Ask D-Sensei! Part 2

Today's Second Chapter D: "Greetings, everyone! That beloved corner of ours has arrived once again!"

Meido: "You're putting all your energy into pretending the backlash from last time never happened, aren't you?"

D: "Ev-ery-bo-dy's fa-vo-ri-te!"

Meido: "There's no need to be that desperate… Let's just move on."

D: "Ev-ery-bo-dy's fa—"

Meido: "Shall we call it quits on that bit?"

D: "Ahem. Well then, let's officially begin the second installment of Ask D-Sensei! This time, we'll be covering the gods."

Meido: "Ah—so it's finally come around."

D: "If we're going to do the backstory arc, we can't very well skip an explanation of the gods. There's no helping it—we'll just have to bring D-Sensei out for this. And with that, this corner is officially revived!"

Meido: "How meta."

D: "That said, I won't go into exhaustive detail. Once you start talking about the gods, the material becomes impossibly vast, so I'll keep it trimmed down to only what's relevant to the backstory arc."

Meido: "Specifically, that means dragons and angels."

D: "Yes. As was touched upon in Backstory Arc ③, dragons are a bunch of scum who believe they're superior to everything else."

Meido: "You shouldn't use dirty language. Even if you're not technically wrong."

D: "Ugh, seriously, those guys are the worst. Self-centered, Prideful creatures who can't stand not being at the top of the food chain. Wouldn't be so bad if that were all, but they actually have Strength to back it up, which makes them an enormous pain."

Meido: "The explainer role has devolved into grumbling, so let me provide the detailed version. Dragons are beings who are destined from birth to eventually reach the domain of gods—essentially born elites. Their origins are ancient as well, said to be second in age only to the primordial titans known as the Oldest Gods. They have history, and they have power. As a result, they grew arrogant and self-important, boldly declaring that the dragon race stood at the apex of the world—and in truth, they went on to dominate a great many stars."

D: "In other words, they got full of themselves."

Meido: "Well, not wrong. But they actually do have the Strength to get away with it. As gods, they harbor a vast amount of energy within their bodies, and their physical forms are incomparably more resilient than those of humans. On top of that, their intelligence is also remarkably high."

D: "You'd hardly think so, given their personalities. Tunnel vision is a terrible thing. Poor Gyurie must be blushing at having his dark history exposed like this."

Meido: "Just how much do you hate dragons? Good grief. Let's continue. The dragons' greatest characteristic is their barrier ability. They possess a unique barrier that nullifies the workings of magic—a trait inherent to the dragon race. The magic-nullifying Skills of dragons and drakes that appear in the modern era are degraded copies of this genuine dragon ability."

D: "The dragons and drakes that exist within the System are imposters of the real thing, after all. The only genuine dragon remaining on that star is Gyurie."

Meido: "The barrier of a true dragon isn't even comparable to the counterfeits. In particular, the individuals regarded as the strongest among dragons are called the 'Indestructible Gods'—they boast a defensive power that negates virtually every attack. Talk about cheating."

D: "……You're one to talk."

Meido: "Oh? Whatever could you mean by that?"

D: "No, nothing at all."

Meido: "So, as you can see, dragons as a race already possess Strength that is complete in and of itself. And that race of incomparable power set their sights on dominating the world."

D: "Stop. I'll take it from here. Besides, if you keep explaining, this is going to become 'Ask Meido-Sensei.' I will firmly not allow that."

Meido: "Oh—sure, fine. Go ahead."

D: "Dragons possess powerful Strength on a racial level, but as the fact that the world is not currently under their dominion makes clear, there exist forces that can stand against them. One such force is the angels."

Meido: "There are others besides angels, but let's leave that aside for now."

D: "There are plenty. If we started listing them, we'd never finish. Now, the angel race—fairly mysterious bunch, all things considered. For starters, they appeared out of nowhere. The story goes that in ancient times, while dragons were riding high, one day the angels simply materialized and began slaughtering gods. I wasn't born back then myself, of course, so this is all secondhand—"

Meido: "It must have been utter chaos. After all, this was an era when the two superpowers were the dragons and the primordial titans, and suddenly a third faction appears."

D: "And they'd attack any god without discrimination. Naturally, that caused quite the panic. As for the true nature of angels, there are various theories, but the most widely accepted one is that they may be the world's defense mechanism. Supposedly, the world itself—alarmed by the reckless rampaging of the gods—produced the angels through a kind of defensive instinct."

Meido: "Three things lend weight to that theory. They appeared without any prior warning, they react only to gods and attack them, and above all, they evolve through the act of killing gods."

D: "Correct. Angels possess a trait whereby the entire race evolves through the act of killing gods. Defeat a powerful god, and they grow stronger; defeat an intelligent god, and they grow smarter—and they absorb the physical characteristics of their prey as well. The reason they tend to be humanoid is that they killed the god known as the First Ancestor of Humanity. Incidentally, this principle applies to the world itself, too. When a powerful god perishes, the living creatures in the world undergo an Evolution that brings them closer to that god. It's because of this principle that angels are believed to have a deep connection to the world. Of course, the rate of Evolution for ordinary creatures versus angels is worlds apart. Angels evolve explosively the moment they kill a god."

Meido: "Ironic that some of them evolved too much, developed self-awareness, and started doing whatever they pleased—the fallen angels."

D: "Indeed. Original angels, as portrayed in the story, are beings like Sariel—mechanical, devoid of anything resembling human warmth. People used to call them 'goddesses living in their own little flower gardens,' so it was probably unexpected for Sariel to turn out to be the way she is."

Meido: "I imagine so."

D: "In reality, she's a woman who will absolutely fulfill her mission. And on top of that, she's a stray angel—possibly the worst kind."

Meido: "A stray angel is an angel that has been separated from the main host for one reason or another, yet still faithfully continues to carry out the mission it was given. These stray angels tend to be real troublemakers—either because their programming is bugged, or because they're obsessively, inflexibly devoted to their mission. Really, why on earth did an individual like Sariel end up as a stray angel?"

D: "Regarding that—though I'm not sure whether it's related—apparently there was a troublesome god causing havoc in that vicinity a very long time ago."

Meido: "Then isn't it that god's fault? Sariel seems to be an individual so powerful that even dragons are wary of crossing her. She would never have become a stray angel without something truly extraordinary happening."

D: "Yes, something truly extraordinary must have happened, then. Unless, you know, there was a god going around indiscriminately slaughtering other gods back in those days or something. Yes."

Meido: "……"

D: "Of course, I'm not saying it's definitely related. No, definitely not."

Meido: "I-it must not be related. It shouldn't be. Let's just go with that."

D: "Let's go with that, then."

D: "And so, let's do a quick summary up to this point. The star where the main story takes place was originally angel territory. However, some kind of—well, some kind of!—trouble occurred, and all the angels except Sariel disappeared. Sariel alone continues to fulfill her mission: the protection of the native life-forms."

Meido: "Please stop emphasizing the 'some kind of' part!"

D: "Meanwhile, the dragons quietly moved in. They're wary of Sariel, but they're biding their time for a chance to seize dominion over the star. Sariel is indifferent to everything outside her mission of protecting the native species, so as long as they don't touch the locals, the dragons can stay put."

Meido: "When you put it that way, their dedication is almost admirable. It's just a shame it's all driven by a desire for domination."

D: "They're dragons. Can't be helped."

Meido: "They're dragons, after all."

D: "And that concludes what comes before the backstory arc's backstory. From here on, 'P' starts scheming in the shadows, 'P' does something catastrophic, and 'P' goes on a rampage—it gets really ugly."

Meido: "It's basically all 'P's fault, isn't it?"

D: "And the terrifying thing is that you're right. And then I, your humble narrator, descend upon the apocalyptic world! The continuation of the backstory arc, which follows, recounts my glorious salvation of the world!"

Meido: "What a spoiler. Oh—wait. You didn't actually save the world, so that's all lies, isn't it?"

D: "An Evil God does not lie."

Meido: "You're lying right now."

D: "And with that, we'll wrap up the second installment of Ask D-Sensei! Until next time—goodbye."

Meido: "Goodbye."

Gyuri-Gyuri: Back in the day, she was so wild she'd just blurt out "Inferior beings!" without a second thought.

Meido-san: Back in the day, she was so wild she'd go around indiscriminately slaughtering gods.

D: Wild then, wild now.