Despair, fear, hatred, anger, resentment, frenzy, sadness, confusion, tyranny.
Countless negative emotions were brewing within the city, all because of the news Jeanne brought: a demon army even more terrifying than the Wyvern legion was about to invade.
Normally, in such a situation, even the most brilliant general's command would be futile because people could see no hope. What awaited them was a pitch-black hell without a single ray of light.
But to Gilles de Rais's surprise, the residents and soldiers in the city did not break out into large-scale riots or mutinies, nor did any doomsday cultists try to drag everyone down with them.
While the vast majority were still very uneasy, they actually managed to remain rational. In this situation, where all hope was lost and only despair remained, the surviving humans could still keep their sanity.
This sounded even more far-fetched than a science fiction novel.
In reality, the reason this was happening was entirely because a gray-haired man in the city, wearing a mask with a gaping bloody mouth, was devouring all the negative emotions.
"Without me, this single piece of news would have been enough to crush this last city. Internal strife alone would have been overwhelming."
Caelus spoke to himself, though he also tasted many bizarre flavors from these malicious thoughts. Some tasted like insanely spicy hotpot base, while others were like fatty meat soaked in oil, and the strangest seemed to be the flavor of century eggs.
As Caelus sampled these strange flavors, he found that as long as it was an extreme negative emotion, the taste would be particularly intense, either extremely spicy, extremely sour, or extremely salty. Even the flavor of fear far exceeded the sensation of ordinary chocolate.
In order to give each flavor a concrete image, Caelus even took out the cookbook he had used to learn cooking and cross-referenced those tastes one by one.
It was precisely because Caelus was devouring the vast majority of the negative emotions here that the city had not yet collapsed.
"Jeanne, you shouldn't have revealed this news immediately. Although morale is surprisingly not completely broken, it is very low. The soldiers are already showing signs of being afraid to fight."
Back inside the headquarters, Gilles de Rais spoke with a bit of a headache.
Jeanne shook her head and explained, "It's no use. Even if we hid it, we couldn't for long. Even if they don't know now, when the demon army besieges the city, the fear and despair in their hearts will be completely triggered by those demons' twisted forms. When the truth is exposed then, the resulting fear will be even more hopeless."
"Rather than that, it is better to be clear from the start about exactly what enemy we are about to face."
"I can understand you, but it's a bit strange. According to my expectations, once this news spread, the survivors in the city would inevitably cause a disturbance. Even if they didn't riot, there would be all sorts of rumors, but why is everyone remaining quiet now?"
Gilles de Rais still couldn't figure it out. Having commanded troops in battle for so many years, he naturally knew the nature of his soldiers and those unruly civilians. How could they possibly stay quiet in the face of such grave danger?
"Perhaps it is precisely because we are approaching the end that people show a light different from before."
Jeanne spoke thus, but in fact, everyone present, including herself, felt that this statement wasn't very reliable. Rather than believing people had truly conquered their inner fear and despair on their own, it was easier to believe that God had intervened.
"Coo coo."
As Caelus was flipping through the cookbook and matching the flavors he tasted, the sound of a pigeon rang out. Then he saw a pure white pigeon, with no stray colors, land on his shoulder.
"God, instead of guiding your believers, giving them revelations, and helping them out of this predicament to defeat the demons hiding behind the scenes, what are you coming to see me for?"
Caelus looked at the white dove on his shoulder. To say this was an ordinary dove would be fooling a child, especially since he was currently concealing his existence and feeding on emotions.
On the continent of Teyvat, even an adeptus would be terrified to see him in his current state, let alone ordinary creatures.
"Given their current situation, they cannot resist the otherworldly visitor hiding in the shadows."
A male voice that sounded full of kindness and gentleness resonated in Caelus's ears.
"Are you here to bring reinforcements?"
"In your opinion, is it a good thing for gods to interfere too much with humanity?"
"In the universe where I was born, there were various gods born from philosophical Paths. Those gods truly possessed great power, causing countless people to follow in their footsteps, perhaps to gain greater strength, perhaps to seek desired benefits, or perhaps out of reverence for the spirit they embodied. But there is no denying that the people of that universe were all following in the gods' steps."
"Then do you think that is correct? Gods map out the path for people to follow, wouldn't this cause people to lose out on more possibilities?"
"I cannot judge whether this is correct. The possibilities for living beings might expand with the departure of the gods, but at the same time, whether this would cause even greater crises and wars is something no one can say for sure."
"You are right. Every universe has its own different laws and development processes. However, I myself am not willing to interfere too much in the progress of civilization. I might offer guidance, or even bestow grace, but I will absolutely not interfere excessively. Once, before mystery faded, I bestowed grace more than once. But when mystery faded and humanity had to bid farewell to the gods, I ceased bestowing grace and only offered guidance."
"All living beings must try to walk their own path. We gods can support them when they are young, point out the way for them, and clear away some of the obstacles on their road. But later on, when they begin to grow up and start thinking and moving forward independently, we no longer provide assistance, letting them learn to move forward on their own."
"The gift given to you by that god from the outer universe is telling you that all things in this world will eventually become one, and everything will return to the initial The End."
"And I, on the other hand, want to say: let all things return to the living. This world is so colorful and magnificent, why must it return to a singular chaos? The emotions of all living beings, the thoughts of all living beings, the logic of all living beings, how can they return to one?"
"...Did you appear just to lecture me with a bunch of philosophical theories? Or are you worried that I, coveting the power of The End, would choose to unleash monism in this universe?"
"At first I was indeed a little worried, but now I am certain that you will not be seduced by this. How about a deal? I will grant you the possibility to equilibrate that power of The End, and you will expel the god who should not be interfering with the fate of this world and the path of human progress."
"Is that all? Even if I drive out Nyarlathotep, can humanity resist the army of demons that has already been transformed?"
"They can do it."
"Why do you believe in humanity so much?"
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
The dove spread its wings and flew away. Pure white feathers drifted down, turning into feathers of holy light that flew into Caelus's body.
(To be continued.)