Teach us, D-sensei! The second part

Today's second segment

D "Greetings. Here we are, everyone's favorite corner."

Mei "You're making a full effort to ignore the previous poor reception."

D "M, m, n, a, d, a, i, k, i!"

Mei "You don't need to be that desperate... Let's move on."

D "M, m, n, a, d, a... 'Let's be reasonable, shall we?'"

D "Cough. Then, once again, it's time for the second installment of Teach Us, D-sensei. Today's topic is the gods."

Mei "Ah, here it comes."

D "Since we're doing the past arc, we can't skip explaining the gods. No choice—we must bring in D-sensei. And this corner's revival."

Mei "Meta."

D "Still, I won't go into great detail. Starting to explain the gods would take an enormous amount of time. So I'll summarize only the parts relevant to the past arc."

Mei "Specifically, dragons and angels."

D "Yes. As touched upon in the previous arc three, dragons are a gathering of arrogant, self-centered scum who believe they are supreme."

Mei "You must not use vulgar language. You are not incorrect, but—"

D "Yes, really, they are utterly worthless. They cannot accept anything less than being number one. Self-centered, prideful creatures. And despite that, they possess considerable strength—making them exceptionally troublesome."

Mei "The explanatory role has devolved into mere complaint. I will elaborate in detail. Dragons are beings born with a guaranteed path to the domain of the gods. In essence, natural elites. Their origin is ancient—second only to the primordial titans, the oldest of the gods. They possess history, power. As a result, they have grown arrogant, boldly declaring their kind as the pinnacle of existence. They have, in fact, come to dominate numerous star systems."

D "You're just riding high on your success."

Ming "Well, you're not wrong. But they do possess the power to justify such arrogance. As gods, they carry vast quantities of energy within their forms, and their bodies are far more resilient than human flesh. Their intelligence is also high."

D "Their intelligence is hard to perceive, thanks to their personality. Narrow-mindedness is their downfall. You must have been embarrassed when your past black history was exposed, Guriel."

Ming "How much do you dislike dragons, really? Honestly. Let's continue. The greatest characteristic of dragons is their barrier ability. They possess a unique barrier exclusive to their kind—one that nullifies magical effects. The barrier skills displayed by modern dragons or dragon-like beings are merely degraded versions of this true dragon ability."

D "The dragons and dragon-like entities existing within the system are mere imitations of true dragons. The only genuine dragon remaining on that star is Gyurie alone."

Ming "The barrier of a genuine dragon is incomparable to these imitations. Particularly the individual regarded as the strongest among dragons is known as the 'Most Hardened God,' boasting defensive capabilities that nullify nearly all attacks. It's a cheat."

D "……You're the one saying that?"

Ming "Oh? What might you be referring to?"

D "I-I-I mean, nothing at all."

Ming "Well, as such, dragons possess an inherent strength already perfected at the species level. A species with such strength aims to dominate the world."

D "Stop. I'll handle the explanation from here. Or rather, if you continue, my segment will become 'Ming's Lecture.' I will absolutely not allow that to happen."

Ming "Ah yes, of course. Please do."

D "Dragons possess formidable power at the species level. Yet, as the world remains uncontrolled, it is evident that opposing forces exist. One such force is the angels."

Ming "Other forces exist as well, but we shall omit those details here."

D "There are many. Starting a discussion would have no end. As for the angels, they are a particularly enigmatic species. Their emergence was sudden. During the ancient era when dragons reigned supreme, they appeared one day without warning and began killing the gods. I was not born then, so I speak only from hearsay."

Ming "The era was reportedly one of great chaos. A time when dragons and the ancient titans were the sole dominant powers—then, suddenly, a third force emerged."

D "Moreover, once they become divine, they attack indiscriminately. Naturally, chaos ensues. As for the true nature of angels, various theories exist, but the most plausible suggests they are the world's defense mechanism. The argument posits that the world, overwhelmed by the reckless behavior of countless gods, developed a defensive instinct—giving rise to the angelic species."

Ming "Their sudden appearance without warning, their exclusive targeting of gods, and most significantly, their evolution through the elimination of gods—these points reinforce that theory."

D "Yes. Angels evolve as a species by killing gods. The stronger the god defeated, the stronger they become. The smarter the god, the smarter they grow. They assimilate the form as well. That is why they take humanoid shapes—because they killed the god regarded as the ancestor of humanity. Incidentally, this rule applies to the world itself. When a powerful god dies, all life within the world evolves toward that god. This is why angels are considered deeply connected to the world. Though, of course, the rate of evolution differs vastly between ordinary life and angels. Angels undergo rapid evolution immediately after killing a god."

The irony is that angels who evolved too far developed self-awareness and began acting on their own whims.

D "Yes. Original angels were like Seraphiel—mechanical, devoid of human qualities. They were even called 'Flower Garden Goddesses' in the narrative. So Seraphiel being such a character was unexpected, wasn't it?"

Ming "Probably."

D "In reality, they were mission-absolute women. Moreover, rogue angels—poor-quality ones."

Ming "Rogue angels are those who strayed from the main angelic forces for some reason, yet still carry out their assigned missions with unwavering loyalty. These types are often problematic—bugged systems, or overly rigid in their adherence to unusually inflexible missions. Frankly, I can't understand why an entity like Seraphiel became a rogue angel."

D "Regarding that, I don't know if it's relevant, but there was reportedly a troublesome god causing chaos in that region long ago."

冥「Then it isn't the god's fault? The angel named Seriel appears to be an entity of strength rivaling even dragons—such power rarely leads to a rogue angel.»

Ｄ「Indeed. Something extraordinary must have occurred. Nothing short of a god rampaging through the divine realm at the time, perhaps. Yes.»

冥「……」

Ｄ「Of course, we cannot confirm any connection. Yes, we cannot confirm it at all.»

冥「I—surely it has nothing to do with it. It must not. Let us simply decide it has no connection.»

Ｄ「We shall decide it that way.»

D "With that, let's summarize here. The star serving as the main stage was originally an angelic domain. However, some sort of trouble—yes, some sort of trouble!—occurred, causing all angels except Seriel to vanish. Seriel continues to fulfill the assigned mission: protecting primitive lifeforms."

Ming "Please don't emphasize 'some sort of' so much!"

D "A dragon quietly settled here. It watches Seriel nervously but waits for an opportunity to seize control of the star. Seriel is indifferent to anything beyond the mission of protecting primitive lifeforms. As long as the lifeforms aren't touched, the dragon can remain."

Ming "That sounds like a heartbreaking effort. The fact that it stems from dominion desire is hard to overlook."

D "It's a dragon. What can you expect?"

Ming "It's a dragon, after all."

D "And this is the past of the past. From here, the character Po becomes active, does something dangerous, goes out of control—things escalate dramatically."

Ming "Isn't it mostly Po’s fault, really?"

D "Exactly that’s what makes it terrifying. And then, me descending into the world at the end of all things! The next part of the past will detail my glorious rescue of the world."

Ming "What a spoiler. Ah, no. He didn’t save the world. That’s a complete lie."

D "Evil god does not lie."

Ming "Liar."

D "With that, I’ll conclude the second session of 'D-sensei’s Lesson Corner.' Until next time. Farewell."

Ming "Farewell."

Guriguri: Back then, I’d casually say things like 'inferior beings!' without thinking.

Mingdo-san: Back then, I’d recklessly slash gods left and right.

D: Still mischievous now, just as I was back then.