at times like this, she wanted to trace the source of the memory with the Wheel-Turning Heavenly Eyes.
Shea looked back on her past regressions. 1st round. When she knew nothing, when she was endlessly weak and young, when she was full of resentment and hatred toward the world. The her back then eventually died without any meaning.
2nd round. When she just returned from regression, she was confused by the sudden regression. She struggled just to survive, but died because she stood out too much.
3rd round. 4th round. 5th round. 6th round. Dying while running away or resisting, the object of her hatred changed to the Military Empire. She came to hate the nation of the Military Empire itself and considered it her enemy. She cultivated power to take revenge for a grudge that no longer existed.
However, as the rounds repeated, the Military Empire simply became a background she passed through. Of course, she still disliked it, but the reason Shea visited the Military Empire changed to stopping the Demon God or a catastrophe.
Probably, it was because Shea's knowledge, power, and vision had changed. The more you know, the thinner the hatred becomes. Emotions are not eternal. Though the impression might be.
But the Wheel-Turning Heavenly Eyes were nowhere to be seen. She must have definitely received them. She should have used eyes named the Seven-Color Eyes along with Tian Ying and Di Zhan. Yet she couldn't find a trace of them here.
Then, is it after that?
Shea looked back at the regressions that would happen in the future. It was an impossible task. The current Shea had gone through thirteen regressions, and what came after had not happened yet.
It should be.
'Uh...?'
There is more.
Other than this side seen with the Wheel-Turning Heavenly Eyes, the opposite. Looking back, there was something far more numerous than what had passed. Too distant, and profoundly deep. Countless things stretched out endlessly, enough to make the regressions so far seem ridiculous. Memories? Experiences? History? No, now they were merely traces. Like stacked strata or glacial crystals, something that left only traces of that time.
But even so, Shea is here.
That was because the beginning of those countless unfolded new regressions was right here. Because it stemmed from Shea of the 14th round.
'What is this?'
"Shea. I send praise for your efforts. Thanks to Shea moving, the King of Humans has been divided into two. Shea's actions were outside even my planned harmony, making it difficult to call me... but as expected, the first Saintess who chose us must have had deep thoughts."
She couldn't understand what Meiel was talking about. But Shea's mouth moved on its own.
"Meiel. I mean it."
Then, Meiel replied with a faint expression.
"You were. If Shea's will had been the same as mine, I would have already seen this future in the past."
Meiel sat beside Shea. In this round. The time the two had met was but a fleeting moment, but they looked familiar to each other like friends who had spent decades together.
"At this point, there are two Kings of Humans. The King of Humans who became the dominant species on earth after repeated victories. And the King of Humans who only appeared two thousand years after the first Saintess defeated her. The two are separated, but most of the power harbored since primordial times lies with her."
It was an unfamiliar story to Shea of the 14th round. But to the current Shea, it felt somehow familiar.
"The King of Humans is a conceptual entity. She uses all the power possessed by the single race called humanity. In contrast, he can only have what he has learned and mastered like other ordinary humans."
"The one Meiel chose is her, right?"
"It's not a choice. There was no other way. Because the King of Humans born after the first year is weak."
She couldn't understand what she was saying. But Shea felt like she somehow knew. No, she already knew.
"I'm glad. Because the competition has decreased. You're pretty and devoted, so I was worried that even you might fall for Hughes!"
"...."
"I don't know about other women, but I still don't have the confidence to win against you. If it's Meiel giving it her all, Hughes might waver. Because he is weak against desperate and fleeting people."
What was this joy and happiness welling up in her heart? Shea couldn't know. But she already knew.
Emotions are not eternal. Shea felt that.
But, if you paint the same emotion over every moment. If you continue to feel the same emotion amidst eternal repetition. That would not be an emotion, but closer to providence.
"I am still envious of Shea. Those who see the future become dull to emotions. Because novelty and excitement are emotions that prophets cannot have."
"Yeah. It's definitely better if you don't meet Hughes."
"But Shea. You saw it too. The sight of the future perishing."
It wasn't just Shea of the 14th round. It was also true for the Shea who would continue to exist beyond her.
The world perishes. Still. It was something even Shea, who had gained much more knowledge and greater power, could not overcome.
"Humans have already grown too strong. To the extent that the human race cannot handle it. If evil is tolerated, this world will perish absurdly easily."
"Yeah. It will."
"Therefore, we must subjugate the King of Evil. All of humanity must fight against evil, win, and reflect on that evil, only then can we endure forever. Only then will today, like yesterday, come again tomorrow."
The King of Evil is the King of Humans. Because humans are the only ones in this world who use the concept of evil.
But it must be the King of Evil. Only then can the concept of 'human' be protected. Because the King of Evil will bear all sins and die.
Shea asked.
"That has to be Hughes, right?"
"There must be a future where humans win."
"Can't it be her?"
"No. The future where she remains the King of Evil is still dark. It's so pitch-black that nothing can be seen."
Meiel reached out her finger and pointed to the sky.
The distant and pitch-black night sky. A realm humans dare not reach. And yet, the majestic great nature that alternately scatters grace and punishment upon the earth.
Humans called it God.
Heaven. the Lord. Parent Celestial God. The titles were different, but fearing and revering it was the same. Even now, when the floating castle has reached the sky, that fear remains valid. Because what humans fear is fear itself.
"It becomes evil because it can be defeated. If it cannot be defeated, it is called a catastrophe, a disaster, providence, fate, and so on. Human power has already exceeded human endurance. She, who holds all that power in her hands, is already like it."
If it cannot be defeated.
Then, you can simply be embraced in its bosom.
Just as the first Saintess gathered the Demon Gods and created the Celestial God. Just as she made floods and storms the Celestial God's punishment, and rain and wind the Celestial God's grace. Just as she attached meaning to naturally occurring disasters to move people.
Humans arbitrarily process and use nature. And the King of Humans is also part of nature. Humans will repeat the same thing with their King as the subject.
"Therefore. We make her defeat the King of Evil. We must make her the King of Divinity."
"By sacrificing Hughes?"
"He is barbarism. The symbol that humans, even after prospering in civilization for two thousand years, ultimately failed to escape being beasts. He moves with selfishness and deceives others to fill his own stomach."
"Yeah. That might be undeniable."
Hughes will endure hardship, but he does not sacrifice himself. He does not pursue ideals beyond his abilities; rather, he mocks them.
But Shea knows. That he is not barbaric or violent.
He is simply human.
"But, that's not wrong. Because we are still beasts. Because without selfishness, there is no wind. Because without wind, the world does not move."
When the wind blows, the world might be put in jeopardy. But even so, the wind must blow. To convey heat and cold to each other, to deliver the pollen of spring-bloomed flowers.
Hughes summons the wind in his heart. He pursues the wind itself that flows and mingles.
That must be because it is human.
"Hughes believes in humans. He believes that rather than confining and suppressing that wind, it should be released freely."
"Even if the world perishes?"
"Because stopping the destruction will also be a wind. Just like when he listened to the wind of the Blue Tower Lord here."
It is not affirming destruction. It is affirming all of it. If there are as many winds in the world as there are people, the sum of those winds will flow in the direction it must flow. Just as he maintains peace now while listening to all the winds of the Demonic Alliance.
Of course.
That argument falls apart from the standpoint of having seen the future and witnessed the destruction, but...
Who wouldn't want to do that? But a prophet has a destiny. There is a duty to struggle to avoid the future of destruction.
Meiel asked Shea with downcast eyes.
"What about you?"
"I believe in Hughes."
Even so, Shea believed in Hughes.
As long as Shea allowed the opportunity, Meiel's future would not change. Meiel stood up and interlaced her fingers behind her back as she spoke.
"I will step aside from the path to the Celestial God. But Shea. He has already accumulated enough karma. Giving him more power will not make things better."
"I know. But it won't make him worse either. If so, I can only hope that this change will be good for everyone."
"To hope, there is not much time left in this future."
She seemed like a Meiel from the past compared to the present. How far in the past? How many futures had she seen? Shea suddenly became curious.
But that question soon disappeared. Because experience meant little to those who saw the future. Didn't Shea herself not know which round she was currently in, or how many futures she had seen?
What is important is not the past. It is the future that will soon arrive.
"Shea. At this point, 'she' has moved. The Lilac Principality is 'her' territory."
Just as Meiel warned.