The Divine Twilight's Return

Chapter 473: Star, Identity Establishment (11)

“It’s time for you to head to the meeting room. Nemea and the others from <Horoscope> are already there,” J?rmungandr said, notifying Bel-Marduk of the meeting’s start as Loki’s messenger.

Staring at J?rmungandr, Bel-Marduk asked, “The meeting is going to start?”

“That’s right.”

“You know he’s still like that, right?” Bel-Marduk used his chin to point at Chang-Sun, who was deep in meditation with his eyes closed.

It had already been four days since Chang-Sun started his meditation to complete himself. Meanwhile, the Celestials who had been at war in Worldline #802, the spectating Celestials from Worldline #801, many other Celestials, and the <Management Bureau> executives had arrived at ‘Nastrond’.

That was how dangerous their imminent <Extinction> was. From what Bel-Marduk had heard, Tiamat, the leader of the <Anti-Star> Alliance, was more on edge than ever. Anyone who got on her nerves was bound to be pulverized.

The problem was that Chang-Sun was still deep in meditation, even when the emergency meeting was about to start. Sinmara, Jin, or his other subordinates could fill in for him at the meeting, but their opinions and statements would not hold as much weight as Chang-Sun’s. Besides, Chang-Sun was the one who knew the most about this <Extinction>, so Bel-Marduk was telling J?rmungandr that they had to bring Chang-Sun with them.

“...We don’t have a choice. We won’t be able to have a meeting at all if we delay it any further.” J?rmungandr let out a sigh, shaking his head.

Of course, J?rmungandr also wished to wait until Chang-Sun finished his meditation, but <Extinction> was imminent, causing the meeting participants’ anxiety and restlessness to snowball. In fact, the participants had been demanding to start the meeting immediately for some time, so <Niflheim> had been using an array of excuses to buy time, ranging from saying their preparations were incomplete or that Chang-Sun had a personal emergency, to Bel-Marduk not being ready. Postponing the meeting any further would only create discord among them, ultimately causing <Extinction> to arrive faster.

“Well, then all my efforts would be meaningless.” Bel-Marduk stood up, since that was the last thing he wished for as well. Another Rollback would also make Chang-Sun’s effort to complete himself futile too.

‘...There is no guarantee that I’ll think the same way after Rollback either,’ Bel-Marduk thought, being better aware of his emotional volatility than anyone else.

Since that was also the reason why he was helping Chang-Sun right now, it would not be odd if he tried to stop Chang-Sun instead on another Rollback, so... Bel-Marduk thought it would be better to buy time until Chang-Sun was done with his work.

‘It’s funny that I’m helping him like this.’

Bel-Marduk had considered Chang-Sun to be nothing more than prey in the process of rising above Eros, so he—no, no one would have imagined that they would become this close.

“Then can you take over from here as his dharmapala?” Bel-Marduk requested.

“...Okay. Don’t worry,” Jormungandr replied.

Bel-Marduk slowly walked out of the room. When he glanced back through the gap in the closing door, Chang-Sun looked the same as before.

* * *

The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:9, NIV(New International Version))

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. (Genesis 3:6, NIV)

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. (Genesis 3:1, NIV)

One of the most famous stories in the Bible was about the Garden of Eden, the [Forbidden Fruit], and the serpent, as it contained many mythical symbols. The [Forbidden Fruit], which allowed one to distinguish between good and evil, contained wisdom and truth; the serpent who enticed Adam and Eve symbolized humanity’s natural desire to pursue wisdom. On the other hand, Adam and Eve had fallen for the serpent’s temptation and eaten the [Forbidden Fruit], representing humans themselves.

The religion’s believers usually interpreted the story to be the beginning of Adam’s and Eve’s struggles after getting kicked out of the Garden of Eden for their sins. It was also considered the reason why humans had to atone for their sins for their entire lives, as Adam’s and Eve’s descendants.

However, the exact interpretations differed in a myriad of ways. In Gnosticism, for instance, the Eden serpent’s temptation was viewed as the first step to <Independence>, not the start of humanity’s original sin. Humans needed wisdom and knowledge to ask themselves about their identities, and their search for those answers allowed them to walk down their own paths.

Although ignorant people who blindly obeyed powerful individuals could be happy, their happiness was fake, derived from their ignorance. That was why people had to seek wisdom and knowledge to find their own paths and realize their identities, engraving their existences into the world. That was true gnosis, and for that reason, any act or desire to seek gnosis was connected to the <Serpent>.

‘The <Serpent>, huh?’

An act of knowing was equivalent to the acquisition of an ability. Just as the moon continuously rose and fell, the <Serpent> also continued to resurrect endlessly and shed its skin. Seeing, listening, and feeling everything in the world, the <Serpent> enjoyed its immortality and learned all about the world, which was equivalent to omniscience.

The <Serpent> also had the ability to spray water and nourish the ground for farming, able to freely travel between the worlds of the living and the dead. Its long body signified masculinity, while its narrow mouth symbolized femininity[1], representing both the union of genders and omnipotence. Who else could be more complete than a being possessing both omniscience and omnipotence?

While Gilgamesh was away to take a purifying bath, a snake ate the elixir plant and gained immortality. Uroborus encircled the world, embodying regression and infinity. J?rmungandr coiled around the world and doomed it. The Mother Terra Celestial[2] represented conception, and Hermes’ serpent staff signified omnipotence[3]. The <Serpent> was used for all sorts of analogies in various <Myths> for the same reason.

You have become like a god. (The Epic of Gilgamesh, Oxford University Press)

In Mesopotamian mythology, one of the first <Myths>, there was a story about how Enkidu, who had been living innocently in nature, fell for Shamhat the Priestess’s temptation and gained wisdom at the cost of his innocence. Right at that moment, Shamhat told Enkidu that he would become like a god, so Enkidu cursed Shamhat, saying that she was the reason why he had lost his innocence and was going to suffer.

Obtaining wisdom was bound to be painful, but one also acquired <Independence>.

‘Wisdom, gnosis, repeating death and reincarnation, resurrection, and the suffering that comes with it... Everything definitely reminds me of someone.’ Chang-Sun smiled bitterly.

It had to have been no coincidence that the serpent depicted by the metal gate’s holy icon caught Chang-Sun’s attention before. Perhaps he had truly originated from the <Serpent>. Even if the <Serpent> was just a metaphor, his origin had to be similar in some way. Hsan had also told Chang-Sun that their punishment of repeating samsara 666 times and swimming in the swamp of anguish was engraved in their soul.

‘The <First Wisdom>... If it’s the [Forbidden Fruit], I went after it and got caught by the original owner, ending up in samsara against my will.’

The past reincarnations’ remarks came to Chang-Sun’s mind. Their soul originated from the <Fire of Origin>, and the one who had ignited that fire was...

‘<Supreme Light>,’ Chang-Sun realized, his thoughts becoming chaotic. ‘My Original used to be a subordinate of <Supreme Light>, but then went after something forbidden. As the <Punishment>, my Original plummeted with a <Mark> on their soul...? But isn’t something strange in that case?’

Chang-Sun had already met <Supreme Light> before. Their encounter was very short, and yet impressive.

―Yaldabaoth. The child who will become the overseer of Sophia the Great Scholar. Please do not let your destiny consume you and turn you into someone who can bend destiny to your will.

During their encounter, <Supreme Light> had pitied and seemingly supported Chang-Sun, not treating him like a criminal.

‘...What in the world is going on...’ Feeling a headache coming on, Chang-Sun concluded, ‘I’ll find out once I meet Perkwunos.’

This had to be one of their soul’s secrets, which Perkwunos had mentioned.

‘Anyway, where is the end of this road?’ Chang-Sun continued to look around, walking.

A long time had passed after Chang-Sun entered the metal gate. A pool of white light that lay across the ground like a silken cloth was guiding Chang-Sun, but everything else was still pitch-black. He did not have trouble breathing the way he had in the subconscious ocean, but he felt a little frustrated because he had no idea when he was going to arrive.

Murmur!

Suddenly hearing a sound, Chang-Sun made his [Gnostic Eye] blaze brighter and took a look around. Just then, the darkness was replaced by a crowded city.

‘Seoul?’

Among several skyscrapers, cars quickly traveled down roads, or paused at intersections waiting for a green light. Quickly walking down sidewalks, people made phone calls or busily used their smartphones. Despite how clear the sky was, no one enjoyed the scenery or looked around. Everything about the city was familiar to Chang-Sun. as he had been born there and had also seen it in the ‘Doomsday City’. The difference, however, was that...

‘...All the pedestrians look like me.’

It was not just the pedestrians. All the drivers looked like exact replicas of Chang-Sun. Although their clothes and physiques were slightly different, Chang-Sun felt as if he had entered a world of doppelgangers. Was Perkwunos hiding among them?

Chang-Sun quickly scanned the crowd and found a man who was watching him among the crowd. As expected, the man looked the same as him but did not seem to be part of the city, so he instinctively realized that the man was Perkwunos. When he met Chang-Sun’s gaze, Perkwunos chuckled and slowly turned back, walking away as if he was expecting Chang-Sun to follow him.

Chang-Sun immediately followed him and asked, “You’re Perkwunos, right?”

“Why do you ask if you know?” Perkwunos replied.

“Where are you going?”

“Just follow me. I’ll give you the answers to your questions, although I figure Hsan must have done that already. Hmm, wait. Maybe it’s the opposite,” Perkwunos muttered to himself.

Just like Hsan, Perkwunos was a lot different from what Chang-Sun originally knew, so he felt mixed emotions. Had Perkwunos also become twisted after living for a long time?

“Where are we?” Chang-Sun asked.

“Well, what should I say?” Perkwunos replied, seeming genuinely perplexed about how to answer Chang-Sun’s question. “The lowest level of your subconscious ocean, the middle of an abyss, the horizon of the soul and events... No, that’s too abstract. A centerpoint... Yes, I believe it would be best to describe it like that.”

“A centerpoint?”

“As you can see, everyone in here is a hallucination and real at the same time,” Perkwunos said; in response, Chang-Sun looked around at the other Lee Chang-Suns. Perkwunos continued, “Everyone here is a Lee Chang-Sun from the infinite Worldlines, all of whom originated from the Original. As they live their own lives, their thoughts and imaginations show up in this place as hallucinations. I just made the place look like our homeland.”

Homeland... A suspicion rose within Chang-Sun, because Odin and the other past reincarnations had never called Seoul their homeland, but Perkwunos, the first past reincarnation, was saying that he was also Lee Chang-Sun. That meant one thing.

“You...” Chang-Sun came to a halt and watched Perkwunos for a moment before asking, “You’re my Original, aren’t you?”

The First Universe, the start of all Worldlines and timelines, the birthplace of <Supreme Light>, <Dull Darkness>, and <Deus Ex Machina>... The Lee Chang-Sun from Worldline #0 turned back to look at Chang-Sun.

1. Although snakes don’t necessarily represent genders literally in many cultures, they’re often associated with femininity because of their connection to life. Some interpretations view snakes as a phallic symbol too. ☜

2. In the raw, Gaia, Tiamat, Eve, and Ubbo-Sathla are all considered avatars of the Mother Terra Celestial, but are also each the Mother Terra Celestial in their own worldlines. We chose to put this in a footnote for clarity. ☜

3. Hermes’ caduceus actually symbolizes medicine and other fields that Hermes looked over. ☜