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Transformed into Cosmic Horror in a Sci-Fi Universe – 12

EP.12 The Creator and the Created

After seeing off the two Lubaran, Reus and Allegros, Jupiter let out a short sigh of relief and returned to the site where the base was being repaired.

Although he had claimed the explosion was due to a mechanical failure, the truth was that it was his doing, and he felt compelled to help with the repairs.

"Hey, move those materials over here."

"No, not that! Bring the anti-gravity transport device!"

Given the sudden accident, people were bustling around.

Most of the work was being done by machines, but it was humans who transported and supervised those machines.

There were also personnel investigating the cause of the mechanical failure that led to the explosion.

"Elder Jupiter? What brings you here?"

The facility manager of the base's headquarters greeted Jupiter upon spotting him.

"Hmm, I thought I might lend a hand."

"What? You, Elder, personally?"

The manager looked at Jupiter in astonishment.

It was understandable.

Elders of the Union, regardless of race, held the highest positions within the Union.

Even if it was a nominal position, the title of Elder carried significant weight.

And here was an Elder of the Meias, one of the superior races, offering to help with such menial tasks. It was no wonder the manager was surprised.

Of course, from Jupiter's perspective, he felt uneasy unless he personally dealt with the mess he had caused.

'Elder Jupiter is such a good person, helping out even with minor accidents.'

His actions led the manager and the surrounding people to think highly of him.

"Let's start by clearing the debris. The machines are efficient but slow."

Naturally, robots utilizing advanced technology were far more efficient than human hands.

Especially for moving large and heavy building debris that ordinary people couldn't handle, anti-gravity machines were almost indispensable.

However, to Jupiter, even those seemed sluggish.

Rumble─

And that was only natural.

He was someone who could use magic to lift and move several tons of building debris with a single spell.

"Wow…"

"Amazing…"

The machine operators and base staff couldn't help but be amazed.

Seeing Jupiter effortlessly handle what would take ten trips with an anti-gravity machine using just one spell was nothing short of astonishing.

"That's incredible. Magic seems very convenient."

"Haha, it is a useful ability. But it has a major drawback, unless one is born with mana, the energy within the body, it cannot be learned."

It would be wonderful if everyone could learn magic and handle things so easily.

But if that were the case, machines like anti-gravity devices wouldn't have developed.

Magic could only be learned by those who, like the Meias, had a special energy within their bodies.

Therefore, it couldn't be taught to just anyone.

While some individuals from other races occasionally possessed such power, it was so rare that it was almost never seen.

In essence, it was a unique power of the Meias.

Anyway, as Jupiter was diligently helping with the base reconstruction,

"Master…!"

Suddenly, his disciple, Lowie Hendrick, came running towards him in a panic.

"What's the matter? I told you to stay with Eugene."

Jupiter had instructed Lowie Hendrick to stay by Eugene's side and assist him.

He had intended to help with the base reconstruction for a bit before returning, but Lowie had come alone, leaving Eugene behind.

Moreover, Lowie looked extremely flustered, indicating that something urgent had happened.

"Eugene… suddenly collapsed…!"

"What?!"

Jupiter was so shocked by Lowie's words that he inadvertently raised his voice.

This drew the attention of everyone around them.

"…Lead the way."

Jupiter, after glancing around to gauge the situation, told the facility manager that he had an urgent matter to attend to and would be stepping away briefly.

He then hurriedly followed Lowie to where Eugene was.

However,

"Huh?"

"…?"

Contrary to Lowie Hendrick's words, Eugene was not collapsed.

In fact, he was standing and stretching as if nothing had happened.

"…Lowie."

"No, it's true! He really collapsed just a moment ago… He didn't respond no matter how much I called, and even healing magic didn't work…"

Jupiter's sharp glare made Lowie hastily plead his case.

Eugene had indeed collapsed.

He had fallen like a puppet with its strings cut.

Lowie had tried everything—calling out to him, using healing magic.

But Eugene's pupils had been dilated, he wasn't breathing, and he hadn't moved at all, as if his soul had left his body.

Yet now, upon returning, Eugene was perfectly fine and moving around, leaving Lowie utterly bewildered.

'He wouldn't lie about this.'

Of course, Jupiter didn't think Lowie was lying.

He wasn't that kind of person.

So, Eugene must have collapsed for some reason and then gotten back up.

Considering that Eugene was an avatar of an Outer God, it was necessary to investigate what had happened.

"Oh, you must be Grandpa Jupiter… and this is Mr. Lowie. Right? The two who know my true identity."

"…??"

But something even stranger happened.

Eugene was acting as if he was meeting Jupiter and Lowie for the first time.

It was as if he had the memories but was encountering them in person for the first time.

As Jupiter and Lowie stood confused, Eugene smiled and began to explain the situation.

"Oh, you must be quite bewildered. I am an independent personality created by the main body of Eugene. I am a separate entity from the main body."

He explained that there had been a slight issue with the connection to the main body, so his backup personality had emerged as a precaution.

Eugene kindly elaborated.

"It seems the initial connection took a bit longer, making it look like I had just dropped dead. Haha."

"..."

"..."

While he might have thought he was making a light-hearted joke, it was impossible to take it lightly.

Especially for Lowie Hendrick, who had genuinely feared that Eugene had died.

In the end, nothing serious had happened; it was just that the personality occupying Eugene's body had changed.

Though it was a bit shocking, this new personality retained most of the previous main body's character and memories.

Since he understood that he was an avatar of an Outer God, there shouldn't be any major issues in how Jupiter or Lowie interacted with him.

'…Is his main body alright?'

While it was unclear what had happened to the main body, the calm demeanor of this backup personality suggested that it wasn't anything too dangerous.

Not that it was something Jupiter, a mere mortal in the eyes of an Outer God, should be worrying about.

'…A backup personality, huh. So it's possible to create such a thing in an avatar.'

Jupiter was once again astonished by the abilities of the Outer Gods, which defied even the laws of nature.

Creating a perfectly functional mortal body and implanting a personality in it was beyond extraordinary.

That essentially meant he could create intelligent life forms directly.

And not just mere replicas, but beings with fully developed personalities.

Of course, with the current scientific technology of the Galactic Union, it was possible to create cloned life forms.

Using high-performance AI, they could artificially create personalities almost indistinguishable from ordinary people.

But this was on a different level.

It wasn't about cloning or mimicking; it was the birth of a completely new life form, 100% unique.

Even the Lubaran could only achieve a 90% similarity at best through cloning.

What could only be achieved through the natural process of birth was created effortlessly.

And that wasn't all.

"…I can sense incredibly powerful mana."

"Oh, yes. It seems the main body thought it might be dangerous if the connection was severed, so it granted me some abilities. I think it intended for me to learn magic from Grandpa Jupiter with this mana."

"..."

The mana was overwhelmingly immense.

Even among the Meias, who were the base for Eugene, such innate mana was extremely rare.

Those who possessed such levels of mana were all chosen as Elders of the Meias.

As a precautionary measure, giving such powerful mana to an avatar was overkill.

It was like handing a machine gun to someone just because the night streets were dangerous.

And Eugene's nonchalant attitude about it all.

'…If it desired, it could potentially create a new race and civilization surpassing even the Lubaran.'

Moreover, an Outer God wouldn't tire or stop after creating just one avatar. Like the creation myths of various races, it could give birth to primordial intelligent life forms that would pioneer new civilizations.

'Although no such cases have been discovered or revealed… perhaps some ancient races were indeed created as mere diversions by Outer Gods.'

Not only that.

Perhaps every living being in this universe…

'Enough. I should stop thinking about this.'

Jupiter shook his head, trying to dismiss the deepening thoughts.