Changing the Future!

Karen sat down beside Diss. The ground was slightly chilly. Closing his eyes, feeling the evening breeze brush his face and stir his hair, Karen began to listen with close attention, remaining silent for a long time. Diss asked, "Do you hear it now?" Karen shook his head. "Still nothing." Pausing, Karen added, "Perhaps it's because you've blocked it too thoroughly." "Heh." Karen knew that the person before him was the God of Order, yet his form was that of his grandfather, Diss. The God of Order sat outside the epoch, holding back the return of the gods to protect the tranquility of this era; his grandfather had stood before the threshold of their home, ensuring the peace of their little family so that his loved ones could remain far removed from the perilous conflicts of the church circles and live the happy lives of ordinary people. Diss was Order in miniature; Order was Diss magnified. Between the two, there was no contradiction. Trying to force an opposition between them would only turn it into the kind of pointless debate topic used to kill time. "How wonderful it would be if you could stand guard there forever." "Such a thought is not what a believer of Order should harbor. A follower of Order, at all times, should possess the absolute courage to take the initiative to stand in the front rank and shoulder the corresponding responsibility." "It's not a belief, merely a sentiment. It doesn't delay what needs to be done, nor does it hinder my initiative." Karen pointed to himself. "Right now, the stronger my power and the resources I command become, the weaker you grow. With every step I take upward, you slide a bit further downhill." "You are my successor; this is an inevitability, though I am not yet certain whether I will truly choose you. "From your perspective, you exist in the present while I am in the past, a fixed fact. But from my perspective, I stand in the present, while you are a fluctuating future." "Can the future really... be changed?" "It can. The prerequisite is that you must be powerful enough—powerful enough that even the backlash of a taboo cannot kill you." Karen chuckled. "Haha, how interesting." "What is it?" "A question that should be profoundly complex, precise, and elevated to infinite philosophical heights turns out, in essence, to come down to whose fist is harder?" Diss raised his palm, slowly clenched it into a fist, and said, "This is the greatest truth in this world, unchanging throughout all eternity." With it, greedy, cruel pirates could disguise themselves as elegant and noble gentlemen; bloody ethnic massacres could be portrayed as salvations of freedom and civilization; pure and benevolent deities could be judged as evil gods. Of course, you could employ countless perspectives and arguments to criticize and refute its arbitrariness and one-sidedness, yet it would only use reality to scoff at you again and again with the coldest disdain. It might not be reason, but without it, you do not even have the qualification to reason. Karen remembered that his grandfather had once told him the exact same thing. "So, am I undergoing your audit right now? Everything, all of it, you can change from the past?" "Indeed. The impact of the change determines the cost of the backlash, but I can bear it all." "Is that a threat or a warning?" "An explanation and clarification." Karen nodded to show he understood. Then he leaned down, looking at the street below. As his elbow shifted, it brushed against the pocket of his divine robe, where a pack of cigarettes and a lighter were kept. In this moment, it felt as if he had returned to that night when he first met Alfred. A thought suddenly sprang into Karen's mind: *Should I offer Order a cigarette?* In the end, he didn't, but he couldn't help letting out a chuckle at the idea. Diss looked at him, seemingly waiting for Karen to speak first. Yet after he finished laughing, Karen merely lowered his head in silence. He picked up a dry twig—one that would be swept away by early-rising street sweepers the next day—and casually scraped it across the asphalt. A continuous rustling sound drifted out, yet Karen remained silent, as if absorbed in this childish little game. Diss spoke up: "Do you have nothing to say?" Karen shook his head. "I could summarize and analyze the history of this epoch recorded in the *Light of Order*, as well as the development and current state of the other religions, and I could talk until daybreak without issue. But I know you can't be bothered to listen to all that. "As for anything else—like treating you as an interviewer and me as an 'applicant'? "If that's the relationship, and I'm expected to perform to win your approval, I'm not interested." "Do you have another way to present yourself?" "No, I don't. I'm just lazy." "Lazy? I thought you would offer a loftier, more fitting reason." *Snap!* The twig snapped in two. Karen picked up one half and continued scraping the road. "A loftier, more fitting reason? Of course there is." Karen turned his head to look at Diss sitting beside him and said in a low voice, "You are the God of Order, but you are merely the forerunner of Order. What qualification do you have to decide who will be the next God of Order?" Having said that, Karen asked, "Isn't an answer like that much more suited to the tone between the two of us?" Diss remained noncommittal. Karen continued, "Yet the truth is, I rather hope you'll change all of this back in your own time. In fact, I harbor a faint anticipation that you, in all your domineering majesty as a hegemon, will declare to me: "'You are unworthy of being my successor.' "And then, with a snap—" The dry twig in his hand snapped again. Karen tossed it aside and picked up another. "'I'm picking someone else!'" Karen exhaled a long breath, leaned back, and looked up at the beautiful starry sky. "That would actually be quite nice." Diss asked, "Do you not like this world?" "No, I love it. My family is here, my companions, my comrades-in-arms, my mentors. There are scenery, art—it is vibrant and multifaceted. How could one not love it? "The first time I pulled the trigger to fire a spell-bullet, the first time I turned into black mist to take flight, the first time I soared on dragonback... all of it filled me with extraordinary excitement and wonder. These were fantasy scenes that could only have appeared in my dreams before, yet I got to experience them all. "Oh, right, I also have a fiancée." "It seems you almost forgot?" ... In the Eternal Palace of the previous epoch: The God of Order looked upon the inscribed words, the corners of her mouth curving up ever so slightly. Such sudden playfulness amidst utmost gravity made even a god unable to stifle a smile. ... "We aren't married yet, and we don't have children yet. You know, our family's current house—the home you visited at dusk—is a detached villa. "My fiancée's family estate is even bigger. It's a castle estate so vast that you could ride a horse at full gallop without ever reaching the edge." As Karen spoke, he turned to Diss. "Do you understand what I mean by all this? Big houses, grand estates... I know you have divine temples, and you have countless miniature worlds... Ah, no, you once possessed this entire world." Diss said, "You may continue." "Villas, estates—those are things I like very much. The former used to be my ambition; the latter was something I once wouldn't even dare dream of. I've even lost myself in them before." "Are you speaking of yourself?" "Yes, of me. Heh. Karen Inmeles." "Was all of that just a prelude?" "Not just a prelude, but praise—praise for this world, for the church, for family, for far too many things. I can't sum it up simply, but I truly love this place. "Precisely because I love it, I wish to endow it with order. "I believe that deep in the soul of every true believer of Order lies the most profound love for this world." "Yet you still hope I will replace you?" "Yes, exactly." "Back to the starting point. You just told me you were not evading responsibility." Karen fell silent. He had known for a long time that although gods could reach the pinnacle in many respects, a god was not absolutely omniscient or omnipotent. Evading responsibility? If there is no me—if I cease to exist in this world—then what responsibility do I have? He was Karen, yet he was not Karen. If the God of Order made an alteration, to the present, everything would change; but to himself... he would not even exist. Grandfather knew this, but the God of Order did not. Because the God of Order had not opened the study door to examine that single missing golden page. Diss said, "There is a contradiction in your account. You are hiding a secret." "Yes, but I don't want to tell you. Is that all right?" Diss frowned. He greatly disliked such disobedience, but this time, he did not close his eyes to forcibly suppress his displeasure, because it was merely mild aversion. "Suit yourself," Karen smiled. "If you choose me, things stay as they are; if you don't choose me, I'll be quite glad too. How about we change the subject?" "Change the subject?" "You know, when I first learned of you, I actually disliked you quite a bit. No, I disliked all gods, all churches. Even after witnessing the marvelous might of spells and formations, even after flipping through mythical accounts and records, "I still felt that churches, gods, including you, had no business existing—that you were all frauds, ignorant, decadent, backward, and damn well deserved to die. "Whenever the mood struck me, even while taking a bath, I would criticize you lot." "Oh?" "It was because I was young back then, somewhat naive, seeing things only superficially. "Later, when the hunger addiction flared up within me and tortured me relentlessly, do you know what I did? I lay in the bathroom with my back against the bathtub, scorching my soul with the Fire of Light. Do you know how agonizing that was?" "I know." "Back then, I kept wondering why this thing was inside my body, and why it bestowed an image so akin to yours. Some people out there, seeing the hunger addiction, saw you. I kept being mistaken for you. "Even your daughter Ankara's remnant soul called me Father. "For a time, I believed you were preparing for your return—like planting a seed so that once it sprouted and bore fruit, you could come and harvest it to devour." "Heh." "Otherwise, I truly couldn't fathom why such an arrangement existed. I never believed in free gifts falling from the sky; the only conclusion I could reach was that I was slaving away for someone else's benefit. "Do you understand what 'making someone else's bridal gown' means?" "I can read and understand any commentary." "Later on, I discovered that this didn't seem to be the case. The Church of Order is different from other churches. When I re-read the *Light of Order* and the *Code of Order*, a different flavor emerged, as if the words on the pages took on new meanings. "After that, having traveled to many places and experienced so many things, I gradually came to understand the significance of 'Order.' "At some point, it suddenly dawned on me: perhaps you simply had no interest in this bridal gown of mine." "Sounds as though there were multiple shifts?" "Criticizing you, doubting you, understanding you, following you..." "Becoming me?" "To a certain extent, yes. I no longer feel any resistance toward the identity of the 'God of Order.' I've integrated into this role more and more, because I know it is useful. "I am a key—or rather, the key is in my hand. I am the one who opens the door, and at the same time, I must be the one to shut it. "Now, every day when I gaze up at the starry sky, I reflect upon myself: you are tired, but am I ready to take your place? "Yet I know I am still far from where you are. To this day, I have not completed God's Shepherd; I can't even defeat a temple elder. "Well, saying that seems a bit unfair to the temple elders—after all, not long ago, they were untouchably powerful beings in my eyes. "But I just saw how Raniedal swatted them down one by one like flies. "Compared to the crisis I am about to face, compared to the catastrophe about to descend, they too are weak. And I am even more frail." "It seems you are not only evading responsibility; you are also afraid of losing." "'Losing?'" Karen repeated the word. "Heh, there is no possibility of losing, because we have already won." "Won?" "Yes, won. A godless epoch will be remembered by history, remembered by the passing down of life, remembered by this world. This brand has already been seared into existence. "Even if the gods return, they will not dare run rampant and knead this world at will as they did before, because they will fear the rise of another Church of Order, the birth of another God of Order, sweeping them once more into the dustbin of history. "From a realistic perspective, even someone as mighty as you, sitting in isolation for an entire epoch, will face irreversible demise. "Yet from a developmental perspective, this world has already been transformed because of our faith. "You are the God of Order, the forerunner of Order. From the moment you took your seat, this path would never lack followers. Your decaying divine body will serve as nourishment, fostering even more blossoms of Order." "You said you didn't want to speak to me as an 'applicant.'" "This isn't as an applicant; these are the heartfelt words of a believer of Order. I have it easier and more convenient than other believers, saving myself the trouble of prayer—after all, you're sitting right across from me. "If I didn't pour these words out, I would regret it." "Now that you can say such things, the assessment is effectively over." Diss slowly rose to his feet. "I never pinned my hopes on my successor doing better than me, nor did I ever indulge in the luxury of expecting someone to carry on my unfulfilled wishes and win in my stead. I find that somewhat unrealistic." "I think you're being overly pessimistic. I actually think if you picked someone else, they might do much better than me." "Being able to afford to lose already makes you a qualified successor." "Hahaha..." Karen covered his mouth with a hand and laughed. "Is it funny?" "Yes, very funny. Who would have thought that because you consider yourself too exceptional, you would actually lower your expectations for your successor?" "Heh. Stand up." "All right." Karen stood up. "Open your soul space." "You want to see the hunger addiction again?" "Yes. You can also try to devour me again." "Since you didn't descend from above in the present, there's no need for me to do that..." Suddenly, Karen froze. Because in this moment, he felt empathy for the High Priest. On the third floor of the villa, when the God of Order had entered his soul space, he had intended to unleash the hunger addiction to devour her. His reasoning had been simple: *If you don't want to hold the line and decided to come down, then I will devour you and take your place at the guard.* So the High Priest really couldn't be blamed for harboring such "treasonous" thoughts of deicide—his own first instinctive reaction had been identical to the High Priest's. "My time is short, and he cannot hold out much longer either." *Isn't that because you spent so much time taking a walk?* Karen opened his soul space, and Diss appeared within it once more. The Scythe of War, which had just surfaced halfway from the mire, slipped back down into hiding with a swish. In the furthest corner, Progenitor Allen had not yet climbed up from his first kowtow; conveniently, he maintained the posture, as no one was paying attention to him anyway. Diss looked at the sculpture of the hunger addiction and raised his hand. "Do you still remember me?" The sculpture of the hunger addiction opened its eyes, looking at Diss. It was now restrained by Karen and unable to express any further emotion. Diss pointed a hand toward Karen. "He is me." Hearing this, the sculpture of the hunger addiction closed its eyes. From that moment, the sculpture rapidly transformed into Karen's likeness—at a speed that left Karen, the person in question, utterly astonished. With it came a swift surge in power. One had to know that because of the hunger addiction's presence, Karen had no ceiling when it came to godhood in this epoch. Thus, every step he took was firmer and steadier than anyone else's. After that simple instruction concluded, the two figures standing opposite each other on the street opened their eyes simultaneously. Karen asked, "You won't reconsider?" "No need. A passing grade is enough." "All right." "Next, I must grant him his reward." Diss pointed to himself. Karen knew this meant the God of Order intended to reward Diss. As expected, the God of Order's conduct truly possessed divine charisma. No wonder she could make Raniedal so utterly devoted to her. However, according to what the God of Order had said, even if Raniedal deciphered the rules of time, it seemed meaningless—because if he wasn't strong enough, he couldn't alter the flow of time. Diss said, "Shabak—do you know of it? He went there to kill it; it was likely for revenge." "I don't know the name Shabak, but it was likely what caused the accident during my parents' investigative mission. Though Grandfather rescued them, he couldn't purge the corruption from them. In the end, he could only watch as they suffered in agony, until Grandfather granted them release with his own hands." "He could not purge contamination of that degree?" "Because Grandfather couldn't become a god." For a moment, Diss fell silent. ... In the Eternal Palace of the previous epoch: The God of Order fell silent as well. ... After a long time, Diss asked Karen, "Do you think I need to apologize to him?" "There's no need for a deliberate apology." Karen pointed to himself. "I call him Grandfather." Diss shook his head and said, "I will dispose of Shabak. That way, your parents will not die." Karen froze for a moment. *In that case, there would be no me.* Their child would still be named "Karen Inmeles," but he would not suffer the torment of the Alte bloodline, would not die young, Grandfather would not conduct an over-the-limit god-descent ritual, and there would be no *me*. Karen: "Mm, yes, that's right." "Shabak has been sealed within the Eternal Palace, unable to leave for an entire epoch. Merely slaying it will cause very little impact. After your parents give birth to you, I will perform a descent ritual upon you." Karen nodded. "Mm, all right." Even if Diss didn't conduct a god-descent ritual, as long as the God of Order willed it, he could still designate a descent, just like with those Children of God. "This will have some effect on your personality." "With Grandfather's guidance and company, there won't be any problem." ... In the study of 13 Mink Street, two candles spontaneously ignited. Two wind chimes hanging from the candlestick gently swayed, producing crisp, clear chimes. Within them were preserved the remnant wills of Karen's parents. Diss often spent time alone in the study, lighting the candles to visit them. Back when Raniedal attempted to reclaim Karen's body, they had also helped stall for time and protected Karen. At this moment, they seemed to be murmuring, and also praying. ... "Then I shall go slay Shabak. Never mind—I might as well thoroughly clean out the Eternal Palace." Having said that, Diss closed his eyes. Karen took a deep breath and closed his eyes as well, a smile gracing the corners of his mouth as he waited quietly. *Soon, Grandfather, your family will be reunited.* After a short while, Diss opened his eyes. Karen opened his eyes too, then looked down at his hands. *Huh, I still exist?* *Did something go wrong with the temporal taboo?* *Could even the God of Order, mighty as she is, be unable to alter the present?* *Or is it that, beyond the theory of the fist, far more temporal proofs must be factored in?* Diss, having opened his eyes, looked at Karen with a profound gaze, as though reassessing and observing him anew. Karen asked, "What happened? Did things not go smoothly?" Diss shook his head and answered, "He refused."