The professor and Charlotte were inside the tomb of king of Askai looking for more information on him when they came across a few murals. The artworks were abstract to say the least. It depicted a man holding up a chalice to a light in the sky. A few other human figures bowing behind the man. Next mural was about a man floating atop some kind of waterbody with a blade hanging above it's head again surrounded by human figures. As the two kept looking through the tomb, they were met with even more murals. One depicted a team of both humans and demi-humans fighting against a monster that had no coherent shape drawn inside of a dome. It was like scribbled or maybe scratched off by someone to stop anyone from identifying whatever they were fighting..
"What do you make of it?" Charlotte asked.
"Seems like... Askai was praying to the heaven? For what? He had betrayed the gods in the heaven."
"That's the conclusion Kenji had reached but looking at everything as a whole back when he had learned about time loop... what if what we think so far has been a lie?" Charlotte wondered. "We still have no real reason as to why everything is happening. The four gods waged wars against demi-humans... because they had started to fear them? The speculation is that the origin created everything on the other side. All the flora and fauna. And anything that it didn't create was to be turned to ash. It's a speculation, yes? But we don't know for a fact. Askai betrayed gods because he became arrogant. That, too, was a speculation on Kenji's part. We also have proof that he had a lover but somehow it became irrelevant. This mural clearly shows that he was praying to gods and that light signifies that the gods did in fact bestow him with something. I have a different proposition than Kenji's. What if Askai didn't betray gods by thinking he is superior to them and refusing their offers but he chose to spread the truth about this world."
"Truth? Like... about the time loop?" The professor looked at her with a question mark floating over his head.
"Truth that the origin is protecting everyone from something bigger and worse." Charlotte further asserted. "Why did the origin divide itself before dying? The book brought in by Ace had records of the five parts. And also about the five links. But it also had one tiny detail that there exists an object called winter's constellation, yes, the one Kenji was looking for, and it's not exactly a good thing. Winter's constellation wasn't something origin created or something the link of recollection was born with. The final question isn't how the origin die... but who exactly killed the origin."
The two of them had stumbled across information that directly contradicted what Kenji was told by the link of recollection. While the link told Kenji that Askai betrayed gods when he learned the truth about the time loop, Charlotte had reached an entirely different conclusion based on murals in the tomb of Askai which painted origin as a potential non-evil entity.
...
"What... WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" James charged at me fueled with anger. I had already made my decision. I don't plan to kill entire civilization but how I'd continue this war is by clearly defining a power gap between me and the rest. I still have my humanity but it also extends to those who are not human.
"Proving a point." I said as I slammed him head into the ground forcing corrosion onto his body. "I'm the apostle. And so I must correct humanity. For the sins committed by them over the centuries, they must pay with their lives."
"You are not an apostle! You aren't even a human anymore!" James coughed blood but some soldiers quickly gathered around me.
"Soon all will end." I said as I lifted myself in the air. "Farewell... my classmates. I hope you at least survive." I flew back to the camp of demi-humans. "Report."
"Yes, we have infiltrated from the left. The villages on the outskirts in the left of the Grumania are rather unkept and almost ignored because of the large forest between them." A goblin pulled out a map and pointed to the villages they had already occupied. "The forest is a plus point for elves as it's their natural habitat. We first sent in goblin kings and a few platoons of goblins and took over five villages and our elves have been dispatched to soundless forest as well. Soon they will make their next move."
"I have already dealt with their strongest. So you can start moving towards the capital. I have finished my job so you guys can manage your next steps yourself." I said before walking out of the base camp. I wondered what the ascendants and Kristine are doing but now is not the time. If the top three ascendants don't side with Grumania, our victory is guaranteed.
...
After Kenji had left, the otherworlders were completely distraught. They had come to realize that they could never win if someone of such calibre was fighting against them but James was the only one who knew the truth. Kenji had betrayed mankind. He has completely lost his mind and that he was now beyond saving. After fighting with him, James had accepted that the gap between the two could never be filled. The difference between him and Kenji wasn't their abilities, skills or even level. It was the fact that Kenji knew exactly what he wanted and went to insane lengths to get it.
No matter, James didn't have the guts to attack humans without feeling guilty. Kenji on the other hand saw them as nothing more than pests who needed to be exterminated. He felt absolutely no emotions coming from Kenji. As if only bloodshed was on his mind. What had driven him to the point where he is ready to kill humans.
"Who really is our enemy here...?" James said to himself as he laid on the bed while being treated. "Archbishop, how long before I'm cured?"
"I'm afraid, my son... It would take longer than expected. Whoever had inflicted corrosion onto otherworlders clearly wanted them dead. This amount... if inflicted on people native to this world, they would've died. You are lucky all otherworlders are slightly more resistant to the dark energy of the assembly and demi-humans."
"I-I see... I'm glad everyone is alive at least." James sighed in relief. Maybe Kenji didn't attack people native to this world for some reasons, he thought to himself.
"I don't think it's the right time to relax. We have received information that enemy has started attack from westward. And has already occupied a few villages in the outskirt. We are currently in middle of a great war." Archbishop warned James.
"I-.. I.. I think we may have...already lost." He sighed deeply while holding onto his tears. "We were utterly outmatched by our opponent. His entire purpose here was to show his allegiance to demi-humans."
"But I say we still have our humanity and assistance of the four great gods. In dire conditions, I'm sure they will come down again to assist us humans like they did the last time." Archbishop said in a soft comforting tone.
...
"You let them go?" Amina sighed.
"We never agreed to me killing anyone. At least for now. I'm not against whatever is happening but if I can avoid painting my own hands red, I would prefer that. I think instead of me going out and taking land back for you all, it's best if you do it yourself." I responded.
"Right... you only sided with us... Wish you were under my command." Amina smirked at me.
"You would have made me commit as a mass genocide. I'm not a complete lost cause yet."
"Oh? Then why are you siding with us so easily?"
"To be honest... I don't care about either humans or demi-humans. All problems in my life can be traced back to one source. God. Right now, my own girlfriend thinks I'm dead. Who is responsible for that? Link of recollection... and who does she work under? and then me being summoned here. I was selected by who... or in my own world, who was the figure that singlehandedly destroyed my family? I had just wished for a decent life and all I got was a life on constant survival mode. Think of it as my way of rebelling against the divine. It just so happened that our end goals align."
"I see... self-serving, huh? Doesn't matter as long as you side with us." She smiled. "And about that girl... no, not your girlfriend, the other girl who was... your maid, I presume."
"Her? I haven't seen her in a while." I thought about it. "Maybe when I was still part of the ascendants but that was a while ago. She might be a big problem if she sided with humans. Also the four gods... Is there no power great enough to kill them?" I looked at my own hands. "Askai might have an answer."