The Demon King is unfathomable

Chapter 387 I Will Be the First to Die

The "Gods" in the void have finished their work and gone to eat, while the "chess pieces" they have carefully selected have just stepped onto the chessboard.

The training has begun.

On the 180th day, Jon finally comprehended the profound truths taught to him by the Void and learned the most basic magic of invoking holy light.

He called it "psychic energy".

Even with divine "guidance," it still took him so long to awaken. He knew very well that he was by no means exceptionally gifted, and that the gods must have taken a liking to something else in his soul besides his talent.

You are not that one in a million exception.

'But it could also be you.'

In order to fulfill the mission given to him by the new god Colin, he began to walk on the edge of the city, delving into the corners behind the glitz and glamour.

That is the “lower sewers” ​​of the global city, a labyrinth of abandoned pipes, intricate climbing frames, and rickety metal roofs.

The air here is perpetually thick with the pungent, rusty smell of engine oil and the acrid stench of undecomposed chemical waste. Beyond that, the perpetual darkness and stagnant air create a damp, stifling atmosphere that suffocates the senses.

The sky above is fragmented by the steel and concrete of the upper city. Only at midnight, when the ever-burning holographic billboards briefly reboot, do a few slivers of murky moonlight shine through the layers of gaps, like a merciful act of charity, onto this forgotten land.

He never imagined such a place would exist.

But he should have realized long ago that the taller the tower, the taller the shadow it would cast.

Upon entering this place, Jon was suddenly struck by the realization that he was already lucky to be able to use a "free refrigerator." There are many people in this world who have never even seen a refrigerator, and who don't even have the chance to curse him online.

Of course, no bank was willing to provide loans to these people, so naturally they didn't have any prosthetic bodies installed.

At this moment, Jon recalled the oracle that the new god "Colin" had bestowed upon him through the void 180 days earlier—

'To achieve salvation, you can't just save yourself!'

With a touch of humble piety, he did not scream out despair like others, nor did he immediately raise the banner of resistance.

He was like a gentle, silent raindrop, disappearing into a small puddle hidden deep beneath the steel maze, untouched by the light.

This is his mission!

In a creaking corner of a shed soaked by acid rain, a five- or six-year-old gray girl was curled up on the cold metal floor, coughing up black phlegm mixed with iron filings due to "rust disease".

Her father was a man who lost his left arm in a work injury. The meager compensation was not even enough to save him. He could only desperately hold his child, trying in vain to use his body heat to hold onto the last bit of warmth that was slipping away from his daughter.

They are the people the federal government and corporations want to phase out.

After creating unimaginable wealth through the power of the Greys, the large but useless population has become a burden.

The machines are more efficient, cheaper, and save on huge maintenance costs, and there is no risk of rejection when replacing prosthetics.

Only by shedding the burdens of history left to the Federation can they travel light and head towards the stars, building an even more magnificent city in the sky before they are forced to return to the wasteland era once again due to resource depletion.

Perhaps the Grey civilization will cease to exist.

But a new civilization will be born on the carcass of this giant whale.

Perhaps respecting the fate of these unfortunate people is also an option; their suffering will not last long, because they are the last generation.

But Jon chose a different path.

Before the Greys' civilization and heritage are completely extinguished, he wants to use his soul to radiate those faint yet burning ripples, to awaken those materialists who have lost themselves in the void!

He walked forward silently and, under his father's wary and desperate gaze, gently squatted down.

He didn't say anything, but simply extended his right hand, which was still made of flesh and blood, and placed it on the girl's burning forehead.

A faint yet incredibly pure pale golden light slowly seeped from his palm, piercing through his gray skin.

This light is different from the cold, glaring neon lights of the upper-class cities; its warmth carries the temperature of life, just like that of the real sun.

A miracle happened.

The girl's violent cough gradually subsided, her rapid breathing became more relaxed, and her sickly yellow complexion, which had been caused by the high fever, gradually returned to normal.

Her father stared in disbelief, his mouth agape, but he couldn't utter a sound; only murky tears streamed down his bloodshot eyes.

When Jon withdrew his hand, the girl was already fast asleep, her breathing steady.

"Thank you... my benefactor, what do you need? I can give you everything I have!"

The man trembled and knelt on the ground, offering his humblest knees and dignity to the silent rescuer.

However, Jon helped him up, gently shook his head, and conveyed the teachings of the new god in a calm and firm voice.

"No need to thank me."

"What healed her was not me, but the power of hope gathered in the hearts of all of us."

"It was all Colin's will."

"If there are still people who need help, please tell them to silently call this name in your heart."

He did something different from the ancient god's messenger "Kyr": he didn't use this power to hunt down the salesmen who were trying to sell him loans or the doctors who were installing prosthetics on him.

They are indeed "plunderers" in this steel jungle wasteland, but from a divine perspective, they are not wrong. They are simply abiding by the law of the jungle, just one of the masses.

He didn't even bother to teach a lesson to the company president who had banished him to the depths of this steel wasteland—the one who controlled one of the "towers" and was his "Iron Hand."

Whether it's Iron Hand, Kyle who killed Iron Hand, or the Savior who killed Kyle, they are all just different people in the same ecological niche.

They need to be tried.

But it shouldn't be him who does this; it should be the people behind him.

This will be a war between two ideologies. What he wants to do is not to become the savior of the Greys, but to make every Grey a savior of himself.

Only in this way can he truly change the fate of all the Greys, instead of leading them into the next cycle of hypocrisy and lies in the name of holiness.

This is the mystery he gleaned from the void beyond time, along with psychic energy...

……

Five years have passed in the blink of an eye.

The "gods" behind the void have only just begun to enjoy their dinner, while their carefully chosen pawns have already undergone a transformation of their souls.

For a steel metropolis that floats and sinks in an eternal gray fog, these short five years are nothing more than a meaningless rotation of numbers on neon billboards.

However, beneath the gleaming skyscrapers of the Federation, in the shadows where the sun never shines, something is changing silently.

As Jon repeatedly recalled the scattered teachings from the void in his mind, learning how to harness the miraculous power he understood as "psychic energy," he used this power to help those marginalized people like himself, who had been eliminated by this materialistic Federation.

His good deeds and the miracles that defied explanation by the rules of the material world attracted his first true followers.

They were not ambitious, nor even particularly capable; they were simply the most utter losers living in this dog-eat-dog federation.

Among them are laid-off workers, bankrupts burdened with huge debts, orphans who have been displaced, and people suffering from illness and waiting to die.

The wheels of time rolled over them, leaving only a pool of blurred flesh and dust, but Jon saved them and gave them whatever help he could. Even in the eyes of those who were "clear-headed," using magic to solve problems was absurd, even evil.

However, the Federation has been at peace for too long and has forgotten the catastrophe brought by the ancient gods a century ago.

They continue to mechanically commemorate the past, cleanse the followers of the ancient gods, and warn future generations to be wary of the pollution of the void. But this massive sieve is already riddled with holes, and those filtered out are mostly innocent people who have been cleansed in the name of the void.

This is a very useful tool.

When someone tries to ask a specific question, saying that he is a follower of the Void Spirit will make him disappear without a trace, along with the question he asked.

However, this also sowed the seeds of future problems.

When false pollution is mistaken for actual pollution and gets stuck in the filter, real pollution will silently seep into the water source.

It was precisely because of the expansion of the purge and the perfunctory attitude of the implementers that Jon was able to receive the "real thing" from behind the void.

At that time, he wasn't even a superhuman.

But this is no longer important.

The ancient gods are dead.

The Void now belongs to "Colin"!

The Federation, born under the curse of the ancient god "Merck," has not evolved immunity to this new deity.

In particular, his lifespan was nearing its end; whether Colin was around or not, he was like an old man nearing his death, not long for the future.

The only influence Colin can have is where the people living on this planet will go after the Federation ends like the Wastelanders Alliance.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of the messenger Jon, the whispers from behind the void have finally returned to the stage of Grey history.

They venerated Jon as the messenger of the void.

In their oral tradition, they believe that all the suffering they endure is the price their ancestors paid for abandoning their spiritual beliefs.

Now, this silent messenger walking in the shadows makes them feel as if they have finally found their way home in the boundless void.

They still yearn for equality.

But perhaps, material things are not the only way to achieve this goal.

Especially after experiencing countless lies and betrayals, they witnessed a miracle from the true god "Colin"!

Jon never asks for anything in return.

When those he helped knelt in gratitude, he would always repeat the same action, helping them up one by one and spreading the teachings that Colin had imparted to him into their parched hearts.

“My strength comes from each and every one of us, so we must treat each other kindly, especially those who place their hopes in us.”

When someone asks in bewilderment why the new gods do not demand absolute obedience to their will like the ancient "Merck," Jon will gaze at them with his ever-deepening eyes and reveal the truth he has unearthed from the dust of history.

"The reason why the ancient god 'Merk' fell was because He and His messenger Kyle, after mastering extraordinary power, forgot where their power came from, and betrayed and enslaved their mortal brethren who truly gave them power."

"We cannot make the same mistake as Him."

When faced with history, he made a different choice than Kyle and the Greys who killed Kyle; he honestly confronted and acknowledged the mistakes of the pioneers.

That entirely new doctrine was like a thunderbolt, shattering the Greys' old understanding of "God" and "Void".

It is simple and unpretentious, yet it contains a power that touches people's hearts.

And so, in the sixth year since the Old Gods died, Jon's reputation spread quietly like a vine. It expanded in the shadow of the Federation, encompassing all the decaying flesh and soil, and grew silently and steadily.

The Greys began organizing secret gatherings.

It was not under the guidance of the prophet, but rather formed spontaneously.

Sometimes the locations are at the intersection of steam pipes deep underground, and sometimes they are under bridges completely covered by the superstructure, where even acid rain cannot get in.

In those dimly lit corners, the Greys were no longer just riddled-with-hole metal bodies; they regained their names and the dignity they had lost.

Meanwhile, Jon selflessly taught the Greys who trusted him how to control "psychic powers".

He guided them on how to use meditation to feel the flame of "hope" deep within their hearts, and to draw it out to warm every freezing soul around them. Even if they didn't find it, it didn't matter; their devotion would become the power of another psionicist, and that person would eventually use that power to help them.

not only that.

At his call, people supported and healed one another, helping other believers in need. In this large and loosely connected community, everyone was both a supplicant and a giver, both a believer and their own savior.

A mutual aid group called "Spirit of the Universe" was born in the shadows where the neon lights did not reach.

It started as a fragile flame, but it quickly grew into a blazing fire that illuminated the deepest parts of every alleyway.

Once upon a time, it was the most dangerous place in the Federation, with every corner untouched by cameras controlled by gangs.

But now, it has become the source of fear atop the tower.

As the "Spirit of the Universe" grew stronger, this power that rose from humble beginnings eventually alerted the Grey Federation, even though they initially scoffed at it and were full of disdain.

After all, even the most powerful magicians need to eat, and no matter how much they mutter those mystical things, it can't stop the company's profits from growing.

Until one day, someone noticed that the death rate in the slums had actually decreased, and even outpaced that in neighborhoods with better healthcare.

What terrified them even more was that these people, who should have been rotting in the gutter, had stopped harming each other and instead united under the name Colin.

This is undoubtedly dangerous.

Federal guards viewed this sign of "spiritual resurgence" as a resurgence of the "Merck cult" and identified it as the number one threat to the Federation.

A massive purge targeting spiritualists thus began silently in the darkness of night.

Soldiers equipped with the latest exoskeletons and state-of-the-art hovercrafts flooded into the slums they would never normally frequent.

The heavy alloy boots pounded through the waterlogged ground, and the scarlet tactical visors on the helmet cast ominous streaks of light in the dim alleyway.

They were like cold machines, offering no warnings and no questioning.

The door was brutally smashed open by a high-frequency door hammer. Any family reported by neighbors or informants for "abnormal behavior" would be dragged out without mercy.

Occasionally, sporadic resistance was encountered, but it was quickly drowned out by the rapid gunfire.

In an effort to contain the spread of the "virus," the highest levels of the federal government have also resorted to unconventional methods—such as cooperating with gangs they usually look down upon.

They used their privilege of immunity from punishment to exchange for intelligence held by the latter, or even to drive those villains to do work that they were not comfortable doing themselves, while turning a blind eye to the collateral damage.

While guards and members of parliament have done this before, such a systematic collaboration is undoubtedly unprecedented.

Out of fear of the void, they trampled on the rules they themselves had set before the cult of the cosmic spirits crossed the line.

Even Kyle, whom they condemned as "utterly wicked," never colluded with the raiders.

A father, whose hope for life had been rekindled after his son was cured, was targeted simply because he couldn't produce medical bills to prove his innocence. That very night, he and his family were hooded and disappeared into a hovercar suspended outside an alley.

The elderly man who witnessed this scene was immediately identified as an "accomplice" and was knocked unconscious by a high-voltage electric shock before being taken away, simply for questioning why they had bypassed the court to make the arrest.

Those who had been helped by Jon became the first victims, even though many of them were not followers of Colin at all.

Their very existence is evidence of the sin of "the mind over matter," and for a Federation that reveres materialism, this ideology is almost fatal.

At least for federal shareholders.

Fear, like a plague, once again enveloped this land that had just seen a glimmer of light. Although this was not Jon's intention, he had no choice but to accept that things had come to this.

Moreover, as he transitioned from middle age to old age, he gradually came to understand that while kindness could win the sympathy and unity of his own people, it could not win the approval and compromise of his enemies.

Only a hotter flame can punish the burning evil, and only more thorough violence can end another violent machine.

They must launch a more radical revolution!
Just as the Wastelanders united to end Kyle's tyranny, they must now join forces, like the great pioneers, to stop this out-of-control machine!
Fortunately, his "master" was gentle.

He did not make him, who had spent his life doing good deeds, play the role of the villain, but left the power of choice to him and the people standing behind him.

Will you die peacefully in silence with your body riddled with holes, or will you burn fiercely one last time before your useless flesh rots away?
For His will—

Or rather, for all the Greys who can hear His voice, or the Greys who cannot hear but can feel the burning of His soul!
Each of them is their own savior, each of them is Colin!

This is something Jon realized in his fiftieth year of life.

As he grew old like his own father, he suddenly remembered the man who prayed before nightfall, the wish he had made at the beginning, and finally understood the destiny that truly belonged to him.

He should have realized it much earlier.

It turned out that the esteemed Lord Colin had already given him the final answer long before everything began, but he had never been able to grasp the unspoken meaning behind those whispers—

"...I will be the first to die."

Faced with the gun barrels surrounding him and those blustering but cowardly threats, Jon's aging face wore a relieved smile, without a trace of regret.

His spirit never deceived him, nor did it ever leave his side.

He not only lovingly fulfilled the wishes of a humble mortal, but also prepared a final, fulfilling farewell for his life before the grand tide of that era began.

Praise be to my Lord!

Our meeting... must be one of the most beautiful miracles in the universe.

Unarmed, he opened his arms and looked at the exoskeleton soldiers who were retreating in fear. He uttered the last and most powerful sentence of his life, a spell that contained no "psychic power".

"Do it, my child."

"I forgive you."

"For after that, I will go to His kingdom."

……

"boom--!"

A sharp gunshot shattered the silence of the standoff and startled one of the "gods" who had just returned from a dinner party.

That was a teaching assistant who worked at Collinta.

As one of the personnel on duty at Corinth Tower, his task was to restart the Virtual Realm after its energy was restored to prevent the loss of important data.

However, he never expected that when the lens of the void opened again, what he saw was a corpse lying in a pool of blood!
That person was none other than Jon, chosen by His Highness Colin!
Those stupid materialists actually shot him!

They had just taught him the techniques to use supernatural powers, and he died like that!?
However, the armored soldiers did not fare well either; they were quickly burned to ashes by the flames that fell from the sky.

Enraged, the psionicists saw the death of the "messenger of the gods" as the trigger for the breakdown of negotiations and launched a desperate counterattack!
When Jon was alive, he could still restrain them, guiding them to use their supernatural powers to heal their suffering brethren. But now, perhaps only the gods in the void can persuade them to stop their war against the Federation and the Corporation!
And since Colin, in some mysterious way, didn't stop them—

That means everything is the will of God!

In a sense, they were not wrong. From the very first day Jon met "Colin," their respected Prince Colin had already foreseen this day.

However, this bloody scene still terrified the observers behind the virtual realm.

He was not the unfathomable Prince Colin after all, and he didn't have time to think about where the flames came from, nor did he know where these madmen would end up causing trouble!

Who knows—

They will destroy their own world!

After all, they did indeed possess that world-destroying power, just as Mentor Merck had seen in the 178th virtual realm, where they used methods other than magic to make the light of stars shine on the ground!
"By Saint Sith..."

The teaching assistant muttered to himself and took a step back. Suddenly startled, he hurriedly ran downstairs and called out to Miller, who was about to leave after giving instructions.

Upon learning about what happened behind the No. 178 virtual realm, Miller rushed to the scene almost immediately, and unsurprisingly, he was also shocked by what he saw.

"What on earth happened over there?!"

"No, I don't know! I came back and it turned out like this..." the teaching assistant said, his face pale and his eyes filled with fear and anxiety.

He wasn't as carefree as Prince Colin.

Even if Colin might not blame him, he didn't want this virtual realm to fall into his hands!
Miller's expression was initially equally solemn, but soon he noticed something in the corpse, and his shock was gradually replaced by a look of ecstasy.

To his astonishment, judging from the appearance of this divine messenger, while they were enjoying their drinks, the world behind the illusory realm had actually advanced by more than twenty years!

The differences in appearance of Greys at different ages were recorded in Mentor Merck's observation notes and published as a paper in a second-rate journal published by the Tower of Great Sages.

The Sage's Gazette was not interested in such trivial matters, since only researchers in the 178th Virtual Realm would have any use for such details.

Miller happened to have read the paper, so he immediately realized the problem.

"Time... has sped up?!"

The teaching assistant also realized the problem.

This Jon did not die shortly after "Colin" came into contact with him, but more than 20 years after their first encounter!
"It seems the connection to the virtual realm was completely severed once without our noticing, and now it's been re-established..."

After realizing this, the teaching assistant's expression changed from fear to surprise.

The seeds they sowed were not nipped in the bud; on the contrary, they withered at the dawn after they had blossomed and borne fruit!

As if confirming their suspicions, the hazy lens gradually emitted an even stronger light as Jon's body grew colder!
And so, to the astonishment of all the researchers, the diameter of the virtual lens began to expand rapidly, from one meter to three meters, and finally stabilized at a full five meters!
not only that.

It's not just the size of the passageway that's expanding, but also the ever-dividing perspective!

At first, they could only glimpse a blurry world about a hand's width away by the "sacred relic" on Jon's chest, but now that single perspective has expanded into thousands of different perspectives at a visible speed, like a splitting soap bubble!

After Jon died, all the Greys who followed in his footsteps became Jon, and they all became "Colin's" apostles or eyes!

"By Saint Sith!"

Even Miller couldn't help but gasp in surprise.

Because he soon discovered that the changes behind the virtual realm were far more than what he was seeing at the moment; even more astonishing changes were hidden behind the ever-expanding perspective—

Shortly after Jon fell, the enraged Greys seemed to have evolved a new power they had never seen before!
They no longer need to communicate through language, nor do they need rituals to synchronize their spirits.

Fueled by intense anger and grief, each of their souls became like a plucked string, resonating with the souls of all their compatriots with an unprecedented intensity!
Miller can "hear".

Because that is the foundation upon which the magicians of the Academy establish spiritual resonance and information exchange with the beings behind the virtual realm!

It wasn't any particular language, yet it transcended all spoken or tangible writing in the universe. It was the first time he'd ever seen such resonance; he realized that it didn't necessarily have to cross virtual boundaries—it could be established within the same universe!

They can hear more than just the resonance of souls from the void.

We can even hear the voices of each other's hearts!

"Incredible..."

Miller muttered to himself, then suddenly looked at the teaching assistant beside him and shouted excitedly.

"Quickly! Go find Prince Colin! And also! Slow down the flow of time behind the virtual realm!"

"Yes!" the teaching assistant hurriedly replied, then called to the other researchers on duty downstairs.

Miller stared intently at the virtual realm, watching the constantly shifting cluster of visions, his pupils gleaming with excitement.

He had a strong premonition!

Behind the 178th virtual realm, they might have discovered something quite extraordinary!
(End of this chapter)