Chapter 540: Divine Ascension (1)

“Ah!”

Unlike Molon, who was left blinking in confusion from being unable to understand what Eugene was trying to say, Kirstina immediately grasped the meaning behind Eugene's words.

With an impressed expression, Kristina started clapping on the spot as she said, “Indeed! There was also that method! As expected of you, Sir Eugene!”

[To think that idiot would be able to come up with such a method...!] Anise was just as equally impressed.

As Saints, they were well aware of the fundamental nature of a Holy Knight. If Molon were to become a Holy Knight, he would be able to use divine power in addition to the power he already possessed.

No, Molon would actually have access to even more power than that.

The only power the gods granted access to the Holy Knights from the various religions, including the faith of the Light, was divine power. However, if Eugene personally were to appoint Molon as his Holy Knight, Molon would become something similar to a Saint, being guaranteed a further strengthening of his divine power and given the ability to perform miracles as well.

“Sir Eugene.” Kristina’s eyes shone as she stared at Eugene. “If you are taking Sir Molon as your Holy Knight, would that make him a Holy Knight of the Light? Or would he become a Holy Knight of the God of War?”

“He would be both,” Eugene answered. “My original godhood was the Godhood of War that once belonged to Agaroth, but somehow, I also ended up gaining the Godhood of Light. Well, rather than gaining it, it’s more like the Light handed it to me....”

After trailing off with this mysterious comment, Eugene clicked his tongue and continued, “In any case, I currently have two godhoods. So if I were to personally appoint Molon as—”

“Ah!” Molon’s excited cry cut Eugene’s words short. He raised his thick arms high into the air as he shouted, “So that means I would become a Holy Knight of War and the Light!”

Eugene sincerely felt it was lucky that Carmen wasn’t here right now. If Carmen were to hear that, she would have been moved to ecstatics by such a grandiose title as “The Holy Knight of War and the Light.”

Eugene silently let out a sigh.

However, Eugene was well aware that even if Carmen wasn’t here right now, he would still eventually have to face that very situation someday. Eugene quietly strengthened his resolve to be ready to face that embarrassment when it eventually arrived.

Right now, Molon might be the only one he was appointing as his Holy Knight... but before the time came to assault Babel, he would have to appoint several other people to be his Holy Knights as well. First on his list were all of the Lionhearts who would be participating in the war, and then....

‘It’s not like there would be any hardcore agnostics who would refuse the offer to become my Holy Knight, would there?’

Eugene thought uncertainly.

There were already certain people whom Eugene was considering taking on as his Holy Knights, such as Alchester, Ortus, Ivic, and Ivatar, some of the strongest warriors alive. Rather than recklessly trying to increase the number of Holy Knights as much as possible, it would be better to give a greater proportion of strength to a smaller number of people. In the first place, if Eugene really wanted to make an Order of Holy Knights, he would be able to recruit a sufficient number just by converting all of the Lionhearts into his Holy Knights.

“A Holy Knight of War and the Light,” Sienna muttered thoughtfully. Getting a slight sense that something might be off, Sienna shot Eugene a look as she asked, “In the end, one of those belonged to Agaroth, and the other was given to you by the Light, right?”

“Mhm,” Eugene confirmed.

“But don’t you have a godhood of your own?” Sienna asked suspiciously.

It was a pertinent question. As Sienna had said, the godhood of the God of War was something that had once belonged to Agaroth, and it had been imprinted into Eugene’s very soul as a relic of the Age of Myth. As for the Light, Eugene had personally received that godhood from the hands of the God of Light himself.

“I’m in the middle of forming one,” Eugene replied with an annoyed click of his tongue. “Since it isn’t completely formed yet, it’s a bit too early to say anything for certain, but... I can already get a rough feeling for what it might be.”

Considering the voices that he had heard during his duel with Gavid, what kind of challenges Eugene would have to face from now on, and the necessary resources that Eugene would need to accumulate in order to achieve his ultimate goal, Eugene could guess what kind of divinity was waiting for him.

“In that case, you will end up possessing three different godhoods,” Sienna muttered with a nod.

Thanks to her metamorphosis, Sienna had obtained the Godhood of Magic. In the previous era, Vishur Laviola, the Sage of the Ivory Tower, had been the Goddess of Magic, and now, in this era, the current Goddess of Magic was none other than Sienna Merdein.

“I also believe that it will be necessary for you to take Molon as your Holy Knight. One day, Molon might be able to reach godhood on his own, but we don’t have enough time to wait until that happens,” Sienna said with a frown.

The current era was different from the Age of Myth. Back then, humans as a race were able to accumulate karma and virtue through their actions. Then, by receiving worship from their followers, their faith was born, and they were able to reach godhood.

However, in today’s era, it had become physically impossible to achieve divine ascension. In the past, Sienna had been unable to understand why that was the case, but the current Sienna could vaguely sense why things had turned out this way.

Someone had closed the door to divine ascension. In doing so, they had been able to monopolize most of the worship and faith that was being generated by the world. Even Sienna herself, whose name had become practically synonymous with the path of magic, would have found it difficult to reach the Godhood of Magic even after hundreds of years of training if she hadn’t received the guidance of the Sage, that is.

Sienna had her guesses as to who that someone was.

“You should be able to tell us by now,” Sienna said as she turned to look straight at Eugene. “What have you found out about the Light?”

The God of Light was the god who boasted the largest number of believers in this era. While there were other faiths worshiped throughout the continent apart from the Light, even if you added all of the believers from these miscellaneous faiths together, they would still fall far short of the total congregation of the Light. The proof of this collective power was in how Yuras was able to reign supreme as the only holy empire on the continent.

Kristina also spoke up in encouragement, “Sir Eugene, please.”

Kristina and Anise had also made up their minds to hear the truth. What exactly was the Light, the source of their existence as the Saint, and the deity they had been destined to serve from the moment they were born? They had come up with their own guesses to answer that question in the past. They had felt that the light didn’t seem to possess an actual ego driving it. So they had guessed that it was simply an autonomous entity that granted divine power to those who served it and requested its blessing.

“Is the Light truly an actual god?” Kristina asked nervously.

If their guesses were correct, the Light wasn’t an existence that could be called a god because it would mean that there wasn’t anything like an independent will steering its divine focus.

In the past, that was what Kristina and Anise had both believed. However, Eugene had corrected the Saints’ assumptions.

—The Light isn’t a god as most people would think of the term.

In Eugene’s opinion, this meant that the Light wasn’t simply a mass of power without any ego driving it. At the very least, the Light evidently did have some form of will guiding it to bestow the Holy Sword upon the world, choose Eugene as the Hero, and remind the Saints to open Vermouth’s tomb.

But such revelations had solely been delivered for Eugene’s sake. The Light obviously treated Eugene as a special existence, someone to be exclusively favored.

Now, Eugene knew exactly who the Light was.

Eugene slowly spoke up, “The Light has many names.”

With a bitter smile on his face, Eugene sat down in his seat. Then, he turned to look into the distance. Looking past the arena, over the gray waves of Raguyaran that had currently settled down quietly, he looked into the distant sea obscured beneath a thick, hazy fog.

“The God of Abundance and Prosperity. The God of the Sea and Navigation. The God of the Earth and Forests. The God of Knights and Honor. The God of Time and Fate....” In addition to these titles, Eugene listed the names of all the gods known to the continent.

Eugene even included those whose divine titles weren’t commonly known by the public, as well as cults that were actively being persecuted by Yuras’ Inquisition of Heresy.

“All those are just different names for the Light,” Eugene shockingly revealed.

In this current world, the only true faith other than the faith of the Light was the faith of the World Tree that was still being practiced in the Rainforest.

Having never imagined that there would be such an answer to all of their doubts, Kristina's jaw dropped wide open in shock.

Anise also couldn’t help but be taken aback. They both had often met priests and paladins belonging to other denominations, but they had never once felt any shared sense of kinship with these other priests and holy knights.

“It’s the same thing as the primal spirits,” Eugene said. “Just like how the primal spirits only get named things like wind, water, and earth spirits after they leave their primal state... the Light at its core is just pure divine power without anything that could be called a distinguishing feature. In a way, it's similar to pure mana.”

“That...” Kristina paused to collect herself. “In other words, the divine power that we, and the ordinary priests of the Light, use... as well as the divine power of other religions, including those that the Church dismisses as heretics or inferiors... are you saying that it’s all the same in the end?”

“No, not exactly the same. But well, it does come from the same source,” Eugene grumbled as he rested his chin on one hand.

As Kristina was left so shocked by this revelation that she could only move her lips soundlessly, not knowing what to say, Anise took over their body.

Hurriedly walking over to Eugene’s side, Anise asked, “Why exactly did the Light create so many different religions?”

“Because his godhood consists of a mass of dozens, or even hundreds, of different concepts,” Eugene calmly replied.

Even Anise couldn’t help but feel flustered by those words. What did he mean, a mass of dozens, or even hundreds, of different concepts?

“Ah...!”

But Anise soon realized what exactly those words meant and what the Light truly was.

Sienna’s expression, which had been fixed in a serious look as her eyes were focused on Eugene, also trembled slightly.

Both their thoughts had turned to what exactly Eugene must be feeling about this. In the one year that he’d been away up until his return today, they didn’t know when exactly he had found out the truth, but he couldn’t have remained calm after learning about this.

“It has to do with those gods who were there to see the end of the Age of Myth,” Eugene slowly began to speak while still staring out into the sea.

In his mind’s eye, he looked beyond the hazy sea fog that was impossible to see through. Eugene recalled the sight of the distant sea that lay beyond the fog.

That sea was a place where the presence of any living being was strictly prohibited. A place that no one who belonged to this era was allowed to enter. A place where both despair and hope had been interred together. It was the grave of all the gods who had been present at the end of the Age of Myth — except for the Sage — and the Holy Land of the gods who now belonged to the current era.

“This is what

he

said,” Eugene slowly recalled.

Eugene didn’t know when exactly it had started. But one day, as he had woken up in that ruined city deep beneath the abyss where nothing ever changed only to have found that the Light was suddenly standing right in front of Eugene.

“He said that the remaining gods were only there to witness the end of the world because of what Agaroth had done to slow down the Demon King of Destruction,” Eugene repeated.

Those words matched with what the Sage had said. If Agaroth and his Divine Army had chosen to escape, the Demon King of Destruction would have been able to launch its assault immediately on the world without any interference. However, Agaroth had blocked the Demon King of Destruction’s advance, and because he had held back the Demon King, the other gods were able to make their own arrangements for the Destruction that lay ahead.

“The Sage and all of her followers who were gathered at her Ivory Tower transformed themselves into the World Tree. That was because the Sage was concerned that the Cycle of Reincarnation might be broken and that the Destruction of the next era would also come without any warning,” sighed Eugene.

However, the cycle of reincarnation actually wasn’t broken with the end of the world. Though that being the case, the final spell cast by the Sage and the wizards of the Ivory Tower still successfully bore fruit in the current era. Thanks to that, the legacy of their magic could continue uninterrupted, and the World Tree would serve as the final defense should Destruction return to destroy the world once more. Eventually the divine authority of magic was inherited by Sienna.

“The other gods also sought to do something similar. In order to accomplish this, they literally joined together as one. In the most barbaric way possible,” Eugene revealed with a grimace.

“What do you mean when you say a barbaric way?” Sienna hesitantly asked.

“Hamel, the one who told you this story... which god from the Age of Myth was it?” Anise also asked in a trembling voice.

Still staring out into the distant sea, Eugene quietly answered, “It was Gordian.”

After saying this unfamiliar name, Eugene let out a long sigh.

“It was the God of Giants,” Eugene clarified.

Upon first meeting him in that ruined city, Eugene immediately recalled just what kind of god he had been and what name Agaroth had once known him by. The God of Giants had appeared in front of Eugene as a huge man sculpted out of light itself. During the Age of Myth, Gordian hadn’t been embodied by the Light like he was currently, but even then, he had still been of such colossal size that he could make even mountain peaks look minuscule.

“As for the barbaric way that I mentioned, well... it was something truly savage,” Eugene said, letting out another sigh before seemingly changing the subject. “Gordian was always extremely huge. Of all the gods who had ever lived during the Age of Myth, he was the absolute largest in size.”

The others listened in shocked silence.

“Gordian told me that the other gods willingly threw themselves into his mouth,” Eugene finally shared.

After appearing within that deep abyss, the Light told Eugene how Gordian and the other gods had planned to face the end of the world. He also told Eugene why they had felt that they had no other choice but to resort to that method.

At that time, the imminent Destruction of the world was already an irrefutable fact. The Elder Gods had arranged a meeting with the Demon King of Incarceration and had asked him if there was any way to stop Destruction, but the only answer they received was to wait for the next era.

As such, the gods readied themselves for what was to come. Even if this current era was destroyed, they trusted in the fact that another era would begin anew. They also hoped to devise a way to prevent that new era from having to face the same Destruction that theirs would be facing.

“There were two things that they had planned,” Eugene said. “The Ancient Gods managed to prepare two different contingencies. The first was to create a single source of divinity and divine power in the next era by having all of the gods be willingly consumed by the God of Giants.”

“How could they accept such a method?” Anise asked in disbelief.

Eugene sighed, “Because the imminent end of the Age of Myth had already proven that, no matter how many gods there were, they still wouldn’t be able to stop the Demon King of Destruction.”

This didn’t mean that the gods were able to accept such a desperate option right from the very beginning. When the hold that Agaroth had held on Destruction was first released, a number of gods who possessed overflowing confidence in their strength had stepped forward to stop — no — to slay the Demon King of Destruction.

However, not a single one of them survived their attempt. None of them even managed to impede Destruction’s advance for a bare moment.

“As such, those Ancient Gods chose to ensure that in the next world, there would be no other gods but one. The God of Giants would eat all of the remaining gods in that era and become one huge, all-encompassing god, thus ensuring that he would become the supreme god of the next era. In the next world, he would become the only such god in all of existence,” Eugene finished his explanation.

Sienna thoughtfully chewed her lower lip before nodding, “As expected, so the one responsible for blocking this world’s path to divine ascension... it really was the Light.”

The Ancient Gods had manufactured a monopoly on divinity in the current world. No matter what type of worship was performed, all of the faith generated by said worship would be consumed by the Light once it ascended into the divine realm.

That was consistent with the warning that the Sage had given Eugene. Similar to how Eugene’s own budding faith would be preyed upon if he stayed in the World Tree for too long, all faiths that had existed throughout the history of this current era had been devoured by the Light and the other religions that it masqueraded as.

“However, humans will still believe in what they want to believe and refuse to believe the things that they don’t want to,” Eugene continued.

Sienna couldn’t deny that.

“That is why the Light has so many different names and why their true identity is so muddled. Because they also possess the Godhood of Selflessness, the collective entity created from the Ancient Gods can masquerade itself as any god in this era. Though among the various identities it has created, the most important one is its identity as the Light, which was also intentional on their part,” Eugene said as he began rummaging through his cloak.

This action was because Eugene was feeling in the mood for a drink. The first thing that he ended up pulling out of his cloak was the bottle of alcohol that Gavid had left behind.

“Not this one,” Eugene muttered with a wry grin.

He was going to save drinking this bottle for when he someday ended up slaying the Demon King of Incarceration. But after some effort, he still couldn’t find any other bottles of alcohol rolling around inside of his cloak.

Eugene soon realized that there wasn’t any need for him to keep searching inside his cloak. After all, Kristina was sure to have some alcohol on her.

When Eugene reached out his hand in silent request, Anise handed over the flask that was hanging from her waist. Under usual circumstances, Anise would have never offered to share a drink from her personal flask with the others. However, now wasn’t the time to bother with such things.

When Eugene opened up the bottle, a strong aroma drifted out.

“This isn’t your usual choice of drink, is it? Isn’t this a distilled beverage?” Eugene questioned doubtfully.

If you gave her some distilled alcohol, she would still drink it, but Anise usually preferred strong, fruity wines.

“That’s because I’m not the one who chose that particular flavor of drink. Kristina’s the one who filled the flask with that,” Anise revealed.

“No way...” Eugene said with an incredulous expression as he lifted the bottle to his lips.

Only a year ago, Kristina was someone who would rarely ever drink, and if she did, she would only drink sweetened wine....

“So Hamel, what you’re saying is... if all of the Ancient Gods were eaten by the God of Giants and transformed into the supreme god of the present era... then what exactly is going on with all of the myths surrounding the Light?” Anise carefully inquired.

Eugene reassured her, “All of those stories might be exaggerated to a certain extent, but there are some grains of truth in them. As I said, they

intentionally

chose the Light as the main faith for their divine collective, despite holding the Godhood of Selflessness.”

Anise frowned and asked, “What was their reason for doing so?”

“The name itself conjures some obvious impressions, doesn’t it?” Eugene said with a shrug. “It was meant to bring to mind the Light that illuminates the darkness. It can also work as several other allegories.”

The Light that illuminates the darkness could also be the Light of dawn that follows the long night.

“That makes it perfect for creating religious icons. Like how in Yuras’ legends, the Incarnation of Light descended upon the world to illuminate it.... Although something like that didn’t physically happen, it is true that the Light did bestow the Holy Sword Altair onto the world. And because of Altair, the Holy Empire of Yuras was created,” Eugene took a swig of the strong spirits before setting the bottle down. “The Ancient Gods’ plan worked out just as they had hoped. Thanks to their efforts, the Holy Church of the Light is able to flourish throughout the current world, while most other religions can’t even form a proper governing structure.”

“In that case... that means that everyone in this world is ultimately serving one single god,” Anise surmised.

“That’s right. That’s what was intended all along. Thanks to that,

they

amassed a huge amount of divine power that can’t even be compared to what they may have had in the Age of Myth. Though, in fact, they won’t actually be able to make use of any of that divinity directly,” Eugene added.

Anise raised a brow and asked, “Why wouldn’t they be able to use it directly?”

“Because they’re all dead,” Eugene revealed another earth-shaking fact.

Anise’s eyelashes fluttered in shock.

Eugene continued without a pause, “After the God of Giants devoured all of the gods, he incinerated his own body. In doing so, his body perished, leaving behind only his soul, which was how Gordian was even able to move on to the present era with his memories intact. But because of what he sacrificed to do so, he cannot descend onto the world in physical form or otherwise intervene directly. All he can do is to bestow divine power on those who worship them as their god.”

Anise silently processed this new information.

“However, most people wouldn’t be able to directly bear on their shoulders the enormous power that their primary Godhood of Selflessness generates,” Eugene said as he took another swig of his drink before setting it down. “That is why they bestowed Altair onto the world. To make it easier to draw on a portion of that immense divine power.”

Anise frowned as the gears spun in her head, “But Altair... the fact that only a Hero can hold it means....”

“There were two things,” Eugene reminded her with a wry smile. “I said that the Ancient Gods had two different plans that they had prepared to prevent the destruction of the next era.”

The first method was that all of the gods were eaten by the God of Giants so that they could become the sole god of the next era.

“The other contingency they left behind was me,” Eugene calmly stated.

“...Huh?” Anise gaped in confusion.

“The only one who was able to block the Demon King of Destruction’s advance and who was able to leave his mark on the core of that monster,” Eugene said, letting out a long sigh. “The final plan of the Ancient Gods was to make sure that Agaroth would be reincarnated in the new era.”