368 Ordinary Mortal’s World (1/2)
Any religion would loath heretics far more than any other enemy. Traditionalists would feel that the heretics' explanations of doctrine and new inventions would cause the religion to lose its ”purity and tradition,” needlessly confusing loyal believers.
An analogy would be the most frightening disease back on Earth—cancer. Ordinary cells would mutate and spread at a scary rate. Once the changes within one's body spread to a certain degree, it would be impossible for that person to remain alive. For the ones who battled and defeated cancer, it would put great strain upon their body.
In this world of True Gods, heretics were those with different understandings and explanations of the True Gods' teachings. This could cause changes in a Divine Concept or people's belief.
Some changes were permitted by the True Gods. Sometimes, True Gods themselves would cause these changes while seeking to better understand or develop their Divine Concepts. But that would still cause internal strife, whether large or small, within that True God's church.
Yet some changes would trod upon a True God's taboo. The True God would be furious to the point they directly send down divine punishment.
Back in Sulfur Mountain City, a certain villainous individual (fine, I mean myself) performed an experiment. I successfully brainwashed a demon into making him believe he was a Holy Knight who worshiped the Holy Light. I had this demon cultivate as how Holy Knights normally would, and he actually succeeded in summoning the Holy Light.
Although this demon was instantly vaporized by the Holy Light he had summoned, this very sight alone would be more than enough to make even the most fervent of believers toss their belief in the Holy Light into the trash.
”Holy Light is supposed to be a gift from the God of Holy Light? He even gives Holy Light's mortal enemies, the demons, the power of Holy Light? He's either an idiot, or he's blind. Maybe other Gods are the same as well…”
Gods were supposed to never make mistakes. If they made mistakes, they had no foundational differences from mortals, but Gods were supposed to be venerated, far above the ordinary mortal. Mortals were supposed to try their best to comprehend divine messages delivered in intentionally obscure fashions. That was because if mortals got too close to the Gods and could see them for what they really were, they would naturally lose their fear and respect. So-called ”pure” belief in the Gods wouldn't exist anymore.
Most people were incapable of having pure belief or faith like I did in a single Concept. Their faith forever revolved around a particular God. Even though they themselves were mortals who would definitely make mistakes, they perceived the Gods as forever correct and all-knowing. Only then would the Gods be worthy of them giving the Gods their all.
”On one side are people who give everything about themselves to existences they can't even see clearly. On the other side are powerful existences who pretend to play at divinity. Which side is the more laughable one?”
That was my sarcastic quip at the time. The logic behind it was genuine.
Only very few individuals at the apex of power would have information about the True Gods. Ordinary mortals would only know what their local priests told them.
”True Gods are wise and majestic. They reside in the skies up above and watch the mortal realm while protecting us…”
The incident of ”The Humiliation of Soros” which had happened in the Northlands was proof that there was no foundational difference between Order and Chaos. But this supposed difference between Order and Chaos was the impetus behind the eternal Holy War to begin with. Just this alone had been more than enough to shake the faith of the younger Holy Light believers, including the now Fallen Angel Aivla. If everybody knew that ”True Gods could be easily fooled, and they might not even be smarter than your next door neighbor,” everyone's faith would be shaken from the very foundation.
It was quite easy to guess that revealing this information to everyone would lead to a world-scale destructive result. In the worst scenario, it might even be possible to see meteor showers, a sign of how often the Gods would die off.
The only reason I never exposed this information to the world was because I was uncertain to just how bad the fallout would be if everyone lost their faith. If more than half of all humanity lost their faith in Order, large amounts of Order Gods would die in droves, and the Holy War would be instantly lost.
But when my subordinate Dark Elf Holy Knight sunk into a faith crisis, I considered the topic a while before giving her the information in the hope she would overcome her overreliance on the Gods and create her own path. And together with the information I gave my personal understanding of Law and the secrets of the True Gods.
There's a famous phrase that goes something like this: ”I only told one person but suddenly the whole world knew.” Cough, I should change that phrase to ”If you tell a secret to someone, the secret is no longer a secret.”
In this world, knowledge represented actual power. But this wasn't limited to mages. For Holy Knights, who relied on their faith and devotion as power, knowing more might not be a good thing.
After receiving more knowledge than she could handle, Diana sunk into a more severe faith crisis. She was utterly lost about her past life and future path. Her Soul Imprint shattered, causing her to fall out of Legend rank.
But the most important part was what I had casually said to her.
”Maybe I'm the most devout believer of all. At least, I've never expected the Gods to do anything for me. I don't even believe in the True Gods themselves. I only believe in the Concept of Law, and I'm trying to use Law to improve the world we live in.”
These words echoed in Diana's head every night, like the ringing of a loud bell. After she shared this knowledge with her ”younger sister” Victoria to receive assistance in understanding this knowledge, Diana reconsidered her past way of life and came to a conclusion. Finally, she came to a decision.
”…My disappointment in Dark Elf society where even close family members would kill each other made me abandon Lorci and choose the path of Holy Light to obtain salvation. I hoped the Holy Light would be able to save me and my species, so we could walk out in the open under the sun.
”…When I discovered that Holy Light was only capable of 'cleansing,' which would destroy my species, I saw how Law allowed every single species to live together in peace at Sulfur Mountain City. So I abandoned the path of the Holy Light and desired that this newly born power of Order known as Law could bring us out under the sunlight.
”…When my faith was shaken yet again, in order to return aboveground as well as to search for a way to make my faith steadfast, I researched the Moonlight Goddess's teachings. Yet even though I succeeded in bringing myself out under the sunlight, I was even more confused inside.”
Diana's silver holy sword flickered with changing powers of Order. The shattering of her Soul Imprint allowed her to break free from past restrictions. Her pure and simple mind and heart allowed to reach a state of synchronization with these powers of Order.
From a certain standpoint, this ”subordinate,” who always stood by the side, observing, was my truest disciple who inherited my understanding about the truth of the world.
The fact that Diana became a hero spoken in epics as well as the leader of the entire Dark Elf species in the game's history was evidence that she was an extraordinary individual.
”Ha, His Highness is correct. Whenever I believed in a particular God, it was because of my own selfish desires. My faith had nothing to do with actual devotion. I had pushed my own hopes and goals upon another existence. How is that any different from tossing my responsibilities to others? It's nothing more than escapism.”
In her confusion, Diana somehow managed to recall something I had told her.
”…Rather than asking others for help, it's much better to seek help from yourself. The Gods are too busy to deal with even their own troubles. Rather than pay respect to a God or whatever, why not pay respect to yourself? Indeed, there are many imperfections with the current world, and changing even one part of it is incredibly difficult. But, for some things, if you don't even try, then there isn't any hope at all. At least there's a silver of a chance you'll succeed if you try.”