<839 – Enochia (6)>
Oknodie’s obsession with growth isn’t something that’s just popped up overnight.
From Ishtar’s point of view, watching people’s lives get wasted like bugs in the Foundation, and seeing a friend’s soul ripped away through soul extraction, it’s understandable—at least to others—why there’s an obsession with growth.
If I collect one less function, the day I can save my dying friends or the other kids in the Foundation gets pushed back by a day.
If I slack off, the Director of the Foundation will, with a smile, say they’ll continue the killing spree until they muster the energy to take out one of my subordinates.
In such an extreme environment, no matter how much I want to stop, no matter how much I want to quit, I can’t.
It’s not that I’m struggling; it’s that others are struggling.
I don’t want to be a burden.
I can’t bear the guilt of someone dying because of my mistakes.
That’s why I desperately cling to this illusion.
I say that training is great.
I say I’m happy to raise my abilities.
Even if I have to eat stones to grow, I’m delighted, and even if I can’t stick my feet to the ground, I’m still happy.
Even when tortured to the point of not feeling anything, I feel no pain, and even when I’m battered by poison and curses, I’m the invincible Oknodie who doesn’t flinch.
The Oknodie that everyone knows, the one Ishtar knows, is only born after overcoming such torment.
“Now I see the abnormal obsession that Oknodie has, even from the spirit body that wouldn’t care if it died. I think I understand that feeling. What does everyone think?”
Saintess Yufi burst into tears.
“What do you mean, what do I think…? I think it’s incredibly pathetic! Why does that kid, who grows stronger every day, seem more and more pitiful instead of being enviable?!”
“Ah, even the evil god I serve feels sympathy. Though I’m not sure what that has to do with twisting other gods into evil gods.”
“Xenia doesn’t dislike receiving the leftover catnip!”
Thunderbolt Celestial Divine Church Sister Nise stepped down heavily on Xenia’s foot, weighed down by her armor.
“Ughh!”
As Xenia screamed, her fur bristling like she was riding a wave, Skola, the disciple of the archery master, asked without a second thought.
“So, what do you want to do with that kid now?”
“I want to tell them they can stop getting stronger.”
“Are you saying that to Oknodie? To stop growing?”
Ishtar nodded seriously.
Skola burst into laughter.
“There’s no way that’ll work. Can you even imagine that? Oknodie pausing their training and embracing rest? I can see their restless self fidgeting and sprinting off in various directions just ten minutes later in my mind.”
“I think the Guard Leader agrees with me!”
“Shut up, Vanilla.”
Ishtar shot a glare at Vanilla, who was adding fuel to the already troubled mood, silencing her.
Honestly, Ishtar had a feeling that Oknodie would be just like that.
But there was a decisive event that she felt she couldn’t ignore that happened this morning.
“Have you all heard that Oknodie was dragged into the lectures by the Foundation Faction Professors?”
“The rumors spread quickly around campus. They didn’t want to go, so they tried to hold on to anything, and eventually broke through the mana barrier, trying to cling to maintenance magic circles and dimensional barriers, only to be dragged away by the professors.”
“I heard they got fined for the destroyed magic circles and dimensional barriers!”
“Isn’t that strange? If Oknodie actually enjoys training, why would they resist so fiercely?”
“That’s…”
Everyone fell silent, lost in thought.
Now that they thought about it, it really was strange.
If Oknodie truly enjoyed training, wouldn’t they be excited about the safe lectures from the Foundation Faction Professors, where there’s no risk of someone dying?
Yet the actual reaction was the complete opposite.
Even when their friends’ lives weren’t at risk, Oknodie threw a fit against attending class, to the point where they had to pay hefty fines with the points they’d worked so hard to collect.
“It seems that Oknodie didn’t want to train at all.”
From the Warrior Party, the most stoic member, Saintess Yufi declared.
Even she, who had particularly disliked Oknodie for stealing her best friend Ishtar, couldn’t deny Ishtar’s opinion.
“It’s a backlash that came after various incidents have settled down. They can release their mind now. They can let go a little. That kid wants to rest.”
“Isn’t that something most seasoned masters experience?”
Slightly cynical, Skola chimed in directly.
“Burnout Syndrome.”
Burnout Syndrome.
Reduced ability, mentally burned out.
A state where a tired mind can no longer endure the same asceticism and declares a strike.
People often refer to it differently.
“That’s a big sign of Enochia, isn’t it?”
“There are plenty of elders who retired because of Enochia…”
The twins Vanilla and the other’s comments turned everyone’s expressions serious.
Oknodie hating something and being caught in Enochia was a separate issue.
The importance of the latter was overwhelmingly higher.
“Enochia usually arises from those who feel burdened by their training and daily life without achieving their goals, right? It’s something weak, inferior beings suffer from! The workers just doing their jobs in the village are all Enochia-ravaged individuals who have given up on tough growth and dangerous hunting!”
Despite demonstrating resilience as a Cat Beastfolk, Xenia was immediately contradicted by her close friend Nise.
“Enochia doesn’t only come to weak people. Strong individuals face higher walls, and if those walls can’t be easily broken, they collapse.”
“Oknodie can easily manage their level-ups, right? I’d say they’re the first one who needs to experience Enochia!”
“There can be cases like this. They’ve managed to reach a certain level with great difficulty but realize there are many more levels to reach their goals, causing their spirit to break or waver.”
Upon hearing that, Ishtar felt a sense of realization surge within her.
This is it!
“What could be Oknodie’s current purpose?”
“Purpose? Haven’t they achieved most of them already? They’ve chased off the awful Demon King, killed the Taboos Emperor, took down the Foundation Chairman, collected good kids from the Foundation, and freed the kids whose souls were being exploited!”
“Oknodie has Dark Mana. They carry the most Dark Mana of anyone on the ground, which means they are at risk of being dominated by the Demon King at any time. If the Demon King were to attack the Academy now or if Oknodie were to graduate and confront the Demon King later, it wouldn’t be good news.”
Saintess Yufi was right.
The Demon King’s Four Kings may be tossed around like ragdolls, but the current Demon King, [The King of Gourmet], has never been defeated since his inception hundreds of years ago.
He has accumulated Dark Mana for centuries.
The one who reigns at the top of the food chain in the Demon Realm.
No one knows just how much Dark Mana the Demon King has stored.
Though he may not have lived as long as the so-called strongest Demon Kings in history, the threat is certainly real.
“Is Oknodie being scouted by the Demon King’s Four Kings?”
“They might be treated as a health tonic and devoured.”
“Yikes! That’s so scary! How can a saint even think such a horrifying thing?! What a delinquent saint!”
“That’s the reality. Looking at it this way, I also think I understand why Oknodie has come to that state of mind.”
Oknodie still needs to grow stronger.
From the moment they began using Dark Mana, if they don’t become stronger than the Demon King, there’s a chance they’ll unwittingly become a puppet of the Demon King and participate in sins against their will.
Being used like a puppet of the Foundation and then like a puppet of the Demon King again.
An endless destiny of agony.
The Warrior Party felt a strong sense of deflation just imagining what that future might hold, even if it didn’t concern them directly.
It’s overwhelmingly bleak.
Just how much more training is required to feel assured of being free from the Demon King?
How many more years must they spend at the Academy to reach that level?
Moreover, the more Dark Mana accumulates, the more it poses a risk to one’s body.
No matter how much Oknodie possesses pure Dark Mana and handles it stable, once the amount surpasses the body’s capability to handle it safely, they can’t escape the negative effects of Dark Mana.
Mana Collapse and physical transformation.
Mental corruption and forced descent into evil.
At the end of that lies a future where they completely lose their innocent current character and become akin to a beast, indistinguishable from Demon Minions or monsters.
Given Oknodie’s level and talent, they could endlessly grow and, surpassing the great Demon Minions and the Four Kings, even potentially ascend to the throne of the Demon King.
Moving only by instinct, contaminating countless beings with Dark Mana, continuously increasing power by harvesting more Dark Mana.
Even at the end of that path, there might be some possibility.
The restored self, as one’s improved abilities and rank gradually bring forth their lost identity and sanity.
A theoretically existing state—Transcendence beyond the ultimate madness of magic and escaping from the madness permeated in one’s bones.
Transcendence of the 9th hierarchy.
But how long will it take to reach that state, and how many atrocities will they have committed during that time?
There will be more than a few friends, comrades, and mentors trying to stop Oknodie.
There will also be those who perish at Oknodie’s hands.
The strength she has built up.
The abilities she has nurtured.
All of it could lead to atrocities causing the deaths of everyone she knew.
That child with such a terrible future.
That child who is clearly aware of that future.
It’s only then that I begin to truly feel the weight of it.
Why Oknodie must become stronger.
What future Oknodie fears.
Why Oknodie fell into Enochia.
A child who deserves to be happier than anyone, who should now be stopping to seek happiness.
Even so, the moment she seeks happiness or stops, that future she’ll meet will always inflict pain upon her like a thorn in her neck.
Now, pushed by that pain, she can’t take a single step forward anymore.
“Is there really such a harsh fate that can exist…? Oknodie shouldn’t be living this kind of life…”
Tears flowed from Ishtar, and everyone could empathize with them.
If someone were to ask who the most pitiful human in the world is, everyone here would unanimously point to Oknodie.
Thus, everyone couldn’t help but acknowledge Ishtar’s following vow.
“While the hero is supposed to save the world, Oknodie has worked harder than anyone for the peace of this world. Oknodie has shown the path of the hero on my behalf, walking a path akin to that of a hero. If only misfortune awaits that child’s future… then I will close that misfortune.”
Merely an abstract thought for world peace.
The Demon King is a bad existence.
That absolute evil, once felt so distant.
The determination to eradicate it finally took a firm stand.
The moment I found a reason to wield my sword, a strength that can’t retreat grows within a swordsman.
“I will eliminate the Demon King.”
Now, Ishtar has grown strong again.
For the future where Oknodie doesn’t have to push herself until she falls into Enochia and can be free of this struggle.
