Path of the Extra

Chapter 401: Thank You, Little Sun

Ophanim.

The highest rank Pollux had mentioned—part of the Third Divine Order, which itself fell under the Divine Hierarchy.

It was a lot of information for Jasmine to swallow all at once, but one thing stood out to her immediately.

It all sounded... biblical.

She hadn’t even noticed when Pollux had returned to his seat across from her. Now he sat with one leg crossed over the other, elegant as ever, lifting a cup of tea to his lips as though this were an ordinary afternoon conversation.

Hesitating only briefly, Jasmine asked, tentative—

”Are... are you an Ophanim, then?”

Of course he was. What a stupid question, she thought a second too late.

But Pollux laughed—loudly.

”Hahahaha!”

The sound dumbfounded her.

”Of course I am not,” he said, still amused. ”Ophanim are the most powerful and terrifying beings that exist, as far as I know. The last time I met one, even I could barely keep myself from running away with my tail tucked between my legs.”

”...You?” Jasmine echoed, disbelief slipping into her voice.

”Yes. Me.” Pollux’s smile remained, but his tone was flat. ”There aren’t many Ophanim in the universe. And you’d better hope, little sun, that you never meet one in your lifetime.”

Jasmine looked down, trying to digest that.

...So even someone as ridiculous as Pollux wasn’t an Ophanim?

Looking back up, she frowned and asked with a little more confidence.

”Then what rank are you... and that devil—Lucifer?”

Pollux’s smile widened.

”I belong to the first rank of the Third Divine Order: Seraphim. Lord Lucifer belongs to one of equal power.”

’Seraphim...’ Jasmine’s mind latched onto the word. ’There are only two ranks above that. Is the gap between a Seraphim and an Ophanim really that enormous?’

Then something else he said clicked.

”One of equal power?” Jasmine repeated slowly. ”You make it sound like he isn’t a Seraphim.”

Pollux smiled, white teeth showing.

”I was waiting for us to reach that,” he said, placing his cup down. ”For you to understand what rank Lord Lucifer truly is, you need to understand the knowledge of our races.”

”Races?” Jasmine echoed.

Pollux nodded, unfazed by her focus, and continued without hurry.

”The race I belong to is Spirit. The subrace I am is Starblood—and I am, at the same time, the last of my kind.” His eyes flickered with something distant. ”There are other subraces of Spirit as well. Myrrhveils. Mournvires. Infernaris. Aravelins. Astraphanes... and others, of course.”

He spoke as though listing constellations.

”We Spirits are a major race of the Divine Race.”

”Divine Race...” Jasmine murmured, the implications sinking in. Her amazement showed despite herself.

”The Divine Race once held many different major races,” Pollux continued.

”Elves. Fairies. Giants. Mermaids. Phoenixes. Dragons... and angels.”

”...Phoenixes... dragons... and angels?” Jasmine stared, breath catching. ”W-wait—no way. Dragons and angels actually exist? All those races that are supposed to be fantasy... they’re real?!”

She leaned forward, both hands pressing onto the table, excitement flashing across her face so suddenly it seemed to stun even Pollux. He blinked a few times, then smiled again and nodded.

”I believe they once did,” he said.

”Divine creatures belonging to the Divine Origin.”

”Once?”

Jasmine’s excitement dimmed into confusion.

”Yes. Once,” Pollux repeated. ”I was born too late, I suppose. As for what happened...” His smile returned, faintly amused. ”You will learn soon enough.”

Then his tone shifted.

”Just be aware that the Spirits were the only divine creatures spared—for some reason.”

Annoyed by the sudden gap in information, Jasmine could only nod stiffly.

”So you’re saying Lord Lucifer used to belong to one of the major races of the Divine Race?”

But contrary to what she expected, Pollux shook his head—his expression twisting into disgust.

”This is from before I was born as well,” he said coldly, ”but apparently that filthy race of his—the so-called god-race—were once nothing but weak, unknown creatures of the Void.”

Jasmine stared at him, stunned.

”They belonged to the Void Race. They were Void creatures belonging to the Void Origin.”

”...!”

Pollux’s eyes turned colder as he held her gaze.

”That was until they somehow became intelligent. Strong. Powerful. Talented. Dangerous. Terrifying.”

He leaned back slightly, as if savoring the weight of it.

”They became their own race. Their own origin. Their own kind.”

A faint smile touched his lips—almost reverent, almost mocking.

”And what other name could you give such creatures,” Pollux murmured, ”than the one that stands at the absolute top?”

”...God.”

”Correct,” Pollux said, affirming her understanding. ”At least, that is what the books claimed—before my world was burned to ash. As for what the stars told me...” His smile thinned. ”It was a bit different.”

Jasmine tilted her head slightly.

”The word ’god’ wasn’t given to them by anyone but themselves,” Pollux continued. ”They are not real gods. They are simply beings powerful enough to rival other races—such as the Divine Race and the Demon Race.”

’Demon Race...?’ Jasmine didn’t even get the chance to ask before Pollux kept speaking.

”But their name held some merit,” he said. ”Because for a time, there truly was no race that could rival them—not with the number of powerful beings they had.”

His eyes flickered once more.

”Those ten gods you worship are known to us as the Ten Ancient Gods. To the rest of the god-race, they are their parents—Mother and Father. Those ten are what made their race so terrifying, and what made anyone trying to challenge them hesitate.”

”...”

”The Ten Ancient Gods are all of the same rank: Anathema.”

Pollux spoke the word as casually as if it belonged in a normal conversation.

”Anathema is equivalent to Ophanim in the Divine Hierarchy.”

Jasmine’s throat tightened. It was too much, too fast—yet her mouth moved before she fully realized it.

”A-anathema?”

”Just as we have the Divine Hierarchy, the god-race has its own,” Pollux said. ”Though no matter how much they wish otherwise, they cannot escape their true origin. You are already aware of some of the names...”

He paused, giving her the barest second to stabilize the information, then took a sip of tea.

Jasmine barely had time to breathe before he continued.

”As we have the Divine Hierarchy—which you mortals somehow fall under—the Void Creatures and the god-race have their own as well. The Profane Descent.”

His voice turned faintly amused.

”Instead of three Divine Orders, they have three Depths. Ironic, isn’t it? As we rise under the Divine Hierarchy... they only fall.”

”...”

”Within the First Depth you have: Beast, Monster, Demon, Abyssal, Monarch, Titan, Leviathan, and Defiled.”

Then, without slowing:

”For the Second Depth: Fallen and Archfallen.”

”...”

”And for the Third and final Depth: Cataclysm, Aberration... and Anathema.”

”...”

”...”

”...”

”...”

A heavy silence finally settled.

Pollux exhaled softly and returned to his tea, murmuring, ”I suppose I’ve said a lot.”

Jasmine leaned forward, elbows on the table, burying her forehead against her clenched fists as she gritted her teeth.

”Ugh...”

’My head hurts!’

It was too much.

”Gods? Races? Hierarchy? Descent?” Her voice came out strained. ”This... this doesn’t make sense! So the gods of rot, ruin, death, time—the others—they’re not real gods?!”

She heard Pollux sigh. Jasmine didn’t lift her head.

”That depends,” he said calmly, ”on what you believe the word ’god’ truly means. Are the other beings of the god-race gods? No. Are the Ten Ancient Gods gods?”

He paused.

”Well... if you paid attention, you may have noticed something. With the ranks I listed in the Divine Hierarchy and the Profane Descent, I only named fourteen levels in each.”

That finally made Jasmine lift her face.

Pollux smiled.

”I assume you are smart enough to figure out what the fifteenth level is?”

Jasmine stared at him.

”...God.”

”Correct, once more. God is what I believe the final level to be.”

”Then...” Her voice tightened. ”They’re truly not gods?”

”...Yes and no.”

”Stop being vague!”

”Hahahaha.” Pollux laughed lightly.

”Calm down.”

He set his cup down and spoke more plainly.

”God of Time. Goddess of Death. God of Ruin.” His gaze held hers.

”Those are titles.”

He tapped the table once.

”Titles they obtained by reaching the end of their Astrium Paths.”

A new, unfamiliar word slammed into Jasmine’s mind, overwhelming her again.

”Astrium...?”

”I believe that at the end of the path they follow, the title of ’god’ is granted to them,” Pollux continued.

”Perhaps because they were the first to ever reach its end.”

His voice lowered slightly.

”That is why there is a Goddess of Death—because she walked the Path of Death and eventually earned that title...”

Pollux’s smile returned, quiet and unsettling.

”...which is terrifying to think about.”

”I...”

Jasmine didn’t know what else to ask. There was too much—too many questions clawing at her mind, all tangled together.

So she asked the simplest one.

The easiest.

In a tired, small voice, she said,

”Why... tell me all of this?”

Pollux answered immediately.

”To reward you, of course.”

”Huh?”

Jasmine stared at him, stunned. And then Pollux’s eyes shifted—suddenly cruel in a way that made her heart accelerate all over again.

”A ’thank you’,” he said softly, ”for how you have supported that thing you call your ’little brother.’”

Jasmine’s eyes widened.

Of course.

How could she have forgotten so quickly?

This... all of this...

It was about Azriel.

”W-why? Why do you care that I’m there for Azriel?”

Her heart was pounding too hard. It felt like her whole body was pounding now.

”Because you are the one who finally shed those stubborn masks of his, even though he clung to them desperately when I tried to rip them away.”

”...!”

”Because you—wanting to help him—forced him to confess his lies. You pushed him into a corner where he had no choice but to face you as the only stable thing amidst all the chaos and pain inside him.”

Pollux’s voice grew warmer.

Kinder.

Almost... loving.

And that alone filled Jasmine with dread.

”Thank you for becoming his anchor.”

Jasmine’s stomach twisted.

”Thank you for doing what I could not. Thank you for becoming his anchor...”

The pause that followed was small.

And cruel.

”...and allowing me to rip away the person he loves most.”

”No...” Jasmine’s voice trembled.

Pollux’s smile remained.

”Thank you, little sun. Now, because of your love...”

”Don’t...”

”...everyone will see who he truly is.”

”Don’t do this...! Send me back! Please!”

”They will know of the monster that has been hiding among them.”