I desperately take out the cards. They seem as if they will be blown away by the fierce storm, vibrate so intensely that they are impossible to grasp, and electrify my skin, burning it just from brushing against their surfaces. Wind speed, temperature, vibrations, electric currents. None of these constitute an environment where a human can live.
Amidst the death filling the world, the spade cards drawn with trembling hands.
Spade 10. Gaia Ego.
Spade 5. Apple of Universal Gravitation.
I am currently falling from heaven. The earth is far below, separated by the same distance as the clouds are from the ground. I cannot use Earth Arts.
However, in truth, the earth is merely formed from the coalescence of cosmic dust. If dust could do it, there is no reason I cannot. I catch the swirling dust in the empty void. A foothold made of gathered dust, too shabby to be called earth. I stood upon it.
Even so, it is nothing more than a small boat in a storm. But it is enough to rest my body. Next, the following card.
Spade 9. Tree of Origin.
Not all parents are greater than their children. But a child shows as much respect to their parents as they bless their own birth. For without them, they could not have even begun.
Then, what mystique would humanity, filled with arrogance, feel upon seeing the tiny protist born by chance?
Origin. The origin point of all life burrows beneath my feet. A single cell takes root in the foothold like a seed and grows.
Two strands of double helix spring forth from the Tree of Origin. From the ancient organisms of the distant past to the humans of today. The branches of possibility containing the origins of all species extend outward. The Tree of Origin takes the form of a tree because new branches sprout from its branches.
The blueprint of life in the shape of a tree clings tightly to each other and wraps around my body. It is the blueprint of my existence, the living organism called human. Upon it, I drew the next card.
Spade 8. Elixir.
UlFRblVJeEt0R01oWGZFZXFXMGFSejJtWjZ3OEduWjdRWnJmVWdGRXRlM3RuanpYdU9KY1RzTXdsbEo5aEFEKw
The omnipotent gold that can become anything, Elixir. The power that leads the transmutation of matter. Because my body is also matter, my body is made of omnipotent gold.
Water, nutrients, and air. Though I don't need sunlight like a plant, I consume these and form my flesh. Following the blueprint of my body, I transmute matter and make it my own.
Even without knowing alchemy, my body has alchemized life. By eating food and breathing, I accumulated what was outside my body inside, piece by piece. The human body grows larger and stronger by alchemizing itself.
Breathing even deeper, swallowing the raindrops entering my mouth, igniting the heat within my body, I glared at the sky and stood up. Even the extreme environment cannot stop this transmutation. As long as I am still alive.
And next.
Spade 7. Lightning Matrix.
This is half of the Thunder God. Not the massive lightning that shakes the world, but the realization of the tiny lightning flowing within my body.
Lightning is fast and flashes. This body has also chosen that power, with its extreme volatility, as its messenger. The electric current flowing through the nerves controls every corner of the body. Bones and muscles catch the momentary flash and move in perfect unison.
However, that is not all.
And inside the head. Even my brain, where all the knowledge and experience I have learned so far is melted into, is also countless intertwined flashes. Woven, connected, reinforced, and occasionally severed. I transform into a more experienced and seasoned being.
Nerve fever heats up the body. The brain and nerves feel as if they will burn. I merely overlaid the nerves with the Lightning Matrix, but even that minute power is too harsh for this body. It feels like my body could collapse at any moment.
A hand reaching out from somewhere caressed my body.
Spade 6. Hu.
This is the Demon God gifted by Tyr, solely for me.
The other Spades were processed from the Demon Gods' revelations for my convenience. But this Demon God alone was arranged entirely for me from the very beginning. The archetype of the species called human, the human called Huez, lies within it.
Beneath the skin, blood pulses, transmitting life. Muscles twitch, radiating power. Tendons pull using bones as levers, and thousands of tissues move my body.
Hormones alter the body's state, and blood sends the body's resources everywhere. The Demon God devours the damaged cells, transforms them into new ones, and weaves through the body.
Even now, cells die thousands of times and are reborn, replacing my body. I am already a different individual from who I was a few hours ago. But what does it matter? I am still alive.
The Demon God that comprises a human. I have already obtained all of it. Structurally, materially, mentally, and functionally, the life called human has already been defined.
Cloning? Modification? Replacement? Anything is possible. Knowledge has delved even into the concept of humanity. Even the soul and mind, which I thought were sacred and inviolable, are actually within the realm of the Demon Gods.
But it doesn't matter.
The reason humans are important is not because they are the lords of all creation. Not because they possess intellect, harbor morality and justice, have noble souls, or resemble gods.
Because it is me.
Because I am precious, humans are precious. Everything begins with me. Laws, rules, religions, and morals are all tools for me, tools I use.
I overlay all the Spades I possess, except for the Demon God left in the Celestial God's domain. The six different Demon Gods transformed into a single card.
Spade Jack.
Law of Humanity.
The Demon Gods I possess do not shake the world or pierce the future. They are trivial and insignificant, petty powers limited only to my body. But in the world called 'me', that power is absolute.
Thought accelerates. In a hastened world, my body moves as I will. I sense the tingling just before lightning pierces my body, and immediately apply force to transform my body.
Flash. Lightning enveloped my entire body. Beyond roasting my body crisp, it seemed ready to deep-fry me in lightning fire.
However, the lightning that should have shaken my entire body pierced through without any impact. It was because my body had become a conductor for a very brief moment.
Physical transmutation of the body. Now the Celestial Gods cannot kill me. For I have become complete.
[Nenoooooooom---!]
The Celestial Gods roar. They try to kill me with lightning and storms, light and wind. However, they are already dead. They merely respond to the will of others and cannot exert their own will. And phenomena devoid of will can never kill me.
I bowed to the enraged Celestial Gods.
"Goodbye, Demon Gods. I will respect your wills. Go on being used as tools there for the rest of your lives."
Spade 5.
Apple of Universal Gravitation.
Even within the gale and thunderstorm, I catch the earth's pull drawing me in. I dropped the Apple of Universal Gravitation, and my body became a heavy weight, plummeting straight down vertically.
The wind brushes past my ears. The Celestial Gods' wailing gradually fades. Clouds, storms, thunder, and roars reach out as if trying to catch me.
[Fear me! I am the rule and the order. The properly ordained world shall become your enemy...!]
The Celestial God clings close to me. Even as the ground draws nearer, the Celestial God showed no intention of falling behind.
Wait. Aren't they Celestial Gods? Sky types, right? How far are they going to chase me? It's going to be the ground in a little bit? Surely they aren't going to keep chasing me even after I reach the ground, right? That would be a bit exhausting.
"Heaven and Earth, Sword Kun."
At that moment, someone brushed past me. It was Shei. Holding Cheon-aeng and Ji-jan in both hands, Shei swung them widely toward the Celestial God approaching from afar.
"Horizon Splitter!"
Using Ji-jan as the gun carriage, she swings Cheon-aeng explosively. A massive slash drew a second horizon in the world. The endlessly extending Cheon-aeng redrew the world's boundary, slicing the distant sky horizontally.
Cheon-aeng is a sword that contains the sky within a compressed space. It probably has similar attributes to the Celestial Gods. Even the Celestial God, who wouldn't be matched by aura or magic, had its form distorted by Cheon-aeng's strike. For a moment, it looked like it would recover, but...
"Disappear!"
As Shei shouted, withdrawing her seven-colored eyes, the aurora that covered the world flashed and vanished. At the same time, the materialized Heaven also flickered and blinked, gradually fading away.
That was, after all, a Heaven summoned by Shei, so it disappeared when Shei, its catalyst, withdrew her power.
"What was that? Huez, are you okay? ...Huez!"
And I, having accelerated while falling, became a meteor—no, a falling human (Yunin)—and crashed straight into the ground. Shei screamed as she watched me.
"Hu-, Huez is dead!"
"That's right. I'm dead. Please put the condolence money in my pocket."
Crashing and creating a crater, I raised my sore, stiff body. My head hurts a bit, but surprisingly, my body is fine. Having activated the Law of Humanity, I was perfectly fine even after falling from the clouds.
Shei, who had landed near me, looked me up and down and said.
"Huez. You... something's different? Did you gain some fortuitous encounter in Heaven?"
"What fortuitous encounter. I was just attacked."
"Attacked? By who? Ah, what was that earlier? It was falling with you?"
I was so dumbfounded that I asked back.
"You sliced it without even knowing what it was? That was a Celestial God."
"Huh? That was a Celestial God?"
"Well, you summoned Heaven, so of course a Celestial God would appear. Shouldn't you know that better than anyone, Shei? You're the one who summoned Heaven, not me."
"It's my first time summoning it in real combat too. And when I went to obtain Cheon-aeng, there was nothing like that."
"You obtained Cheon-aeng from there too?"
"Yeah. Celestial Gods lend their power to those who believe. Cheon-aeng is the supreme relic among them, imbued with power in a holy relic. Since it's a saint's relic, I can use the Celestial God's power even if I don't particularly believe."
I thought it seemed similar for some reason, so it was a relic containing the power of the Celestial God system. I figured it seemed more convenient and useful than Ji-jan, the Demon God's relic. Makes sense. A well-designed weapon is inherently superior to a rare club dropped on the ground.
"But why did it attack you? Did you provoke it again?"
"For a god to counterattack like a cheapskate just because they were provoked is even more pathetic."
"A normal person wouldn't even think of provoking a god! You're already short on help from the Celestial Gods, so why would you fight them!"
"Shei. If I fight the Celestial Gods, whose side will you take?"
"You."
Shei, who answered immediately, soon waved her hands and made an excuse.
"Ah, no. I never really believed in the Celestial Gods much anyway. I was thinking of helping you this time around... Don't get the wrong idea! I believe in you, but you're not very reliable!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Shut up! If you're awake, get up quickly!"
Shei casually reached out her hand to me. It meant for me to grab it and stand up. At her action without a hint of doubt, I instinctively followed the thought and pulled Shei's hand to stand up.
"Kyaa!"
At that moment, Shei lost her balance and fell, crashing into me. The force of her fall was so strong that even I was surprised. Suddenly held in my arms, Shei was bewildered.
"Huh? Huez."
"Why can't you keep your balance lately? Is something broken?"
"No. I... didn't fall just now?"
'I was pulled along because you pulled too hard. Even though I'm using Qi...'
Ah, right. Law of Humanity.
I haven't turned it off yet. But is it only to this extent?
"Father! I'm sorry to interrupt while you're having a good time!"
While we were staring at each other in bewilderment. Hilde's shout came from afar. Seeing Shei in my arms, Hilde smiled knowingly as if she expected it, and said to me.
"You need to come here! The Empire's envoy has arrived! It has begun, 'Destiny'!"