전생검신 95권 20화

I was totally taken aback by Solomon’s words.

“What…? Are you seriously saying that you’re a human… from Earth?”

“……”

Solomon remained silent for a moment before suddenly cracking a smile.

“If you want, I can show you my former self.”

Swoosh!

In that moment, as Solomon wiped his face, his skeletal appearance vanished, revealing the stunningly handsome visage of a young man.

“How do I look?”

With hair and eyes as red as rubies and skin as flawless as white jade, his beauty was so striking that even the most ordinary woman would have her heart flutter just by looking at him!

Having seen such an artificially crafted appearance multiple times through Fuxi, I stared at Solomon’s beauty, feeling utterly numb.

“So that’s just a front you conjured with magic.”

“Oh. Looks like you really understand what a god is. Ever seen someone similar to me?”

“I couldn’t care less about that artificial facade. I’m just curious how a species that didn’t even exist in the past became the emperor of the Demon Empire in the early universe.”

“It’s not hard to explain, but there are so many ears here. Mind if I expel those folks first?”

“Just don’t kill them.”

“Then.”

Snap!

[Kraak.]

[You rascal, Solomon…]

[I’ll have my revenge.]

Just as Solomon snapped his fingers, the 72 Demon Gods surrounding us were grabbed by the same bizarre hand that had expelled Astaroth, and they were sent flying to another dimension without a whimper. Seeing them all vanish under Solomon’s command left me astonished.

“You’re quite the magician. Even though those guys aren’t the true essence of gods, they still have apostolic power. I can’t believe you expelled them so easily…”

Solomon waved his hand dismissively.

“Don’t flatter me; it’s not that great of a trick that my face is turning red. Could such a trivial skill possibly compare to the feat of returning alive after unlocking your seal in front of an Outer God?”

“……”

“Oh, by the way, it looks like Belial is still around. He was sealed with me, but seems to have broken free… I should put him to sleep for a bit.”

“Belial?”

As soon as Solomon finished speaking, he made a downward gesture with his hand.

Boom!!

With that, a massive tremor shook the entire planet. The rumble faded after a moment, and as it quieted down, Solomon withdrew his hand, wearing a wry smile.

“He’s my most loyal subordinate, the only one of the 72 who remained by my side. He is currently sealed in the center of this planet, but thanks to you, he has come back to life.”

“Wait… are you saying this planet itself is Belial?”

“That’s right. It’s not that unusual for the Demon Gods that roam the universe.”

“Hmm…!!”

It was astonishing. I’d heard rumors that a god was sealed in this bizarre Demon Planet, but to think the planet itself was Belial! If I hadn’t unlocked the seal of the Outer God, I would never have known this until the end of the universe.

“Now, can you tell me how you managed to unlock the seal of the Outer God?”

“……”

I stared hard at Solomon before replying.

“I can tell you, but why would I explain it to you? It seems like I wouldn’t gain anything from it.”

“My, my! Is that how it is? I thought you’d transcend the worldly allure, but you really are quite the rebel against the Outer God.”

“If I were above worldly allure, I wouldn’t have even approached you to unlock your seal in the first place.”

“Heh heh. Fair point. The benefactor who lifted my seal is now in front of me. I really should be repaying you.”

Solomon, who looked like a beautiful young man but spoke like an old man, chuckled.

“How about this? You become the new emperor of this Demon Empire, and I will be your advisor and elder. That way, I can repay you.”

“Hmm…”

“Anyway, since the loyalty of the 72 Demon Gods has shifted to you, if you just accept this proposal, this massive power will be yours at once.”

That was an enticing offer—becoming the ruler of one of the four great powers of the universe, the Evil King of the East! In some ways, that could mean holding authority even greater than that of a god. At the very least, I’d gain overwhelming negotiation ability among mortals.

But with my extensive negotiation experience, I sensed that the essence of his proposal was off and bluntly replied.

“I don’t need it!”

“Oh? You don’t need it?”

“To you, a Demon Empire or Demon Gods aren’t all that important, are they? You plan to hand over just the outer shell and keep the real treasures hidden for yourself?”

“……”

“What I want is for you to speak honestly about all your secrets. That’s my demand—swear it in your name.”

Once I obtain Chi You’s body, I won’t need to look back at this time and space!

The existence of the Everlasting Evil King is irrelevant!

What I truly needed was Solomon’s information.

At that, Solomon narrowed his eyes and let out a humph.

“You’re not so easy to deal with… to throw that request right at me. But then again, someone who values mere shells certainly wouldn’t have had the opportunity to negotiate with an Outer God.”

“What’s the answer?”

“Alright. I promise to reveal my secrets openly, swearing in the name of Solomon. This will be my way of repaying the debt for having you lift my seal.”

Yes!

He swore it in his name!

I chuckled and got to the main point.

“Now tell me. Why do you have a human body, and what secrets do you hold?”

“Hmm… where should I start from…”

After pondering for a moment, Solomon opened his mouth.

“I was originally just an ordinary human from Earth. I was merely very interested in magic. The only unusual thing about me was that I was a prince of some kingdom and conducted the Thousand Sacrifices to connect with the gods of the Otherworld in the process of inheriting the throne.”

“Thousand Sacrifices?”

Solomon nodded and said.

“I was born as the son of King David of Israel and succeeded to the throne. But I thought, just inheriting the throne would mean living the life of a mortal. As someone who studied magic and knew how vast and magnificent the hidden world was, I didn’t want to end my life as a mortal.”

“So?”

“So, I sought to transform the very process of inheriting the throne into a demon ritual, to contract with the god. That was the purpose of the Thousand Sacrifices.”

“……!!”

I could understand Solomon’s words now.

The more powerful a ritual’s symbolism, the easier it is to call forth a mighty god—that’s the law of magic!

Solomon, fully aware of that rule, aimed to leverage the royal succession itself into a maximum gain.

“But no matter how grand and extravagant the ritual, there are limits to what a mortal can conduct. No matter how hard I tried, how could I summon a high-level god?”

“Luck was on my side. I had successfully summoned the Dead Sea Scrolls beforehand.”

“Dead Sea Scrolls?”

“They’re the demon grimoire of the Otherworld. An artifact that allows direct communication with the world of Angels! Thanks to those scrolls, I was able to offer a thousand sacrifices directly to the angelic world.”

“……!!”

My eyes sharpened at Solomon’s response.

“This guy… Are you saying you sacrificed a thousand humans?”

“That’s right. That level of offering should be expected, don’t you think?”

“You scoundrel!!”

I could never forgive him for that human sacrifice!

Just as I was about to unleash my fury, I felt it subsiding at Solomon’s next words.

“To call it a human sacrifice, strictly speaking, is a bit misleading; I was merely relocating them to the Otherworld.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Solomon shrugged.

“Heh… the world of Angels refers to the world of the World Tree. If I supply a thousand humans through the roots of the World Tree, they will perish in this world, but they will be resurrected as new ‘humans’ in the world beyond the World Tree.”

“……?!”

“Anyway, in this world, when humans die, their souls just end up as food for the ruler, so isn’t that rather kind? They may be under the control of the angels, but they likely lead somewhat happy lives.”

“No way…?”

Piecing together my existing knowledge with Solomon’s words, I realized something.

“Are you saying the world you’re referring to is the one ruled by the Sephiroth?”

“Oh. I had my suspicions, but you understood that. You really are someone who has negotiated with an Outer God.”

No doubt.

The ‘angelic world’ he speaks of is the very world of the [Sephiroth] that I’ve visited!

The realm ruled by the World Tree!

I spoke cautiously.

“So… what did you gain in exchange for transferring a thousand humans to the world of the World Tree via the Thousand Sacrifices?”

“That world, I was able to contract with the Creator God of the Sephiroth.”

“……!!”

“My rewards from that creator god were a total of three. The first is the crown of Sophia, the true virtue of wisdom. In fact, it’s what allowed me to become the king of wisdom and the emperor of the Demon Empire.”

“What is that?”

Buzz

As Solomon summoned a translucent, crown-shaped form above his head and stroked it, he spoke.

“I can use this crown of Sophia to access and share all the magical knowledge accumulated in the World Tree in real-time. With that alone, I could become the mightiest magician among mortals.”

“Oh.”

“The second is the right to summon entities from the Sephiroth to serve as my guards.”

“……”

“My last reward is the right to summon the power of Ain Soph Aur exactly once. Quite a hefty amount, don’t you think?”

“… That’s insane. Even Hermes, the god of magic, didn’t receive so much. What’s going on?”

I could only be astonished by Solomon’s words. If I were completely clueless, I might have brushed it off, but knowing the world of the Sephiroth made me realize just how immense the rights Solomon had obtained were.

Ain Soph Aur!

That [Primordial Light] holds the power from the moment the universe was born, and I had been obliterated by the Commissioner Abraxas who summoned Ain Soph Aur in the blink of an eye. Even the power that erased me was just a tiny fraction of that, making Ain Soph Aur undoubtedly one of the strongest powers in the universe.

Solomon stated.

“I also don’t know why the Creator God of the Sephiroth bestowed so much upon me. I only felt that he had an unaddressed obsession with the world we inhabit… it seems he intended to use me for something.”

“……?”

“Anyway, I used the three rewards gained from the Thousand Sacrifices to reign as a powerful archmage, not envious even of the Demon Gods, for a long time. However, as I progressed as a mage, my desire for greater heights intensified, and I found the best way to satisfy that longing.”

“What is it?”

“Baek Woong, have you ever thought about it? The age of mankind appears long by the standards of mortals, but it’s actually the very end of the universe’s timeline. I’ve often lamented being a late-born species.”

“… So what? We can’t turn back time… Ah?”

I stopped mid-sentence, realizing something.

Solomon smiled brightly.

“I wanted to turn back to the universe’s infancy and gather power for trillions of years. So, by offering the right of the third—a single light of the [Ain Soph Aur]—I ascended to the seat of god and violated the taboo that leads to the past of the [Great Cycle].”

“What… did you just say?!”

W-What kind of madness is this?!

If true…

“Are you saying you turned the [Great Cycle] back to the past?!”

“No. I just played a trick. I didn’t turn the cycle back; I used the god seat.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“The god seat… is a place that can be deemed the homeland of the highest-ranked gods, which has a unique trait. Specifically, it’s pure eternity itself that is unaffected by the flow of any time or space.”

“I know that too. What does that have to do with turning the [Great Cycle] back?”

Solomon smiled as if he had expected my confusion.

“Think carefully. The [Great Cycle] rotates eternally without any defined limit. But how can the god seat be unaffected by the rotation of that cycle?”

“……?”

“The answer lies in the center of the rotation; the eye of the storm, where the god seat exists. Because of that, if one were to enter the god seat and come back out, they could reach the past of the [Great Cycle] without facing the backlash of fate! This is because you’d be shifting along the axis instead of climbing against the rotation!”

“Um… Can that… be done?”

“It can. And here I am, aren’t I?”

“But didn’t you say turning the [Great Cycle] back is taboo? How did you survive without getting killed by the Outer Gods?”

When I said this in disbelief, Solomon shook his head.

“You truly don’t get it at all. That I entered the god seat with the light of Ain Soph Aur means that in that moment, I acquired the authority to reincarnate as a supreme god. I was no longer a human; I could become the highest-ranked god. The god seat is essentially a cradle where new gods can be birthed, where the seat of gods is stored.”

“And then?”

“I sacrificed that authority and went to the past of the [Great Cycle]. This is beyond equivalence in exchange; even if I violated the taboo, it means the Outer Gods have no justification to touch me. I genuinely believe this is the only way that a mortal could traverse to the past of the [Great Cycle].”

“……!!”

Finally, I understood Solomon’s words and felt trepidation.

“You madman! You gave up the power of a higher god just to focus on crossing the Great Cycle?! What were you thinking…?!”

Indeed, that method could allow survival even after violating the taboo.

But why?

“The priorities were completely reversed!”

The power of a higher god is no joke. It literally means a being that can control the whole universe, capable of wielding forces that could manipulate at least a galaxy. No matter how many trillions of years a mere mortal archmage might cultivate, the likelihood of reaching even the intermediate threshold of a higher god is exceedingly low; thus, Solomon’s actions could only be deemed as glaringly absurd.

Responding to my words, Solomon chuckled.

“Not all was lost. During my time in the god seat, I gained a lot of knowledge.”

“……”

“And I have no regrets because I wanted to reach a level beyond that of a higher god. After pursuing that level and coming to this past, I built the Demon Empire and ruled over it, believing I had accumulated enough power before challenging the path of reincarnation.”

I caught a hint of something in Solomon’s words and asked.

“… You mean to say… that the infamous Galactic Empire didn’t collapse because it sought to expand beyond the stars, drawing the gods’ ire, like the legends say, did it?”

“Heh, do you really think that? No matter how much a civilization develops, the spatiotemporal nature of the universe is absolutely infinite. Even if the speed of a civilization’s expansion exceeds that of the universe itself, at that point, the Outer Gods would merely broaden the universe’s boundaries.”

“……!!”

“The collapse of the Demon Empire was solely due to my failure in the challenge for [Qualification] during my attempt at the reincarnation path.”

Hearing the truth behind the fall of the Demon Empire left me dumbfounded.

The notorious galactic empire fell just because some Sephiroth mage’s excessive desire for ascendance?

It was beyond my comprehension.

“The reason the Outer God observer sealed you was surely because he thought you lacked that qualification.”

“Essentially, yes. He put me on a trial, but I failed to pass it, and as a consequence, I was sealed away.”

“And what exactly is this [Qualification] that you wagered everything on?”

“Demiurge.”

Solomon spoke with an uncomfortable tone, almost dripping with regret as he mentioned that name.

“I wanted to obtain the qualification to become the Demiurge. That was the only way to reach Aion…”