Ch.316104. No Way to Reach It (3)

“So, what will you do now?”

“……”

The ragged man asks.

Still not showing his face, he appeared to have slumped down powerlessly.

“Are you just going to stay here like this?”

“……”

I contemplated the external, not the internal.

The Demon World Tree thrashes about.

Its branches crumble and break off, falling to the ground with explosive sounds, pounding and shaking the earth and its foundations—this scene hazily forms in my mind.

“The only opponent you consider worthy is your future self who will bear sins, or your past self.”

Therefore, the world he created, the world he governs…

…transcends purity to cross into perfection.

If there were principles governing the demon realm,

The world he created would be another world formed to meet specific conditions in shape, form, and composition.

But that’s metaphysical and largely abstract.

The reason it becomes concrete, clearly visible, tangible, and real is…

Because this world is not based on his consciousness and ideology.

“That swordsmanship you’ve been wielding all this time. Yes. It’s very similar to that.”

“……”

“Using others’ power to make them fall into error and dissonance, then attempting to exploit the flow and use of mana. And now… you’re trying to use others’ consciousness, concepts, and ideologies, even making them confront their sins, trapping them in their own snares.”

Truly, a cruel and absurd method.

“You buried your emotions and feelings for that purpose. What will you live for? Or what are you living for?”

“……”

“Do you know something?”

The world of blue starry sea suddenly transformed into pitch-black darkness.

Eventually, an enormous eye and some kind of gaze, a gaze like stars, came to stare at me.

“…No matter how great we are, we remain insignificant, primitive, and incomparably base beings. That fate. That destiny. Our essence. Our essence.”

“……”

“I’ve been frustrated by that gaze several times. No matter how godlike I am, no matter how many stupid creatures, species as numerous as ocean waves, worship me, reality doesn’t change. Not with just that much.”

That gaze.

That presence.

It’s utterly… frightening. Terrifying. Destructive, ruinous, transcendent, and limiting.

“…We are nothing.”

If those beings change their minds for the most trivial reason, or even without such awareness, just by shaking their heads or gesturing…

We would face destruction without a second thought.

Natural disasters are frightening to humans, but that would be no exception for bees, butterflies, wild animals, or even fierce beasts.

“The reason your emotions and reason are so dull yet heavy is probably because you need to face that directly and confront it willingly. For that purpose, the golden beast made you into a machine with slow emotions and reason. Yes, a machine. A machine.”

“……”

“Surely you know what a machine is? You must have seen the distant future. Or… would you like to look at it now? It shouldn’t be difficult anymore, should it?”

“Quiet.”

Kariel brought his index finger to his lips, urging him to be silent.

“Face yourself, not me.”

What one truly needs to see is neither others, nor the external, nor objects, nor anything else.

Because our eyes are directed outward, we can never structurally contemplate our inner selves.

That’s why we must make an acquired effort, not innate or congenital, to look inward.

Why should I look inside myself? Do I need to know who I am? Isn’t it enough to just live well?

“……”

If that’s what you want, then all the more reason to discover yourself.

What am I pursuing, craving, yearning for, and desiring?

For example, the reason I came to dislike swords wasn’t actually because of my father, nor because of the coercion, discrimination, neglect, or excessive expectations of those around me.

Those can be catalysts and grounds, but not the root cause.

It’s not because I lack aptitude or talent either.

I simply don’t feel the necessity to wield it.

…But the world, and my stubbornness… have forced me to take it up.

Yet in the end, I return to my original position.

Just as the sword naturally left my hand.

My master, with her vast knowledge, must have understood that merely becoming strong or gaining power wouldn’t be enough to attain dignity, freedom, or rights.

Therefore, by her standards, true strength, the level that would grant freedom… would require a truly distant and dramatic journey.

As the memories she had sealed began to unravel, I was increasingly realizing just how harsh my experiences had been.

The reason I became entangled with divine beings and received various proposals from them in the first place…

Their ultimate enemies are, after all, the divine beings who exist externally and invade internally…

And beings even higher than that, beyond expression.

In the end, even that is a shackle and a duty.

To escape that shackle, one must rise even higher.

Ascension (昇天).

Flying Ascension (飛昇).

Sublimation (昇化).

Just as divine beings dare not intervene on earth.

If I take one wrong step, I would find myself in the same position.

For many living beings, that would be a dream-like, ideal ending…

But it’s not the end… it’s another beginning.

Those who don’t know this would be so burdened by just ascending that they would only yearn and crave for it.

…Like hideous moths inevitably chasing flames.

But they are neither hideous nor pitiful.

Assigning meaning to them is the role of the one who assigns it, the one who feels that way.

“……”

The Demon World Tree is collapsing.

The massive tree that covered the sky finally falls to the ground, roots and all.

At last.

The soul bound within it is liberated.

Feeling as if a heavy stone deep in my chest had split, weathered, and scattered, with a sense of lightness and emptiness,

I continued to openly contemplate that scene.

And so.

She too, like Lutesia, would be reborn as a new life on this earth.

“……”

Despite being the one who manipulated fate out of jealousy to make her live a dramatic life,

Essentially, they were still best friends and sisters.

And just by forgiving that and personally extending a hand of salvation toward her…

…Lutesia too could be said to have loosened her binding constraints.

“……”

Yes.

She won’t be planning to leave this world right away either.

Once as a Demon King, she had a history of committing unspeakable atrocities here.

Inflicting pain, pain on all beings, including herself…

Since life is pain, all beings would willingly and equally live in pain.

“……”

And now that the Demon King has disappeared from this world, as if banished or expelled,

She would willingly take up that authority again.

…To finally strip away and destroy this miserable shackle in this generation.

“There’s no need for farewells with you, is there?”

Lutesia, who had suddenly invaded this space.

And the Black Knight, positioned as if to protect her.

“……”

“Let’s just focus on what we each need to do. You take responsibility for your parallel world counterparts.”

“I will.”

I nodded silently.

“Good. Then…”

I’ll be going now.

“The road is long, but it will pass quickly if we wait.”

Having already lived as the King of Pain,

For her, the material world would hold no fear or terrifying horror.

Having endured all the extreme pain of everything in the world,

…Ordinary trials would feel like gentle breezes to her.

Rather, such things would become another pleasure and entertainment in life.

“And. Try to return if you can.”

“……”

Lutesia, who said this while slightly glancing with her rainbow-colored eyes, soon let out a hollow laugh.

“Never mind. That’s for you to decide. Then… let’s see each other later if fate allows it.”

“…Alright.”

With those words, she turned away without regret.

Her figure suddenly disappeared, leaving only the Black Knight behind.

…

The thoughts emanating from it contained gratitude, apology,

And… a hint of regret.

“Still, we have no choice but to move forward, do we?”

…

The Black Knight.

His head nods heavily.

Soon his figure too vanishes like a dying flame,

And once again, only the blue starry sea and the faint fox rain falling drop by drop quietly illuminate and light up this calm world, pale yet modest.

“Not yet, yes. It’s not the end.”

The past has gone by, but we still have the present.

I may no longer have a future,

But that’s because my perspective has been elevated.

And still.

It wasn’t completely over.

I close my eyes.

My before and after.

I examine and contemplate them, reflecting more meticulously on my role, mission, and perhaps duty and responsibility.

Besides, didn’t I promise?

…That I would go meet her.

But that’s still a story for the distant future.

“……”

Many have helped me reach this point.

Therefore.

I had a duty to watch over them until the end.

Also.

In that incident where, on the verge of death, I realized that the sword I was holding was actually Elbat.

Those who grabbed my shoulders, my back, my hands, and awakened me as I lay sprawled.

Descendants of the distant future.

For them, it might be just a dream, an illusion, a daydream, or a mere delusion.

But.

That’s not the case at all.

“The stars we see are already dead or images from long ago.”

Both Grandeus and my master said so.

And.

Having come this far, I might be able to see her once more.

If I know her…

“Yes. Now I sense maturity.”

From the far end of the bright, dreamlike starry sea,

From the middle of the crossing horizon,

A golden butterfly, so bright that even pure gold would make one close their eyes from its brilliance,

Comes leisurely toward me,

And eventually takes the form of a girl.

“If that idiot Grandeus could do it, how could I not?”

The Demon King of Wisdom.

The Golden Demon King.

Among various other titles too numerous to list,

A being with all sorts of aliases.

“Your reaching this point means you’ve arrived at the starting point of the endpoint. As I intended.”

And.

It also means you’re ready to move forward again.

“…There’s still a long way to go. Is that what you mean?”

“Yes.”

She grinned.

This isn’t a conversation.

It’s her predicting the future, guessing what I would say and releasing it in advance…

“Your consciousness has expanded, and you can now handle all the memories I erased, so it should be fine now.”

As she raises her hand, the golden, yet transparent polygonal structure I saw before appears above it.

The golden afterimage.

“What you’re about to experience will probably be incomparably harsher than before. Giving up would be a much wiser choice.”

I grasped it without hesitation.

“Hey, at least listen to the explanation properly…”

“You knew this would happen.”

I shook my head with a dry smile.

“Even if I’m sad and weary because there’s no path forward, I can’t hesitate when there is a path.”

I might be frustrated not knowing the way,

But time to resent and lament the existence of a path…

“To prevent the world from oppressing us, we can’t afford to give up our efforts.”

“…Yes. I knew you’d say that.”

She chuckled and dusted off her hands.

“As promised, I’ll be waiting to see if you can stand before me.”

“…Yes. Let’s meet soon.”

Eternal eternity.

Golden pure gold.

Even those are just some of her many aliases,

But I didn’t bother to say or ask for more.

“I wish you good luck. Though, you won’t need luck.”

Now for you.

“Luck won’t be of much help to you anyway.”

Luck is like a stroke of fortune that the ignorant and blind seek without knowing their path and destiny.

For someone like you who can carefully trace all possibilities, connections, and causalities,

And reflect on them as you move forward…

“……”

Silently, she tilted her head fully,

And just stared at me leisurely with her arms crossed.

As her figure scattered into golden remnants and countless butterflies,

Only then could I feel some relief.

“…Still.”

For now, I have promises to keep with certain individuals.

“I’ll resolve those matters first, then proceed.”

The road is long,

But now at last… I can catch my breath and feel some relief.

It was quite a long journey.

A long and distant journey.

So just for a moment, even for a very brief time…

“……”

Sitting calmly in place, I closed my eyes and took a short nap.

It’s only for a very brief moment.

After that…

I will do what needs to be done.

Just as always.