Chapter 456: Return (1)
Isaac looked at White Owl with a slightly weary expression.
As expected, White Owl wasn't in her right mind.
'No, maybe there can't be a sane being among angels.'
Those who become angels are extraordinary figures, for better or worse. Those who left scars called trajectories on the world. Among them, White Owl, who specialized in Urbansus Revision, had a life dotted with regret and revision.
She has no choice but to believe that her only accomplishment, Isaac, was the right choice. He still questioned whether White Owl's method was the best.
No, it probably wasn't the best. It was just that she avoided the worst. White Owl would probably continue to look back at the pages of history, wondering if she had other options. That was her hell.
That's why she would have no choice but to cling to Isaac even more.
When has history ever only chosen the best options? History is what has been built up by piling up mountains of corpses, regretting, forgetting, and only pushing forward. Seeing that the world created by angels who freely rewrote history is in this state, it doesn't seem like there's a right answer.
'Looking at her, it seems like I have a lot to teach rather than learn.'
If left alone, she might make similar judgments later on.
First, he had to correct the idea that the past could be rewritten. But that could wait, and before that, it was time to return to the original world.
"…Okay. I roughly understand why the Millennium Kingdom had to descend."
Before that, he decided to ask what he had been wondering about inside.
The White Death was an event 300 years ago. That meant that this body was also 300 years old.
"Is there a reason you waited 300 years? Is it because now is the very end of the history that the Lighthouse Keeper has set?"
White Owl answered with a smile.
"That could be a reason. But your form when you came out of Al Rieedu's body was nothing. You could have literally turned into gas and scattered. Until you safely settled into the world, I had to keep you inside the shell of order."
Isaac recalled the empty shell egg he had found in Baelbaden.
That was the amniotic membrane where Isaac's body had been growing.
"And after the White Death, there were only those who vaguely feared and yearned for Chaos in the world, and all the followers who served Chaos had disappeared. A god without a single follower wouldn't be strange even if he disappeared immediately. I've been holding you in an egg and hiding you for a long time. So that the Lighthouse Keeper wouldn't find out."
Eventually, Isaac was born, thrown somewhere in the world, and grew up in the land cared for by the Codex of Light Order. Until Isaac's soul possessed him.
It was literally a strategy to hide it under a lamp, as the saying goes.
"Wait a minute, then…"
"That's right. The Lighthouse Keeper found out as soon as you broke out of the eggshell."
The Lighthouse Keeper had tried to make White Owl a Fallen Angel, but he couldn't have made her a Fallen Angel in the Codex of Light's way, since she had already become an angel of another faith.
As a result, he sent executioners. Kalsen Miller, Sword of May, and the Burning Maiden came after her.
"I was amused that the Lighthouse Keeper was so wary of me, but it was actually excessive. Because my own martial power itself isn't that great. Even now, my body must be in the basement of the Issacrea estate."
The tombs of countless Fallen Angels in the basement of the Issacrea estate.
That was the lid that sealed White Owl's tomb.
Since it was the tomb of the only angel left in the world who served Chaos, it was understandable that the Lighthouse Keeper had blocked it with disgust. But it was an understatement to say that such a Lighthouse Keeper had ultimately dragged the Mother of All Gods into the world due to his obsession with the Millennium Kingdom.
"But eventually, thanks to you, I came back like this, didn't I?"
White Owl made a troubled expression.
"You could say that I roughly have the rank, but I lack power. The number of followers is also severely lacking. And more than anything, I didn't expect the Lighthouse Keeper to struggle so much in the end."
"Struggle?"
"Passing the authority of the Millennium Kingdom to the Mother of All Gods, I mean. Her position has been fixed in the world. It's like there are two kings. If it had gone smoothly, I could have naturally inherited the power…"
Isaac looked at her with a slightly weary expression.
The Mother of All Gods, as a god who ruled the Age of Myriad Gods, simply turned the world into a land of immortality. The source of that mysterious power must be the same reason why the Lighthouse Keeper can exert such strong power.
It was a rare experience to hear the story of his mother's murder from her, but as a result, she had returned to the world after a long time.
She had expected that the Millennium Kingdom would arrive, and that Isaac would truly inherit the position of Chaos.
"…Then am I now the God of Chaos?"
"Well, it's still ambiguous."
White Owl made a troubled expression.
"You could say that I roughly have the rank, but I lack power. The number of followers is also severely lacking. And more than anything, I didn't expect the Lighthouse Keeper to struggle so much in the end."
"Struggle?"
"Passing the authority of the Millennium Kingdom to the Mother of All Gods, I mean. Her position has been fixed in the world. It's like there are two kings. If it had gone smoothly, I could have naturally inherited the power…"
Isaac looked at her with a slightly weary expression.
The Mother of All Gods, as a god who ruled the Age of Myriad Gods, simply turned the world into a land of immortality. The source of that mysterious power must be the same reason why the Lighthouse Keeper can exert such strong power.
People, as well as gods and angels, believe in the Codex of Light's order and want it not to collapse.
Similarly, they fear the 'ever-changing future' that Chaos holds.
Isaac thought it would be a problem even if he fully inherited such power, but White Owl didn't seem to think so.
"If you want to become a god completely, you have to get back that yellow robe, the crown that Al Rieedu took and disappeared with."
"…Crown? That's a crown?"
"To be precise, it's a relic called the 'Ragged King's Vestments.' The last Chaos followers served Al Rieedu by offering those vestments. So that robe is a crown."
"It's like an outfit that I wore for less than 5 minutes, who even named it?"
"I did. Because names are important."
White Owl said seriously.
Isaac grumbled for a moment about why she didn't give it a better name and just called it the Ragged King.
"The Outer Boundary is now your kingdom, but without the symbol of the king, it's a chaotic land teeming with rebels. Among them, there will be those who will devour you and take over your authority instead. Some may even come directly."
Isaac himself had gained power by devouring monsters, so the opposite case would naturally hold true.
"Isn't that just a foreign country rather than territory?"
"How about calling it an unrecovered territory in a more positive way?"
Isaac was about to say, 'Then what's the difference?' but decided to stop because he thought he would get caught up in it.
What use were those symbols and authority.
The world that Isaac had to set foot in right now, the people he had to meet again, were important.
But White Owl's words had a more important meaning hidden within.
She said seriously.
"This spiritual war of recovery is a war that other gods and angels wage every day. Why are there inquisitors, and why are they so picky about apostates, barbarians, and heretics? It's not made of spears and swords, but it can be a life-or-death upheaval that shakes the foundations of faith."
"…Are you telling me to make inquisitors or something?"
"There's a better way than that."
White Owl smiled and said.
"Leave a part of you here."
"Huh?"
"There's no situation as dangerous as a king leaving the throne. Even with the royal guards and the crown, there are countless cases of usurpation. Furthermore, you haven't fully taken office as a spiritual monarch."
White Owl's finger pointed at Isaac.
"But if you stay in the Outer Boundary, the monsters won't be able to focus on you, and you can use your power to recover the territory."
Isaac understood what she was saying.
Using the power he gained by devouring Archangel Pallor. She was telling him to use the 'Form of Division.'
However, unlike before, the split-self - Isaac would be devouring and gaining power in this place.
There was nothing strange about it.
Most of the angels residing in Urbansus send their power to the world in that way.
There was also the advantage of having insurance in case they died in an emergency.
"It's a bit pitiful to call them rebels."
The monsters in the Outer Boundary were born from the twisted memories that had been abandoned by historical revisions. In some ways, they are the complete victims.
"It's unfortunate, but… leaving them in their current state is a more cruel thing to do to them. Their hatred, anger, and deprivation can never be resolved. It's better to think of it as you absorbing them and returning them to the world."
Now that Isaac had become the God of Chaos, it was no different from being 'embraced in the arms of God,' if you had to express it. It might look a little bad since the form is predation.
The fact that it is the best ending they can face doesn't change.
Isaac made a divided form and prepared to leave.
Since he had left considerable power to the split-self - Isaac, he also had to pour in quite a bit of what he had gained from the angels at the end of the Dawn Army. Even that was worrying, considering the outrageous monsters he would face in the Outer Boundary.
But White Owl also seemed to be a formidable monster in this Outer Boundary, so he could only trust her.
When Isaac seemed to be almost ready, he vaguely looked at the sky and asked.
"But how do I go back?"
He didn't even remember the process of getting here. He had hardly ever entered Urbansus voluntarily until now.
White Owl laughed as if she found those words funny.
"I told you, the Outer Boundary is your territory. And there are no roads, walls, or ceilings here. If there's a voice calling you, you can go there."
It was a vague statement, but Isaac felt like he had grasped something.
Isaac took a few steps and looked back at White Owl.
"Aren't you going back to the world again?"
"Later."
She said with an awkward expression.
"Now is your return. I don't want to ruin it."
Isaac nodded and started walking again through the streets of Holy Land Lua, where buildings were overlapping in a mess. Traces of regret and despair piled up in dozens or hundreds of layers. In the turbid air and the ruins, it seemed like he could clearly hear the screams of that time.
Isaac tried not to listen to those screams and listened to the voice calling him.
He knew that the time of the Outer Boundary didn't match reality.
Then how much time has passed in reality now? Will there still be someone looking for him? Will there be someone who remembers his name? As with the Nameless Chaos, wouldn't he also be forgotten?
At some point, the street Isaac was walking on was filled with fog. But Isaac was so focused on his ears that he didn't even realize that fact.
A fog so thick that he couldn't even recognize where the ground or the sky was.
In that place where everything was ambiguous and it was difficult to even guess the shape of the place where he was setting foot, Isaac didn't even know if the shape of his body was the same.
'Isaac.'
But in all this chaos, if even just one person was calling his name,
'Isaac Issacrea!'
Isaac opened his eyes wide. In the fog that filled his vision, he saw a clear, indelible hand that shone brightly. A strong-willed hand that didn't seem like it would collapse even in this turbid world.
Isaac unknowingly reached out his hand towards that hand.
If it was that hand, which was firmly fixed like an anchor, it seemed like it would take him out anytime, anywhere.
Whoosh.
Isaac flew into the world like a dandelion seed carried by the wind.
Isaac was floating on the wind. He still seemed to be dreaming, but the sun shining down above his head and the clear wind were scratching his body relentlessly. Isaac realized that his body hadn't fully manifested on the ground yet.
But he knew where this was.
Holy Land Lua. It was now the ruins of an old battlefield.
Then Isaac discovered intense clouds of dust rising from one side of Holy Land Lua.
'Undead?'
Isaac, who had been thinking something like, 'Even if the Immortal Emperor disappeared, the undead are still around,' realized a strange fact.
Looking closely, it was the undead group that was being attacked. The undead were being chased by humans and were escorting someone.
Isaac discovered the one person that the undead group was surrounding and protecting. Although her face was covered with a turban, he could tell who it was just by looking at her eyes.
Someone shouted from among the group of humans.
"Kill the sign of the devil, Isolde Brant!"
Thud.
Isaac's body completely descended to the ground.