Paladin of the Dead God
Chapter 451: Apocalypse (2)

"You’re turning the gods into gamblers, not divine beings, Lighthouse Keeper."

The White Owl rebuked coldly.

"Gods are sacred lights that illuminate the world. People believe that the sun rises because the Codex of Light exists, that there is value in courage and honor because Elil exists, and that tomorrow will be better because the World’s Forge exists. But because of you, the gods are suffering from the obsession that they have to win by any means possible."

"Divinity?"

The Lighthouse Keeper looked down at the White Owl with a cold expression, borrowing the burnt priest’s face.

"You’re saying romantic things, White Owl. The word ’divine’ is just an adjective that humans attach to prevent us from having a reason to rebel. And gods aren’t that great in the first place. They’re just tools for understanding the world lazily."

The Lighthouse Keeper pointed to the remains of the monsters beyond the ramparts and the priests who were still fighting.

"Do you think those priests are really fighting for the will and glory of the Codex of Light? No! If they really understood the contents of the Dawn Stone Tablet, they would have become Barbaras. Because they would doubt the existence of God. You’re the only one who has truly understood the contents of the Dawn Stone Tablet so far, White Owl."

The Lighthouse Keeper grabbed the White Owl’s shoulder and said urgently, "You’ve pierced through the concept of Urbansus, which even I don’t fully understand yet. At the same time, you’ve also understood my teachings! Only you can be my successor. Only you!"

Even so, the Lighthouse Keeper seemed to believe without a doubt that the White Owl would follow his will. They had been on a long journey together. The swamp that the White Owl had fallen into was by no means shallower than the Lighthouse Keeper’s. Isaac had sensed that the White Owl had been the Lighthouse Keeper’s ’most useful tool’ until now. The Lighthouse Keeper let out a long sigh and opened his mouth as if trying to appease her.

"As I said, your will and mine are not that different. But our powers have limitations, and we have to compromise on realistic matters."

"Even to the point of dragging divinity to the bottom?"

At those words, the Lighthouse Keeper sneered.

"God? If God can communicate with humans, has emotions, and can even make deals, then that’s not God but just a powerful human. It becomes a tool that can be politically compromised and manipulated."

"……"

"I thought you of all people would understand, White Owl. Or are you pretending not to understand? Because you hate the Millennium Kingdom?"

"I’ve already said that I’m worried……"

"Once the Millennium Kingdom descends, you’ll change your mind too. As I said, I just want to protect the world safely. The threat of the Outer Boundary is getting bigger and bigger every day, and humans are about to go crazy out of boredom. There has never been a moment when the desire for the Millennium Kingdom has been greater than now. Beshek has to become a god now."

"You didn’t even consider other candidates?"

"Is there anyone more moral than Beshek? I want to create a god, not another warmonger or another lecher. If I’m going to create one, I have to create a good god."

The Lighthouse Keeper said that and closed his eyes for a moment. The Lighthouse Keeper, who opened his eyes a little later, muttered with a displeased face, "I should leave soon. The Outer Boundary is tilting again because I’m here. White Owl, as I said, Beshek is needed to protect the world forever safely. He’s also a scholar respected by heretics. It would be nice if there were other great talents…"

The Lighthouse Keeper said that and glanced at Isaac slightly.

"If not, find a way to make Beshek a god."

The White Owl didn’t answer. Then the Lighthouse Keeper continued as if pressing her, "Are you going to leave the world like this? It’s my fault, but it’s also your fault that the Outer Boundary has become like that. Can you say that the time you erased, the lives you treated as non-existent, and the history you denied are fewer than mine? Someday, they will flow back and release all kinds of hatred into the world."

The White Owl frowned. The Lighthouse Keeper knew how to handle the White Owl. First, interest, then guilt. The White Owl had to take responsibility anyway.

In the end, she answered briefly. "I understand."

***

After the Lighthouse Keeper left, Isaac stared at the White Owl and said, "In the end, you agreed. So?"

"That’s how it is."

Isaac could tell that this wasn’t just a matter of giving an answer like that, but that this was the history that had progressed even if the details of the conversation were different. The Lighthouse Keeper had urged the White Owl, and the White Owl had reluctantly agreed with the Lighthouse Keeper’s Millennium Kingdom plan. The fact that the person who would break the Millennium Kingdom was the very person who brought the Millennium Kingdom made Isaac feel unbearable.

"That’s enough. Now that I’m no longer interested, tell me how to break the Millennium Kingdom."

"There’s still a lot to show you?"

"I’m done with you only choosing what you want to show me! No, in the first place, is there even a way to break the Millennium Kingdom? If there is, why didn’t you do it now, at this time?"

"As I said, you……?"

"When did you see me?"

Isaac’s words were hitting the nail on the head. Isaac had seen the White Owl for the first time today, and before that, she was an existence only mentioned in records or conversations.

It was true that she had helped Isaac in many ways, but Isaac was fed up with being dragged around by a ’transcendent being who knew a lot.’ The Lighthouse Keeper was enough for that.

"If there’s something I need to know, I’ll find it out myself." Isaac replied coldly.

"I’ve always found a way even without you. I’ll make a judgment after that."

Isaac left her behind and strode down the ramparts. The White Owl couldn’t grab Isaac. Isaac felt her gaze watching him. He avoided her gaze and entered the alleyways of the Holy Land Lua. As soon as he got out of the White Owl’s gaze, Isaac was startled to see the shapes of the surroundings becoming disordered and the details blurring. People were walking around, talking, and moving like lumps of clay. Isaac wondered what kind of phenomenon this was and then realized that the White Owl had been ’correcting’ the details of the world until now.

This place, the Outer Boundary, is the realm of oblivion. The process is to slowly become ambiguous and collapse until it becomes a monster that cannot be recognized. The White Owl had been making the details of seeing the world in the Outer Boundary clear, just as she had given the world a sense of distance with a ’message’.

Isaac listened to what the people around him were saying.

’Fortunately, the words sound normal.’ He didn’t know how long this would last. But the fact that people looked like lumps of clay meant that he had at least escaped from the White Owl’s surveillance, so he decided to think positively.

Isaac decided to start looking for information himself from now on.

’Should I meet Beshek first? No, it would be strange to meet him right after breaking up. Or maybe I’ll be able to meet the Lighthouse Keeper if I look for the whereabouts of Midas’ Hand…?’

At that time, Isaac felt a presence approaching him. Although their faces were smeared, he could tell that they were the old men and beggars from before, with the many tattoos that carved the tentacle statue.

They knelt and approached Isaac as if crawling, grabbing his hand tightly. And they pulled Isaac, repeating words mixed with dialects and accents like baby talk.

Isaac found it difficult to understand what they were saying. He also didn’t know why they were showing him goodwill. Perhaps it was because he was an Agent of Chaos.

But he could tell what they wanted.

"Let’s go."

The old man smiled brightly, revealing his yellow teeth. Isaac took the hands of the believers of the Chaos God and followed where they led. He didn’t know where they were going, but these were the remnants of the history that had perished and disappeared: a history that no one tells. If he wanted to find out the real secret of history, he would have to find it from them.

***

Isaac was guided by the beggars through alleys, sewers, and secret passages to somewhere. It was a complex and dark space, but somehow the internal structure and decorations looked familiar.

’Here is…… the pyramid?’

It was somewhere in the great temple, the pyramid, built in the heart of the Holy Land Lua. Of course, the pyramid was the sanctuary of an ancient pagan religion unrelated to the Codex of Light, so the Codex of Light ceremonies were not held here, but it was certainly a historically significant place.

It was a well-known building, but Isaac didn’t know that there was such a huge space underground. The space the beggars guided them to was almost large enough for thousands of people to gather and worship at once. It was somewhat dirty, some of it was collapsing, and the religious symbols were cluttered, but it was clear that it was still a sacred place.

’Was it originally there and I didn’t know about it, or was it buried as the event broke out?’ The latter seemed more likely. After all, it wasn’t the first time Isaac had visited the Holy Land Lua. This underground shrine had served all kinds of miscellaneous gods even before worshiping Chaos, so there were all kinds of bizarre idols and religious symbols scattered like trash. It seemed like a place with at least thousands of years of history.

Isaac realized anew that the pyramid was a place where countless faiths had been born and perished even before it was a sanctuary for the Codex of Light or the Immortal Order. This place, which may have been a junkyard, had now become a pantheon for countless gods.

The believers took Isaac’s hand and led him to the altar in the center. Isaac was flustered by the hand that suddenly brought him, whom they had never seen before, to such an important place, but he rose as if he was familiar with the place, as if being drawn by something.

The old man who had guided Isaac bowed to him as if worshiping him.

"■■■ ■■■, please listen to our prayers…………."

"No, I am…?"

Isaac was about to say that he wasn’t that kind of person, but soon the prayer began. Each from the mouths of thousands of believers, each in their own language of their country and their people, a prayer with all kinds of dialects mixed together and without any form or distinction flowed out. Some of them weren’t even prayers but were closer to sobs or screams. He felt nauseous.

As soon as the prayer began, Isaac felt their voices, their emotions, their experiences, rushing towards him as if melting down. A returning soldier who had participated in the war for his family and returned home to find his child already starved to death, a prostitute sobbing that she had burned her baby to send it to heaven before it committed a sin but missed it so much, a child whose parents both had a disease that rotted their limbs and were removing maggots every day…

It was as if the pouring emotions were overflowing like a sewer and rushing towards him. Isaac realized that this emotion was felt not only by him but by everyone in this place. It was such a miracle. It was such a ritual: a miracle where everyone shared, empathized, sobbed, healed, and comforted each other’s sorrows.

It was a desperate struggle to become a support for each other in a cruel world.

Only then did Isaac know how the Chaos faith had become known and spread. They didn’t just worship the Chaos God because they wanted the world to end. There was nothing they could do in this cruel world.

They just hoped that someone divine would listen to their voices, that someone would care, and that they would be comforted. They just hoped that there would be a god they could rely on, even for those who were not brave, were not born superior, had no courage to improve themselves, and were not talented.

Before he knew it, Isaac was crying. He lay on the floor and vomited tears. Isaac was feeling clearer pain than the people who had directly experienced the pain. Their tears had already dried up, and they had experienced the powerlessness that they couldn’t do anything.

But Isaac could. He had heard the secret of time, was loved by the angel, and had corners to wound the world. He could have changed the world a long time ago, but he had only watched from a distance as if observing.

In their whispers, Isaac was hearing the name of the true Chaos God. He couldn’t understand the name exactly. In the first place, it was an Order created by people from numerous countries and numerous races, so the name made up of dialects and extinct languages could not be accurately expressed in any language.

But through people’s appeals and entreaties, he could understand the meaning.

A god for the abandoned.

One who looks up from the bottom.

The most remaining thing.

… The Nameless Chaos that has not yet been named.