Ubermensch – Chapter 119

Chapter 119

Yekaterina remained silent.

It wasn’t the silence of not knowing, but the silence of finding it difficult to speak.

No. Perhaps it was the silence of not wanting to speak.

Mason pleaded.

“Tell me. Please.”

<...Why do you want to know that?>

“Believe it or not… I received a revelation while praying just now. It said that I could stop the destruction.”

“Yes.”

Another long silence followed.

She finally sighed.

A moment later, Yekaterina, having teleported, approached Mason, who was waiting anxiously.

“Mason.”

“Kacha.”

“Shall we walk?”

“Sure.”

Yekaterina strolled through the ruined prison. It seemed less like a leisurely walk and more like a search for a place where no one else could hear them.

She found the chapel. It wasn’t a coincidence, but rather because the confessional attached to it was the most eavesdropping-proof space.

“To be honest, I don’t want you to become an Evil God, Mason. I’m bringing this up myself because I’m worried you’ll make a mistake by getting fragmented clues from other people or documents. Please remember that this does not mean you should become an Evil God.”

“…Tell me. I’ll decide after hearing it.”

“When I explained about mythical spells before. Divine beings, no, people with special talents, I mentioned them, didn’t I?”

“Yes. You said gods have the ability to absorb other people’s emotions. And they gain special abilities from those emotions.”

“It’s not just religious. Athletes perform better when they receive cheers from fans, and fathers endure hardships while thinking of their families, they also gain strength from other people’s emotions. It’s just a difference in how much and from whom they absorb.”

Yekaterina spoke in a calm voice.

“Divine beings are mostly about faith. They can turn the emotions of others who believe in them into their own power. And… they can also turn other emotions, not just faith, into their own power.”

At that moment, Mason realized why Yekaterina was speaking so cautiously.

“For example… fear?”

“Yes.”

Yekaterina continued in her calm voice.

“The essence of faith is worship and awe. Ancient people worshipped gods but also feared them. They vaguely feared the misfortune that could befall them if they didn’t serve the gods, and they vaguely thought that good things would happen to them if they did. So, what’s the best way to solidify faith?”

“…Showing proof.”

“And, what do you think is the emotion that most clouds judgment and paralyzes reason?”

“…Fear.”

Yekaterina nodded.

“For example, if ordinary gods gain 1 unit of faith from 100 people to create a power of 100, an Evil God squeezes 10 units of faith from 10 people. No, even 100 units of faith from a single person. If necessary, they’d even kill 99 people, as long as they can extract 100 units of faith from the remaining person. That’s how a once divine being crosses the line and becomes a corrupted monster, an Evil God.”

“Then, to stop the Destroyer by becoming an Evil God means…”

Yekaterina looked at Mason.

“It means enslaving all of humanity to you, Mason. Even if it means killing everyone who doesn’t serve you.”

Mason felt his breath catch in his throat.

For Mason, whose dream was to make friends and whose wish was to protect people, becoming an Evil God who enslaves people and slaughters those who rebel was the polar opposite of who he was.

“…If I become an Evil God, can I stop the Destroyer?”

“Theoretically, yes.”

“You’re saying it’s possible?”

“Yes. Enslave all of humanity, use that power to cross over to another dimension and enslave them all, and keep expanding your territory like that… Maybe someday you could become a being comparable to the Destroyer.”

Yekaterina shook her head.

“But, what would be the point of that? What would be the point of becoming an Evil God to fight the Destroyer, and even if you defeat him, what meaning would it hold?”

“At least I could stop the Destroyer.”

Yekaterina looked at Mason.

“If you could just stop him?”

“Huh?”

“It would be great if the war with the Destroyer ended in an instant and resulted in victory. But it’s not like that. We don’t know how large the Destroyer’s forces are, and we don’t even know if we can defeat him. What will you do if it becomes a stalemate? What will you do if you have to fight a protracted war, whether you’re winning or losing? For a hundred years? A thousand years? Or, since both of you are cosmic beings, what will you do if it takes an astronomical amount of time?”

Yekaterina gritted her teeth and looked at Mason.

“What are you going to do if you make the people you’re trying to protect suffer and make everyone unhappy with a war that has no end in sight?”

“Kacha…”

She wasn’t looking at Mason now.

She was looking at someone who had been superimposed on Mason.

She was looking at the worst mistake of her life, and at Mason, who was about to walk the same path…

A long silence followed. Her heartfelt emotions weighed heavily on Mason.

Finally, Mason had to speak, with a bitter expression on his face.

“…It’s me.”

“Pardon?”

“The Destroyer’s true identity is me. It’s Mason Park from a parallel dimension.”

“…!”

Looking at Yekaterina, who was startled, Mason muttered with a bitter expression.

“I have to stop him. I have to stop him. There’s no other way, and I have no power, but I still have to stop him.”

“Mason…”

“I wish there was a best way. I wish there was a magical way to solve all the problems cleanly. But I have to stop him. I have to stop what another me is doing, no matter what…”

Yekaterina approached and hugged Mason.

She whispered in his ear.

“Then kill me first.”

“…!”

“Torture me and tear my flesh apart. Inflict unspeakable pain on me and then kill me. I’ve lost my power, but I’m still an ancient god, I still have some power left. Do the things you find abhorrent to steal that power. Take the first step towards the atrocities you’ll commit against everyone else with me.”

“I can’t do that. Yekaterina, you…”

“If you can’t do that…”

Before Mason could finish speaking, Yekaterina buried her head in his chest.

“…Don’t do to others what you can’t do to me.”

“…!”

“Please, Mason. Don’t cross the line under the guise of responsibility. For the sake of everyone who trusts and loves you, don’t become the same monster as the Destroyer…”

Mason felt a lump forming in his throat.

People’s hearts were so beautiful and warm.

Why did the Destroyer want to erase people and their hearts?

He was angry. Angry at the calamity named Destroyer.

He was angry. Angry at his own powerlessness to protect them.

And most of all, he was angry at himself.

Angry that he had almost strayed from the path, even for a moment.

“Let’s find it. Let’s find it together.”

Mason hugged Yekaterina tightly.

“A way to save this world… and its people…”

๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑

Mason embraced Yekaterina.

“…”

And Steve Queen was watching it all through the CCTV.

His face more serious than ever.

๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑๑ஓ๑

Mason went to the Ghost Dragon with Yekaterina.

The Ghost Dragon growled at the sight of Yekaterina.

“Fallen god.”

Clank!

The chains that bound him pulled taut.

It seemed he still remembered the humiliation he had suffered at the National Cemetery. But Yekaterina spoke with composure and dignity.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“…”

The Ghost Dragon realized Yekaterina wasn’t afraid. She had long transcended the fear of death.

It was pointless, even comical, to try and frighten someone who wasn’t afraid. He growled.

“…Fine. What brings you here?”

Yekaterina spoke in a calm voice.

“We came to ask if there are any gods or cosmic beings we could ask for help.”

“Not many. The courageous gods died fighting the Destroyer, and the ones who fled lack the courage to face him.”

“We met a god called the Red Girl.”

“Red Girl…?”

The Ghost Dragon thought for a moment before speaking.

“Ah, yes. They call her that, it seems. So what?”

“What kind of being is she?”

“The only mortal who survived the Destroyer’s test. But I wouldn’t ask her for help.”

“Why not?”

“Do you think the Destroyer would have spared her for no reason? She’s probably his kin or made a deal with him.”

“Then what about other beings?”

“Nodens, the Magnificent. The Radiance Beyond the Veil. The Lord of Time. Those are about the only ones who have the will to oppose the Destroyer. But I’ll tell you in advance, none of them will offer any real help.”

Nodens, the Magnificent.

He was a god who took the form of a dignified old man with a silver prosthetic arm, the lord of Elder Gods who found amusement in hunting monsters. He was benevolent towards humans, and his power was unmatched.

He was a rare divine being who was strong and powerful enough to reveal his true name without hesitation.

The Radiance Beyond the Veil.

This was a god whose name was unknown, a compassionate being who loved mortals. He often manifested through revelations or prophecies, rarely revealing his physical form.

Because of this, some even said that he was a god who had lost his physical form and only shared his wisdom.

The Lord of Time.

This was the god encountered by those who toyed with time, such as those who traveled through time or reversed it. He was tasked with restoring order to the chaos created by time travelers and repairing damaged timelines. It was said that he wasn’t a sentient being, but rather the embodiment of the restorative power of time itself.

“The Lord of Time is already in tatters due to the Destroyer’s reckless manipulation of time, and the Radiance Beyond the Veil has never acted beyond offering advice.”

“Then what about Nodens, the Magnificent?”

“Nodens cannot face the Destroyer.”

The Ghost Dragon said mockingly.

“For a powerful god like Nodens to descend with his full power, a fitting ritual must be performed. But the Destroyer instantly consumes entire universes with his plague of nanomachines. He doesn’t give Nodens the time or space to descend.”

The Destroyer’s main strength lay in science, and among that, nanomachines were the most versatile. The Destroyer sent his vanguard, the Soldiers, to scout various corners of the universe, then activated the nanomachines loaded within the Soldiers to forge planets and stars into weapons and more nanomachines.

By the time anyone noticed the Destroyer’s invasion, it was already too late to stop it.

It was a plague in the truest sense of the word.

‘If that’s true…’

Mason felt a cold sweat run down his spine.

‘If the Red Girl hadn’t sealed the Soldier, Earth would have already been conquered?’

They had narrowly escaped destruction without even realizing it.

However, Yekaterina’s questions weren’t over yet.

“Then… what if we create a god?”

“What are you talking about?”

“With our power, with our faith. We create a new god to oppose the Destroyer.”

Yekaterina looked at Mason.

“A god of future and hope. Mason.”