1/9
With this, all the past memories of the Emperor stored within the Philosopher's Stone had come to an end.
Although Reji could guess some of these secret contents, after truly experiencing it from the perspective of the Emperor, it was not difficult for him to understand Freya's final descent into darkness.
The core point was that the Hero was being manipulated by humans.
Indeed, in the game, he was like a puppet, every step having to follow the planned main storyline.
If all of this was the plan of the Evil God, then everything made sense.
From the information in the second playthrough, the Evil God did not have a physical form and was more like a concept - the end of cultivation is distortion.
Under this concept.
The more the living beings in the dimensional universe strived to cultivate magic power, the more they actually moved towards the abyss and distortion.
If there was no external interference.
It was believed that before long, all the races in the world would become like the Blood Race in the beginning. The end of the ninth rank was not ascension, but becoming the offspring of the Evil God, a kind of flesh and blood monster.
Under this concept, the existence of the demon race was more like a self-protection mechanism from the dimensions.
Just like white blood cells.
The Evil God would cause normal cells (civilizations) to grow out of control, and the demon race would suppress them before they had the tendency to cancerize.
Those worlds destroyed one by one by the demon race.
In fact, they were all worlds that had been distorted and polluted by the Evil God and were on the verge of offspringization.
So in order to achieve its goal, the Evil God. Had to eradicate the demon race.
Only after the demon race was eliminated could the other races in the dimensional universe begin to develop rampantly without any scruples.
The more developed a civilization became, the more it would be interfered with by the power of the Evil God, the more it would move towards distortion, and eventually become its offspring.
Thus, the game Magic Chronicles was born.
Using "Descended" to defeat "Descended" was the answer given by the Evil God.
The previous Star Spirit Goddess shouting that she was the Evil God.
In a sense, it might not have been wrong.
After seeing the Emperor's memories, Reji was very certain that the Hero's power itself came from the Evil God.
The entire game was like a script written by the Evil God.
It was the opportunity for the Evil God to truly "hatch" from a concept into "It".
A Saintess who deeply loved the Hero, hated the demon race, and eventually became filled with despair towards the world, humans, and everything, was the best vessel for the Evil God.
Logically speaking. Such a vast and complex secret would be difficult for anyone to accept, and its impact could even directly lead to a breakdown.
That's why the previous Freya was so afraid to explore the memories and seek the truth of the Emperor.
Although the current Saintess was also very shocked, feeling lost and helpless, unlike the Emperor in her previous life.
After all, this time, by her side, it was no longer the Hero as a player, but the Hero as Reji.
Or to put it more accurate, It was the Demon King and Hero as Reji.
This scene happened much, much earlier than in the memories.
Cries.
Screams.
Pleas for help.
"Hero, where is the Hero!"
"Monsters, ah, save me, save me!"
"It, it's really true? The calamity, the doomsday, no... no..."
"Don't be afraid! Quickly use the Hero's power!"
In the midst of fear, there were still some who maintained a bit of reason.
Over these years, by forcing Reji to hand over the "cultivation" methods, their strength had soared and their magic power had become incredibly strong.
They didn't hate the Hero.
They hated that the Hero wasn't themselves.
Now, Reji had satisfied the desires of these nobles, allowing them and the many humans who coveted the Hero's power to obtain the so-called Hero's power.
In short, Reji had included them all in the "Companion" system.
This way, they could grow their magic power like crazy.
But they wouldn't be distorted and mutated.
After all, the Hero's authority came from the Evil God, and the so-called companion system was actually a variant of the "Offspring" system.
This also explained why in the Emperor storyline, with the disappearance of the Hero, those companions immediately began to mutate one by one.
The Hero's power came with a price.
Reji quickly made these people understand this principle.
He opened the panel, and as he removed all the "Companions", at that moment, the people who thought they had obtained the Hero's power suddenly underwent changes.
"My body... my body..."
"What's happening to my arm... what is this... ah!"
"Tumors, tumors are growing out? Disgusting, something is squirming, get off, get off me!"
"Aaargh..."
This time, there was no Hero to save them anymore.
But they didn't really need to be saved either.
In an instant, all the nobles who had been tainted by the Hero's power, their forces, organizations, religions, and kingdoms, were all enveloped by the Evil God's pollution. The Hero's power they had stolen from Reji ultimately became the source of their demise.
But this could be considered a contribution to humanity.
They, who had become flesh and blood monsters, successfully blocked the army of evil demons led by Lordan.
This greatly reduced the pressure on the human kingdoms that truly believed in the Hero and had long been preparing for the calamity.
Similarly, it also bought time for Reji's upcoming meeting with the "Apostles".