The Withered Desert.
Deep inside the mirage well, Dilfred and I were waiting. Beside us was the coffin of darkness with Anahem inside. The holo children were running around the oasis, splashing each other with water.
“Looks like she’s here,” Dilfred said.
Wenzel flew over from the staircase. Behind her was the God of Change, Gaetenaros, bound by tree roots. Wenzel landed in front of me and made Gaetenaros float over.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Anos, Dilfred,” Wenzel said.
“Long time no see, Wenzel,” Dilfred replied.
Wenzel smiled. “Yes, it’s been a while. It’s nice to see you’re in good health.”
“Nay. My thoughts have only brought me turmoil recently.”
Dilfred looked over at the holo children. Wenzel followed his gaze over and—like the others—reacted with shock.
“They were born with the firedew of the Withered Desert,” Dilfred explained.
Wenzel was silent for a moment, serious and deep in thought, before speaking again. “Why would this happen in the Round Garden of Principles?” she asked. “Something similar happened in the Celestial Canopy. An army of gods was being created there from stolen firedew.”
“Eleonore searched the Mother Sea and found the same,” I said.
Wenzel’s eyes widened. “Is the God of Culling behind this?”
“Hold that thought. They’ll be here soon.”
As soon as I said that, two girls flew over from the staircase—Sasha and Misha. They landed immediately beside me.
“These two have been searching Nature’s Keep,” I said, gesturing to Sasha and Misha. “And it seems stolen firedew has been found in three of the domains of Da Qu Kadarte. Is there any chance of something similar in Nature’s Keep?”
“Nay,” Dilfred said, tone deadly serious. “I am constantly staring into the abyss of Nature’s Keep. Even if there was a spot my Divine Eyes cannot reach, my thoughts would discover the abnormality.”
I glanced at Misha and Sasha, and they nodded.
“Dilfred is right. There was nothing in Nature’s Keep,” Sasha said.
“Are you sure about that? Maybe you just couldn’t find it!” Gaetenaros said lightly.
Misha shook her head. “We searched all of it.”
“Does that mean Nature’s Keep is the only place where a contraption to steal the firedew couldn’t be created?” Wenzel asked.
I nodded. “The person who attacked the God of Bloom and killed the other gods in the Celestial Canopy is most likely also behind the missing firedew and the disturbance in Da Qu Kadarte’s order. I cannot imagine two events disturbing order in the Firmament of the Gods happening simultaneously by coincidence.”
I sent magic into Nedneliaz and connected Anahem’s dream to this reality. A small window opened in the coffin, and he opened his eyes.
“Only the Four Principles can interfere with the firedew of the Firmament,” I said.
The God of Demise Anahem, the God of Change Gaetenaros, the God of Depth Dilfred, and the Goddess of Change Wenzel focused their attention on me.
“In other words, the God of Culling who stole the firedew and destroyed the gods in the Celestial Canopy is with us right now.”
Silence fell around us, with only the carefree laughter of the holo children in the background.
“In that case,” Gaetenaros said first, “wouldn’t Dilfred be the most suspicious? I mean, how come Nature’s Keep is the only place safe from the firedew thief? Because he didn’t build a spot to steal the firedew there, that’s why!”
The God of Change made his accusation in a lighthearted tone. “What if he skipped his own domain on purpose, to avoid suspicion?”
“Nay. If I were the God of Culling, I would have had to create magic to steal the firedew in the Withered Desert,” Dilfred refuted firmly. “But demise overcomes depth. The order of the God of Depth cannot easily interfere with the firedew of the Withered Desert. Even if I managed to do so, Anahem would notice immediately.”
Dilfred turned to the oasis creating the holo children. His argument was that it was impossible for the order of depth to create such a thing.
“Well, I suppose you have a point there,” Gaetenaros said. “So it has to be you, Goddess of Birth. As I suspected from the beginning, you gave birth to the God of Culling.”
“The Goddess of Birth is capable of birthing a god that kills gods,” Dilfred agreed.
Gaetenaros giggled in amusement. “See?”
“But in order to stray that far from order,” Dilfred continued, “she would need to use the firedew to cast such magic. The flow of firedew was normal when she departed from the Round Garden of Principles.”
“So the Goddess of Birth’s long absence from Da Qu Kadarte makes it impossible for her to have birthed the God of Culling,” I interpreted.
The Goddess of Birth couldn’t have destroyed the gods in the Celestial Canopy. At that time, she had been traveling towards Da Qu Kadarte. And it was hard, just in general, to imagine her stealing the firedew as the God of Culling.
I continued. “Anahem cannot be the God of Culling either. The Celestial Canopy’s firedew was being stolen too, and he wouldn’t be able to do such a thing there, since change surpasses demise.”
In the first place, Anahem’s order of demise wasn’t suited for creating holo children or an army of gods. Even if he could pull it off in his own divine domain, it would be an impossible feat to do the same in other domains. Especially in the Celestial Canopy, where he had the worst compatibility with that domain’s order. Add this with his impulsive personality, and it was enough to negate him as the God of Culling.
“Huh? So who’s the God of Culling then?” Gaetenaros said.
“What about you, God of Change?” I asked.
“Me? No way. Why would I bother to do something so troublesome?” Gaetenaros said with a laugh.
“It would be easy for you to set up magic to steal firedew in your own domain. Then you could change your magic power into the order of birth to create the God of Culling,” I said.
“Sure, I could do that. But why would I?” Gaetenaros asked, completely unfazed.
“There was firedew being stolen in the Mother Sea too. Birth exceeds change. Your order might be useless in the Mother Sea, but in the Goddess of Birth’s long absence, you could have changed your order into the order of depth and created an army of gods in the Mother Sea.”
Depth outweighed birth—it would be easy for Dilfred’s order of depth to interfere with the Mother Sea.
“Okay, that all seems possible,” Gaetenaros said, showing no concern at all.
I continued my explanation.
“Change surpasses demise. This means you could steal the firedew in the Withered Desert. Using the order of change, you could transform the firedew into the humans called holo.”
Dilfred, Anahem, and Wenzel’s Divine Eyes focused on the God of Change.
“However, you were unable to deceive Dilfred’s Divine Eyes, since he constantly stares into the abyss of Nature’s Keep.”
Even if Gaetenaros transformed into the order of demise, Dilfred would detect the abnormality even while he was lost in his thoughts.
“And that’s why there’s no firedew being stolen from Nature’s Keep?” Gaetenaros replied. “Are you saying I did all of that? Stealing the firedew to create human children and an army of gods? For what purpose?”
“Who knows? But even a moron could figure it out. The Celestial Canopy, Mother Sea, and Withered Desert—the only god that could steal the firedew from these three domains is the God of Change.”
I pointed straight in the direction of Gaetenaros. “Thus, you are the God of Culling—”
Gaetenaros, who had been all smiles this whole time, levered a sharp glare at me. Wind magic swirled around his body in a menacing gale.
I finished my sentence.
“—Vade.”
The God of Change whirled around in shock. Right behind him, in the direction I had pointed, was the holo child Vade. Gaetenaros gave me a puzzled look.
“What do you mean?” Gaetenaros asked.
“As I said, even a moron could figure it out. The only one capable of stealing the firedew in those three domains is you. But why would you call yourself the God of Culling and leave such obvious tracks behind? There are two possible answers: you’re unbelievably foolish, or someone was trying to frame you,” I concluded.
“I see. And you concluded he wasn’t that foolish,” Dilfred said. “Allow me to agree with that judgment.”
Gaetenaros frowned sullenly. Dilfred’s choice of words sat poorly with him.
“Whoever was trying to frame Gaetenaros is the culprit stealing the firedew—the God of Culling himself. However, only the Four Principles of the Firmament of the Gods can interfere with the firedew.”
I slowly walked up to Vade.
“That is, if we only consider gods.”
The Four Principles, Sasha, and Misha all stared at Vade.
“None of that is relevant to a human,” I said. “You can interfere with the firedew and kill the gods all you want. You have no reason to obey order.”
I stopped a few meters away from Vade. Why were the gods killed? Why was the firedew stolen? Even when destruction and creation were evenly balanced, the world was slowly approaching its destruction anyway. That, and the static-like voice that echoed directly in my source—all of it was beginning to connect to a single point.
There was most likely something that had been hidden in the Firmament of the Gods this entire time. Something the Goddess of Creation, the Four Principles, and every other god had failed to notice lurking away. From the first day until now—no, from before the first day...
“Someone not bound to the law and orders of this world. Someone who doesn’t fit—a misfit. That’s what you are, Vade.”
He grinned at my words.
At the same time, the noise in my source echoed.
No.
“You’re wrong, mister,” the holo boy said.
He’s a purist.
“I fit right in.”
Vade smirked smugly.