Chapter 176: Might It Be Helpful? (1)
Parallel Dimension.
These words refer to the true nature of this world.
It means that besides this world I currently live in, countless worlds exist, each containing countless possibilities. Worlds with the same fundamental laws, but different ways of life.
No matter how much I thought about it, it was a concept I couldn’t grasp, but thankfully, Namia had prepared an explanation for someone like me.
“If I hadn’t become the High Priest of Lynin, I would probably be working as an ordinary priest, handling miscellaneous tasks at the temple. This is a kind of ‘possibility,’ and another world where that possibility is realized could exist. In other words, there could be a world where Benamijan is not the High Priest of Lynin, but an ordinary priest. Parallel dimensions refer to these worlds where all possible possibilities are realized. Their number is infinite, and therefore, infinite possibilities are realized.”
“Infinite possibilities? If I understand what Namia is saying, does that mean there’s a separate world where I exist, without having trained in swordsmanship and not being the master of the Black New Moon? In that world, I might not have even met Risel?”
“That is correct.”
Levidian’s eyes widened, and she fell into deep thought. Just as she understood, I could also understand. Countless possibilities materialized, a world similar to this one, but different………
It wasn’t such a difficult concept.
People always think:
What if I had done this? What if he had said that? What if we hadn’t done that? And so on.
Those countless ‘what ifs’ are things that one wouldn’t do. However, parallel dimensions are worlds where those ‘what ifs’ actually happened. They are other ‘possibilities’ of worlds where the subsequent developments resulting from those ‘what ifs’ continue.
Simply put, it’s like a picture.
Imagine countless identical pictures stacked on top of each other, and then each one is modified differently. Then each picture becomes similar in many ways, but different in certain areas.
I suddenly remembered Lucy’s words.
“What is multi-spacetime?”
“It’s a similar concept to parallel dimensions. If parallel dimensions refer to the entirety of this universe’s form or each individual dimension, multi-spacetime refers to each individual strand of those parallel dimensions. In other words, this world where we are currently conversing, or a world where this conversation didn’t take place, are all part of multi-spacetime. There’s also another term, parallel spacetime (竝列時空), but this is used to refer to a group of multi-spacetime within parallel dimensions.”
The Ol Keres Pendens school is a school that studies space.
Space can be seen as simply empty air, but from a more macroscopic perspective, parallel dimensions can be considered a secret of space.
Then……… does that mean Lucy already knew about this?
“Some mages must have known. And priests also know about the nature of the world. Those who know the genesis of this world and the secrets of time are extremely few, but some do know.”
“Uh, then did you know too, Noona?”
“Yes. I’ve known for a long time. To be precise……… right before I became the High Priest.”
Her eyes seemed to cloud over for a moment.
If it was before she became the High Priest, it refers to the time when the priests of Lynin were collectively killed or driven mad by the poison released by Artshever.
She said that the unbearable whispers conveyed the providence of God, the karma of humanity, and the secrets of the beginning. She said that everyone except her went mad because they couldn’t endure it, and only she survived.
To put it another way:
She had glimpsed the essence of the world, something that couldn’t be reached even with countless hours of dedication.
Namia noticed my gaze and lowered her head slightly. Only then did I realize anew. The young High Priest before me is the only one who knows the deepest secrets of the world!
“I’ll continue the story. A little while ago, Miss Hind mentioned the origin of parallel dimensions. This goes back to the origin of parallel dimensions. In fact, this world wasn’t originally a world that began from parallel dimensions.”
Originally, the world started as a single spacetime. Even in the eyes of the gods who created this world, it must have seemed quite good.
However, as the form of the world became fixed, the power that sustained their existence, in other words, the faith of intelligent beings and the awe of nature, became limited.
The gods wanted to increase their power.
This, unlike greed or desire, might have been a more transcendental yearning, or perhaps the mission given to them was the notion of ‘do not stagnate.’
The way for a god to increase their power is simple. Just create their own followers and receive their faith. The more followers a god has, the more they can solidify the laws they govern and elevate their divinity.
However, since the number of followers is limited, they attempted to expand the concept of the world.
“From one to two. From two to four. From four to eight. This is how the ‘One and Only,’ which is beyond the reach of everything in this world, even gods, created this world. Expanding and systematizing through infinite division. From the One and Only, which existed as nothing but existence, came light and darkness, and light and darkness met with heaviness and lightness to create the sky and earth, water, and fire, and as the sky, earth, water, and fire settled into place, came the wind, mountains, thunder, and ponds. This method was directly applied to the world. They chose ‘possibility’ as the condition for division. It’s the gift that time gave them.”
Like copying a picture, the world was copied from a certain point, and two worlds became four, four worlds became eight, and then divided infinitely.
The power that the gods received grew, and they became the omnipotent beings they are today.
Aila, who had been nodding along to Namia’s explanation, added in the brief pause.
“In a past that is beyond imagination, the gods weren’t as omnipotent as they are now. They were only granted the power of creation. Of course, that alone can be called omnipotent, but the gods of that time could also die. The laws of this world are actually simple. With the emergence of the concept of time, all things must go through the three stages of birth-life-death. Only the One and Only is above this law. With the emergence of parallel dimensions, the gods were able to solidify the power of ‘maintenance,’ the middle stage of life.”
“Namia, please continue.”
“Yes. Let’s return to the story of the origin. Even though there are infinite parallel dimensions, a tree without roots cannot exist, and a child cannot be born without parents. Even the gods are creations created under the will of the One and Only. The same goes for parallel dimensions. If we consider it a tree, it has roots and a trunk; if we consider it a person, it has parents. That is the original flow [流], the origin. It is the fundamental world that forms the basis of all parallel dimensions. All parallel dimensions are born from that one world.”
Namia broke off a nearby branch and started drawing on the dirt floor.
First, she drew a thick line. Then, she drew lines extending diagonally upwards or downwards from that line, and then drew them in the same direction as the initial line.
It looked like a side view of branches sprouting from a tree trunk, each extending in the same direction as the trunk.
“This is a simplified diagram of the development of parallel dimensions. The thick line in the middle is the origin of parallel dimensions, and the side branches are the strands of parallel dimensions that have arisen from it. And, including the origin, all parallel dimensions cannot go against the flow of time.”
Namia extended the thick line further. And she pulled in some of the side branches that were following. Some lines overtook the thick line, some extended just a little, and some extended similarly to the thick line.
“The flow of time is different for each parallel dimension. Parallel dimensions that are ahead have a significantly faster flow of time. The lifespan of the world also becomes shorter accordingly. In the case of parallel dimensions, there are cases where relative time differs. Even if one year passes here, ten years, or even a hundred years, or just a month or a day could have passed in another parallel dimension.”
She erased a few of the lines as she spoke.
“There are also parallel dimensions that perish after their lifespan is over………”
She drew a few more side branches from the thick line.
“And there are parallel dimensions that are just beginning to divide.”
This is the true nature of the world.
Countless dimensions branch out in this way, but the origin is only one. It’s like drawing countless tributaries from a thick river. Just like the Sair River………
Thanks to Namia’s drawing, it seemed that not only I, but Joey and Levidian also understood. They were all nodding in admiration at the newly discovered secrets of the world.
Namia said,
“The reason I went to the Grand Temple this time was to hear the news about these parallel dimensions. To be precise, about the current origin of the parallel dimensions.”
“The current origin? Does the origin change?”
“Of course it changes. Because if the origin is destroyed, the entire universe will be annihilated. So the origin of parallel dimensions keeps changing. It’s the law that guarantees the ultimate perpetuity of this world.”
Aila explained instead of Namia and placed her hands on her hips. She spoke confidently.
“And the current origin of the parallel dimensions is right here. This multi-spacetime. Right, Namia?”
“That’s right. And the news I heard was God’s word that no more parallel dimensions would emerge from this multi-spacetime. The flow of the universe has stopped. Only the time of the origin continues to flow like this.”
Namia extended the thick line further. And the thick line, which had been excitedly drawing side branches until just a moment ago, no longer produced anything.
I’m perplexed because I can’t quite grasp how big of a deal this is. It means that the universal laws are not working, but since it’s not visible, it doesn’t feel real.
Aila looked at me intently and then smiled.
“Risel, think of it this way. You wake up one morning and the sun doesn’t rise, or it rises from the south.”
“That’s absurd.”
“The entire parallel dimension is in that situation.”
“That’s an easy-to-understand explanation.”
Two people nodded in agreement. Personally, I really like this side of Aila.
“Noona, then why did this happen?”
“Artshever Le Setrife………”
“That damn clown bastard.”
Namia and Aila spoke as if they had coordinated their words. The moment I heard that name, an instinctive aversion surged up within me.
So, the root cause of everything is……… Artshever?
Aila looked at me for a moment and then spoke in a low voice.
“Risel, Referndi relayed that bastard’s words before, right? Who shot the arrow that led to your death? Can you guess?”
“Ah, I can guess. It must have been him.”
The area around my chest where the arrow had pierced throbbed.
There is a law to Reset. Those killed by Artshever were revived at the origin of the parallel dimensions. I, too, was not exempt from this law.
In other words, I didn’t die and come back to life. Strictly speaking, it’s true that I died, but it means that I moved from a branch of the parallel dimension to the origin.
It’s not that I traveled back in time, but that I crossed between parallel dimensions.
Aila said,
“I don’t know exactly how Artshever brought those he killed to this place. Perhaps he transferred their souls. Anyway, because of that, this world can no longer create new parallel dimensions.”
“Why?”
“The exit for possibilities to branch out has been blocked. Because those who know the possibilities that can emerge from this dimension have gathered. Above all, because that bastard is here, parallel dimensions are no longer being created.”
“Why is that?”
“There are laws governing the creation of parallel dimensions. Among them, there is also a covenant to protect the unique existence within a parallel dimension. This is because the beings that correspond to the eyes or hands of God, who manage the infinitely unfolding parallel dimensions while transcending them, cannot be multiplied. Unique beings throughout all worlds exist only in the singular.”
I nodded at Namia’s explanation. Then, a certain fact suddenly occurred to me.
“Unique beings throughout all worlds……… Wait, then what about Brandiego? Isn’t a dragon a unique being in all worlds? Then this dimension can’t be the origin, can it?”
“The case of dragons is different. They are the only ones within a parallel dimension, but they are linked to their counterparts in other parallel dimensions. And they possess a noble ego that can accept that fact and not go mad. They are unique in every parallel dimension, but they exist everywhere. That’s how they live.”
Ah, I see. So that’s why Grandmother knew about Brandiego, and Brandiego knew beforehand that I had died and come back to life.
They are connected to their other selves in parallel dimensions and can live while accepting that fact. That’s why they wouldn’t mind if a new self emerged in a new parallel dimension.
I thought about that situation for a moment, then shook my head. No matter how much I think about it, it’s a situation I can’t understand with my mind. I have no choice but to think that dragons are just that kind of race.
Now, let’s get back to the story.
“Then what about Artshever?”
“He is a unique being within the parallel dimension in the truest sense. In the same sense, so are you. And so is Miss Hind here. But the biggest cause would be Artshever. Because he is here, new parallel dimensions are no longer being created. No matter how much humans do.”
“Humans?”
“Yes. Because humans are the ones who cause the parallel dimensions to divide. Among all things in the world, they are the ones who can walk the earth, think, and fight amongst themselves with desires beyond instinct. Since they are the creatures who can offer faith to the gods, it must have been deemed desirable for parallel dimensions to be created from the possibilities arising from their actions.”
Humans become the reference point for parallel dimensions.
It certainly seems true. Animals adapt to nature and don’t change much unless nature changes. But humans can change nature.
Perhaps the role of humans is to provide the possibility of the world, in other words, the basis for change.
But Artshever, who stops even that role………
“What the hell is Artshever doing?”
Namia lowered her eyes for a moment and then looked at Aila.
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