Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint
Chapter 347: The King Who Kills Others, The God Who Kills Himself (3)

Humans cannot choose how they are born.

The same goes for the King of Humans.

Is there really a separate lineage for kings, dukes, generals, and ministers?

I opened my eyes one day and found that I was the King of Humans.

You might think being the King of Humans is something grand to be celebrated, but a king without a kingdom is nothing more than a lunatic who believes himself to be king.

And a King of Humans who has lost all his power?

He’s just an ordinary lunatic who happens to be a little more skilled at being human.

That’s why I tried to live a normal life, doing odd jobs and living quietly.

The problem was that the world wouldn’t leave me alone and I ended up entangled with special people.

Since humans are adaptive creatures, I tried to keep up with my surroundings.

But my essence never changed.

Then, out of nowhere, a Saintess shows up to warn me.

She said she would bring divine punishment down on me with her fists if I stepped out of line.

It’s unfair.

This makes no sense!

Why do I have to be beaten to death?!

Overcome with frustration, I shouted as loudly as I could.

“What did I do?! I was just trying to live a normal life. Now, I’m caught up in all this nonsense!”

“Are you seriously feigning ignorance after meddling with the Divine’s Designation inside the Abyss?!”

“Divine’s Designation? What even is that? Is it something you can eat? Who said I messed with it? Did you crawl into my head and check for yourself? I’m the one who should be arguing with the Sky God! I got snatched up out of nowhere and thrown into the Abyss! How was that supposed to be my choice?!”

“Don’t play dumb! You conspired with the sorcerer Lankart and—“

Feruel suddenly clapped a hand over her mouth, as if realizing she’d said too much.

“…No. Talking to a savage is foolish! I shall not be deceived!”

“Deceived? Are you calling the plea of an innocent lamb deception? Since when did your god become so heartless?”

“Do not defile the name of God! Your actions have already made everything clear!”

“I’m telling you, it wasn’t me! I think we have a bit of a misunderstanding here. How about we just sit down and talk for a moment?”

“That will not be necessary!”

“Why not? Isn’t the ability to communicate one of the most sacred powers granted to humanity? Isn’t that what your scriptures say? If it’s such a sacred power, shouldn’t we use it as much as possible?”

“That’s also the method most favored by the Devil! I have no need to speak with you!”

With that, Feruel kicked off the ground and leaped high into the air.

It looked like she’d just given a light push, but her body soared effortlessly.

Before I knew it, she was back at the entrance to the street, pointing her finger at me.

“This servant shall retreat for today, but do not forget! There is always an eye watching you!”

“Ugh, creepy. Who lurks around and watches people like that? Are you a pervert? If you’re going to keep watching me, why not just be honest and have a proper conversation? There are plenty of empty houses around here, so let’s just go inside and–”

Feruel covered her ears tightly and ran off without looking back.

I called after her desperately, but my voice didn’t penetrate the holy veil protecting her ears.

Tch.

What a shame.

I could have read her thoughts a little more.

My Mind Reading only works on humans.

Since the Saintess is human, I can read her thoughts.

But I can’t directly steal a glimpse of the future she sees.

It’s like how, even if the truth exists in the world, not every human can perceive it.

On top of that, the foresight possessed by the Saintess of Steel is especially difficult to read.

That’s why I wanted to gradually draw information out of her through conversation… but wow, she’s well-trained.

Moments like these remind me how unfair the world is.

I have no power, so I have to scrape by using my wits and every trick I can think of just to survive.

Meanwhile, they’re just born with the power of fate and they aim it directly at me, even though I didn’t do a damn thing.

This is what it feels like to be caught up in a natural disaster—unavoidable and overwhelming.

But for her to come and warn me directly… that means I can be certain now.

The Golden Lord has reached the realm of the Divine.

I chewed over that thought for a while before casually strolling down the street again.

She warned me about “spreading chaos” or whatever, but who cares?

I don’t even know what “chaos” means to them.

It’s like saying ‘Don’t step on a landmine’ without telling the person where the landmine is.

At that moment—

The shadows shifted.

Something darted along the shadows of buildings, its red eyes gleaming as it scanned the area.

It was none other than Tyr.

With a chilling aura radiating from her, she approached me, eyes locked onto something that had been here moments earlier.

Her sharp, intense gaze was so fearsome that it made my hair stand on end.

“Huh? Tyr? What are you doing here? Didn’t you say you hated the sunlight and wanted to stay inside?”

“I felt… deeply perturbed.”

Tyr murmured in a cold, eerie voice.

“An unbearable sensation clawed at me like I could not stand to share the same ground as it. It felt as though something was howling for me to crush it, kill it, and drink its blood. Tell me… did you see anything here?”

There was.

Just a moment ago, Saintess Feruel had been here to warn me.

If she’d stayed a little longer, I could’ve seen the answer to the childish question, “If a Saintess and a Progenitor fought, who would win?”

Oh well. I’m curious, sure, but I don’t want to sit through weeks of them fighting.

Feigning innocence, I glanced around.

“Well, it’s just me here now and it’s definitely not me you’re talking about, right?”

“O-of course not! It was an entirely different, deeply unpleasant sensation, one utterly distinct from you and the others. Are you certain you saw nothing?”

“I didn’t notice anything. Did someone stop by to give me a blessing or something? How about this—Tyr, do you want to wash me in darkness or something?”

“Wa-wash you?”

Tyr hesitated for a moment.

What?

Is it really that weird to be covered in darkness?

｢The darkness is a part of me. Using it to wash him… he must not understand, but it is admittedly… a little… embarrassing.｣

“Wait, never mind. Come to think of it, blessings are a good thing, right? Forget it. Let’s just keep moving.”

“Hold still.”

Darkness swirled around me, draping me like a cloak.

Tyr’s darkness brushed against me like a breeze with no particular texture, but maybe because I’d just read her thoughts, it felt a little strange.

The darkness might blind the “Eyes of Fate” for a while, but it won’t last long.

There’s no reason to stall.

Let’s keep moving.

“Tyr, how about we go for a little walk? I know you hate sunlight, but I’ll hold an umbrella for you.”

“W-What– Cough?”

Caught off guard, Tyr flinched. She gave a small cough and extended her hand.

“I do not particularly want to… but I shall allow it, in consideration of your honor. Lead the way.”

“Look forward to it. I’ll make it a walk you’ll never forget.”

“Hoho. So full of confidence. Just what is it you plan to show me to make such a bold promise?”

I took her hand gently and accepted the umbrella.

As I stood by her side, I smiled.

“A cornfield.”

***

Corn is more like a reed than a tree. It grows as tall as it can, blindly absorbing nutrients from the ground and hoarding its fruit in a tightly sealed husk.

It’s undoubtedly a greedy organism– though not as greedy as the humans who snatch and eat it.

As we approached the cornfield, a man raised his hand and shouted at us.

“Stop right there! This area is under the management of the Dominarch’s Drum Trading Company. No one is allowed to approach any further aside from him!”

“Oh, come on, boss. I haven’t eaten since yesterday. I’m starving. I just want to grab one ear of corn. There’s so much of it, surely one ear won’t matter, right?”

I approached him with the most pitiful expression I could muster.

But the man was unmoved by my award-worthy performance and waved me off.

“If you’re going to steal, then do it like a proper Dhole from the outskirts. Snatch a little at a time! No one besides the Drum Trading Company is allowed in this central—“

“Monopolizing food?! Filthy bourgeois scum! Perish! Stun Strike!”

I darted forward and struck his neck with a knife-hand chop.

The surprise attack made him cough and gasp, glaring at me as he staggered.

“Ku-cough! Haaack! You coward…!”

Huh. He didn’t go down in one hit.

What a hassle.

“Stun Punch! And for the record, I keep hitting until they’re actually unconscious. Just give up and pass out already, okay?”

I explained kindly as I bashed his head.

The poor, well-meaning guard of the Drum Trading Company, tasked with protecting the cornfield and preventing anyone from turning into a homunculus, fell to the ground under the barrage of blows.

｢Khak… You bastard… Just wait. Once I catch my breath, I’ll call every single member of the company! You won’t get away with this!｣

Yes, bring them all. That’s exactly what I want.

I gracefully continued walking through the cornfield, brushing aside the corn stalks to make a path.

“Tyr, shall we go?”

“Hu. He still seems conscious, though.”

“Leave him be. No need for someone as elegant as you to dirty your hands with such an ugly affair. I’ll handle it.”

“Fufu. I shall leave it to you, then.”

Tyr chuckled with amusement and followed me as we strolled through the cornfield.

Each time a corn leaf brushed against Tyr’s head, I pushed it aside for her.

It earned me some points, as Tyr covered her mouth to hide a quiet laugh.

“Shall I pick one for you?”

“It is not something we can consume, but I would not mind taking a look.”

I snapped off an ear of corn, peeled away the layers of husk, and exposed the kernels within.

No matter how many soft layers corn wraps itself in, such fragile resistance only aroused the human urge to conquer.

One by one, I ripped away the husks until I revealed the tender flesh of the corn.

The kernels were plump and full, a picture-perfect example of corn.

“It is a bountiful harvest it seems.”

“The kernels look like they’re about to burst. Shall we have a taste?”

Freshly harvested corn tastes sweet even if eaten raw.

I bit into the corn produced by the Golden Lord.

As expected, the taste was phenomenal.

It was on a completely different level from the Chimera Beans produced in the Military State.

Those beans sacrificed flavor for practicality, but this corn excelled in both quantity and taste.

This too, must be the majesty of the Golden Lord… If only it weren’t for the curse attached to it.

As I savored the taste, Tyr’s face went pale and she shouted.

“Hu! Did you not tell us not to eat it?!”

“It’s fine. Eating a little won’t kill me. It won’t even be digested properly. Besides, my body isn’t part of the Fallen Dominion anyway.”

“But still…”

“It’s fine, trust me.”

If anything, it might even be necessary to consume it to resonate with the Golden Lord, even if just a little.

As Tyr’s face filled with worry, I calmly chewed the corn and swallowed it.

My freeloading stomach didn’t even bother to check what it had just received– it immediately began the digestion process.

True altruism in action.

After swallowing, I spoke honestly about my impressions.

“It’s delicious, but it should be eaten quickly. Corn loses its flavor after it’s harvested.”

“It has not been harvested yet, has it?”

“It’s the same as being harvested. The Golden Lord is an alchemist. To make this much corn, he would have needed ingredients. Just like corn absorbs nutrients to produce crops, the Golden Lord must have drawn all the energy from this land to create this field.”

The soil had completely dried up, crumbling into dust.

The land wasn’t just barren– it was Dead with a capital D.

Magic accelerates natural phenomena and alchemy is the use of magic to transform matter.

The Golden Lord must have condensed the months-long process of growing corn into a single moment through alchemy.

“Even though the corn is still on the stalk, it’s no different from being discarded on the ground. Not even Chimera Beans could grow in soil like this, where there’s no water or nutrients.”

Hector must be aware of this.

Even if they needed to harvest the corn quickly, they hadn’t.

Why?

I already know the answer.

I read it from his thoughts.

I also understand why he said he needed one more day.

Tyr glanced around the area, murmuring softly.

“What a baffling existence. What exactly is this Golden Lord?”

“Tyr, do you know anything about the Divines?”

The question came out of nowhere, but Tyr didn’t dismiss it.

Instead, she pondered it seriously. After searching through her memory, she gave an answer.

“Divines… I have heard of them. The Sanctum makes it their mission to eliminate them.”

“Have you ever seen one?”

“I have tried to track one down before, but it was difficult to even guess their nature. The descriptions were vague and contradictory and no one agreed on what they looked like.”

“Then I’ll tell you. Divines are gods who have reached a higher truth, a higher Axiom if you will.”

Tyr reacted with a small hum of interest.

Her reaction wasn’t big, but it was clear.

It’s always satisfying to see someone give proper feedback.

“And they’re also human.”

This time, she was slightly surprised, but she didn’t interrupt me.

She truly was a good listener.

“Tyr, remember when I told you about Unique Magic? Unique Magic is the extension of one’s Spiritual World.”

“I remember.”

“But there are two ways that extension can happen: object extension and phenomenon extension.”

I raised my fingers as I explained.

“If someone’s Spiritual World is related to an object or its function– like Maximilien’s gears– then their extension applies to a specific target. Their power becomes absolute, but only over that target.”

If you mess with the target, their Unique Magic loses its effect.

I once jammed tiny gears between Maximilien’s gears and sealed his weapon.

“If a Spiritual World is related to a phenomenon, then it’s the opposite. When altering the rules of a certain range, it doesn’t wield as much absolute control. However, within the space it governs, the rules are overturned — and it applies to everything in that space.”

This is the case for Rocket and Peru.

Rocket turns steel within a certain range into explosives, while Peru accelerates the disintegration of all matter.

It’s difficult for them to specify a single target.

That’s because what they’re changing is a rule.

My ability is also ambiguous in this context.

Even if I steal someone’s power, I can only add a slight influence to its tendencies, not override it.

“However, there is no Unique Magic that can directly alter another person’s body. The body is a tiny world itself, completely isolated from the outside. It is, in itself, the most powerful form of Unique Magic and Qi guarantees absolute protection of it. If mana is the extension of a Spiritual World, then Qi is the extension of the body. That’s why even Unique Magic struggles to directly influence armor or weapons reinforced with Qi.”

“That is why old knights were able to fight on equal footing with evil mages, was it not?”

“Yes. The old adage that Qi Art repels magic isn’t entirely wrong.”

This quickly turned into an advanced lecture on “Qi and magic.”

It’s the kind of theoretical content that would bore most people, but Tyr seemed genuinely intrigued.

Truly, older students make for the best learners.

They understand how precious learning is.

“To say that one cannot affect another’s body… That is the same explanation you gave when talking about the Homunculus Dilemma, correct?”

“You remember it well. That’s why I said only the bodies of the dead can be transformed by relying on another’s mana. Even if they aren’t technically dead, any body that has lost its resistance is practically as good as dead.”

“Then how does that relate to Divines? Are they beings who have overcome that limit?”

I shook my head.

For Divines, such a trivial issue isn’t even a concern.

Sure, they could use their power to kill a single person, but that would be like using a butcher’s cleaver to kill a chicken…

No, it’s more like using a guillotine to execute an ant.

“But there is a certain type of Unique Magic. The Spiritual World of the human who possesses this magic is their own unique concept… but at the same time, it embodies a universal Axiom that permeates this world. Such Axioms exist even without Unique Magic, so their power naturally resonates with the world.”

Not life and death, but the criteria that separates them.

Not dignity, but the belief that upholds it.

Divines trample on the small wishes that humanity desperately tries to protect.

“The target of their power is everything in existence. The range of its influence is the entire universe. There is no time limit. Even if the user dies, the effect remains because it existed before the user was born and will continue to exist even after their death.”

Something that predates humans.

Something that exists regardless of humanity’s existence.

“Those are the Divine: Magic that has reached divinity.”

Before the great truth, even humans — who call themselves the lord of all things— are nothing more than leaves blown by the wind.

And… before the truth, humanity faces a new challenge.

“This leads us to a new question. If humans are also a part of this world… If they are one of the many components subject to the grand rules of this world…”

I slowly walked forward, parting the corn stalks in my path.

Tyr, as if hypnotized, followed me without a word.

After passing through several stalks, I sensed it.

I had reached an unseen boundary.

This is it.

The Golden Palace where the Golden Lord resides…

It was right here, in this cornfield.

“What exactly is a body?”

The moment I pushed aside the next stalk of corn, a sharp blade came flying straight for my neck.