Chapter 8: 8 The Unborn Yet-to-Be
In the endless darkness, only Saigou's consciousness existed here.
This darkness was the afterlife Saigou had experienced, the very place where he had received the gift from the Mother of the Evil Gods.
As Saigou willed it, a male figure materialized in the void.
He was tall, with a slender yet immensely powerful build, black hair, and dark eyes. His features bore an otherworldly beauty, appearing less human and more like something beyond.
This was Saigou's form as a humanoid. Before entering the game, in the cyberpunk reality, this was precisely how he looked.
In this darkness, Saigou felt invincible, possessing the full might of the Mother of the Evil Gods.
But this was only within this realm of darkness. Outside, Saigou's power amounted to that of one of the Six Great Demons.
"Even being one of the Six Great Demons is not a complete power."
Saigou murmured to himself.
Behind him, a towering throne appeared. Saigou sat upon this throne of the Mother of the Evil Gods, propping his chin with one hand.
With each breath, the absolute darkness and malevolence seemed to breathe with him, as if the darkness and evil themselves possessed awareness.
If it had to be described, the darkness felt like a mother's womb, and Saigou was the embryo within, still undeveloped.
Normally, the mother would provide nourishment to the fetus, allowing it to grow.
But sadly, the Mother of the Evil Gods had passed away, and Saigou, growing within her, had lost the ability to draw nourishment.
In essence, Saigou existed within this dark womb. Currently, he was theoretically an unborn entity.
Only by drawing enough nourishment to fully shape himself could he break through the darkness and truly be born into the world.
Without nourishment, he would not grow, his power would stagnate, losing all potential.
Thus, finding a way to obtain nourishment for his growth was Saigou's most pressing concern.
Unfortunately, Saigou did not know how to acquire the nourishment necessary for his growth; it was certainly not protein or carbohydrates.
Newborns instinctively seek their mother's milk.
Previously, Saigou had instinctively used the power of this darkness to release 'invitations' into the endless world.
Saigou did not know what these invitations were for, but since he instinctively performed these actions, they were likely related to the nourishment he needed.
From the moment he began sending out these invitations, Saigou had been anticipating their results.
However, years had passed without any response to those invitations, and he had received no nourishment.
This led Saigou to question whether he had been mistaken, whether the invitations he had instinctively sent were unrelated to the nourishment he required for growth.
To that end, Saigou had exhausted his wisdom and conducted various experiments, yet he still found no results or direction for growth.
"Enough, I shouldn't rush. I am, after all, a complete demon, theoretically without a lifespan. I will find what I need in time."
"...Moreover, even as the aging demon, my incomplete power is sufficient to face most crises."
Saigou comforted himself, striving to maintain a balanced mindset.
He flipped his wrist, and the Avestā appeared in his hand.
This simulacrum of the Zoroastrian cosmology, not only possessed unimaginable power, but its inscriptions also recorded the mythological stories of Zoroastrianism.
In Zoroastrian creation mythology, the story spans twelve thousand years and is divided into four periods of three thousand years each.
And this simulacrum, too, was sealed. For now, Saigou could only wield the power of the first three thousand years.
"In the first three thousand years, the universe contained only light and darkness."
"...In the light dwelled the one true god, the god of goodness; in the darkness resided all evil, the Mother of Evil!"
Saigou's voice, deep and authoritative, recited the contents of the Avestā.
The Avestā, translating to 'knowledge,' was where Saigou had first learned of the Mother of the Evil Gods and the nature of the gift he had received from her.
It was here that Saigou also came to understand everything related to the Mother of the Evil Gods, including the six demons she had created:
A demon with wings that span the heavens, three heads and six eyes, wielding a thousand types of sorcery;
A being representing the cosmic heat death, adhering to the second law of thermodynamics, causing the collapse of order into chaos;
A legendary spirit of destruction, said to be the embodiment of the Mother of the Evil Gods, annihilating all that exists;
And the current form of Saigou, a spirit of aging, one of the ten death forms, and the most powerful of them all.
These were all aspects of the power that had been divided by the Mother of the Evil Gods.
Even if just one of these forms were fully realized, achieving the 'Omnipotent Domain' and tearing through the stars would be a mere formality!
However, Saigou's other demonic forms remained sealed, and even the domain of aging had not reached the level of 'Omnipotence.'
If one were to evaluate Saigou's current state, it would undoubtedly be—promising for the future!
"How long must I wait for that future?" Saigou muttered to himself. Shaking his head, he rose from the towering throne, "...Never mind. I should return to the Great Tomb of Nazarick for now."
"...At least with my current power, self-preservation should be manageable for the time being."
With a thought, the darkness receded, and Saigou found himself back in his own chamber within the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
...
On the continent of Teyvat, atop a high mountain, a man draped in a white robe with a hood obscuring his face stood with his head held high.
Beneath his hood, a neatly tied single ponytail fluttered in the mountain breeze, adding an air of elegance to his demeanor.
In his hand, the man held a pitch-black piece of paper. He remained silent, his gaze unwavering and intense, as if lost in deep contemplation.
Beside him, a colossal dragon, composed entirely of pure rock elements, regarded the man's black paper with its downward-facing eyes. The dragon, resembling a giant tortoise with two horns on its head, stood imposingly on the mountaintop, like an ancient monolith.
"Morax, this object is dangerous."
The voice of the rock dragon rumbled like terrifying thunder. Seeing that the man's focus was entirely on the black paper, the dragon could not help but offer a warning.
The man, known as Morax, snapped back to attention.
He nodded slightly, his voice as profound and unyielding as ancient stone, and said:
"...By common reason, it is indeed dangerous. It is something that does not belong to this world."