[382] : Not Beings of This World—The Creed of Non-Existence!

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He didn't know. He couldn't be sure. But he knew one thing: these newcomers were not normal. They were likely top-tier players in the Great War.

"I wonder what the two honored ones wish to ask?" Riku moved swiftly, kneeling on one knee before Mika and Athena, his voice filled with deference.

Behind him, Ivan and Aley, though confused by his actions, trusted his judgment completely and mimicked his posture, showing their respect.

Riku knew that angering these beings was not an option.

For them, death was now the best-case scenario. The worst would be leading these entities back to their settlement, resulting in the deaths of all their friends and family.

He had never believed their settlement was truly hidden.

It was simply that the powerful races hadn't bothered to look for them. If they wanted to, they could be found, no matter where they hid.

That was why he had established their creed:

'We do not exist. We cannot exist. For only in non-existence can we remain unseen.'

They could not leave any trace of their existence in this world.

Only when all other races forgot about them could they live in peace.

Therefore, even when they had the numbers and the tactical advantage to kill a stronger stray, they couldn't. It would make them an enemy, and the other races would mobilize their forces to wipe them out. And facing beings as powerful as the ones before him now, eradication would be even easier.

So, they had to be respectful. Let them leave satisfied. That way, their settlement would be safe, and they might even get to go home alive.

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"There's no need for such formality. Please, sit." Mika found a clean spot on the rubble and sat down, gesturing for the three of them to do the same.

"Yes, sir." Hearing Mika's command, they didn't look for something to sit on, but simply sat on the ground.

It was only then that Riku realized something startling. The language Mika was speaking was human. But he remembered him speaking a completely different, unintelligible language to the Demonia.

'Is this some kind of ability?' Riku wondered.

It couldn't be that this powerful being had actually studied the human language.

That would be absurd. Riku himself knew several languages, but only to analyze intelligence from other races. There was a clear benefit. But learning the human tongue offered no advantage whatsoever.

Riku's mind spun, analyzing countless possibilities.

But his mind was clear. He knew what he had to do.

"You seem curious as to why I can speak your language," Mika said with a grin, interrupting Riku's thoughts.

"It's a type of magic I created. It allows me to understand the language of any intelligent being. In a sense, we're not communicating with words right now, but through our consciousness. That's the effect of this spell."

Though Riku hadn't voiced his thoughts, through this magic, Mika could read his surface-level consciousness. He knew his own limits; he wasn't as clever as people thought.

So, he had developed quite a few mind-reading spells over the years, just in case he ran into a cunning schemer. Reading surface thoughts was the most he could do with this translation magic when pushed to its limit. The spell wasn't designed for it, after all.

But Mika wasn't trying to read Riku's mind. He was just trying to mess with him. Riku was currently hiding his true self behind a mask of cold logic. Mika wanted to talk to the real him. He knew it wouldn't be easy.

Hearing Mika's words, Riku's expression changed slightly. He understood the subtext. He immediately cleared his mind of all analytical thoughts, emptying his consciousness.

As a strategist who fought with his mind, mind-reading was one of the abilities he feared most.

Seeing this, Mika chuckled softly. "Alright, I'll stop teasing you. Let's get straight to the point."

Mika's smile vanished, his expression turning serious. "I know what you're thinking right now, Riku. You're trying to figure out who Athena and I are. You're guessing we're Flügel, or Phantasma, or maybe even Old Deus."

"But we're none of those things. We're not beings of this world. We're travelers from beyond, exploring the unknown of other universes."

"So we're not what you imagine. As a Goddess, Athena is quite similar to your world's Old Deus. As for me... I'm human," Mika said softly, watching the expressions on their faces shift through a storm of emotions.

"Just like you."

"You're saying... you're a human from another world?" Riku asked, his voice trembling. He could no longer maintain his chaotic, empty eyes or his composed expression. Mika's words had thrown his thoughts into utter disarray.

It was a situation beyond his wildest guesses, beyond his imagination. He couldn't comprehend it.

"I know this is hard to believe," Mika said sympathetically. "Here, take a look at this. With your intellect, you should be able to make a judgment after seeing it."

Mika took out a smartphone, opened a movie he had stored on it, and played it for Riku, explaining the device and the origin of the film.

Watching the images flicker across the screen, the people of different clothes and appearances, Riku and his companions were frozen in place.

After a long moment, tears began to stream from Riku's eyes.

"So... this is how humans can live..."

Suddenly, in the hollow depths of Riku's heart, something named 'hope' was born.

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Inside the skeletal remains of the derelict airship, Mika examined the intricate designs of the Dwarven machinery while explaining the concept of other worlds to the three humans behind him.

"It's like with human settlements in this world," he began, his tone like that of a storyteller. "Aside from your own enclave, there must be others out there. But the harsh, unforgiving environment prevents you from ever communicating with one another. So, to you, your settlement is the entire world. Some of you might even believe you're the last humans left."

"But that's just baseless speculation. Then, one day, a powerful warrior emerges from your settlement. Someone who can easily defeat the other races that were once thought to be your superiors. He ventures out into the unknown and eventually stumbles upon another human settlement. In that moment, both he and the people of that settlement would marvel at the same thought: So, there are others out there."

Riku, listening intently, nodded slowly. He understood the analogy.

The world outside his own was dangerous, and without sufficient strength, one couldn't hope to traverse it. It was a simple truth that kept worlds apart, each believing they were alone in the universe.

But the two people before him were different.

They were powerful—their ability to cross between worlds was the ultimate proof.

And the one who seemed to be in charge, Mika, was human.

"SIR, PLEASE, SAVE THIS WORLD! SAVE THE HUMANS OF THIS WORLD!" Riku cried out, dropping to his knees in a desperate plea.

As victims of this endless Great War, humanity had been waiting for the fighting to end. Just waiting. Logically, any war had to have an end.

A day when a final victor was decided.

A day they could be reborn.

But that day never came...

For the Gods, this conflict might have been a slightly prolonged affair. But for humanity, it was an eternal war with no end in sight. Back in the settlement, Riku would tell the children that the war would end someday, but even he couldn't see that day anywhere on the horizon.

But now... now, Riku truly saw hope.

He saw the day the war would finally have its end.

"Alright, alright, no need to kneel. I'll help you realize your dream," Mika said, crouching down and helping Riku to his feet.

"After all," he added with a soft smile, "We're both human. I can't just stand by and watch my own kind be treated like this."

And that was the truth. As a human himself, Mika couldn't stomach the sight of other races treating humanity like monkeys.

Beyond that, Mika was genuinely interested in Riku. With his talent, if properly nurtured, he could become a brilliant commander—exactly the kind of person Mika needed.

In any case, Mika's goals for this trip were to defeat the God of War, Artosh, and to claim the Star Grail for himself. The Star Grail was a conceptual device that symbolized the throne of the One True God.

When Mika obtained it, he would become this world's sole God.

And wouldn't that, by extension, end the Great War and fulfill Riku's dream?

'Killing multiple birds with one stone,' Mika thought with an inward smile.

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