Verse 50: "The Ego of a New God"

I was vaguely aware of someone calling me into the room behind me. My footsteps were slow and heavy as I walked into the room of the archwizard’s council. Once I was inside, the door shut behind me.
          “Where’s that Vivian girl?” Asked Griffith quickly.
          I felt empty inside.
          “Gone.”
          “Gone? Where could she have gone? Do you mean she left the building?” Griffith asked, sounding upset.
          I didn’t respond.
          “Confound it!” Griffith exclaimed as he turned to face the rest of the archwizards in the room. “The girl is gone.”
          Nine of the other archwizards groaned in disappointment. The last one smiled smugly.
          “I told you! Did I not say that he would come in alone?”
          “Yes, Justine, we all heard you. Repeatedly.”
          The young female archwizard folded her hands together and rested her chin on top of them.
          “So, who would like to doubt my clairvoyance magic now, hmm?” She eyed the rest of the archwizards with a smirk. The rest of them all brushed her off and sighed.
          “Bother.” Griffith crossed his arms and looked at Justine. “Wasn’t there something else to your–”
          “As a matter of fact, there was! Thank you so much for reminding me Griffith! You are such a gentleman.”
          Griffith rolled his eyes. The rest of the archwizards watched as Justine stood up from her seat at the large wooden table. She was wearing a flamboyant robe that was white with swirling pink and orange accents on it. She walked over to me and smiled once she was within arm’s reach.
          “My vision, Mr. Shinko Inori, did not simply have you coming before us; no, it told me that you would have a question for us! A request that only we could fulfill!”
          “Please tell me you don’t.” Griffith muttered.
          Justine looked at him angrily. 
          I didn’t respond. 
          I looked out over the small crowd of powerful wizards. The table they were sitting at was piled high with books and strange objects. Most of the archwizards were wearing robes, with the occasional cape or militaristic uniform as well. There were a lot of humans, with three elves and one faunid.
          “Eh, excuse me Shinko? What is your question?” Justine prodded again.
          “My question is…” I said slowly.
          Griffith groaned in disappointment. Justine held up a finger to shush him.
          Hesitation tried to stop me as I thought about what I'd done to Vivian, Niels, and Elisa.
          “My question is…” I said again.
          Griffith raised an eyebrow. Justine kept smiling, though it looked like she was struggling.
          My mind began to race as I stood in front of the council of archwizards. 
          Either God didn’t exist, or he did. 
          If he didn’t, then I had been right all along; the only meaning life had was the meaning we gave to it. If he did, then I was still right; since he obviously needed to keep us around, that meant that he was subject to humanity’s whims.
          Either way, God or no God, humanity was still on top. It made sense logically. Vivian didn’t want to understand it, but it was clearly the only solution that made sense. With humanity on top, the only limits to what we could accomplish were our imagination. If we could find a way to connect both worlds, we would see power like never before; magic and technology, combining to rid the world of all evils. 
          It all came down to what I did. It was my duty to return home. It was on me to bring the news of this other world to our own, to spread the good news that God either didn’t exist or that he could be conquered. 
          As a great priest, my duty was to spread the word of God. 
          I smiled weakly as my stomach churned and my head buzzed.
          Humanity was God. 
          I prayed to God, asking to be sent home.
          “My question is: can you send me to another world?” I said with a maniacal smile as I looked out over the council.
          The archwizards nervously began talking amongst themselves. Justine smiled at Griffith. He responded by looking away and tapping his foot. After a minute of deliberation, an old human wizard stood up.
          “Shinko Inori, what you are asking us sounds like the request of a madman. Claims of ‘another world’ are relegated to the study of the church and King Alexander the First’s last few weeks of life.” The old wizard had a magnificent mustache, and he twirled it around his left pointer finger as he spoke. “But, as luck would have it, Rikkert has been studying those claims of the old king and the church for several months now.”
          The singular faunid wizard in the room stood up with a smile. He had serpentine eyes and a forked tongue, and there were a few patches of skin on his arms that had scales.
          “Yeth.” He said calmly. “I’ve been thtudying the idea of another world for quite a while. I’ve come up with a ritual that, I believe, would work. However…” He glared at the other wizards in the room.
          Griffith cleared his throat, then spoke up while looking at me.
          “We do not want to perform this spell because it requires someone to have a clear vision in their mind of that ‘other world;’ and not merely an idea of what that world should look like. No; it requires that someone know what that world is like.”
          Rikkert exhaled through his nose.
          “I’ve been telling you all that we could try to modify the memory of a man in order to give him the required knowledge–”
          “Oh shut your trap Rikkert! You know as well as I do that spells which affect the mind are illegal and dangerous! Furthermore, there’s no proof that modified memories would fulfill the requirements of ‘knowing’ about the other world anyway!” Interjected another older man wearing what looked like a militaristic uniform.
          I watched in silence as one by one, the archwizards began to argue about the ethics of using mind-altering magic for the expansion of magical knowledge. There were even a few objections raised to the entire idea of traveling to another world, saying it was completely insane.
          It was amusing. I clapped my hands and walked into the center of the room. Slowly, each of the archwizards stopped arguing and looked at me as I took center stage.
          “Consider me the answer to your prayers.” I said condescendingly as they turned to me.
          Some of the archwizards exchanged concerned glances, and one of them even muttered something about my sanity under his breath, but I kept talking.
          “Because I am from another world.” I prayed that this would work and smiled eagerly, and as I did, I felt power flow through me. The archwizards fell silent. “I was sent to Firma to be the answer to your prophecy, Justine.” I looked at her and smiled, then turned towards Rikkert. “I would not need any magic other than your ritual to return home, since I already possess definite knowledge of the ‘other world.’"
          Rikkert smiled and shot a smug look at the militaristic archwizard. 
          Griffith stepped forward.
          “Hold on a moment; why should we believe you? You claim to be a priest; how long have you been in our world?” He crossed his arms. “For all we know, you’re simply insane.” He muttered something about how plausible it seemed for that to be true.
          I breathed deeply and stared at Griffith with sincere and apologetic eyes as I spoke gently.
          “Ah, Griffith, you don’t understand; I claimed to be a priest. And now, I suppose, I am.”
          Griffith opened his mouth to speak again, but Justine shoved him out of the way.
          “Wait a minute! How did you know to come find us?” She asked sharply.
          I wagged my finger at her.
          “God told me to come here.” That much was true; I had known to seek out the most powerful wizards in the world, and I went after them. 
          She tilted her head and looked like she wanted to ask another question, but I heard a sharp voice call out from behind me. I turned around to see the same mustached wizard from before making eye contact with me.
          “God has been absent from the world of magic since its conception.” He said sternly. “Why would he send you to find us?”
          “In order to further his will.” I said calmly.
          The mustached wizard looked thoughtful for a few moments. Griffith spoke up again.
          “What if we refused to perform Rikkert’s ritual?” He said boldly. “What would become of God’s plan then?”
          I twitched slightly as he asked that question. God wouldn’t go against himself; humanity would work together to advance itself. There was no way that these wizards wouldn’t aid me.
          “God would simply use another means to fulfill his plan. I am merely the messenger and the offering for his wondrous plan.”
          The wizards gathered together and murmured among themselves.
          “How long have you been in our world, Shinko Inori?” Asked Griffith as he turned back to me.
          “About ten days.” I replied calmly.
          He nodded and turned back to the other archwizards. They spoke for a while longer. Some of them raised objections about performing such a powerful spell in Mandl’s country; others objected that listening to me speak made them uneasy, as if I were a devil in disguise.
          What they said didn’t matter. I’d prayed to God, and it was one hundred percent certain that God's will would be done; and I wanted to go home. 
          Griffith turned around again.
          “You must understand that this spell has never been performed before. If something goes awry, it may be impossible for us to reverse any negative side-effects you suffer. Furthermore, if it succeeds, you may never be able to return to our world, barring another act of 'God.'” He said sarcastically. “Do you have any questions?”
          I shook my head. Griffith nodded at Rikkert.
          “Any of you who feel uncomfortable with what we are about to do, you may thpeak now or leave.” Rikkert said forcefully as he grabbed one of the many spellbooks off the table and began flipping through it.
          The archwizard wearing the military uniform stood up sharply, grabbed the spellbooks that were at his spot on the table, and marched out of the room. He was followed by another archwizard; a female elf who was wearing simple green robes; she waved her arms and made her spellbooks float in the air in a trail behind her as she left. Before Griffith closed the door behind them, Justine stood up, looking uneasy.
          “I, er…” She looked at the other eight archwizards and swallowed nervously. “Goodbye.” She left as fast as she could, leaving her spellbooks behind.
          Once she left, Griffith closed the door and locked it. He turned to look at the seven archwizards still in the room with him. His face was one of grim determination.
          “We are all accomplices in what is about to happen. Rikkert; what must we do?”

Edited on 09/19/25