Vol 3. Chapter 39: You Two Are Family??

“A kingdom that’s rotting from the inside while looking strong from the outside will see its people’s will slowly sink. They pin their hopes on vague, untouchable gods. Back then, the two deities—Continuance and Eternity—each had many believers. Once the rumor spread that ‘one of the two deities is an evil god, that’s why slave uprisings never stop and Marsmo keeps declining,’ the believers on both sides split cleanly and each declared the god worshiped by the other side to be the evil one ruining the nation.” As Isatia spoke, her hands never stopped, sorting the tiles for people and buildings into the third frame.

“So Marsmo fractured over faith. The people who had once stood united turned on each other over doctrine; kin bled against kin; the religious war began. Then, fueled by unending slave uprisings, Marsmo was torn into pieces.” Weaving together the sights in the realm, the clues Aesphyra had provided, and her own knowledge of Marsmo, Isatia laid out a coherent thread.

“As for where those rumors truly came from and who started them—no way to verify. Most likely some among Marsmo’s ruling class let them loose. But the reason they spread so widely probably wasn’t unrelated to them either—they surely fanned the flames.” With that, Isatia placed a few slaves who looked to be plotting something into a corner of the third frame.

Those slaves hid in the dark, scheming while silently watching the Marsmo in the open tear each other apart over faith, kin slaughtering kin—by now the Marsmo themselves were already locked in a death grapple, impossible to separate, heads broken and blood flowing.

Temples burned beyond count; palaces were wrecked; war drove the people from their homes—then the slaves who seized the moment killed them as they fled. Even from the picture Isatia pieced together, you could see it: Marsmo in that age was like reeds shaking in a gale, liable to be uprooted and snapped at any moment.

Which brought them to the scene from before: the gods worshiped inside a Marsmo temple were smashed, and within the temple the murals about “slave uprisings being quelled” had been especially destroyed.

Only then did Vinny realize those murals might have recorded events after the Marsmo civil war began. Since the temple had been built by Marsmo who worshiped Continuance, the legends of the Continuance deity depicted on the walls were intolerable to Marsmo who worshiped Eternity—so they destroyed the murals and toppled the idol.

As for the Ouroboros statue of the Eternity deity standing outside the gate—was it brought there by the Marsmo who worshiped Eternity?

But if the Eternity-worshipers hauled it there, how did they get so careless that they chipped its edges and even dropped one of its claws in the royal palace?? That makes no sense at all??

Then Vinny saw Isatia shift her focus to the fourth frame and begin assembling it.

“The Marsmo who worshiped Eternity and the Marsmo who worshiped Continuance fought without pause.”"

And then?

Vinny didn’t know. He had the vague sense that only Aesphyra and Isatia would know what came after this, because they both held a lot of information he didn’t—like how exactly the Old Tyrelis Empire was destroyed overnight?? What, exactly, was in the Order Spire, and what was that thing that annihilated the Old Tyrelis Empire??^

“They each believed the other had been bewitched by an evil god and that was why war had begun, while they themselves were the true god’s agents. In this age-spanning war, their hatred for heresy outstripped even their hatred for foreign races. Gradually, by the end, many Marsmo even forgot that the people across from them had once been their own.”

“Marsmo had deep foundations, and at the time no nearby civilization could match them. So the war must have dragged on for a very, very long time. By my estimation, at least several decades.” As Isatia spoke, she divided the Marsmo into two camps and set them to slaughter each other amid burning temples and towns—slaves were mixed into the scene as well.,

To strengthen their forces, both sides pardoned many slaves and granted them equal standing, making them fight for their banners. But that inevitably sowed worse rebellions. If a high-status slave plotted an uprising, the damage would be irreversible.

What came next, anyone could imagine. In a war this long, people’s brains get beaten to dog brains; who still cares whether you’re Marsmo or not? They only look at whether you worship their god or not.,

The chaos in Marsmo at the time would rank among the worst in the entire war history of the Tyrelis Continent—the kind that would make even the Old Tyrelis Empire, veteran of campaigns north and south, rise to offer a toast.

During this period, who knows how many slaves rose in revolt again, and how many gained favor and truly submitted to one deity—Eternity or Continuance._

In short, who won and who lost—unknown. But the Tyrelis Continent bled and kept bleeding; that much is certain.

Plague, sickness, death, disorder, fear, homelessness—what else does war ever bring? In the end the unlucky ones—the ones who bear the consequences—are always the laboring masses.

And then?

All of that still isn’t enough to wipe out a civilization by itself—at least not enough to make it vanish with almost no record left behind. So what happened after that?`

What was it that erased Marsmo for good??

Vinny fixed his eyes on Isatia, waiting for her final answer.,

“Whether Marsmo worshiped Eternity or Marsmo worshiped Continuance, both sides discovered a problem amid the war, and they coincidentally pursued the same question: worshiping gods still couldn’t root out the short-life curse on them.”

“Once war has broken out, words come too late. Sometimes stance matters more than right or wrong. What they pondered was: how to make the gods truly favor them??”

“As time passed, the ruling classes on both sides gave up hope of divine favor and formed a further idea, namely...”

“To steal a god’s authority and make it theirs,” Isatia said, enunciating each word.

Aesphyra, hearing this, showed no expression—only a pensive hush.

Vinny, standing behind Aesphyra, stared at her with a face full of shocked uncertainty.

By this point, he understood the subtext.

Isatia had—intentionally or not—already indicated how the Old Tyrelis Empire fell. Combine that with her earlier line that “the Old Empire touched something it absolutely never should have,” and it wasn’t hard to guess: at that time, the Carillian clan had the same idea as Marsmo’s rulers.

Namely, to seize divine power—to take a god’s Divine Authority.

Vinny saw the light.

Which made it obvious what was sealed inside the Order Spire.

It also explained why the Alchemy Demon Pillar, Erunios, attacked the Order Spire and took such interest in what was inside.

Vinny ventured a bold guess: the Order Spire sealed a kind of Divine Authority—one that fascinated the Alchemy Demon Pillar Erunios, a Divine Authority It wished to obtain or to destroy.

And the thing that destroyed the Old Tyrelis Empire overnight was also a kind of Divine Authority. By some unknown method, the Old Empire had grasped a total of two Divine Authorities. They even mastered techniques and knowledge to concretize Divine Authority and to seal Divine Authority. Then, most likely when they tried to deploy and truly control it, something went wrong. The result: most of the empire’s provinces, the capital included, were wiped out.

And Marsmo—perhaps they perished for the same reason: trying to steal Divine Authority??

However, while Marsmo was prosperous, compared to the Old Empire there was still quite a gap in Spirit Soul, magic, and Divine Authority research.

Could Marsmo really do what the Empire did and take hold of Divine Authority? Especially a Marsmo kingdom that had already fractured into sand—could it really be done??

Which brought them to the most crucial step.

Isatia continued arranging the final frame.

“Both sides worked on that topic. But their technical base wasn’t developed, and they lacked experience, so they made little headway. However—”

Isatia’s tone shifted.

“—with the bit of groundwork they had in Divine Authority studies, they blundered into triggering certain mechanisms of Divine Authority.”

“In their minds, shaped over years and years, gods ‘should’ look a certain way. And they had been destroying the gods the other side worshiped—countless temples were dyed red with blood. In the end—”

“—one people, two different deities; both sides continually smashed each other’s idols; decades of unending war—these factors produced a sort of ‘chemical reaction.’ Divine Authority was actually separated.” As she spoke, Isatia pinched between her fingertips two luminous, formless, unnameable motes.

“Not fully separated, though. Each side tore away a portion of the other side’s deity’s authority.”

Vinny stared, eyes wide, as understanding slammed into place.

“The proof is this: if it had been a complete Divine Authority—or two complete ones—the destructive power would not have been so small. It wouldn’t have stopped at erasing a mere Marsmo civilization.”

“Eternity and Continuance—each had fragments of their Divine Authority torn away. Those fragments then combined and acted together, producing a massive Divine Authority reaction that erased every person in the Marsmo kingdom—from slaves to rulers—from the Tyrelis Continent.”

“Just like the Old Tyrelis Empire.”

“But because they were two highly incomplete authorities—and different ones at that—something went wrong. Eternity and Continuance created a space with an extremely slowed flow of time and sent everyone and everything from the land of Marsmo into it—people and buildings alike.”

Right—that also explained why the realm was such a jumble. Everything here had been sucked in by the effect of Divine Authority and arranged at random, which is why it looked so chaotic.

“That’s the whole course of Marsmo,” Isatia placed the last piece, putting a final period on the restoration.

“A lot of points still can’t be corroborated. But this is, to me, the most reasonable explanation—the closest to the truth.”

With that, Isatia lowered her hands.

“BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!!” After a long hush—only the sound of the three of them breathing—the lines across the stone chamber were suddenly flooded with crimson light, like channels filling with water.

“What is—this?” Vinny stared around in astonishment.

At the same time the ground began to tremble. A slit opened slowly in the age-old Contract Gate, then it ground open to both sides.

“It worked?!”

“The truth behind Marsmo’s extinction emerges into the world,” Aesphyra said, gaze steady on Isatia. “A history that by rights should have had no living witnesses—now, the truth stands clear.”

“So this is the deep-buried secret realm?” Vinny’s eyes were strange as he watched the widening gate. He was about to speak when Aesphyra beat him to it.

“Isatia—fall back, now!” Aesphyra called.

Isatia gave no response, as if she hadn’t heard a word.

She turned, looked at Aesphyra with calm eyes—two pairs of violet pupils meeting—and time itself seemed to pause for a heartbeat.

“Aesphyra, I don’t know what your origin really is,” Isatia said suddenly. “My instincts tell me you know far more than I imagined—including certain things about my family.”

With that heavy line, Isatia stepped of her own accord through the open contract door.

Vinny and Aesphyra tried to move forward—and felt resistance.

It was like countless hands had seized them, keeping them from taking even half a step.

The deep-buried secret realm, it seemed, did not welcome those who could not unlock it.

“If it were an ordinary deep-buried realm, that’d be one thing. But Marsmo’s realm was created by Divine Authority. If you go in, your Token will fail,” Aesphyra said, her tone turning very grave. “At that point, no one can guarantee your safety.”

“Aesphyra, do you think I haven’t steeled myself for that?” Isatia said without looking back.

The two of them watched, powerless, as Isatia’s back receded from them farther and farther.

Continuance and Eternity.

Could it be that Isatia planned to rely on this to resolve her strange illness?

But that doesn’t hold water, does it? That thing erased the Marsmo civilization. One misstep and you’re wiped out on the spot. Isatia didn’t seem the reckless type.

Unless—there was another reason??

Vinny couldn’t help the thought.

And then, right before their eyes, once Isatia passed through, the open gate slowly closed.

Vinny and Aesphyra also noticed that on one brick which had previously borne no script, a new name was being traced, stroke by stroke.

They might not know Marsmo script, but they still knew whose name had been added.

Isatia Lanteville.

“This is complete nonsense, isn’t it?” Vinny frowned—then bellowed over his shoulder, “Hey! Buddy! Quit yanking already! The exit’s completely shut! Even if we wanted to go in, we can’t! Take five, yeah? You’ve been dead for who knows how many years—how are you still this stubborn? Quit pulling!”

“...Vinny.”

“What?” Vinny wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but Aesphyra’s tone sounded heavier still.

That wasn’t like Aesphyra.

“The names on the bricks—why is there another one?” Aesphyra said, hesitant.

“Another one??” Vinny looked at the bricks—sure enough, another name had appeared—and found it very strange.

Weird. Wasn’t Isatia the only one who went in? How are there two names??

But neither of them knew Marsmo script; they couldn’t tell whose it was.

Except—

Vinny stared at the second new line of script and felt a faint familiarity.

It sent a chill up his spine—because this was a very strange thing.

He didn’t know Marsmo at all—so how could a string of Marsmo characters feel familiar??

Wasn’t that eerie??

With the hair-raising chill climbing his back, Vinny’s mind whirred to life, and in an instant he understood.

Wait!

Vinny’s eyes flew wide. “That—that should be, barring surprises—my—name.”

“??” Aesphyra looked at Vinny, face a mix of wonder and bafflement.

Feeling her gaze, Vinny swallowed and voiced his guess. “Didn’t Isatia say before that these bricks are carved by family unit? Meaning every slave—unless everyone in his line died but him—gets carved on the same brick. No one escapes.”

“? And what does that have to do with you?” Aesphyra stared at Vinny, puzzled.

“You—I don’t know if you remember this.” Vinny pressed his lips together. “Between me and Isatia, it looks like—maybe—probably—there’s a betrothal our elders arranged!”

“......” Aesphyra fell silent.

“And that betrothal was set by my great-grandmother—the last Saintess of Dawn—and the Tyrel Emperor of the time. Strictly speaking, it’s a marriage contract recognized by both great powers. Valid as valid gets.”

“But that betrothal is basically dead now, isn’t it?? The Tyrel Empire side won’t acknowledge it. But Marsmo people took contracts seriously. They don’t care about ‘acknowledged or not’—they only recognize the contract.”

“If that’s how it’s counted, then I do kind of—count as bound to Isatia?” Vinny said, uncertain.

“No one brings up that betrothal anymore,” Aesphyra said after a pause, suddenly, out of nowhere.

“Yeah, that’s true. But that doesn’t stop the already-turned-to-relics Marsmo from clinging to it, does it??” With the situation urgent, Vinny didn’t notice the oddity in Aesphyra’s tone as he explained.

“But even so, it wouldn’t make me—.” Vinny was about to go on when his face changed. He looked down at himself and saw his body fading bit by bit.

Damn it. What a crow’s mouth he was?!

Vinny’s eyes went wide.

The thing he feared most—really came!