Chapter Text
A.N. I am almost certain that they read Ecclesiastes when writing Solomon, it fits too well.
“Impossible! Absurd! That man has no wish! He was cold! Inhuman! Cruel! Emotionless!”
Romani Archaman looks at his enemy—no, his greatest failure—in front of him.
Goetia. One of the Evils of humanity, Beast I. He who has incinerated all history of mankind. And he who stood at the end of Chaldea’s Grand Order.
Romani smiles wryly, “Hearing that from you kinda hurts…You really hate me don’t you?”
But…he is right, after all.
Solomon, the King of Mages was cold. Inhuman. Cruel. Emotionless. He was a king who had indeed seen many evils and tragedies under the sun and come to realize that life on this planet is meaningless.
The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:
“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”
-Ecclesiastes 1: 1-2
He, like Goetia, arrived at the same conclusion regarding life, that it was meaningless. Utterly meaningless. But unlike the Demon God King, who raged at the natural order, and seek a new birth of this planet to alleviate suffering, King Solomon merely looked at the suffering with detachment, turning them into another of his philosophical rumination.
The king’s reflection on life, and the meaninglessness of it, as well as the answer he found, later became one of the 39 books of the Old Testament. Ecclesiastes, the Latin translation of the Hebrew word, ‘Kohelet’, meaning Teacher.
Romani shed his humanity once more, ceasing to be Romani Archaman, and once more dons the form of King Solomon. King of Mages. Possessor of clairvoyance. The Wisest Man on Earth.
King Solomon stares straight at his own creation, “I am the King of Mages, Solomon. Goetia, it is I who shall read you your last rites,”
Goetia laughs as if the Demon God had heard the greatest joke of his life, “Now that everything has ended, mankind’s greatest fool shows his face?!”
Fool. Perhaps so. After all, he is rejecting a solution to the same problem, he, himself has acknowledged.
King Solomon had reached the same conclusion as Goetia regarding the reality of life on Earth. It is meaningless. Goetia is right. This world is mad. In the first place, what meaning is there to be found in humanity’s transient existence compared to the vastness of the rest of creation?
What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one can say,
“Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
it was here before our time.
-Ecclesiastes 1: 9-10
Even should they leave something behind, their legacy too, will inevitably perish. Erased by the passage of time.
No one remembers the former generations,
and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
by those who follow them.
-Ecclesiastes 1: 11
It is simply the nature of this mad world. An irrevocable fact of life on this planet, that everything is doomed to be meaningless.
I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
What is crooked cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.
-Ecclesiastes 1: 14-15
In the end. Wisdom, too, is meaningless.
I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
-Ecclesiastes 1: 16-17
Rather, the meaninglessness of life comes with devastating despair for the wise who truly comprehend it. And the Teacher, King Solomon was the wisest of man. He, more than anyone, understood the depth of despair that came while confronting the absence of meaning.
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.
-Ecclesiastes 1: 1-18
But the Teacher was wise, and so he thought, ‘Surely, this cannot be all? If our lives are destined to end in meaninglessness, then perhaps we would find meaning in the works we do while we live?’
I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees.
-Ecclesiastes 2: 4-6
‘And why stop at great works? I shall gather riches and women. I shall test myself with pleasure to find out what good is there to be found in it’ thought the Teacher, Solomon.
I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart.
-Ecclesiastes 2: 8
Everything he has tasted, his works was without peers. ‘Surely, meaning will be found here?’ he thought.
I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my labor,
and this was the reward for all my toil.
-Ecclesiastes 2: 10
But they too, are meaningless. For everything, will eventually perish. Even his works, which had been meticulously cared for by the Teacher, the wisest man on Earth, shall eventually be handed to fools who would ruin his great works.
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.
-Ecclesiastes 2: 11
Goetia called him a king without emotion or humanity. For he had seen tragedies and done nothing. This is true.
And I saw something else under the sun:
In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
in the place of justice—wickedness was there.
-Ecclesiastes 3: 16
He saw all of this. And yet, as Goetia said, King Solomon merely watched in apathy. ‘Why bother addressing them?’ the Teacher thought. King Solomon was a perfect servant of God, and in his wisdom and cold inhumanity, he understood, that there is time for everything. Eventually, God’s judgment will come.
I said to myself,
“God will bring into judgment
both the righteous and the wicked,
for there will be a time for every activity,
a time to judge every deed.”
-Ecclesiastes 3: 17
These sufferings are revelations from God, so humans may learn our lot on this planet. To understand, that everything is meaningless.
I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless.
-Ecclesiastes 3: 18-19
Therefore care for nothing but what little joy you can find. Live, toil, and then die. For that is our lot as mere humans.
So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?
-Ecclesiastes 3: 22
King Solomon, therefore, simply watched the sufferings in silence.
Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun:
I saw the tears of the oppressed—
and they have no comforter;
power was on the side of their oppressors—
and they have no comforter.
-Ecclesiastes 4: 1
The Teacher then declared his conclusion of the matter. ‘Life is meaningless, so better to be dead than to be alive. Or even better, to have never been born into this mad world.’
And I declared that the dead,
who had already died,
are happier than the living,
who are still alive.
But better than both
is the one who has never been born,
who has not seen the evil
that is done under the sun.
-Ecclesiastes 4: 2-3
The Teacher had come to the same conclusion as Beast I. And yet here he is, as King Solomon, standing against this Evil of Humanity to prevent a new genesis of the world, one where lives on this planet are no longer transient, so meaning may be found.
In his peerless wisdom, King Solomon has accepted the premise of the meaninglessness of transient human life, and yet he seeks to oppose the solution offered. What is Solomon, then, if not mankind’s greatest fool?
The new genesis shall erase sufferings. Sufferings that the King had seen for himself. But as King Solomon, the wisest of man, he had judged Goetia’s answer of eternity long ago and found it wanting.
A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded.
-Ecclesiastes 6: 3-4
There is no meaning to be found in eternity. No more than is there to be found in transience. For humans fundamentally will remain the same.
Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man—even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?
-Ecclesiastes 6: 5-6
Would not humans keep desiring more, in the end?
Everyone’s toil is for their mouth,
yet their appetite is never satisfied.
-Ecclesiastes 6: 7
Would not humans remain insignificant in the grand scheme of things?
Whatever exists has already been named,
and what humanity is has been known;
no one can contend
with someone who is stronger.
-Ecclesiastes 6: 10
And would not everything lose meaning in abundance?
The more the words,
the less the meaning,
and how does that profit anyone?
-Ecclesiastes 6: 11
There is no meaning to be found in eternity, and neither is in transience as long as human nature remains. So what should humanity live for? What value is there in humanity existing?
Goetia is, after all, correct.
“All life must come to an end. Life is a pilgrimage where we stockpile sufferings,” King Solomon declares as he stood between Goetia and the final Master of Humanity.
Yes. Goetia is right. This world is mad. It is meaningless. It is the same conclusion that the King himself had reached.
But.
“…But that is by no means, a tale of deaths and partings.”
Death is not something to be feared.
A good name is better than fine perfume,
and the day of death better than the day of birth.
It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to go to a house of feasting,
for death is the destiny of everyone;
the living should take this to heart.
-Ecclesiastes 7: 1-2
And suffering does not equal misery.
Frustration is better than laughter,
because a sad face is good for the heart.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
-Ecclesiastes 7: 3-4
And the wheel of fortune comes for all. Life is a pilgrimage of suffering, but it is also a pilgrimage of joy.
When times are good, be happy;
but when times are bad, consider this:
God has made the one
as well as the other.
Therefore, no one can discover
anything about their future.
-Ecclesiastes 7: 14
“The time of birth hatch come. I am the remedy of eternity…”
King Solomon activates his final Noble Phantasm
“Why? Why?! Solomon! NOW you are saving humanity?! You, who stood still witnessing countless tragedies?!”
King Solomon looks impassively at the Demon God King who had just impaled him straight to the chest, leaving a gaping hole.
His omnipotence will cease. King Solomon’s sacrifice would ensure it.
“Yes. It is strange,” the King of Mages remarks.
“Goetia. You and I sat on the same throne, witnessed the same thing, and spend the same time together. Yet we both reached antithetical conclusions. If there was a difference between us…it was perhaps the fact that I did not have the freedom to get mad.”
They both acknowledged the meaninglessness of transient lives on earth, but that is where they part ways.
Goetia’s wrath was roused by the sufferings of the world and rebelled against the order of this world to bring about eternity.
King Solomon’s cold inhumane wisdom watched impassively all the tragedies he had seen under the sun. And yet, it was this very wisdom that led King Solomon to reject eternity. To conclude that the length of a life lived is not where true meaning is found.
In his wisdom, the Teacher, King Solomon, had written down how a human should live and where meaning can be found.
How then, should a human live their life?
King Solomon glances at the one who would be witnessing his final moments, and the one he would entrust the Grand Order to.
Goetia may have said that the final Master of Humanity is its worst master, but to King Solomon, Humanity’s final Master stands for humanity. They are what humanity should be about.
They are neither righteous nor wicked.
In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these:
the righteous perishing in their righteousness,
and the wicked living long in their wickedness.
-Ecclesiastes 7: 15
Their anger rose against those who seek to harm them and those they held close. Not for the sake of justice or ideals. They do what they do because they believe it is right, not for the sophistication of philosophers in their ivory towers.
Do not be overrighteous,
neither be overwise—
why destroy yourself?
-Ecclesiastes 7: 16
They desire for more, for they are human, but not for the sake of things themselves, nor out of an inherent desire to harm others. They do not foolishly charge to their death, for they cherish life.
Do not be overwicked,
and do not be a fool—
why die before your time?
-Ecclesiastes 7: 17
They are quintessential of humanity. Neither a saint nor a demon. And yet they unabashedly extend kindness where they wish, and desire what they want.
It is good to grasp the one
and not let go of the other.
Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes.
-Ecclesiastes 7: 18
They do not judge. For all humans are sinners.
Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous,
no one who does what is right and never sins.
-Ecclesiastes 7: 20
And they pay no heed to what people say. Neither to sway them from what they believe is right nor to seek condemnation for the resolve of others.
Do not pay attention to every word people say,
or you may hear your servant cursing you—
for you know in your heart
that many times you yourself have cursed others.
-Ecclesiastes 7: 21-22
Indeed, in his cold inhumane wisdom, the Teacher, King Solomon had discovered how humans should live and the answer to the meaninglessness of life. And yet, it was not King Solomon, with his infinite wisdom that can comprehend the answer.
All this I tested by wisdom and I said,
“I am determined to be wise”—
but this was beyond me.
Whatever exists is far off and most profound—
who can discover it?
-Ecclesiastes 7: 23-24
“Caster—no, King of Mages, Solomon. Knowing you, your wish would be a righteous one.”
“…If there is one wish I would ask to the grail, Marisbury, it is to become human.”
For I seek to comprehend the answer I arrived at in all my wisdom.
King Solomon cannot comprehend the answer, he, himself had found. Not as the wisest man on Earth. But Romani Archaman, in all his humanity, did.
Of course, Romani Archaman had doubted whether his answer was actually the correct one. Especially as Goetia’s eternity means the salvation of Mash Kyrielight.
But.
Now that he is standing here…
In this very moment, carrying all that Romani Archaman had experienced as a human…
“Goetia…as I am now, I can give a clear answer…”
He has seen for himself what he had written so long ago truly meant. And he is sure…that he was not wrong.
“Goetia. You harbored hatred towards the meaninglessness of life. And you are right. Life is full of suffering. But that does not make life a story of despair. It is a battle against death and separation in what precious time is given.”
This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of people, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. Anyone who is among the living has hope—even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!
-Ecclesiastes 9: 3-4
The Teacher had written fortunate are those that were never born to witness evil in this world. But that was if one is blind to what makes life meaningful. But for those who knows what makes life meaningful, then fortunate are those who are alive.
“It is a repetition of meeting and parting despite knowing of the inevitable end.”
For the living know that they will die,
but the dead know nothing;
they have no further reward,
and even their name is forgotten.
-Ecclesiastes 9: 5
Death is an inevitable part of life. For not even eternity grants reprieve in meaninglessness—because meaning is lost in abundance. Therefore, make the most out of this transient life.
“Human stories are dazzling brief journeys. Like the twinkling of stars.”
So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.
-Ecclesiastes 8: 15
“They are…stories of love and hope.”
Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
-Ecclesiastes 9: 7-10
King Solomon can feel himself disappearing. Having given up his place on the Throne of Heroes, he will truly be dead.
But that is fine. For life is a joyful story of meeting and parting. And through his life, he had imparted what he could, just as he always had.
Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.
-Ecclesiastes 12: 9-10