Chapter 741 - Brothers

Chapter 741: Brothers
Once upon a time, there were two twin brothers.
They were really fortunate.
Just their very birth was celebrated by millions of citizens in their country. They were all delighted from their bottom of their hearts as they gave their sincere blessings.

The old king has sons now! The Mist Kingdom now has new successors!

Even though life was very difficult in this land and snow, everyone believed that the future would improve for them under the wise Mist Emperor’s leadership.
The old emperor was already past middle age. Since he had been injured while young, his body’s condition was now rapidly deteriorating. The Mist Kingdom was quite troubled about the issue of having no successors. Now that two princes had been born at once, perhaps this happy kingdom in the Northlands would become more stable than ever.
From that day onwards, the birthday of the twin princes became a new holiday celebrated by the entire country: the Twins’ Festival.

May the Gods protect the twins. May the twins swiftly grow up strong and support this country. May the Mist royalty have wise rulers in every generation…

Maybe such a prayer addressed to nobody in particular had actually been effective. Maybe the heavens really were watching over the twins. The twins, who carried so many expectations from the Mist Kingdom’s citizens, matured quite swiftly and soon showed off how extraordinary they were.

The heavens have blessed us People of the Mist! Not only are our princes outstanding, they’re geniuses!

The older prince, Roland, behaved incredibly maturely despite his young age. His strange
inventions
brought much joy to the ice-and-snow filled Diffindor. He performed incredibly in his classes on politics and literature. He was renowned throughout the entire Mist Kingdom for being a child genius.
Every time that people heard him reading political announcements in such a serious tone with his child’s voice, they would always say,
Prince Roland will become a wise king in the future.

Meanwhile, the younger prince Karwenz was truly a genius regarding swordsmanship and magic. He would learn every single martial arts technique instantly. He was capable of learning any magic spell at a glance. His rapid progression through the power levels was inconceivable.
Every time when Karwenz easily outclassed everyone else in the same age group, and whenever he easily defeated his own teacher, people would say,
Prince Karwenz will become an outstanding general in the future.

As the two princes became ever more renowned for being child geniuses, the People of the Mist became ever more hopeful about the future.
Yet, only the older Prince Roland knew that the two princes were really different.

Karwenz is the real genius here. I’m only a transmigrator who has knowledge from a previous world. All my so-called wisdom is only because of the head start that I have from reincarnation. If I don’t work hard, I’ll be left behind sooner or later.

Roland knew better than anyone that he was only an ordinary person.
He understood this all the more so because there was a true genius right next to him.

A so-called genius is someone who has better talent than others, more efficiency in using what they’ve learned than others, better concentration due to having more interest, and a more efficient method of learning. As time goes on, all of this added together will easily cause him to leave behind others of the same age. Ordinary people will probably think that’s what a genius is.

That had been Roland’s original impression of what a genius was. However, his younger by only a few minutes twin brother severely shattered Roland’s idea of what a genius was.
Karwenz didn’t use any sort of high-efficiency learning method. Instead, Karwenz had an instinctual ability: being able to learn anything with just one glance.
He didn’t rely on accumulation with sweat and time at all. He was able to cast sword energy on his very first attempt. He became a Sword Saint in less than three days. He had such outstanding instinct for combat that he defeated an old general who had experienced hundreds of battles before in his very first ever combat simulation involving commanding armies.
Military tactics, martial arts, and magic. Karwenz would learn all such things instantly. He learned how rhythm worked and was capable of writing his own songs right after hearing someone else humming. He was capable of extrapolating an entire language’s alphabet and grammar just by looking at hieroglyphics. Even though he was supposedly weaker at politics, he wasn’t bad at all with his wild instinct and outstanding ability to get along with others.

It’s really so simple. Why are all of you being so serious about it? Brother, you’re so stupid. You don’t even understand this? Hurry and finish your homework so that we can go play!

His childish words revealed to Roland how cruel the difference between them really was.
Perhaps there really were some people who were born superior to others in this world.
Perhaps, to some people, they only needed to casually play around in order to achieve what had taken others decades of hard work to achieve.
Perhaps, with a true genius right next to them, an ordinary person should have known their ordinariness, and obediently given up…

Ptui! I’m your older brother! How could I possibly be lesser than you?

However, Roland was someone who didn’t know the meaning of giving up.

So what if I can’t become a Sword Saint in just three days? I can probably do it if I work hard enough for three years, right? That will still scare plenty of people who hear about it.

So what if I’m not capable of learning everything with only a single glance? At the very least, I have two worlds’ worth of knowledge and an adult mind. As long as I’m willing to work hard, I can learn anything as well!

Roland didn’t give up at all, since he had his knowledge as a transmigrator. He kept becoming ever stronger through his trials and hardships, as well as becoming… ever more shameless.

Okay, I’m not capable of smiling in a sunny and naïve manner like you, but I can imitate such a smile to express my friendliness.

Okay, I’m not capable of learning everything instantly and mastering it all like you, but at least I can focus my limited time on what I’m the most skilled at, and focus on the most important areas, as well as use the highest efficiency methods to improve myself. The results won’t be any worse at all.

I failed? I’ll simply try again.

I lost? I’ll simply try again.

I’m tired? I’ll simply sleep it off and try again.

The ordinary older brother was unwilling to admit defeat to his genius younger brother because of pride from being the older twin. Although his heart was injured endlessly by constant comparison, he unknowingly achieved the peak of what a mortal could do, becoming a so-called genius in his own way.

Tsk, isn’t it fine as long as the results are the same? Is there any foundational difference between achieving the goal easily and achieving the goal with great difficulty?

At that time, Roland still didn’t know that not only was there a difference between the two, the difference was truly tremendous…
The twins were really fortunate. There were countless people who loved them.
The twins were really unfortunate. There were too many shadows in the darkness, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Finally, the twins lost everything.
But at that moment, their differing personalities caused them to take different paths in their lives for the very first time. The two of them had foundationally different interpretations of their own misfortune, which then directly led to their opposite paths in life.

It’s all because I wasn’t strong enough that all of this happened! If only I had worked harder before, and if only I had been 10 times stronger than I am now, those bastards never would have been capable of harming us!

The genius Karwenz constantly blamed himself as he endlessly regretted how he had previously wasted his talent and time. He hated that he hadn’t been strong enough.
After borrowing power from the Chaos Abyss to take revenge, he then stepped into the Chaos Abyss himself as only the Chaos Abyss which represented endless chaotic evolution would be able to satisfy his desire for power.

Weakness is a sin…

That was Karwenz’s final sentence before stepping into the Chaos Abyss. That was his final obsession as he abandoned his past in search for the peak of power.
Meanwhile, the ordinary older brother Roland also constantly blamed himself. However, his self-blame was rather different from his younger brother’s.

…I shouldn’t have trusted the Holy Church. I already understood the fundamental nature of the God of Holy Light, yet I still trusted those Cardinals. I was so foolish.

…I should have been able to identify the neighboring countries’ dangerous ambitions long ago. I shouldn’t have created several ironclad allies without caring about the price. I shouldn’t have played at diplomatic power balancing games.

…We also have constant problems with our food supply. The Northlands lacks food far too much. I should have obtained several more safe and reliable food suppliers…

…I still haven’t managed to finish inventing modern gunpowder. I should have long since started improving our weapons and equipment…

Both twins suffered the same misfortune. The genius younger brother Karwenz had only thought of one reason for this. Meanwhile, the ordinary older brother Roland thought of several hundred reasons. He kept a hobby from his previous life—recording every single mistake and worry in his own diary as a way to remind himself not to make the same mistake again. He then started to gradually make up for each and every self-identified mistake.
After that, the two brothers would sometimes hear a little news about the other here and there, but they didn’t meet again.
Just from the rumors that they heard of each other, both realized that they were no longer on the same side.
Since seeing each other again would only result in pain, it would be better not to see each other then. Both of them faintly felt this way without needing to state it.
The younger brother Karwenz destroyed everyone that he came across in the Chaos Abyss. With his astonishing talent and cheat-like good luck combined, his growth broke countless records in history. He reached the very peak, becoming a Chaos Main God in just a short 300 years. He could truly be called the harem protagonist of the world.
Karwenz obtained the power that he desired. Karwenz obtained what he wanted.
Meanwhile, the older brother Roland…
He died once, but then came back.
He died twice, but then came back again.
He died for the third time, licked his wounds, and came back yet again.
He accumulated hundreds, even thousands of diaries, reaching the extent where they filled an entire library with the records of his experiences, weaknesses, and mistakes.
The former ordinary person of an older brother had now become a true monster.
Roland was now a monster where his name alone could cause people to tremble in fear.
He wasn’t by himself. He was a team. His team all worked together towards the same goal.
He didn’t just stand for a slogan. He had his own way of thinking and ideas. He was using the Concepts of Law and Contracts to change the entire world and his new pure Holy Light to cleanse the world.
His pure power level was the least scary thing about him. His sly and wicked schemes made him feared as the most evil individual of all.
He was no longer blindly doing things by himself. He desired to understand and to be understood. He was standing together with his companions.
Now, his younger brother was standing all alone at the peak of the world, looking at him.

Hey, we meet again.

Indeed, the brothers had met again. Imperceptibly, the twin brothers were now at the same level again. It seemed that this time, neither side would be able to go around the other.
Both brothers were now at the peak of power in the world. But, when looking at their paths taken to get there, the paths had been so different, even exactly opposite…

One individual’s power has its limits. This world is worth saving. However, I shouldn’t be saving it by myself. I want the world to become a better place. It’s enough that I’m planting my seeds and finding companions for my cause…

The older brother Roland learned to understand others, borrow power from others, and to use his ideals and rules to change the world.

Only those who aren’t strong enough will suffer misfortune. Weakness is a sin. This world filled with the weak is so boring, far too boring. That’s why misfortune exists…

The younger brother Karwenz still had the exact same way of thinking as before. The only difference was that he was now at the extreme peak of power possible in this world, someone literally at the very top.
Unfortunately for the brothers… no, this was probably a
definite
, as their personalities and pasts had determined that they would absolutely have different interpretations of the same event which had changed their lives so much.

Roland, don’t you feel that this entire world is so boring? This sealed off world is a boring arena. Today, maybe you’re attacking me, while tomorrow, I’m attacking you. But, there’s no foundational change. It’s just like two insects who are trying to fight to the death, not realizing that the people watching them only find their fight to be an amusing spectacle. I’m going to open up the dimensional barrier. I’m going to jump out of this boring box. I’m going to have this stagnant world begin to evolve again. I’m going to foundationally end this boring Holy War. The Goddesses were afraid of the challenge, so they sealed off this universe? They were afraid of true evolution, yet they’re still fighting this so-called Holy War in search of strength? Don’t you feel that this is utter foolishness?

I laughed, although my laugh was rather forced and pitiful.
I already foresaw what would happen next, yet there were certain things that I absolutely couldn’t back down on.

Little brat, what you say is quite reasonable. I admit that the Creator Goddesses of Order and Chaos were ridiculously foolish to have done what they have. But, as your older brother, I… still don’t agree! Evolution? Yes, I admit that no matter how terrible the invaders from other universes will be, some existences and species will still survive after you break the dimensional barrier. Perhaps the world of Eich really will become stronger than it is now because of this evolution. But, what will happen to the ordinary mortals? They’re already having such a hard time of surviving in this Holy War. Since they probably won’t be able to evolve when you break the dimensional barrier, they’ll probably be the first to die. Do mortals deserve to be eliminated? The weak are born to be food for the strong to evolve with? Sorry, but I refuse to believe that! I, your older brother, was an ordinary mortal. Your father was an ordinary mortal. Your mother was an ordinary mortal. Your entire family are ordinary mortals. Karwenz, you little bastard who really doesn’t know what he’s doing, allow your older brother, me, to give you your final lesson—don’t look down on ordinary mortals!