Sword God in a World of Magic

Shang's answer came almost immediately.

"Not really," he said. "We never really talked about the Child of Calamity. The few times we talked, we talked about my power and warriors. Could be that he may have mentioned it at some point, but I'm not really sure."

The Lightning Emperor only sighed.

Shang was telling the truth.

Shang honestly wasn't sure if the God had actually ever uttered the phrase Child of Calamity.

In fact, the only time Shang remembered talking about something related to that was when he had found out about his Entropy Affinity, and even then, the Abominations hadn't really been a topic.

It was less of a what and more of a why.

The God didn't tell Shang anything about what the Child of Calamity was, and Shang never asked about it.

He only wanted to know why he got the Entropy Affinity.

So, yeah, the two of them hadn't really talked about the Child of Calamity.

"Has he mentioned anything about why the Child of Calamity exists?" the Lightning Emperor asked.

Shang just wordlessly shook his head.

"Did he tell you where they are?"

Shang shook his head again.

At that point, the Lightning Emperor sighed again and looked to the side with a complicated expression.

"Lucius is dead, there's some unknown and crazy God ruling over this world, and we still don't know where the Child of Calamity is," he said. It was unknown if he talked to Shang or to himself.

"This is a lot to process."

In the Lightning Emperor's mind, many scenes and concepts appeared and disappeared at unreal speeds.

He was trying to think of a way the God had shown himself that didn't involve Shang.

"Can he manipulate minds?" the Lightning Emperor asked.

"Most likely, but I think he would view that as cheating," Shang answered. "It would be boring if he could just make everything play out however he wants. Otherwise, he would have probably just killed all the Emperors and Kings."

The Lightning Emperor took a deep breath.

Shang had just said that they were only alive because the God was crazy.

It was extremely difficult to come to terms with the fact that the most powerful people in the entire world were actually only powerful because some unknown power was allowing them to be powerful.

A feeling the Lightning Emperor hadn't felt for many, many years reappeared in his heart.

Suppression.

"What if I were to eradicate all the warriors?" he asked.

"He would probably find that even more entertaining," Shang answered. "The harder something is to do, the more challenging and more entertaining it is."

The Lightning Emperor took another deep breath.

He was desperately trying to find a way to get the God to appear.

Yes, there were several powerful pieces of evidence in front of him that confirmed the existence of this God, but after having lived for such a long time, it was just very difficult to come to terms with the new reality.

He just wanted to see him.

He just wanted to see this God with his own eyes.

Then, all the doubt would disappear.

And exactly that was why the God didn't appear.

"You said that there is another world, Earth," the Lightning Emperor said.

Shang nodded.

"How does the end of the world look like there?" he asked.

"End of the world?" Shang asked.

"You don't know?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "I was under the impression that your world would be smaller than ours since there isn't as much Mana there."

Shang shook his head. "No, our world is actually much, much bigger than Aterium."

The Lightning Emperor raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you say that Earth was only around 40,000 kilometers or so across?"

"Yes, that's Earth, but there's a universe around it comprised of mostly empty space and some planets," Shang answered.

"Planets? What's that?" the Lightning Emperor asked.

Shang became a bit uncertain. "Is Aterium round or flat?"

The Lightning Emperor blinked a couple of times. "Round? Flat? I'm not sure how these adjectives correlate to our world. How can Aterium be round or flat? Do you mean the shape? Do you mean the mountains?"

Shang sighed and explained the concept of a planet to the Lightning Emperor and how it worked on Earth.

The Lightning Emperor didn't have any issues understanding the concept of a planet and knew what Shang meant very quickly.

"Then, it actually makes sense that your world is bigger," the Lightning Emperor said. "Since your world doesn't have Mana, the density of Mana isn't important." 

"Just a tiny bit of Neutral Mana can be turned into a vast area of space. Creating something as big as Aterium would only need an Ancestral Mage's worth of Mana. That includes the millions of kilometers of endless ocean around it."

"However, since the density of Mana is important, our world can't be too big. Around ten million kilometers away from Aterium is the end of the world, which is just a silver wall."

"Silver wall?" Shang asked.

The Lightning Emperor nodded. "The same thing is true when you dig down or fly up. At some point, the reflective silver wall appears, and you can't continue."

  "It's impenetrable, and no kind of Mana can damage it in any way."

Shang just nodded.

That answered a couple of questions he always wanted to know the answers to.

"Anyway, I think I've heard enough," the Lightning Emperor said.

Shang just remained sitting on his chair.

"Honestly, I was certain that you wouldn't leave my study, but I was also certain that I was one of the most powerful people in the world," the Lightning Emperor sighed.

"There are a couple of reasons why I'm letting you live."

"First, I've learned more about your personality, and I can see why you have chosen to tread this path. You are not someone that wants to subjugate others, commit genocide because others are different, or rule this world. That already makes you very different from that kid."

Shang wasn't sure to whom the Lightning Emperor was referring, but he didn't ask.

"Second, you've given me very important information about the world I wasn't aware of."

"Third, you told me what happened to Lucius."

"Fourth, you showed me that there is still someone stronger than me."

"All of that is already a lot, but if I'm honest, I don't think that would have been enough for me to let you live. After all, your goal directly means killing all my friends. I would feel horrible and guilty for killing you, but I would have still done it."

"However, there were two things that made me hope for your success."

"First, you want to kill the one that killed Lucius."

"And second, you told me that there are other worlds out there," the Lightning Emperor said with a distant expression.

"I always thought that Lucius was the only God and that there hadn't been another one. However, since there is now a second God, what if there is a third or fourth?"

"If there is this world called Earth, what if there are even more worlds?"

"I know Lucius' parents and where he came from, but where did the first God come from?"

"Is there another world above this one?"

"Since I now know that the end of the world isn't actually the end of the world, what else can be found out there?"

The Lightning Emperor took a deep breath and looked at Shang.

"And the only way to get out there is you."

"I know that I'm not strong enough to leave this world and take revenge on the God. If Lucius couldn't do it, I also wouldn't be able to."

"But you have a shot, and compared to Lucius, you know what you are up against."

"From now on, the Lightning Manor will do its best to support you in any way it can, and in exchange, I only have one request."

Shang didn't say anything.

"If you succeed, let me live and allow the surviving Emperors to leave with you."

"Emperors?" Shang asked.

"As in, plural?"