NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 866
Park Jinseong takes his steps.
He moves his creaking body and approaches the flame.
Then, he kneels down and begins to bow, resembling someone from ancient times worshipping an idol, which pleases the idol immensely.
The twisted space, the blazing flame, and the bizarre tree standing there in the back.
It looks strange, yet it instills awe, making you worship automatically, but it is not divine.
It induces worship with a faith closer to madness than genuine belief—what else could that be if not an idol?
Seeing this, the flame was satisfied, and the tree felt uneasy, while the fiery blaze reached the sky. Ah, the one up high frowned and spoke.
“Do not make yourself a graven image, nor any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth… Keep yourselves away from idols…”
Ah! What good is a graven image to the one who carved it? The molded idol is a false teacher, and what good is it to rely on an idol that cannot speak? You must not give your children to Moloch, to sacrifice them by fire, so as not to bring shame upon the name of your God, I am tetragrammaton.
“There was a nation that served a god, and it was a king, not hope but calamity, for due to its corruption, it reached out in greed and desire, devouring people, and its name was spoken out loud as מֹלֶךְ.”
“With the head of an ox, it wore a crown and was clothed, sitting on a chair, spreading its arms and reaching out below to receive something, making many people worship in fear and awe, lavishly adorning the altar with fire and giving a child into the heat.”
“Lifting the child into its outstretched arms, the blazing flame engulfed them, causing them to burn in offering, while voices from the deepest underground rejoiced, and the sun above responded in its brilliance, clearing the clouds to bless the land, proclaiming blessings from the idol.”
“Do you hear the child’s cries? That is the portion of the spirits. Has the child’s body burned to ashes? It has entered His mouth. Has the child’s soul been harvested? That is the glory of the ages, gathered by Him. O idol, O idol! Great Moloch!”
Park Jinseong gazes at the fierce flames and bows.
“Grant me a blessing.”
Ah.
That bowing was filled with sincere devotion, and the flames created were ample for מֹלֶךְ to descend. Also, melting the metal, they were cast into shape without a mold, shining with a golden light, resembling the form of an ox head mixed with that of a man.
Thus, upon this ample body, He descended, inspecting Park Jinseong, who was pleased as He reached out a hand, bestowing a blessing whose light filled the true believer, creating a radiance upon his flesh—this is the blessing of the sun!
“O idol, O idol. The sun solely exists in the heavens, shining upon the entire world; how can there be weight in that? I hope for blessings other than those from the sun.”
Humble and lowly.
How could a man close to the sun derive any benefits?
The idol, seeing the humble and faithful one, smiled with satisfaction and regained strength, and this time flames surged into a massive form, finally becoming the shape of a snake, wrapping around him and trying to enter through his open mouth, so he might become like grain ripening, transforming him into a body like that of a warrior.
“God, O God! How could there be a desire for worldly possessions in serving you? The life of the flesh is brief, yet the afterlife is eternal; thus, grant me the blessing of the soul, so I may serve מֹלֶךְ for eternity.”
Surely sincere and incredibly devoted!
Moloch, satisfied, melted down His own form into jewels, the radiance of gold dazzling, as the jewelry forged from the fiery flames emitted a light so brilliant one might be blinded by its beauty. Only the faithful would need such a sign, and the idol adorned the neck of the one in the five-body posture, declaring, “You shall not be attacked by spirits in the underworld, and bearing my authority, you shall be respected. Thus, as you have spoken, you will serve me forever, wielding unmatched power in your devotion.”
Thus spoke He and then, with the collapsed form of habitation, He headed into the underworld, filled with the satisfaction of acquiring a loyal subordinate and the heart of a faithful devotee, reflected in the collapsing golden form resembling grains bundled together, with melted gold quickly solidifying into droplets like grains, promising a bountiful harvest from the Lord.
Oh, idol! O idol!
Showering light like the sun, blazing with fire, bringing a bountiful harvest to the world and subduing the spirits.
May the one with high powers, from the divine to the human realm, including the dwelling of the dead, bestow blessings upon the golden calf’s idol, receiving worship and spreading that blessing throughout the world…
Crack.
Crack.
As he was bowing, Park Jinseong slowly rose.
Around his neck hung a golden necklace that jingled as he moved, reflecting the light of the flames before him, bearing colors akin to a rainbow.
That hue resembled the gold trinkets made where the idol of Moloch vanished.
It is another idol, the legacy of the golden calf, perhaps a bastard child.
Seeing it, Park Jinseong speaks.
“נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר מַלְכָּא עֲבַד צְלֵם דִּי־דְהַב רוּמֵהּ אַמִּין שִׁתִּין פְּתָיֵהּ אַמִּין שִׁת אֲקִימֵהּ בְּבִקְעַת דּוּרָא בִּמְדִינַת בָּבֶל.”
King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden image; its height was sixty cubits, and its width six cubits, and it was set up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
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“וּנְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר מַלְכָּא שְׁלַח לְמִכְנַשׁ לַאֲחַשְׁדַּרְפְּנַיָּא סִגְנַיָּא וּפַחֲוָתָא אֲדַרְגָּזְרַיָּא גְדָבְרַיָּא דְּתָבְרַיָּא תִּפְתָּיֵא וְכֹל שִׁלְטֹנֵי מְדִינָתָא לְמֵתֵא לַחֲנֻכַּת צַלְמָא דִּי הֲקֵים נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר מַלְכָּא׃”
King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, prefects, and governors, the counselors, treasurers, judges, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Park Jinseong interrupted the invocation, raising his nails to inscribe words onto his forehead.
It meant one who proclaims or announces.
Thus, at that moment, Park Jinseong became the representative of the king, able to speak with borrowed authority.
With that authority, he commanded.
“בְּעִדָּנָא דִי־תִשְׁמְעוּן קָל קַרְנָא מַשְׁרֹוקִיתָא [כ= קִיתָרֹוס] [ק= קַתְרֹוס] סַבְּכָא פְּסַנְתֵּרִין סוּמְפֹּנְיָה וְכֹל זְנֵי זְמָרָא תִּפְּלוּן וְתִסְגְּדוּן לְצֶלֶם דַּהֲבָא דִּי הֲקֵים נְבוּכַדְנֶצַּר מַלְכָּא׃”
When the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and all kinds of music is heard, you must fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
“And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace!”
The moment Park Jinseong recited that proclamation, the nature of the flames started to change.
It might be better described as a deterioration rather than a change.
It wasn’t a change in shape but a transformation of their very essence.
The flames, once filled with divinity, began to corrupt.
As the symbolism of the idol was imposed upon them, they transformed disgracefully, accelerating in their corruption as they took on the characteristics of an idol, beginning to devour nonbelievers; the flames started to embody some aspects of punishment towards someone’s body.
For someone who has taken the flames into themselves, there would be nothing as lethal.
To one who consumes those flames, it would be as if their own body were consuming them.
The rule is that the flame does not consume itself.
But already, those flames have changed, so how could they still be considered the same?
Ah.
At this moment, flames and the person have separated.
The one who claimed the flames as themselves and their god now fell from grace, becoming mere human.
The one who seized the body of flames became a servant to the idol, using it for his own purposes.
It is not far from how a god falls to the mortal realm.
This is deterioration.
* * *
Ashtosh Singh recalls.
“Love will break the wall of all things.”
“Faith will lead me to great heights.”
“Belief will perfect me.”
But now, he feels the flames that desire to consume him as an enemy.
“I do not love myself, and I have built sturdy walls.”
“I merely believed and rose high, yet I can no longer see below.”
“I have believed to be complete, yet it turns out false.”
That flame resembles what he so desired as a god, but it is something different.
It is an idol.
The very thing so many religions warn against and abhor.
Resembling a god, yet not divine.
Ah…
“In the end, I have achieved nothing.”
Living by all the difficult rules holds no meaning.
What use is it if I cannot perform the most basic of deeds?
I feel as if I am watching a castle built on sand.
Ah, flames! Brilliant flames!
“All of this is my inadequacy…”
Make my life like this too…