Chapter 206: Pieces of the Puzzle

Ishiki dismissed the [Sorrow’s edge] and instantly, darkness swallowed the whole chamber. It also brought very much relief to his brain helping him focus more.

He slowly took a few steps back and when his back hit the wall, he slid down and sat on the cold stone.

He closed his eyes in the darkness and began sorting through everything he’d learned, piece by piece.

First – If he was right than the, year of divine protection means the time after the Great Old One had given power to five humans in this world.

Then these five human’s went on and created their own Empires in the five continents of this world.

Normally, everything flourished and wars for expansions happened. But then the system descended here too.

’It feels wrong to say too, the Neural Matrix System came here first.’ Ishiki corrected himself.

And the system was the starting of the downfall and the foundation of everything.

But now… Ishiki saw it with a new light. After all the Neural Matrix System was capable of creating godlike beings.

Mandecium had climbed through the same progression Ishiki now followedd and reached some final tier—some ultimate level of the Synth Reactor that he become a god.

Which meant godhood wasn’t divine birthright. It was earned power. And if Mandecium could do it, then theoretically… anyone could.

’Hmm leaving that aside… the the golden period went on for almost 550 years before the Emperor adopted Galvador as his second son. Hmm, the original Emperor was a dragon? Or was it an effect of the orb.

’

’And then after he grew up… Galvador made a deal with Mandecium to kill his own father. They waited for Mandecium to become powerful enough and then associated the Emperor.’

Ishiki silently thought for a whole another minute about various stuff and then concluded.

’The Emperor was not a fool… he had given one of the Orb to his original son. The Dragon. And the dragon must have known that Mandecium was a player as he always called him the otherworldly bastard.’

’Mandecium must have consumed the Orb they got from the Emperor, afraid that the dragon would be able to steal it. But he had once again grown in power and then he had sealed the dragon and built the Cathedral over that place.’

The Golden walls were also retracted by Mandecium to protect Aethelburg from the constant wars. He then became the Emperor and used Galvador as a face to issue orders and all.

’They must have made up a pretty good story for that cover up. Something like the dragon killed his father and then Galvador sealed him with the help of a God… who was Mandecium.’

It felt like the actual truth because it was already known that Mandecium had used Galvador to boost his image and make cathedrals and relate himself to the image of god’s performing miracles… such as the Golden walls.

Galvador hadn’t been some ambitious adopted son who assassinated his father. Galvador had been a puppet from the start—a mortal human sitting at Mandecium’s feet, playing the role of Emperor while the god himself sat on the throne and ruled through him.

The “Emperor” everyone spoke of in historical records as the ruler whose reign stretched impossibly long for a mortal—had always been Mandecium wearing a human face.

What followed after that was much more chaotic than this simple history of Aethelburg as it included larger things.

There were many questions and the main one was about the World Tree.

Where did the World Tree come from? Why did the God’s fight over such a it? And why did its corruption lead the whole world going down the drain?

There was another question that ate Ishiki up from a long time.

Why did the Neural Matrix System invade Earth? What was the goal of this system? And was the Great Fall on earth cause by the system?

Ishiki’s blood boiled at these questions. The Neural Matrix System had save his life when he was about to die by making him a player… it had also given him power. But at the end of the day… his powers were useless in protecting the ones he wanted to.

He shook his head and chuckled, though it sounded very dry and forced. ’The only thing I can do for them is to live on myself.’

’So Mandecium ruled over Aethelburg for a long time… he had two children… One was the Angel of Greed and the other was the Demigod of Charity. Though, I believe that the reason behind this was that Mandecium wanted to remove his own corruption. His Corruption was greed… and the Demigod was an unwanted residue.’

But there was something deeper than that… how could there be more than one Demigod if such was the case. At least… he knew that it was not something coincidental.

It was a deeper mystery on its own.

’Later Mandecium sealed the angel as a measure and the Demigod became someone, everyone looked up to as their savior and a Hero. How cruel was his end… I don’t even know his name.’

This thought struck him like lightening. He realized that he didn’t even knew the name of the Demigod and never had the other party ever mentioned it. It was as if he himself had forgotten what made him a human.

But he let the distractions go away like tides in a storm and continued on with the truth.

’After that came the war for the World tree where all the kingdoms fought and bled. The battle led to the start of Corruption of the World tree. Then the gods entered the battlefield and bled and after drinking their blood the World Tree was completely corrupted… it bore a fruit which I guess was what everyone desired. But at the end no one really got it and the God’s were trapped by the World tree.

’

’Of course like every time… there was an exception and it was Mandecium who had fled from this carnage without being consumed by the Tree. He returned to Aethelburg and became desperate. As the demigod mentioned…. he tried to kill humans in Aethelburg for some unknown reason.’

That was when the Demigod stood against him and Faught him… but he was sealed here.

After that everything was lost.

The Demigod had learned the truth thirty years after his imprisonment, when he’d somehow connected psychically with his dying brother’s consciousness.

The Angel of Greed had somehow awakened and became a player in the Neural matrix System. For a being of already such divine birth… it must have been easy for him to gather power and then he had killed Mandecium.

’The Angel must have first killed Galvador… the reason must have been the Orb itself. But after that he realized that this was not his true target… he switched to his father and killed him. By then Mandecium had already fused the orb with his heart and so the Angel ripped apart the heart itself… placing it in his own chest.’

Following that the Angel realized that he needs another orb to access the full power and hence it tried to free the dragon… but failed.

The Angel hadn’t killed out of righteousness or to save the world. He had killed out of greed. He wanted to ascend to full godhood himself, and stealing his father’s divine heart was the path he’d chosen.

The attempt had failed. The Great Old One had cursed him, petrifying his body, turning him to stone.

And in his desperation—in his final moments before the curse claimed him completely—the Angel had done something unforgivable.

He had channeled every human soul in Aethelburg. He had bound them in some massive ritual, using their collective consciousness to sustain himself. To create the illusion of a living city while he remained trapped in stone, neither alive nor dead.

The Angel had also stolen his brother’s identity. Had taken the Demigod of Charity’s name and reputation, crafting a false narrative where he was the hero who had killed a corrupted god to save Aethelburg.

When the truth was far simpler and far more damning: the Angel of Greed had killed his father out of greed and damned an entire city’s worth of souls to eternal torment when his plan failed.

And according to the Demigod’s final message: “To become the true Emperor of Aethelburg one must have both the Orbs. Without them… the throne would not accept the ruler.”

Which meant the Dragon in the Inner Ring and the creature everyone thought was the Emperor—was just another pretender. Just another being who’d claimed power without truly earning it.

Killing the Dragon wouldn’t end the scenario. It couldn’t. Because the Dragon didn’t possess either Orb, and without both, the throne would never recognize a ruler.

And that is where the twist was and it was far more closer than any of them had realized.

It was none other than a human who had came here becaue of the System. Renji.

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