Magical Girl's Knight Brother

Chapter 574 Magic and Divine Power

Only now, after talking for a while, has Tang Zijun truly gained a general understanding of the profession, or rather, the identity, of a magical girl.

While there had been some speculation before, a lack of sufficient evidence to prove it, and even the magical girls themselves were somewhat confused, meant that Tang Zijun hadn't investigated this aspect too much. Now, with Scáthach, a being of considerable influence, providing corroboration, Tang Zijun breathed a sigh of relief—although she didn't really want to be associated with the gods, if this was indeed human power, then it wouldn't pose any threat to Tang Cao and the other girls.

However, after figuring this out, Tang Zijun raised her head again. "I have another question."

"Please speak freely." Scáthach raised her hand slightly in a "please" gesture.

"I want to know, why are all the inheritors of this power girls?" Tang Zijun looked in Qin Nan's direction. They hadn't hidden Qin Nan and Hyacinth from each other during their conversation. Hyacinth was a priestess of the Flower Fairy clan, and she was allowed to stay and record the conversations of the gods. Qin Nan was Tang Zijun's verbally recognized "divine messenger," so he was barely qualified to attend the meeting. Although this was considered a breach of etiquette by Scáthach, as their superiors, Trova and Tang Zijun hadn't signaled them to leave, so Scáthach naturally wouldn't say anything. However, this was Scáthach overthinking things. The two people in front of her were completely different from the gods she remembered. Trova had lost part of her memory, so she wouldn't care about the rules of the gods. As for Tang Zijun, he hadn't been working for ten years, and he couldn't even gather enough gods to play mahjong, let alone do these things.

So, all things considered, Qin Nan and Hyacinth stayed behind and heard this incredibly unbelievable past.

When Qin Nan noticed Tang Zijun's gaze, she couldn't help but tense up, her eyes darting away to Scáthach. Aside from feeling a little embarrassed, she also wanted to know what kind of response Scáthach would give. "First of all, I can't give you a complete answer to this question, because I've only recently come into contact with these people and don't know their methods of inheritance," Scáthach paused, then continued. "However, I can make some reasonable speculations."

"Actually, you've fallen into a misconception. The one who inherited this power wasn't the 'girl.' In fact, the parrot on Qin Nan's shoulder was male, and this power was also activated from that parrot." Upon hearing this, Tang Zijun and Qin Nan, who was not far away, both fell into deep thought.

Upon closer examination, this is indeed the case. The awakening of magical girls is not the beginning; the true starting point comes from the spirit awakening ritual of the spirit beasts. They do not directly obtain divine power, but are chosen by these spirit beasts and form a contract with them.

Tang Zijun had seen quite a few spirit beasts, both male and female, over the years. The records in the Magic Bureau's archives covered all sorts of birds and beasts, and their genders weren't limited to females. "So, from this perspective, the speculation that magic only chooses young girls is unfounded," Scáthach continued. "The crucial point is that, ultimately, the reason is that these spirit beasts chose these young girls, which is why you speak of 'magical girls.'"

"As for why these spirit beasts choose young girls, it's actually quite easy to understand. In a more scientific way, it's to avoid the contamination of 'divine power.'" "Ahem... Are you sure avoiding the contamination of divine power is a more 'scientific' explanation?" Tang Zijun raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, having spent so many years in the wasteland and studied humanity's advanced technologies, I know very well what scientific explanations are," Scáthach said slowly. "Whether in cultural legends or historical accounts, young girls symbolize 'pure vessels' untouched by worldly corruption. This aligns perfectly with magic, an ability that requires mental focus and a pure connection with natural/supernatural forces. The 'blank' state of a young girl, compared to adults rigidified by social rules and teenagers with uncontrollable emotions, makes her easier to mold into a 'channel' or 'medium.'" "Perhaps you find this hard to understand, but in fact, the gods understood this in ancient times. It's just that the concept of 'scientific research' didn't exist then, and this is one of the reasons why humans in that era sacrificed young girls to the gods and evil gods."

"The 'rage' and 'contamination' of divine power need to be tamed by 'spells'. Similarly, the bodies and souls of mortals are extremely fragile vessels. Direct contact with or bearing primal magic power will most likely lead to collapse, madness, or alienation."

"And girls, as 'filters/converters,' can perfectly solve this problem. The concepts of life and reproduction in a woman's body will naturally make her more intimate with certain non-destructive magical sources that are inclined towards 'creation' and 'maintenance.' This affinity reduces the risk of being devoured by divine power."

At this point, Scáthach revealed a complex smile.

"To put it bluntly, talented girls in the era of the gods were 'tools,' used to help the monsters purify the influence of divine power. Even the menus of most monsters included a 'girl' category." "So, you're curious why there are only magical girls in this world? I can only say that it's their talent. Without the gods' plunder and suppression, this power would eventually return to their hands." "And in this world without the protection of the gods, where authority and laws have returned to the heavens and earth, only girls can possess the ability to use magic without being corrupted by the hidden divine power. If it were a boy... I'm afraid that as his power grows stronger, his mind would inevitably be corrupted by divinity."

Tang Zijun listened quietly while deep in thought. If what Scáthach said was true, then magic was indeed a rather dangerous form of energy, a double-edged sword. In that instant, Tang Zijun couldn't help but think of Tan Zhixin, or more precisely, Tan Zhixin who had been devoured by the power of shadow.

In the Shadow Disaster incident, Shiyao used the power of shadow to corrupt Tan Zhixin and corrupt her to build a bridge between the shadow world and the real world, and drove the power of shadow to invade the real world through the surface world.

Although the saying "darkening makes you three times stronger, redemption makes you three times weaker" has become a meme, in reality, if we follow Scáthach's theory, then magical girls corrupted by the power of shadows are very likely to represent a power similar to "out-of-control divine power".

Divine power itself is extremely corrupting, as can be seen from the situation in the dream world. The destruction caused by uncontrolled divine power will likely severely deplete the magical girl's body, which is why the Lost Rumors needs to be rebuilt with shadows.

This raises a new question.

"What exactly is the corruption of divine power?"

Tang Zijun frowned slightly and looked at Scáthach on the opposite side.

"I can barely be considered a god, and Trova is a god too. If the pollution of divine power is really that outrageous, why have we never affected others?" You have to understand, seven years have passed since the battle with the God of Mirror Food and Greed.

Over the course of seven years, Tang Zijun came into contact with thousands upon thousands of people. If the contamination of divine power truly existed, then, putting aside everything else, her neighbors and landlords would undoubtedly be the first to be affected. And if the explanation is that she didn't use the belt's power during that period, how can that be explained now?

He had taken back the belt three quarters ago, and in that nearly year, he had never noticed anyone around him being affected by his divine power. Hearing Tang Zijun's words, Scáthach didn't keep him in suspense, calmly replying, "The contamination of divine power, huh?"

"The pollution of divine power is actually the erosion of matter by the laws of nature."