"Damn it, why do I have so little of my soul and divinity left? Where did the rest go?"
Within the faith-space of the Seven Gods, the Dragon Queen roared in fury at the small sun bound tightly in chains before her.
"Meat that reaches your mouth is meant to be swallowed. Are you supposed to keep chewing it forever?" the Lord of Light mocked.
Daenerys had lost a full thirty percent of her soul, divinity, and divine power. Yet after burning the sword-spirit evil entity to ashes, she recovered only ten percent.
In other words, just by wielding the red sword for about two minutes, she had permanently lost twenty percent of her soul, twenty percent of her divinity, and twenty percent of her divine power.
Permanently lost. No amount of short-term meditation could ever restore it.
How could she not be enraged? How could she not go mad?
"It seems the Chairman was right. To resist external threats, one must first secure internal stability." Daenerys looked at the Lord of Light as though staring at a corpse.
"Chairman? Who's that?" the Lord of Light asked in confusion.
Before Daenerys could answer, He grew angry as well. "Only Lightbringer can kill the Night King, yet you destroyed it?!"
"I only regret not destroying it the first time I encountered it," Daenerys replied coldly.
"The Long Night is temporary. Once the world completes its descent, a new era can begin. But if the Night King does not die and slaughters all the living, the world will fall into a balanced, eternal abyss of darkness and freezing death."
"Your cowardice and timidity have ruined the entire human era and destroyed the world of light. You are a sinner to humanity and a sinner to the world."
The Lord of Light's voice rang out, vast and sacred, like the judgment of a divine king.
"Excellent. Let's do it exactly that way," Daenerys said with a smile.
"You've gone mad," the Lord of Light said uncertainly.
She coughed lightly. "The evil god R'hllor, through cowardice and timidity, nearly destroyed the entire human era and the world of light.
He is a sinner to humanity, a sinner to the world, a disgrace among true gods, and the greatest shame of the transcendent realm."
Looking at the stunned Lord of Light, Daenerys sneered. "The above will be the evaluation recorded in history books, years from now, about the deceased evil god R'hllor."
"You're not mad, but you're close. Now you can only indulge in fantasies for self-satisfaction," the Lord of Light mocked.
"Look at this. You should know what it is, shouldn't you?" Daenerys flipped her hand and produced a golden "jelly" the size of a bowl.
Sensing the faint fluctuations of the Law of Light within it, the Lord of Light cried out, "Impossible! That is the destiny of the Maiden of Light. Where did you get it?"
"The destiny of the Maiden of Light?" Daenerys was startled.
Destiny was a mission bestowed by heaven. Not just anyone could fulfill such a mission, and to bestow it was also to grant the talent or ability necessary to accomplish it.
Thus, something like "the destiny of the Savior" or "the destiny of the Maiden of Light" was a specific talent or ability granted by the will of the universe.
Of course, destiny was complex. It included but was not limited to talent and divinity; it also involved certain authorities granted by heaven.
Xie Lingyun once said: "Of all the talent under heaven, there is but one shi. Cao Zijian alone holds eight dou, I hold one dou, and from ancient times until now, the remaining one dou has been shared by all others."
Taken literally, the total amount of "literary talent" throughout history was fixed. Xie Lingyun claimed one-tenth of it, Cao Zhi took eight-tenths, and the remaining tenth was divided among writers such as Wang Xizhi and Jia Yi before the Northern and Southern Dynasties.
What shameless boasting.
But strictly speaking, "literary talent" could also be considered a form of destiny. If someone gathered the entire "one shi of talent," what he gained would not only be talent. More importantly, he would monopolize the responsibility bestowed by heaven to bring brilliant culture and art into the world.
Without destiny, one could not even "contribute" to the world.
When Daenerys burned the sword-spirit evil entity, she naturally recovered more than just the ten percent of her own soul. The evil spirit's spiritual essence was not insignificant.
That strange spiritual substance condensed into a golden "jelly," instantly reminding her of the day she saved Jon.
After R'hllor's divine soul was burned, the remaining divinity, spiritual substance, and laws had fused into a mass. Its aura differed from this golden "jelly," but they were similar.
Thus Daenerys guessed it was a destiny related to light. She had assumed it was part of the Lord of Light's soul essence left within the sword-spirit evil entity, but she had not expected it to be inexplicably connected to the Maiden of Light.
"Who was the sword-spirit within Lightbringer? The twisted-willed evil entity that retained only greedy instinct?" Daenerys asked.
The Lord of Light's spiritual fluctuations intensified rapidly, revealing extreme agitation. "Her destiny had not yet completely dissipated…"
"Her?" Daenerys' expression changed. "Nissa Nissa? Why did Nissa Nissa possess the destiny of the Maiden of Light?"
There had always been an evil spirit sealed within Lightbringer. She had discovered it the first time she activated the sword.
According to legend, Azor Ahai had his wife Nissa Nissa bare her chest and plunged the smoking sword, just taken from the forge, into her beating heart. The blade immediately absorbed all her blood, soul, strength, and courage, ultimately becoming Lightbringer.
Thus, regarding the identity of the evil spirit, Daenerys first thought of Nissa Nissa.
"She was once Nissa Nissa, but over the next eight thousand years, she was replaced by Azor Ahai…"
The Lord of Light's tone grew much gentler, as though for some purpose He had become remarkably cooperative, explaining in full the evolution of the sword-spirit.
"Nissa Nissa's soul and power activated the red sword's energy, but water without a source must eventually dry up.
After the Long Night ended, the red sword's power waned day by day, and Nissa Nissa's soul neared extinction.
Azor Ahai entrusted his destiny and the favor granted to him by the universe after saving the world to me. With only a remnant soul retaining all his memories, he sealed himself within the divine sword in exchange for Nissa's release.
The Long Night did not occur only once, and there is more than one Night King.
Azor Ahai hoped his wife's soul would no longer suffer the torment of having her power extracted, yet he also understood that humanity needed the red sword.
He was a true hero, a hero of humanity, a hero of the world!" R'hllor looked meaningfully at the expressionless Dragon Queen.
Daenerys sneered.
With a sigh, the Lord of Light continued, "His final request to me was to replace Nissa as the source of the red sword's power.
Of course, at that time, he possessed nothing but memory.
Everything he had belonged to me. That remnant soul of mere memory was not qualified to become what you call the sword-spirit that sustains the red sword's divinity.
Thus, Nissa's soul core broke free from its bindings and reincarnated, while the soul shell that retained the last of her power remained within the red sword and fused with Azor Ahai's remnant soul of memory."
"I thought Nissa's destiny had reincarnated along with her soul core. Even if it remained in the soul shell, eight thousand years should have worn it away," the Lord of Light said, his voice filled with confusion.
At the center of the human mind sea, the "crystal" containing all memories was the soul core. The mental sea surrounding it was the soul shell.
The soul core and soul shell resembled the three souls and seven spirits of certain traditions. Perhaps due to differing universal laws, Daenerys had not yet discovered any ability in this world to divide the soul into ten parts.
After death, the soul core entered the world of the dead, while the soul shell, like a body, remained in the corpse. Thus a Night's Watchman's soul could ascend to heaven, yet his body could still become a wight retaining his memories and combat experience.
If, after death, the soul core and soul shell remained united, they would form a ghost wandering between the living world and the realm of the dead.
"Why did Nissa possess the destiny of the Maiden of Light?" Daenerys asked again.
"If Nissa could become the sword-spirit of Lightbringer, she naturally had something special," the Lord of Light replied vaguely, clearly unwilling to elaborate.
Daenerys studied Him deeply, then asked, "Since the sword-spirit of the demonic blade was replaced by Azor Ahai, why has it now degenerated into a humanity-erasing, twisted evil spirit?"
"Lightbringer is not a demonic sword!" the Lord of Light retorted sternly. "It represents humanity's noblest and greatest emotions. It is the Sword of Love and Sacrifice.
Nissa sacrificed herself for love, without regret or resentment, even rejoicing in fighting alongside her beloved.
Lightbringer allowed Azor Ahai to constantly feel the tender warmth of love.
That supreme human emotion is a real and wondrous power. It could unleash his full potential, make his will firm as iron, and render him fearless against any soul-based harm.
After Nissa reincarnated, only Azor Ahai's remnant soul remained in the red sword. Eight thousand years of solitude and emptiness hollowed out his former sincerity, kindness, greatness, and benevolence.
In the end, he changed from utmost goodness and purity into greed and distortion.
If you follow your destiny and use love and sacrifice to move him, the evil spirit can transform into a holy spirit. At that time, Lightbringer will once again convey love, sacrifice, light, kindness, and all that is beautiful to the world."
"All I see is your greed, heartlessness, shamelessness, and evil," Daenerys said coldly.
"In truth, I act with great principles. Among the gods, none is more rule-abiding than I," the Lord of Light sighed.
"The principle of sacrificing others for yourself," Daenerys mocked.
"When I demand repayment, I first give in return."
The Lord of Light said solemnly, "It is true that when Azor Ahai divided himself at the end, apart from the remnant soul bearing memory, nearly everything else became a portion of my divided soul.
But I helped him forge the red sword, taught him magic and martial skills. In the end, when he defeated the Long Night, my assistance was indispensable.
I gave, and I collected repayment. That is only natural.
This time is the same. I help you end the Night King's life and ultimately bring light to the world.
Your divine soul and destiny are my reward. What is wrong with that?"
"Is saving the world not the responsibility of a true god? Yet you push it onto humanity," Daenerys said, finding the Lord of Light's logic incomprehensible.
"So you mean that we true gods should disregard life and death, ignore gain and loss, and then let you humans reap the benefits?" the Lord of Light countered.
"Are we not fighting the wights beneath Winterfell? How are we reaping without effort? True gods and humanity should each fulfill their roles, sacrifice together, strive together. That is the righteous path!" Daenerys said, her voice cold as frost.
"This is humanity," the Lord of Light chuckled softly. "Your words, your actions, even you yourself, are a model of human selfishness and self-righteousness.
In this era, humanity is the protagonist of the world. If you do not struggle desperately, who will?
If the masters of the era do not sacrifice, who will?
If you believe it is only natural for me to risk everything for humanity without compensation, then why did I not risk everything for other races in previous eras?
Had I done so for the ancient remnants, they would not have been eliminated by the world. If they remained, how would humanity ever become the protagonists of this era?
Across billions of years of history, how many races, how many era-protagonists? Those who do not strive or refuse to sacrifice deserve elimination.
And you blame the true gods for not dying on your behalf? What kind of reasoning is that?"
(End of Chapter)
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