"For us divine beasts, the history of the world is divided into three. The first one is the Dawn Era. The bloodiest Era during which the forces of chaos and Order fought against each other.
The second one is the Divine Era, during which demi-gods would walk freely in the mortal world.
The third and current one is the Mortal Era."
Sighing, she continued.
“Each of those different eras had their own specific rules and focus, but there was always one constant between all of them — Blessed.
No matter the era, no matter the time, Blessed always existed. This made me wonder.
What are Blesseds exactly? What makes them grow so strong, so fast? Though not all Blessed manage to reach their full potential, it was already proved that all Blessed have the potential to reach the King rank and it isn’t impossible for them to reach even the demi-god rank. Your father and Echidna are such an example. But how was this possible? This was when I came to a very interesting fact.”
A meaningful smile formed on her face,
“Sol, tell me how many rulers did Lusturg have before you?”
Sol felt a sense of foreboding as he answered, “Eight.”
Her smile stretched further, “Did you know? A human can live for about three or so hundreds years if they reach the King rank. But Lustburg, which is barely a thousand years old, is already at its 9th king? The same goes for your Supreme Daughter.”
She did not wait for Sol to answer and continued, “Lustburg isn’t the only one. If you can chalk the number of Kings in Lustburg being human, then what about the other kingdoms? Let me say it clearly, there have never been two kings in any country at the same time, nor two supreme daughters.
The moment the Crown Prince or the Holy Daughter is about to transition, the previous King or Supreme Daughter will die. Even during the two previous eras, the total number of Blessed was always 28. The moment a new one appears, an old one will die. This is an absolute fact repeatedly proven by history.”
Sol felt cold sweat on his back. His mind was swiftly making connections. He remembered that the divine weapons were used by sucking out the lifespan of the user.
Was it the reason?
But he immediately discarded this notion, it wasn’t as if people were stupid. If the weapons sucked their lifespan past a certain point, they would stop using them. Even if they didn’t, it wouldn’t explain the reasons for the constant numbers of Blessed.
Nent, who was observing Sol, had to admit that he was worth respecting. She had seen the shock and dread flash in his eyes for a short instant before it was replaced by swift thinking.
‘Ugh. I feel awful.’
Even now she felt as if her heart was being crushed and her organs were churning, but that Punishment didn’t deter her. Her regeneration power was already working overdrive and any mortal in her place would have already died.
“Why do the Blessed become so strong? Why do they all die so young? Why is the number of Blessed always constant? At first, I thought that it was a trick of the goddesses but later, I understood the truth and...the answer made me feel like I was dying a little inside.”
Nent showed a bleak smile and spat a word with vehemence and hatred,
“Fate!”
She stood up and nearly kicked the table away in anger, “Hahaha! Don’t you find it funny? I could have accepted it if our destiny was controlled by some whimsical and superior beings like the goddesses, but Fate!? Really!? What a load of bullshit!!”
Her chest heaved while her face flushed. Clearly, such a discovery had been a shock for her and Sol could understand why.
If everything was decided by Fate, it meant that there was no such thing as free will. All your actions, all your thoughts, your past and future, your pain, and your joy...none of them were really your own and had long been decided.
“Pardon me for the unsightly display.”
Taking a deep breath, Nent took back her seat and sipped on the wine in order to relax a little.
“*Sigh* Where was I? Ah yes, Fate. In this world, you see, there are basically three kinds of people. People who are passively affected by Fate — this is the case for most mortals and even us divine beasts.
Then, some people are massively and actively affected by Fate, this is the case for you — Blessed.
Finally, there are people who consciously or unconsciously manage to fight against Fate and free themselves of the shackles. Those people are called — Singularities.”
‘Singularities...’
“Hum...But if there are people who fight against Fate...couldn't it be said that it was their Fate to fight against Fate? Isn’t it a Paradox?”
“Beautiful! This is indeed the case. That is when I understood something. Be it the Blessed, or Singularities, all of them are nothing more than chess pieces under the control of the goddess.
By analyzing the multitudes of different futures, Goddesses can bring the creation of Singularities, even if they lose control of said singularities afterward, and out of all those chess pieces — You are the greatest one ever created.”
…
…
…
“You don’t seem very surprised.”
Sol laughed at how deflated she seemed to be. It reminded him a little of the way Isis acted a few days ago.
“I mean, I didn’t know about me being the greatest piece or whatever, but I am not dumb. How many times did you think I heard the word Game or Rules when mentioning the goddesses? I have long since guessed it.”
“..You aren’t angry?”
“It’s hard to explain. I am the future King of one of the greatest Kingdoms. My talent is one of the greatest talents in all history. I am surrounded by beautiful and caring women who would gladly give their everything for me. Be it Fate or the whim of the goddesses, my current life is pretty good. So, it would be hypocritical of me to be angry but…"
Sol stopped for a moment and asked, "Do you know the similarities between a pig and a dog?"
Nent was taken aback by this sudden question.
"Both the pig and the dog are fed and taken care of by the gentle farmer during most of their life, but their destiny is completely different. The pig is fed and fattened only to be executed once it's fat enough. The dog is fed and used for all it is worth, only to be put down once it becomes useless."
His eyes sparkled with a sharp glint as an aura of majesty emanated from him.
"I do not wish to suffer such an end. I do not want to live and die as nothing more than a pig or a dog."
Looking deeply at Nent he asked, "You called me here and told me so much. Even Camelia did not dare because of the consequences. I do not know what price you have to pay, but it's definitely not small — what do you wish to accomplish?"
Nent could feel the seriousness of the situation. She knew that if her answer did not please Sol, no matter how big the price she paid for this investment was, it would not be enough to move him.
This is why she decided to answer in the simplest way possible.
What did she want? All she ever wanted to have was one thing...
"Freedom."
(AN: Sol finally discovers a part of the truth. Important milestone. Now then what will happen in the future? Anyway, the will be hot. Fuck NNN.)
