Quit The Hero Party

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EP.526 Catastrophe, Yormun (7)

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“Did you know that the power of the gods all takes the form of an eye?”

Once, Gletus said that.

“Whether they take the form of humans, beasts, insects, or shadows… every god has an eye. And within those eyes, their powers are contained.”

“Powers?”

“Yes, powers.”

She gestured.

“Shall we take the ‘ever-flowing fire’ you met first as an example? Within her eye, there is a flame. A fiercely blazing one.”

She drew something on the ground.

Pointing to the image of a goddess with eyes like burning flames, Gletus continued.

“What she symbolizes is fire; what she desires is to turn all lands to mere ashes. Hence, her eye contains fierce flames. The same goes for other gods.”

War, floods, blades, darkness… Gletus illustrated the eyes of numerous gods one by one.

“The eye is a mirror reflecting the soul. It is even more so for gods. So, when you want to understand your opponent, observe their eyes.”

Gletus reached out.

She grabbed Yormun by the collar, bringing their foreheads together. At such close proximity, Gletus’s eyes opened halfway.

“Remember. It’s the eyes, Yormun.”

Someday, patterns will be engraved in both our eyes. Patterns like a solid foundation to support this land.

“We, too, shall one day become beings like them. Whether we want to or not, it will happen. A guide is essentially one who has gained the qualifications to reach the heavens.”

But, she said.

“We might be wrong. We cannot always be right, so we might one day become beings like them as well. Thus, we must remain vigilant.”

“You aren’t wrong. You are always correct, Gletus.”

“No, that’s not true, Yormun. I am also wrong. I make mistakes. Humans cannot be perfect alone.”

She smiled.

“So let us look into each other’s eyes.”

“…Eyes?”

“Yes, if you think you are wrong, use my eyes as a mirror to see your own. I will do the same.”

Let us be mirrors reflecting each other.

“If I seem wrong, do let me know. If you’re wrong, I will always hold you.”

Gletus smiled like that.

Even after thousands of years, that laughter would not fade. Remembering her eyes, Yormun slowly opened his own.

When he opened his eyes, he saw.

“………”

Yormun silently gazed ahead. There stood his junior who had finally caught up with him. The fully bloomed guide was there.

Raniel van Trias.

Yormun looked into her eyes.

Contained within her bluish eyes was a cerulean flame. He had seen countless flame-shaped eyes, but the flame she possessed was something peculiar. The flames twisted upon themselves, spiraling.

Spin.

As he watched the flame form a closed loop, Yormun bitterly smiled. He came to understand what Raniel desired.

Is that your belief?

A belief that can never coexist with you.

That’s why humans conflict. To protect what is most precious to themselves. Yormun silently gazed at Raniel. At this point, the flow of time felt meaningless.

He had tried to stop her, yet Raniel was complete.

In the end, they had to collide head-on.

Every bit of time, pressure, or war of attrition became meaningless. Yormun merely waited. Waiting for Raniel to move. For her answer to reveal itself before him.

The eyes with the cerulean ring appeared.

Raniel slowly closed and opened her eyes.

…So much was visible.

By squinting, nothing was hidden. The very essence of the world came into view. Something unimaginable sat in his eyes compared to the Watcher’s.

The dragon eye, or the eye of a god.

Only Yormun and the primordial goddess, along with the gods hanging in the highest heavens, could possess such eyes. What Raniel had acquired was a power close to omnipotence.

An eye that contemplated all things, foresaw the future, and pierced through the flow and rules of the world.

‘…Literally, the eye of a god.’

She touched the divine with a human body.

What powers truly are, she wasn’t sure, but she thought this surely must be it. With that thought, Raniel smiled bitterly.

What a futile pursuit, she thought.

Some might yearn for such god-like powers. But Raniel van Trias did not. She did not wish to become a god herself, for taking the path of the Goddess of Ashes would render everything meaningless.

She needed no such powers.

To conquer the ancient god is not to become a new god. It must be as a single human standing here, representing humanity.

In a blink.

Raniel closed and opened her eyes.

The violently throbbing cerulean ring in her eyes abruptly calmed. It was still spinning, but the flames did not overflow as before.

Following the flame, her vision settled. Exhaling, she took in only what she needed to see.

‘Better.’

After all, these eyes were unnecessary right now.

The eyes of the gods conveyed knowledge of the constellations that Yormun held in his hands, but ironically, that knowledge was of no use to the current Raniel. The order was reversed.

To understand that, she needed the eye of a god.

But did she not obtain the god’s eye because she understood that?

The moment she received the heavenly principles in her body, the moment her soul was swept away in a great current, Raniel realized everything. There was nothing more to know. Reflecting on her enlightenment, Raniel spoke.

“In the end.”

She smiled bitterly.

“What the mage learns first is also what they realize last.”

Lifting her gaze, she looked at Yormun.

The moment she became aware that she was speaking to him, Yormun chuckled in disbelief.

“Now, you want to have a conversation?”

“What does it matter? Now that we’ve come this far, isn’t it ultimately the same?”

Raniel shrugged her shoulders.

She understood too. From here on, the outcome would only be decided by confronting the constellations directly across from each other. All other processes were meaningless. A few exchanged words wouldn’t change the outcome.

“That’s not incorrect.”

Yormun let out a short breath.

As he did, he said, “Don’t you think it’s surprisingly trivial?”

“Oddly enough, yes. I suppose those living thousands of years ago and those living now feel no different.”

Raniel reflected on her path in magic.

Starting from circuits made of simple lines to circuits composed of hundreds, thousands of strokes. She had moved forward while drawing countless circuits. The more she went forward, the more elaborate and complex the circuits became.

She piled up numerous circuits.

Accumulating knowledge and enlightenment, she built a tower.

At the moment she reached the highest point of the tower, touching the heavens, Raniel couldn’t help but chuckle. Ultimately, the last enlightenment she gained was no different from the first one she had when learning magic.

“A circuit is, after all, a sculpting process.”

“What do you mean?” Yormun inquired.

“To engrave rules. To write new rules that will change the world.”

What she realized through her battle with Kyle after becoming a superhuman was precisely this. The circuit was about overlaying her characters onto the governing rules that surrounded the world. If she could wedge herself into the gaps and engrave her characters… that is what a premonition-less spell truly was, as she understood back then.

So, what had she realized now that she stood above gods?

The next step. A way to take a step forward, to bridge to the mage before her. Now, all that remained was to manifest it.

Tap.

Raniel took a step forward.

That was the signal. Yormun also stepped forward. As they did, both extended their index fingers. They needed no staffs. Their fingers were brushes drawing the circuits.

Rustle.

Magic flared at the tips of their fingers.

Or perhaps starlight, or dark red lightning.

The moment their fingers began to move, time stood frozen. In that suspended moment, their fingers traced a line. Right now, these two mages were drawing circuits.

That is the magic’s foundation.

What any mage learns first.

Called the three stages of spell manifestation, the two mages who had ascended to godhood unfolded them very slowly.

One, circuit creation.

The circuits they drew were neither intricate nor complex. On the contrary, they were simple. The moment they reached the peak, complexity became unnecessary. A single gesture. Within that one gesture lay all the circuits.

Their circuits were the rules themselves.

When the wind blows upon the rules, they scatter like lightweight sand; rather, they used their circuits as guidelines and inscribed them through the gaps.

‘Up to this point, it’s the same.’

Raniel thought as she inscribed the circuits.

Up to here, it was akin to when she reached the realm of superhumans, when she dropped a premonition-less spell. What began to change was what came next.

Two, sacrifice of payment.

No payment was required.

The life lived, the knowledge accumulated, simply reaching this point itself was the payment. In the moment she penetrated the truth, there was no need to expend mana for spell manifestation.

Three, designation of direction.

They each designated the other as the direction.

Two beings bearing irreconcilable beliefs and values. They understood that they had to shatter the other.

Flash.

The completed circuit scattered light.

It resembled the phenomenon known as the peaked spell among mages. When one uses the same spell dozens or hundreds of times, every so often, a starlight would imbue it, elevating the concept of the spell one level higher.

It was said to be impossible to induce it artificially.

However, it was redefined by a certain professor.

The three stages of spell manifestation, once perfectly executed, the peak could indeed be induced artificially. And at that moment, the two had flawlessly executed the three stages to inscribe their rules.

One, they saw the rules.

Two, they inscribed the rules.

Three, they understood the grand flow they created.

Until now, because she had not understood the flow created by the rules, the rules Raniel inscribed would only create premonition-less spells. Thus, her circuits would eventually be swept away by the flow.

But having accepted the heavenly principles in her body, Raniel understood that flow. The moment she understood the flow, the three stages of spell manifestation she unfolded as a guide became perfect.

Hence, that concept transcended one level.

The circuits she inscribed, wedged in, no longer succumbed to the flow. Instead, the rules began to swirl around her circuit. Rather than being swept away by the flow, they created a flow of their own.

Flash.

At the tips of her fingers, the circuits shone.

It is said that spells reaching the peak would capture starlight. Yet, the circuits sparkling at Raniel’s fingertips did not merely capture starlight.

Understanding the essence of the world, their circuits transcended starlight, becoming the constellations themselves.

“Is that your constellation?”

In response to Yormun’s question, Raniel grasped the circuit that floated before her. Yormun also chuckled, grabbing the circuit that appeared before him.

The same process.

The same path.

Only the result reached diverged.

Both mages, who had reached out toward the sky, clutched their own constellations. Two constellations, similar yet different, shone brilliantly.

“Humanity has been abandoned by everything.”

“As you and I were, humanity has been abandoned by their parents. Abandoned by the world. Left alone, they can no longer rise without someone’s help.”

“So, in this changed world, they need a god who will protect them, uplift them, and look only at them. To help humanity take their first steps.”

“Therefore, I intend to become such a being. A mother-like existence to share humanity’s childhood.”

Yormun van Dragonik’s constellation shone gloriously. Radiating all colors, it was a blinding spectacle. No matter which sky one looked up at, the greatest constellation shining there was the circuit that Yormun inscribed.

“Breaking free from all ties, now I wish to move forward.”

“Now we must move forward.”

“To live by the sword and die by the sword. I am grateful for all of you. I was able to meet my end as myself.”

“Stars, shadows—none of that concerns me anymore. I will meet my end as just me. That is my choice.”

Raniel van Trias’s constellation shimmered softly. Unlike Yormun’s dazzling constellation, hers did not shine blindingly. It merely glowed gently.

There was no need to hang in the sky.

There was no need to be hung in the sky or illuminate the world.

Simply serving as a lamp in the darkness, guiding them on their path was sufficient. However, unlike the soft glow, the constellation Raniel grasped was exceedingly sharp.

By nature, it would have led the way.

But if someone were to obstruct their path, if they sought to intervene in their journey… her constellation would become a sharper blade than anything else, severing them all. Ensuring humanity would not be bound by anything ever again.

Constellations carrying unique beliefs shone brightly.

Clutching their constellations, the two mages stepped towards each other. There was now nothing bridging the two of them. Thus, time, which had stopped, began to flow again.

———————————.

In the noise of the world tearing apart, the two constellations collided.

They had continuously reached out toward the heavens.

For humans, the sky was but a calamity. A common human would often go mad just by gazing at the sky. The gazes of the many gods residing above were something no mere human could endure.

Thus, she must have wished for it.

For humans to be able to look up at the sky.

To live without fear of the heavens.

To fulfill her wish, he reached out toward the sky. By toppling all those transcendent beings painting the sky with their colors, humans would no longer have to fear anything.

Yormun van Dragonik wished for a world without fear. He hoped there would be no child born like him, who was cursed by the heavens. He wished for humanity to rise within a stable world, free from chaotic rules.

Thus, he gazed into the heavens.

For there lay the destination he must reach.

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Having reached out toward the skies, the two mages each obtained their answers. The oldest guide states: I must be the guardian, upholding the rules. The guide of this era says: Tear away the old rules, and humanity shall move forward, free from ties.

Two answers that cannot coexist.

Two constellations in different shapes.

What Yormun grasped was the heavenly principle.

The logic of the heavens manifested itself like divine punishment. Clutching the brilliantly shining lightning, Yormun descended. He struck down lightning from above.

What Raniel grasped was the turning of the heavens.

Clutching the dark red lightning meant to sever all, to return to the original form, Raniel leaped. The lightning of resistance shot up toward the sky.

The stars collided.

Lives clashed.