"What a irony!" Ichibe'e let out a long sigh.
As he spoke, he looked at the Soul King ahead: "When the Soul King willingly allowed himself to be reduced to this state back then, did he ever imagine that later generations would be used as fuel one after another?"
"Of course, perhaps I'm just sighing in vain. Maybe the Soul King already foresaw this future, and this is his revenge on us, since he didn't want to be the Soul King forever either!"
"But it's more likely that the Soul King, in his compassion, didn't want countless generations to be used as fuel, so he chose to be the first himself, giving us time to grow!"
"This is truly... ah!" Ichibe'e sighed again.
Sora could clearly sense his helplessness.
However, hearing Ichibe'e's words, Sora understood.
Ichibe'e was somewhat dissatisfied with the situation of using Soul King after Soul King as fuel, with this devouring world, and he wanted to change it.
And now that he was pouring all of this out to him, could it be that he wanted him to come up with a solution?
Sure enough, the next moment, Ichibe'e looked at Sora: "So, my lord, regarding the current state of our world, I wonder if you..."
"Actually, I think the Soul King definitely knew about this problem, but he chose to be ambushed by the Tsunayashiro Clan. Perhaps he left these answers as a test for us later generations!"
"It's just that we, the later generations… that is, us dullards haven't been able to figure it out anyway!"
Ichibe'e looked at Sora expectantly: "I wonder if you, my lord..."
"Heh!" Sora smiled: "You want me to provide a solution? Well, I actually do have one!"
To Ichibe'e's delighted surprise, Sora looked at the Soul King's torso ahead.
"Since the Soul King reduced to a torso will dissipate, then why not have a living Soul King? Wouldn't that solve it?" Sora said.
"What do you mean!!?" Hearing Sora's words, Ichibe'e was very confused.
"Simple. It means having a new Soul King!" Sora explained.
"A new Soul King!" Ichibe'e's face contorted.
Frankly, he was unwilling to accept such a thing, because no one wanted a Soul King lording over them.
The best Soul King was the current one, reduced to a torso. That was Ichibe'e's understanding.
Seeing Ichibe'e, Sora smiled: "See? You yourselves are unwilling!"
"So, it's still that problem. The problem of power!"
Sora patted Ichibe'e's shoulder: "You said a lot just now, even rambled a bit, but I actually think the Soul King didn't think that much!"
"Let me put it this way!" Sora held up one finger: "First, the Soul King indeed knew about the Tsunayashiro Clan's ambush!"
"Second, he agreed to it, but that doesn't mean he was willing!"
"This world was created by the Soul King. He certainly had feelings for it! He certainly wanted the world to continue operating for a long time."
"He would find ways to address the world's problems and weaknesses!"
Sora continued: "But the Tsunayashiro Clan's action was a form of coercion!"
"It meant: I've decided to do this. Do you agree or not? If you disagree, then the internal conflict among everyone who had just arrived in this world would cause severe damage to it!"
"So the Soul King being ambushed was equivalent to him agreeing to Tsunayashiro's idea!"
"And here we circle back. His agreement was not entirely voluntary!"
"Why? Because the Soul King was omniscient and omnipotent, but you and I both know there's no such thing as absolute omniscience and omnipotence in this world! At least, you need to respect the concept of time!"
"So, the Soul King also didn't know how to make the world operate permanently, and Tsunayashiro's ambush undoubtedly provided him with an answer!"
"He didn't know what the best approach was, but if it was done this way, it probably wouldn't cause major problems!!"
"Understand?" Sora looked at Ichibe'e: "Within the limit of the Soul King's lifespan, or within the limits of what he could foresee, doing this was acceptable!"
"This was also an open scheme by the Tsunayashiro Clan. You had to agree. Once you agreed and the Soul King was killed, the Tsunayashiro Clan became the head of the Five Great Noble Families!"
"So, the Tsunayashiro Clan's motives were dark. They took advantage of the great Soul King!"
"Of course, if they thought the Soul King could be so easily controlled, they were wrong! He also had a contingency plan!"
Having said this, Sora smiled.
"Ah, the Soul King also has a contingency plan!!?" Hearing Sora's words, Ichibe'e was dumbfounded.
'The Soul King had a contingency plan? Why had we never heard of such a thing?'
"What is it!!?" Ichibe'e asked urgently.
And Sora didn't keep him waiting long. He said: "The Soul King's contingency plan is the Soul King himself!"