Brain bloom

"Hmm, that's right."

The ancient demon king drank the last drop of wine, shuddering from the pain of the poison, before he could continue.

"That universe, after all, is filled with her power. There is also a drop of Eden's blood that she left behind, which is used to propagate life. It can be said that it has all the conditions for the birth of divine beings."

"But...you didn't succeed? Otherwise, the world wouldn't be like this now..." Mori thought about all the things that had happened and felt that there was still more to the story.

The ancient demon king shook his head, giving an ambiguous answer.

"I have no idea whether it succeeded or not."

Why?

"Because, even though time has flowed on to this day, we still haven't seen the result."

Using a complex tone, the ancient Demon King recounted the whole story. This time, the tone was no longer one of mockery or reminiscence, for what followed was a reality it was still experiencing.

In the beginning—the Rose Queen reached into the universe and extinguished countless stars. The workings of the universe were brought to a halt by her. Even the most favored, thriving blue star was temporarily suspended, for she needed to gather the remaining divine power and divine blood.

The black veil of the universe, wrung dry in her hands like a tattered rag, revealed the traces of the primordial god's existence. Gazing at the power in her hand, radiating an aura of profound nostalgia, she felt a final glimmer of hope.

These divine powers can give birth to humans, all kinds of new life, so perhaps they can give birth to the prototype of gods? She doesn't expect that this will allow her to meet her beloved in his entirety, but even without memories, it doesn't matter at all.

As long as the seed of divine power can sprout, then it's perfectly acceptable for her to raise a tender newborn from a young age, or even for a weaker little one. As long as she can play the piano and reminisce about the past, that's enough.

From then on, darkness lurked in the experimental field called the universe, repeatedly pouring divine power into it. With its own cries, it yearned to use this method to regenerate the gods... However, this power was still insufficient.

……

"This... it should be almost over, right? What about Eden Bank? It feels like it's never appeared." Taking advantage of the Ancient Demon King's pause, Mori asked curiously.

“As I said before, Eden Bank is a ballad. Played by the Rose Queen, a ballad full of love, the world’s first ballad. It’s called ‘The Never-Fading Garden Awaits You’… I’m telling you, Coffin Bearer. It’s normal that others don’t know, but by now you should have guessed it, right?”

"Huh?" Mori's eyes narrowed.

Should she be able to guess what's going on after hearing so little information? Aside from understanding a bunch of history about this world, having some reflections, and clearly realizing that this is a world that, from the very beginning, advocated "girls should date girls," she didn't really gain anything...

Besides a pile of problems weighing on my mind that I find hard to let go of.

But the ancient Demon King would never know that her soul actually came from that universe...

Seeing her confused expression, the Ancient Demon King spoke a few more words—

"Your existence, the divinity you possess, isn't it telling the world that divinity can indeed be born from sufficient faith? Ah, back then, the Rose Queen only finally understood this after experiencing countless failures... that is the meaning of Eden Bank's existence."

"Is the significance of Eden Bank to construct divinity through faith?"

"That's one way to put it, but it took a lot of time to figure it out."

The ancient Demon King sighed, thus revealing another problem that had troubled Mori to this day: the origin of the Four Seasons, and why they were feared by all who knew their origins.

"As mentioned before, the rose draws strength from the dark soul to remain eternally unfaded. But her body was actually severely damaged, so she used the divine power contained in plants to construct a human shell to hide the darkness. After all, she was the sister of the primordial god, and she created a very interesting structure... You should know more about her than I do."

"Flowers can be nourished by the light and gain power, thereby repairing their souls..."

"Therefore, if the flower is removed, the body that was born from the flower will also be damaged, and darkness will overflow..."

The conversation between Dandelion and the Ancient Demon King lingered in his ears. Mori touched his head; the touch of the flower buds felt pleasant.

But unfortunately, hearing strange words like "remove" and "overflow" made her feel uneasy. Just like people who have seen pictures of parasitic diseases might wonder if they have worms in their bodies, causing them to feel restless.

"As for what happened after that, the Rose Queen disappeared, darkness spread, and generations changed. You were all born from the Winged Cloud, so you should know more than I do."

Dandelion nodded earnestly, while Sen Shi seemed somewhat lost in thought.

Suddenly, the ancient demon king's tone slowed, as if veiled by a secret curtain—

"Even if the darkness splits, and you all possess a layer of beauty and can live under the sun, it doesn't change the fact that the Four Seasons are still a race far more powerful and terrifying than me."

"We Four Seasons People are very friendly..." Dandelion wanted to prove herself, but her words were hollow.

"Shh, listen to the owl's story."

"As I said, the power left behind by the true god is insufficient. Even if every single drop in the universe were collected, it still wouldn't be enough. More divine power is needed to potentially resurrect the primordial god. So, where should we look for it? Heh..."

"Hmm, those flowers and plants in the Rose Garden?" Mori asked innocently, thinking that these flowers and plants were watered by the primordial god after his death.

"Haha, coffin carrier, you're quite the joker."

As if he had heard the biggest joke in the world, the ancient demon king also burst out laughing.

"The flowers are proof of their love, how could they bear to pick them? It is the innocent true gods who should be picked, aren't they?"

"Oh...oh? Oh?!"

"Your Rose Queen used some strange and mysterious magic to invite innocent gods, who should have been in dreams, out one by one, turning them into beings that could enter reality, and then... um..."

If the Ancient Demon King were still that owl, his expression at this moment would certainly be quite something. Mori didn't need to hear the specific description; just knowing that the Ancient Demon King was reluctant to speak of him, he could roughly guess what happened next…

The dandelion exclaimed, "So this magic was already perfected by my ancestors..."

Sen Shi sighed, "No wonder there are so few true gods left now."

"Yes, that's the War of the Gods, the starting point of the mythological era..."

"Originally, Rose Garden was a harmonious place. That flawless fertile land nurtured all sorts of novel and delicious fruits. Everyone could enjoy nature and live a silly but happy life..."

“Until—the Four Seasons arrive.”

Even the end of the myth couldn't resist joining the fun. He shook his head, his white beard swaying in arcs, seemingly able to sketch the grand blueprint of history—

"At first, the Rose Queen was quite gentle, after all, she only wanted the other's divinity, but her needs grew more and more... As for everyone else, they all felt that since she was such a beautiful girl, and there were even more beautiful roses blooming on her head, it shouldn't be a problem to accept the invitation."

"So, one after another, true gods were invited with smiles, but none of them ever returned. Perhaps it's because the human world is too interesting, so they're reluctant to come back," the Ancient Demon King chuckled.

"I understand, okay, stop talking..." Mori raised his hand to signal.

“What a passionate love affair…” Dandelion said thoughtfully, her eyes glistening with morning dew. “So many sacrifices, all for the sake of reunion.”

"Stop for a second. I once truly believed that you were a girl who loved nature and peace..." These words sent chills down Mori's spine, as if a million insects were crawling on his scalp.

She found the Four Seasons' values ​​unacceptable and thought Dandelion would either protest with a laugh or try to brush it off. But this time, Dandelion didn't deny it. Instead, as if she had made up her mind, she dug out the words that were most sincere to her from her heart—

"Those who sacrificed were God's children; they were not outsiders, nor were they innocent lives. Ignorance may be a blessing, but it is shameful. We are the antithesis of glory and should know that the world is not a beautiful place."

"So, Princess, you mean these true gods are sacrificing themselves for Mother..."

"This conclusion was drawn according to the Four Seasons' way of thinking. But... I can't change my nature. I wouldn't be surprised if Mori can't accept it."

The gentle breath, like the sound of a beautiful dandelion, was even stranger than anything I had ever heard before.

"Actually, I've always known that there might not be darkness deep within your soul. You and I are different; you're not the opposite of light..."

Her sudden dive into the topic left Mori wanting to say something in response, but his throat remained hoarse.

All I could hear was her adding a sigh—

"So, I am really happy to be kissed by you on the dandelion... because there seems to be a radiance in your body, which is beautiful and attractive to me who lives in darkness... making me feel inferior and struggle, but you expressed your approval to me in that way."

"That's my divine essence...maybe, perhaps."

"Yes, that must be it." A touch of sadness crept into the depths of Dandelion's voice, "I really envy you, Moritoki. You were able to become a truly peace-loving, nature-blessed, kind, and outstanding girl... I really envy you."

Envy? The arrival of this word made Mori feel like a primordial god hearing music for the first time, filled with indescribable emotions.

Admittedly, the Four Seasons have always touted themselves as a kind and benevolent race. She had initially thought this was merely a hypocritical and uncorrected mistake. Perhaps not? Perhaps, now that she had heard the dandelion's complete account of its origins, what it spoke of was the truth.

envious……

They always knew their true nature, but they wanted to hide it.

After much thought, Mori's limited mind could only come up with a romantic answer: radiance will melt away the murky darkness, so those who yearn for the radiance of the four seasons are only hoping to one day reunite with the primordial goddess and embrace her radiance without reservation...

Seeing that their conversation had come to an end, the Ancient Demon King muttered something to himself, but continued the topic—

"After that, I got busy establishing the laws of reciprocal transactions, so there were some things I didn't participate in. When I came to my senses, the Rose Queen had done everything she could... the universe had been rebooted."

"His divine power is abundant?"

"Perhaps, I don't know. But I do know that she sank the first seed left by the primordial god, divine power, the blood of Eden, and a song composed for their reunion into that star."

The Rose Queen did not kill those true gods; she merely took their divine power, which belonged to those she loved.

The original inhabitants of the human world had long been driven away. As for these beings who had lost their divine power and were once true gods, they could only silently seek ways to survive. In the vast but lush world, they survived, reproduced, and gave birth to civilization. The original inhabitants left behind many concepts that made all of this less difficult.

The songs of the Rose Queen spread to every corner of the world, sowing the seeds of the concept of music.

The song was simple in content, filled only with longing for a beloved. It told her that the flowers that never fade would always bloom, and would forever wait for her.

In the silent universe, on a mere speck among trillions of stars, the Rose Queen stored her hopes for the primordial god.

When this song, which speaks of hope and expresses longing for a loved one, reaches people's ears, they will be touched by its sincerity and filled with anticipation, hoping to witness a reunion.

"And so, this ballad will continue to be passed down, so that the world will not forget them. Just as faith can build your divinity, the hope of its continuation may also awaken the primordial god and bring about a reunion."

"Eden Bank?"

"The word 'bank' seems to originate from a previous human civilization, which is quite interesting. It's a place to store important things, and crucially, you can get returns and interest. Eden, on the other hand, is the place where the gods created life, naturally that testing ground. As I said, we need to understand them separately."

The ancient demon king breathed a long, drawn-out sigh of relief.

Its dark form slumped down; even it seemed weary from recounting this long story. Mori understood… his heart was heavy. He deeply understood the term "Eden Bank," and the profound, obscure concept behind it.

The Rose Queen entrusted her hopes to Eden, awaiting its bountiful harvest. When they retrieve those hopes, they will reunite...

And she touched the strawberry on her head for the umpteenth time—one of the earliest plants personally named by the Primordial God. Perhaps the fruit borne from the interest of the Eden Bank wasn't the reunion the Rose Queen had hoped for…

……

(ps)

Hmm! As long as the story is coherent, it's fine... I swear, I won't dig any more weird plot holes in my next book; filling them out is a nightmare. Maybe I'll have to write some slice-of-life yuri/erotica to lighten things up...)

Volume 1, Chapter 365: Midsummer

The ancient demon king seemed to think that after he finished telling the story of Eden Bank, the coffin bearer would be satisfied and leave. Therefore, he turned into a puddle of water with a sense of relief, but soon got up again and went to watch his old friend knead dough.

Before this exceptionally long conversation began, the wheat cultivated with the help of dandelions had already ripened.

Mori didn't know how much time had passed, but he felt genuinely exhausted by all the tedious messages.

The key point is... there are still many questions that remain unanswered.

The ancient demon king, oblivious to the fact that it was none of his business, was chattering away with the mythical figure, discussing things like, "There are actually edible plants in the demon realm," "Keep some seeds, we need to spread this stuff," and "I wonder if it's poisonous, but if it is, it'll taste even better."

The golden sheen of the wheat ears serves as a reminder to Mori that this is reality.