Cheongtapju is a mage, and her sensibilities are closer to an eccentric inventor than a service provider. Expecting the Floating Castle Mini created by someone like her to carefully consider the user's convenience was difficult.
It only had the necessary items like blankets, bedding, a bed, and a desk, but the space utilization was the worst, so we often bumped into each other just trying to move. Well, this was partly because the Floating Castle Mini was cramped, but designing even that carefully is a skill.
One of the few advantages of such a Floating Castle Mini was the ride quality.
Neither riding the wind nor floating above the earth, the movement through gravity and inertia control was quiet and smooth. Exaggerating a bit, it was more comfortable than lying still on bare ground.
However, as we got closer to 'Sister', that comfortable ride disappeared. Instead, the Floating Castle Mini trembled as if terrified. I was the same way inside it.
"Cheongtapju-nim. I'm getting motion sickness. Can I open the window?"
"I don't recommend it. The Floating Castle Mini is moving through gravity and inertia control. It's offsetting the shock from external vibrations with the power of the Demon God. But feeling vibrations piercing through the inertia control means..."
"It means it's severe enough that it can't be offset by inertia control. So shouldn't we look outside even more?"
"Did you want to see outside? Then look through this."
Cheongtapju casually made room for me. In front of her was a periscope carved out of crystal.
"Have you been looking outside with this the whole time?"
"Yeah. Someone has to check the situation."
"You didn't have to do it alone."
"I have to pilot this Floating Castle Mini. If an orbital correction is needed, I should do it since I can react the fastest."
She has a point. That's why I stayed quiet even though I knew.
But Cheongtapju seemed to be getting tired, and I felt I needed to see the distant scene with my own eyes.
"Let me take a look too."
"Yeah. Take a look. I wanted to ask your opinion once."
Cheongtapju readily gave up her seat, and I put my eye to the periscope. Once I focused correctly, the outside scenery came into view.
Has the world finally gone mad?
There is no distinction between sky and earth. Dust devils rising from the ground touch the sky. Soil and sand are spread thick like clouds, and lightning strikes from left to right.
Even with my eyes, I can see the wind swirling painfully. Just not being swept away by a storm of that magnitude shows how amazing the Floating Castle Mini is.
"...This is definitely Sister's doing, right?"
"I hope not. If our enemy is a being that capriciously unleashes disasters greater than a Demon God, there's no way to fight back. No, there's not even a way to observe it."
The original plan was to stay far away from 'Sister' and gather information by investigating the reactions and traces of the people around her. However, Sister was like a walking typhoon, wiping out not only the people around her but even the ground and the sky.
While Cheongtapju and I were at a loss for words, Shei approached out of curiosity.
"What is it? What's going on?"
"Shei. It looks like the world has ended."
"What?! Already?! Really?! Keuk. Do I have to prepare for the next cycle already?!"
"No, it was a metaphor."
I shouldn't make this kind of joke to someone who has actually seen the world end. After calming Shei down, I showed her the periscope. Looking outside, Shei stiffened her expression and said.
"Yeah. It's the same. That King of Humans is using the same power as when she was the King of Sins. She doesn't seem to have weakened at all."
"Eh? Then has the world already ended?"
The King of Sins was a monster who fought the world all by herself. If 'Sister's' power is the same as back then, there's already no chance of winning. At Hilde's words, Shei shook her head and replied.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know? If she's already become the King of Sins, it means we have no means to fight back~?"
Instead of Shei, who answered briefly, I kindly explained it in detail.
"The King of Sins and the King of Humans are essentially the same. If there's a difference between the two, it's their attitude towards humans. If they see humans as their kin, they are the King of Humans; if they see humans as subjects of punishment, they are the King of Sins."
The power is equal. The difference is the direction.
What intention they hold, and how they use their power. That creates a huge difference.
YWJsdEJUOFpDY0Y2Z21xaStxWjJiTFYzblpsM1ZmdjZrUlJydno4aXJaZXRnVFBXTU83VXdObHZFY0lIdmpEaw
"When a separation of concepts occurs, it becomes like that. The King of Dogs and the King of Wolves are of the same kind, but they can genuinely try to kill each other. Because if they brand each other as different beings, they don't have to show any mercy."
The Sword Empress, who had been quietly listening, asked briefly.
"In short. You mean the King of Sins is a King of Humans who harbors murderous intent against everyone?"
"Not everyone, though."
"There are no innocent humans. Humans are born with original sin and commit sins as they live. Life is merely a process of atonement."
She must have read the Bible. The verses flow out smoothly. She seems quite educated, so why under such a master...
"What are you looking at."
"Nothing. Alright, we should slowly get ready. Cheongtapju-nim, getting any closer is dangerous. Please hide the Floating Castle Mini nearby and prepare to flee at any time."
"Huz. I have something to say about that."
She readjusted her posture along with her words saying she had something to say. Even though I hadn't done anything wrong, I instinctively shrank back. To the tense me, Cheongtapju spoke methodically.
"To put it coldly, the most powerful force here right now is me. You guys are strong, but you can't overcome that in terms of the scale of power. Because that power has already surpassed the Demon God, it's the very laws of the world itself."
I know from looking through the periscope. That is the Demon God of Chiyou, the Earth Mother Goddess, and the Lightning Thief. The Demon Gods that the Seonghwangcheong desperately hid and concealed have been pointlessly revealed to the world.
The world is already as good as in Sister's grasp. In a harsh world, it's hard enough for humans just to survive.
"It's not rational for me to detach from the combat force. You need my power."
Without a Demon God, we fall behind in the scale of power. It's a clear fact, but I stubbornly shook my head.
"Thank you for worrying. But that's exactly why you absolutely mustn't come with us."
"Can I know the reason?"
"Whether you're there or not, we can't beat Sister in terms of power anyway. Because among the Demon Gods Sister can use, there will likely be the Demon God of Gravity too."
Sister can use other Demon Gods. The Demon God of Gravity would be no exception. The reason the Demon God of Gravity isn't standing out right now is simply because she doesn't need it up to that point.
If it becomes necessary, our enemy will become much stronger and more terrifying.
"If we don't hide Cheongtapju-nim's power, we won't even have a chance to escape left. The moment Sister figures out how to use the Demon God of Gravity and how to counter it, our remaining cards disappear."
"Since we can't win with power, it's to keep up with the mind game at least."
"Yes."
"But that only holds true if the King of Humans doesn't harbor malice. If the King of Humans harbors malice and tries to fight, mind games and everything else become meaningless."
That's right. My strategy is based on the premise that Sister won't attack unconditionally. What if this premise is wrong? We will disappear without even having time to resist. Sister is that overwhelmingly powerful.
But... is this really new?
I was originally weak. Even now, having grown stronger by creating the Human Principles, I am relatively weak. I always devised methods, won the favor of others, and if they were enemies, I induced their carelessness to defeat them.
It's not much different. It's just that the opponent has become a monster that might destroy the world; it's the same as usual.
"I've always done it that way until now."
***
To anyone's eyes, the world was out of its mind. Had the planet gone crazy and lost its mind? Rules taken for granted were broken, and providence and common sense were denied.
In such a disaster, what human could maintain order?
"Run away! Run!!"
Humans wanting to get away from that disaster come running. They flail their limbs and fall, trying to escape even if they have to swim on the ground. Even though they must have already run far enough, their faces are all filled with terror.
"Duck your heads! The lightning is chasing..."
And after their hair stood completely on end.
Lightning struck.
It was too fast to follow with my eyes. Just a tingling sensation was felt, and then a massive bolt of lightning fell and enveloped the humans right in front of me. The smell of burning flesh. The sharpened air. The sound of an explosion. A sharp, aggressive scent lingered at the tip of my nose.
After the remnants of the lightning disappeared, the Imperial Army fell to the ground with convulsions. As if the lightning had reaped their lives.
Hundreds of corpses were created like that. They fell in a semicircle as if drawing a boundary of death. It was naturally apparent that entering the range would result in a direct hit from the chasing lightning.
I warned everyone.
"It seems like you'll get struck by lightning if you enter that domain. Everyone, be careful!"
"Hmm. If you've mastered Gimgigong, you wouldn't die just from being struck by lightning~."
"If you use your stamina to endure it, you'll be exhausted before we even get there. We have to advance as safely as possible."
While the commoners put their heads together and muttered, the Sword Empress stepped forward first. She moved her steps into the middle of the electrocuted corpses without any hesitation.
"Master! It's dangerous!"
Yeah, right. The Sword Empress didn't even endure the lightning; she simply wasn't struck at all. There wasn't even a phenomenon of her hair standing on end. It seemed the lightning couldn't even detect her.
"If you harmonize heaven and earth with your senses, you can avoid lightning."
The Sword Empress spoke calmly even in the middle of the corpses. Her usual expressionlessness, which would have seemed alienating, somehow felt reassuring now.
Hilde asked back with a drained expression.
"...That's easier said than done; isn't that the realm of the Nature Realm where you assimilate all things and yourself with Qi~?"
"Can Hilde not do it?"
"I can't do such tricks~. But~."
Hilde's body slowly changed, slightly scorched as if burnt. The moisture disappeared from her hair, making it frizzy, and the vitality vanished from her body. Soon, Hilde's complexion became as pale as a corpse.
She wasn't actually dead; using the Gimgigong of the realm that reverses herself, she had even changed the properties of her body.
"I noticed that lightning doesn't strike corpses that have already burned~. It seems to prevent waste. If I disguise myself as a corpse, maybe I can avoid it~?"
"That's even more impressive."
Come to think of it, isn't that also the realm of the Nature Realm? Death is part of nature too, yep.
"Um, what about me..."
"If it's Shei with Cheon-aeng and Ji-jan, well, lightning won't be a problem at all."
"...That's true."
'Pay a little attention to me too.... Hmph. Not that I need it. But you could at least worry about me like you do for others.'
No time for that. I have my own hands full right now.
"Since everyone is ready, shall we get going?"
"Huh? What about you, Huz?"
"I'll try to protect my body with the power of the Demon God too. I'll probably be safe. It's not on a large scale like that, but it's enough to manage my own body."
Everyone stepped into the domain, protecting their bodies in their own ways. Qigong is fundamentally a power that separates me from the world and protects oneself. The other three Qigong Masters walked safely without being attacked by the lightning.
I was the same. With the Human Principles, I am a walking Demon God. Mere lightning shouldn't be a problem...
Huh? It's tingling?
"Aaaargh!"
"Huz?!"
"Ah, I'm fine. I endured it with my regeneration."
Ouch, that stings. Thanks to the Human Principles, I survived, but the experience of lightning sweeping through my body in that instant wasn't very pleasant. Still, having endured the lightning, I continued walking.
"Kyaaargh!"
"Huz?! Are you okay?"
"Y-yes. No problem. I just have no way to avoid the lightning."
As long as I'm protected by the Human Principles, the lightning can't harm me. The bioelectricity in my body is entirely under my control. It's just hard to breathe and my nerves are on edge.
"By the way, is there no limit to this magic? I haven't even taken three steps and the lightning is like, kyaaargh!"
"...I don't quite get it, but you seem safe, so let's go."
"Pay some attention to me too, aaargh!"
My body was successively struck directly by lightning as if I had become a lightning rod. It felt like all the lightning within the domain was falling toward me. With no way to avoid it right now, I endured with the Human Principles and headed toward the center of the domain. And we were able to find one of the Ecliptic Twelve Palaces sooner than expected.
Human-Horse Palace Lord Kaus, dying with one arm and one leg torn off.