“In the mortal world, there is no strict boundary between diseases and plagues. Any infectious disease has the potential to transform into a plague. Most of the plagues I’ve dealt with in the past were of this type—relatively easy to spawn, but also relatively easy to manage. Isolation, disinfection, medication... there’s generally hope. But in the realm of the occult, disease and plague are fundamentally different. Due to the exclusivity of concepts, occult diseases are absolutely not contagious.”
Among the students listening to the lecture, classmate Natalie Angel had already swiftly slipped into a semi-conscious slumber, classmate Judy remained detached from the world in a daydream, and classmate Diana was fidgeting, continuing to fiddle with the gorgeous Flaming Red Lips. In the entire reading room, only classmate Levive was listening attentively.
“The exclusivity of concepts?”
“Yes.” Mrs. Nightingale held up three fingers. “How many is this?”
“Three?”
“Why the questioning tone? Are you unsure?”
“Fine, it's three!”
“Could it be four?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Huh? Because it's three.”
“That is the exclusivity of concepts in the occult realm,” Mrs. Nightingale explained. “A concept cannot simultaneously be both three and four. It can only carry a single definition: it is either three or four. Returning to disease: in the occult realm, a disease is forged purely from the concept—or rather, the authority—of disease, rather than originating from an organ dysfunction or an external toxin. Thus, in accordance with the exclusivity of concepts, since it already possesses the concept of disease, it will not possess the concept of transmission, and therefore cannot spontaneously transform into a plague.”
Lynch frowned and pondered for a long while before nodding slowly. “In other words, diseases in the occult realm rely entirely on conceptual definitions. A person falls ill solely because they are affected by the concept of disease. It requires no underlying cause, and in fact has no cause whatsoever.”
This completely overturned the medical knowledge from Lynch's past life. It took him a considerable amount of time to fully wrap his head around it.
“Exactly. That is why diseases in the occult realm are extremely troublesome to treat; traditional medicine simply cannot address them. However, the upside to being a conceptual definition is that it cannot possess contagiousness.”
Lynch nodded. “So, was I just overthinking things?”
“No. Exclusivity does not mean that plagues cannot exist in the occult world. In fact, in the year 1227 of the Third Age and the year 896 of the Fourth Age, occult plagues occurred on the Old Continent. The symptoms included vomiting, diarrhea, high fevers, and the body becoming covered in dark spots, ultimately culminating in agonizing deaths. The casualties numbered in the tens of millions.”
Lynch's lips twitched slightly. He couldn't help thinking that sounded an awful lot like the Black Death from his past life.
“A plague can arise because, in addition to exclusivity, concepts also possess stackability. Simply put, multiple concepts can be superimposed upon one another to generate a synergistic effect.”
Lynch narrowed his eyes, a sudden and terrible premonition welling up inside him. But he didn't blurt it out in alarm, choosing instead to patiently listen to Mrs. Nightingale’s explanation.
“However, the requirements for such a synergistic effect are exceptionally harsh. Fulfilling them through deliberate manipulation is exceedingly difficult, and natural formation is utterly impossible. First, not just any concept can be stacked together; the overlapping concepts must be of equivalent stature. If one originates from Divine Authority, the others must also originate from Divine Authority—you cannot have one from a Divine Authority while the other is merely an ordinary concept.”
“Second, the stacked concepts must maintain temporal continuity. They cannot be separated by too long an interval, or they will be regarded as two isolated concepts and fail to superimpose. Typically, the outbreaks between two concepts cannot be more than a month apart; once that threshold is exceeded, they can never be stacked.”
“Third, spatial convergence. Because the concept of disease originates from Divine Authority, its outbreak will ripple across the entire world, but that is merely the area of effect, not the point of outbreak. The points of outbreak for the stacked concepts must be identical. If one occurs in Norin and another in Rhine, they remain two isolated concepts and cannot merge. It must be entirely in Norin, or entirely in Rhine.”
“And fourth, which is also the most crucial point: the core factors behind the erupted concepts must be consistent.”
“Wait,” Lynch pressed. “What do you mean by core factor?”
“That is why we held that ritual days ago, where you were the one to confront the residual will of the King of Ghouls. Because you were the core factor who triggered the eruption of the disease concept, it was only effective with your participation. The same reason applies to why you had to cultivate the human-faced fruit; it needed to replace you as that core factor during the compounding of the medicine. Only medicine prepared with your involvement holds curative value against this disease. A core factor doesn't necessarily have to be a person; it can also be an object. But if you wish for concepts to stack, the core factor must remain consistent.”
As Lynch listened, he slowly closed his eyes. Mrs. Nightingale’s words didn't put his mind at ease; instead, they made him increasingly tense. Many things that had previously eluded him were now falling into place.
Unaware of his internal turmoil, the elderly woman continued her explanation:
“Having established these four conditions, let us examine the specific circumstances. Drawing upon the lessons of several occult plagues throughout history, orchestrating an occult plague requires at least three distinct concepts—or rather, three authorities. First is disease itself; this is the foundation and is absolutely indispensable. Second, for the disease to multiply its victims from one to ten, it must be stacked with replication, enabling it to duplicate itself. Third is transmission; it must be capable of spreading outward, which means infecting others. Not a single one of these three concepts can be missing, and they must all be triggered by you in the same region, with no more than a month between any of them. Only then does the emergence of a plague become possible.”
“Your concern is not without reason, child. Within a month of detonating the King of Ghouls's Divine Authority of Disease, you led the effort that shattered that mirror. The Gate of Falsehood and Reality, a manifestation grade mystery relic, contained a sliver of the Divine Authority of Replication. This can be stacked. The fact that you encountered both events is a coincidence that shouldn't happen in the occult world, so I believe your judgment: someone indeed seeks to use your hands to engineer an occult plague. But there is no need to worry. As of now, only disease and replication have been stacked; it still lacks transmission. As long as we hold out for another month, the stacking effect will naturally dissipate, and their conspiracy will come to nothing—”
Mrs. Nightingale abruptly cut her explanation short. She noticed that not only had Lynch gone pale, but even Officer Angel's face had turned ashen, her eyes filled with sheer astonishment.
Lynch leaned back against the chair, staring blankly at the ceiling in a momentary daze.
Ever since his awakening, every single event now connected seamlessly in his mind.
“Mrs. Nightingale... Shortly before I stopped the King of Ghouls's resurrection, down in the basement of the Thorn Flower Club, I caused two evil gods to collide inside my body. Both evil gods were shattered, and in theory, their Divine Authorities leaked out and exerted an influence.”
Lynch smiled wryly. He finally realized that from the moment of his transmigration, he had been trapped inside a colossal conspiracy. The people of the Shadow Alliance likely knew he was the target chosen by his 'neighbor' and that his true power was far greater than it appeared. They had manipulated him step by step into opposing evil gods, triggering three Divine Authorities within an impossibly narrow timeframe.
“One of those evil gods was the Ancient Flicker. And its Divine Authority... happened to be transmission and diffusion.”
“It seems I wasn't overthinking it after all. The plague... is coming.”
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