"Write my na in Yggdrasil's registry..."
Yggdrasil's registry.
Wasn't this the book created by the upper echelons of the new humans to ensure only their own survival?
It clearly showed their intention to prioritize their own survival when the transcendent being reshapes and rebuilds the world.
'But now that the transcendent being's will is clearly revealed, I'm not sure if they'll really do that.'
Unless the transcendent being was an entity that blindly followed the orders of the new human upper class without his own will.
Judging by what he did to Ashoka, he seed to have his own thoughts.
'And seeing the use of nullification, he seems to be related to the President...'
Although it was said that the President devoted his life to creating the light body system.
Seong Jihan thought that the will of the transcendent being might be the President, or a being similar to him.
Of course, it was still at the stage of speculation, but.
He couldn't think of anyone else who would do such a thing.
'And he strongly desires the power of protection.'
Flash...!
The pure white light constantly trying to burst out of Ashoka's body.
That light started to burst out more intensely from the mont Id tried to beco a 'normal person'.
That reaction must be telling him not to give up the power of protection and to keep the white light well-preserved in his scalp.
But.
"Yes. Write it right now. Then I'll imdiately beco a normal person and join the transcendent being!"
Id, seemingly blind to this, was asking to have his na written in the book quickly.
No, to be precise.
[He's deliberately ignoring the light at the thought of becoming a normal person.]
'...That's right.'
As the Red Administrator said.
Id clearly saw the light bursting from Ashoka's body.
But for him, who had been treated as trash as an isolate until now.
Given the opportunity to return to normal and join the transcendent being he had longed for, to reject this now?
It wasn't an easy thing to do.
Moreover,
'It's already been confird that our positions are clearly different... even if he resists, he won't last long.'
[That's true.]
Even if Id tried to resist according to the transcendent being's will, his ans of resistance were limited here with Seong Jihan, Jiang Shang, and Ashoka present.
Rather than enduring like that, he chose the path of becoming a normal person by having his na written in Yggdrasil's registry.
Seong Jihan read Id's thoughts and nodded.
"Alright. I'll write your na."
"Right now. Let see it with my own eyes."
"Okay. Okay."
Swoosh.
Seong Jihan approached Yggdrasil and pressed on the registry.
Then nurous nas appeared.
He looked at the empty single slot given to isolates, then turned to Id.
"But if you beco a normal person, will writing your na in the isolate slot have any effect?"
"T-that's..."
"I'll write your na twice. We can just erase one from the top, right?"
Tap. Tap.
As Seong Jihan pointed to the upper part of the book where the nas of high-ranking governnt officials were written,
Id's eyes widened.
"Oh... What's this? You're being so considerate."
"You're willing to step down so easily. I'm just showing so generosity."
"T-then... that very top. Erase the na at the very top."
"The very top?"
To be at the very top of the nas in the book.
It must be the person in the highest position among the high-ranking governnt officials, right?
As Seong Jihan pointed to that na with his finger,
Id smiled ominously.
"Yes. The Vice President... That position should be the safest, right?"
"The Vice President..."
Since the new humans decided to keep the position of President permanently vacant, the Vice President must be the de facto highest leader.
'I wonder if he predicted his na would be erased first.'
Scribble scribble.
Seong Jihan erased the Vice President's na and wrote Id's na in both the Vice President's position and the isolate slot.
"I've written it... Ah. Should I have written the original na...?"
"Noah was written as Noah too. Just go with Id."
"Ah. That's right... G-good. Then make a normal person."
Id turned around to face Ashoka.
"You've made a good decision. Then I'll remove the shackles placed on you."
Step. Step.
Ashoka slowly approached him.
And as he placed his hand on Id's head,
Zap. Zap zap...!
Pure white electricity flashed, trying to resist Ashoka's power.
However.
"In this place, resistance is aningless."
As he clenched his fist,
Fwoosh...
The electricity flashing from Id's head was all cut off at once.
Then.
Fwoosh...!
Light from Id's head spread throughout his entire body, now his head was the least shining part.
"...Is it done? So easily?"
"Yes."
"T-then... am I a normal person now? How do I join the transcendent being?"
"You just need to leave the defiled mixed world."
Swoosh.
As Ashoka pointed his finger outside,
Id, looking at his body with trembling eyes, kept nodding.
"I-I see... Once I leave, it's over. Will I, Id, disappear as I join the transcendent being?"
"Are you hesitating now?"
"N-no. I'm just happy."
Step. Step.
Id began to walk out of the realm of the defiled mixed world with trembling steps.
And as he reached the boundary of the realm,
Tap...
He stopped his steps and looked towards Seong Jihan.
"You, being of the server. Don't erase my na. I cooperated with you, didn't I?"
"Right. Why would I bother erasing it? We're busy people with our own path to follow."
"...That's true. Phew."
Id took a mont to catch his breath, then spoke to Seong Jihan.
"And... why don't you just write your na and join the transcendent being too?"
"I didn't expect such a suggestion from you."
"You've experienced the light of the transcendent being too. Do you really think a single individual can overco that? Let's just join hands with us. The server data, you can restore it later, can't you?"
Why was this guy suddenly making suggestions instead of just leaving?
Seong Jihan frowned.
"Why don't you just go quietly instead of saying useless things?"
"Tsk... I don't understand why you're trying to make an impossible resistance. For later, you should write your na too."
Realizing his persuasion wasn't working on Seong Jihan at all, Id pointed at Yggdrasil with his finger as he stepped out of the realm of the defiled mixed world.
Then.
"Ah. Aah...! So this is...!"
Fwoosh...!
As his entire body was engulfed in light, he completely disappeared before Seong Jihan's eyes.
* * *
"...Did he rge with the transcendent being?"
"It seems so."
"Well, he died cleanly without much resistance."
As Jiang Shang stroked his beard, looking at the place where Id had disappeared,
"He was convinced that the transcendent being would win."
Ashoka spoke calmly from within the realm of the defiled mixed world.
"The transcendent being's victory is certain even without the power of protection. So, I won't fight with you and will safely have my na written in Yggdrasil's registry... That must have been his thinking."
"Well. Even if that guy had resisted, how long could he have lasted? He made his calculations."
"Still, thanks to his cooperation, we were able to obtain this."
Saying this, Ashoka opened his palm.
There,
A sphere of light flashing with pure white electricity was present.
"What is that?"
"It's the light that contains the power of protection. Seong Jihan, you should absorb it."
"? Instead of that, wouldn't it be better for you, Ashoka, to take it..."
Since it was entirely Ashoka's achievent to organize the power of protection, Seong Jihan said this, but.
", you say?"
At those words, Ashoka looked down at his own body with a bitter smile.
His entire body was already split in various places.
The shadow hands of the Thousand Hands Thousand Eyes had been blocking the cracks until now, but.
Now his condition was not good, to the point where his entire body was dyed in shadows.
"...Are you alright?"
"No. I won't be able to hold on much longer."
"When did it get this bad..."
"From the beginning, my revival was the transcendent being's attempt to use . There's no need to keep soone with no more use alive."
Ashoka coldly diagnosed his own condition and,
Swoosh.
He gestured to Seong Jihan.
"Co in."
Seong Jihan looked at the floor at those words.
Sss sss...
The realm of the defiled mixed world was rapidly weakening as Ashoka's body disappeared.
What had seed so solid until just now.
Was it to make Id give up willingly?
'...'
As Seong Jihan stepped into the weakened realm of the defiled mixed world,
Whoosh...
The blue and black energy that had spread widely across the ground began to be absorbed into him.
'This is...'
The defiled mixed world that excluded the influence of the absolute being by unfolding the turbid present world.
How to implent this.
Ashoka's understanding began to be transmitted to Seong Jihan.
It was a teaching that worked far more efficiently than a hundred words, clearly imprinting itself in his mind, but.
'...Ah. This is really not easy.'
The enlightennt of Ashoka far surpassed Seong Jihan's level.
Ashoka had practically copied directly into his brain how to unfold the defiled mixed world, but.
Even after receiving such an understanding, he couldn't dare to implent it.
'Even though you've passed this on to so thoroughly...'
As Seong Jihan felt self-loathing at his own inadequacy,
Sss sss sss sss...
The realm of the defiled mixed world had already disappeared.
Ashoka, who had been blocking the light of the transcendent being with the hands of the Thousand Hands Thousand Eyes, was now faintly disappearing throughout his entire body.
"Can you do it?"
"...I'm sorry. Even though you've passed it on so directly, I'm too lacking. I can imitate it, but to unfold it perfectly... is still impossible for ."
As Seong Jihan bowed his head in apology,
"Don't bla yourself."
Ashoka closed his eyes and sat down.
"Practitioners try to find the pure land in the defiled world. They don't try to go in reverse. Implenting the defiled mixed world is going against the process of enlightennt... This is due to my stubbornness."
"Stubbornness, you say..."
"The stubbornness that soone like shouldn't be in the Pure Land."
"That's...!"
At those words, Seong Jihan was about to say that wasn't true, that who else could go there if not him, but.
Whoosh...
Ashoka's physical body was already disappearing.
And he,
"I leave behind my distorted ntal image. It will help in unfolding the defiled world."
With those words as his last, he disappeared as if he had never been there in the first place.
"Distorted ntal image..."
As Seong Jihan was confused looking at the disappeared Ashoka,
Step. Step.
Jiang Shang, who had been silently stroking his beard behind him, approached.
"He must an that, I suppose."
Swoosh.
What Jiang Shang pointed to was, an object that had sohow appeared where Ashoka had been sitting.
"That's... a flower, isn't it?"
"Yes. A blue lotus... a blue lotus, is it?"
A small lotus flower with a blue hue.
Although its size was small enough to fit in one hand, the energy contained within it was incredibly precise.
If the defiled mixed world could be implented through that, could it be created as perfectly as Ashoka had done?
"..."
As Seong Jihan knelt down and reached out his hand,
Swoosh.
Jiang Shang stroked his beard as he watched.
"By the way. A distorted ntal image, he said... But that blue lotus seems purer than any flower I've ever seen."
"It's just like him."
"...Yes. It's just like that friend."
Agreeing with Seong Jihan's words with a nod, Jiang Shang, after Seong Jihan carefully retrieved the blue lotus, opened his mouth again.
"Then now... let's go to end this."
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