A chilling silence flowed like the depths of water.

Yuder pondered again over the shocking content of the words he had just heard.

'The Word of God... Is it truly divine?'

The meaning of these divine words was, of course, naturally associated with the scriptures. Yuder, not particularly devout, was aware that the texts written in the Sun God's scriptures were said to be the accounts of prophets who had directly heard the Word of God. This was common knowledge.

However, if the words written on this paper were true, then the First Duke of Tain had denied the very idea that 'the scriptures were the direct word of God.'

If the scriptures were not the word of God, then many miraculous events believed to have been divine interventions would also be denied. What about the divine power exhibited by the priests?

A thought crossed Yuder's mind, a memory of what Kishiar had said before.

'Some mages had argued that the existence of divine power does not prove the existence of a god, hadn't they?'

But this statement was even more shocking and bold than that debate. If someone had found this bundle of papers before them, it would have been burned immediately upon deciphering.

Yuder understood why Kishiar had said, 'I see why it was hidden here.'

"So... the First Duke of Tain believed that the words in the scriptures were all fabricated by humans?"

"That's the gist of it. Despite the Temple of the Sun God being weak at that time, it was undoubtedly a dangerous notion."

Despite saying this, Kishiar, looking down at the paper, did not seem particularly displeased. His demeanor was surprisingly calm, especially for a descendant of the imperial family who should have been most shocked by this story.

"It seems you're not too surprised, Commander."

"Really? I thought I was quite shocked. If I seem unaffected, it's probably because I've had similar thoughts since I was a child."

There was no need to ask what he meant, as the man soon clarified.

"Listen. The founding Emperor of Orr, celebrated for receiving the blood of the Sun God and wielding a divine sword to prevent great destruction and establish the nation, is a famous legend."

"Yes."

"But how can one be certain of inheriting the god's blood when the god has never appeared?"

Yuder was silent for a moment before finally speaking.

"In the temple... isn't there something like holy fire? The incarnation of the god depicted..."

"Officially, it's said that the artists received 'special revelations' when depicting the incarnation of the god. But in reality, all those artists used the imperial family of the time as models. I've often been told I resemble the god's incarnation, likely due to this influence. We don't know what the holy fires were like before the great destruction, as the first depictions in history are from after the establishment of Orr."

"I didn't know that."

"It's natural to be unaware. Who would dare discuss such things?"

After saying this, Kishiar stroked his chin and lifted the corners of his lips.

"Since childhood, I've been curious about this. Every time I went to the Grand Temple, I troubled the Pope by insisting on more solid evidence that I was a descendant of a god. After awakening my divine power, I've spoken with many clerics about it, but none could give me a satisfying answer."

The story of the founder of the Orr imperial family receiving the god's blood is not in the scriptures. Yet, everyone believes it. The belief itself is as good as an answer. Denying an answer that is already evident is meaningless.

The priests had said so, but their words failed to convince young Kishiar.

"To me, both magic and divine powers weren't much different. It wasn't a power awakened due to fervent belief in a deity. There are imperial family members like me who have awakened divine power, but in fact, more royals have not. Then, does that mean they are not descendants of the imperial bloodline blessed by the god's blood? Not necessarily."

Silence followed.

"Do you remember the story I mentioned before? About how mages debated that the presence or absence of divine power couldn't prove the existence of a god."

The very thoughts Yuder had just entertained were now echoed in Kishiar's words.

"I remember."

"They argued that greater piety doesn't necessarily translate into more potent divine power, and that even a priest who commits evil deeds can continue to use that power until death. If there were a god, that shouldn't be possible. Some extremists even claimed that divine power was no different from magic power."

Kishiar laughed, recalling how those who made such bold claims were denounced to the temple and subjected to a religious trial.

"During my curiosity about the divine lineage, I found these debates quite intriguing. In fact, if their arguments hold, even the Divine Sword Orr could be considered just an exceptional magic artifact."

The idea of the Divine Sword Orr as a mere magic tool was more audacious than the ancient mages' claims. Yuder began to consider whether he should block the surrounding area to prevent their conversation from being overheard.

"Undoubtedly, the Divine Sword has a mystique that allows it to express something akin to a self-awareness. But isn't that similar to the animated armor knight in the Deluma Palace? If the knight is moved by magic, then the sword is moved by divine power. They're quite similar, aren't they?"

Yuder was silent for a moment before responding.

"I'm not well-versed in either field, so it's difficult for me to comment, but your words seem reasonable, Commander."

"I'm grateful to have the fortune of conversing with someone who doesn't dismiss what I say as madness simply because I said it."

Kishiar blinked both eyes in quick succession.

"I may have delved into my old stories, but the point that Blake Van Tain was trying to make here is singular. The legendary tales and mystical powers we've long considered profound and grand might, upon closer inspection, not be so different from what we know today."

"Today being"

"Yes. Like how our world changed completely just two years ago due to a stone that fell from the sky. That's a fitting example."

As Kishiar added this to his previous statements, the message he intended to convey began to crystallize in Yuder's mind.

'The Founding Emperor... legends... scriptures, God... and the Awakeners.'

The First Duke Tain had talked about witnessing his father's deeds being exaggerated into legends. It was an easy concept to grasp for Yuder. Many similar incidents had occurred whenever he displayed his immense power.

Of course, in his case, the tales were often inflated in a terrifying and fearsome direction. Ridiculous rumors had abounded about the secrets behind the extraordinary strength of the Cavalry Commander Yudrain Aile like deriving power from consuming a child's liver daily or being a demon's offspring.

'Perhaps, if such rumors had gone uncorrected for a few hundred years, people might have come to believe I truly was such a being.'

This led to the contemplation that perhaps the tale of the Founding Emperor inheriting the blood of god was similarly fabricated. Attaching the narrative of being 'someone who, upon closer inspection, inherited divine blood' to a person of great accomplishments, as a form of admiration and understanding, wasn't a difficult task.

All words, after all, were a matter of how they were applied.

'Though it's just a thought, it does feel dangerously plausible.'

The more he considered it, the more dangerously sensible it seemed.

Perhaps future generations would perceive the tale of an Awakener emerging from a stone that suddenly fell from the sky as akin to the legend of a mage born from a magic spring. If Kishiar, often praised as an incarnation of the divine, were to be remembered in history, it wouldn't be strange to attach the epithet of the reincarnation of the Founding Emperor.

But who in that distant future could definitively prove that these added narratives weren't the reality?

'The First Duke Tain, who authored those writings, must have observed such processes and thus speculated that the existence of the scriptures might also be the result of a similar evolution.'

A faint shiver ran through him. Stories that once seemed distant and far off now felt alarmingly close.

"The scriptures record fragments of stories from a very long time ago, well before the Great Destruction. Although they are covered in all sorts of unrealistic metaphors, if one peels away all of that and thinks about it... The existence of Messenger Orhe, who is said to have proved the existence of the Sun God on this land, might not have been so different from that of Luma, the first Archmage who established magic on this land."

Just as mages were persecuted and had to prove their magic when it first appeared, the first priests in the scriptures had a similar experience. The miracles attributed to Orhe were not much different from those performed by the Archmage.

"At the very end of the text, Blake Van Tain wrote this."

Kishiar showed Yuder the last part of the paper.

"Perhaps my spiritual father, who took the scriptures and left this place, had already entertained the same thoughts as I. If I were a bit healthier, I might have traveled south. But now, I cannot..."