Chapter 166: First Apostle
"While I am not one to say this… Adequate rest is needed." Nobu explained. "Please make sure she gets enough rest, Ein."
"Don't worry! I have been doing that since the beginning! I might need some help to persuade her, though."
"Call me and I'll help."
Their interaction brought a strange reaction to Filvis. Perhaps due to embarrassment, she became more pushed to rest properly.
It did not take long before the final person arrived within the living room.
"I had to work on some permissions. The enthusiasm of my children regarding mechas lies with you, Nobu."
The goddess of the Hephaestus familia stretched her back before sitting on the couch with Tsubaki.
"It seems like your experiment worked."
"Yeah."
Nobu spread out his hand. With a swipe of his fingers, a pathway to another realm was formed. The other side was filled with vibrant plants and an even richer magic power density.
Then, as if putting a cloth between his fingers, Nobu made a pulling gesture.
There weren't even any signs as their surroundings changed to that of a flower field.
"I wondered if you missed your home, so… here it is."
"...Tenkai."
Artemis was the first one to recognize this place.
"It was like that… you are different from Ouranos." Hephaestus commented. "Are the people of your world this absurd?"
"That's right. The threats that each world faces should scale from its current strength. Tenkai might've been too peaceful for quite a long time. It doesn't face external threats. Gods wouldn't kill each other if that were the case."
The 'God Kings' of Tenkai had negotiated with the 'will' of this world (Gekai). They lowered themselves so that they could connect Tenkai to this place. If they really willed it, a single god alone could destroy this planet. Even the act of 'slightly opening' their Arcanum could affect cities with ease. That became the case when Freya and Hestia went slightly overboard during their clashes in one iteration.
That was the reason why the 'agreement' was formed. It was 'omnipotent' in a way that any violators would be 'instantly' sent back to Tenkai.
Nevertheless, Nobu possessed the power to completely conceal himself from the eyes of both worlds.
That was one of the capabilities of a [World Magister]—fooling an entire world.
Just then, Nobu knew Filvis and Ein's thoughts.
"I apologize. There was a surprise prepared for me, no?"
Tsubaki's expression changed as she turned away from the gloves she was wearing.
"Ah… I had a feeling this would happen." She said. "Even back then, you were already sharp."
For some reason, Nobu felt that she implied something else.
"There's no need to feel bad, Nobu-kun. The surprise isn't that big of a deal." Ein stated. "Well, how about a picnic? Doesn't it fit in this place?!"
Hearing her suggestion, everyone immediately agreed to it.
"I have something to settle first. Will you come with me, Filvis, Ein?"
The two weren't slow. They felt that it had something to do with their former god, Dionysus.
"I haven't had the time to deal with him… but not now."
*****
Twelve Main Gods.
These were the gods offered with an opportunity to become a 'Pillar' of Tenkai. They have the authority to put forward changes as well as intervene in huge fights.
Despite many gods going down to Gekai and restricting their Arcanum, the position of these pillars remained the same. It became a tradition to pass it down whenever they had plans to 'descend'.
"Damn it. Damn it!"
Dionysus was formerly a 'Pillar' but he entrusted his position to another god. The only catch was that he bought this god through his Divine Wine.
He hadn't planned to come back to Tenkai this early, but when he did, he tried to grab his former position back.
Unfortunately, the god became too engrossed with the authority that a 'Pillar' brought, thus leaving Dionysus back to the starting line.
"That Sirius..! If he hadn't ruined all my plans..!"
For the nth time, he threw another prized wine of his. His entire abode is filled with broken glass shards and the scent of divine wine from all over the floor.
"If I found him again—!"
Just then, his vision turned upside down. His entire mansion made of ivory stone was uprooted from the ground. The sense of weightlessness caused Dionysus' divine mind to blank out.
Shatter-!
In an instant, everything around him turned to ashes… literally. Every single thing that he owned, it turned into nothingness.
Tap-!
Tap-!
The sound of footsteps approaching caused him to turn his head around.
A familiar face greeted him.
"Si…rius?"
"It has been quite some time, bastard."
The white-haired man made a crushing gesture with his fist, resulting in Dionysus' prided body to be compressed. Blood and other organic matter replaced the previously fine Dionysus.
It seemed that the time that Dionysus experienced were far slower than it should've been.
By the time he miraculously 'recovered', only the lingering feeling of pain was left on his being. His mouth remained open as his eyeballs were rolled upwards.
It was an unsightly look.
Thud-!
The feeling of 'direction' returned to him as his body was dropped to the ground.
'What… was that..?'
"That isn't enough. For all the crimes you've committed… Ein."
At that moment, Dionysus finally noticed the two girls that followed Nobu.
"Think of the punishments you'd like to do."
"Punishments? As in, anything?"
"Yes."
Contrary to his former appearance, Nobu acted more like an emotionless god at this point.
"I see."
After receiving her thoughts, he began to act upon them.
For Dionysus, his hell had begun.
*****
What are the boundaries of a human?
What are the boundaries of a god?
At least, to the mortals who became gods, they could see a clear difference to it.
The former limits themselves in a way that conforms to their norms—to their cultures. They have an invisible 'silver lining' that prevents them from acting in a way that displeases the collective known as 'society'.
However, gods do not have such boundaries. They have enough power to 'not care' what others think of them.
As such, Magisters leave a form of 'anchor' when they reach their levels. They could freely annihilate millions of sentient beings, but they would not choose to do so.
The importance of human ego was thus highlighted. It keeps them from going insane, such as what happened during the time when Tenkai did not have much entertainment.
(A/N: Gods in Tenkai began killing each other due to lack of 'entertainment' once. Loki was a part of it, which is why her position as a strong god was cemented, as she killed gods during that time.)
'Human ego' was no longer a 'simple restraint' but an important means to prevent one from going insane.
'Making him suffer… Dipping him to hell…'
I thought of the dozen ways in which I 'tortured' Dionysus. I have the power to intercept and modify concepts, thus I was able to create a 'hell' easily.
At this level, no one stands in my way.
'I wanted some challenge back then… that stability might make me rusty.'
I thought of my previous actions. The acts of 'restraining' myself may seem stupid in the eyes of others, but I was having 'fun'. That was it.
If I dove straight to finding new worlds, I could've found strong enemies. Though, that might be close to impossible with my current level.
A hundred of my Magister selves would not be able to defeat the current me.
With a thought, Dionysus floated up. His lifeless eyes already tells the magnitude of the torture that he suffered from.
From a previous impeccable enemy…
Bam-!
…to an easily disposable entity.
His entire body imploded, yet none of his traces could be found. He was done for, both physically and mentally.
Today, Dionysus is no more.
I looked towards the two girls who fell silent up until now. They were the 'witnesses' of the things that I placed Dionysus into. If they were feeling shocked…
"So you could already create things out of nowhere?!"
"...It's not an illusion. Was that 'creation' itself?"
…scratch my previous thoughts.
I didn't think they'd be more curious about it rather than the atrocity of what I did. Though, it did make me smile.
"I used some present concepts and solidified them with my power. My level is more dependent on 'concepts' itself rather than manifestations. So, it's thoughts over the body."
At this level, I figured out that the Abrahamic God is not as simple as He seems. The things that I perceived when I was a Magister shouldn't have been the deepest layer.
Perhaps, the Abrahamic God existed as some sort of concept… or rather, force that acted unknown to the others' perception. He is not similar to normal gods who center around their 'manifestation'.
If that was the case…
"I can't think how strong I should be to do that, but that sounds awesome!" Ein commented. "That means nobody could go against you anymore, right?"
Even Filvis was perked up when Ein awaited my answers.
"Yes. Nothing should be able to threaten me… save for the calamity in my world. Even at this level, I don't know if I could finish everything safely."
"You could do it."
Unexpectedly, it was the white-dressed girl who spoke first.
"If we could help with something, tell it to us, Nobu-kun."
"…"
At this point, my life is no longer mine, perhaps. There are many people who care about me. In that sense, I would be selfish to treat it as merely my own.
"I will tell this to everyone later, but I am planning to close my world's connections to other worlds. If some would like to follow me back, I'd ask them later."
""We will follow you.""
The two immediately gave out a response. To that, I merely sighed.
"I see. I'll be bringing you over to my world later. I will also introduce some of the people that I know there."
For some reason, their eyes widened simultaneously, as if they thought of something good. I chose to reign in my 'omniscience' and gave them their privacy.
"Let's go back. We still have that picnic, don't we?"
*****
Revelations was the title given to Nobu the moment he became a [World Magister]. His existence itself became a 'concept' tied to 'revelations'. He became an invisible force among nature, one that sought to influence the future.
Only a day had passed since he reached this level. Some level of unfamiliarity was to be expected.
'Everyone's serious…'
Nobu thought of the people who wanted to come with him. More than a dozen high-end combat powers in Orario wanted to come with him. If Tsubaki hadn't considered Hephaestus Familia, she would've come too.
Aiz, Riveria, Tiona, and (surprisingly) Lefiya came with them.
In total, seven people wanted to go with him.
Just then, Nobu felt another 'newcomer' outside the familia manor.
Instead of going there physically, he simply projected himself.
"Huff… Sirius-san!"
"Take some deep breaths first."
Cassandra heaved several deep breaths. Her physical state was clearly insufficient when it came to rushing straight to the Hephaestus Familia manor from the dungeon.
"I have a feeling… that this will be our final meeting..!" She said. "Sirius-san. I… I would like to… thank you."
In the past, Cassandra's visions were filled with bloody and desperate battles. She had nightmares every time she received a vision. It took a toll on her mental health.
Ever since Nobu interfered in this world, these nightmares stopped.
"On behalf of this world… and the people who didn't know about your sacrifice… thank you for your work, Sirius-san."
The moment she finished speaking those words, she fainted.
"Hup."
She was caught by Nobu before she fell to the ground.
It was their first close contact together, but he felt something special within her.
'A believer… or a prophet?'
The concept of revelation became his core. Prophets who could see such things would naturally be connected to him.
Just then, he felt that he could create a special connection between them.
'A prophet… This is my first…'
Still, he didn't hesitate to create that connection.
From that day onward, Revelation's first apostle was born.
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