PART TWO: ANTITHESIS

This chapter presents a mythological passage from the fictional religious texts of the Laconian civilization. The story follows Ke's quest to reach a purified new world called Anjiin, as he discovers that divine powers—the lord of growth, the lady of oceans, and the spirits of deep fires—have become weakened, indifferent, or unavailable to help his people. The narrative ends with Ke arriving at the holy mountain of Buruq, where he must formulate a plan without divine assistance.

The chapter consists entirely of a mythological origin story transcribed from Uuya Tomos's scholarly work on Laconian myths. Ke, having named a new world for his people to escape their sickness and past corruption, seeks to reach Anjiin but finds himself blocked by distance and the limitations of his people's seafaring abilities. He approaches three divine entities in sequence: first the lord of all that grows, who has become too weak to cultivate bamboo tall enough to reach the stars; then the lady of the oceans, who is too sick to generate a powerful enough waterspout for travel; and finally the spirits of the deep fires, who have turned away from the affairs of living beings entirely and do not respond. Facing these failures and unable to petition the great bird Ash-Abbé—the sky-devouring creature dwelling at the holy mountain of Buruq—without risking his own consumption, Ke settles at the mountain to devise an alternative plan. The passage underscores a world where divine power has waned or become indifferent to mortal need.