"The other two..." Roselle put away his somewhat teasing expression, glanced at his children who had become Angel, and continued, "One is the superficial divinity. When you need to spend most of your energy and emotions to fight against the true divinity in your body that is constantly eroding yourself, there will be different external manifestations."
"Some are always gentle but lack change, some are more indifferent and ruthless than before, and some have become extremely stubborn, and they execute it firmly as if they have given up on a certain goal...
"This is what appears to be divinity."
On the surface... Angel looked at Roselle thoughtfully, realizing that while he was explaining "divinity", he was also making some excuses for the changes in his personality in his later years.
Of course, He can blame everything on the pollution of "Mother Goddess of Depravity", desperately want to land on the moon, paranoidly proclaim emperor and colonize, make himself an emperor with mixed reputations, break with steam and Sun Church, jump to the non-adjacent "Black Emperor" Pathway and become a god, all are the influence of the "reborn" character...
But this will undoubtedly make Bernadette and Bornova Error judge the influence of divinity on themselves, and neglect to deal with the dangers from the depths of Beyonder Characteristic when they have the opportunity to continue to advance.
Moreover, it may be difficult for this good-faced fellow to admit that he did those things simply because of pollution. It would be more natural to attribute it to the influence of divinity... No, I am different, I was really influenced... Angel thought with some embarrassment and continued to ask:
"Is the indifference shown by most of the born Mythical Creature and Beyonder who became Angel due to this reason?"
To her surprise, Roselle shook his head and said:
"Only some of them are like this, such as most True God and their Angel. Because they have enough anchors to stabilize their own state, they still show enough of themselves in terms of indifference, stubbornness, and irritability...
"And what you call innate Mythical Creature is actually the divinity vaguely recognized by ordinary people, and it is also the first level of 'humanity' in my understanding."
"Levels of humanity?"
Bernadette, who was listening carefully to his father's narration, asked in confusion.
"This part of the content comes from the internal research of 'Twilight Hermits Society'. Of course, now I am convinced that it was deliberately revealed by Adam," Roselle smiled at his daughter and said, not shying away from this name that ordinary people would not dare to mention. "They believe that human nature is divided into two layers. The first layer is the most basic needs and instincts of living beings. They are greedy and self-interested, indifferent to others, have no morality as recognized by ordinary people, and are desperate for survival."
"Even 'Original Creator' and the Great Existences he gave birth to and split have these instincts, let alone the born Mythical Creatures. If they didn't even have these basic self-awareness and instincts, they would have become crazy and chaotic long ago, controlled and occupied by the divinity in Beyonder Characteristics, resurrecting those Great Existences in the body.
"The Mythical Creature that most people come into contact with expresses the first level of human nature, so they regard it as 'divinity'. This is the vague cognitive expression of ordinary people. If True Gods stay in the position of Sequence 0 long enough and watch the anchors corresponding to their emotions and experiences disappear one by one under the wash of time, human nature will also degrade to this level.
"In such a state, it is difficult to resist the erosion of 'Oldest One' and other Great Existence's Mental Imprint. In this sense, it is both 'humanity' and 'divineness' that we must fight against."
Because most of the Angel and Mythical Creature that high-ranking Beyonder like us are fighting against show the degraded first level of human nature, so we would consider this state to be "divine"? Even God cannot get rid of the lowest instinct of creatures. Instead, it will slip in this direction due to the gradual erosion of human nature and anchor... Angel thought of the Angel he had seen and the different but partially overlapping personalities of Mythical Creature, and said thoughtfully:
"This is the level where 'Hidden Sage' is. His begging for mercy is just a survival instinct. He doesn't think it is something dishonorable, because he doesn't have this concept born in the human race at all?"
"Yes, Hidden Sage was born from the activated Uniqueness. It has no real growth and life experience, and does not possess a higher level of humanity." Roselle nodded slightly, "And some other born Mythical Creature, such as Amon and Medici, because they live in human society and are affected by their own growth and anchors, they will have what Twilight Hermits Society considers to be the second level of humanity."
"That is human nature in a broad sense. It has good sides such as love, courage, and sacrifice, and it also has bad sides such as hatred, cunning, and deception. But whether it is good or bad, it is strong enough to better fight against divinity.
"In addition to these Mythical Creature, which are more similar to humans, God will also show the image of God loving the world because of its own 'positioning' of faith anchor. This is an effective positive cycle that can help them achieve a balance between humanity and divinity, and fight against the inevitable madness that will eventually come."
Two levels of "human nature", three different understandings of "divinity", and some of them overlap... Angel mentally summarized what Roselle said, and had a deeper understanding of how to fight against Mental Imprint in Beyonder Characteristic.
With the improvement of Sequence, this is no longer a simple confrontation between humanity and divinity, but rather maintaining humanity between "Oldest One" and the consciousness of Great Existence that once accommodated Sefirah, Mental Imprint and the anchor that affects itself, and maintaining the second level of humanity.
Whether it is slipping towards "divinity", becoming indifferent or crazy, or being affected by the anchor and becoming the image perceived by others, it will make you no longer yourself.
The Gods of Fifth Epoch no longer use specific images, but have designed abstract holy emblems representing authority, just to avoid the negative impact of faith anchors... But perhaps they have long been affected by the images in the hearts of believers, such as Evernight Goddess... Thinking of this, Angel quickly gathered his thoughts, smiled and said:
"Unfortunately, I was not sufficiently prepared for 'Anchor'."
"But I think your humanity has been maintained very well, maybe it has something to do with the way you serve as each other's anchor, and your other identities. This is the same as acting, just like Promotion Ritual. It's more expensive than more."
Roselle looked at Angel and Klein with some interest and said.
I think you have maintained your humanity well. On the one hand, this is the special nature of "Black Emperor". On the other hand, the legacy he left to the world is too much, far more than any emperor in history. If it is still not enough, you can even translate "Roselle's Diary" and print it in various countries., add a little more humanity to Him... Angel slandered, and at the same time realized that Roselle's words did not seem to avoid Klein's identity, and seemed to be hinting to his children that he was "Fool".
She speculated that Roselle's purpose was to warn Klein not to use the identity of "Fool" to deceive her daughter, and secondly to associate the superior image of "Fool" with Gehrman, which would help Klein maintain its humanity.
While she was thinking, Bornova, who had been silent all this time, looked at her father, her indifferent expression softened a little, and she suddenly asked:
"In those years, were all your actions due to divine influence?"
Here it comes, the time for questioning... Angel quickly gathered his thoughts, his expression and movements remained unchanged, but he listened intently to the conversation between the two.
She also noticed that Klein's eyes also stayed on Roselle.
Roselle, who instantly became the focus of everyone in the room, looked at his second son who was almost "born Mythical Creature", sighed and said:
"Of course there is divine influence, but the pollution of 'Mother Goddess of Depravity' also changed me, making me involuntarily become paranoid and extreme.
"On the one hand, I was worried that pollution would affect the people around me, and subconsciously alienated you. On the other hand, I was very angry about 'God of Steam''s actions that may have good intentions but failed, and I transferred this feeling to you.
"In those years, on the one hand, I felt resentful and disappointed, but on the other hand, I couldn't help but care about you secretly, recalling your cute appearance in the first few years after you were born...
"But no matter what, it's enough to have the opportunity to see you well now."
At the end, Roselle's tone was a little low.
For the arrogant "Black Emperor", this is already an apology. It's probably impossible for him to bow his head and say sorry in person... Angel muttered, looked at Bornova, and found that the latter's expression was still a little cold, but he just nodded and said:
"I know..."
"Heh."
Klein on the side suddenly let out an exaggerated sneer, and Bernadette's blue eyes moved, as if he wanted to say something.
At this time, the second half of Bornova's unfinished sentence sounded hesitantly:
"Welcome back... Dad."
Roselle was stunned.
He slowly stood up from the illusory throne, came to his son, slowly stretched out his hand, pressed on Bornova's head, and patted it gently as if recalling a certain scene in his mind.
No matter what, the father and son can be considered reconciled... Under the sunlight outside the window, this scene in the thin white mist made Angel feel a little emotional.
It wasn't until the projection of "Black Emperor" disappeared in the room that Bornova came back to his senses. He looked around, waved his hand to take "Hermit" Uniqueness on the ground into his arms, bowed slightly to Angel and Klein, and said:
"Thank you both for your help."
Bernadette also put away the "Knowledge Emperor" characteristics that aggregated Sequence 9 to Sequence 1, took out a small playing card from his pocket as if he was ready, and handed it to Angel.
The latter took it and found that it was a picture with the seal "Card of Blasphemy" painted on the surface, an old man Roselle on crutches and holding a lantern.
The bright stars in the upper left corner of the card condensed into a line of text:
"Sequence 0: Hermit."
Like other Card of Blasphemy, it records all the Potion recipes from "Hermit" Pathway to Sequence 0 and the corresponding Promotion Ritual. It is indeed a much-needed item now that Angel has harvested a large amount of this Pathway Beyonder Characteristic and Sealed Artifact.
The behavior of Bernadette also seems to imply that "Hermit" Cattleya, who is closely related to her, is still a member of Tarot Club and will not be interfered by her.
Not only this, they also did not express their gratitude to "Fool". They seemed to have determined that Klein was the mysterious existence, or at least his clone... There was nothing they could do about it. Klein had been promoted to Sequence 1, and except for his Pathway, all the gods or Uniqueness have corresponding ones, and the identity of "Fool" is no longer a secret in the eyes of those who know these things... Angel thought, watching Bernadette and Bornova siblings turn into a bright stream of information and leave the room.
Then, she turned to Klein and expressed an idea that had been brewing in her heart.
Tingen City North Borough, Raphael Cemetery corner.
The figures of Angel and Klein were quickly outlined and landed in front of a not-so-old tombstone.
The black and white photo on the tombstone is still clear under the protection of the glass embedded in the stone. It is Townsend Neil wearing a classic black soft hat and deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.
Under the photo of Old Neil, there is an epitaph engraved:
"If you can't save her, then stay with her."
Angel reached out and took out a piece of Sealed Artifact seized from "Moses Ascetic Order" from Mirror World, smashed it completely, let the characteristics of "Mystery Pryer" slowly condense, and put it into a small mirror to seal it.
Later, Klein put the mirror into Old Neil's tomb.
As long as Angel is still "Master of the Mirror World", this characteristic will not leave the mirror and will not cause harm to Old Neil and other surrounding tombs.
After doing all this, the two stood in silence in front of the tomb for a moment, then left the cemetery on foot, leaning on each other.