Chapter 962: Lunatic
"Mother…" Brisingra muttered in silence, as if thinking that what her mother was saying wasn\'t exactly right either.
"Don\'t you get it, Mercedes?" The Majin woman laughed. "It is exactly because of that! History cannot continue like this; don\'t you get it?! Our world, humanity, Cloudia… it simply can\'t continue while we are sheltered and restrained by them. They\'re sinners, even worse than us! They created him, they created HIM!
Yet you know what they did?! They chose to seal him away! To split him apart! The Yggdragon did most of that, their supposedly perfect creation. The mother of all of us… Yet you know what they did to her? They left her below, turning her into a stupid tree to terraform the devastated continents below!
They\'re heartless and senseless beings, they don\'t care about any of us! We are nothing but their rats!"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
The researchers remained in silence, every single one of them made different face expressions. Some seemed shocked by such blasphemy, while others seemed conflicted with themselves, gritting their teeth. Mercedes was in between both feelings, angry over the blasphemy, and also frustrated, because deep down, she felt slightly the same as her.
"No! Silence! Enough with your personal opinions!" Mercedes roared. "You\'re simply insane! The Yggdragon was not turned into Yggdrasil by the Gods, it was her last resort, after that battle, our father perished and his body became Yggdrasil, the mother of life. It is completely different!
And Erebus… Is a monster, a being that wants to predate the gods and destroy it all! You mustn\'t sympathize with him!
"YET I HAVE!" The Maji cried. "And every time I do, and every time I see through their countless, fragmented minds as I pray for their salvation, do you want to know what I SEE, MERCEDES?!"
The researchers stepped back as they saw the Majin\'s madness grow.
"I SEE DESPAIR!"
"I SEE PAIN!"
"I SEE AGONY…"
"I SEE DESOLATION…"
"I SEE FRUSTRATION!"
"I SEE… AN ENDLESS YEARNING FOR LOVE!"
"And I see…. I see a child, crying, and asking for help. We simply cannot ignore that; we were not made to ignore those in need of our help." The Majin woman started crying. "The Demon King is nothing but an innocent child, that simply doesn\'t know what it is doing!"
"Y-You\'re insane…" Cecilia muttered.
"A child?" Hermes wondered. "No, there\'s nothing childish about him, only monstrosity and insanity!"
"This is a level of brainwashing I had not seen or expected." Elbedo sighed, crossing his bulky arms.
"She\'s not… completely wrong though." I said, sighing to myself. "The Demon King, he is indeed a child, someone the Gods created. They wanted to unify their Divinities into a single, perfect being. Yet what they did get at first was Erebus, their elements merged and created Chaos instead. Erebus powers could destroy all the Gods, yet his innocent mind could be made to be good hearted."
As I spoke, the researchers looked at me in surprise.
"How do you know such a thing, Planta?!" Mercedes asked.
"I know because I\'ve also seen him, I\'ve fought him, and I\'ve defeated him…" I sighed. "Erebus and the Yggdragon are not so different from one another, both are creations of the Gods made by the combination of their Divinities. One simply became Chaos, and the other… Creation."
"S-She understand! See?!" Cried the woman.
"However, empathizing with his misfortune does not justify the atrocities you\'ve attempted to do. To kill innocents, to take away the life of people, to destroy civilization. Those are not things I won\'t approve, and things that, no matter how much I sympathize with someone, I won\'t do!" I roared. "Now tell me, girl. Where is the rest of your people? Where do you hide?"
"Ugh…!" She gritted her teeth, trying to resist the artifact\'s powers with her magic, but failing to do so. "T-The underground, outside… the city! To the east- ARGH, NO! Ugh…! To the east below the Sunlit Lake…! Protected by Divine Beasts… careful- UGH!
Your damned relic fanatics! I hate you researchers the most! You bootlicker of the gods!" She kept barking.
"So those are the coordinates." Mercedes nodded, calming herself. "Did someone write it down?" She asked.
"I did." I said, writing it down on my own bark. "Now, tell me. What is your goal? Are there more like you around? What\'s your end game?"
"Heheh… Hahaha…" The woman simply laughed. "Hehehehe! Hahahaha! You can\'t really stop it at this point, it\'s too late. You can go there if you want anyways! I don\'t give a fuck!
What is done is done, while you were distracting yourselves here, we were getting everything done! We\'re back in the Demon King Continent too, you can\'t get there, can\'t you? it\'s utterly impossible! Go to the lake, see what you can find, it\'ll be all utterly useless at the end. The end is near. A new beginning will come, one shaped by our true messiah, the Fallen One, shall rise!
He will become the true God… The truest God!"
"Dammit, this woman\'s insane!" Hermes groaned. "Ugh… Shut the fuck up already!" He gave her a slap in the face, yet the woman smiled back at him.
"Cry all you want… Your Gods, your people, everything… You will all pay." She laughed maniacally. "Hahaha! HAHAHAHA! The Gate is already slowly opening! You\'re all dead, and there\'s nothing you can do to stop it!"
"Alright, hurry, to the lake!" Said Mercedes. "We can\'t waste time! General, tell all your soldiers to stay on alert surrounding the city! There might be any attack at any moment!"
"Ah! Yes!" Nodded the Divine Dragon, quickly flying away to gather all the forces.
At the same time, we found ourselves running upstairs and then towards the outside of the city, where Mercedes led us to the East, where the Sunlit Lake was located.
Apparently, there was an abandoned set of ruins there, where the cultists have made their temporary home.