Chapter 2: Mystery of the Transcendent Ones
After Rio regrouped with Aishia in her spirit form, they set up the stone house on an uninhabited hill overlooking the lake base and Greille.
“It’s all right now,” Rio said.
Okay.
With that, Aishia materialized. Multiple barriers were set up around the stone house, preventing Aishia from being detected by other spirits as long as she was inside. There was no way for the contract spirits of the spirit folk girls to find her.
“Shall we sit down?”
There was no one in the spacious living room besides Rio and Aishia. Rio hung his coat on the coat rack and looked around the vacant space before sitting down on the sofa.
“Yeah...” Aishia mumbled, sitting opposite Rio. The worried look on her face probably wasn’t his imagination.
“If it’s hard to talk about, you can take all the time you need to get ready.”
Rio wasn’t about to force her to speak. He gently expressed his willingness to wait until she was ready to talk.
But Aishia shook her head. “It’s about you, so...I will explain what’s going on right now,” she said, staring into Rio’s eyes. “Your eyes.”
“Huh?”
“Your eyes have changed color.”
“My eyes...changed color?”
Rio touched the right side of his brow, covering his vision with a puzzled look. There was no way of seeing his own eye color without a mirror, but nothing felt particularly odd about his eyes.
“They’re red now. I’m sorry.” Aishia hung her head guiltily. As she had said, Rio’s hazel eyes were now tinged red.
“They don’t feel any different. I can see through them fine. I don’t have any problem with my eyes changing color, and I don’t see how it’s your fault...”
Rio laughed to ease Aishia’s concerns, dismissing the matter lightly. But Aishia’s expression remained gloomy as she continued speaking. “The reason they’ve changed is because you’ve assimilated with me, I think.”
“Assimilated...?”
“In the fight just now, you used the power of a transcendent one. That power is normally unavailable to humans. Attempting to use it with a human body would result in death. That’s why I became part of your being while you were using it. You could say we were fused. That is assimilation.”
“We’re two different people right now, but we were sharing one single body earlier...is what you’re saying?” Rio asked, unsure of exactly what she meant.
“Yeah. Using transcendent powers in a human body would have killed you. In order to avoid that, I altered your body. By assimilating with me, your body became one with mine, making you closer to a spirit than a human.”
“I see... I didn’t know you could do something like that.”
“It’s called a spirit bond, and it’s a secret art that creates a stronger bond to a spirit than a contract. I used it with you to enhance the connection between us, then assimilated our bodies.”
“A secret art... No one in the spirit folk village could do such a thing, right?”
“I don’t think they even know about it. The Seven Wise Gods created the spirit bond. It’s a special technique only a scarce few people could do one thousand years ago.”
“Spirit contracts and spirit bonds. What’s the exact difference between them?”
“At the surface level, a spirit contract is an agreement between the two parties, whereas spirit bonds use a special sorcery to create a sturdier tie. Both are a form of connecting the souls, but the actual difference lies in the strength and depth of that connection. A spirit can only assimilate with the body of a human through the stronger soul connection of a spirit bond.”
“So I can think of the main difference between spirit contracts and spirit bonds as the ability to assimilate or not?”
“Yup. Assimilating gives the bond partner several benefits. One of them is the Spirit Arms—a materialization of the bond partner’s soul as a weapon.”
At Aishia’s explanation, an image flashed through Rio’s mind. “That sword from back then...”
He thought about the sword that had appeared in the earlier fight. He had created a sword out of thin air, much like the Divine Arms of the heroes.
“That’s right. That sword is different from those created by the powers of the transcendent ones. It’s your Spirit Arms, and it materialized as a result of assimilation. You can think of it as how a spirit incarnates by materializing its own body. You can only materialize that sword when assimilated with me.”
“Right... I don’t think I could make that sword appear right now, even if I wanted to. But I feel like I could use the transcendent powers if I tried,” Rio said, staring at his dominant hand. He had applied his powers to the sword that had materialized earlier, but the sword hadn’t been a necessary factor to activate the powers. This was something he knew intuitively, not logically.
“You must not use your transcendent powers carelessly. Make sure you’re assimilated with me when you do,” Aishia warned, her tone oddly firm for her.
What would happen if he used it without Aishia? She had said as much earlier.
“If I use the powers without being assimilated, I’ll die, right? Okay, I got it.”
The cost of gaining and using a power beyond the realm of mankind was heavy. The moment one activated their power beyond what a human body could endure, they would die. Rio swallowed the meaning of that and nodded seriously.
“Assimilation has other benefits besides the Spirit Arms. Like I said before, assimilation turns the bond partner’s body into something resembling a spirit. An increased degree of assimilation will raise the bond partner’s strength and resilience, making it harder for them to die. That is how you survived using the transcendent power.”
“Does that mean the stronger the degree of assimilation, the less human I’ll be?”
“Yes,” Aishia confirmed.
“So there are stages to the assimilation too.”
“Yup. If you want to express it in numbers, it’d range from one to a hundred percent, and beyond.”
“So how much was that earlier battle in numbers?”
“I believe it was extremely close to one hundred percent. That was my intention when assimilating, at least. Perhaps that’s why your eye color changed after I released the assimilation.”
Aishia looked conflicted.
“Like I said earlier, a different eye color is nothing to worry about. In fact, it sounds like there are only benefits to assimilation.”
The significant increase of the number of basic abilities and improved vitality both sounded like good things for the spirit bond partner.
“There are negatives to this as well.”
However, it seemed it wasn’t all good things.
In other words...
“When you’re assimilated, you’re no longer a human. But at the same time, you’re not a spirit. Your being becomes extremely unnatural, but stable. Like you said, the greater the degree of assimilation, the less human you’ll be. That’s why there’s no knowing what kind of effect assimilation will have on you... This is the main demerit. Your eye color has changed, and your body had to bear a huge burden when the assimilation ended. Although that burden probably came from the recoil of using the transcendent powers...”
It could also have come from the intensified assimilation. After saying that, Aishia stared at Rio. Then...
“There may be other changes that went unnoticed. There’s no telling whether those changes will be good or bad, or permanent or temporary,” she added.
It could be compared to taking a drug with dramatic effects, but unknown side effects. There was a chance of nothing bad happening, but at worst, one’s life could be in danger. That was the kind of uncertainty involved.
After a worried pause, Aishia added, “If a strong assimilation is repeated numerous times, you may lose the ability to return to being a human...”
Rio’s eyes widened faintly as he listened to those words. However, he didn’t seem to want Aishia to feel responsible.
“Well, it is what it is,” he replied cheerfully, showing no signs of pessimism. “More importantly, does it have any negative effects on you, Aishia? If it does, we should stop using it altogether.”
On top of that, he expressed worry for Aishia instead.
“No matter how great the assimilation is, there should be little risk to me.”
“Really?” Although Rio didn’t doubt her words, he pressed on to make sure.
“As a spirit, my true form is my spirit form, and my material body is created freely by myself. But for you, your material form is your true form. Humans don’t have spirit forms, yet assimilation makes you extremely similar to a spirit. Your situation is clearly more precarious than mine.”
Thus, the risks were greater for Rio, was what she was saying. A human could only exist with a physical body, yet assimilation caused that human to have a spirit-like body instead. When the assimilation was released, the human had to return to their physical body. It was inevitable for them to have to bear a greater burden than spirits, who were born with the ability to switch forms.
“I see... All right.”
“The problem is with Satsuki and the others. Spirit bonding is a technique that the heroes can use as well.”
It was at this moment that Aishia brought up the heroes. However, it wasn’t out of the blue. The reason was clear from her explanation until now.
“The heroes are assimilated with upper high rank spirits?” Rio guessed. Assimilation with upper high rank spirits would explain everything—from the way they’d suddenly gained supernatural powers, to how they could freely materialize the Divine Arms. Sure enough...
“Yes, there are upper high ranked spirits sealed within the summoned heroes. The one that possessed Saint Erica was the upper high spirit of earth.”
“It all makes sense now...”
The mystery of the heroes had finally been solved.
“But I believe the details of their spirit bonds are very different from ours. The spirit bond between the heroes and upper high rank spirits is an enslaving bond.”
“Enslaving...?” Rio doubted his ears.
“The spirit bond between us uses the original form of the sorcery, whereas the bond with the heroes uses a spell formula that has been altered by the Six Wise Gods. The spell is refined to add multiple conditions to the bond, allowing the upper high rank spirits to place the heroes in an extremely unfavorable position. The Wise Gods set up the hero summonings to work in such a way.”
Aishia explained the relationship between heroes, upper high rank spirits, and the Wise Gods. Then...
“That’s why they hate me. And Miharu too...” she admitted sheepishly.
“They hate you and Miharu... Is that because...”
“Miharu was one of the Wise Gods in her past life—the seventh one who was exiled. Her name was Lina.”
“...” Having gotten his biggest shock of the day, Rio fell speechless. It wasn’t that he doubted Aishia’s words—it was just so astounding.
“And in a way, I was the Wise God Lina as well...” Aishia continued. It was a confession that made it sound like she and Miharu were the same person.
Rio was even more shocked. “Huh...?”
“Roughly one thousand years ago, at the end of the Divine War, the Wise God Lina sacrificed some of her divinity to create me. She then made a spirit bond between the Dragon King and me, and stored me in his soul.”
They had finally touched upon the main issue at hand, but it had taken a very complicated explanation to get there.
“It’s been one surprise after another today.” Rio sighed heavily, leaning back in his seat. He slowly looked up at the ceiling.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not something you need to apologize for... But I’d like a little time to organize my thoughts. Can we continue after dinner?”
Quite a lot of information had been gained from their conversation already. He wanted time to think things over before hearing the rest.
“Sure.”
“I’ll go take a bath first, then.” Rio was still battered from the earlier fight. There were still bloodstains on him as well, so he wanted to wash up quickly.
“Okay.”
“What will you do, Aishia?”
“You want me to join you?” Aishia asked, tilting her head curiously.
Flustered, Rio blushed. But Aishia was her usual self, smiling faintly. He quickly explained himself with an embarrassed laugh. “N-No, that’s not what I meant... If you want to go first, go ahead.”
“I can clean myself by returning to my spirit body. You should wash up first.”
“Right. Then I’ll do just that.”
Rio stood up from the sofa and grabbed his coat from the coat rack before heading to the bathroom.
◇ ◇ ◇
Thus, Rio had moved to the bathroom. But before he entered the bath, he observed his beloved black wyvern coat that he had worn for a long time.
It’s pretty tattered...
As far as Rio knew, this coat had the highest defensive capabilities of any armor. But the earlier battle with the upper high rank spirit possessing Erica had caused him to take multiple consecutive attacks, tearing the coat. The leather was melted where the magic attacks had hit him directly, and it seemed impossible to continue use as a long coat.
It’s a shame, but maybe the parts that are still intact can be reused.
The area of cover would be reduced, but there was nothing he could do about that.
Black wyvern leather was difficult to handle—only master artisans like Dominic could process the material properly. But even Rio was capable of some simple patchwork. He could reduce the coat’s length, or turn it into a scarf.
I feel bad for Dominic and the other dwarves’ handiwork...
It wasn’t just the black wyvern coat that had been carefully created by Dominic and the dwarves. The sword that had snapped under the force of the fight with the upper high rank spirit had been dwarf-made as well. He had left the destroyed sword at the lake base, so retrieval would be difficult. With a sigh, Rio placed the coat in his hands on a shelf in the changing room.
Then, he looked at the mirror, remembering that his eyes had changed color. Red pupils blinked back at him. He tried closing each eye to test his vision, but nothing else had changed about them. If anything, he seemed to have better vision than before.
At any rate, Rio decided to remove the magic artifact that changed his hair color.
“...”
He froze in surprise: the color didn’t return to his natural black. In fact, his gray hair turned an even lighter shade.
Is this another side effect of assimilation...?
He couldn’t say for sure, but that seemed to be the most probable conclusion. He grabbed a lock of his hair and examined it. There was no visible damage done to it, and it didn’t fall out with a light tug either. He then picked out a single strand of hair and plucked it.
The color is...
He held the strand right up to his face and stared at it carefully. The color of the strand faded from white to black before his eyes.
It’s back to normal.
Just what was happening to his body? He had nothing but questions about the situation, but there was no use pondering about it right now. Rio stared into the mirror for a few more seconds, then took off his shirt.
My old scars are gone too.
He froze at the realization. The fine scars that had been on his body since his time in the slums were completely gone. This was probably—unmistakably—another effect of assimilation with Aishia.
There’s no use in acting shocked over every little thing, I guess.
Rio accepted it for what it was and finished changing, then headed into the bathroom.
◇ ◇ ◇
At the same time, in a tent within the lakeside base of the Galarc Army...
“Thus concludes the explanation from our side.”
Charlotte had just finished telling Miharu, Satsuki, and Masato about their plans for the future. Of course, Lilianna was present beside Masato.
After hearing Charlotte’s explanation, Satsuki looked rather troubled. “You’re being rather open about this,” she said.
“Princess Lilianna and I discussed it in advance and decided this would be the sincerest way of going about things.”
“Well, I suppose that’s true...”
“I should also add that we are not seeking a particular response from you. As I have already said, our kingdom has no intention of forcing Sir Masato to remain. We only wish to express our claim over the sacred stone that was used to summon you here, as it is a national matter.”
“Erm... Does that mean I can choose where I want to be?” Masato asked hesitantly.
“Yes. If you choose to stay in Galarc, we will welcome you warmly and provide you with the same conditions as Lady Satsuki. We’ll need to make some careful adjustments if you wish to go to the Centostella Kingdom, so please join me in discussing things if that happens, Princess Lilianna,” Charlotte said, glancing at Lilianna.
“Right... Sure,” Masato nodded with uncertainty. From the explanation of the situation and Lilianna’s participation in the discussions, he probably surmised that there were no ulterior motives at play. Or perhaps he hadn’t fully realized he had become a hero.
“At the end of the day, a kingdom is a society. There are many nobles who will not agree with the notion of handing over an asset to another kingdom for free. The bottom line is that it’s a matter of politics, and I’m very sorry you’ve been dragged into it.” Charlotte bowed her head at Masato.
“N-No, it’s fine.” Masato shook his head meekly; whether it was because the other party was a princess he barely knew, or because Charlotte was a pretty girl close to his age, remained to be seen.
“I’m glad to hear you say that.” Charlotte smiled charmingly. When she met Masato’s eyes, Masato looked away and blushed.
“I see Masato’s still weak to cute girls,” Satsuki whispered in Miharu’s ear.
Miharu let out a dry laugh. “Aha ha...”
“I’m very sorry to leave you in a war zone, but please relax here with Lady Satsuki and Lady Miharu in the meantime. I will arrange our return to the capital as soon as possible,” Charlotte said, wrapping up the conversation.
“Is the fight still ongoing outside...?” Satsuki asked.
“I cannot give a definite answer, but the Aerial Knights have reported that the armed group outside the city have retreated. A squad was sent to Greille a short while ago to investigate. We won’t know whether the fight is over until they return with their report. At the earliest, we’ll leave for the capital ahead of everyone within the next day or two.”
“I see...”
“Hey, Miharu...”
“Yes, Masato?”
“What exactly happened here?” Masato asked Miharu, who was sitting beside him.
“Actually... I don’t really remember.”
Masato looked puzzled. “You don’t remember...? How come?”
“I wonder why... I know that a foreign nation invaded the city here, so we came to recapture it. And then you were summoned... But I can’t remember what happened before that, and I have the feeling it was something important...” Miharu frowned unhappily.
“As Lady Miharu said, we are currently experiencing a mysterious situation. For some reason, no one is able to recall what happened in this land prior to a certain point,” Charlotte added, seeing the odd sense of loss in Miharu’s frown.
“It seems like everyone’s memory of what happened before Masato appeared is missing. We were standing before an incredible scene before we knew it...” Satsuki clutched her head in vexation.
“Once Lady Celia and the others return, we should compare everyone’s memories to check what’s missing,” Charlotte said, sighing.
“Right...” Miharu nodded, suppressing her frustration.
It’s impossible for you to remember anything right now.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, she seemed to hear a distant voice.
“Huh...?” Miharu gasped, glancing around the room restlessly.
“What’s wrong, Miharu?” Satsuki asked, bewildered by her sudden behavior.
“D-Did someone say something just now?”
“No... Unless you mean Char? She suggested we compare everyone’s memories once the others return. You nodded, right?”
Satsuki stared at Miharu’s confused face.
“I-I see.”
A wave of confusion filled the dazed Miharu as she doubted her ears.
“Are you okay...?”
“Yes. Sorry for being distracted. I must have misheard things.”
At Satsuki’s kind concern, Miharu put on a fake smile to reassure her. However...
Did I really mishear something...?
The earlier voice left a strange, lingering echo within Miharu for some time after.
◇ ◇ ◇
That night, in the dining room of the stone house...
“I’m done eating.”
“Me too. Thank you for the meal.”
Rio and Aishia finished eating dinner and sat down facing each other in the living room. After a sip of the freshly poured tea to calm himself, Rio spoke up.
“Okay, shall we continue the conversation from earlier?” he suggested.
“Sure.”
“I thought a lot about what you said. But before I listen to the rest, there’s something I wish to inform you about, and something I wish to ask. Do you mind?”
“Go ahead.”
“Then first, I have an update: I was in the changing room when I realized my hair color has changed. My old scars have disappeared as well.”
Rio removed the artifact that changed his hair color. He considered keeping it hidden to prevent Aishia from worrying, but it was something she would notice sooner or later. Thus, he chose to be honest about it.
“...”
The change in his hair color and disappearance of his scars was proof of how his physical body was approaching something less human and more spirit-like. Without knowing what kind of aftereffects it would have, Aishia frowned bitterly.
Having expected that reaction, Rio hurried to finish his update and change the topic.
“It’s a good thing that my scars have disappeared, and there haven’t been any negative changes so far. You don’t have to look so upset about it. More importantly, there’s something I wanted to ask regarding the heroes. If heroes are able to freely use their Divine Arms whenever they want, does that mean they’re constantly assimilated with their upper high rank spirits?”
“Yeah...” Aishia confirmed.
“In that case, the heroes are at a similar risk of assimilation effects, right? Wouldn’t it be more dangerous for them, since they’re perpetually assimilated...?”
Indeed, didn’t that mean the heroes were bearing the same burden as him? Especially if they were constantly in an assimilated state.
But as far as Rio knew, Satsuki and the others hadn’t changed in appearance. What was the reason for that? He couldn’t help but find it strange.
“The risk of the heroes being perpetually assimilated is low enough to ignore.”
“Hmm... How come?”
“In their daily lives, the heroes are only assimilated by a few percent. The only times the percentage goes up is when they take out their Divine Arms and fight. Even when they use their hero powers, that percentage only goes up to seventy or eighty percent...I believe. There may be other special protections included in the spirit bond between the heroes and the upper high rank spirits, but that is the main reason.”
“So if the degree of assimilation is low, there’s basically no risk? It’s harmless enough to stay constantly assimilated?”
“Yep. If they maintain a state of a few percent outside of combat, then there shouldn’t be any risk to continuous assimilation. Combat may temporarily raise that percentage, but their existence as a human should remain stable if they stay under fifty percent.”
“So fifty percent is the line for when one’s being becomes unstable. In other words, one should avoid the frequent use of assimilating over fifty percent. Is that correct?”
“Yes. The higher the number, the shorter the duration of assimilation should be. This applies to you and me as well.”
“It sounds as though as long as the degree of assimilation is kept low, it isn’t a problem.”
In which case, as long as they stuck to those rules of use, assimilation could be a reassuring secret weapon to have in a fight. On top of increasing one’s basic strength and vitality, it also allowed the use of a Spirit Arms.
“But when you use your transcendent powers, you have to have as strong an assimilation as possible. Otherwise your body won’t survive the backlash.”
“I thought that the heroes were able to survive using their hero power because they were assimilated with upper high rank spirits... But Saint Erica died because she was unable to handle the backlash, right?”
“Erica died because the Six Wise Gods set a limit preventing the heroes from fully assimilating with the spirits. Like I said just now, the most their assimilation can reach is seventy or eighty percent when using their powers.”
In other words, a seventy or eighty percent assimilation wasn’t enough to endure the recoil of their powers.
“Why did the Six Wise Gods set such a limit? A stronger assimilation would prevent the heroes from dying...”
“The Six Wise Gods created the hero summoning because they wanted to use the upper high rank spirits’ powers without reviving the spirits themselves. A strong assimilation creates the danger of the hero being possessed by the upper high rank spirit. That’s why there are conditions and seals on the spirit bond to prevent them from surfacing.”
“It sounds like there are complicated circumstances at hand, but at the same time, that means the heroes are safe as long as they don’t use their hero powers, right? There isn’t a high risk of the rest of the heroes ending up like Saint Erica...is there?”
“There isn’t. Generally speaking, the spirit bond between heroes and upper high rank spirits favors the hero. The hero has the power over the assimilation, so there is little risk of their body being possessed. But if they push themselves to their limits, using all of their healing power like the Saint did, then the upper high rank spirit could potentially steal control of their body.”
“So as long as they don’t end up in a dangerous fight, Miharu and Satsuki will be fine being near each other.”
“Yep.”
“That being said, keeping the heroes off the battlefield is just delaying the issue. In order to solve the problem at its core, we have to settle the rage of the upper high rank spirits, right?”
“Yeah... That would be ideal.”
“But the upper high rank spirit in Erica saw Miharu and you as Lina and tried to take his anger out on both of you. Yeah?”
“Yep, because Lina is Miharu’s past self. And...”
“And your past self too?”
“I think so, yes.”
It wasn’t wrong. However, it wasn’t exactly correct either. Aishia nodded to convey that nuance, then added, “The upper high rank spirits think Lina betrayed them along with the Six Wise Gods.”
“Betrayed...”
Just what had happened between Lina and the other Wise Gods?
“If there’s nothing else you want to know, I’ll explain why the upper high rank spirits resent the Seven Wise Gods in detail, along with the other events of the past.”
“In that case, please do.”
“Okay. It all started a thousand years ago—actually, it was even longer ago than that. There was one god in the world, who had fourteen transcendent ones as followers. The Dragon King, the Six Great Spirits, and the Seven Wise Gods,” Aishia said, beginning her story.
“The Dragon King...”
Rio reacted to the familiar word. When he was fighting Erica, the other person within Erica had called him that.
“You’re the Dragon King,” Aishia stated flatly.
“I’m...” Rio stumbled over his words.
“Just like how Amakawa Haruto was your past life, Amakawa Haruto’s past life was the Dragon King.”
“I see...”
A past life to a past life sounded truly dubious. But Rio would never doubt Aishia’s words. Besides, he had already been told Miharu’s past life was the Wise God Lina, and with his own past life as Amakawa Haruto, it wouldn’t be strange for Amakawa Haruto to have had a past life too. Thus, he wasn’t all that surprised.
“God created the world, then managed it along with the transcendent ones. But one day, god disappeared from the world. Only the fourteen transcendent ones remained. But god left orders for the transcendent ones before leaving, and there were also several rules left in place to fulfill those orders.”
“Go on.”
“After the god disappeared from the world, the transcendent ones obeyed those rules and cooperated with each other to manage the world in the god’s place. However, their assertiveness for management was greatly different from when god was around.”
“How so?”
“When god was around, god would interfere with mankind by giving the occasional prophecies and divine punishment. God decided the path mankind would walk on and the structure of their society, and humans lived obeying god. When humans ignored prophecies and did evil deeds, god would nip them in the bud with divine punishment. That way, the world proceeded in the direction god wanted. It was a utopia where every life lived in harmony. That was the world before god left.”
However, god abandoned that utopia and left its management to the transcendent ones.
Why did god leave the world...?
That was the question in Rio’s head, but he kept quiet so as to not disrupt Aishia’s talk.
“And then came what happened after god left the world. The transcendent ones were bestowed roles before god left. They were ordered to limit their management of the world to a minimum. Without the guidance of god, mankind began its own journey. As a result, the opinions of the people clashed, creating individual differences in values. What was once a single collected mass broke into several smaller groups, creating gaps in social status and wealth, and war broke out among mankind.”
That sounded like the inevitable outcome. In fact, it sounded no different from the current world. Humans were creatures with their own free wills.
As far as Rio knew, there was no way of uniting human values and eliminating conflicts. If such a thing were possible, there would be no need for war. He had no idea how the god had managed to achieve that.
“The world was in much more disarray compared to when god was around. But the transcendent ones stuck to god’s orders and watched silently. They only interfered with the world when something they couldn’t overlook happened—in order to fulfill their roles.”
“So it wasn’t that different from the current world, huh?”
“Apart from the existence of the transcendent ones, yes. There’s a balance between the major nations right now, but that wasn’t the case in the past. There was much more war and death, and some of the transcendent ones lamented over the fallen world. Some even felt despair.”
Why did the god leave? The omniscient and omnipotent god should have known that this would happen to the world—that the world would become unjust.
That was what they probably thought. Having assisted god in managing the utopia firsthand, the transcendent ones were all the more disappointed.
“That was why they wished for the injustice to be gone from the world. They decided to do something as the transcendent ones that had been bestowed roles.”
Aishia paused. “And that was the beginning of everything.”
“The ones who wanted to do something were the Seven Wise Gods. They wanted to bring back the god that had disappeared to another dimension, and began researching ways to open a hole between dimensions,” she continued.
“It was difficult even with the abilities of the transcendent ones. Using space sorcery was impossible—it would literally take a god to accomplish. However, they actually achieved some results. They couldn’t locate where the god had gone, but they managed to observe the existence of another dimension.”
All of it was in order to bring the god back to this world.
“After that, the Seven Wise Gods began experimenting with ways to open a hole between dimensions. Although their research was difficult, they overcame each problem one by one and progressed forward. The Seven Wise Gods weren’t completely united. Although they shared the overall goal of bringing god back to the world, their true intentions and thoughts differed. Everyone other than Lina had lost all hope for mankind’s injustice to be quashed. That was why they tried to open the hole despite knowing the dangers it could bring. Lina tried to stop them, but failed. They imprisoned her and became the Six Wise Gods.”
“Keep going...”
There were many things he wanted to ask about, but doing so would cause Aishia to digress from her tale. Rio didn’t want that.
“With Lina imprisoned, the Six Wise Gods continued their experiments. Then, they finally succeeded in opening a hole to a dimension of their choice. That was one thousand years ago.”
“That was around the time of the...”
If it was one thousand years ago, then...
Rio recalled the events throughout history in his head.
“Yup, the start of the Divine War. The Six Wise Gods succeeded in their experiment, resulting in that.”
“It feels like I just heard something unthinkable.” Rio sighed, leaning back in his seat heavily. Part of him wanted to ask for more time to help him organize his thoughts, but now that they had come this far, he resigned himself to listening to the rest. He leaned forward to listen to Aishia once more.
“As a result of the hole in the dimension, a demon army started invading from another world. The location was the west end of the Strahl region. The other world had beings on par with the transcendent ones, but above all, the number of monsters was overwhelming.”
It was clear that mankind would suffer as a consequence.
“In order to resist the forces from the other world, the Six Wise Gods taught mankind magic and sorcery. They also produced powerful magic artifacts beyond the technologies of the time. That helped keep the war at a standstill for a while, but they lacked a deciding factor. That was when they sought the assistance of the upper high rank spirits and the Dragon King. They even went to Lina for help.”
The Divine War was enough of a reason for the upper high rank spirits and the Dragon King to act.
“The problem was that the Six Wise Gods had already lost Lina’s trust. If they told the upper high rank spirits and Dragon King the truth of what happened, they would risk incurring their wrath. And so, the Six Wise Gods released Lina first.”
They sought Lina’s cooperation in explaining the series of events to the upper high rank spirits and Dragon King, and in asking them for their help. Thus, they sent Lina off as a messenger to the upper high rank spirits and Dragon King.
“Their attempt to remove injustice from the world had invited more injustice into the world. Lina felt terrible regret for being unable to stop the trigger of the Divine War. That’s why she accepted the role of messenger and headed to the upper high rank spirits and Dragon King to apologize, and ask for their cooperation. Thus, the first place she went to was the spirits.”
At the time, the upper high rank spirits were all gathered in the Wilderness. The spirit folk had already established their village there, living quietly without any human contact as they did now.
“The upper high rank spirits were angered, but they headed to Strahl with their disciple spirits in order to remove the external threat. The spirit folk also joined the war when they realized that. Lina then left to find the Dragon King.”
The added forces should have given this world the advantage in the war...
“That was when a new problem appeared. Shortly after the upper high rank spirits left the Wilderness, while Lina was gone to persuade the Dragon King, the other world’s army appeared in a part of Yagumo.”
...but they had apparently been teleported from Strahl.
“That must have been quite the difficult situation...”
“And that wasn’t all. By the time Lina convinced the Dragon King to join the war, the six upper high rank spirits headed for Strahl had disappeared—to be precise, they had been incorporated into the core of the hero-summoning system by the Six Wise Gods. Lina tried to release them, but failed. That’s why the upper high rank spirits believe Lina betrayed them along with the Six Wise Gods. They consider them the Seven Wise Gods, and they detest them.”
“I see...” With this, Rio finally understood what happened a thousand years ago.
“Ever since then, Lina joined hands with the Dragon King. They cleared up the enemy forces in the Yagumo region, then headed to Strahl to end the Divine War.”
“I feel like you skipped some of the story there... Like how they ended the war, or what happened to the Six Wise Gods.”
“The truth is, I don’t know anything about that. I don’t know how the war ended as well. I don’t know if it’s because I don’t have the memories, or I just don’t remember it. Everything surrounding that is rather fuzzy...” Frustrated by the feeling, Aishia touched her forehead with her right hand.
“All I know is that the Dragon King used up so much of his power, his life was in danger. Lina had also exhausted everything, and she saw a disturbing prophecy in such a state. That is why she tried to reincarnate herself and created me—all in order to return the Dragon King’s power to his reincarnated self...” Searching through her buried memories as she spoke, Aishia stared into space with unfocused eyes.
“What I don’t quite get is the part where Miharu is Lina’s reincarnation, while you’re also Lina in a way...? You said Lina created you, but...” Rio asked Aishia a new question to awaken her memories.
“Yeah... I’m a humanoid spirit that Lina created herself. Just before she reincarnated, she gave me the power the Dragon King needed to...needed to...” Aishia pressed her head into her hands as though to suppress a headache.
“You don’t have to force yourself to remember,” Rio assured her in a fluster.
“The memories inside of me are a copy of Lina’s memories from a thousand years ago... When she created me, Lina was close to death... That’s why Lina told me...”
At that moment, Aishia’s eyes were locked on Rio’s, but she wasn’t seeing him. Instead, what she saw was none other than herself.
◇ ◇ ◇
Why?
“I’m sorry. There’s no time. He’s going to die before I can copy everything over. I have to leave everything to the two of you, one thousand years in the future.”
With a bloody hand, she drew a complex magic circle on the floor. In front of her stood a blank-eyed Aishia.
“He’s a very gentle person, so please look after him... Because I will be completely powerless when I reincarnate.”
She directed her blurry gaze to the center of the circle. There was a man lying there, on the verge of breathing his last breath. For some reason, she instinctively knew he was the Dragon King.
“...” Aishia nodded with a dazed look. At that moment, everything clicked into place. These weren’t Aishia’s memories.
They were Lina’s.
“I have to trigger the reincarnation process before he dies. I’m going to activate the spirit bond. Now, it’s time for you to rest within him...”
Lina converted her life force into magic essence, activating the greater spell of the gods. And with that, Aishia...
“Aishia...? Aishia?” Rio called.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Aishia? Aishia!”
“What...?” Aishia finally blinked her eyes, which were wide open, snapping back to her senses.
“You zoned out for a second there. Everything okay?” Rio asked worriedly.
“...” Without giving a reply, Aishia suddenly vanished. She had returned to her spirit form...
“Huh?”
...only to reappear beside Rio in her material form. She then clung to Rio lovingly.
“Erm... Aishia?” Rio was confused by her sudden actions. He called her name in concern, wondering what was the matter.
“I remember why my memories are so fragmented. I received an incomplete copy of Lina’s memories. That’s why there’s a lot I don’t know,” Aishia said, still clinging to Rio.
“I see.”
“I have Lina’s memories, but I’m not Lina. Miharu too—she’s Lina’s reincarnation, but she isn’t Lina herself.”
“Yeah, I know that. I feel the same way.”
Honestly, hearing that Miharu was Lina’s reincarnation didn’t particularly bring forth any special emotions. Miharu was Miharu. Aishia was Aishia. That was what Rio truly felt about them.
“The memories I have of a thousand years ago aren’t perfect, but there’s one thing I know: Lina and the Dragon King had something they wanted to accomplish no matter what. Even if they had to reincarnate to do it,” Aishia said with certainty. Then, she added, “But Haruto is Haruto—and also Rio. Miharu is Miharu. You’re neither the Dragon King nor the Wise God Lina. That’s why there’s no need for the two of you to be bound by your past lives.”
“Indeed, that may be true.”
While Rio could still relate to Amakawa Haruto, he honestly felt nothing towards this Dragon King he had no memories of, who was apparently the past life of his past life.
“But I’m the reincarnation of that Dragon King, right? Not only do I have his soul, but I have his powers too.”
At the very least, Rio didn’t reject his past-past life as the Dragon King.
“There’s no need for Haruto to be burdened by this. The same goes for Miharu.”
Aishia was trying to carry the entire burden alone. That was what the look on her face was saying. What if this time, Rio was the one pushed to the brink of death? What had happened in memories that had belonged to Lina could happen to her. Aishia looked extremely anxious as she insisted that both Rio and Miharu were different from the Dragon King and Wise God Lina.
“That’s right. I can’t imagine myself living as the Dragon King, and I don’t plan on doing so. But the same goes for you too, right? Aishia is Aishia. Your memories don’t matter.”
“Lina gave me a duty to fulfill...”
This was something she had to do. Aishia tried to shoulder that burden alone.
“Then I will help you. Let’s share the burden of what you’re trying to do,” Rio offered without any hesitation.
“But... It could be extremely dangerous. Even the powerful Dragon King was pushed to the brink of death a thousand years ago.”
“That’s why you want to do this alone. Is that what you’re saying?” Rio asked, seeing straight through Aishia’s thoughts.
“I don’t want you to die,” Aishia admitted anxiously.
At that, Rio chuckled softly. “I feel the same. I don’t want you to die either—that’s why I can’t let you go through this alone. I’m the only one who can use the Dragon King’s powers anyway, right?”
Then, he hugged Aishia back. It was an expression of his determination not to let Aishia do this alone.
“...” Aishia was clearly hesitating over whether she could hug him back harder.
“You don’t know what to do right now, so instead of thinking too deeply over it, let’s do this together.” Rio patted her back as if he were soothing a child.
“Okay...”
Aishia sounded teary as she nodded, burying her face in Rio’s chest.
◇ ◇ ◇
How much time passed after that? Not much. Perhaps not even a single minute.
“...” Aishia slowly raised her face from Rio’s chest to look up at him.
“Are you okay now?”
“Yup.”
“That’s good. Then...”
Rio was just about to resume their conversation when he remembered how closely pressed together they were. Their current position was Rio sitting in a chair with Aishia leaning down to hug him.
“How about you sit down before we talk?” Rio suggested awkwardly. He stood up and picked up Aishia’s petite body, moving her to sit in the chair beside him before sitting down in his original seat himself.
“I’ve already told you all that I remember. What else would you like to know?”
“I’d like to know more about the rules the god set, I guess. Right now, everyone’s forgotten about me. You said I shouldn’t meet them anymore—did that have something to do with those rules?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you remember what kind of rules they were?”
“I do. The transcendent ones were the ones tasked with managing the world in god’s place. But they possessed enough power to destroy the world if they so wished. That was why god established rules to prevent individuals or groups from using or receiving the power of the transcendent ones for their own benefit.”
“Every time a transcendent one uses their power, the world forgets them,” Aishia stated.
“Do they forget everything to do with the transcendent one?”
“Yes. Any information that could identify the transcendent one is removed from their memories.”
“But the legend of the Six Wise Gods and upper high rank spirits still exist across the world.”
“Even if you can’t identify who the transcendent one is, you can still be aware that there are transcendent ones in this world, and read the records of what they have done. You just can’t retain any memory of who the transcendent ones are as an individual.”
As a result, the transcendent ones were mostly treated as folklore.
“So once the memories are gone, they can’t be recalled ever again? What if you told the person who forgot the reason why their memories are gone?” Rio asked, searching for a loophole.
“I think they’d forget again the moment you told them. I don’t know what will happen if they lose their memories over and over again, so I can’t recommend it. Besides, it’s hard for a transcendent one to live normally. Even if you contact them while concealing your identity, there’s no telling when they’ll suddenly forget you again.”
“Is it sorcery? Or a spirit art? No, it seems impossible to do something that can affect the entire world...”
“It’s only possible because it was god.”
“How terrifying...”
The scale of what was happening was so big, Rio could barely get his words out.
“Is that your only warning about the rules?” he asked.
“There are still other rules...” But Aishia seemed reluctant to go into detail.
“You don’t have to worry—tell me.” Rio was already prepared to hear it, his expression tightening as he urged her to go on.
“Even if you don’t use your transcendent powers, you must not provide support or assistance to a particular group or individual. A transcendent one must use their strength for the sake of the world. However, the interests of the world can sometimes overlap with the interests of a group or individual—this is an exception to the rule. Other exceptions include legitimate self-defense and fulfilling one’s duty as a transcendent one. Transcendent ones also cannot forget other transcendent ones.”
“What if the transcendent one uses their power for someone outside of those exceptions?”
“Then the transcendent one will be the one to forget whom they helped.”
The second rule Aishia mentioned had a price that couldn’t be easily accepted, even with prior knowledge. Losing one’s memories of someone you wanted to help meant forgetting why you wanted to help them in the first place.
Transcendent powers were so great that they could easily disrupt the power balance of the world. As such, this was a perfectly reasonable rule for the god to create, but it was terribly cruel.
“So that’s why I need to stay away from everyone.”
“Yeah...” Aishia mumbled sadly, hanging her head in confirmation.
“Supporting someone won’t activate the rule immediately either,” she added, worrying for Rio. “I don’t know if it’s in order to judge the necessity of your actions, but there’s a little time lag before the rule is applied. Thus, continuously staying together with someone could eventually cause the rule to come into effect.”
“So there’s no way of knowing how far you can go before you lose your memories. Indeed, that means I shouldn’t approach the others carelessly.”
“Yeah...”
“This probably goes without saying, but just to confirm—I’m a transcendent one right now...right? So those rules currently apply to me.”
“Yup. Ever since you used the powers, you became a transcendent one. Since I was assimilated with you, the world sees me as one as well. Saint Erica was also considered one in the earlier battle.”
In other words, if Rio wanted to interfere with anything in the future, he would have to be prepared to lose all his memories of everyone.
“I see... Thanks, I got it now.” Rio’s voice came out quiet and shaky—he probably feared the idea of forgetting everyone.
The only person that needs to be forgotten is me.
Those were the words Aishia said before going to stop the rampaging spirit alone. But she wasn’t just in danger of being forgotten—she could have forgotten everyone as well. Perhaps she should have shouldered the burden alone after all. Such thoughts from back then filled her head at this late stage, making Aishia hang her head gravely.
“It’s okay. I don’t regret anything,” Rio said with a soft smile, guessing what she was thinking. “I’m glad you didn’t have to have to end up being forgotten alone,” he said sincerely.
“...”
“Let’s think about what to do another day. It may be inconvenient having to avoid everyone, but at least we won’t forget each other. I’m truly glad to have you by my side, Aishia,” Rio said, reaching out to pat Aishia’s head lightly.
“Because of the rules, the transcendent ones rarely appeared in front of people in the past. But that was why transcendent ones were allowed to have disciples,” Aishia said, suddenly bringing up a new term.
“Disciples...?”
“Disciples cannot forget the transcendent ones either. They are bound by the same rules and serve as the arms and legs of the transcendent ones to prevent them from being identified.”
“So I had disciples as well?”
“A thousand years ago, yes... I believe.”
“Do you know anything about the Dragon King’s disciples?”
“There’s nothing in the memories Lina left me, I don’t think. I can’t remember.”
“I see... Well, it’s been a thousand years, after all.”
It was hard to believe they were still alive. Even if they were, there was no way for Rio to know where they were, since he had no memories of the Dragon King. Would the disciples even recognize him as the Dragon King?
“There’s a special connection between a transcendent one and their disciples. That’s why you should be able to summon them to you... I think.”
“How do I summon them?”
“I don’t know...”
The Dragon King was dead, after all. There was a chance there was no connection left between them.
“Do I just say ‘Come here, my disciples!’ or something? Ha ha.”
Anything was worth trying once. Rio held out his hand and uttered the first words that came to his mind. He chuckled shyly right after, embarrassed at his own words.
But it happened immediately after that. The space before his hand warped, as though space sorcery had been activated.
“Huh...?”
A young girl appeared. She appeared to be less than ten years old—a second or third grader in elementary school in Japan. Her clothes weren’t of a Strahl style, but a style often seen in the Yagumo region.
“It is I, the great disciple of the Dragon King! Long time no see, my lord! I have missed you greatly!”
With an exaggerated hand gesture, the girl bowed her head in reverence, announcing her entrance at the top of her lungs. However, there was something strange.
“Hmm, that’s a little arrogant. But it’s been a thousand years since our last meeting, so I have to greet him properly...”
The girl hummed, turning her head as though she didn’t like those words. It seemed she didn’t realize Rio and Aishia were beside her. She wasn’t even looking in their direction.
“...” Rio stared at the girl in shock.
“Huh...?” It was at this point that the girl finally noticed Rio and Aishia.
“Umm... Nice to meet you,” Rio said, bowing his head politely.
“P-Pardon my rudeness! Dragon King!”
The girl turned red on the spot, then bowed low enough to prostrate herself on the ground.
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