Chapter 32: I Shall Manipulate Vast Emotions to Ignite Divinity

It was a bright, warm winter day.

The crowd surged like a restless sea. Despite the presence of the giants, the New Year Festival was not the most grand in the tribe, yet it was the occasion when the people’s emotions burned most fiercely. During this holiday, they swept away the gloom of the passing year and breathed heartfelt hopes into the one to come. The modest rations of alcohol, usually strictly managed in every household, were brought out for drinking contests. The savory scent of grain and honey hung thick in the air. A rotating council member delivered a passionate, stirring speech.

Far from the revelry, a seven-member squad gathered on a high ridge near the perimeter fence. Wrapped in thick furs and carrying various weapons, they watched the lively crowd from a distance. Amanises, following the customs of humanity, was also bundled in heavy furs, looking for all the world like a snowy wolf upon the ice plains.

"Are we not departing yet?" a young girl named Selina asked their leader, Ouroboros, in a hushed tone. She was a petite, furry bundle of a girl, though her furtive glances toward Amanises were filled with profound longing. She was the youngest in the squad, a lucky survivor who had accidentally been exposed to a Beyonder characteristic and gained the ability of "Nighttime Enhancement."

"Wait a little longer. At this year's festival, the tribe is to unveil a far-reaching achievement. We cannot participate up close due to our mission, but at least... let us watch from afar before we set out," Ouroboros said. He noticed a wave of cheers erupting from the distant crowd.

The sound rose in rolling surges, chanting in a language they had never heard before. Compared to the common Northern tongue, this speech possessed a fluency and smoothness that resonated with human nature. Moreover, the intonations stirred a mysterious power, tapping into the collective consciousness of humanity, allowing those who had never learned the language to inexplicably grasp its meaning:

"Hello, new world. We are human."

Selina murmured the words in a daze. It was not just her; the others in the squad were also whispering in wonder. This language, which they had never encountered or studied, suddenly felt as natural as breathing. Especially for these "test subjects" who had embarked on the path of the Extraordinary, they could feel that this language—like the Giant language they studied—was capable of moving the forces of nature!

Feeling the tumultuous emotions within his team and listening to the waves of sound growing ever louder, a fervent joy welled up in Ouroboros’s pure eyes. He whispered softly to Amanises:

"Sister Hermione has succeeded."

Amanises, however, frowned almost imperceptibly. Her vision was clearer than the others in the squad. She saw Leodero promoting the script Hermione had created, a script eventually named "Human Language," which possessed the power to influence natural forces. She saw the stone tablets inscribed with these characters being revealed in the square. She saw the impassioned crowd. She heard the curious, excited people crying out under the guidance of the council members.

But she also felt, at a deeper level, the hollowness within that vast emotion. While the creation of "Human Language" excited the tribespeople, the vast majority could not truly perceive what this language meant for human Beyonders. They were merely having their emotions stirred by the council members’ rhetoric.

***

Amanises watched Hermione standing amidst the crowd. She heard Hermione’s voice ring out: "We are born as vassals."

...

Feeling the pulse of the crowd, Hermione did not drink the potion she had prepared. One could perhaps successfully advance by consuming the "Manipulator" potion amidst such intense collective emotion. But clutching the potion concocted from the "Mentor's" legacy, and facing circumstances similar to the "Mentor," Hermione could not help but feel a flicker of hesitation and fear.

Like every tribesperson standing before her, she was merely human. A human pushed forward by the most basic of desires—the "will to survive"—in this godforsaken world.

There was the "sense of responsibility taught by predecessors and elders" that belonged to Hermione. There was the "kindness toward others nurtured in a peaceful country" that belonged to Zhou Mingxiang. These beautiful qualities and morals... they enveloped her now. But when she dissected her true personality to the core, what remained was the most essential—a selfish desire to "want to live, and to live better."

Yet, she simultaneously possessed an innate, abundant capacity for empathy and compassion. The sacrifices and heritage of her predecessors, the dark, stifling circumstances in which humanity was powerless to resist, the struggle for survival in the shadows... she felt it all, stirred by everything she saw, heard, and encountered, empathizing as if it were her own.

And then, she was afraid—afraid that she, too, would suffer the same fate.

The fear in her heart was irrepressible. It was the same fear she felt when snatched by the passing magic wolf. The same fear when held in the palm of the wolf cub. The same fear when looked upon by Salinger. But if she cowered in that fear, even the most meager wish for survival would be impossible to achieve!

"The best way to face fear is to confront it head-on!"

If the tribe needs a savior, then let it be me. If the world needs a savior, then let it be me. This is not your choice; this is the ambition born of my own "will to survive!"

Standing in the crowd, utilizing the acoustic architecture of the square, Hermione took a deep breath and shouted to all the residents of the tribe:

"We are born as vassals."

"We are born as slaves."

"We are born as food."

"But—"

"We humans have never given up on finding the power to change this reality."

"...Our ancestors found a thorny path of the Extraordinary."

"...But for thousands of years, this power, found with such bitter struggle, has remained feeble."

"Why?"

"Compared to those powerful races, the answer has long surfaced in our hearts!"

"Because we have no gods!"

"Because we, the humans, have no gods!"

"But today, here, as I create the 'Human Language' that can commune with the forces of nature, I feel the power of divinity born within me!"

"...It is so weak, yet it is full of a glorious future!"

"Therefore—"

"Believe in me!"

"Believe in me, for I have the possibility of becoming a god!"

Hermione’s words brought a sudden silence to the entire square, to the entire tribe. Even the council members standing around her looked at one another in shock. Although the council knew that Hermione was attempting to explore the human "forbidden zone" of becoming a "demigod," that exploration was based on the path of the predecessors' test subjects, a fusion of stronger characteristics from those "demigods"... not some ethereal, made-up reason like creating a "Human Language."

Hermione’s words were completely different from the script they had agreed upon!

But in the silence, Leodero suddenly shouted with fanatical fervor: "Believe in our Lord!"

After a brief pause, the other council members followed suit, shouting in unison: "Believe in our Lord!"

At this moment, they still struggled to fathom the schemes of this former First Councilor who had disappeared for half a year and remained silent for another half. But the humans of the tribe had nothing left to lose... Since the "First Councilor," who possessed the possibility of advancement, wanted to become a god for humanity, they were willing to contribute their own strength to that end.

Moreover... they had dreamt more than once of a god who truly belonged to humanity, one who would rescue them from this desperate world.

Their actions were even more fanatical than Leodero's. This fervor and trust spread quickly from the inner circle of the square, igniting the emotions of the entire tribe layer by layer.

Watching from afar, Amanises couldn't help but laugh out loud. She laughed until she swayed, until tears streamed down her face. She chuckled softly: "Just as I thought! I never misjudged her; Hermione is indeed the same kind of person as I am."

The kind of person who... would rather believe in herself than in others.

Ouroboros, also infected by this emotion from afar, looked toward the deity of the Magic Wolf race and said piously: "Indeed, Lady Night, you and Sister Hermione both hold the world in your hearts..."