The Aperta Oculus's meetings took place on the sacred mountain range on the last night of each month. Except for that time, the Awakened Ones remained in seclusion, each in their own territories.
But today, far away from the sacred mountain range, a few beings who had escaped the cycle of reincarnation held a secret meeting among themselves.
Communication took place at very low frequencies. This was a meeting that should not be detected by outsiders.
"Despite the returnee's efforts, the Etruscan kingdom's future remains uncertain."
These were the words of the person who seemed most concerned. She appeared to be in her late twenties and was wearing clothing from the era when the Yesak Church was in its infancy.
"I tried to stop Cesare de Como from taking power... If things continue like this, it looks like the next person will be the same person."
A cynical voice answered. It was a middle-aged man dressed as a scholar.
"If the kingdom remains until then."
Another person agreed. This time, it was a middle-aged woman with healthy, tanned skin, dark brown hair, and the typical Etruscan appearance. However, in her case, the ridicule was gone, and the concern was genuine.
"That mortal, Isabella de Mare, despite having her abilities reduced numerous times, unlike in the previous timeline, eventually awakens into something terrible."
"The innate talent doesn't change... It's really hard to change the past..."
The supreme beings came from all over the Central Continent, not just the entire land. The entire assembly of Aperta Oculus included countless races and ethnicities. Many of them were beings that modern-day Central Continent residents would never have encountered, let alone heard of.
But everyone gathered here today, though from different eras, was dressed in Etruscan attire. They were people who had awakened in Etruscan lands.
They say that throwing off the shackles of regression will cut you off from your past ties, but as long as you have humanity, it won't be cut off so sharply.
"Was the Etruscan kingdom... destined to eventually perish..."
They witnessed the destruction of the Etruscan kingdom in the previous timeline. And that wasn't all. The Moorish Empire invaded the Central Continent and ravaged the uninhabited Etruscan Peninsula.
Looting, arson, murder, rape... Cultural assets were burned, and communities that had maintained their customs collapsed. Some of those who saw this future, those who had awakened, could not turn away from the communities they had once belonged to.
"Let's not talk nonsense."
"Of course. There's still hope. Prince Alfonso survived thanks to the regressor's kindness."
Alfonso de Carlo. A brave warrior and gentle ruler, he was the Etruscan kingdom's only remaining opportunity for change.
The Etruscan kingdom of another timeline didn't fall overnight. It slowly lost its protective layer, layer by layer, and gradually began its decline. The death of Alfonso de Carlo and the ascension of Cesare de Como marked the beginning of this decline.
"If a solid monarch can govern properly for ten or fifteen years, even starting now, we can endure. We can save the entire Central Continent from the invasion of the Moorish Empire!"
But today, far away from the sacred mountain range, a few beings who had escaped the cycle of reincarnation held a secret meeting among themselves.
Communication took place at very low frequencies. This was a meeting that should not be detected by outsiders.
"Despite the returnee's efforts, the Etruscan kingdom's future remains uncertain."
These were the words of the person who seemed most concerned. She appeared to be in her late twenties and was wearing clothing from the era when the Yesak Church was in its infancy.
"I tried to stop Cesare de Como from taking power... If things continue like this, it looks like the next person will be the same person."
A cynical voice answered. It was a middle-aged man dressed as a scholar.
"If the kingdom remains until then."
Another person agreed. This time, it was a middle-aged woman with healthy, tanned skin, dark brown hair, and the typical Etruscan appearance. However, in her case, the ridicule was gone, and the concern was genuine.
"That mortal, Isabella de Mare, despite having her abilities reduced numerous times, unlike in the previous timeline, eventually awakens into something terrible."
"The innate talent doesn't change... It's really hard to change the past..."
The supreme beings came from all over the Central Continent, not just the entire land. The entire assembly of Aperta Oculus included countless races and ethnicities. Many of them were beings that modern-day Central Continent residents would never have encountered, let alone heard of.
But everyone gathered here today, though from different eras, was dressed in Etruscan attire. They were people who had awakened in Etruscan lands.
They say that throwing off the shackles of regression will cut you off from your past ties, but as long as you have humanity, it won't be cut off so sharply.
"Was the Etruscan kingdom... destined to eventually perish..."
They witnessed the destruction of the Etruscan kingdom in the previous timeline. And that wasn't all. The Moorish Empire invaded the Central Continent and ravaged the uninhabited Etruscan Peninsula.
Looting, arson, murder, rape... Cultural assets were burned, and communities that had maintained their customs collapsed. Some of those who saw this future, those who had awakened, could not turn away from the communities they had once belonged to.
"Let's not talk nonsense."
"Of course. There's still hope. Prince Alfonso survived thanks to the regressor's kindness."
Alfonso de Carlo. A brave warrior and gentle ruler, he was the Etruscan kingdom's only remaining opportunity for change.
The Etruscan kingdom of another timeline didn't fall overnight. It slowly lost its protective layer, layer by layer, and gradually began its decline. The death of Alfonso de Carlo and the ascension of Cesare de Como marked the beginning of this decline.
"If a solid monarch can govern properly for ten or fifteen years, even starting now, we can endure. We can save the entire Central Continent from the invasion of the Moorish Empire!"
"Those Gallico guys... They don't even know what's important, and they're getting all furious about having the plague."
The Etruscan Awakened were not the only ones to be divided by their origins. Those who awakened in Gallico territory also formed their own factions and exerted their influence.
"That's because they didn't make any special sacrifices in the war of aggression against the Moorish Empire."
"Aren't they doing this because they feel like they won't be able to put their illegitimate son Jean, or rather, the butcher Jean VII, on the stage of history?"
"Those guys who only know themselves..."
As the conversation continued, the first young woman expressed concern.
"Gallico's side is looking for the regressor's faults with a burning eye. Will they be able to get through safely?"
The cynical middle-aged scholar asked back.
"Where on earth does one get through to someone who has been put on trial unscathed?"
It was a place where every single flaw was exposed, a place where even things that weren't flaws to begin with were somehow turned into flaws by finding a bad side to them.
"When you're under the gaze of everyone, any flaw is exposed. Have you ever seen someone survive a minute dissection? That's the judgment seat. Why hope for luck when you've already gone through it yourself?"
But the young woman did not give up.
"Everyone knows this and goes up to the judgment seat. In the past, we knew everything and took on the challenge fully prepared."
This is a story from before the mysterious lineage was lost in the Central Continent. As the Yesak Church established itself as the state religion of the Central Continent, the lore that had been passed down step by step began to be dismissed as mere folklore.
The perception that the stories of the "Awakened Ones" were a pipe dream perpetrated by some mystics and cultists, contrary to the teachings of the orthodox church, has spread. In the Central Continent, there is no one left who can attempt a return via the traditional path.
"Our regressor jumped into this game without knowing anything..."
The "awakened" of today are almost entirely from the Moorish Empire and its dominions. A few of the "awakened" gathered here were tasked with finding a returnee who, if not of Etruscan descent, could at least function within the Etruscan kingdom.
The Etruscan reverts could not be obtained through normal routes. Then, the greed of Agosto and Akirilou, Ariadne's innate talents, and their circumstances coincided dramatically.
"I'm so sorry for sending you to the court without any information or education."
Even though they knew it was a trick, they seized the opportunity. They didn't want to reduce the Etruscan kingdom to ashes. They didn't want to see the people they knew and the community that had inherited them engulfed in tears and sorrow. And so, Ariadne returned to the past through an unconventional means.
A middle-aged woman spoke to the primordial woman.
"Judgment Day is coming soon."
Judgment Day was the last moment a regressor was alive in the original timeline. On that day, all karma and virtue were measured, and a final sentence was passed on those who stood before the judgment seat.
A middle-aged woman spoke comfortingly.
"If you have accumulated enough virtue, you can become a member of the 'Awakened Ones'."
The primordial woman, hearing those words, could not hide her pride.
"Our regressors have ample karma. Few recent regressors have left such a significant mark on history."
A middle-aged woman also chimed in.
"It's amazing how a girl who can't even stand in front can do this. I didn't know she could do this well."
Virtue was the sum total of the positive changes brought about by the regressor returning to the past in a new timeline. These included the people Ariadne saved, those she helped improve, the social changes she brought about, and the improved institutions she created.
The two women competed in reciting Ariadne's achievements.
"Thanks to our returnees, the Etruscan kingdom has excellent health and medical personnel to fight the plague."
It's also remarkable that she created a prototype for a school where ordinary children can attend. If the future they've glimpsed is correct, the Etruscan Kingdom in this timeline will be the first in the Central Continent to introduce compulsory education for all its citizens!
However, blocking Cesare's rise to power and attempting to secure Alfonso's ascension to the throne was not a good deed judged by the supreme providence, but was merely the wish of a few enlightened people gathered here, and therefore was not included in the measurement of good deeds.
Then the middle-aged scholar said cynically.
"What good karma can there be? Evil karma piles up to the very edge of the sky, enough to build the Tower of Marduk."
He spat out cynically.
"Ariadne, the regressor, won't be able to live to the fullest. She'll take her own life before then."
When "Judgment Day" arrived, the Aperta Oculus would weigh the karma accumulated by the regressor. It was a fairly mechanical process, completely separate from any sad story or narrative that led to that fate.
They meticulously calculated the harm suffered by those whose lives were worsened or lost due to the changes brought about by the regressor. Even if one person was unavoidably injured while saving five who should have died, evil karma was still evil karma.
Even without a decisive blow, they weren't spared. If a specific class or region was negatively affected, any increase in the chaos level was counted as the regressor's evil karma, even if no one was injured or killed.
It wasn't for nothing that Ariadne achieved the most historic feat among recent regressors. If you do nothing, karma doesn't accumulate. Those who understood the system and regressed worked diligently to avoid the misfortune that befell them. While their good karma was minimal, they also accumulated only as much bad karma as they could handle.
Moreover, the number of people seeking to return has also decreased significantly in recent years. This is because the arduous process and the dire consequences of failure have become widely known.
"Has anyone ever seen a single person who persevered despite all that willpower, self-doubt, and bad karma?"
After the karma was measured, the misfortune that had been postponed hit the individual who had returned all at once, depending on the degree of the evil karma.
The organization you've been a part of will fail, a contract you couldn't break will be broken, and you'll be swindled by a trusted business partner. If you launch a merchant ship, it will sink in a storm, and if you farm, a terrible drought will strike.
Friends betray you, loved ones leave you disappointed, and those closest to you are killed.
"Fortunately for us, who have no blood or tears, Prince Alfonso has obtained the Holy Sword, so we won't be swept away by the misfortune of the Regressor."
The scholar pretended to hold his glass in the air, making a mockery of it.
"Don't worry! We'll push one soul into the abyss of terrible destruction, but the Etruscan kingdom will be saved! Or rather, saved?"
The primordial woman and the middle-aged woman could not raise their heads and avoided the scholar's eyes.
Prometheus, who succeeded in breaking free from the cycle of reincarnation, was tied to a pillar and had his liver pecked out by an eagle. The Golden Rule, which judged the regressor, continued to suffer physical pain even after being excluded from the community and severed from relationships.
When leprosy causes amputations of limbs and the pain of even a single gust of wind against one's skin causes a scream, human willpower quickly wanes. Even those who have earned the right to challenge the bar of judgment because of their high status are ultimately human.
"There's a joke among the "awakened ones" from the Central Continent that the fact that Yesak's Gon was executed right away is proof that he was truly the son of a god. I wholeheartedly agree with that. If he had died by his own hand instead of being killed by someone else, he wouldn't have been able to reincarnate, wouldn't have become one of the "awakened ones," and his soul would have been shattered."
If someone, unable to bear the despair that was surging within them, took their own life, their soul would fall into the hands of the Council of 30, which ruled the Aperta Oculus.
For the Aperta Oculus to intervene in the "Supreme Providence," energy was needed. Selecting timelines to close at each half-life, creating new ones to send regressors, and performing miracles and mysteries on the human lands—all of this required energy. The Council of Thirty replenished this fuel by grinding the souls of those who had attempted and failed to reach the "Judgment."
Even those who rush in knowing everything will take their own lives, unable to bear the pain. Even those who know they only have a limited lifespan. Do you think we, naive regressors who know nothing, can endure this?
Her life would crumble horribly before she knew what was happening. She would be unable to die, forced to endure all the pain. Will Ariadne de Mare, who had lost everything, be able to endure it?
A middle-aged woman interrupted the scholar's tirade.
"Wait a minute, there's one more person."
Ariadne was the one who stood before the judgment table, but those gathered there were those who had chosen her as the returnee. They knew there was one more player.
"Our regressor is a half-regressor, so her counterpart remains."
The Etruscan Awakened were not the only ones to be divided by their origins. Those who awakened in Gallico territory also formed their own factions and exerted their influence.
"That's because they didn't make any special sacrifices in the war of aggression against the Moorish Empire."
"Aren't they doing this because they feel like they won't be able to put their illegitimate son Jean, or rather, the butcher Jean VII, on the stage of history?"
"Those guys who only know themselves..."
As the conversation continued, the first young woman expressed concern.
"Gallico's side is looking for the regressor's faults with a burning eye. Will they be able to get through safely?"
The cynical middle-aged scholar asked back.
"Where on earth does one get through to someone who has been put on trial unscathed?"
It was a place where every single flaw was exposed, a place where even things that weren't flaws to begin with were somehow turned into flaws by finding a bad side to them.
"When you're under the gaze of everyone, any flaw is exposed. Have you ever seen someone survive a minute dissection? That's the judgment seat. Why hope for luck when you've already gone through it yourself?"
But the young woman did not give up.
"Everyone knows this and goes up to the judgment seat. In the past, we knew everything and took on the challenge fully prepared."
This is a story from before the mysterious lineage was lost in the Central Continent. As the Yesak Church established itself as the state religion of the Central Continent, the lore that had been passed down step by step began to be dismissed as mere folklore.
The perception that the stories of the "Awakened Ones" were a pipe dream perpetrated by some mystics and cultists, contrary to the teachings of the orthodox church, has spread. In the Central Continent, there is no one left who can attempt a return via the traditional path.
"Our regressor jumped into this game without knowing anything..."
The "awakened" of today are almost entirely from the Moorish Empire and its dominions. A few of the "awakened" gathered here were tasked with finding a returnee who, if not of Etruscan descent, could at least function within the Etruscan kingdom.
The Etruscan reverts could not be obtained through normal routes. Then, the greed of Agosto and Akirilou, Ariadne's innate talents, and their circumstances coincided dramatically.
"I'm so sorry for sending you to the court without any information or education."
Even though they knew it was a trick, they seized the opportunity. They didn't want to reduce the Etruscan kingdom to ashes. They didn't want to see the people they knew and the community that had inherited them engulfed in tears and sorrow. And so, Ariadne returned to the past through an unconventional means.
A middle-aged woman spoke to the primordial woman.
"Judgment Day is coming soon."
Judgment Day was the last moment a regressor was alive in the original timeline. On that day, all karma and virtue were measured, and a final sentence was passed on those who stood before the judgment seat.
A middle-aged woman spoke comfortingly.
"If you have accumulated enough virtue, you can become a member of the 'Awakened Ones'."
The primordial woman, hearing those words, could not hide her pride.
"Our regressors have ample karma. Few recent regressors have left such a significant mark on history."
A middle-aged woman also chimed in.
"It's amazing how a girl who can't even stand in front can do this. I didn't know she could do this well."
Virtue was the sum total of the positive changes brought about by the regressor returning to the past in a new timeline. These included the people Ariadne saved, those she helped improve, the social changes she brought about, and the improved institutions she created.
The two women competed in reciting Ariadne's achievements.
"Thanks to our returnees, the Etruscan kingdom has excellent health and medical personnel to fight the plague."
It's also remarkable that she created a prototype for a school where ordinary children can attend. If the future they've glimpsed is correct, the Etruscan Kingdom in this timeline will be the first in the Central Continent to introduce compulsory education for all its citizens!
However, blocking Cesare's rise to power and attempting to secure Alfonso's ascension to the throne was not a good deed judged by the supreme providence, but was merely the wish of a few enlightened people gathered here, and therefore was not included in the measurement of good deeds.
Then the middle-aged scholar said cynically.
"What good karma can there be? Evil karma piles up to the very edge of the sky, enough to build the Tower of Marduk."
He spat out cynically.
"Ariadne, the regressor, won't be able to live to the fullest. She'll take her own life before then."
When "Judgment Day" arrived, the Aperta Oculus would weigh the karma accumulated by the regressor. It was a fairly mechanical process, completely separate from any sad story or narrative that led to that fate.
They meticulously calculated the harm suffered by those whose lives were worsened or lost due to the changes brought about by the regressor. Even if one person was unavoidably injured while saving five who should have died, evil karma was still evil karma.
Even without a decisive blow, they weren't spared. If a specific class or region was negatively affected, any increase in the chaos level was counted as the regressor's evil karma, even if no one was injured or killed.
It wasn't for nothing that Ariadne achieved the most historic feat among recent regressors. If you do nothing, karma doesn't accumulate. Those who understood the system and regressed worked diligently to avoid the misfortune that befell them. While their good karma was minimal, they also accumulated only as much bad karma as they could handle.
Moreover, the number of people seeking to return has also decreased significantly in recent years. This is because the arduous process and the dire consequences of failure have become widely known.
"Has anyone ever seen a single person who persevered despite all that willpower, self-doubt, and bad karma?"
After the karma was measured, the misfortune that had been postponed hit the individual who had returned all at once, depending on the degree of the evil karma.
The organization you've been a part of will fail, a contract you couldn't break will be broken, and you'll be swindled by a trusted business partner. If you launch a merchant ship, it will sink in a storm, and if you farm, a terrible drought will strike.
Friends betray you, loved ones leave you disappointed, and those closest to you are killed.
"Fortunately for us, who have no blood or tears, Prince Alfonso has obtained the Holy Sword, so we won't be swept away by the misfortune of the Regressor."
The scholar pretended to hold his glass in the air, making a mockery of it.
"Don't worry! We'll push one soul into the abyss of terrible destruction, but the Etruscan kingdom will be saved! Or rather, saved?"
The primordial woman and the middle-aged woman could not raise their heads and avoided the scholar's eyes.
Prometheus, who succeeded in breaking free from the cycle of reincarnation, was tied to a pillar and had his liver pecked out by an eagle. The Golden Rule, which judged the regressor, continued to suffer physical pain even after being excluded from the community and severed from relationships.
When leprosy causes amputations of limbs and the pain of even a single gust of wind against one's skin causes a scream, human willpower quickly wanes. Even those who have earned the right to challenge the bar of judgment because of their high status are ultimately human.
"There's a joke among the "awakened ones" from the Central Continent that the fact that Yesak's Gon was executed right away is proof that he was truly the son of a god. I wholeheartedly agree with that. If he had died by his own hand instead of being killed by someone else, he wouldn't have been able to reincarnate, wouldn't have become one of the "awakened ones," and his soul would have been shattered."
If someone, unable to bear the despair that was surging within them, took their own life, their soul would fall into the hands of the Council of 30, which ruled the Aperta Oculus.
For the Aperta Oculus to intervene in the "Supreme Providence," energy was needed. Selecting timelines to close at each half-life, creating new ones to send regressors, and performing miracles and mysteries on the human lands—all of this required energy. The Council of Thirty replenished this fuel by grinding the souls of those who had attempted and failed to reach the "Judgment."
Even those who rush in knowing everything will take their own lives, unable to bear the pain. Even those who know they only have a limited lifespan. Do you think we, naive regressors who know nothing, can endure this?
Her life would crumble horribly before she knew what was happening. She would be unable to die, forced to endure all the pain. Will Ariadne de Mare, who had lost everything, be able to endure it?
A middle-aged woman interrupted the scholar's tirade.
"Wait a minute, there's one more person."
Ariadne was the one who stood before the judgment table, but those gathered there were those who had chosen her as the returnee. They knew there was one more player.
"Our regressor is a half-regressor, so her counterpart remains."
Thank you very much
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