Shiomi practically sprang up from his seat and stumbled back a few steps.
He had always had a faint, nagging sense about his origins, but hearing the answer laid bare through Taigong Wang's mouth still hit him like a shock.
"Lucifer? That… fallen angel?"
As if asking the obvious on purpose, Shiomi pressed again, his eyes flicking to Morgan.
Morgan silently shook her head, telling him without words that Taigong Wang was not fabricating this.
"Your reaction is perfectly natural." Taigong Wang beckoned, signaling for Shiomi to sit back down. "But can you truly say you had not even the slightest premonition?"
"…"
Shiomi fell silent.
It was not as though he had felt nothing.
During the struggle to stop the Incineration of Humanity, he had dreamed more than once of visions that felt like revelations.
Sometimes it was a thin, distant rebuke. Other times it was a kind of forgiveness that demanded repentance.
All of it traced back to a certain god.
"So, by your account, my beloved disciple was not created by Lady Nüwa alone. Rather, it was the result of certain causes and effects that led to this outcome?" Scáthach asked in his stead. "Answer me, Taigong Wang. What exactly has my beloved disciple been made to carry, to be pushed this far, even to the point of ascending the seat of a god?"
"Scáthach, there is no need to hurry. Allow me to explain it one step at a time." Taigong Wang shook his head lightly. "Then let us begin by returning to the Incineration of Humanity. Lord Tenkei should already know it was not solely the work of the Demon King Goetia. Behind the entire event was the shadow of the god Goetia worshiped."
"I had an inkling," Shiomi said. "When I read the contents of the Tablets of Destiny in the Uruk Singularity, there were passages that seemed to suggest Goetia had heard a revelation."
"And what did you think?" Taigong Wang asked.
"Judging from the outcome, Goetia alone could have carried out the plan without much difficulty. Yet he still prayed to a god, and received a response." Shiomi lowered his gaze. "In effect, that gave the Incineration of Humanity the endorsement of divine authority. If Goetia had truly succeeded, the new world would probably have exceeded even his own expectations."
"Of course." Taigong Wang nodded. "It would have been a world where the divine radiance never fades."
Shiomi let out a breath that sounded almost like a laugh. "Don't joke. A world where divine radiance never fades means a world still ruled by divine order. Even if it takes a different shape, even if a new humanity overcomes death, it's still just a replay of the Age of Gods. I've already seen that in the Olympus Lostbelt."
"It is not the same." Taigong Wang shook his head. "Olympus was a pruned phenomenon. The world Yahweh would grant Goetia, however, could become a new compiled phenomenon."
"Even so…" Shiomi pressed his lips together. "I could never accept that kind of 'order.'"
Taigong Wang gave a small nod. "Good. Lord Tenkei truly is the kind of person I expected. Lady Nüwa's hopes were not misplaced."
"Then what does any of this have to do with Lucifer?" Shiomi still sounded lost.
"Because the first to rebel against Yahweh, seeking to deny a world that stripped humanity of its freedom, was Lucifer," Taigong Wang said quietly. "But unfortunately, Lucifer failed. In the end, even his very existence was shattered."
"Still, it was not entirely in vain. Lucifer's desperate resistance made it impossible for Yahweh to interfere so casually in the human world again."
Shiomi fell silent.
He was thinking.
"So Lucifer wounded the god he once served… or perhaps…" Artoria pressed, unable to help herself.
They were all intensely curious.
After all, this was tied directly to the mystery of Shiomi himself.
"You could call it a grievous wound," Taigong Wang said, "but since he was not killed, recovery was inevitable. The real problem is this: if Yahweh were to interfere in Goetia's plan, by the time the other gods beyond the Outer Sea realized what was happening, the planet would already have completed its re-creation."
The implication was clear.
Lucifer's rebellion had drawn the attention of many other mythic gods to this matter.
Even Yahweh could not simply ignore their obstruction and proceed with re-creation.
In the end, everything returned to the original stalemate. Only Goetia himself could carry out what the Lord had permitted.
"Simply stopping Goetia would not have been enough. To completely negate Yahweh's creation, Lady Nüwa used the remnants of Lucifer as a foundation and, after a long absence, molded a brand-new human from clay." Taigong Wang looked at Shiomi. "That human is you. Lady Nüwa hoped that you would continue what Lucifer began, thoroughly deny the order of Yahweh, and protect a world that belongs to humanity."
Shiomi let out a helpless smile. "Lady Nüwa really does… love all of humanity."
"She is the Earth Mother who created humankind. It would be strange if she did not love her own children," Taigong Wang replied.
"But up to this point, the only deity connected to my husband's birth and path has been Lady Nüwa," Morgan interjected. "If that is the case, then why did Odin take action?"
"It was not only Lady Nüwa who opposed Yahweh's actions," Taigong Wang said evenly. "After she decided on this course, she contacted the chief gods of various mythologies. Some of those who cared about humanity joined the plan, making it more stable and feasible. Among those measures was using Mooncell to guide the process."
At that point, the conclusion was obvious.
The completed plan, along with the newly created "human," had been sent to Mooncell.
After performing vast calculations and recognizing the validity of the outcome, Mooncell naturally became the executor of the plan.
"So being thrown into the Land of Shadows was the very first step of it all?" Shiomi asked again.
"You could put it that way." Taigong Wang nodded thoughtfully. "As Lady Nüwa said, the gods did not agree on how you should be raised. Odin insisted that Scáthach, who never truly died and has long remained in the Land of Shadows, should take responsibility."
"After all, I inherited the Primordial Runes and have trained countless heroes." Scáthach spread her hands, clearly pleased. "And unlike Chiron of Greek myth, who is long since fixed upon the Throne, I remain active. In other words, I was the ideal choice for a mentor."
Taigong Wang laughed heartily. "Ha ha! Scáthach, you are quite spirited. But you are not wrong. In truth, there was no better candidate. Do you have any objections to the arrangement?"
"Hardly." Scáthach replied with deliberate composure. "Once this matter is resolved and you return, Taigong Wang, be sure to convey my gratitude to Odin. And to Lady Nüwa as well."