Chapter 391: "This One Doesn’t Charge You a Silver Coin"
After glancing down at Olivia, who had started shouting for Hode to come out and duel, Corleon shook his head.
Just as he and Borien had said, Hode's name was sung by the people of the Northland, and these songs endowed Hode with the power of the North.
Before the Hall of Heroes, these legends were merely legends. But now, connected by the Holy Spear and turned into Commandments that sustained the existence of Heroic Spirits, the Heroic Spirits naturally could draw strength from these legends—the kind of power that once belonged solely to Divine Figures.
Yet, when the legends faded, the power projected by the Heroic Spirits would also vanish, and even the Heroic Spirits themselves would become unsustainable.
A metamorphosis of Will at Tier Six, and at Tier Seven, one could bear the rule-bound powers of a Divine Figure—becoming a Demi-God.
And now, Hode, who had reached Tier Seven before his death, had become a true Demi-God-level combat force, fueled by the legends sung by the people of the Northland.
Even though Olivia possessed a powerful bloodline, she was only at Tier Six for now.
After Tier Four, each advancement was a metamorphosis of life itself, a sublimation. Olivia had reached Tier Six before adulthood relying on her bloodline, but from Tier Six to Tier Seven was an insurmountable chasm.
At least, it was a height she could not yet reach.
Without paying further attention to Olivia, who was now being beaten, Corleon approached the tree stump and stared at the gray mist that belonged to Greed.
As if sensing that communication was possible, Greed impatiently said,
“This is your idea? To use these human legends to divide our power?”
“No, no, no. You shouldn’t be so naive. You can see the future. You should know—it’s impossible.”
“If it were truly that easy to bring about our end, that Pegira bastard would have done it long ago. He wouldn’t have kept things the way they are until now. He possesses the eyes that see the future.”
Corleon said,
“I can see the future as well. So why do you think what I’m doing won’t succeed? Or is it that you can also see the future?”
Greed let out a gloomy laugh.
“Heh heh, don’t try to fool me like that. You future-seeing types are all the same—what you say has already been arranged after countless glimpses into what’s to come.”
“We’ve battled Pegira for who knows how long. We’ve long known that with your kind, the most important thing is to stay true to one’s own conviction.”
Corleon smiled and said,
“Then why did you borrow Borien to relay my earlier words to them? Or could it be—you felt fear?”
Greed fell silent.
Corleon said,
“The future is fixed, yet also unfixed. Just like those Lords of Annihilation who once tried to destroy the tiny spark born in Greenwood by manipulating tier concepts at a specific point in time—but I intervened in their future and forced them to arrive early.”
Greed said,
“They didn’t arrive—it was you who charged into Annihilation.”
Corleon raised a hand and pointed to the stump.
“You’ve been linked to it now. While it draws upon your power, haven’t you sensed some familiar Will within it?”
Greed once again fell silent.
Corleon said,
“So how can this not be considered their arrival? It’s just that in this arrival process, I merely gave them a little help.”
Greed couldn’t hold back and said,
“Those were just defective scraps, which is why you could so easily wipe them out. We’re not that kind of trash.”
Corleon nodded and agreed,
“Yes, Annihilation itself is the trash heap of the world. It’s only natural that you’d call them trash. But in my eyes, how are you any different from trash?”
He pointed to two thick tree roots and continued,
“Those Progenitor Gods who stole Authority could still mount resistance against me. But you Original Sins and Lords of Annihilation? You can’t even bear my gaze.”
“You exist in this world because life exists. But you are not necessary to the composition of this world.”
Greed said,
“Yes, you’re right. When life was born, we appeared alongside it. So you should understand better—we are indispensable to the existence of life. Unless you return this world to silence, we will never disappear.”
“But the Lord loves mankind. Even Pegira, that kind of guy, preserved this land. So how could the merciful Lord ever allow this world to return to silence?”
Corleon said,
“You’re afraid.”
Greed raised his voice,
“Afraid? No, no, no! We will never fear!”
Then Greed’s tone calmed again.
“I understand now. You brought that person here on purpose. You want me to spread the message. Let me guess—ah, I see it now. It’s you who’s afraid!”
Greed’s final words were filled with certainty.
Corleon smiled and nodded.
“Yes, yes, I’m afraid.”
Greed’s voice became shrill from excitement.
“Your essence is even crueler than Pegira’s. At least he never abandoned his humanity. But you—you gave it up willingly. That brought you greater power, but it will also lead you to lose yourself, becoming exactly what you claim to be: an all-knowing, all-powerful, transcendent Lord.”
“Yes. The Lord loves mankind. The Lord guides the future. But the ‘mankind’ the Lord refers to isn’t limited to humans. And that future is not set in stone.”
“Perhaps I understand now—why I’m meeting you now. Because you are the greediest of all. Your greed drives you to replace the world itself, to replace the very root of all things.”
“Yes, yes. Now I see—you succeeded. You really can replace the world, become the world. But then what? Look now—no matter how we reshape this world, its essence continues in monotony.”
“For the world you left behind, the now is already the future. And after you’ve become the world, whether compared to those lowly Divine Figures, or those thieving Progenitor Gods, or the trash of Annihilation, or even we noble Original Sins—you have truly reached the final end.”
“The Lord is One, and is All. The Lord is past, present, and future. The Lord exists in all things, yet is beyond all things.”
“But one who is beyond all things—how could they understand all things? When past, present, and future return to One, perhaps it is the loss of all three.”
“That’s why you’re afraid! You fear truly embracing divinity! At that point, just like Pegira who has truly perished, you’ll never be able to erase us again! Everything will be set in stone, the future irrevocable!”
“And I’ve figured it out—the way to make you truly disappear: force your faith to unify, just like those Progenitor Gods!”
“Hehehe, you’re afraid. That’s why you dare not use your power to influence everyone’s faith. You dare not achieve unification!”
Corleon kept nodding.
“Yes, yes, I’m afraid.”
Greed fell silent.
Then let out a sharp scream.
“You’re playing me!”
Corleon shook his head.
“No. I am afraid. The moment I fully embraced divinity, my Will tried to unify all things of the future. And in that moment, I felt myself gradually becoming the world itself—just as you said. After becoming the world...”
Corleon didn’t continue.
Greed asked urgently,
“After becoming the world, then what?”
Corleon closed his eyes.
“Even I can’t describe it. It’s like One and All, Void and Fullness, Past and Future all at once. Had it not been for insufficient power of Faith, I might not have been able to escape.”
Greed cursed,
“Don’t talk like your Bishops—so vague! I don’t understand!”
Corleon opened his eyes.
“I can gift you a copy of the New Testament Scriptures. Maybe you’ll understand after reading it.”
Greed fell silent.
Corleon continued,
“This one’s different from the versions you’ve seen before—it hasn’t been released yet.”
Greed shrilled,
“No! We won’t read what you’ve written!”
“Yes, yes.” Corleon nodded, then said,
“It’s because I’ve experienced that sensation, that I truly fear unification.”
Greed’s voice grew calm again.
“So you borrowed my power to spread your intentions, to let them all know, to make them unable to resist coming out and stopping your unification.”
“But since you can see the future, you must know—we’ve already decided. We won’t interfere. We’ll just wait for you to finish your unification. And then, like that filthy Pegira, you will disappear forever.”
“And then, we will return!”
“As long as we don’t interfere, or even help you, it will only take a hundred years at most for you to complete unification naturally.”
“Just a hundred years—we’ve endured far longer during Pegira’s era.”
Corleon said,
“But if they don’t interfere, then these legends will gradually drain the Divinity of some Divine Figures, making them forgotten by legend. And once forgotten, they truly vanish.”
Greed said,
“But in a hundred years, how many Divine Figures can you kill?”
Corleon laughed.
“You are Greed, an Original Sin. Then you should know how enormous the greed is in those Divine Figures’ hearts. They might calculate all possibilities based on what they know—but they still can’t see the future. So do you think they’ll bet that they’re not among those who will be forgotten?”
Greed said,
“We will stop you.”
Corleon replied,
“I think—you just want to add more companions.”
Greed stayed silent.
Corleon said,
“You see, you’re quite greedy too.”
Greed remained silent.
Corleon went on,
“They are different from you. When you persuade them not to interfere, and they begin to lose their existence—do you think they’ll keep waiting while they’re being erased?”
“You are Original Sins. As long as life exists, you will exist. But Divine Figures—they count as life in this world too.”
“You’re strong, but parasitic. You and they should be enemies—not sitting together as you are now, plotting how to deal with me.”
Greed couldn’t help but ask,
“Is this the future you saw?”
Corleon smiled.
“Who can say that the future they saw will definitely come true?”
The gray mist of Greed no longer billowed, shrinking into a black pearl-like sphere.
Corleon finally left behind a copy of the New Testament Scriptures.
“Those who need Greed’s power will still take a long time before they can extract all of your Will. I’m worried you’ll get bored, so I’ll leave this New Testament Scriptures for you. You can have a good read.”
“Don’t worry—even though outside, a single New Testament Scriptures costs a silver coin, this one doesn’t charge you a silver coin.”