Chapter 448: 448
Chapter 448: Hell Faction
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Pranav
"The power of Law? Arbiters and judges? I never expected that this would turn into reality one day . "
The scene from approximately seventeen hundred years ago replayed itself as a new power of Order joined the Order Faction . This time, it was Law, and once again, the forgotten loser in the Underground rose to become a popular topic of interest throughout the world .
Well, it would be an exaggeration to say 'throughout the world . ' Only powerful individuals and Gods would have access to such secret information . In their eyes, the creator of Law was the same as the God of Holy Light from the past . They assumed that Roland would be able to ascend to Godhood whenever he wanted .
Considering how the Child of Nature (a currently dead Order Main God, whose two children were the Goddesses of Joy and Laughter), Earth Mother, God of Holy Light and other creators of new powers of Order had become Main Gods, this insane lich, who had acted ever so ridiculously in the Underground, became viewed as a new Main God candidate by the Gods . No—it was a definite that he'd become a Main God in the future .
There were only seven Main God-level existences in the entire Order Faction to begin with . It was an unparalleled status, the highest possible, and was right under the Creator Goddess herself . To become a Main God would be an insurmountable honor, the highest glory, and a path to eternity .
The Chaos Main Gods had to worry about dying because of their infighting, but the Order Main Gods typically didn't have such trouble as long they followed the few orders of the Source of Order . Of course, their Godhood also came with the restrictions of Order .
"…Congratulations . When do you intend to ascend to Godhood? Perhaps we'll become future allies . Perhaps the best timing for you to ascend to Godhood will be the next Holy War…"
Ayer still didn't know why Roland understood so much about the Gods' secrets . But Roland was one of his few friends, and he visited him to offer his congratulations as well as an offer of a concrete alliance .
"What? Ascend to Godhood? Isn't that going to be on the day we begin our grand scheme?"
Only after hearing Roland place extra emphasis on the word "we" did Ayer finally recall the "grand scheme" he had long since forgotten about as it had sounded too wild and insane at the time . Only after a long silence did Ayer begin to speak again .
"Are you certain? With my assistance and the power of Law you created, you should be able to become a Main God-level existence . You're choosing between becoming an undying, eternal Order Main God and to start that almost impossible, insane plan of yours, and you're going to choose the latter over the former?"
Even if the Creator Goddess created a new world with new residents after the destruction of the world, even if all mortals perished, the Main Gods would forever be the highest of all existences . Mortals viewed the Main Gods themselves as the representation of eternity!
Any other person would view Roland as an utterly insane, crazy maniac . He was treating his obtainable immortality as nothing more than a joke and instead wanted to gamble on something with a truly pitiful chance of success?
Yet Ayer could still recall how Roland had stared at him as if he was an idiot after he asked that question .
"Main God? So what? Is there any meaning to 'eternity' as an automated zombie?"
Roland dismissed the status of a Main God and claimed that such an eternity was meaningless, like an automated zombie—wait, what? Even Ayer paused in surprise upon hearing such an insane declaration . After some momentary confusion, Ayer became filled with rage .
Without a doubt, the lich was blaspheming against the Gods' entire meaning of existence . But as Ayer's anger boiled, he thought back to his past memories, to his tribe who had become devils in Hell's Abyss, to this joke of a Holy War that forever had no end, to the mortals that danced like puppets in the palms of the Gods, and, of course, to how souls would forever end up harvested like wheat .
"The Gods treat mortals' lives and desires as nothing more than a joke or a play to be enjoyed . Since there's something even higher controlling the Gods, wouldn't that make the arrogant Gods nothing more than puppets controlled by the Sources of Order and Chaos themselves? Even if these puppets are higher, they can't even control their own fates . Isn't their pride a joke, then? This type of eternity is worth even less than mortals' lives that fade ever so quickly . "
Ayer's anger vanished after he perceived how the lich before him had seen through the truth and fate even more so than himself . After pondering for a long while, Ayer finally asked a question:
"Are you serious?"
"Hey—hey—Boss Ayer, I've always been serious . Don't tell me you want to back out at such a time? After all this time I've been working so hard for this goal!!"
The lich skull's garish smile was as hideous to behold as always . But only now did Ayer notice that concealed beneath this seemingly casual expression was someone who had seen through it all .
Roland was well aware that Ayer had always treated his plan as nothing more than a joke . Still, he had worked his hardest in secret and made the required preparations to turn this "joke plan" nobody believed into a reality .
When the light of Law illuminated the entire world, the Order Gods waited for their new ally to ascend to Godhood . However, the fortunate individual who created the power of Law unexpectedly went silent . A long time passed without the God of Law's ascension to Main Godhood, and they couldn't help gossip among themselves .
"Just a temporarily blooming flower . "
"A tattered soul is insufficient to ascend to venerated Godhood . "
"Perhaps this new Divine Concept will be taken advantage of by some junior in the future . Hahaha! Could it be that this fellow is the charitable type?"
Not only the True Gods, but even the other undying individuals and Follower Gods had begun to laugh at this lich who had been unable to ascend to Godhood . Yet only Ayer was aware that the real reason Roland didn't personally ascend to Godhood was because he was unsatisfied with his newly-born power of Law .
"No—no—no—the current power of Law is still too similar to Holy Light . It would be meaningless to only represent punishment . Salvation for criminals and generosity towards the kind and innocent is what's most important . Let's add something to the Church of Law's teachings: 'Someone invisible is always watching your every action from up above . All crimes will receive the punishment they deserve . A Hell for the dead is waiting for you . Not a single person will be exempt from this . '
"Hmmm, this doesn't work too? How about we change the teachings so that different levels apply for different people, then? Divine job class members of the Church of Law and all God of Law believers will have to follow the strictest requirements of Law . All other mortals will only have to follow the most basic restrictions . Yep, in order to convince more people, let's call them Divine Laws .
"There's no Heaven or Hell, you say? Hehehehe—isn't that the next part of our plan?"
Full of patience, Roland spent most of his time locked away in Sulfur Mountain City modifying his grand scheme and the teachings of his Church of Law . The official teachings of the Church of Law had already underwent several hundred modifications . Originally, the power of Law had been too harsh and inflexible . Under the guidance of its creator, it became a lot more moderate .
"Law itself shouldn't have a will of its own . It's but a moral guideline all people should abide by . Only those who cross the line will be punished . "
To the weak, Law would provide salvation and protection while to those who committed evil deeds, it would bring heartless punishment and judgement . But unlike the Holy Light, which viewed undead, demons, and other creatures of Chaos with natural enmity, this newly-born power of Order known as Law surprisingly didn't have any natural enemies whatsoever .
Later, when Law became a different power based on the people with different beliefs who wielded it, Ayer began to wonder if Roland was someone insane who had dual personalities .
But Roland's century spent on polishing the power of Law didn't go to waste . The power of Law became far gentler than its closest relative, Holy Light . Law's silver glow resembled the moonlight and exuded an aura of calmness, yet if someone broke the Law, it would instantly sharpen to resemble the glint of a guillotine blade .
"…Perhaps this newly-born power of Law and its boundaries will finally be able to stop the Chaos and Order Factions . "
Perhaps it was Roland's stubbornness that finally moved him . Or perhaps the most ancient Death God had accumulated a sufficient amount of dissatisfaction . Only when Ayer witnessed the constant improvements to the power of Law did he finally make the decision to completely support Roland's grand scheme . And at this point in time, no matter how one looked at it, Roland's grand scheme had a less than twenty percent chance at succeeding .
"Yeah, there are too many unpredictable factors . It's impossible for me to promise it will succeed . But judging from the current situation, it's worth gambling upon . Rather than doing nothing, this at least has a slight possibility . "
Roland was quite honest in admitting this . He could only be honest, after all, as it was evident for anyone who wasn't an idiot . Not a single individual would be willing to board a ship destined to sink . There was no need for Roland to make empty promises about 'absolute victory . '
"At least, things aren't hopeless anymore . "
Indeed . When compared to Armageddon, where all the souls in the mortal plane would be harvested in the battle between Gods that would destroy the world, this was the single path that could be found where no paths previously existed .
During Roland's long, long search for ways to improve his path, more and more companions boarded his "Roland's ark" for surviving Armageddon despite the fact that his ship seemed like it would sink at any moment .
Roland never hid from anyone just how pitifully low the chances of success for his plan would be . However, Adam and Margaret unhesitatingly joined after learning the truth from him . It was impossible for Roland to chase a single Northlands undead knight off his ship . It was also unknown when such a large group of gentlemen bastards had infiltrated the ship, and, the very beginning, the Church of Law itself had been an integral part of the ship .
The residents of Sulfur Mountain City boarded Roland's metaphorical ship . The Underground Alliance boarded his ship . The Northlands boarded his ship . The Mage Country was scammed into boarding his ship . The wood spirits boarded his ship right from when they were born . Even the typically neutral fairies used concrete actions to show that they supported Law over Order Faction's Holy Light .
Imperceptibly, the "grand scheme" became a plan no longer single-handedly being run by Roland . More and more companions took part in his plan of their own volitions . Some had ideals of justice and kindness, some took part for their own benefit, and some simply wanted to survive this Holy War . But no matter the reason, they all boarded Roland's ship and became part of Roland's faction's strength .
As time passed, more and more individuals gathered together under Roland's faction . This almost impossible path to the future became slightly easier to walk down . Of course, compared to the factions of Chaos and Order and their total two-party system monopoly on the world, this new "neutral" faction's overall power still wasn't much .
Could it be that Chaos and Order never noticed anything? Chaos evidently had much information about them, and it was also quite obvious that Roland and Ayer's faction had a bad relationship with the God of Holy Light despite appearing to belong to the Order Faction on the surface . It wasn't that either faction didn't notice—it was that both major factions didn't care . Order and Chaos forever viewed each other as the biggest threat and mortal enemy . As for this third party trying to do something…
"Aren't there always minor powers that betray one faction or the other in every Holy War? Let us see how sinners like you will amuse us . "
These scheming individuals were nothing but traitorous sinners in the view of the two major factions that ruled the world . They'd be considered evil villains who tried to overthrow the basic idea of Order, nothing more than clowns that could be casually crushed by the whims of either Order or Chaos!
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