Chapter 547 The Truth of the Apocalypse 2
Upon hearing this, I first glanced at Xiao Wan's reaction.
While previous clues have sufficiently demonstrated that the idea of "the world of common sense and the world of the supernatural coexisting" is logically untenable, to say that the two have never been separated is an extreme statement. How then can we explain why the Witcher community has never interfered with secular governments in the past?
Furthermore, the Fantian incident more than four years ago was a result of the disappearance of the divine seal power that separated the two worlds. Just as there is no concept of death for an object that has never lived, there is no concept of disappearance for a power that has never existed.
I certainly wouldn't immediately conclude that Number Seven was making baseless accusations, but such a statement is indeed—no, wait a minute.
A flash of inspiration illuminated a dark corner of my mind. Perhaps I was wrong from the very beginning. The Fantian incident more than four years ago wasn't about "a certain force disappearing"; the truth might have been the opposite.
Xiaowan then put my vague thoughts into concrete language: "I see, Ms. Seven, you mean... the world of common sense and the world of the bizarre don't need to be separated, because they have never been related to each other from the beginning."
"And the events that began several years ago that brought the two together were not a case of 'the force that separated them disappeared,' but rather 'the force that brought them together appeared'... Can we understand it that way?"
“That’s one way to put it,” Number Seven nodded. “What I’m about to say is about the truth of the apocalypse. That being said, I can’t say for sure whether I have all the information I need. Even though you might think I should have access to it, I’m not actually qualified to know everything.”
"But I can guarantee that what I say, even if it is not 100% true, is at least 80% correct."
"First of all, you should all be able to accept the concept of 'another world', right?"
Xiaowan and I both said there was no problem.
As an enemy I will have to face sooner or later, Yama Ryougi has the ability to travel to another world through reincarnation. This is not the first time I have learned of a similar concept.
“You can first assume that there are two completely different worlds,” Number Seven said. “One of these worlds—World A—is a world where there is only so-called common sense. There are no cultivators, no strange beings, and no supernatural phenomena. It is the kind of world described in the textbooks of the common sense world.”
"In the other world—World B—it's the opposite. In that world, cultivators and strange beings, which are completely uncommon in World A, are the common knowledge. It's like the world of cultivation and magic described in fantasy stories."
"And one day, someone found the divine seal in one of the worlds and made a wish upon it."
"He hopes to summon the other world and bring the two worlds together."
Although Number Seven did not say who this "certain person" was, at the moment, no one else could be considered but the Lord of the Divine Seal.
Number Seven won't admit it directly; I can only listen to what she has to say first.
“This combination is not just a simple spatial connection, but a comprehensive and profound integration. It also includes time, or rather, ‘history’,” she said. “But this integration has a fatal problem… Two timelines with different worldviews can coexist peacefully when they operate independently, but it is impossible to make two completely different worldviews operate simultaneously in the same timeline and make them logically consistent.”
"Just as you can't have characters design particle accelerators in a story set in medieval Europe, nor can you have developed a fully-fledged capitalism in the primitive tribal era... In the context of the world we live in, it's impossible to allow mortals to develop in the way we know them, given the existence of a bizarre world."
"Forcing them together by brute force will only result in abrupt changes, such as 'the people of world A have historically ignored the people of world B for some unknown reason, and the latter have done the same.' It's similar to roughly squeezing two non-adjacent puzzle pieces together; both pieces will eventually break. Numerous errors will arise in this process."
"As a result, the history of the 'AB world' we live in today has taken a major turn. If our 'present' is a skyscraper under construction, and we are constantly building new floors upwards, while many load-bearing walls of the lower floors are being blown up one after another... then what will happen next?"
“It will crumble.” Little Bowl said thoughtfully, “Is this what they mean by ‘the end of the world happened in the past’…”
I mentally processed this astonishing information, then asked, "According to you, the original form of the world we live in is World A, which only contains common sense?"
“I don’t know,” Number Seven said. “The reason you think this way is probably because you spent your childhood in the world of common sense, but in my opinion, the original form of our world is more likely to be the B world—the weird world.”
"As for the reason, I think it goes without saying. In World A, which originally had no strange things, how could something like a divine seal appear, and how could someone use this divine seal to summon another world? The world A, where mortals can also obtain abundant material conditions through the power of technology—the world of common sense—is more likely to be the outsider who was summoned."
Xiao Wan didn't indicate to me that Number Seven was lying. Regardless of whether the information provided by Number Seven was the final truth, at least from the subjective perspective of someone with intricate connections to the Lord of the Divine Seal, everything he said was true.
However, this contradicts Xiaowan's previous narratives.
Little Bowl once said that all strange things are born from mistakes; but according to Number Seven, strange things seem to have always existed...
Is it simply a matter of perspective? Depending on one's standpoint, the criteria for judging right and wrong will change. From our perspective, the bizarre is a byproduct of error; but from the perspective of the bizarre, we might be the ones who are wrong.
This seems entirely plausible. The biggest reason for the apocalypse is the collision of two worlds. From one side's perspective, the cause of its destruction is the other side that collided with it, and the things inhabiting the other side are the embodiment of error.
As this clash between the two worlds intensifies, the other's presence will become increasingly prominent. The increase in bizarre events may not be due to an increase in the bizarre things themselves, but simply because more and more bizarre things are entering the world of common sense.
Although it is unknown what the relationship is between Xiaowan and Zhu Jiu and Zhu Shi, she is likely like the latter two, instinctively thinking from the perspective of the common sense world. Therefore, she tends to judge the things brought by the strange world as wrong.
If that's the case, then preventing the apocalypse might not require ending the supernatural, and the precondition of being enemies with Asahi and the others seems to no longer exist.
In that situation, however, everything in the common-sense world must be judged as wrong and ruthlessly purged. After all, since the apocalypse was caused by both factors coexisting, one side must be destroyed. In the end, we still have to be enemies with Asahi and the others.
Of course, there is also the option of collecting all the fragments of the divine seal, then making a wish upon the complete divine seal to separate the two worlds again. However, the only known entity capable of repairing the divine seal is the Lord of the Divine Seal.
The Lord of the Divine Seal is the culprit behind this situation. Assuming the Lord of the Divine Seal is Tai Sui, judging from past rumors, it's hard to imagine him as a madman intent on destroying the world; more importantly, I don't believe Number Seven would be an accomplice to such a madman. Perhaps the Lord of the Divine Seal had some positive motive for merging the two worlds, but he didn't anticipate the consequences. Now he probably regrets it and wants to avoid the apocalypse by repairing the Divine Seal.
In any case, no one would agree to let a criminal with a criminal record take over the divine seal again.
So, shall I try to repair the Divine Seal? Regardless of whether it's possible, even if I fight alongside my companions in the name of preventing the apocalypse, as long as the end of the adventure is "obtaining the Divine Seal," I will still betray Asahi and the others at the last moment.
Ultimately, what I yearn for is a chaotic world; I would never wish for world peace.
Xiao Wan seemed to be still deep in thought, then she said, "...Ms. Seven, I remember the beginning of this topic was about introducing the purpose of the Gospel House, right? In order to explain to us what the Gospel House really wanted to do, you first explained the current state of the world..."
"Could it be that the Gospel House's purpose is also related to the end of the world? Do they also want to prevent the end of the world?"
“…That’s right.” Number Seven had a complicated expression. “Although I can only describe the Gospel Institute’s approach as heretical, they do intend to save the world…and it may be the only way to save the world without relying on the power of the Divine Seal.”
Xiao Wan seemed to immediately understand the answer, "I see... So that's why the Gospel Institute kills all survivors outside its jurisdiction without mercy. But what's the point of stopping the apocalypse in this way?"
"Excuse me, if I'm mistaken, please point it out." I also thought of that cold answer, "Is the goal of the Gospel House to exterminate all of humanity?"
"That's pretty much it," Number Seven admitted. "The two irreconcilable worldviews of human history currently running on this planet are like programs running in a computer that conflict with each other, causing the entire system to crash and freeze."
"If it cannot be reprogrammed, there is only one thing that can be done, and that is to wield the sword against all mankind."
(End of this chapter)
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