Chapter 247 - Darkness Incarnate (5)

Saiben let out a bitter laughter as he met Atein’s gaze.

“You’ve finally called me by my name.”

It was as Atein had said. Saibein had broken the seal.

Saibein knew Atein’s abilities better than anyone present here. Atein had manifested in this place through Darkness Incarnate, but Saibein knew Atein was capable of monitoring the other members of Reygus’ party. It was the reason why clone users were so scary.

However, this didn’t mean Atein knew everything that was going on in the battlefield.

If Saibein had personally moved to break the seal, Atein would have used Incarnation to stop him. This was why Saibein had used another method.

Saibein wasn’t a clone user. However, he possessed dark magical energy. He was able to create Corrupted beings and wraiths that were under his control.

As he used his large scale magic, he continuously produced Corrupted Beings and wraiths. He had diverted some of them, and he had stealthily hit the facility containing the seal.

Atein spoke.

“You’ve changed a lot.”

The passage of time was apparent through Saibein’s appearance. In terms of appearance, it looked as if Saibein was the father.

Saibein spoke.

“A lot of things happened before you were revived. You already know this….”

“Those experiences pushed you to become my enemy?”

There wasn’t a single ounce of anger in Atein’s expression as he asked the question.

Saibein was his son, yet he had turned his back towards Atein. He was trying to kill Atein. When faced with this fact, it hadn’t bother Atein at all. Only an expression of pure curiosity appeared on his face.

“As expected…….”

Saibein was hurt by this truth.

It would have been better if Atein had raged and berated him. He couldn’t see any affection towards him within Atein’s eyes.

“…I see. I mean nothing to you, father.”

“That isn’t true. You are my son.”

“You talked about the worth of family. However, the worth you place on your bloodline is different from everyone else. Am I right?”

At his question, Atein didn’t immediately give an answer.

Atein looked at Saibein for a brief moment. There was a slight hesitation before he nodded his head.

“It isn’t the same. Unfortunately…. It can’t be the same.”

“That’s what I thought. I’ve never once felt that I was an important figure in your life.”

It had been like that during the Dragon Demon war. Druing that time, the fight had been much more personal to him.

He wanted to be recognized by his parents.

He wanted love, and he wanted to be special to his parents.

He wanted an extremely normal type of happiness. However, it was always lacking in his life.

Atein, who was his father, only acknowledged him as his progeny. He didn’t give any interest or love that was supposed to come along with being a father. Saibein spoke with Atein, but his heart was always somewhere else. There was always a distant look in his eyes. This was why Saibein felt endlessly hurt by Atein.

What about his mother, Aincera?

‘You are the son of the exalted one. You have to be someone that won’t embarrass him. You cannot fall behind the children born to those lowly women.’

It was hard to imagine it when one looked at the current Aincera, who had lost her sense of self. In the past, Aincera had been a strict and temperamental mother.

Her love was only towards Atein. She had born two children named Rebecca and Saibein. The number of children were proof that she was loved above all other queens. Moreover, the two of them were mere tools that were pitted against the offspring of second queen Tedrin. They were used to show that Aincera was superior to Tedrin

When Rebecca died in the Dragon Demon war, Aincera hadn’t been sad. She was disappointed. Above all else, she was angry.

It was the same when Saibein was defeated in battle. She had been disappointed and angry when he came back barely with his life intact.

‘As if losing to those lowly humans weren’t enough, you brought disgrace to your father!’

…her son had almost died, yet she only talked about him hurting Atein’s reputation. Above all else, it put her at a disadvantage in her competition against the other queens.

Aincera was such a mother.

It would be great if he was able to hate his parents. However, he didn’t possess such a character.

He was hurt and angry, but he wanted his parents to look out for him. He wanted his parents to acknowledge and love him.

“…as I lived my life, I learned a lot of things. Do you know what’s the most interesting thing I learned?”

“I have no idea.”

“I learned that my emotions towards mother and father was quite common in the world. Neglected children pine for love from their parents. It was easy to find humans that shared the same emotions as me.”

His father was singularly unique, yet Saibein’s feelings were universal.

“Can you imagine what I felt? You are like a god, and I am your son. However, the relationship between the two of us was quite common. Do you realize how taken aback I was when I learned this?”

His father was the first Dragon Demon and the first magician. He had saved the world several times. He was the Dragon Demon King Atein, and Saibein was his son. Of course, Saibein had thought he was special too. He also thought his relationship with his father was unique. He thought it was something no one else was capable of understanding. He thought their relationship was that singular.

In truth, it wasn't like that at all.

A person may be unique, but the relationship between people weren’t that special. There were countless ‘children’ in this world that understood and shared Saibein’s experience.

“I finally realized it then. I had really special parents, and I was also a rare existence. However, I was a person in the end. Moreover….”

Saibein hesitated before he spoke.

“…I knew that father wasn’t someone that could be called a person.”

It was a realization that threw Saibein into a spiral of despair.

Atein was a transcendent being, and he could never be what Saibein wanted him to be. Aincera took on the caretaker role of the Great Darkness, and she had lost her sense of self. The possibility of her being a person had disappeared.

“You do not hold any attachment towards your bloodline. You aren’t cold, and you do not consider family to be unimportant, but…. From the beginning, it wasn’t something that could move the needle of your emotions. Am I not right?”

“I won’t deny that fact.”

Atein didn’t hesitate to give his answer. Saibein’s expression crumpled.

“Ha…….”

His heart hurt.

He thought he had given up such emotions long ago. Atein had never taken care of him. Atein’s blood flowed within Saibein, yet he was basically like the numerous figures within the Dragon Demon King’s army. Atein only cared for him a little bit more compared to the others.

Saibein knew this to be true, and he had thought he had abandoned any expectation he had towards Atein.

Saibein realized that he had been deluding himself.

When he realized this truth, Saibein let out a sad laughter.

“Thank you, father.”

“What are you thankful for?”

Atein asked as if he couldn’t understand Saibein.

Saibein spoke.

“I won’t live like you, father. I never expected to confirm my resolve like this.”

“Hmm. I want to hear more about it. I really do, but…..”

Suddenly, Atein spoke.

“Time is up.”

The ground was shaking. The tremor had started not too long ago. It started deep under the earth, and it had reached the surface. The being causing the vibration had finally reached the surface.

Koo-roo-roong……!

The sound of the ground exploding spread outwards. Everyone’s gaze headed towards the source of the sound. It was where the seal had been placed.

Goo-gwa-gwa-gwahng!

A thick darkness emanated upwards as the facility holding the seal blew apart. Then an enormous silhouette appeared from within the darkness.

Two enormous wings unfolded. The owner of the wings looked as if he was wearing a mask. His face was smooth, and he was larger than Reygus.

“That's right.”

When Reygus muttered his words, Atein replied. He recalled an old memory.

“He tried to get rid of desire for humans to fight other humans.”

In the distant past, there was a human that got sick of the fact that humans fought other humans.

Humans were capable of overcoming their human nature that led them down the path of destruction. However, humans were selfish and ugly by nature, so the fight between humans were never ending.

There were countless beings that were capable of wiping out humanity. Instead of fighting the outside threats, humans fought each other. It made him feel anger and sadness towards humans.

When faced with the obvious truth, he tried to get rid of the source that was causing the self-destruction.

‘I’ll eliminate the hate humans have for each other.’

The desire to destroy each other would be eliminated. He thought everyone would be able to live happily ever after if he did that. If humans had no reason to fight each other, he thought they would work to advance their civilization. They would pursue their happiness.

After long research, he found a way to accomplish this task.

All humans dreamed. Dreams was a pathway to one’s deep subconsciousness. All humans were free with this space.

‘If I control their dreams, I can control how their conscious mind works.’

With him at the center, he tied the dreams of many humans into one. He created a mental world. In this world of dreams, he made the humans throw away the ‘unnecessary’ parts of themselves.

The humans under his control gained peace.

They no longer hated other humans.

They were no longer envious of other humans.

The humans were no longer…..

Everything unnecessary was left behind in the dream world. In the real world, these humans started living peaceful and rational lives. Fights amongst humans happened only in the dream world. The dream world was merely a place where they could let out all their dark desires in their sleep.

At a glance, it wouldn’t have been surprising to see a utopia appear within the world.

“…however, the parts that were considered to be ‘necessary’ by the god of Rest was essential to humans. It was needed to be able to live as humans.”

Atein mumbled to himself.

In the process of creating the dream world, he gained control over countless humans. He was able to become a transcendent being. As the number of humans under his control grew, his power grew. He was able to gain god-like power over the beings under his control.

“It would have been great if he was able to create a utopia.”

Atein let out a bitter laughter.

Human civilization was at its infancy during this time. Magicians were rare, so the god of Rest was fully capable of taking over the world.

Atein observed the god of Rest for a time span equal to a human lifespan.

The god of Rest had created a power base that would make it hard for Atein to fight against him. That was why Atein continued to research the abilities of the god of Rest. He researched until he could increase the probability of his victory to an acceptable level.

At the same time, he observed if the god of Rest could truly create an ideal world.

In the land ruled by him, none of the usual stressors of maintaining a human society existed. He had eliminated any stressors that would arrive from humans interacting with other humans.

However, this didn't mean that they were happy. After a long period of observation, Atein arrived at that unfortunate conclusion.

‘They could no longer be called humans.’

They looked like humans. They spoke and acted like humans. However, they were no longer humans.

It was true that there was no jealousy and hate.

However, they didn’t love each other either.

‘If there’s no conflict, people don’t interact with each other.’

They didn’t get lonely. This was why they had no desire to talk to each other.

Things had to occur in the real world. If not, their conversation had no substance. There was no desire to understand each other.

In Atein’s view, it wasn’t an ideal world.

“It was another form of hell. I came to the conclusion that humanity would end in the long run.”

Humans lost jealousy, hatred and their fighting spirit. Humans couldn’t identify what they were lacking in their lives, and they had no desire to better themselves. This led to lack of desire, and they lost the ability to take risks. There was no advance in their civilization. Everyone acted as if they were living the ‘ideal’ life.

In this stagnant paradise, birthrate dropped steeply. At that point, Atein gave up on all expectation. After a fierce fight, he was able to seal the god of Rest within the Great Darkness.

<Ha!>

Reygus laughed at the absurdity of it all.