"Luceria... Who will be your counterpart?"
Spoke the emotionless doll.
With a voice of pure and unresentful coldness, devoid of emotion, she posed her question to her master.
"Hmm... I don't know myself, I can't see the complete future."
However, her master responded with an indifferent and casual voice, not lacking emotion, but interest.
"But what's certain is that they exist now... and will continue to exist, definitely someone very special."
Who could this counterpart be that the master spoke of with such reverence?
"I don't quite understand..."
The doll, having evolved over a bit of time and learned new things, was now capable of mimicking emotions to a small extent.
"Could you please explain more clearly?"
Attempting to appear as apologetic as possible, she asked again, prompting her master to tilt her head in a slightly ambiguous expresshion.
"I can't feel him precisely, nor can I foresee him, but it's certain that eventually, as time approaches eternity, the time will come."
As she said this, her eyes widened in a transverse manner, looking blankly into space, as if gazing into something abstract.
"Hmm... Um..."
What was she looking at? As time passed, her eyes filled with intrigue and soon, even a hint of yearning.
Finally, after completing her foresight, the master half-closed her eyes, relaying what she had seen.
"It's still too distant a story, hard to make out. I can barely see the face, only the mere existence is perceptible..."
A future counterpart unknown to her, a subject of increasing anticipation and longing, a figure of boundless interest.
"My counterpart will be unlike anyone else, filled with ambition, but compared to the gods, their essence is far too ugly and finite."
Listening to her, one might think the counterpart was destined to be despised, yet it seemed to be just a momentary sentiment. "Nevertheless, I can assure you of this, they possess a fatally attractive charm."
With longing eyes, as if entranced, she delved into her innermost feelings.
"Like pristine water unseen in any era, they possess an unblemished beauty. They may be imperfect and full of flaws, but to me, they are too pure and clear to be unworthy..."
With these words, she hung her head like a puppet with severed strings, exhaling a breath laced with myriad emotions.
"Well... I can’t provide more details, that's as much as I can tell."
Her face showed a hint of disappointment, but she quickly smirked, returning to her usual demeanor.
"You haven't forgotten your misshion, have you?"
Shifting the topic, she asked the doll she created, who resembled herself, with a serious expresshion.
"Yes... If your body is destroyed, I will conceal my identity and hide among mortals, waiting for the time... I have not forgotten the meaning of my life."
Satisfied with the answer, she reinforced the fact she had emphasized several times in the doll’s mind.
"Yes, in the distant future... when the time comes, my followers will seek you out, even if it takes ages."
Humans may face destruction but never truly defeat.
This was the enlightenment she gained from studying humans, and I, too, through my long life among them, meeting and parting with many, learned this crucial knowledge.
Humans are essentially fragile.
No matter how they struggle, they can't escape biological death. Compared to gods, they are too easily broken, finite beings.
Thus, to gods, humans are insignificant creatures.
However... even though they are so frail, they possess something not even gods can break...
The reason they continue to exist despite being the weakest in the world...
It's their will.
Humans reproduce, live their short lives, and pass down universal knowledge and individual will to their offspring. "That’s exactly why humans have been able to exist until now, and why they have survived in a world ruled by gods and dragons since ancient times."
'My will is embedded in mortals; though they may be unstable, they persist and continue to follow my will, no matter how much time passes.'
That’s why she utilized the will of humans.
As long as there were those who served her, her plans could never be thwarted.
Knowing that humans’ will could serve as a foundation to fulfill her plans, she used it as a means.
Thus, she first created those who would fall for her, and over time, they gathered and formed an organization...
We called them heretics.
Different regions and people had various names for them, but commonly they were known as cult members, with one sole purpose...
The resurrection of Luceria, an ancient being once revered and adored by many, but now a fallen deity, shunned by the world.
They were originally derived from her and existed solely for her.
However, as time passed, even the most steadfast essence changes. As the will was passed down, it slowly became distorted, and now their purpose has shifted to reviving not only her but several ancient gods, as is widely known today.
And I was originally part of the cult, born of her, granted life and purpose by her. It was a natural destiny, the original reason for the existence of our kind, known as spirits.
I lived through eons, eagerly awaiting the time she spoke of, sometimes even leading the cult.
But... at some point, I began to learn.
Another knowledge gained from living among humans.
Initially, I was born emotionless, a puppet of hers, but as I assimilated with them, I learned to think for myself and acquired morals and concepts, along with various other human traits. "Okay..."
Arsia spoke mechanically, her voice cold and devoid of emotion.
"Your counterpart..."
She kept murmuring that single word, resigned to the destiny set by the ancient deity.
This acceptance led to a natural emergence of anxiety.
"I don’t want to die..."
This was the instinct for survival. Over time, she began to question her life's purpose of dying for her creator, and eventually...
"I won't follow you anymore...! I want to exist as myself!"
She rebelled against the cult and resisted the impending fate.
"Weren’t you meant to be the meaning of her life? Why are you saying this now, when the time has come?"
One day, a new generation of elite cult members, with a completely different aura, came looking for me. I instinctively sensed...
'The time is almost up...'
The ancient deity, Luceria, who created me, was close to using me as a sacrifice for her resurrection.
Resisting fate is futile... If I remained passive, I’d be sacrificed in some way. I had to prepare a countermeasure.
And so, the method I created...
"Ah... Light? What happened?"
Like Luceria, who created me in her image, I divided part of the magic that constituted my body to create a doppelgänger resembling me.
And her name was...
"Hello? You are Aris. I brought you into existence."
"By doing so, I could delay becoming the sacrifice... but eventually, as I nurtured Aris's existence..."
Listening to Arsia's story from beginning to end, I was captivated.
"I was caught in a weakness. Once, the pendant, a mere ornament worn by Luceria, was used to bind Aris's life and to blackmail me."
That was the situation.
Arsia created Aris to resist her destined fate, successfully preventing Luceria's resurrection, but...
"I had no choice... Maybe it's a parent's heart... I wanted not to become like her, giving Aris the emotions I lacked, so I had to choose."
She, like her own parental figure Luceria, had not received maternal affection, but she gave it to Aris, eventually growing attached. When Aris was linked to the pendant, her vulnerability was exploited, forcing her into an unfair agreement and obliging her to work for them. "In exchange for not sacrificing Aris and me for Luceria's resurrection, the negotiation terms were to obey their commands until a suitable replacement is found... That's why I've been tolerating what's been happening at the academy so far..."
The revelation of all these hidden truths felt like a release from a deep-seated burden.
If the reason for Arsia's adherence to the cult was Aris, then now that issue has been resolved.
"So, will you now oppose them?"
She responded without a moment's hesitation.
"Of course, now I will annihilate the cult with my own hands."
Her determination, tinged with a hint of madness, sent shivers down my spine.
"Then, what's their goal now?"
"They'll probably give up on using me as a sacrifice for her resurrection. But they won't stop; they'll hasten to find someone exceptional, perhaps not as much as me, but still a notable participant for their purpose."
The task at hand was clear. The more desperate they became, the more mistakes they would make, creating advantageous situations for us.
"It seems they'll kidnap outstanding individuals and hasten the resurrection. We can't afford to relax, we must act quickly."
With that, Aris and I nodded in agreement.
"Arsia, there’s still much to discuss, but let's focus on what needs to be done first."
Arsia, momentarily touched by Aris's words, looked at her with a tender smile, perhaps feeling the fulfillment of the maternal affection she mentioned earlier.
Her demeanor changed, even her choice of words seemed older, a bit awkward compared to her appearance.
"So, what should we do now?"
"We just need to protect the talented individuals. A good body is needed for a god's soul to inhabit."
"Talented individuals..."
At this, Aris seemed to ponder for a moment, then suddenly...
"What?! "
She exclaimed in disbelief, looking around in confushion. And then...
"Harold! Where's Marika?!"
Aris urgently asked me.
Marika...?
As her words made me look around...
She's really gone...?
At some point, she had disappeared.
We had been together since leaving the alley, but she had vanished like a ghost...
Could it be...!
The worst possible scenario began to unfold in my mind.
"What do we do...?!"
Aris, sharing similar thoughts, contorted her expresshion from its previous calm.
"Wait... there’s not a single cult member here..."
But that wasn't the only problem...
The number of cult members lying on the ground... When we entered, there were precisely 10...
"Now there are only 9 on the floor..."
"One's missing?"
I hadn't noticed when they disappeared.
Thud!!
A loud, jarring noise disrupted my thoughts.
Exchanging a concerned look with Aris, Arsia suddenly slammed the desk with an intensity we hadn’t seen before.
"Wait! 'He' is missing!"
Who was she talking about...?
Did she see something I didn’t? To me, they all looked the same except for their stature.
"The leader of the cult members in this academy... a man with a radically different belief, trying to awaken an ancient deity!"
The situation seemed grave, her anxious demeanor not matching her usual poise.
"He was definitely here..."
A blonde girl stood alone in the empty hallway.
"The place my brother mentioned... We were supposed to meet here..."
Who was she waiting for?
"Marika"
But before I could ponder further, someone called out the girl's name and appeared calmly.
"My brother...?! What happened to you?!"
It was the princess's brother, the crown prince destined to rule the kingdom.
"You're all wet! What happened-"
The prince appeared completely drenched, his hair also wet, adding to the mystery. "Marika..."
Despite his sister's concern, he approached with a heavy atmosphere and then...
"Come with me for a moment, I have a place to go."
He made an unexpected and somewhat forceful request to her.