Chapter 40: A Tale of Scraps

「This is a story so old that it has become nothing, scattered and crushed, and finally worn away, leaving only scraps.」

As the event video began, Paul recalled the quest related to Khan.

At the time, he had glossed over the part at the bottom of the quest window that said, ‘Linked to the main quest,’ but he never imagined things would turn out like this.

Paul didn’t know, but in <Arcana Chronicles>, getting involved with a god was the same as stepping into the ‘main story’, the major current of this world.

Others might say he was lucky, but Paul?

He was just indifferent.

「In the beginning, ‘Noah’ first created ‘light and darkness’. That was the first memory we remember. We were originally one. When I fell asleep, my sister, ■■■, roamed the night, and when ■■■ fell asleep, I roamed the day.」

Behind the stage, a background like a fairy tale illustration appeared.

And in line with it, two paper dolls, one composed of yellow and white, probably Rasis, and the other, completely painted black, appeared on the stage.

「Later, Noah gave me the name ‘Rasis’, who governs light and life, and to him, the name ‘■■■’, who governs darkness and death. That’s how we were divided into two.」

Combined with the music that matched the gentle and calm voice, the story Rasis was telling was like a fairy tale told at one’s bedside just before falling asleep.

「Half of the world was day, and half of the world was night. We lived in balance like that. Afterward, we created several gods with Noah.

We also created beings that were not gods. Various lives were born, died, and were reborn repeatedly. The world was peaceful.」

Several paper dolls appeared on the stage.

The background behind them also changed frequently.

The dolls on the stage looked happy.

The BGM was also calm.

But soon, the world was engulfed in darkness.

「When Noah left us and decided to just observe the world, we thought it would be okay. We thought we could live peacefully in balance with each other as we were.

But I didn’t realize that something was happening, little by little, very little by little, under the surface.」

Rasis’s voice became gloomy, and at the same time, dissonance began to mix into the calm song.

A sound like a piano key being slammed, a song like noise.

All of it seemed to foreshadow what was to come.

「The gods born later and their creations feared ■■■, who destroyed everything and brought death to life.」

Dolls in the form of various gods and paper dolls in the form of people filled the stage.

The expressions on the dolls’ faces were dark.

They looked angry, scared, and even contemptuous.

What they were looking at was the black doll.

「At some point, they started calling ■■■ a ‘demon god’, saying he was ominous.」

The next moment, the background changed to a night sky, and black and dark paper dolls appeared.

「Of course, it wasn’t a situation that neither he nor I could not understand. Those who lived hidden in the darkness, avoiding the light, naturally revered ■■■.

He was revered by those who were now given the name ‘monster’ instead of the names ‘demon’ and ‘fiend’, which have now disappeared.」

They each had different appearances.

Some had pointed ears, some were big, and some were small.

Some had the appearance of animals, some had no form at all, and some resembled insects.

「Nevertheless, we could understand.」

The spotlight in the middle of the stage was shining on a white paper doll and a black paper doll holding hands.

「However, what we overlooked was that the gods and their creations wanted to get rid of ■■■. Because ■■■ was a being who could even kill a god. We didn’t know that everyone feared him.」

The white paper doll fell into a deep sleep, and several dolls approached the black doll that had woken up next to it.

「One day, it happened. When the sun set and I was asleep, the other gods and humans attacked him. Those who had been waiting for an opportunity finally managed to make ■■■ fall to the ground.」

They each held weapons in their hands.

The surprised black paper doll fled from them.

The black paper doll, which had been running away from several dolls, fell to the ground.

That was the land where the creations they had made lived.

「In those days, there was an empire that enjoyed a peaceful reign on the land where the creations lived. And that land was a place where humans who had served ■■■ from the beginning of time lived.」

The background behind the stage changed.

White houses and a land with flowing water.

Paper dolls with black hair and dark skin appeared.

Their faces were also painted black.

「The young king of ‘that place’ had an excellent character and the qualities of a ruler superior to anyone else, so much so that he was called a wise king. And that king was the ‘incarnation of ■■■’.」

And one paper doll standing in their center.

A halo shone behind it.

「The injured ■■■ decided to take refuge in his incarnation to hide. The incarnation, upon hearing the circumstances, said that he would gladly lend himself.

That’s how ■■■ entered the incarnation’s body. But that was a mistake. A mere creation, just an incarnation, was nothing more than easy prey to them.」

The black paper doll with the shining halo fled, and countless paper dolls followed behind it, each holding a weapon in their hands.

Eventually, the fleeing doll was caught, and the lights that had been illuminating the stage flickered out again.

A gloomy voice continued to be heard.

「But of course, they could not kill ■■■. So they decided to put ■■■ into an eternal sleep. That wasn’t enough, so they decided to take his name. A name is a very important thing. It is an indispensable, very important thing.」

A thunderous, lightning-like music echoed loudly.

The next thing that appeared was a ‘door’ that was very familiar to Paul.

The door opened with a creaking sound.

Following the familiar interior, he saw a paper doll sitting on the throne there.

Shackles were on the paper doll’s neck and limbs.

「Having been deprived of his name and entering a human body, ■■■ fell into an eternal sleep. The helpless him was shoved into an underground prison called a ‘dungeon’, which was created by me and ■■■.

Inside is an infinite cycle. There, you can’t die even if you die, and even the flow of time is strange. Of course. It was a place he and I created to imprison sinners!」

Finally, the door closed with a ‘bang‘ and was locked with a ‘click‘.

「That wasn’t all. They even took the names of those who believed in him. It might have been something they did to hide the events of that day from me.

It might have been something they did out of fear of the future. Those who had been deprived of their names were also trapped in the dungeon. The same was true of the empire they lived in.

The peaceful reign, which seemed like it would never end, came to an end at the hands of the gods, and overnight, it was buried underground, disappeared from the map, and was forgotten and vanished by the people.」

The black-haired dolls disappeared into the ground.

The magnificent empire that had appeared as a background behind them also quickly collapsed.

「As a result, a ‘deathly chill’ swept through the land that was once full of greenery.

All the life that lived and breathed on that land died helplessly. Due to the strong winds and cold, that land became a place where life could no longer be born.」

As the background changed, the trees that were full of green leaves froze, and the leaves rotted away.

A strong wind blew.

It snowed.

White snow began to cover everything.

「Among the beings who lived on that land, those who fled, those who just watched, and those who heard about it, all kept their mouths shut and pretended not to know about the gods’ actions.

Because that was more beneficial to them. That’s how all living beings forgot ‘them’ overnight. They decided to forget. The recorded history was erased, and people remained silent.

This story was passed down here and there by my children, but as time passed, it became worn and distorted, and soon, the truth became a story that no one knew.」

The sleeping white paper doll opened its eyes and looked around.

It was wandering around as if looking for something.

「By the time I woke up from my sleep, many things had already changed. I searched for my other half. But in the end, I couldn’t find him. My sister, whom I thought would be with me forever, was now gone.

I was heartbroken and sad at the thought of my other half, who would be sleeping forever somewhere deep in that dark ground. Unable to control this devastating feeling, I finally shed tears.」

The pure white paper doll shed tears.

The other paper dolls, not knowing what to do, hovered around it.

The tears fell drop by drop, filling the ground below with water.