Chapter 47: Uncovering the Mystery

Sata: …Good evening, dear Sir Giffereld.

Sir Giffereld: How did you get here?

Sata (smiling): It's childishly simple, I just took the same path as you, Sir, nothing more…

Sir Giffereld (light laugh): Hah! You seem incredibly agile. Look around us… These butterflies are magnificent. It's strange, I've never seen such at this altitude. And yet… What beauty. Nature is truly splendid… just like you.

Sata (softly): Hahaha… Yes, indeed. Nature is of ineffable beauty, Sir Giffereld.

What he didn't know, poor man, was that these butterflies were neither natural nor innocent. They were born from my spiritual magic. My plan was simple: to make him madly in love with me, to the point that he would obey every one of my orders without question. My charm had already worked. Because simply perceiving my spiritual butterflies… is to consent, consciously or not, to fall in love with me.

The night faded, dawn broke.

And that morning, Sir Giffereld rushed into my quarters, exalted, his eyes blazing.

Sir Giffereld: Hinata! Since yesterday, I have eyes only for you. I want to make you my wife. Accept, I beg you… make me the happiest man until the end of time!

I knew it… My butterflies had done their work. It was time to answer him.

Sata: Yes… I consent to become your wife, my king. I will make you a fulfilled man until the end of time.

The more I spoke, the deeper he sank into passionate madness.

Years passed, thirty in total.

Thirty years during which he could have married me… but I preferred to wait. Perhaps a mistake, for humans are ephemeral.

On my wedding day, the castle women dressed me carefully. It was at that moment that my gaze caught a suspended image: an ancient painting depicting Adam and Eve-or at least, what was said to be them, the progenitors of humanity.

I remembered.

I recalled my fight against Adam, in a distant time when humanity was still only a fragile idea. He had defeated me, I who sought to devour this world. Today, humanity swarmed like a cloud of insects… But within them, I saw a promise: through them, I could shape a perfect humanity, with a snap of my fingers.

Castle woman: Madame, what do you think of your wedding dress?

Sata (surprised, coming out of her thoughts): …Ah…!

Another lady: You look radiant, the king is incredibly lucky!

Third: You will dazzle the assembly, I swear!

Sata (with a cold smile): Thank you…

They were proud, naive… They ignored that their end was fast approaching.

I looked at myself in the mirror. I perceived so many things in humans… but I had to confirm my suspicions.

Once adorned, I climbed into a carriage pulled by horses. Two guards accompanied me to the ceremony site. I smiled, radiant, to further seduce my husband: King Giffereld.

But upon my arrival… he seemed upset.

Sir Giffereld: Why is my wife taking so long to come?

Then, seeing me, he marveled and straightened up, like a king… ready to die. Hehe…

The wedding began.

The silence was solemn. Only the words of the priest, Giffereld, and myself echoed.

The priest: On this day, Madame Hinata will become the wife of King Giffereld. By becoming his, you must…

He spoke, again and again. Humans and their sacred rites, so full of meaning and yet so fragile.

The priest: …cherish him, love him until the end of time. Do you accept?

Sata: Yes, my father. I desire it for eternity.

The priest: Very well. You may kiss the bride, Sir Giffereld.

He approached, moved, to kiss me. I then gently placed my hand on his chest, stopping him.

Sir Giffereld (confused, tender): What is happening, my love?

Sata (soft and mysterious): I have a surprise… something spectacular to offer you, my king, before our kiss. Will you allow me?

Sir Giffereld: Hahaha, you are wonderful! Go ahead, please, don't be shy.

The priest tried to intervene.

The priest: This is not in the traditions…

Sir Giffereld: Silence! My wife asks me a favor. Let her do it!

The priest: My son…

Sir Giffereld: Be quiet, I said!

He calmed him firmly. He was, after all, one of the most powerful kings in this world. I stepped forward to the center of the podium, facing a huge crowd, hanging on my every gesture.

I joined my hands. A blue sphere was born in my palms.

Crowd: Ooooooh!

*- What is that?

The sphere rose, shining intensely, more than thirteen meters high. It radiated an enchanting light.

Sir Giffereld: Is that… a magic trick?

Sata (calmly): Exactly, a trick… of my own making.

Then the light changed.

Men began to drain… of their vital seed. Their bodies withered like dried fruit, leaving only skin shells. No male was spared: neither Giffereld, nor humans, nor animals, nor even plants.

All died in silent agony, women screaming in pain and terror.

Witch!

Monster! What have you done?

Sata (relentless): I forgot no one. Rest assured.

I gathered the residual souls of the males and made them my puppets: bloodthirsty undead craving female blood. Humanity sank into a hell where men devoured women, down to the last drop.

My task accomplished, I took back the blue sphere… and swallowed it.

["REVELATION"]

A cycle opened. Through this link, I perceived the very structure of man. Unlike other creatures, he is shaped by God-body, soul, spirit, story, and being.

And that voice… That divine voice that awakened me to the memory of Eden:

["I created man in my image."]

I found myself in the void, facing a mirror. I saw myself… but it was not me. It was God. I had become His reflection.

I reached out, but neither my body nor my mind could reach that image. Only my source-primordial essence-could.

Yes… Man is powerful. He is bound to God by his being. I will make him a weapon. I will absorb this divine version of myself.

Flash.

I saw the creation of the world, the genesis of divine bonds, magic, hierarchies of existence. My knowledge rose, again and again, up to the celestial zone of Viraya. I beheld the creation of laws, metaconcepts, nature, animals…

Sata: I know. I will become God.

The flash stopped. I returned to reality, collapsing to the ground.

Chaos remained. Men, dead or reanimated, continued to devour women.

Sata (panting): No… no, not like this. I must regain that state of transcendence.

A sudden thought crossed me: What if… what I had experienced was similar to what a human perceives before birth?

Perhaps God reveals everything to them… And if they knew how to exploit it, they would become invincible.

But alas, they prefer… trivialities.

I struggled to rise.

Sata: Very well. I will become the image of the absolute God. And I will take revenge on all who ignored my tears… Including you, Lucifer.

This world is doomed. The gods will come to reduce it to ashes. I must leave.

After this divine trance, I had understood the nature of the sacred link between God and men. I had decided: I would become the image of God.

My first goal was to understand every elemental constitution: from the smallest particle to galaxies, from wind to water, fire to rock. Elements and weather? A mere formality for a mythical being.

Even human devices (radios, televisions)… I could control them with a snap of my fingers. But that was only the beginning…

I was even able to control any device created by man: television, radio… trivialities. Like any mythical being, such manipulation seemed disconcertingly easy to me, despite natural laws and their content. I used this to establish deep links with all that exists, naturally. I could already exercise total control over any physical component, and from there, shape powers and techniques at will.

The Big Bang… This theory speaks of the origin of the creation of a universe. A molecule, smaller than a grain of sand, explodes in the void-and this blast continues, again and again, endlessly. The universe is in perpetual expansion.

Such a phenomenon inspires me. Imagine my own body adopting this dynamic, constantly moving away from what could threaten it… while remaining present.

I joined my hands.

Sata: "Divine Creation."

I had just created a technique I named Spatial Expansion.

This ability would henceforth make me inaccessible to my opponent, like the expansion of the universe itself.

Take an example: imagine a being moving at the speed of light in a perpetually expanding universe. It would be trapped, because the space around it would always move away faster. For it, the distance would grow indefinitely, giving the illusion of never advancing.

To better illustrate this, imagine a balloon on which you place two ants, facing each other. Then you inflate the balloon: the ants will move away from each other, even if they keep walking. That is how the expansion of the universe works-and such is now the principle of my technique: constant movement, never anchored to the same point, an exponential escape.

But that was not enough for me. I aimed higher.

Thanks to my ultimate knowledge of the world, I was able to locate places frequently visited by deities. I found several, far from this region.

I watched humans believe that gods existed only because people believed in them. But could I erase them by removing them from human beliefs? No. This belief only allows them to simulate their existence here below, in a world they originally do not belong to.

Sata: "Hm… An angel."

An angel hovered above the village. But humans could not perceive it: it was visible only on the spiritual plane, not physical.

I had to touch it.

I leapt, spread my wings, and rushed toward him. The angel spotted me immediately and froze.

"Who are you?" he asked.

Sata: "It does not matter. Just know that I do not come in peace."

"Haha… What a pity to warn me before dying."

The angel conjured azure magic on his hands, then dashed at me at lightning speed. I barely had time to dodge.

"Not bad!" he said.

I had to stay vigilant.

The angel appeared behind me and struck me with his magic-charged fists… But to his astonishment, my body turned to stone. The next moment, I reappeared in front of him, completely unharmed. My Spatial Expansion worked perfectly.

I let him hit me at will. Nothing happened. I felt no pain, no impact. The expanding space protected me constantly. I could now affirm: this technique made me invulnerable to any physical or spiritual attack.

But that was not all. It also shielded me from all magic, all mental aggression, even from superior beings. Yes… I was now immune to all that. No assault, no power could reach me anymore. The angel struck with all his might, but each contact instantly pushed my body in another direction, making me reappear without the slightest scratch.

"But… how is that possible?!" he said, furious.

Sata: "Because that is the reality I impose."

An idea sprouted in me. I could still perfect my Spatial Expansion. Later integrate a faculty that would grant me real insensitivity to techniques targeting my very way of being… Yes. But it was not yet time.

Sata: "Give up, angel. You cannot touch me."