Chapter 575 - 353: Message from the Olden Deities (Part 2)

Chapter 575: Chapter 353: Message from the Olden Deities (Part 2)

The settlement screen refreshed with remarkable fluidity. The page appeared so smoothly that it was even better than during previous periods of low traffic.

’Did it really upgrade itself?’

"Has the number of users dropped?" Zog asked immediately.

He hoped it wasn’t because everyone had gotten fed up with the lag and left the platform, allowing the server to recover due to the reduced load.

"Er..." The Program Mage immediately checked the restored backend data. "It dropped, but only by... less than five percent. In theory, we should still be over our original limit. What happened?"

A server upgrading itself was a concept far beyond his comprehension.

"Alright, everyone, back to your stations," Zog said, standing up. "Let’s all put in the extra effort tonight and see this through, make sure there are no more surprises. Once this event is over and done with, there will be bonuses, and there will be paid time off to compensate!"

Zog’s morale-boosting speech was exceptionally effective.

Having made his promises, it was time for him to make his exit.

It wasn’t that he, as the boss, didn’t intend to lead by example. Rather, something far more critical demanded his attention.

’The Divine Remains must have upgraded.’

’But what did it upgrade into?’

As fast as he could, Zog rushed to the underground level of Twin Tower City, where the Zog Group’s first piece of Divine Remains was stored.

He saw the Egg Spirit Body again.

This Egg Spirit Body was not quite the same.

Its translucent surface was now covered in a web of fine cracks, from which a soft light emanated. It existed in a delicate state, on the verge of shattering but not yet broken.

’A state that would drive anyone with OCD insane.’

’This feeling of being stuck in limbo was the worst.’

Without hesitation, Zog touched the Spirit Body, allowing his consciousness to enter it.

’It wasn’t that he was being reckless—he was just used to it. He’d done the same thing several times before.’

’Besides, the last time the egg had "hatched," it had imprinted a massive amount of knowledge about Magic into his mind.’

’No matter how he looked at it, that suggested a cooperative attitude.’

’And then there was the Bird Spirit Body’s request to popularize the network. Whatever the purpose of the consciousnesses born from these Divine Remains, their general goals didn’t seem to conflict with his own.’

The process of linking his consciousness this time was much more serene than before.

There was no sudden vertigo, no chaotic flood of knowledge being crammed into his brain regardless of his capacity to handle it.

Instead, it felt... rather pleasant.

Zog found the sensation odd.

It was like soaking in warm water, his consciousness drifting along a slow current into the heart of the Divine Remains.

And there, in the boundless Consciousness Space, Zog saw the most abstract thing he had ever laid eyes on.

A floating mass whose state of matter was impossible to determine.

Its smooth edges were unstable, flowing ceaselessly, shimmering with a phosphorescence that seemed to contain countless colors, yet at the same time, no color at all. Every inch of its surface vibrated at a constant frequency, like a fluctuation, or a breath.

As Zog focused his attention on the object, the thing—which could have been particles, liquid, or motes of dust—seemed to turn countless gazes upon him from within.

’What the hell is this?’

’It was pretty damn creepy, even for a Dragon.’

Any creature with a modicum of intelligence has an instinctive fear of the unknown.

Zog had always thought this Consciousness Space had a "Backrooms" vibe to it—stay too long and it got gloomy—and now this thing had appeared.

’Don’t tell me I’ve stumbled upon something eldritch.’

"Welcome, outsider." An emotionless voice came from the mass.

’Outsider?’

Zog grew nervous. ’What does it mean by ’outsider’?’

"You are nervous. Perhaps this form will make you more receptive."

As it spoke, the mass transformed, molding itself like clay into a copy of Zog—a Zog so perfect that Zog himself couldn’t spot a single difference.

"..."

’Honestly, seeing some unknown entity transform into your spitting image isn’t exactly easy to accept.’

"Apologies. This form seems to have made you more nervous."

’It even apologized!’

Zog could see now that this thing likely meant him no harm. Its thought processes were simply different from his—and likely different from any creature that had ever existed on Feilin.

"Forget it. You can just stay like that."

"Thank you for your understanding."

"Er..." Zog was trying to think of a suitable way to ask what the hell this thing was.

"I am of the Divine Race. You should be accustomed to that term." The entity, which called itself one of the Divine Race, could clearly read Zog’s thoughts and answered him directly.

"Divine Race? Not quite like the ones I’ve seen."

The members of the Divine Race Zog had seen before, regardless of their form, at least had a tangible, comprehensible body.

"They are not of the Divine Race. They are no different from the other creatures you know."

"Huh?" Zog didn’t understand.

The Divine Race entity in the form of Zog waved a claw, and the scene within the Consciousness Space instantly changed.

A grisly battlefield, frozen in time.

Here were many of the Divine Race Zog was familiar with: the Dragon God, the Dwarf God, the Beastman God, and the now sole survivor, the Magic Goddess.

All the Deities he had ever seen were here.

They all appeared to be on a united front, which was a stark contrast to the Deities in Zog’s memory, who were always fighting each other to the death.

Their opponents, the reason for this alliance, were a host of beings from the Divine Race, identical to the one that had just transformed into Zog.

"Er, let me see if I understand this. So there were two Divine Races, and you guys lost the fight?" Zog asked.

’That lines up with those voices I heard from the egg before, the ones saying the gods were dead.’

’So the Magic Goddess is the ultimate cutthroat, the one who came out on top after fighting an external war and then a civil war?’

"No. Originally, there was only us," It explained slowly. "We are a part of this planet. Consciousness born from consciousness, entities solidified from faith. When intelligent beings believe in nature, consciousness forms a representative for nature. When intelligent beings believe in magic, consciousness forms a representative for magic. And you... you call us gods."

’Gods formed from faith?’

’That’s a theory I’ve never heard before.’

’But it does sound plausible.’

It continued its tale: "Creatures who believe in nature gain knowledge of nature; the same is true for those who believe in magic. The planet loves the life It nurtures, so a part of Itself selflessly bestows all knowledge upon the life It loves."

"So the Divine Race is actually the will of the planet?" Zog was starting to understand.

"You can understand it that way. However, not all the life It loved loved It in return. Traitors emerged. They believed we concealed the most important knowledge from them—immortality. But we concealed nothing. The planet itself is not immortal."

’True, a planet only lasts for a few tens of billions of years. How could that be called eternal? But for the creatures of that era, I guess a number that large was a form of immortality.’

"They believed that by destroying us, they could become truly ’immortal’ Deities. So they turned the knowledge they had learned against us, their teachers."

"So now you’re seeking revenge!"

’Perfect. Now our goals are completely aligned.’

’But weren’t these gods a little too selfless with their teaching? They even taught others how to destroy them.’

"Revenge is not our aim because of our past destruction. It is because they severed the channel for acquiring knowledge. That was the ultimate betrayal."

"The Magic Goddess restricts Magic above the Ninth Ring because she’s afraid a High Tier Mage could kill her, just as she did to others," Zog added.

"Then does this mean you can teach us Magic above the Ninth Ring, so we can go and turn the Magic Goddess to dust!"

The words were barely out of his mouth when Zog realized his mistake. "No, wait, you can’t do that. If you had that power, you wouldn’t have lost back then. You’re just a vessel for the knowledge."

This god born of faith didn’t pursue the topic. Instead, it said, "The Magic Goddess still desires immortality."

"So?" Zog asked.

"And so, she is allowing faith to create new entities."

"..."

Zog now understood why the Church had suddenly started helping to popularize the network.

The Magic Goddess wants a god of the network. From this newborn god, she intends to once again seek the path to immortality.

’Doesn’t that make me, Zog, her accomplice?!’

’Though, the Goddess probably won’t find her path to immortality anyway.’

"Then isn’t she still invincible?" Zog asked, dejected.

"Perhaps she is, perhaps she is not."

"Is this really the time for riddles?"

"There is a limit to faith," the Divine Race entity said abruptly. "It—the planet—does not permit all beings to have only a single faith. That would inevitably lead to disaster. And any entity that bears too much faith will return to Its embrace."

Hearing this from the Divine Race entity, Zog slowly began to understand. "You mean, the Magic Goddess wants to become one of the truly ’immortal’ Divine Race. But if one of the Divine Race accepts that much faith, they’ll be destroyed instead?"