Second World
chapter-1989

When Jack saw the questioning glance of his friends, he explained, "Maybe I should phrase it differently. Let's put it this way. If you don't care about others, others won't care about you. No matter how smart, strong, or capable you are. This is Master's flaw. He never cares about others. He is a narcissistic, selfish, and egotistical bastard. A very smart one, but still a selfish a*shole.

"His entire aim of pursuing Godhood is because he doesn't want to ever rely on others again. He wants to solo everything. In his pursuit, despite all his intellect, he has instead thrown away the greatest asset humanity possesses. Let me ask you something. What do you think is the reason humans are at the top of the food chain in our past world? How did we transform the environment of our past world into something according to our will when other creatures simply lived within the boundary nature provides? Well, I believe it will also be the same in this new world, but to make it simple, let's limit the scope to our past world. Why do you think that is the reason?"

Paytowin shrugged, "Isn't it obvious? Because we have the intellect that animals don't. We can solve problems and stuff."

"Our intellect, eh? Okay, let me give you two scenarios. With all the intellect you possess, if I ask you to move one mountain from one side to another side, can you do it alone? The second scenario. If you venture into a cave and find it has only one exit. When you are on your way out, you find that the exit is blocked by an angry giant bear. With all your intellect, do you think you can beat the bear?"

Jet lifted his hand and said, "I have fought a bear..."

"Shut up, Uncle Jet!" Jack interjected.

"Ugh, I thought you were asking us a question," Jet grumbled in a low voice.

"The answer is no matter how strong or how smart you are, you won't be able to move the mountain. You won't be able to survive the bear. Not alone, you can't. But if you have a million people who are willing to cooperate, you can move the mountain. One person dug up one basket worth of soil from the mountain and moved it to the land next to it. One million people do this every day. In a few years, the mountain will move. You don't need Godly power to achieve that. The only thing you need is cooperation with others to perform this miracle." "What about the bear? We gang up on it with a million people as well?" Paytowin asked.

"No need. You might not be able to defeat the bear alone, no matter how smart or how strong you are. But if you have a rifle in your hand, it's another matter."

"Uh... I thought you were emphasizing cooperation...?" Paytowin asked while scratching his head.

"I do. Let me ask you then, how do you think that rifle came to your hand?" Jack asked in

return.

"Um... I bought it from a gun store...?"

"Sure, and where did the gun store get the rifle from? From a distributor, who got it from a manufacturer. A manufacturer produced the rifle from different materials mined by many other people from different places. These materials came together and became a rifle through a complicated process. A process that came from knowledge invented and experimented with through generations of people. For that rifle to be in your hand so you can defeat the bear, it was through the effort of countless other people. It was neither your merit nor your achievement.

"This is how we become the ruler of the earth in our past world. It's because we cooperate with each other, not only within our generation but across generations. We pass down our knowledge so our descendants don't need to start over. They pick up where we left off, and so on. This is how we built our civilization. This is humanity's greatest strength. Master let go of this strength in pursuit of selfishness. His goal is so he doesn't need other people anymore. This will be the reason for his downfall, and this is why we will win! Because we have each other. By working together, victory will surely be ours!!"

No one was making a sound. They sat there in silence, absorbing Jack's words. The one who broke the silence was Four Winds, who stood and started clapping. The others followed suit.

"Uh... You were supposed to be motivated, not clapping at me," Jack said with an awkward laugh.

"Make no mistake, we are motivated," Four Winds uttered. "We are now certain that we will win!"

"Yes. It's humanity against Master. No matter how strong or how smart he is, he won't win!" Paytowin exclaimed.

"Good speech!" Jeanny said to Jack.

John came to Jack and said, "I can tell you that strategists hate surprises, but I think I can make an exception for yours."

"Bloody hell... So, you don't believe my speech can inspire you even though you are the one who asked me to do it?" Jack cursed.

Wilted also came. She said, "I always thought I would be the one who brings down Master, but I can see now that my way of thinking is wrong."

"Yeah, WE will be the ones who bring Master down," Jack said, which drew a wide smile from Wilted.

"I'm proud of you. Domon sure is as well," Jet clapped Jack's back.

Grace came without a word and kissed Jack on the cheek.

"Okay, this is getting out of hand. We can celebrate when we have won! Everyone starts

walking to the Anywhere Portal. We will leave at once!" John announced.

Chris cycled his projection one more time, showing the surviving divine factions, to make sure Master had indeed not attacked. He then led them to the Anywhere Portal.

Arriving before the portal, Chris said to them, "Remember, once you activate the power of the Council of Twenty-four, I will activate my world-enchantment tool to nullify all resurrection abilities. This includes your Rebirth and your Revive spell."

Chris was pointing at Nameless and Purple Mist.

"Peniel's Second Life as well?" Jack asked.

"Yes. All skills, spells, or passive that brought you back to life after your HP reached zero will not work," Chris explained. "But abilities that keep your HP from reaching zero, such as Avenger's Final Retribution or using a tool like the sacrificial dummy, will still work. You just need to make sure your HP doesn't reach zero."

"Just, he said," Jet jeered.

"It's better this way," Jack said. "Master has many spells and tools. He also has the Priest class. This will restrain him more than it does to us."

"So, is everyone ready?" Chris asked and activated his Anywhere Portal. The portal showed a majestic structural complex on a floating island. This was the base of the Council of Elpo, the

Sky Haven.

Everyone nodded. Jack took the lead and stepped onto the portal. Jeanny and John went next, followed by Grace and Paytowin. The others followed behind them and entered one by one. When it was Jet's turn, he asked Chris, who was standing next to the portal, "How about you join the fight this time?"

Chris laughed before answering, "Sorry, I'm not in the habit of risking my life."

Jet looked back and asked the others, "Anyone want to beat him up before we go and risk our

lives?"

*

When Jack appeared at the edge of the floating island, he stayed there and marveled at the scenery. This was his first time here. He was fascinated by the sight. A lot of other floating islands were around the one he was at. His exceptional dragon eyes let him perceive some of the faraway floating islands. Those islands were also inhabited. The inhabitants of those islands were the winged eaglefolk.

A group of people came out of the buildings in front of him when Jeanny and the others joined him. The one leading the group was Honuren.

"Welcome," Honuren gave a simple greeting. He was already aware of this visit because John

had talked with him earlier.

"How are you?" Jack asked.

"I am still in slightly weakened condition due to the wounds left from the battle with Satan, but it's no big deal. I can fight," Honuren answered.

"That's good," Jack said.

"Have you briefed your people?" John asked. He didn't stay long during his earlier visit. He

left once Honuren understood his warning.

Honuren nodded. "They know the outline. I've also called back all members who are out venturing. We will be at full strength when that pretentious God arrives."

"Assuming he doesn't come here now," John said. He looked around, making sure all twenty-

three of them had passed through the portal. "We better hide now. It will be a problem if he

sees us when he arrives."

"Do you have an idea when he might come?" Honuren asked.

"I don't. We just have to wait," John replied.

"I see... All right, come with me," Honuren brought them to the second largest building there.

This building was where the faction members conducted administrative duties and where they accommodated guests. The largest building next to it was the shrine of Hope.