A world where hundreds of millions live can be destroyed by the power of just one person. What is even more tragic is that this can happen even if that one person has no such intention.
[A power too great and dangerous for a single person to wield. The power to control the lives of tens of thousands in an instant. This is a sin, and a crime.]
Chiyou reads the heavenly energy and acts. It is truly a god-like power. However, he is human after all, and humans are never perfect.
[The future is not infinite. Among those countless branches, most will end in ruin, so how can ruin be called infinite? The right answer is like finding a needle in a desert. As my ears are deaf, my eyes are dim, and my mind is dull, I have decided to entrust my karma to the Heavenly God.]
Thus, Chiyou became a part of the Heavenly God. He wielded that power only under the name of the Heavenly God.
[The present is a harmony that has achieved balance through thousands of years of repeating destruction and creation. Humans may avoid the rain, but they must not make that rain cease to exist. That is the harmony of heaven and earth.]
The Seonghwangcheong expanded its influence starting from gaining people's trust by predicting the weather like the Cheongiryeong. Even now, weather forecasting is one of the main duties of the Seonghwangcheong.
I met Chiyou's eyes and nodded.
"I understand. That can happen. By any chance, do you think the same way?"
I said this to the shadow that hesitated beyond Chiyou. Ripples formed in the clouds. The Demon God who had been hiding in the sea of clouds beyond Chiyou revealed themselves.
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Clouds are a river floating in the sky. Water droplets that chose freedom over the sea gather into one under some pressure. Soon, the clouds become a single wave, and someone reveals themselves from within.
Winged clothes billowing backward. Scattered hair. Transparent eyes that seem to illuminate the world, and tears flowing sadly beneath them.
The Demon God of Waves, Priana.
Once called the Dragon King, she sobbed, filled with sorrow.
[Sob... Sob... Aren't they pitiful? The bugs crawling on the ground? The bugs that die in droves with a single flip of the Sea Fiend's fin...? If you knew how many people died in the Mediterranean Sea throughout history, the tears just won't stop... hic!]
"But you eventually conquered the Mediterranean Sea."
[That's right, hic, hic. It was a victory won at an immense sacrifice. Not just for us, but for the Sea Fiends too...]
The era when the Empire housing the Seonghwangcheong expanded its power through expansionism. There was a time when they planted flags on empty lands and subjugated those who resisted, broadening the realm of humanity. In those days, the Empire was powerful, civilization was brilliant, and humans...
The greatest obstacle to the conquest that seemed to stretch to the other end of the continent was neither barbarians nor the Beast King.
The Mediterranean Sea.
Though much smaller and shallower compared to the great oceans, it was a sea that was a symbol of despair for humanity.
The Sea Fiends of the Mediterranean Sea rewrote the coastline every day, and the Empire's territory increased or decreased by the day.
On days when the Sea Fiends were in a foul mood, frightened sea beasts swam up the rivers. Then, the rivers that were the cradle of humanity transformed into humanity's grave.
The Mediterranean Sea had the blurriest boundary between river and sea, and that many more people sacrificed their lives. The Empire was held back by the Mediterranean Sea.
Counting throughout history, the number of humans killed by the Sea Fiends of the Mediterranean Sea alone was in the hundreds of millions.
The Empire changed the direction of its conquest.
Instead of that distant land, to a nearby realm they had never once conquered.
To the Mediterranean Sea.
[If only I had never been born, sob, sob. The Seven-Star Dragon, the Sea Leopard, and the fleet that followed me... they wouldn't have died...]
The Empire was powerful and the Mediterranean Sea was shallow. The Sea Fiends along the Mediterranean coast didn't seem like a despair that humanity could never overcome. War breaks out when both sides think they can manage it. Even if it's an illusion.
As a result, humans won the war against the Sea Fiends.
However, it was not humanity's victory.
For it was solely the Dragon King's victory.
[Power itself is a curse... hic. Pitiful Seven-Star Dragon, pitiful Sea Leopard, and humans even more pitiful than them... A strong power ultimately grips and shakes their fate... It was a war I didn't want, but it dragged me out, and eventually led to so many tragedies, hic...]
Cruelly, the world bestowed the power of a Demon God upon Priana, who used to be happy just watching the gentle ripples of Lake Haeri. If one were to strictly trace the cause, it was because she had rashly approached the truth.
Whether it was reaching the seat of the Demon God that defines the world, or simply a powerful Unique Demon Art, it was hard to distinguish.
However, that power which shook the entirety of Lake Haeri was absolutely necessary for the Mediterranean Conquest War. Priana became the first admiral in human history and advanced towards the Mediterranean Sea.
A few months later. The corpses of the Sea Fiends floated up to the surface of the sea. Along with the wreckage of broken ships. The remaining ships were merely seven, and the living were no more than three hundred.
It was a scarred victory, but a victory nonetheless.
The Empire dragged the Sea Fiends' corpses up to land. Humanity was ecstatic. Because it proved that even those powerful and fearsome Sea Fiends were mere beasts. Because it declared that even that sea was a conquerable domain.
The Empire, having hunted the Sea Fiends and secured the Mediterranean coast, was the veritable pinnacle of human history.
Ironically, the Dragon King, the main contributor to the victory, disappeared after the war.
"You suddenly disappeared after the war, and there's a legend that you became the Dragon King of the Mediterranean Sea..."
[I wanted to disappear into a story... so no one would look for me.]
It must have been even easier to persuade her. The Dragon King was sick and tired of fighting.
Her Unique Demon Art was not for shaking the sea. It was a power that wove the vibrations arising from the calm surface of a lake and shaped them into a single form.
However, the power of the Demon God was too strong, and it ended up dropping her into the midst of war.
"I understand well. You won't permit me your power either, will you?"
[Hic, if you use that power to surely bring peace, I am willing to just watch...]
"A lake cannot always be calm."
[Then, sob, I only hope I am not in those waves. So that I won't commit any more sins with my power.]
This is already the second time I've been shot down since coming up here. Moreover, these are people already embraced in the bosom of the Heavenly God. Because they have no regrets or lingering attachments, I can't find a way in.
And there's really no need to find a way in, either.
I spoke without even looking in that direction.
"Lightning Thief. We've talked before, haven't we?"
The Lightning Thief Fran, who stole lightning from the Thunder God of Claudia. He slightly revealed his presence from within the thunderclouds.
What was visible was a very small part. Just that, and the lightning spilling out recklessly rakes through my body. A dangerous light flashes from the dense clouds.
All the hair on my body stands on end. Fingers, toes, hair, etc. It feels like needles are piercing every sharp part of my body. The lightning spilling out recklessly rakes through my body. My eyeballs heat up. My body, filled with water, allows the lightning to enter regardless of my will.
The Lightning Thief. He was also in heaven.
To be precise, the one in heaven was his true body.
[Fundamentally, I am a devout believer, and I have not forsaken the teachings of the Heavenly God. That power you possess is merely what I wanted to hide. But I couldn't get rid of it.]
If sensations and thoughts are phenomena occurring in the flesh, what is the significance of the soul? The Lightning Thief, who wanted to deny it, left only that behind even as he was embraced in the bosom of the Heavenly God. Because that enlightenment would end up denying the soul and faith.
[Truth must be embraced with good will. Knowledge must be learned with morality. I shall illuminate the world with light and make it beneficial.]
"The phrase written on the Tower of the Wise, right? All knowledge is for the sake of humans. It's a phrase I like too."
A power so mighty it could bring down the world alone. They gave up that power. Instead, they entrusted it to the will of the Heavenly God, permitting its use only in God's name.
"You can make mistakes, be swayed, or it could be dangerous. So you need someone to entrust it to instead. Hmm. I understand. It's natural. The world is precious, and you don't want to break it. Being careful is good."
This must be one way too. But still.
"But, I feel it's a bit unreasonable."
Isn't it unfair? If I were sitting in such an unfair game, I'd immediately think of flipping the board.
"There will be lives saved as many as the lives you killed, and humans abandoned as many as the people the Heavenly God saved, right? Why don't you count the lives you saved? Why do you ignore the humans the Heavenly God abandoned?"
As one who read the heavenly energy, Chiyou used his power for the masses who suffered from the whims of the sky. Even if it became overwhelming later, he solved the droughts and floods right before his eyes.
The Dragon King eventually conquered the Mediterranean Sea. After the sacrifice of tens of thousands, she defeated the Sea Fiends, and many more children must have been born on the Mediterranean coast that became human territory. Measured in numbers, it would be dozens of times more than the dead.
The Lightning Thief. This person never killed anyone in the first place. He was just prematurely frightened by the unexpected power, hid his power, and concealed his knowledge. But since he lent his power to someone in Claudia, things must be going well.
"After shifting the responsibility to the Heavenly God, why do you turn a blind eye to the sins the Heavenly God committed? The Heavenly God and the Demon God are the same. Since you are practically the core of the Heavenly God, why are you so indifferent to the Heavenly God's sins?"
Let's say out of ten thousand people, a hundred or so died. Then is one a murderer who killed a hundred people? Or a savior who saved nine thousand nine hundred? Will you abandon ten thousand because you're afraid a hundred will die?
Feeling guilty about the death of a hundred, that's possible. I also feel more regret over lost money than joy over earned money. It's human instinct.
But why do you have no thoughts at all when you are inside the Heavenly God? The Heavenly God is the same. They are ones who would sacrifice ten thousand for a hundred million.
To my question, Chiyou answered with a clouded face.
[We are not superhumans like you. We are old, dull, foolish, and weak.]
[Sob... Even a Demon God can't know everything... And we aren't invincible either... When hundreds are pressuring me, I can't just shake them all off and run away...]
[Even a genius of the century like the Golden Mirror met a tragic end and became a disaster. It's strange to believe we would be different.]
Even a Demon God is just a single human before death. Weak, swaying, and frustrated. They cannot make the right judgment every time. Even judgments they believed were right at the time are full of mistakes in hindsight. They must live their whole lives in doubt and worry.
That is why they volunteered to become a part of the Heavenly God.
[You must have seen it too. What end a human who obtained the power of a Demon God reaches.]
[Power that exceeds one's station is bound to overflow...]
[At the very least, so as not to ruin this world, we will remain under the name of the Heavenly God.]
The Demon Gods who became the Heavenly God declared stubbornly.