Chapter 586: The World-Hopping Rules of Identity Imbuement

Silence.

From the moment Lilith had told of what happened a thousand years ago, the inn room had sunk into an uncanny silence.

However hard it was to accept, Janet believed in her heart that the girl spoke the truth rather than spinning a tale. That sense of immediacy, even a master storyteller could hardly have invented it.

But precisely because it was true, the battle nun grew more unsettled. She truly couldn’t stomach it: the organization she belonged to had its origins in the very wellspring of evil.

As if she had read her thoughts, Katsura Kotonoha patted her shoulder lightly and said softly, “You’re wrong, my friend. The source of all evil is not the Holy See, it is human greed.”

“Mm. Our own ignorance and naivety were failings too.” Lilith nodded in agreement. “Had we all been more vigilant back then, it would never have come to this.”

“Ah.” Janet heaved a deep sigh, though her expression eased a little.

“Were you corrupted by the evil will as well?” Katsura Kotonoha turned her gaze to Lilith. “Then why has your sanity returned?”

“I’m a special case.” Lilith shook her head. “When the Father created us Walkers Among Men, he infused a quality of power into each of us. In the Father’s words, this quality of power is called a law. And my law is Purity.”

Katsura Kotonoha understood.

The law Lilith commanded was named Purity, the very bane of evil will, and so she had not been wholly corrupted by it.

“But even so, I cannot purify the other Walkers Among Men.” Lilith let out a breath. “More than that, having lost my vessel, I can barely protect myself. Until two hundred years ago, when the people calling themselves the Temple came to the Great Rift Valley of Tanzania carrying my vessel, and found me there.”

“And that’s when they captured you?” Janet asked, suddenly seeing it all.

“They used some peculiar instrument to shrink me down and keep me inside an oil canister, and to siphon off my power, besides.” Lilith’s brow knitted; that stretch of time had clearly been an ordeal for her.

Wouldn’t that contraption be called a juicer?

Katsura Kotonoha arched a brow, thinking this privately. Her face betrayed nothing, of course, and she asked the question she most wanted answered. “This Father of yours, what exactly is he?”

“I don’t really know either.” Lilith lowered her head. “He scarcely ever spoke to us. He simply had us call him Father. Out in the world, though, the origins of many myths and legends trace back to him.”

So he’s the essence behind all those myths and legends, then?

Katsura Kotonoha gave a slight nod. “Do you know where he is now?”

The girl felt that completing the world mission would probably require starting from this “Father,” since only this “Father” had ever touched the root of the world.

“He is dead.” Lilith gave an answer beyond all expectation. “Not long after creating us, he died, utterly.”

“How do you know that?” Katsura Kotonoha’s brow knit once more.

In her view, a father capable of creating so many Demon Gods was, at the very least, a true god. And a true god’s lifespan was long and enduring, even if the planet itself blew apart, a true god would not die. How had he become so fragile in Lilith’s telling?

“Our power is of the same origin as his, so we are able to sense him.” Lilith concealed nothing, answering frankly. “And… he was decomposed into particles right before our eyes.”

A god’s corpse decomposed into particles after death?

Katsura Kotonoha looked doubtful. She pulled open the group chat and began composing a message, she meant to consult the professional.

This is an Actor: Mm, it’s possible. When a god dies, the divine body dissipates into the purest form of energy. That form of energy does indeed have a particle state.

Doujin Artist: “It’s possible”? So it’s also possible it isn’t, and the guy’s faking his death?

This is an Actor: The probability of death is 80%.

Curly-haired Guy: If the president says 80%, then he’s dead through and through. Guaranteed.

Amegakure Village’s Angel: I think so too. In Kotonoha’s world, this Father is probably the only true god there is. He’d have no reason to fake his death.

Lazy Kitten: But why would he die, though? How strange. Could it be he’s lived for hundreds of millions of years, and his lifespan simply ran out?

Shark-Faced Guy: Hard to say. Maybe he couldn’t take it anymore and did himself in. A long, endless life drained all the novelty out of it for him.

Doujin Artist: Pfft, what a depressive.

Skirt-Flipping Maniac: I’m curious about something else, though. You’re telling me those Demon Gods really used to be these “Walkers Among Men”? And that humans betraying them is what turned them into Demon Gods?

Soul Society’s Villain: I don’t doubt it one bit. The greed of rulers at work, how easily it produces an outcome like that. Haven’t we seen plenty of this kind of thing ourselves?

Skirt-Flipping Maniac: Th-that’s true enough. The interests of a mere handful of men are hurt, and the whole world’s people pay the price. It’s disgusting.

Lazy Kitten: The only way the people avoid paying is to unite, but in the end, they never manage it. History cycles round and round, and no family or dynasty has ever escaped the cycle.

Doujin Artist: And right now, we’re the ones trying to crack that problem.

Lin Fengjiao: Can we really do it?

Amegakure Village’s Angel: Yes! As long as we believe in ourselves, we can. But if even we don’t believe in ourselves, then deep down it’s impossible from the start.

This is an Actor: One thing I need to restate. Don’t back yourselves into dead ends, just work at it earnestly. On the matter of liberation or no liberation, don’t set yourselves hard quotas. Nor do you need to treat it as your only task. We are not saviors. The key lies with the people themselves. The only ones who can save them are themselves.

Machete Girl: Understood.

Amegakure Village’s Angel: Received.

Doujin Artist: Got it, in a nutshell, do what we can, right? By the way, has Sis Mochou jumped through yet?

Scarlet Lotus Fairy: Just arrived, still getting my bearings. And while I’m at it: this time, I used Identity Imbuement.

Lazy Kitten: ?

Soul Society’s Villain: ?

Doujin Artist: You, how DARE you? The identity-imbuement thing? You’re not afraid you’ll inexplicably find yourself with a son, a daughter, or even a husband?

Scarlet Lotus Fairy: Don’t believe the rumors, don’t spread the rumors. Honestly, identity imbuement isn’t nearly that ridiculous. If you’d all actually read the rules and introduction for identity imbuement, you’d know the worst it can do is land you with a father and a mother.