Chương 159

The fire crackled quietly in the hidden valley. The children had gone back to their small stone huts for the night. Kratos was snoring loudly by the warmth of the flames, his belly completely full of normal, non-magical fish. Rudra sat on a mossy rock across from the Elder. The old man was staring into the fire. The mood had shifted from happy and relaxed to incredibly serious.

"You said you were going to tell me why the world ended," Rudra said, breaking the silence.

"The history books back on the mainland say the Great Demons invaded, and Goddess Rebecca had to step in to save humanity. Was that a lie?" The Elder let out a dry, raspy laugh.

"A lie? It is the greatest scam in the history of existence." Rudra leaned forward.

"What do you mean?"

"The modern churches teach a very simple story," the Elder explained, poking the fire with a stick.

"Goddess Rebecca represents the light. God Yatan represents the dark. Good and evil. They are locked in an eternal war. We are told to pray to Rebecca to protect us from Yatan's demons."

"Right," Rudra nodded.

"That's standard religion."

"It is a business," the Elder said plainly.

"They are not enemies, Rudra. Goddess Rebecca and God Yatan are business partners." Rudra blinked.

"Wait. Partners? Like, they work together?"

"Exactly," the Elder nodded heavily.

"Our scholars studied the fundamental flow of magic for centuries before the world ended. We tracked the source of divine light and the source of demonic energy. We found out they don't oppose each other. They perfectly balance each other. They come from the exact same table." Rudra frowned, trying to wrap his head around it.

"But the demons wipe out entire kingdoms. The angels come down and fight them. Millions of people die."

"Think of it like a farm," the Elder said, looking Rudra right in the eyes.

"If a farmer plants wheat, what does he do when the wheat grows too tall? Does he just let it grow forever?"

"No," Rudra said slowly.

"He harvests it. He cuts it down."

"Yes. The world is just a farm," the Elder sighed, looking back at the fire.

"Humanity is the crop. When humans get too strong, when kingdoms get too advanced, they threaten the gods' control. If humanity realizes they don't need the gods, the gods lose their power." The old man tossed his stick into the flames.

"So, when the crop gets too tall, Yatan opens the gates of hell," the Elder continued.

"He sends the Great Demons to wipe the board clean. They destroy the advanced kingdoms. They kill the powerful humans. Then, when the world is properly ruined, Rebecca steps in. She sends her angels and her holy knights to 'save' the survivors." If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Rudra sat back, completely stunned. It made twisted, horrible sense. The gods didn't care about good or evil. They just cared about staying in charge.

"Yatan cuts the grass," Rudra summarized.

"And Rebecca acts like the hero so the survivors keep praying to her. They reap the fear from Yatan, and they reap the faith from Rebecca. It's a perfectly balanced ecosystem."

"Exactly," the Elder said.

"We discovered this truth. We realized the entire world was just a staged play. And the moment the gods noticed that we knew... the sky turned black. They sent the apocalypse to silence us. That is why we locked ourselves in this crater. We are the only people left who know the truth." The quiet valley suddenly felt very cold. The modern churches in Satisfy had absolutely no idea.

Pope Drevigo had been corrupt, and Damian was trying to fix it, but even Damian didn't know the Goddess he prayed to was literally working with the demons. Suddenly, Rudra's vision was completely blocked by a massive wave of golden system windows. [You have uncovered a Lost Truth of the World!] [Your understanding of the world's fundamental structure has expanded greatly.] [You have looked past the lies of the gods.] [You have acquired the title "He Who Knows the Truth"!] [He Who Knows the Truth] [You are one of the few humans to realize how the world is destroyed. You will not be easily swayed by divine or demonic pressure. - Resistance to all divine and demonic status effects increases by 30%. - Willpower Stat +100] [The hidden stat 'Willpower' has been unlocked!] [Willpower] [It is strong enough to distort reality. - The higher the number, the higher the effect. - Stat points can't be distributed to this stat.] [Based on your past achievements and your unyielding mindset, 'Willpower' has been greatly increased.] [Willpower has reached 350!] [The skill "Manifestation of Will" has been acquired!] Rudra stared at the glowing text. The system was basically paying him out for listening to a history lesson. He quickly opened his skill menu to read the new descriptions. [Manifestation of Will (Lv. 1)] [Only a saint can deal with the intangible. Distort reality with the manifestation of your solid will. At the current level, the willpower can only be used to attack the enemies. At the current level, the skill is only activated when a weapon is equipped. The shape of the will is the same as the appearance of the weapon being equipped. The amount of damage done by Manifestation of Will is the same as the willpower stat combined with the strength stat. It completely ignores the target's resistance and defense. A target with the willpower stat will ignore this attack. Cooldown Time: 1 minute.] Rudra read the skills twice. His eyes went wide.

"This is insane," he muttered. It completely bypassed defense and resistance. It was an absolute attack. But the catch was huge: if the enemy also had the Willpower stat, the attack did zero damage. It was basically a skill designed to completely crush normal players and monsters, but it wouldn't work as a cheat code against other Legends or Saints. He also realized something else. He had seen this before. He instantly remembered Piaro meeting the Red Knights in the Estate.

The legendary farmer hadn't used any sword energy or physical hands to lift Kentrick and Singuled. Piaro had just used his sheer will to literally hold the powerful knights in the air, rendering them totally helpless. It was raw, terrifying pressure.