Chapter 582 - 357: Zog Doesn’t Return Empty-Handed

Chapter 582: Chapter 357: Zog Doesn’t Return Empty-Handed

Superweapons capable of destroying planets in an instant;

Miracles that altered fundamental constants, until truth was no longer true;

And bizarre, utterly incomprehensible artifacts that packed an entire galaxy onto a small card.

Each of these things should have been impossible on Feilin. At least, they were impossible in the world as the Sages knew it.

After viewing the fragments of Zog’s memory, the Sages of the Soul Ascenders launched into a heated discussion.

They debated what on earth Zog even was.

"An Ancient God. He has to be an Ancient God! Legends say that before the Divine War, there were even more primordial Deities. He must be one of them!" The Sage’s voice trembled as he spoke.

Far to the northwest on the Continent, in a hidden basement beneath an ancient castle in the capital of the Blington Duchy, sweat soaked the robes of Sir as he lay on a Soul Ascension device.

As one of the Sages of the Soul Ascenders, he had thought this would be just another Ordinary meeting. He never expected to witness such terrifying memories.

’Right now, he just wanted to disconnect and run.’

’He didn’t know if their presumptuous prying had provoked Zog’s anger, or if he could possibly withstand that fury.’

"Calm yourselves, my brethren," the Great Sage said. "I’ve already warned you. Since you chose to face the truth, you must now focus on calmly finding a solution."

As the leader of the organization, he was far calmer than the others—though that was, of course, because he had already seen the memories once before.

When he had watched this memory segment yesterday, his own reaction had been anything but calm.

The other Sages collected themselves somewhat. "Can we confirm the authenticity of these memory fragments?"

The Great Sage tapped his fingers on the table and answered slowly. "They’re authentic. I know of no method that could directly forge or alter a memory stored in the Grand Library. Besides, even if they *were* modified—or even planted for us to see—the fact that He could accomplish such a feat without any of us noticing proves His power is far beyond our imagination. If He isn’t a god, He’s the next best thing."

The Sages’ pronoun for Zog had shifted from "he" to "He," a term reserved for beings of an uncertain, divine nature.

Silence once again descended upon the meeting room.

The Great Sage’s logic was sound.

The oppressive silence lasted several minutes before another person finally spoke.

"What if... is it possible Zog isn’t one of the old Divine Race, but a life-form from another planet? Why else would His memories be filled with so many images of starry skies?"

"A life-form from another planet? You mean there’s life among the stars? Wouldn’t that still make them part of the Divine Race?" another Sage retorted.

In the understanding of most races on Feilin, the stars were the domain of the gods. All the myths and legends said as much.

"Maybe He’s a god who was defeated in the Divine War, one who escaped destruction and has now returned for revenge."

"If that’s the case, then wouldn’t His business be with the Magic Goddess, not us?"

As the Sages continued their fervent discussion, they suddenly realized that perhaps the situation wasn’t so terrifying after all.

The Soul Ascenders had, after all, confronted Zog once before. The Sage they had sent was killed, but Zog hadn’t retaliated by wiping out their entire organization. In fact, he had taken no action against them at all.

For the longest time, Zog had just been minding his own business—selling toys, filming his Shadows of Evil, making games.

In other words, he probably didn’t care about them in the slightest.

Perhaps establishing the internet was His path to apotheosis, and that was all He truly cared about.

The greatest contempt is to be ignored.

Perhaps, in the eyes of that great and unknown being, the actions of the Soul Ascenders were nothing more than insignificant squabbles.

As the discussion wound down, the Great Sage offered a summary. "Let us assume He is a transcendent Ancient God. First, His identity must not be revealed. Does everyone agree?"

"Agreed," the Sages present replied in unison.

’Since Zog hadn’t revealed His own identity, they shouldn’t be the ones to expose it and risk earning His enmity.’

"Second, all research dedicated to deciphering His memories must be suspended immediately."

"Er... but we’ve been at it for so long." One Sage was reluctant. He had poured most of his energy into studying the memories recently and had already found a number of interesting things.

Before the Great Sage could reply, another Sage shot back, "And can you guarantee what His reaction will be when He finds out we’re studying His memories? We were lucky to escape retaliation after our last probe. But digging deep into someone’s mind... put yourself in His shoes. Would you want your memories picked apart like that?"

The reluctant Sage opened his mouth, but no words came out.

The pressure of the unknown was simply too great.

"Excellent. It seems we’re all in agreement. Now for the final point. From this moment on, all Soul Ascenders are forbidden from initiating any contact with Zog. Furthermore, we must find a way to express our goodwill—to show Him that we mean no harm. That way, if He ever finds our organization, or even discovers the Holy Sanctuary, He will know we bear Him no malice. Any thoughts?"

Expressing goodwill, but without making direct contact.

"I have an idea," said a newly-appointed Sage, one with less seniority than the others.

"Go on."

"Since we’re currently assuming Zog is an Ancient God, and Deities require faith, we could build a Divine Hall to Zog in the Holy Sanctuary. We could forge a statue in His likeness, and even offer worship."

"Our goal is to create Deities, and now you want us to worship an Alien God?" The other Sages were clearly not pleased with this proposal.