"You seem to know yourself well." Alaric said with a smile, then asked suddenly, "So, what do you think... how much of you remains in this Adam?"
The Angel of Imagination hadn't expected such a question. He froze for a moment before turning to Adam with a thoughtful expression. After a few seconds, he answered, "About a third, perhaps? Unlike the Lord's divinity and humanity, or Sasrir and me, I cannot be the primary component of the fusion."
"That's more than I expected." Alaric said, his gaze also settling on Adam. "Let me ask you this: if the part of you were to regain its sense of self and emotions, do you think you could, to some extent, alter Adam's current state of pure divinity?"
Alaric's earlier idea for "healing" Adam had been to evoke the Ancient Sun God's emotions for this world. But Adam's share of the Ancient Sun God was purely emotionless divinity, making such an endeavor akin to creating something from nothing... an immensely difficult task, as the emotional part had been allocated to Sasrir.
Inspired by the Death Consul, Alaric now had a new idea. The Ancient Sun God's divinity might lack emotions, but the original Angel of Imagination clearly wasn't purely divine. Even as a split personality, he must have had corresponding humanity.
Just as the Death Consul's self and humanity were wholly suppressed by divinity and the God of Death, the Angel of Imagination's humanity was evidently suppressed by the Sun God's divinity.
So, rather than trying to conjure emotions in the Sun God's divinity from scratch, guiding the Angel of Imagination's inherent humanity might be a better approach.
Of course, this plan's downside was that Adam would lean more toward the original Angel of Imagination. But then again, the current Adam could hardly be called the Ancient Sun God, so leaning toward the Angel of Imagination wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Much like how the True Creator was, from start to finish, more akin to Sasrir.
From this perspective, the Ancient Sun God had truly fallen. Whether he could be dismantled and reassembled in the future was uncertain… Alaric's thoughts wandered for a second before he refocused on the Angel of Imagination, smiling as he awaited his response.
The Angel of Imagination was clearly deep in thought, occasionally glancing at Adam or looking down at himself. After a while, he looked up at Alaric and said, "I can't be completely certain, but it might be feasible."
Alaric was pleased with this answer. He turned to Adam, smiling. "And what's your opinion?"
"I've said before, I am him, and he is me. There's no real difference between us. If you can guide his humanity to take the lead, I'd be glad. Gaining humanity would benefit my current state." Adam said calmly, genuinely seeing no distinction between them.
Humanity was something Adam had sought for years but never attained. He knew better than anyone that pure divinity was dangerous. He might be stable now, but without true humanity, he'd be at a natural disadvantage when aiming higher or confronting the God Almighty in the future.
"And…" Adam spoke again, looking at Alaric with a faint smile. "It would be a good thing for a puppet without a self."
Alaric met his gaze and chuckling. "That's why I said you two are so alike."
He then turned to the Angel of Imagination, smiling. "This era's you has agreed. What about you?"
"I have no objections, but how would it work?" The Angel of Imagination asked, curious and puzzled.
"I don't have a perfect plan yet. For now, it's probably just giving you a mask to wear." Alaric said, snapping his fingers with a crisp "snap."
"Is this the mask? I feel a slight change, but it doesn't force my emotions... it just amplifies some…" Unlike Adam, who would start from nothing, the Angel of Imagination clearly possessed relatively rich emotions to begin with, sensing the mask's presence as he spoke.
"That's its purpose... an amplifier, a steadfast anchor that will never waver." Alaric said, a meaningful glance at both figures. "I'm not sure if it can truly awaken your humanity, but at least with this mask, when you merge with the Sun God's divinity in the future, your self won't be entirely consumed. A sliver will remain."
"This is indeed a valuable tool." The Angel of Imagination said, immediately recognizing the mask's significance. Though it only amplified emotions and seemed minor, its role as an eternal anchor was near-divine in this maddening world.
Often, rituals served merely to provide such an anchor. Sometimes, that alone was enough for someone to triumph... or at least avoid total defeat... in their struggle against gods or divinity.
"Unfortunately, it can't change what's already set." Alaric sighed with a touch of regret, referring to the current Adam. Though the mask could serve as a permanent anchor, Adam's humanity had been entirely consumed in a fusion years ago. Adding an anchor now was futile.
The battle from back then was long over.
A person on the verge of losing control could still be saved, but one already lost was nearly impossible to salvage, even with a new anchor.
"But at least we can try to shape the future." The Angel of Imagination said with a smile, earnest and stubborn.
Adam looked at him, his expression still calm. Suddenly, he said, "It might not make a difference."
"Then at least we'll have tried. Long ago, the Lord wasn't certain he could defeat so many ancient gods or save humanity, but he tried anyway." The Angel of Imagination replied, meeting Adam's gaze. Two pairs of golden eyes locked... one warm and resolute, the other calm and indifferent.
"Just like you. You aren't entirely sure you can save this world, but you're doing it anyway. That's me... that's us. We've never waited for certainty before acting, have we?"
"Hahaha!" Adam let out a soft laugh.
It was so rare that even Alaric was momentarily stunned.
Adam chuckled lightly. "You're right. We've never waited for certainty before acting."
***
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