Chapter Seven: The Rulers of Days Past

“You are still weak, but in this era, only the strong can survive.” The man who called himself Diga paused, then continued, “Especially since… your very identity is that of a dark god…”

Tetsuya pondered this name, finding it increasingly strange the more he thought about it. Unable to help himself, he asked, “That’s your giant form, isn’t it? Then what about your human appearance—doesn’t it have a name?”

The man frowned, waved his hand dismissively, and said, “Just call me Makado…”

“Pfft…” Tetsuya couldn’t hold back; he spat out a mouthful of water he had just sipped. Sensing the man’s odd gaze, he hastily waved his hand, “Makado… that’s a pretty good name.”

“So, what do I need to do to become stronger?” Tetsuya asked. He was deeply uncomfortable with his current abilities as Gilogas—they were simply too weak. Against the Kirieloids, he could only suppress them with unmatched close combat skills, but the moment they used their abilities, all he could do was take a beating.

“How do you transform? Is it with the Stone of Light?”

At this, Tetsuya opened his palm to reveal the remaining Stone of Light. He was about to speak when Makado shook his head resolutely and said, “It’s not this…”

Tetsuya hesitated, then took out the prismatic crystal. Makado accepted it, examined it, and said, “The energy within this is quite peculiar… but it seems suffused with the power of light. No wonder you still need the Stone of Light’s energy.”

After a pause, he added, “Let me handle this for you…”

Before Tetsuya could respond, he saw waves of dark energy surge from Makado’s palm, pouring into the prismatic crystal. The crystal, which had glowed with a milky white light, began to change as if a drop of ink had been dripped into clear water; the luminous white shifted to a dark glow, becoming strangely eerie.

Tetsuya watched the transformation in dismay, unable to utter a word.

“You can use this to transform directly from now on…” Makado paused, seeing Tetsuya’s helpless expression, and added, “Power itself is neither good nor bad, so there’s no need to look so heartbroken.”

Tetsuya asked curiously, “Then what level is your power?”

Makado smiled, lay back on the grass, and said lazily, “A level you cannot begin to imagine.”

“But the opponents I face are also beyond your comprehension.”

Now even more curious, Tetsuya hesitated before asking, “Who are they?”

“The Eldritch Lords.”

“They… those mighty, evil beings?” Tetsuya stammered uncertainly. In truth, he thought that Diga’s own title of “Ranger” was likely among the ranks of the Eldritch Lords as well.

“Can you tell me about the Eldritch Lords?” Unable to resist his curiosity, Tetsuya finally asked.

“The Eldritch Lords are an organization established under the leadership of the ‘God’, though ‘God’ is not actually a part of it. All the others are beings created by ‘God’.”

Tetsuya understood Makado’s words—the Eldritch Lords were like a cult, venerating “God” above all, yet “God” existed beyond and apart from the organization, with someone else responsible for its creation.

“Their power is beyond your imagination. Counting ‘God’, there are nineteen members among the Eldritch Lords: ‘God’, ‘The World’, ‘The Hanged One’, ‘The Priestess’, ‘The Ranger’, ‘Judgment’, ‘Chaos’, ‘The Ogre’, ‘The Magician’, ‘The King’, ‘The Hermit’, ‘The Demon’, ‘Wish’, ‘Destruction’, ‘Death’, ‘The Queen’, ‘The Warrior’, ‘Disaster’, and ‘The Knight’. They are immortal and undying; even if destroyed, they persist in another form of energy, simply waiting for the day they awaken once more.”

He paused, then said, “Right now, I’m searching for ‘The Ogre’ and ‘The Hanged One’.”

Tetsuya realized that, as he now belonged to the side of the dark gods, the ancient gods would never accept him. Since that was the case…

“I want to go with you!”

Makado did not refuse Tetsuya’s request; in fact, he seemed quite interested in Tetsuya. Dark gods, created as weapons, were not supposed to possess consciousness. The human youths used to forge dark gods were known as “Sacrifices”. They offered up their consciousness and souls, for when the Stone of Light was embedded in their bodies, the angry force lingering within would destroy the Sacrifice’s entire mind. Most Sacrifices died instantly, and only a rare few survived, though they would fall into a long coma, sustained by their followers in nutrient pods until the moment they finally awakened and truly became dark gods.

In contrast, Tetsuya’s situation was very unusual. He had never had the Stone of Light embedded, but instead used the prismatic crystal as a medium to absorb its energy and transform—and had miraculously retained his human consciousness. This struck Makado as both wondrous and delightful. As Diga, he was fundamentally alone. The giants akin to Diga were either ancient gods or dark gods—the former were mortal enemies, the latter madmen. Now, having met a lucid dark god so similar to himself, he found conversation between the two of them grew quickly.

Half a month later, the two journeyed in a single direction and finally arrived at a large human city. This city had no walls; monsters stood fifty or sixty meters tall, and humanity simply did not have the strength to build fortifications so immense—if they managed it, the monsters would easily destroy them anyway.

The city gates stood open, and guards watched from the sides. To Tetsuya’s surprise, there was no fee to enter; they were only asked to write their names in a thick ledger. Glancing at the signatures as he wrote his own, Tetsuya saw the population hovered just around fifty thousand.

The city bustled with noise and life, situated at a major crossroads. Travelers arrived from every direction, and villagers from nearby settlements came here to rest or trade, filling the city with energy and excitement. The influx of people meant the city’s bounds were ever expanding, and with no monsters ravaging the surrounding hundred miles, the population soared.

The city itself was vast, with wide, bright streets paved in blue stone. Walking through the tumultuous crowds, Tetsuya finally felt a slice of human society, and for once, he was genuinely happy: “At last, we can rest here for a while.”

Makado’s expression remained as lifeless as ever as he surveyed their surroundings in silence.

“Tomorrow night is our lord’s birthday! All travelers, come out of your rooms and join the grand feast in the streets—there’ll be fireworks, too!” cried a guard, handing out flyers and calling out with great excitement, drawing everyone’s attention. The civilization of this era was peculiar—some cultures differed dramatically from one another. In Lulue, with the help of light, people had already achieved the heights of technology, building flying machines, but on this continent, most scattered civilizations remained in the age of swords and blades. The disparity was striking.

Hearing this, Tetsuya was delighted. After finding an inn with Makado and settling in, he could hardly wait. “Tonight, let’s join the feast in the streets below!”

Makado shook his head. “There’s a powerful darkness here…”

“Darkness?”

“You may not know it, but this is the territory of ‘The King’.”