"My past self? Heh, are you kidding me?"
Luna dismissed with disdain Apollo, who had a hint of nostalgia in his eyes.
"Although you are living in that ridiculous metal body, you and your kind do still have the identity of gods. Otherwise, you who lost your actual body in that war would not have the chance to escape. On the other side of the world—as a god, how can you glimpse the shadow of your past self in human creations?"
"snort----"
The sheep whom Luna called Apollo snorted helplessly, and then said:
"It seems that even though you have reached this point, you still do not understand the nature of gods...and your own nature. Or are you still unwilling to face reality?"
"What on earth do you want to say?"
"Although he is called a god, even though he has been worshiped endlessly by humans since the age of gods, and he lives in the so-called Mount Olympus or other divine realms, haven't you noticed?"
In the pure white space, Apollo slowly floated in front of Luna and continued:
"As long as I hide in the inner world of this world——as long as I am disconnected from humans, the part of me that is called a god will be useless."
Only the gods that humans believe in and the gods that are connected to humanity as a whole can be regarded as true gods.
Therefore, after the white giant from outside the sky descended on the earth, and after all the gods were defeated and had to hide inside the world, the age of gods naturally declined and eventually perished.
And those gods who were lucky enough to be hidden inside also fundamentally lost their "divine power" and could no longer interfere in the human world at all. They became just the continuation of thinking, the remnants of gods.
The reason is that in the eyes of humans, thunder and lightning are no longer the power of God, but a part of natural phenomena.
Naturally, the gods will no longer be able to display their own magical power of thunder.
Luna, who finally lost all her strength and could no longer even maintain her body, faced the same dilemma.
Was his power actually given by humans?
Luna, who had always been aloof, naturally couldn't accept this.
But deep down in her heart, she never realized what the truth was.
However, Luna has always refused to admit this.
But now being exposed by Apollo Yun Danfengqing, even Luna, who had already accepted her fate, was inevitably a little annoyed.
"Even so, you are not the original gods like me. Your 'divine power' was not given by humans."
"Indeed, unlike you, our bodies had abilities comparable to those of gods long before they arrived on Earth, and therefore gained worship from humans and obtained 'names' from your hands. However, that's all. That's all, after all, our abilities are not owned by ourselves. It is better to say that the power of you, the original gods, is more natural than us."
"you mean----"
"Have you never been curious during the tens of thousands of years of observation on the moon? Where do our bodies come from, and where do our abilities come from?
If you ask a question, the answer is actually quite simple. We are just 'creations' created by another race that can observe and change the world with our own hands. You, who have always called me "Artifacts", must have had such a premonition. "
"…………"
Although she had expected it, facing this shocking fact, Luna still found it somewhat difficult to react to Apollo's words.
"But, that's all. The race that created us all perished long before the rise of mankind. At first, we just continued to carry out our tragic wish to find a place to colonize without any self-awareness. Wandering aimlessly in the universe.”
"Then why did you choose to come to Earth... and become human gods?"
"That was what happened after we had been wandering in the universe for who knows how long. At that time, although we had computing power but no self-feeling, we may have sensed the end and were faced with the dilemma that we were about to stop functioning. , we gave birth to the initial self-awareness——even if we give up the order that was originally written into the program, we want to continue it.”
"Forgetting your original intention and continuing just for the sake of continuation is as ugly as ordinary life."
Luna frowned, having difficulty understanding what Apollo described as the way the Mechas lived.
"Is it ugly? Well, maybe it is. But in my opinion, this is one of the few places where mechas resemble real creatures. Rather, it is a very beautiful and precious thing. Driven by this desire, I Waiting for the Machine God to finally decide to land on this planet that did not fully meet the preset conditions at the time.
Surprisingly, the harsh environment for that ancient race actually gave birth to a group of creatures that could rival them—human beings.
In the beginning, we did not intend to become human gods, and we did not even understand the connection. We just instinctively used the functions that the ancient race added to our bodies. What happened next, You will know everything clearly. "
"Because you helped mankind, mankind recognized you, who were incomprehensible, as well-intentioned gods and worshiped them. In the end, you received the name that should belong to the original gods, and you completely awakened your half-hearted feelings."
Luna described what she had seen word for word.
"Well, that's exactly it. Because in the end, we machine gods are still cold mechanical bodies, so we can't fully understand what human emotions are - even then, we are grateful enough, then Grant us humans who were not given plants by 'Creation' at the time of creation."
"Is that why you love humans on behalf of the gods... But it is precisely because of your half-hearted emotions that you have brought a lot of tragedy and death to humans."
"Ah, compared to other gods, we may not be qualified as gods at all, but we are enough."
"Um?"
Facing Apollo's relief, Luna was a little confused.
"If you want to ask why, human beings no longer need gods at all. In the face of predatory stars, we and other machine gods failed to eliminate human beings. Your demise today is enough to prove that human beings do not need the blessing of gods. I will take this step towards the future.
You and I are just like tools from the past. Even if we are completely eliminated, there is nothing to worry about. "
"I see... From this point of view, it seems that we gods are not fundamentally different from machine gods like you."
"That's how it is. Otherwise, I wouldn't have become a god with such a mechanical body. And now I see the 'creation' that has inherited the name of 'Apollo' and continues to serve mankind forward." , it’s natural for them to feel joy. Just like when old humans see their descendants inheriting their own path, it’s natural for them to give them some help.”
Apollo in sheep form passed over Luna, leaving only a shadow of her back, and then said:
"After all, gods are just human creations."
Faced with such remarks, Luna could only nod helplessly and admitted Apollo's statement.
However, she still had one question.
"If this is the reason why you helped Apollo in the singularity, why did you help me come to the other side of this world?"
That's right, the place where Apollo and Luna stayed was the inside of a world where the gods could continue to survive.
Without Apollo's help, Luna would not have arrived here at all, but would have disappeared into the universe as if she had never existed from the beginning.
"————It's just a favor. After all, thanks to your romance and dreams, there is actually an idiot among us who can fully understand human emotions. Whether it is happiness or pain, it is all indescribable. It's a precious thing. After accepting this favor, how can I watch you die? Maybe other Mechas will ignore it, but we are the only two who cannot do such a thing."
After leaving these words, a crack appeared in the pure white space in front of Apollo, and then it was swallowed up and disappeared, leaving only Apollo's voice still echoing in this space.
"After this, you can come or stay wherever you want. By the way, if you want to continue your nasty hobby of observing humans, this is not the place."
"Was it that time when the power was distributed to Artemis...?"
Goddess Luna whispered to herself.
"If I had known that I could continue observing from here, I would have been working in vain."
