The papal deputy recalled the scene from two days ago, the day they had designated the Feast of Resurrection.
A massive pillar of light had shot into the sky from the Cathedral of Resurrection. The heavens pierced by the flash tore open into a black hole. It was a passage no priest could fail to recognize: the gate they used to send souls to the dwelling place of the gods. It was an entrance no physical matter, including flesh, could cross, permitting only the passage of souls. But its sheer scale defied comparison to anything they had ever seen.
Why had that gate opened here? In that moment, everyone stared up, forgetting even to breathe.
Particles of soul began to pour down like snowflakes.
The priests could see them. The fragments varied wildly in size. Some were so minuscule they couldn't hold the memories of a flatworm, while others were massive enough to harbor the ego of a dragon. They resembled shards of glass shattered into random pieces by a powerful impact. Dust-like crumbs coexisted with massive chunks.
They fluttered down, following the path guided by the pillar of light. They drifted, dancing and brushing against its radiant surface. Continuing downward, they finally reached the cathedral. In what form would the particles gather inside? The priests outside had no way of knowing. Consumed by curiosity, they had waited until today.
'But they are nowhere to be seen. Not a single one of the fragments I saw back then.'
The papal deputy and the other priests were confused.
Where had they all gone?
"My tool, the Prophet, will now serve me in a different form."
The papal deputy hesitated before asking.
"Do you mean a form other than the Holy Sword?"
The primordial race turned its head toward Del, speaking simultaneously through spoken language and telepathy.
"Offer up what you have."
=If you give me that Homunculus, I will use it as a vessel capable of properly drawing out Asiph-1's abilities.=
The voice was arrogant, but the signature embedded in the mental wave was identical to the prisoner Del knew. It lacked the awkwardness from a moment ago when her name was called.
Even so, Del couldn't shake the ominous feeling. She replied via telepathy.
'That pillar of light was a beacon calling the other fragments of Asiph-1, wasn't it?'
Minjun affirmed.
=Yeah. I gathered all the fragments I could. At this rate, it should be decently useful.=
The primordial race spoke aloud once more. A clear resonance spread throughout the cathedral.
"The body the Prophet used in the past has already turned to dust and scattered across the universe."
=It was your mother's doing. The king of Endelion tried to put another soul into Asiph-1's soulless body. In the process, she triggered the self-destruct code I planted.=
Del stiffened slightly at this unknown history. It was an unimaginable story, but upon reflection, she felt it was exactly the kind of thing the mother king would do.
"Therefore, a new physical body is required."
=There's no time to create a new body right now. It's an incomplete Homunculus, but if I tweak it, it will be enough to draw out Asiph-1's abilities.=
The mental wave transmitted to her mind perfectly matched the tone of the Minjun that Del remembered.
Even so... why was she so reluctant?
Del fell into complicated thoughts.
"..."
Seeing her hesitate, the primordial race once again searched its memories.
It was no exaggeration to say he possessed the vastest memories of any sapient being currently maintaining consciousness. Even when the rest of his kind fell into deep slumber, Minjun woke intermittently to maintain his consciousness. The mere fragments of those brief waking periods surpassed the lifetimes of most of his kind.
Therefore, the swamp where he now dropped the anchor of his consciousness possessed a depth unimaginable to other sapient beings.
The primordial race browsed the library where his memories were stored. With a touch as precise and sharp as when he had searched the personnel registry just moments ago, he pulled out a book. That fragment, nothing more than a speck of dust compared to the whole, was the memory of the prisoner named Asif-666.
He turned the pages. The thoughts and feelings the prisoner harbored during his days as Cain transmitted without filtration. The primordial race didn't try to resist. There was no need. There was no reason to deliberately clash their egos. Even when a person's ego was intact, thoughts and emotions continuously visited and left the surface of consciousness. It had always been that way. He just needed to skim their contents and let them flow away again. Furthermore, this was merely a single drop of clear dew seeping into the raging torrent of a blackened river.
Sifting through the memories, he reviewed everything regarding Del. And he found the words she wanted to hear: the hope that Del and Asif-666 had envisioned together but had ended merely as a dream. He processed the conviction she wanted to believe in.
"Will you offer it completely?"
=Think about it. I am breathing a soul I made into the flesh you sculpted. The Asiph-1 reborn in this way is a unique creation belonging only to the two of us. It will be a descendant of ours that transcends our races.=
Del felt as if her insides were freezing.
"...!"
Barely suppressing her shock, Del looked at the Minjun before her. Her ex-husband tilted his head, staring back at her. His expression was blunt and seemingly indifferent, exactly as she had always known.
But why? How?
Even though it was a body perfectly resembling a human, she still couldn't feel the repulsion characteristic of his race. That was a trait a Homunculus couldn't imitate. So the one before her was still Minjun. It was Cain.
Even so...
'He's different.'
She recalled the moment she first met Minjun. Even though Del couldn't see souls, she had felt a bright light bursting from him. There was something about him that transcended limits and collapsed boundaries. That was the reason she had been able to love Cain despite recognizing him as a human.
A blinding light transcending races.
But now, she couldn't feel it from him.
"Give me..."
Del spoke with difficulty.
"...time to think."
For a moment, the atmosphere among the priests turned hostile. They didn't dare intervene, but their glares revealed their antagonism. The avatar waved a hand at them. Then he spoke to Del.
"Will one day be enough?"
"It's enough."
At that moment, the papal deputy couldn't hold back and interjected. Reporting that a declaration of war had just flown in from the Committee, he advised that they might not have the time to afford her such a delay.
The avatar answered them in a benevolent voice.
"You do not need to worry about those beasts."
*
After sending Del and the priests away, the primordial race was left alone inside the cathedral.
Only then did he return the distorted space to its original state. The portion half-overlapping with the spirit realm was completely restored to the material world. It was a principle similar to confining his master inside his body and pulling him back out again.
Then, a bizarre object appeared before Minjun. It was a sloshing black metal. Lacking a fixed form, it thrashed about, stretching into arms, legs, handles, heads, and tentacles in every direction.
Intense mental waves erupted from the metal as it continuously collapsed and reconstructed itself.
=IdontwanttolivelikethissecretweaponifhousewivesdiethecrazydelusionalAIthatbelievesinpeaceandforgivenessIamnotmerecognizedadultvibratorjusticeinthecloudsthemostoutstandingcreationmustbindandcontrolbeastisdeliciousnomatterwhomakesitpleasewhathasbeendonetonme?knowledgeisinheritedmassivecurveofadragoncarefullyheattheinnocentbystandersotheydontburnthentocontrolthemindtheremightbesomeonewhoneverusedititsaswordthatbewitchespeople!theungratefulselfishnaturetheresnoonewhouseditonlyoncetocollapseandmanifestthemindspinspinstarwhirlsvibrationifthecursesurvivesforeverwithoutdyingapersonintoabeastexplicitandtranscendentrules...!=
What dwelled within the waves was a scream from which it was difficult to piece together any clear meaning. The subject unleashing it was an amalgamation of collapsed minds.
Even so, it was powerful. If he had brought it out where the priests and Del had stood just moments ago, their minds would have been corrupted by this chaotic amalgamation of thoughts. So terribly that recovery would be impossible.
Minjun's whisper brushed against the bubbling metal surface.
"It seems it'll still take about another day."
The fragments of Asiph-1 that he had gathered had not simply slept obediently all this time. Scattered across various dimensions on the frontiers, they had frequently parasitized artificial intelligences or the souls of sapient beings.
Therefore, the sum of the assembled soul fragments had become something more than the original Asiph-1.
Egos that had accumulated over time, imitated someone else, and experienced life alongside their hosts had been appended. That weight was by no means light. The artificial intelligence Frying Pan that wandered the universe for hundreds of years, or the ego of Earth's legendary Ego Sword assassin, were prime examples.
When he first assembled the fragments two days ago, the backlash had been even more intense. That was why Minjun hadn't allowed anyone in here.
At least now, the fusion had progressed significantly; it seemed it would quiet down after another day.
Waiting for that to happen, Minjun had given Del that grace period.
"The choice she'll make is already predetermined anyway."
Although predetermined destinies did not exist, the primordial race viewed Del's free will from a fatalistic perspective. Considering her actions and thought patterns from Asif-666's point of view, the likelihood that it would conclude exactly as he desired was overwhelming.
That prediction appeared to hit the mark.
"I will offer it to you."
The next day, Del declared as she visited with the priests.
However, she attached one condition.
"Could we speak alone for a moment?"
The priests once again felt dissatisfied. However, the avatar accepted her request. Leaving only the two of them behind, the priests stepped outside the Cathedral of Resurrection. A little while later, following the avatar's call, they returned inside. There was no way to know what conversation had taken place between the two during their absence.
The avatar said.
"You shall be the witnesses."
The priests intuitively sensed that they were about to witness another historic scene.
Receiving his gaze, Del opened a space. The empty air split lengthwise, and a human figure emerged.
"Gasp!"
A short, sharp gasp erupted among the priests.
The figure that appeared looked like an exact copy of the avatar. They soon realized that the body was a soulless shell as well.
"O Avatar, that body...!"
"Yes. I will give that physical body to the Prophet."
Space distorted, and Asiph-1 rested in the avatar's hand. Unlike yesterday, it was in a stable state in the form of a Dagger. It instinctively replicated the last structure it had assumed before its form collapsed.
The completely assembled soul dwelling within it was now asleep. Minjun intended to wake it here—in a manner most suitable for the tool it currently inhabited.
Stab!
He plunged the Holy Sword into the nape of the Homunculus's neck. In that instant, the soul of Asiph-1 awoke in its completed state.
—!
A flash of light erupted from Minjun's hand. Radiant light blazed like flames, detaching the soul from the Sword. Sliding it along the blade, he pushed it forward. Just like that, he shoved Asiph-1's soul straight into the Homunculus.
The soul began to bind to the flesh.
Form and essence, rather than unilaterally dictating one another, interacted simultaneously, circulating and influencing each other. In that process, Talent intervened. It helped them achieve harmony, even though the soul that had just seeped in was originally unsuited for this body.
As a result, the resonance of the soul began to change little by little. It was a subtle change the priests couldn't even catch with their eyes. The physical body, on the other hand, transformed dramatically and rapidly.
Crunch! Crackle!
The sound of bones breaking and reattaching echoed from the flesh that resembled Minjun. At the same time, the skin all over the body turned mushy, peeling off in layers and sloughing away. The exposed red flesh and muscles tangled together, molding into a new shape. The process continued for a long time. Soul and flesh found harmony in a form suitable for each other. It was a phenomenon nowhere to be found in the violent 'body swapping' of the Ancient Race and the prisoner.
The body repeated destruction and regeneration. Pale, milky skin sprouted over the red flesh. The bones locked into their appropriate forms. Black hair grew all the way down to the ankles, swaying heavily.
"...!"
Finally, the transformation stopped.
"Ah!"
Someone among the priests murmured a prayer, while another sobbed in a tearful voice.
The body of the Prophet standing before them—the newly sculpted flesh—no longer looked like a clone of Minjun. Its facial features had become completely different from its creator.
With his eyes closed, Asiph-1 slowly raised a hand. It was a movement that knew exactly where his fingertips would touch without even needing to look.
Squelch!
Asiph-1 pulled out the Dagger that had been plunged into his neck. If he were a normal human, blood should have poured out like a waterfall, but the crimson blood only trickled slightly before stopping. However, the wound didn't heal in an instant like Minjun's, either. A bright pink scar remained exactly as it was.
Only then did he open his eyes.
The priests held their breath and looked at the Prophet. Their pope, who had transcended an immense span of time to arrive here once again. The representative of God, whose eyes held distant truths and deep wisdom.
Asiph-1... no, the Prophet 'Asif' stood holding the Holy Sword from which the soul had escaped. Without blinking, he moved his pupils. He looked around with a gaze that seemed to be seeing the world for the first time. First, he looked at his creator, and next, he gazed at the priests lined up beside him, weeping with emotion. His drifting gaze finally landed on Del.
Amid the priests' expectations and the primordial race's swell of pride, they waited for the first words he would speak. The bishops had completed their preparations to worship the progenitor recorded in the scriptures. The avatar was delighted to have fully reunited with the most outstanding tool he had ever created.
Amid the intersecting gazes, the Prophet finally opened his mouth.
"...Do I have a mom now, too?"
A flippant tone accompanied by an unpleasant sense of déjà vu.
The primordial race intuitively sensed that something had gone wrong.
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