Chapter 10 – Knowledge and Realization
"Interesting…" Jack muttered as he stared at Liliana. While it was true that he couldn't really force her to leave even if he wanted to, her offer still made him a bit more curious. The fact that she was ready to give him valuable information was something he simply couldn't ignore just like that.
'Getting information would literally be the difference between life and death. When I'm not aware of most things, having someone who knows everything would be a huge advantage,' he mused. 'Hm, but should I really trust this demon?'
As comical as it was, Jack didn't forget that Liliana, as pretty as she was, was still a demon — and demons didn't particularly have good reputations in the human world. They were, in fact, quite the opposite of good. They represented everything evil and vile, and in many religions, they were the symbol of cruelty in the world.
Jack didn't know if Liliana was indeed one of these kinds of demons, and he wasn't hopeful about discovering that truth anytime soon.
'But, she did say that she's… the Demon of Hope?' Jack frowned. 'A demon of hope? Isn't that a contradictory title? Demons are creatures of despair, yet she says she's a demon of hope…'
He didn't know if that had something to do with the reality of demons from other realms or if it was plainly a lie. Either way, that was the title he was working with.
'It's really pointless to try and judge her intentions and morals based on what I have. She's a very deceptive and sly person, and it's clear in her eyes. Making her say the truth will be greatly difficult,' he sighed.
"Fine, if you can assist me, then I will be thankful," he said.
"Yayy! I will be a useful, pretty demoness," she said with a giggle.
"Whatever…" Jack then turned to look around him, realizing that no one seemed to be alerted by Liliana's presence. Nobody was even looking at her.
"Hm, they can't see you?" he asked.
"Yeah, I can make myself only visible to you. It makes less of a problem," she nodded. "I can also make it so that they don't hear us speaking, so they don't think you're… well, insane."
"What kind of power is even that?"
"The power of illusion, my dear Jack," she explained. "Distorting their vision isn't hard, and it isn't considered affecting this world in any way, so the Divine Records won't punish me."
"I see…" Jack replied. "Well, back to our topic. I have a few questions I want to ask."
"Mhm, go ahead. I will answer to the best of my abilities."
"What are the 'True Ones'?" he asked. That was the very first thought he had and the most intriguing mystery so far. If there was a person who knew what the True Ones were, it should be Liliana.
However, he never expected her expression to change so quickly — from a smile to a cold, almost terrifying one.
"Where did you hear that name, Jack?" she asked in a completely different tone.
"It was the second message I saw after awakening… It said the True Ones are observing me," he explained.
Liliana's eyes slowly widened. "Observing you? Them…?" she whispered. "But how? That shouldn't be… What?"
Seeing the confusion in her eyes, Jack grew even more restless. The fact that a being like her had such a reaction to that didn't give him the best of feelings.
"Is everything okay?"
"Hm? Oh yeah…" Liliana shook her head. "I was just a bit surprised that this happened. It's pretty rare for those old bastards to take an interest in someone."
"Old bastards…?"
"The True Ones are basically a council of beings who reached the threshold of evolution and are considered the strongest beings in all realms."
"So like…"
"Gods? You could say so. Except, they lack everything you might imagine a god would have. They're just a bunch of lousy old men and women with too much power and time on their hands." Liliana rolled her eyes. It was clear from her attitude that she didn't see these True Ones favorably, and the reasons behind that were not clear to Jack.
'Perhaps because they're labeled as gods that she hates them. After all, she's a demon herself,' he mused. 'Well, this kind of conflict is way above my pay grade anyway.'
"Second question — you said that Earth is slowly becoming a Lower World. That means there are many other realms above this one?"
"Of course. There are countless realms other than Earth, many of them still untouched by the Divine Records, while others were chosen to start the evolutionary path."
"And what realm did you come from?"
"Hmm, it's a very distant world from here, called Songvail." Liliana smiled fondly as she said the name. "It's a very nice world with good people."
"Hm, I see…" Jack nodded. 'Endless other worlds, and we are only now chosen to start evolving.'
"Third question — what do you mean by 'evolutionary path'? What will happen to Earth?"
"Well, the better question is what will not change about Earth, truly… Everything — everything will change," Liliana replied. "The geography, the scale, the ecosystem, even the worldly laws that you are familiar with. All of that will gradually change in the next year or so as Earth becomes a Lower World."
"What…? Why?" Jack asked. 'By worldly laws, I'm sure she means gravity and the laws of physics… The fact those will change…'
It was simply chaos. For any of those laws to undergo change meant unimaginable results. Even Jack didn't want to imagine how Earth would look once all of that happened.
"It's because of something that's in your body right now. It's, in fact, in my body too." Saying those words, Liliana lifted her hand, and slowly, a ball of energy formed in her palm — one that was a deep red color.
"Aether," she added. "Aether is the source of energy in every single realm. It's what makes you able to get stronger and use your skills. It's also what the world is absorbing as we speak, and just like you, the world will evolve because of that. It will become a more sophisticated world."
"Sophisticated, huh?" Jack almost scoffed. 'Based on what does it judge if a world is sophisticated or not? That's food for thought. But to think it's the Aether of all things… Interesting…'
In hindsight, that made sense since Aether was a mysterious energy with possibly endless effects.
"Don't worry, though. By the time Earth undergoes these changes, your body will be strong enough to handle it. Those who don't get strong enough by then, however, are doomed. The world will start ridding itself of all weak creatures it deems unworthy of living on its surface."
"Hah, so this evolution is like a constant power check for every single creature on Earth?"
'I guess the Divine Records want people to keep getting stronger and never stop. If there were no such threat, evolution would probably face some sort of bottleneck.'
Weirdly enough, Jack found the idea rather exciting. He was curious to see how human society would deal with this knowledge in the future. It could truly either make or break this race.
"Do you have any other questions you want to ask urgently?" Liliana asked with a smile.
"Hm, no, I'm satisfied for now," Jack replied. "I pieced together a good image."
"I'm glad to be helpful~," she said.
"Yeah…" Jack looked at Liliana weirdly as he turned around to stare at the city again. However, right when his eyes landed on the skyline, he witnessed something surprising.
BOOOOOOM
A military jet flew over the city, and out of it flew a large missile that slammed into the heart of the city, exploding violently as a large cloud of dust rose in the air.
"Oh my god!!"
"Oh no!!"
"Lord have mercy!!"
All the people were shaken to the core, witnessing that sight. Then, as if it wasn't enough, another military jet flew over and launched another missile into the city, not caring about the possibility of innocent people being there.
"..." Jack blinked.
"Why are they throwing missiles?! There are civilians!" Alex yelled as he rushed to the edge to watch. "People will get blown to pieces!!"
"They can't…" Jack muttered.
"Huh?"
"They can't control the spread at all…" he replied. "So they're destroying it… or at least trying."