"So at the very beginning, let's get one thing straight. ”

The quiet night, the faint candlelight, the young man looming behind the lights, raised the index finger of his right hand in front of the corner of his smiling lips:

"Dear Loren, evil god... What should it be in your impression?"

There was a moment of silence, and the black-haired wizard fell into deep thought.

He had encountered Metzaca, who was as "stupid" as a beast but could control ogres;

I have seen the body of an evil god with no "consciousness" and an empty body;

and the apostle of the evil god Lemantes, who represents "death", the living dead named Phaoda once in person;

and the "old acquaintance" of the former black duke, who was killed and acquainted by the Valkyrie worshiped by the Boi and the Byrnes;

witnessed the completely eroded body by the "Black Cross" Serol, and the Phanescists, who once delusionally wanted to rule the empire, fought several times;

Of course, one must not forget about a cunning and treacherous, extremely paranoid "twin" Asrael;

They... Or what do they have in common?

“...... They exist in the void, but they can exist in a way that is almost 'legendary'. After thinking for a moment, Loren frowned:

"The Byrnes believed in the nobility of glory and sacrifice, so Brünnhilde was a Valkyrie wielding a spear and sword, and the Lothair had a tradition of blood sacrifice and a treacherous elf passed down from mouth to mouth among the mountain people, hence the emergence of Asriel;"

"Everyone is afraid of death, and the evil god 'Lemantes' from the north seems so invincible... Etcetera. ”

Asriel pursed the corners of his mouth slightly, his eyes blinking, and he didn't judge the answer.

"But all this has nothing to do with them, the 'legend' is like a mask, a title, or even a... Well, the account. Loren raised his eyebrows and looked at the boy across the candlelight: "You know what I mean." ”

"Of course, because we're friends, best friends. The blonde boy nodded approvingly, as if enjoying this "natural" tacit understanding: "But ......"

"But...'legends' have nothing to do with them, or rather have something to do with them, but they are not their essence. The black-haired wizard said, "Just like their names, these are just 'stories', 'code names', and 'legends'. ”

"There are always people who idolize heroes, there are always people who believe stories to be true... Of course, maybe the stories are all true. Asrael leaned back in his chair and spread his hands:

"A noble title will make people powerful, and a noble bloodline will make people feel awe-inspiring, but in the final analysis, what is the real difference between these born noble people and the peddlers and pawns?"

Loren narrowed slightly.

Order, Idolatry, Title and Essence......

"According to this statement, the evil gods from the Void don't just want to make themselves in some way... The way of the title exists. Loren continued: "And make others aware of its existence. ”

"Hmm... Sometimes it's not that much trouble. In a sleek tone, Asrael adds: "There are always some particularly 'smart' fools who associate themselves with something that objectively exists in the material world. ”

"And then these 'smart' fools find themselves stuck in the mud and can't pull it out... As for the worse, well, it's probably too late to realize it. ”

"What do you mean......" Chewing on the information revealed in the blonde boy's words, Loren frowned slightly: "Legend... Will it also have an effect on the evil god itself?"

"Of course, those who are close to Zhu are red and those who are close to ink are black. ”

Asriel said happily, his scarlet eyes twinkle.

"But on the other hand, it is argued that evil gods that exist without relying on the material or image that objectively exists in the world, and only rely on their own 'legends', also exist?" Loren thought.

"There will always be such a group of outliers who don't like to follow the crowd and are not mainstream~" The blonde boy shook his head happily.

"So... Evil gods who have no legends of their own, who have never even been known to the world, who are almost unaware of the material world... Does the same exist?"

Loren leaned back, leaning back in his chair.

"Yes, yes, is it a guy who has never been seen, who has never been recorded in words or rumors, who has never had any impact on the world... Are we going to say he doesn't exist?" Asriel smiled even more.

The black-haired wizard frowned once more, deep in thought.

"Now, dear Loren, you should have the most basic concept in your head, or... Story setting. With a provocative tone, Asrael is like an author who is good at breaking chapters and can readers off to death:

"For the evil gods, 'legend' is just a title, a piece of clothing, a thing that is simply dispensable to them - of course, it is really a shameful and embarrassing thing to go out on the street without clothes, so the evil gods who have appeared in front of us one by one, are all wearing clothes. ”

"They wear colorful clothes, and they dress themselves up to be glamorous, or hunting, terrifying, and terrifying... In short, the 'clothes' are not what they are. ”

Asriel paused, slowing his tone like a skilled storyteller, his scarlet eyes glinting with seductive seduction:

"So, after taking off their clothes, what is the nature of the evil gods?"

Loren, who was completely "trapped" in the story, took a deep breath, and after a moment of silence, he still didn't have the courage to speak, just raised his eyebrows:

"In the void... Exists?"

"This kind of vague setting is no longer popular, and there are many setting parties nowadays. ”

"I think readers hate the word count more than the vague setting......"

The black-haired wizard shrugged his shoulders and looked indifferent: "Anyway, you're an evil god, just tell me directly, can't you?"

"Of course Asriel can tell Loren, but ......"

With a sunny smile on his face, Asrael scratched his head embarrassedly: "But Asrael is still just a child, how can such a difficult question be answered?"

Again, he avoided answering.

"Dear Loren, have you ever seen the sea?" the blonde boy asked thoughtfully, changing the subject once more.

The dark-haired wizard turned his head, pretending not to bother with him.

"Poor Asrael has only seen the sea once, alas, the beach, the sea breeze, the seafood ......" The blonde boy lay on the dining table, with an aggrieved tone: "I really want to lie under the sun umbrella now, and let the beautiful and lovely big sister rub the olive oil for Asrael......"

"......" Loren Turin.

"So, dear Loren, what do you like?" Asriel's eyes flickered with some kind of meaningful temptation: "Rum, fruit, sea breeze barbecue, pretty and cute big sister or more cute ......"

"Wait!"

The black-haired wizard interrupted the boy who was about to continue: "What do you mean... Every evil god is different?"

"Or rather, each guy has his own unique tastes. The blonde boy shrugged and grinned, "What's more... Dear Loren, how do you know that Asrael didn't tell you his answer?"

"Maybe... Asrael has already told you the answer in his own way. ”

Noticing the boy's expression, Loren bowed slightly.

That's right... Maybe even if he did, he wouldn't understand it at all.

Perhaps each evil god is a completely unique existence that cannot be compared, and each one is a complete and unique individual, a "species" that cannot be divided by intersection and union, and classified by the Boundary Gate Compendium.

Each one is unique......

Each one is a separate species......

Only in this way can we use the name "God", because this is a group of "beings" that are completely unknown to human beings, so it can only be used as a superficial and vague metaphor.

Simply because they come from another completely opposite world, simply because they have mastered supernatural powers, they are likened to "gods".

No, maybe it's more than that.

As a species, a race, human beings have their own unique way of thinking, and all observations and judgments must be based on themselves—whether it is a metaphorical personification in the form of literature and art, or an elaboration of objective physics, they are all judged by their own standards.

Even the wizards who have the most contact with the Void are still humans, and even if they face the Void at the same time, their attitude is completely different from that of the evil gods, and they can't simply equate the answers obtained from the two ways of thinking.

This is an important reason why so many wizards end up crazy after years of exposure to the Void... They are based on human thinking, but they are delusional about understanding another kind of knowledge that does not belong to them.

In this kind of thinking circuit, of course, it is impossible to understand another way, another standard "language".

It must be explained in its own unique perspective and way in order to understand the form of its existence.

Man is the measure of all things - the other way around, it means that man can only understand the world by his own standards, weak, powerful, terrible, ridiculous, funny, humorous......

All of them can be measured by their own standards.

Wait a minute......

Evil gods, human beings, unique ways of thinking?

Legend is just a "garment" that the evil gods put on their bodies, a "title" they use to prove themselves, and if each of them is a unique existence, where is their unique "place"?

To put it another way, if each of them is unique, then where exactly did they come from?

"I remember... On the way to Dragon King, you said this when you rescued me from the avalanche. Loren raised his head and looked meaningful:

"If a person who has mastered the 'valve' is killed, the spirit will forcibly bring him into a 'meditative' state and then enter the void through the 'valve', and will become... Approximate your existence?"

The black-haired wizard, who deliberately slowed down the speed of his speech, stared at the blonde boy on the other end of the candlelight: "That is to say... The person who opened the 'valve' has become an existence that is 'near' the evil god?"

At that moment, Asrael's smile suddenly paused, and was keenly captured by Loren.

"Yes, it may or may not be. The blonde boy who spoke slowly rolled his eyes and explained vaguely, "Maybe, it's just that Asrael lied again?"

"No, it's not... Only that once, you have no reason to lie. Loren stared into those scarlet eyes, carefully observing every slight change:

"Your tone was clearly trying to warn me of the danger of sudden death in that state. ”

"In other words, human beings... Even if the odds are slim to none... Even if no one has ever succeeded... Is it possible to become an evil god?"

Asriel was stunned for a moment, then smiled slyly.

"Good... Dear Loren, you are beginning to substitute yourself into the story. The smile on the blonde boy's face faded away, replaced by a completely different murmur from the beginning:

"So... This is the beginning of our first story - the evil gods, not just from the void. ”

"Humans, or humanoid intelligent beings, try to make themselves evil gods in some way or another. ”

At this moment, Asrael's tone and attitude have become completely different.

An elegant and simple smile that becomes eerie and eerie.

"It's going to be a story full of variables, even multiple-choice questions, as Asriel said—it's up to Dear Loren to judge, to choose what you're prepared to believe is the truth and what is just a made-up lie, to speculate on what to do next. ”

The scarlet gaze became sharp and breathtaking.

"Hear every word and word Asrael says... Remember every detail......"

"Because after a story is told, Asriel doesn't repeat it a second time. ”

Loren raised his eyebrows and bowed slightly.

"According to the premise we have just written, then from the very beginning, there is a thing called... Well... Let's assume his name is 'Turin' for the rest of the process," Asriel said in a very ambiguous tone:

"A wizard named 'Turin', who practiced at one of Nidhogg's academies, after a long study with other wizards, found that through 'runes', they could be exposed to a spiritual horizon that was completely opposite to the physical plane. ”

"Because the 'rune' is the carrier of meaning, the externalization of the spirit—this very special kind of scholarship connects the two completely unblended worlds in a completely expected way. ”

"But soon, 'Turin' discovered the flaw of this method—the runes could help them interpret the world from a spiritual perspective, allowing them to use supernatural powers, but as a material world, there was an extremely limited limit to what they could bear. ”

"So they thought that there was something that could lift all these restrictions, so that the material and the spiritual would no longer be separated......"

"The Nine-Pointed Star Grail?" Loren interrupted coldly.

"Dear Loren...... Asrael, who looked innocent, gave the black-haired wizard a surprise look:

"I didn't expect you to get started quite quickly. ”