Chapter 174

Adgon (5)

After Seo Jin-Wook and Bishop Briam entered the Grave of Incarnations, the stone door that opened for a few moments closed again by itself.

"The Grave of Incarnations. It's my first time seeing it myself. Although I've heard that there are such heritages in this dimension."

The commissioner looked at the door, muttering in a strange tone.

Genograche, who chose to remain outside, observed from far away since he didn't even want to get any closer to the divine energy.

Even if the Adgon commissioner touched the stone door, it wouldn't have responded at all.

In contrast, when Seo Jin-Wook approached it, the door opened quickly and automatically.

Genograche quietly observed the Awakened Adgons who were with him.

According to Seo Jin-Wook, they were at a level that even Genograche alone would be enough to defeat them.

'If they had a plot in mind, they wouldn't have mobilized only this much of a force.'

Genograshe stood silently, wondering when they would reveal their card. Covertly, he kept his guard up, especially whenever someone would pass by him.

What broke his silence was the commissioner who approached him, moving away from the door.

"Pardon me, but may I ask you a question?"

Genograsche replied bluntly.

- Out with it.

He pointed at Genograche.

"I'm afraid that I might be wrong due to my lack of knowledge, but..."

The golden armor with a little mixture of red.

"Isn't your body the armor that was given to a subordinate by the King of Gold?"

He guessed it correctly.

The devil grumbled internally.

'What? Lack of knowledge? If the bastard that recognized this metal at first glance when he's not even a devil lacks knowledge, then all the rest must be idiots. Seo Jin-Wook was right. The more I learn about these guys, the more suspicious they become.'

His body was built using one of the magic kingdom's minerals, and it wasn't well known to other worlds.

Originally, it was used by the golden monarch to extract and transplant devils' spirits and create subordinates.

The commissioner looked at Genograche's body with interest in his eyes.

"But you don't seem to be a subordinate controlled by that king. It's strange."

The devils who became the subordinates of the golden monarch spent the rest of their lives doing nothing but obeying his commands.

If the King of Gold weren't satisfied by the results they produced, their soul would be torn out of the armor and immediately disposed of.

However, Genograche was moving with Seo Jin-Wook.

- Well, I have a personal reason behind that.

Genograche avoided lengthy explanations.

Shortly afterward, the commissioner changed the subject.

That time, he looked at the Grave of the Incarnations.

"Isn't that amazing? Although they are gods that have already fallen in the past, their traces still remain like that. I don't know how old that site is, but our civilization has already developed considerably through the System's arrangement. Despite that, we still can't get through that door."

Genograche responded vaguely.

- They say an old eagle is better than a young crow. That seems to be the case, considering they're still being called gods.

"If Mr. Seo Jin-Wook finds the incarnation in there, the power of the war god will definitely increase."

Genograche didn't reply because that was already obvious.

However, he couldn't help but feel on edge by what the commissioner continued to say.

"Indeed, would that be the right thing to do?"

- What do you mean?

The commissioner spoke to Genograche with a faint smile.

"I'm simply uncertain if helping the fallen deity have incarnations in multiple dimensions and expand its influence is the right thing to do."

- I don't understand. I heard from Seo Jin-Wook that your species are already cooperating with the progress of such work.

"Yes, we have to. Although we are the oldest species in the Union, we can't do anything about the fact that we are a member of the Union at the same time. Isn't it natural for us to follow the trend set by the Union?"

Then he threw a strange glance at him.

"But you, Mr. Genograche, are not technically a member of the Union."

- So what?

"I'm just curious about how you see this situation. As everyone knows, evil and holiness are two opposite extremes. The devils have been standing at the opposite pole of the gods since the beginning of time. No one knows why, though."

He continued after telling such a well-known story.

"So if the number of believers increases and the power they borrow and use increases in the future as well, wouldn't it be a loss for the devils?"

The intentions behind those words were obvious.

He was asking why a devil would help in something that would benefit the gods.

"I'm saying this because no matter how I think about it, I don't think a demon such as you should be enslaved as someone's subordinate."

Only then did Genograche realize why the commissioner started the conversation in the first place.

The Gorangsha and Tongel species they met before regarded him as a slave and did not even talk to him.

However, the commissioner had most likely gain awareness that he wasn't a low-level devil and mistook him for being with Seo Jin-Wook of his own volition.

Genograche replied with a mental wave.

- Let's say that is the case for the devils. What about the Adgon people?

He insinuated.

- Is there any reason for the Adgon race to be reluctant about a god's expansion of its territory?

"There is."

- And that is?

"Don't you think that trend is a little dangerous?"

- Dangerous?

The commissioner no longer hid his intentions.

"We know from experience. The gods are mad beings."

He laughed with a firm declaration.

"They're just rag pieces that have lost their ability and memory. Will it benefit all dimensions to expand the influence of such imperfect beings and borrow the power of unpredictable deities?"

- If the god regains its strength, won't its memories be restored as well?

"Perhaps, perhaps not. Who can be certain at this point? And how can you guarantee that even if they regain their memories, they will reconstruct their sound reasoning? Don't you think increasing the servants of a god is like putting a razor-sharp knife in a madman's hand?"

- That sounds extremely strange. A devil could argue so, but you're not one of us.

"Is that so?"

- Furthermore, if the gods regain strength, the mortals that serve them will also become stronger. Wouldn't it help you keep this universe safer? That's what Seo Jin-Wook says so, at least.

"We already have a perfect replacement for anyone who wants to borrow a power."

- It can't be...

The commissioner nodded.

"Yes, we have the System."

Genograche murmured internally, ensuring he didn't let out a mental wave.

- Are they fanatics of the System?

"God bestows divine power to very few selected believers. On the other hand, the System provides skills, items, knowledge, and experience points to even more individuals. Just as we know from experience that the gods are lunatics, we know that the System is absolute goodness. It's a rational, reasonable, and absolute being."

The commissioner extended his hands sideways.

"Look at what the System has granted us so far!"

He began reciting the achievements of the System one by one.

"It has prevented us from being overwhelmed by the Red Gate's monsters. It continues to help races that can't innately handle Mana to Awaken, allowing them to form a Mana Core. It helped us get our hands on a higher level of civilization that would have taken us a much longer time to achieve. The System moves for the survival and prosperity of mortals. It's a proposition that we can never refute."

- So you mean that the System is indeed a god that already exists through us?

"It is an existing god that has already been proven to be the absolute good and justice."

He asked the same question.

"With all of that, would we still need the resurrection of the fallen gods? They're deities that were practically dead the moment the material world began."

Genograche replied after a moment of silence.

- As you said, I'm a devil.

He slowly and calmly continued to emit mental waves.

- We're one of the oldest races ever to exist. So I know stories that others aren't aware of. I'm talking about history that has already been forgotten.

Genograche traced back a memory from a long time ago.

- When the System began to interfere with mortals, we were already able to use Mana and had established a significant level of civilization. Of course, due to our instincts, we frequently destroyed and rebuilt the civilization, but the development never did stop.

In the process, however, the System didn't interfere with the devils at all.

It seemed like the System's initial purpose was only to teach the species that couldn't handle Mana how to do it in the form of Awakening. It didn't have to approach races like devils and dragons that were already capable.

From that moment on, the story would continue with details that only a few individuals knew.

- At that time, the devils were able to travel to and from other worlds without the System's help. That's why I know that. The 'Tower' was responsible for training the Awakened beings back in the day. There were not as many dungeon Gates as there are now, and there were no instances where they collapsed and allowed monsters to come out, massacring the mortals.

Hence, the Awakened individuals were able to improve their skills by focusing on training without worrying about the possibility of a Gate collapsing and carnage unfolding.

Back then, discipline was more important than hunting.

Unlike the present times, the System didn't scatter skill cards. The Awakened beings formulated and created their own skills by observing their Manas. There was a flooding of technology that individuals developed instead of someone or something making it for them.

It also gave items such as imperial heritages in exchange only for experience points that they gained from getting rid of the Red Gate monsters.

Therefore, those that had Awakened fought more desperately and passionately against the inhabitants of the void.

- But from some point on, many things changed. First of all, the concept of a dimension storm, which was non-existent, was created. The crazy phenomenon struck a dimension that wasn't connected to the System and nibbled away at it little by little.

Worlds suffering from such a catastrophe were gradually dismantled, worn, and the fragmented spaces created realms called 'middle dimension' and became the foundation of dungeons.

The same was true of the magic kingdom. The reason for the ancient world at least still holding its ground and not being destroyed was due to desperate efforts exerted by the devils.

- How long did the residents of the magic kingdom hold out? The System suddenly posted a mission called 'death of devils by the sword' on the Main Quest.

The Awakened beings back then, with individual abilities superior to the modern times, despite their lesser number, purchased an item called 'Dimensional Leap Ticket' to come to the magic kingdom.

That was when the devil hunting began.

- Those who died were rather lucky. The System enslaved the captured devils.

For example, they were placed in a similar situation as the woman who worked as the reception clerk in the temple that upgraded the Awakened individuals' unique skills.

Or the original owner of the golden armor that had been waiting in the Tower of Choice.

- They either suffered the fate of eternal slavery or were killed by the hands of the Awakened after being appointed as a dungeon's boss monster.

When it came to cases wherein they were impossible to be brainwashed, the System sealed them in items instead.

That was what happened to Genograche.

- Then, what's your take now that you've listened this far? Can you still say that the System is absolutely good? The System regards the magic kingdom's residents as evil because we make contracts with other mortals and exploit them. So, are the other races composed of just pure beings who never did such things the same as us?

"..."

Of course, they weren't.

There always existed a being that did not participate in such matters.

"Hmm."

The commissioner replied with a slight tilt of his head.

"That's strange. What you're saying must be information that has already been erased in most worlds' history or has been kept in secrecy."

- ...

"It makes me think that you didn't learn of those events by reading or hearing about them somewhere, but... maybe you've experienced it yourself."

Rumble!

There was a roar from the sky, causing Genograche to look up.

A collection of spacecraft was approaching over the horizon.

They were all owned by the Adgon species.

- You've managed well to hide that armada this long.

They were hidden in a dark place within the dimension until they got the commissioner's signal to approach.

Genograche held his true body, the devil's sword, in his hand.

- This has always been your plan.

He extended his hands widely and spoke as if it was genuinely a shame.

"I thought that conciliation would be possible since you were a magic species. It's a pity."

Instead of bombarding using energy cannons, the approaching spaceships deployed warriors to the ground swiftly.

Some of the Awakened beings that landed protected the commissioner while the rest started to approach Genograche while assuming a battle formation.

The commissioner spoke to them in the native language of the race.

"It is an ancient devil worth studying. Capture him alive if possible."

Genograche, who understood those words, smiled murderously.

- Capture? That's very arrogant of you.

The commissioner shouted a command in a dry voice.

"Attack!"

Awakened Adgons rushed in as they released their own abilities. Genograche kicked himself off of the ground, conjuring fierce sword energy.

A catastrophic storm of light struck the front of the tomb, where incarnations remained in eternal slumber.