Chapter 319

“As you know, my child’s nickname is Shion.”

Sen Sorti stroked her belly.

It was very largely bulging as a new life was growing inside.

She put both hands into her womb.

They went sook, as if penetrating through.

“If born, I intended to name him Zionis.”

She felt great pain.

It was labor pains.

So as soon as the pains began, she gave birth.

The mage’s both hands penetrated her own belly and took out the newborn baby that was in the womb.

The umbilical cord was connected long, but it was cut as she blew a hook breath.

Newborn baby.

New life finally appeared.

Covered in blood and amniotic fluid, not even knowing how to cry, the small lump of flesh just flailing its limbs was more beautiful than anything.

Sen Sorti looked at her child with a smile.

“My Shion.”

She hugged the child.

“…My Zionis.”

She dared not hug him tightly.

Her fingertips even trembled in fear that he might be crushed if she held him wrongly.

Still, she couldn’t put him down, so she ended up smiling deeply.

“At first I wasn’t sure, but I realized it during the seven days you all looked around the world.”

Indescribable benevolence was felt from Sen Sorti holding the child in her arms.

She always seemed like a playful girl, but now she was undeniably a mother.

Cordisias felt a greater unfamiliarity than anyone else from her change.

“This child is like us.”

There were seven Man-Gods.

No, adding Shion, there were eight.

“Like us?”

“It means the fruit of immortality has settled in him, but he is still human.”

She slowly extended her finger to the newborn baby.

The baby couldn’t even open his eyes properly.

Yet, he grabbed Sen Sorti’s finger kkuk with his small hand.

As if knowing something, the child holding onto his mother’s finger began to smile broadly.

“However, there are differences too.”

Sen Sorti said in a voice close to a whisper.

“He harbored the fruit of immortality, but since it hasn’t revealed itself outwardly yet… he probably doesn’t have power like us.”

“Other…!”

Caseptus cut in urgently.

“…Other babies!”

He interrupted so urgently that the round glasses he always wore became crooked.

Caseptus raised his voice.

“…Would other babies who were still in the womb be like Zionis? Huh? Sen Sorti!”

“They might be.”

The mage answered quietly.

“No, they probably are.”

“…Then!”

Caseptus unknowingly smiled widely.

“Then! Humanity hasn’t perished yet…!”

Other Man-Gods were the same.

It seemed like a ray of light shone to escape the despair that they might have exterminated all humanity.

“Again.”

Cordisias said.

“Then, we must look around the world again.”

“Correct, Your Highness!”

Caseptus jumped up from his seat.

Other Man-Gods also seemed unable to sit still.

“We will examine the world again and return. More thoroughly than before, without missing a single one…!! Perhaps those children who were in the womb, our hope…!”

“I will also leave. I will find the children with my own feet.”

No one stopped Cordisias.

They had to grasp hope quickly.

Even if they didn’t know if it would be permitted, they decided to do so.

“Let’s go gather the hope we spilled.”

***

It took 40 days.

They examined every human in all lands more carefully and with a more desperate heart than before.

The cognitive power of a Man-God is amazing.

Even without putting in much effort, they could know how many grass bugs were near them.

Examining the world with such cognitive power, they examined every single human without missing one, and didn’t miss even a single breath sound that was hard to find.

“It was as Sen Sorti said.”

Beila Beile was in the form of a flower with a thousand hands.

Countless newborn babies were hanging from those hands.

Strangely, the babies were not afraid of Beila.

Even though it was a truly grotesque form.

“Deep inside trees that used to be people, or between thick grass roots… there were unborn children.”

Beila Beile very carefully put down the babies he brought.

He wasn’t the only one.

Ahmena Eln Yade Asmir, Caseptus, Debius, Hiraeum, and even Cordisias were holding hundreds of children.

“…Not all newborn babies survived. Because the mother couldn’t handle the fruit of immortality, I saw truly many babies who died from the shock.”

“Still, many babies survived.”

“Yes, Your Highness. I discovered three hundred and thirty-three babies.”

“I have a similar number.”

They gathered the newborn babies they brought in one place.

Man-Gods are huge.

Newborn babies were like millet grains.

So their touch was even more careful.

“2,770.”

Caseptus counted the number quickly.

The gaze beyond the round glasses was sharp.

“All are healthy, and all are human.”

“Hmm. There is no child like Prince Zionis.”

“It looks so, Debius.”

Among the 2,770 newborn babies, there was no being that looked like a Man-God.

It seemed Shion became a Man-God because his mother was Sen Sorti.

These 2,770 newborn babies would be slightly more mysterious than ordinary humans, but they would still be human.

“…….”

Cordisias quietly looked down at the babies.

He had a heavy heart.

A thick sense of responsibility pressed down on his heart.

He had destroyed humanity once.

Yet, the children entrusted to him again were close to three thousand.

This time, pledging not to make a mistake this time, he steeled his heart.

Cordisias hardened his golden eyes.

His breath tried to quicken, but he suppressed it.

He decided not to allow himself any kind of kindness anymore.

“Let us build a nation.”

In his hand was a crown made of gold.

It belonged to his father’s empire, the country he had unwittingly destroyed.

The ‘Last Emperor’ placed the golden crown on his head as if proclaiming himself Emperor.

“Let us establish a foundation and cultivate the land so that these children can live and fully enjoy the fruit of immortality.”

“Your Highness… no, Your Majesty is right.”

Debius bowed his head.

He is the ‘Last General’.

“What shall be the name of the nation?”

Caseptus asked.

He is the ‘Last Minister’.

“I haven’t thought of it yet. However, it seems Hiraeum has a thought.”

“May I dare to offer an opinion, Your Majesty?”

“Please.”

“It is an honor.”

Hiraeum opened his mouth.

He is the ‘Last Slave’.

“Hotus.”

Hotus has the meaning of a garden.

The seven Man-Gods simultaneously recalled the beautiful appearance of the imperial garden.

Land good for young children to run and play in.

They had always hoped for such a country, where flowers are beautiful and sunshine is warm.

“It is a beautiful name.”

Ahmena Eln Yade Asmir smiled bashfully. She is the ‘Last Dancer’.

“…….”

Beila Beile was hugging the horned white snake. He is the ‘Last Clown’.

“Hotus. It’s Hotus, Zionis. Do you like it?”

Sen Sorti spoke to the newborn baby in her arms.

She is the ‘Last Mage’.

She is deeply immersed in the joy of her first child whom she just delivered.

‘Last Emperor’

‘Last General’

‘Last Minister’

‘Last Slave’

‘Last Dancer’

‘Last Clown’

‘Last Mage’

The seven gods realized and knew their names.

If asked how they knew, they could only answer that they just came to know.

“Ah.”

There is one more in addition to the seven.

It is the newborn baby.

His nickname is Shion and his name is Zionis.

Since he was in the womb when Sen Sorti became a god, he became a god together with her.

His name as a god had not been discovered yet.

Sen Sorti asked Cordisias, the child’s father.

“If Zionis is also a Man-God like us, he needs a name. Your Majesty, please name him.”

“…….”

Cordisias looked at Shion sleeping with soft breaths.

It was his child.

He was just born but already became a god.

No opportunity for choice was given.

Because he was Cordisias’s son.

“…This child already possesses everything.”

The fruit of immortality, the status of Cordisias’s eldest son, the massive power and authority a Man-God will enjoy.

But not a single thing was chosen by himself.

“So he lost the most noble right of a person… freedom.”

Shion could not choose anything.

Because he already possessed everything when he couldn’t choose.

It might be a complaint of the privileged, no, it is a complaint of the privileged, but this is the greatest wretchedness one can experience as a human.

“Because he is my son, he obtained everything but lost all choices.”

Cordisias extended his finger.

Just as he did to his mother, the newborn baby reached out to his father and grabbed his finger tightly.

Cordisias’s face was dyed with incomparable grief for a moment.

But it was only for a moment.

His eyes quickly returned to unwavering golden light.

“Right, you are a prisoner.”

The father gave a name to his son.

“Zionis, you are the ‘Last Prisoner’.”

***

A nation called Hotus was established.

All traces of the previous civilization were forgotten.

In the center of the nation were gods.

They told people to call them the Hotus Eight Gods.

Although one god was a newborn baby and did not reveal himself to anyone.

Hotus enjoyed prosperity for a long time.

As the name ‘garden’ suggests, peace continued long.

It was natural since Man-Gods with powerful strength ruled the country directly.

At least for a century.

“It’s today.”

“Eventually?”

“Yes.”

Sen Sorti said.

“Drodrous died.”

“Was he exactly 120 years old?”

“He was exactly 120 years old.”

The ‘Last Emperor’ and the ‘Last Mage’ are still a married couple.

They looked outside from the splendid Imperial court.

There were many people.

The nation that started with 2,770 newborn babies came to have a population of hundreds of thousands in merely one hundred and twenty years.

“…That child was the last.”

“Right. Drodrous lived the longest among the 2,770 newborn babies.”

“I still can’t get used to it.”

Cordisias reminisced about the old days.

“Drodrous wet his blanket until he was nine. How cute it was for such a guy to act brave when he grew up. Then he married, saw his children, saw his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and then….”

“He aged 120 years, became wrinkled, and left our side.”

“…I just can’t get used to it.”

“For me, actually, the current subjects are not as lovable as the first 2,770.”

“I feel the same, Sen Sorti. They cannot be the same as the children we raised ourselves.”

The first 120 years of Hotus were like paradise.

The Eight Gods knew the names of every single subject, had memories with them, and could form relationships like parents and children.

Since no one was alienated, there was no reason for trouble.

However, the times were changing.

“People increase, enough that we cannot possibly rule them even with the abilities of Man-Gods….”

“Because that is human.”

“Cordisias, weren’t we too arrogant…? We are not gods. We thought we had god-like power, but the limits are too clear.”

The mage spoke cautiously.

“…Shouldn’t we accept death even now?”

“Nonsense, Sen.”

The Emperor is firm.

“That is an act of running away from our responsibility.”

“…I know. But….”

“Let’s stop. Where is Zionis?”

“He is sleeping.”

“I want to see his face.”

Sen Sorti led her husband to the baby crib.

The newborn baby was sleeping.

Even though 120 years had passed, Shion was still a newborn baby.

Perhaps due to the influence of becoming a Man-God, Shion did not grow.

“……He sleeps pleasantly.”

“He always feels pleasant, since he is a baby.”

“Will I ever see teeth growing in Zionis’s mouth?”

“Someday, surely.”

Sen Sorti nodded.

“More than that, is it okay like this? Drodrous also worried until the end. That the times have changed. That Hotus has become too big to rule with kindness alone….”

“I agree.”

Cordisias swept back his hair.

He showed a resolve he had kept hidden deeply.

“There is nothing that makes a nation solid as much as an external enemy.”

“…Enemy? The only humans in the whole world are us, so where….”

“Are humans the only enemy?”

The Emperor’s voice was cold beyond measure.

“No, rather, aren’t there older enemies? Those who forced us to take the fruit of immortality… those old things.”

“…Ancient Gods?”

“Yes.”

The golden eyes were fierce.

Enough to make even Sen Sorti step back.

“Now, the eight of us are sufficient for gods.”

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