Volume 7 Chapter 28: Who Am I?
After the portal disappeared, everything returned to tranquility.
A gentle breeze swirled and blew, accompanied by a soft radiance cascading down.
Within the wind, a faintly visible sacred beetle vibrated its wings.
"Four hundred years have passed, Lumin. You've slept for far too long. Now the faith is divided, demi-humans are persecuted, spirits from other realms invade, and conspiracies target us gods. Without your guidance, the world has already fallen into chaos," came the voice of a middle-aged man amidst the sound of wings fluttering.
The soft light illuminated the entire platform, and at its center, the silhouette of a dove flapped its wings.
"You should understand why I did this, Dokain," the dove spoke in a delicate, ethereal female voice.
"Foreseeing the future and even accumulating power through slumber to rewrite 'predetermined events'—this is your divine authority. But… I fail to see how preventing an outsider's invasion is worth such a heavy price," the male voice replied.
"Four hundred years ago, I foresaw the end of the world. To rewrite the key points, I chose to fall into slumber," the female voice continued.
"A key point?"
"The birth of the Destroyer God. That was what I just acted to prevent. However, it was merely banishment—the event isn't over. This reversal only delays the coming of the end. There's still a rift that hasn't been sealed. The Destroyer will return, but I no longer have the strength to intervene," her voice, fragile and unsteady, trailed off. The light surrounding the dove seemed as if it could extinguish at any moment.
"How much time has this delay bought us?" the male voice asked.
"Six years. Only six years," she replied weakly. "When the time comes, everything will depend on two chosen individuals… and one of Nakula's Vassals is among them."
The dove's silhouette turned to gaze at a young boy lying on the ground, cradled and shaken by Melan.
"Then, who is the other chosen one?" the male voice asked after a moment of silence.
"The 'Black Saintess.' That's all I can see," the woman's voice grew softer, her light dimming further. "I'm about to fall back into slumber. What happens next will depend on you. Guide the chosen ones to what they must know. Destiny has begun to turn anew… Dokai…n…"
At last, only the swirling wind over the platform remained.
...
...
...
Four hundred years ago, the Light Goddess Vantinom foresaw the arrival of the Destroyer God. To prevent the world's end, she chose to enter a deep slumber, leaving her divine magic to sustain her basic functions automatically.
— The birth of the Vassal of The Light is one of them .
However, without Vantinom's direct control, her divine magic went awry (or so the Wind God Dokain believed). This generation's Vassal of The Light wasn't just one individual but two. Furthermore, in the absence of divine guidance, the once-pure Holy Light Church grew corrupt, eventually persecuting demi-humans and igniting a religious war that consumed the continent.
The church split into the Vantinom-Bishop Branch and the Vantinom-Grella branch, dividing the eastern and western nations. Their conflict persisted for decades until the Dwarven Kingdom of Mahamatra and the Elven Braatio Empire established northern and southern nations at the continent's center, separating the two factions entirely. The stalemate between East and West has continued ever since.
Many fragments of knowledge appeared in my mind. I wasn't sure which god bestowed them upon me—perhaps Dokain, or maybe the Light Goddess Vantinom herself, who had also appeared in the Wind Labyrinth?
Oh, right, this knowledge included information about the labyrinths—one particularly surprising fact being why Vantinom, a Elemental Guardian supposedly bound to her own labyrinth, could appear in the Wind Labyrinth.
Every labyrinth I've visited had at least some resemblance to a maze. Even the underwhelming Nakula Forest (Labyrinth of Nature) and the neglected Dying Steel Citadel (Labyrinth of Earth) retained certain labyrinthine traits.
However, the [Coexistent World: Labyrinth of Light] was merely a concept! Anywhere illuminated by light could serve as the Labyrinth of Light.
In other words, the entire world is practically her labyrinth. That's how she could manifest in the Heavenly Ladder. Truly worthy of a goddess worshiped across the continent—her grandeur is unparalleled!
As I reflected on the influx of memories, I shook my bound hands, the obsidian chains binding me clinking as I paced aimlessly around the barren room.
Returning to the topic of Vantinom, she had willingly allowed the continent to plunge into chaos, slumbering for four hundred years to amass power and rewrite reality—a bold gambit to thwart the Destroyer God.
And she succeeded. Which is why I'm imprisoned here now.
Speaking of the additional memories in my mind, one segment stood out, but it wasn't as kindly provided by Vantinom or Dokain.
It came from the Destroyer God.
In that memory, I was bound in a fiery hell, surrounded by endless flames.
I wanted to reclaim the body stolen from me by a player. To do so, I created fortresses and treasures within the Nether, hoping to lure players in.
After the primary world was replaced, I tried to break free from my chains, only to find new world rules barring my descent.
To break those rules, I crafted the perfect killing machine and infused a fragment of my soul into it, sending it into the new world—only to be betrayed.
The rest of the story, you already know.
Since awakening, the first thing I did was forge these chains and lock myself in this room. I have no idea how much time has passed since the battle ended.
But a far graver issue weighs on me than the passage of time.
I wandered over to a mirror and gazed into it.
The face, the expression—it was all familiar. But my left eye burned with a cold, radiant white light.
—I no longer know who I truly am.
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