Monsters Die When Killed

"Please, don’t overthink it."

The Wind God knew what Su Zhou was about to say as soon as he started speaking. The Divine Being shook his head and laughed helplessly. "The last Fire God was a peculiar aggregate of Elemental Divine Beings. At the end of the Era, he forcibly absorbed the light and heat of all his people, attempting to use that immense power to break through to the Divine Realm and thereby shatter the cycle of Reincarnation."

"But he failed. Even after gathering all the power of the Era of Fire, he still couldn’t break through. The Era of Wind, you see, developed upon the corpse of the Era of Fire. Through the information preserved in the Netherworld Maze, I naturally learned of all that transpired. I would certainly never commit such a foolish act as absorbing the power of my own kind."

"Is that so? You didn’t eat your own people, then..."

Hearing this, Su Zhou couldn’t be sure if the deity was telling the truth, but he could at least confirm one thing: the Wind God knew far more than the Water God. He nodded, a little embarrassed. "I had no idea all your people had perished. That was presumptuous of me. My condolences..."

"That is indeed how it is. And when I said I don’t need to protect my people, it wasn’t because they all perished. It’s because they are already powerful enough not to need my protection."

Nodding slightly, the Wind God "laughed" again. Even though the smile was just a transformation of his mimetic exoskeleton, a lightheartedness radiated from his very Soul. He spoke as he reached a hand out into the air beside him.

Su Zhou’s gaze fixed on the Wind God’s raised arm, and he paused, slightly taken aback.

A tiny moth was perched on the Wind God’s raised finger.

The Wind God gazed at the moth on his fingertip, his eyes filled with loving affection. "No matter the Era—be it the Era of Fire, the Era of Wind, the Era of Water, or the current Era of Earth—they always exist. They are even more long-lived than the sentient Race of the current Era."

"In water, they are the water bugs that chase after algae and plankton. In fire, they are the moths that chase light and heat. In earth, they are the bees, cockroaches, flies, and mosquitoes that swarm the land. They are all the tiny creatures you like, and all the ones you don’t."

"And once the Era of Wind arrives, my people can reclaim their massive bodies and their intelligent Souls amidst the abundant Gales and oxygen... Then, at long last, I will be reunited with *them*, not the simple creatures they are now."

Releasing the moth, the Wind God watched with a smile as a jumping spider leaped from the grass beside the Maze, captured the insect, and dragged it back to its nest. He was not concerned by this in the slightest. His loving gaze was not directed at that single, tiny moth, but at a far greater collective that existed above and beyond it.

Turning his head, the Wind God met Su Zhou’s gaze again and said calmly, "The Wind People will never be exterminated, but wisdom is a gift of fate. It is only during certain Eras of Earth or Water, or the more unique Eras of Thunder, that they are able to possess true sentience. The records left behind by past Wind Gods show that we rarely intervene in the final struggles at an Era’s end. Only the civilizations of Water and Fire, the two Eras most dependent on their environment, will ferociously slaughter and contend with one another."

"Su Zhou, I have no need to worry about protecting my people. So, whether it is the Era of Water or the Era of Earth, I always choose to be an observer. I disguise myself as a commoner of that particular Era to witness its final moments. I have no interest in slaughter, combat, or anything else."

Su Zhou listened to every word the Wind God said with the utmost seriousness.

When the deity had finished, the Giant Dragon nodded slowly and asked with a serious expression, "Insects are indeed one of the most adaptable species. But if the Wind People possess such advantageous characteristics and are unconcerned with worldly strife, then why is there a succession of Wind Gods?"

"And how did the Wind People—the insects—first transform their enormous bodies into such minuscule forms? The insectoid Magical Beasts in the Maze are unbelievably large."

Su Zhou had many questions.

The Wind God had come in person not only for his own purposes, but also to answer Su Zhou’s questions. He replied calmly, "Divine Beings are not immortal or indestructible. The Reincarnation of Eras inflicts tremendous wear on the Soul. As for me, I will likely dissipate in the next Era. Or perhaps the one after that? Anyway, when it’s time to die, you die."

He spoke without a trace of fear for his own death. In fact, Su Zhou thought he could detect a strange sense of ’anticipation’ in his voice. "As for how the Wind People transform... Su Zhou, I know what you did in Naisel City. You attempted to remake the Earth People into a race of your own, one that could adapt to the environment of the next Era. Your method and the one used by a Wind God long ago share a remarkable similarity."

’Mimic Dao!’

In an instant, Su Zhou understood. The reason the Wind People could persist through multiple Eras was because they could use Mimic Dao to adapt to the environment of the coming Era, generation after generation!

The Wind God truly didn’t need to protect his people. He only needed to reawaken at the final hour, at the very end of an Era, and casually modify some insects to ensure the lineage of the Wind People would be passed on.

This was indeed very similar to what Su Zhou wanted to do, but his own ambitions were far greedier. He wanted to create a Race that could preserve its intelligence and endure into the next cycle of Reincarnation. The Wind God’s standards, by comparison, were far, far simpler.

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