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Chapter 975: Altanus (12)

“So you were active in the Land of Nejesca, right? Where exactly is that…” Lady Deliha asked.

“It was a small village with no name,” I answered.

“I’m embarrassed. Actually, the long-standing conflict in the Land of Nejesca… was partly mediated by Deliha Empire—”

“My lady,” Lord Len Burk interrupted.

“I’m not here to talk about the corruption of the empire, Lord Len Burk. I’m simply speaking the truth. Even a child knows that the conflict in the Land of Nejesca occurred because of the petty pride between the Deliha Empire and the Valinarian Empire. Don’t you agree, Sir Clarkin?” Lady Deliha asked.

“This is embarrassing,” Sir Clarkin commented.

“Even the magic marquis of the Valinarian Empire agrees. An unknown priest has been providing support on the issue the two empires have been ignoring,” Lady Deliha said.

“The actions both empires took after is a bit unfortunate, but…” I trailed off.

“What?”

“I don’t think the petty pride that the Grand Duchess had mentioned is petty at all. Competition is the greatest driving force for human development. In the eyes of narrow-minded people… it\'ll be unfortunate that there needs to be competition, but when you look at the bigger picture—I can’t really list all the things that the two empires had done to benefit humanity.

"The development of magic is for the sake of comfort and safety while the development of technology is for the sake of convenience and prosperity,” I explained.

“Are you saying the two empires did nothing wrong, Father?” Lady Deliha asked.

“If you’re asking my personal opinion…”

“I asked such an obvious question,” Lady Deliha commented.

“Obviously, I don’t think it’s wrong to sacrifice a small amount of people for the greater good,” I paused.

“Despite that… You’re just telling me the things that I want to hear,” Lady Deliha said.

“The important thing is to share,” I explained.

“So that’s the reason for the bribe earlier. Don’t you agree, Sir Clarkin?” Lady Deliha asked.

“Haha, I felt this earlier, but this is no ordinary bet. Are you asking us to support the duchy?” Clarkin asked.

“It won’t be bad for both empires either as long as it can inspire pride and self-esteem as denizens of the empire. On top of that…” I trailed off.

“...”

“Like I mentioned earlier. Competition is the greatest driving force for human development,” I continued.

“Hahahahaha.”

“You hurt the petty pride of the two empires, Father. Are you suggesting they compete with each other to see how much support they can provide?” she asked.

“I never said that,” I answered.

“It’s inspiring something inside me, Father. Hahaha!” Lord Len Burk laughed.

‘You don’t even know how I feel, damn it.’

“Come to think of it, did you say you learned alchemy as well?” the Grand Duchess asked.

“I do. Of course, it can’t be compared to Sir Clarkin who’s known as the mage marquis…” I replied.

“No cutting in line, Sir Clarkin. Father Lee Ki-Young and I have things to talk about regarding theology,” Lord Len Burk said.

“I see… if you don’t mind, I’d like to join you… Can I?” Sir Clarkin asked.

“It’ll be more fun if you join us,” I answered.

“...”

“However, we’ll have to put that off for a bit since we’ve been keeping the important guest…” Sir Clarkin suggested.

“Haha, you’re right,” Len Burk said.

‘This is why being popular is tiring.’

I was surrounded by Grand Duchess Deliha, Iron Knight Len Burk, and Mage Marquis Clarkin—the three most popular figures here, so many people were glancing over at us.

Influential people from both the Underground Temple and the surface world were looking for an opportunity to attend this social gathering.

Of course, the social gathering for the lower classes wasn’t all that different. People had gathered even around Metel, who was with me yesterday, so they had to be trying to get some benefits from her. It was better to do that than not get any information.

“Looks like Lady Deliha has a lot to say to Father Lee Ki-Young,” Draktaris chimed in.

“Father Draktaris,” I greeted.

“If you don’t mind, could I borrow Father Lee Ki-Young for a moment?” Draktaris asked.

“I was actually going to let him go since so many people are watching,” Lady Deliha replied.

“Hahahaha,” Draktaris laughed.

They sure look happy.

“I hope we didn’t put you in a difficult situation, Father,” Lady Deliha said.

“That’s…”

“That’s a mean joke, Lady Deliha. Hahahaha. His face turned red as a tomato.” Sir Clarkin pointed out.

“Oh no,” Lady Deliha exclaimed.

“Hahahahaha!”

They were having fun amongst themselves while I was feeling upset, but I couldn’t show that. I had yet to make any noticeable achievements, but this build up was important. It wasn\'t like I wasted the day playing with Metel.

‘By tomorrow, I should be able to talk about the Templars.’

I needed to bring it up in a way that wouldn\'t be too sudden and random. It seemed like Draktaris was working in the dark, but I needed to…

‘Divide the group.’

Honestly, I had yet to come to a proper conclusion—no, I actually came to a conclusion, but the problem was that I wasn\'t sure about it.

‘I’m not Altanus.’

There was no way, but it was actually possible.

After entering the iron maiden, it was possible that I assembled the present and the future in a way that would fit the current timeline.

It was possible that I watched Kim Hyun-Sung in his first life… created my avatar… made him act as the masked hero in the first life, and destroyed myself after turning Kim Hyun-Sung into a regressor.

What if it was my plan to send Benigoa to stand in my place, send my shell to the earth, and start the second life?

If I were to assume that I simply couldn\'t remember those events rather than the possibility that I was not involved at all, then the theory that I was Altanus would be correct.

I couldn\'t stop thinking about the masked hero, the Lee Ki-Young I had seen in the first life, and the fragments of the past that could be interpreted as the remnants of extinction.

Of course, there were details I needed to organize, including the fact that my memories of Earth hadn’t disappeared at all.

‘Is that even possible? Can I even do something like that myself?’

Benigoa couldn’t remember anything.

‘What if Benigoa didn’t want to remember rather than she couldn’t remember at all? What if she could seal away her own memories like me? What if there was some kind of deal during the process of me becoming Altanus and bringing her up with me?’

There was a slim possibility, but that was all there was to it.

‘It’s just an assumption.’

There were two main reasons why I came up with that assumption.

First of all, I wouldn’t place an avatar called the Masked Hero of the First Life.

‘That\'s just impossible.’

A ton of holy power was required when descending or sending a divine message, so it was impossible to place an avatar and control it from the beginning till the end. Well, it was technically possible, but the amount of holy power needed to do that made it practically impossible.

The first life was going to be destroyed anyway, so I could have used a bit more holy power to open Hell\'s gate, but I wasn’t sure whether that was even possible.

I could’ve imbued the personality of the dummy into a homunculus, but that was also out of the question. The illusion and memories I felt were too vivid to say that I simply inherited the memories of a dummy.

Secondly, it would be more convincing to say that Benigoa was Altanus rather than say that I was Altanus.

The Altanus theory was something I came up with to support my assumption.

Between a mere suggestion and something obvious, there wouldn\'t be any need to compare the two, as the obvious one would be closer to the answer. Based on all the pieces of evidence so far, my second assumption seemed closer to the answer.

Personally, it sounded more convincing.

‘That has to be it. There are no other variables here. That has to be it.’

This was where things got complicated.

I reached one conclusion based on the puzzle pieces I forcefully put together to complete the puzzle.

‘There’s no way Lee Ki-Young is Altanus.’

However…

“...”

“...”

[Lee Ki-Young can become Altanus.]

I could change the past, present, and future.

If I managed to enter the iron maiden faster than Benigoa, then I\'d become Altanus.

Not only would I take Benigoa’s place, but I could take care of everything she couldn\'t handle. I could enter the iron maiden and assemble the future the way I wanted it.

Obviously, it was going to be risky. As I mentioned earlier, there was a high chance that I wouldn\'t be able to create Lee Ki-Young. The first life could end without Jung Ha-Yan, Kim Hyun-Sung, Park Deok-Gu, and Lee Ji-Hye meeting the masked hero.

‘That’s not all.’

I could also fail in placing my shell to the ground upon sacrificing myself and turning Kim Hyun-Sung into a regressor. If I ended up failing, then Lee Ki-Young would cease to exist.

‘Still…’

Despite that, I could assemble the future the way I wanted it.

‘Even if the second life begins as a failure, Lee Ki-Young is the only victim. He\'s the only one who will cease to exist.\'

I could clear the Continental War, the 27th Legion, the summoning incident, the War On the Outer Gods, and every other major quest beforehand.

The masked hero wouldn\'t appear as well.

Before the world was changed, Lee Ki-Young was an incompetent individual, but in the brand-new world, Lee Ki-Young would be an almighty god. It was an arrangement necessary to handle all the events that would occur from the beginning till the end. Of course, that included unknown variables that would certainly appear.

‘That’s a piece of cake.’

I wasn’t sure whether it was actually possible or not, but if I were to summon the guild member of the Blue Guild back to the sanctuary after the end of the War On the Outer Gods War, they would be able to save me from the iron maiden.

The only problem was that they would have no memories of me.

Once the butterfly effect started, the second life would start without Lee Ki-Young, and everyone wouldn\'t know me. In addition, they could change into strangers. Their personality could change, and they could have different habits as well.

The outcome would be the same, but the life they lived would be completely different.

‘That can’t be.’

There was no need for me to go that far.

There was no reason for me to become Altanus in exchange for everyone forgetting about me.

“This way, Father… There’s someone I would like to introduce you to,” Draktaris said.

“Okay.”

When I saw a figure walking toward us, I couldn’t help but recall the grotesque scene I had seen before coming here.

I saw the pig with wounds all over him, Jung Ha-Yan’s hair was completely white, and Han Sora looked like a porcupine.

Sun Hee-Young, Elena, and Hwang Jung-Yeon had died instantly.

Ahn Ki-Mo and Yoo Ah-Young managed to hold out for a long time, but they eventually were killed.

I couldn’t even find the corpses of Kim Ye-Ri, Lee Chang-Ryeol, and Park Lian.

Kim Hyun-Sung had perished as well with his wings torn off.

“...”

“...”

I realized that I was here to change the future that was already set in stone.

“Hello, Father Lee Ki-Young. I heard many things about you. This is Templar Simon and I’m…”

“...”

“I’m… Templar Bahamut,” he introduced.

I was sure that the one who made that future was the bastard in front of me.

“...”

“...”

I could sense it instinctively.