The Guardian

Extra Chapter 4: Gods

When we earthlings talk about the Gods, most of the time we talk about them as an object of study.

Respect for these entities is generally low.

Is it only us who has this problem?

No, we may not be the only ones, but we are the majority.

At least in my time in Terra nova, those who studied the Gods without the subjectivities of believing in their words or being one of their worshipers were studied with respect.

Always.

It was respect for entities of great power that even now we cannot define what the limits of their power are and what they can do.

The major reason for that lack of ‘respect’ or that ‘indifference’ when talking about them today is not that we are far from Terra nova, the world where most of those existences dwell.

Nor is it that we think we will never receive divine punishment.

It influences, but does not determine.

The simple reason why we can now talk about the Gods as if they were powerful individuals, without even knowing their limits or their qualities, is because of the players.

During the time of ‘Terra nova’ when everyone thought it was a ‘game’, the Gods were marked with amusement as ‘final bosses’.

‘Bosses’ that would be extremely difficult to assassinate in an inconceivably unbalanced game.

A player was limited in the strength they could use, but there were ways to get past that limit, and even then it was still ‘unbalanced’.

Seeming impossible to be able to wipe out those stocks when we didn’t even come close to defeating an SS rank.

Still, the Gods ended up dying at the hand of a player... That’s what everyone knows and everyone claims.

It really happened, though no one knew the path such an individual had to go through and what he had to do to accomplish something a normal human could not.

If you ask why I seem slightly knowledgeable on that subject, then my answer would be because I knew him.

As a former Archmage of the Falion Empire, that individual was my ‘companion’ when I had taken the renowned princess of such Empire as his apprentice.

But this is not the place to tell such stories of the past... Past that we all wish to forget.

Now the main point is that a human who killed ‘Gods’ and most of all, a ‘player’ made it look ‘easy’.

It diminished our respect for those entities and that continued when we found out that world was real.

In a way, believing ourselves better because one of ‘ours’ accomplished those feats... Even though we did not believe that one of those existences was the individual who had created such a machine and was selling it.

To this day, that peculiarity is still in our lives and worse in the new generation and those individuals who, because of their age, never entered Terra nova.

Today I will take it upon myself to explain to those young people a little about those entities, summarizing what archmages and theologians analyzed in Terra nova and combining it with the mythology of those existences.

To take my words as absolute truth would be a blunder, and that is why this is a note for a magazine and not an official book.

However, I have done previous research and some of that knowledge was recognized by other authors.

Having said all this, let’s get started.

The Gods are very powerful existences... That is what everyone knows, but they do not know the limit and they do not know the difference between them.

Some ignorant people compare Her Majesty, the Immortal Devil, with some ‘Demon God’... Yes, you can see in my words that I have even used her title and belittled a Demon God.

Only in that way can I show the difference between the two, and that is the difference between a ‘Primordial God’ and any other existence.

‘Primordial Gods’ have existed since the beginning of time and according to mythology were born from the ‘Mother Goddess’ who gave life to all worlds... From which all divinities and energies departed.

Basically, the creator of everything... Literally everything.

The level to explain such an existence is in itself a joke because I can’t understand her power and I can’t even comprehend her limits or explain her birth.

Was she the void? Was she the multiple universes or something greater than my mundane mind cannot comprehend?

In the end, all that mattered is that from such an existence, the Primordial Gods were born.

Their first children were the ancient Primordial Goddess of Destruction and the ancient Primordial God of Chaos... Yes, the same ‘Chaos’ that we all fear will corrupt our world.

They both had a daughter, and that was Her Majesty the Devil, who received her parents’ powers in a tragic story that led to such existences sacrificing themselves to keep her alive.

Regardless of the reason, Her Majesty the Immortal Devil became an existence of colossal power... After all, those ancient Primordial Gods were the first two to be born and the ‘strongest’ among them, but that they had to sacrifice themselves to keep such an existence alive showed how terrifying their power had been.

The God of Time and Space, the Goddess of Order, and other Primordial Gods were the next to be born.

That happened a long time ago... A time that is difficult for us to pinpoint.

In the end, the Primordial Gods were the first, and that means they are the most powerful among them.

Of that everyone is sure, but the lack of precision in the others is the problem.

There are too many Gods and also their ‘concepts’ are different... To think of ‘explaining’ them or saying what their strength is with a human marker is a joke.

It would be great to say such an individual as God is a ‘rank xxx’ or to say such a stock has a ‘level xxx’...

So how can we know what their strength or danger is?

At least personally I find it almost impossible.

‘Almost’ because there is such a dangerous and so stupid way of guidance that many use it.

That is to see the ‘Subordinate Gods’ as some individuals call them... Those Gods whose ‘concepts’ enter into other ‘concepts’.

For example, Zabathza, the Celestial God of Terra nova, also known as the God of Order of Terra nova and Lord of Purification because of his concept, is considered a ‘Subordinate God’ of the Primordial Goddess of Order.

Other examples would be to take the Fire Gods and place them as subordinates under Her Majesty the Immortal Devil, as the one who controls fire at a primordial level, she could be said to have a higher ‘level’ of control.

Of course, it is not so simple. After all, ‘fire’ can be seen as something ‘physical’ and ‘elemental’, but it can also transform into something ‘unreal’ or ‘abstract’.

The fire of strength... The fire of life... The fire of desire and so on and so forth.

So many ways to grasp that ‘concept’ that it makes it impossible to determine what its limits are.

It is the same with ‘Time’ and ‘Space’, that is why the God of Time and Space is also known as the God of Fate.

And in such a way, he can influence that aspect of life.

However, as I said, it is a foolish and naïve way to be guided when it comes to grasping the ‘strength’ of a God.

After all, existences like Her Majesty the Immortal Devil have too many minions and that extend to Demon Gods and Infernal Gods.

To show their capacity, one need only name the main titles of the Infernal Gods... Some of these existences are totally unknown, but others are more clearly known.

Some of them are the ‘believers’ and others their ‘faithful’ soldiers, all while having a ‘status’ of ‘God’.

‘Wrath’, known for conquering entire ‘planes’ in the name of the Devil, is known to be a lunatic... Too disrespectful? No, after all, he is the God of Madness.

That is why even when I write this I always use the ‘title’ of that existence and it is for that reason that it is treated with respect.

The point is that no matter if they are ‘Subordinate Gods’ as they are known, any of those existences can make a mere mortal like us their plaything.

It is true that the Celestial God Zabathza follows the guidance of the Primordial Goddess of Order, but that does not mean he is ‘weak’ or anything of the sort.

Nor is it an indication or factor that should affect belief... After all, despite how strong the Primordial Goddess of Order may become, the Celestial God Zabathza is the closest and has a higher response rate despite having a smaller number of believers.

As I said, it is difficult to know how the strength should be determined and more so when in many cases we only know the titles of that existence and know nothing about them.

And worse, the strength does not go as far as determining the danger of such existences.

For example, many believers and paladins of the Church of Time and Space question the decisions of their God.

Wondering the reason for making a machine and not doing something else like showing the future.

Or the reason why, despite the time that has passed, he still has not bilaterally connected ‘Earth’ with ‘Terra Nova’.

Another example is the Goddess of Knowledge to whom I have my ‘faith’ and by whom I became a ‘Sage’.

That existence only cares about knowledge, that is why many archmages worship her or the ‘concept’ she represents.

I hope that those who read this note do not think that I am trying to force or guide you to worship the Gods.

No, on the contrary.

Respect and fear them.

For they can be our saviors, or we can be their playthings.

The line is too fine, and no one wants to be on the wrong side. Worse yet, it doesn’t take many to determine which line we are on.

Just as we do not differentiate between ants, they surely do not differentiate between mortals.

And if the majority lean towards that side that none of us want... We may become something we don’t want.

That is why instead of depending on such existences, we have to be the ones who decide their path and destiny.

Choose wisely our future.

Believing in Gods is fine, thanking them for their support and sincerity is perfect, but in the end, we have to depend on ourselves when it comes to action.

After all, it is we who, in the end, choose our destiny and our own path, having only the support of those existences.

Why do my words sound tragic and almost apocalyptic?

Because only these words can awaken the earthlings from their reverie and childishness, not to depend on the Gods, but to believe that they will always be there for us.

We are faced with an ‘Abyssal Portal’ that brought intelligent creatures to which now the allied forces are confronted.

Surely everyone will have many doubts and that’s okay, you have to doubt... Doubt to discover the truth from your homes.

Because in the end, you have to remember something very important.

Regardless of whether we are toys used for fun or children in the care of supreme beings, they are not of this world.

And as entities that come to visit, they can leave at any time.

—Note for the magazine ‘Actuality’ by Sage Su Chin.