But even the smallest bit of humanity is still humanity. How could a soul that has seen beautiful things willingly become an executioner again? Therefore, on the eve of the Pale Disaster's eruption, when Death ordered his most satisfactory offspring to be the executor of the Pale Disaster, the silent Death Consul chose to rebel against his father for the first time.
It was a tragic rebellion, and also a failed one. The Sequence 2 Feathered Serpent was like a newborn cub in front of Death, and the Death Consul was nearly killed.
"…Perhaps I shouldn't have allowed you to read those stories. It seems those stories have given you something you shouldn't have."
On the verge of death, Azik heard Death's cold voice. At that moment, he was a bit confused about whether the one dying was himself or the Death Consul in the dream, or perhaps there was no difference. But he and the Death Consul almost simultaneously retorted: "No, emotions are never something that shouldn't be had. It is those who abandon humanity that will be abandoned by this world."
In the dream, the dying Feathered Serpent raised its eyes, looking up at its father who was holding it with one hand.
Outside the dream, Azik's expression was firm and gentle, looking directly at the culprit who had made his soul incomplete and caused him to reincarnate for thousands of years.
"Father, why don't you look at yourself? How insane, how ridiculous. Is this uncontrollable monster what you got in exchange for abandoning your humanity?"
At that moment, Death's expression became extremely terrifying.
Yet Azik heard laughter, his laughter, the Death Consul's laughter.
The Feathered Serpent had never laughed so happily since birth, even though he was well aware that such laughter might bring irreparable death.
The Death Consul thought, perhaps he should endure, endure until everything ends, until the future he had seen arrives.
But, but!
He had already seen that beautiful humanity, he could no longer endure. He couldn't, like in the history he knew, become a cold and ruthless executioner, nor could he refrain from mocking the man before him who was destined to fail.
Would it end like this?
Would he meet death?
Azik didn't know, but at that moment, he couldn't help but think about what death really was. It wasn't that he hadn't died before; death was not uncommon for those on the Death Pathway, but death brought by Death himself would probably be different from all the previous deaths.
But the Death Consul ultimately survived.
It wasn't because of mercy, nor because of emotion, but because his father no longer had the energy to create another suitable resurrection vessel. Having accommodated the Uniqueness of the Red Priest, Death had no spare capacity at this critical moment to craft another perfect vessel as before.
So Azik survived, but this was not a happy ending; rather, it was the beginning of a nightmare.
"Did you really think you could rebel against me? Azik, my child, my vessel, it seems that the freedom I gave you has led you to some delusions, making you forget that you never belonged to yourself."
In the dream, the Death Consul heard Death say this to him, and the following days became muddled. Only occasionally would the Death Consul wake up, astonished to find himself sitting on a Throne of Bones, with the bones of countless beings prostrating before him.
Outside the dream, Azik powerlessly watched as the Feathered Serpent's expression turned cold, becoming exceedingly similar to Death's. The little humanity he had seemed to be erased from him, and the divine puppet that had finally gained a bit of self once again became a hollow shell... no, it was even worse than a hollow shell; it was a puppet filled with impurities that did not belong to the Death Consul.
The puppet was obedient and compliant, perfectly meeting Death's expectations. Only in very rare moments would the humanity belonging to the Death Consul struggle to surface, opening its eyes in despair.
This was the power of Death; he had always been influencing the Death Consul constantly. Previously, this influence was suppressed by the mask and by the awakened self of the Death Consul. But now, under Death's deliberate control, all obstacles were cleared, and the Death Consul once again became an extension of Death's will.
Perhaps I was wrong; perhaps I shouldn't have let the divine puppet possess emotions prematurely… Azik thought bitterly, even though he didn't know where this thought came from.
But in a daze, Azik would have another thought, which told him... no, he never regretted it.
Even if it came at a tragic cost, the divine puppet would never regret having humanity.
I absolutely do not regret having humanity!
At a certain moment, Azik thought this way.
The only thing worth celebrating was probably that this dark period did not last too long. Although for ordinary people, it was still a long time, enough for an infant to grow up, become an adult, and finish university, for mythical creatures, it was still considered short.
Death ultimately, as in the history Azik knew, was defeated by the alliance of the gods and met his demise.
As for the Death Consul, even though before Death's fall, his soul was split in two by Death, he nonetheless gained the freedom he had longed for.
The remaining time was a millennium-long cycle of reincarnation, a life of repeatedly forgetting the past and then remembering it again. The Death Consul sank into this cycle; sometimes, he was a child returning from the battlefield, slowly recounting his experiences on the battlefield under the concerned gazes of his parents.
Sometimes, he was a knight protecting a 'princess.' Although the princess wasn't quite a princess, and fortunately, the knight wasn't a true knight either, so in that not-so-long but incredibly beautiful time, the princess and the knight fell in love and gave birth to their child.
That was the first time the Death Consul became a father. Looking at the infant in swaddling clothes, with wrinkled skin like a red-skinned monkey, Azik felt no disgust at all, only a sense of daze.
This was his child.
So he could also have a child.
At that instant, the Death Consul suddenly understood some stories he had previously been unable to comprehend. He understood the meaning behind the gazes of the parents when, long ago, he had worn that mask, assumed another's identity, and returned to their side.
In the time that followed, the Death Consul witnessed his child's growth. It wasn't an entirely wonderful experience; there were some small troubles, but it was something he cherished immensely.
But fate probably never favored the Feathered Serpent. The aftereffects of having his soul split in two caused Azik to fall into a long slumber upon recovering his past memories. When the Death Consul opened his eyes again, a long time had passed.
And Azik, having lost all his memories, lived his life unknowingly with a new identity. He didn't know what he had experienced in the past, nor what he had lost, until one moment, until he saw a familiar tombstone. Only then did the Death Consul realize that his child had long since died, and he hadn't even seen him one last time.
***
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