Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint - Chapter 564



Is Tradition a Good Civilization?

The god of offerings had ambitions. And he had the power to fulfill those ambitions. His challenge to the king of humans was not merely to defeat him and protect himself.

—

‘What if I, the true self, were to seize the body of the human king! If I succeed this time!’

Driven by the desire to become stronger and more complete, I challenged the human king.

The problem was that my power was insufficient; I fled to survive, feeling fear and hiding. That was the essence of the Offering God. I was merely a gust of wind that had been broken against the walls of reality.

But what if I realized that the human king had grown significantly weaker? Would I hold back to save my own life this time, or would I seize this opportunity to repeat what I attempted in ancient times?

Well, the answer was clear.

[O followers of my true self! Kill that one and offer them to my altar. To those who do so, I shall grant my heart!]

A stir. Change began to occur among those who had just received the new bodies. Though they should have been nurturing their immortal bodies with the food offered for nearly a year, the flesh of the Offering God they had received writhed and gradually burrowed into their bodies.

“Gah, ugh!”

“Ah! What is this!”

“O Offering God! What is happening… aaah!”

The power of the Offering God, invading their bodies before they had fully adapted, was destruction and invasion. The immortals accepted it slowly over a long time, but those who had just received the grafts were in agony from the immortal power seizing their bodies.

Well, drinking it over a long time is tonic, but drinking it suddenly is doping. There’s no good or bad. After all, it’s all the power of the Offering God. Both are the same immortals.

[Serve my true self with your blood and flesh!]

“Ugh…!”

The will of the Offering God was resolute. To kill me.

Even the newly immortalized barbarians and the priestesses of the Offering God. They didn’t know why they were doing this, but they moved according to that will. They approached me to escape the pain.

…Though I had charged in recklessly, I hadn’t expected the opponent to come at me so fiercely.

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“Oh dear. What is this, Ankra?”

[To make you my true self’s body, I shall break this wretched chain! I will become a complete god!]

“Are you ‘challenging’ me right now?”

I tried to provoke fear by stirring up the traumas in their memories, but mere threats could only hold back the Offering God for a moment.

[Yes! I shall challenge you! To break free from the long humiliation and stand in the world once more!!]

Well, if you’re willing to risk your life for the wind once again, I’ll cheer you on.

But I can’t just let you kill me.

I kicked off the ground and leaped. At the same time, the newly immortalized barbarians began to chase after me. Though their powers were still unsteady, they were survivors of this jungle. Feeling the presence of them closing in behind me, I dashed toward the massive stone door.

The ‘mouth’ cried out in place of the Offering God.

“The door will not open. Chase me, immortals!”

The firmly closed stone door could only be opened by the power of the priestess. Therefore, I made no futile attempts to open the door; instead, I drew a card and slipped it into the gap, scratching it.

In an instant, the door transformed into a card. I squeezed through the opening and launched myself.

The priestesses were taken aback by the fluttering cards.

—

“What kind of power is that? The power of a druid?”

“It’s different. It’s a power I’ve never seen before. If we’re being precise, it’s similar to a witch’s curse!”

“If it’s shapeshifting, it won’t work on us with our strong life force. Don’t be afraid!”

Behind me, the barbarian warriors, guided by the shaman, followed as I groped my way through the darkness. If we lingered in this pit, we would become prey for the offering god.

“Set, Ri! Lux!”

I activated the ceremonial magic to create light. Illuminating the dark cave, I quickly crawled upward.

I’m not particularly fast, but I’m not so slow that I could be caught by the newly turned immortals. Occasionally collapsing the cave ceiling, I leisurely evaded them. The aspiring immortals fell in the darkness, not even knowing what struck them.

Easy. Once I get out of the cave, I’ll have to collapse it entirely with earth magic. Just as I stepped toward the nearly reached exit.

A powerful shock struck my side.

Bones broke, and the impact shook my body. I was thrown several times, twisting in the air. As I staggered to my feet, my gaze landed on an immortal I had seen somewhere before.

“Left Leg?”

“Oh dear. I used my hand as a greeting. It’s Piwu, isn’t it? You should have been a bit more careful. I didn’t recognize you without Piwu’s armband.”

Left Leg approached, casually patting his shoulder.

“Of course. You probably had no intention of being careful either! The offering god was so furious that He specifically decreed against you! He said it doesn’t matter how you’re broken, as long as your flesh is intact!”

“…So you just attack me outright? Is that your plan?”

“I have something to say. The offering god is a merciful deity who promised us immortality. But what crime have you committed for the offering god to command the death of a mere Piwu?”

It seemed that commands didn’t have to come solely through the shaman. The shaman was merely a representative. Could they convey their will to their followers as well?

“I’ve learned of your god’s past. Mentioning that suddenly makes you want to kill me. How merciful of you, to want to kill someone just for mentioning a dark chapter from the past. Isn’t that right?”

“Have you blasphemed the offering god? You, who came from beyond the plains. Tsk. You all can’t shake your habits, can you?”

“Habits? We haven’t known each other long enough for me to show you my habits.”

“I’ve met others from beyond the plains a few times. They were all arrogant and rude. They pointed fingers at the offering god and spoke disrespectfully. Yet, they would fly into a rage if their own god was insulted.”

Left Leg recalled unpleasant memories. After the fall of nations, the village of immortals remained, preserving its history and traditions amidst the ever-changing jungle. Adventurers from beyond the plains would often stay in the village of the kind and generous immortals.

However, the price of kindness didn’t always lead to more kindness. Most adventurers were those who sought to uncover something, aiming to study the mysterious powers of the immortals and the existence of the offering god. The identity, source, and limits of immortality were all subjects of their inquiry.

This was a deeply unpleasant matter for the immortals who revered the offering god. Left Leg grimaced and asked.

“So, what did you say about our god?”

“Ah, I said that the offering god is the remnant of the power of the long-dead Ankhra.”

“Was it enjoyable?”

“Pardon?”

“I asked if you found it enjoyable to dismiss our god as an evil ruler that once existed.”

The immortal was gentle and kind. Nothing could harm them. Because they did not die, they could welcome guests without suspicion of blades or strangers.

—

However, if one attacks their honor and faith, the immortal becomes more ferocious than anything else. The left leg condemned me, filled with deep disappointment and contempt.

“This is why I was concerned about the marriage of the right arm. The companion brought by the right arm. That woman, who led the village of Piou with the devil’s sorcery, was quiet but could never be one of us. She was a proud human from beyond the plains, one who disrespected the Offering Deity.”

“But the Offering Deity granted permission, didn’t He?”

“Indeed. How merciful He is. I thought of that as the Offering Deity’s grace and followed without complaint. However, that woman ultimately brought another Piou at her whim, selected and trained soldiers, and burned the forest imbued with the Offering Deity’s essence. I tolerated it since she had received the Offering Deity’s permission, but… in the end, she brought you all and incurred the Offering Deity’s wrath.”

Immortals began to appear beyond the murmuring ‘left leg.’ Leading the way was the priestess from the Offering Deity’s sanctuary, surrounded by immortals with various body parts grafted on, their faces devoid of all warmth.

The left leg released the pent-up grievances directed at me on behalf of everyone.

“Moreover, to intrude upon the sacred space of the Offering Deity… what arrogance. According to the Offering Deity’s will, I shall offer your body upon His altar.”

Well, I have no words. I invaded the secret space of a being regarded as a god over there. It’s only natural for them to be angry.

But you know.

“Arrogant? Really now. Who is calling whom arrogant while referring to other barbarians as Piou?”

I have one thing I want to ask. I straightened my back, feeling a dizzying pain, and rose.

“Your immortals are kind to other barbarian tribes, aren’t you? Because you know they can’t harm you. You have no hesitation in caring for them like a small dog or cat.”

“That may be true. But we treated you with kindness.”

“Exactly. But that is a manifestation of arrogance. If you truly considered them equals, there wouldn’t be a red armband indicating Piou.”

“That too is a consideration for the Piou. Our immortals have a tradition of greeting with a fist. It’s a mark to prevent the weak Piou from getting caught up in that tradition and being killed. Or should we just let ourselves kill the Piou at will?”

The left leg questioned me as if I were a fool. Yes. Considering tradition, the treatment of the Piou or the village of Piou is indeed rational. But.

“From the very beginning, the existence of such a tradition is strange.”

I can’t know everything. But I know what is strange. A tradition of mutual violence, which can be dismissed as merely tradition, has many oddities that cannot simply be brushed aside.

“Your tribe wasn’t always immortal from the start. Naturally, such a tradition wouldn’t have existed at first. Surely, traditions are artificially created. So, then, why do you think such a tradition arose?”

The left leg frowned, as if it had never thought of that. It had never bothered to question the reasons behind following customs. I revealed to him why the Offering Deity created such customs.

“To filter out those who are not immortal, right? Only immortals can withstand sudden attacks. To kill or drive away those who cannot withstand it. Tribe members who do not wish to injure themselves by accepting the power of immortality, or outsiders who covet that power and sneak in. Or immortals who have aged and can no longer endure their bodies. It’s a means of naturally driving them away.”

Now that most immortals have accepted their fate, offering their bodies to gain the power of immortality, that exclusive behavior has transformed into something resembling a primitive tribal tradition. Yet, the essence remains unchanged. It is still used to drive the Piou into the village of Piou.

“The marriage customs are the same. To spend nearly a month buried underground? That’s the same as saying that if you’re not immortal, you might as well die, right? Saying that immortals should marry only among themselves, and that’s the custom created for that purpose. Is it a sacred and pure custom?”

The number of immortals is equal to the number of times the Offering Deity has divided His body. Therefore, until the Offering Deity multiplies His body, it is difficult to increase the number of immortals. Thus, the Offering Deity had to control the number of the immortal tribe, and the marriage custom was one of those means.

I chuckled and mocked them.

“It’s all the same. Tradition, faith, whatever. They all arise for a reason and have been passed down. They are merely tools, believed to be special, but in reality, they are simple, trivial, and even childish. Just insignificant things.”

The identity of the Offering Deity is Ankra. An ancient malevolent ruler who became a god by spreading His power to survive.

The unique customs and culture of the immortals are means to maintain the tribe’s immortality and prevent the Offering Deity’s power from being dispersed.

“Life among people is all the same. There’s just a difference in degree. Ultimately, when you peel back a layer, it’s all simple and childish. No matter how grandly you try to package it, it’s just an extension of instinct. It’s just how it is. All desires begin from instinct.”

The attack directed at me now is also simply a result of the Offering Deity’s primal desire, without the need to attach any reason.

—

Traditions, customs, and beliefs are all mere tools. Just excuses that humans have whimsically picked up to survive.

It’s absurd to be swayed by what I’ve created.

“…What are you saying? You’re just like those who came from beyond the plains. You treat our traditions and beliefs as foolish.”

“What? I don’t treat traditions and beliefs as foolish. They’re just tools. The territoriality you exhibit is a perfectly natural behavior for all beasts. There’s no need to feel ashamed.”

I’ve said it countless times, but humans are nothing more than beasts. No matter how many layers you wrap around it, its essence doesn’t change. Whether it’s tradition or custom, they are merely things that have been repeated until now. They hold no greater meaning.

“Claiming tradition while punching passersby, gaining a sense of superiority by looking down on those who can’t endure it. Stopping the mixing of blood through the bizarre custom of burying the bride and groom together. It’s nothing grand.”

“Don’t act so superior just because you came from beyond the plains!”

“What? I’ve never acted superior. How is it acting superior to howl that we’re all the same beasts? I’m saying let’s all fall as beasts together.”

“We are the chosen tribe of the Offering God!”

“The Offering God? Oh, you mean that meat doll down in the underground? A pitiful beast that, scared, hides deep in the cave, and as soon as the opportunity arises, tries to devour its own body?”

The enraged immortals shouted something. I let the emotions wash over me and said,

“Well, I don’t know if it’s a god, but I’d rather prefer a simple human like that. They eat to survive, to become stronger. Isn’t that beastly?”

How simple and easy to understand is that desire? I can only regret that I cannot listen to it.

The left leg shook its head and glared at me.

“…You’re insane. I’ve never seen anyone from beyond the plains as insane as you. At least the others had some fear of us. Do you not feel the fear of death? Or do you have the certainty that you won’t die?”

“Haha. Well, I’m quite similar to you.”

I shook my restored body back and forth. The regeneration speed is faster than I thought. By the time we were talking, I had already returned to perfect condition.

Seeing me lightly hopping like a rabbit, the left leg looked puzzled.

‘What is this? I definitely felt the sensation of breaking. Wasn’t it a druid?’

“An immortal body isn’t particularly special, is it? Well, I think it’s rare.”

It’s weaker compared to a vampire. There, it’s immortality. Here, when you die, you return to the Offering God’s embrace.

“Now, everyone. In fact, I’m an immortal just like you. What do you think? Can you still kill me like this?”

“The one from beyond the plains! Did you have a hidden card?”

The left leg, which had been complacent thinking it had neutralized me, charged in to finish me off.

“But a powerless immortal is just suffering! Don’t think that will save you!”

If I won’t die, there’s no need to block it, right? Instead of taking a defensive stance, I raised a skewer and leaped toward its log-like left leg.

Even grazing the oncoming log would be fatal. Charging in would be no different from asking to die. The left leg was taken aback by my momentum rushing in to die, but soon gathered more strength and kicked me away.

Among the immortals, the warrior who inherited the left leg was powerful. My body couldn’t withstand even a brief collision and shattered. Broken bones pierced my organs, and blood splattered inside and out. I flew away, feeling excruciating pain.

‘If I have the power of immortality, I just need to keep pushing so I can’t regenerate! We’ve faced immortals more often than you have!’

The left leg tried to chase me down with the same momentum it had while attacking. As it stomped the ground with its sturdy left leg, it suddenly felt a sense of unease.

—

The left leg looked down at his left leg belatedly. There, a small hole made by my skewer, and the red blood flowing out from it was spreading.

Turning the flesh a deep black.

“This is… the blood of a vampire…?”

The vampire’s dominion is a curse to the immortal. While the blood of a vampire cannot dominate the blood of the immortal, it can corrupt it.

I asked the left leg once more.

“Can you still kill me like this?”