Chương 697: The Beginning and the End

The first thing we see is a massive chunk of information.

"This is..."

I understand what this is.

This thing, constantly writhing in a dark-red state, is a type of massive computation device.

Oh Hye-seo and I are immersed in the massive waves of dimensional flow, and the thing closest to us is this dark-red fog-like mass.

Wo-woong!

"..."

Oh Hye-seo, her eyes trembling, brings her hand toward the dark-red mass.

Ttstststsst!

'A virtual world, huh...'

Inside the dark-red mass before my eyes, I see thousands of 'worlds'.

And within those virtual worlds, virtual realities filled with countless possibilities are being processed.

'This must be...

The legacy of a previous Agate.

'The current time is forty thousand years ago. And this place is...'

Within the Head Realm, the space where the Akashic Records exist.

Located in that space, it seems to be a virtual world computation Immortal Art within the remains of the previous Agate.

'This place is...'

"Seo Hweol's... homeland."

Oh Hye-seo smiles bitterly.

Dreamlike mists of every hue cover the surroundings.

At the center is the dark-red mist, and within that mist, thousands of virtual realities are visible.

The ego of the artificial computation device that is the previous Agate's legacy—Agate's persona—seems to have detected our reaction, as it begins to scan the surroundings.

However, perhaps because the rank of Oh Hye-seo, who is currently linked to me, and I, is far too high, Agate's persona fails to even perceive us.

'This point in time is forty thousand years ago. Deep inside the Head Realm's Akashic Records... I guess we can't exit this place.'

I try to look around this point in time we've reached, but my whole body feels like it's sinking deep into an ocean, unable to move.

'If I get used to it, I might be able to move... but for now, it's difficult. Is it the resistance of a world existing in the past? I suppose I should see it as a kind of corrective force.'

The ancient history formed by the layered webs of Indra's Net, the principle of the world, presses down on us with immense weight, minimizing our interference.

For now, all we can do within this misty world inside the Head Realm's Akashic Records is observe the traces of Agate.

"Anyway, Seo Hweol can't be seen. Oh Hye-seo, about your predecessor Agate's—"

"He's here..."

"What?"

But Oh Hye-seo seems to have found something.

"He's... here..."

Heaven and Earth spiritual energy flows from her eyes.

Reflected in her tears is a single dot of violet mist, mingled with the dark-red legacy of Agate.

"... I see."

I can sense the familiar scent of the Underworld from that violet mist.

The loyal retainer of Bong Hwa who upheld the power of the Underworld, the former Chief Judge of the Netherworld, the Nether Devil True Lord Yu Hao Te.

His leftover Blood Yin.

The fragment of Purple Soul Filling the Heavens imbued with Blood Yin's will that submerged into Agate's legacy and was born was— That ancient Seo Hweol.

In silence, I begin to watch Seo Hweol with Oh Hye-seo from outside the mist.

Countless time passes.

Oh Hye-seo watches as the fragment of Purple Soul Filling the Heavens, which can be called the essence of Seo Hweol, gradually awakens within Agate's legacy.

I, meanwhile, within the past, contemplate the Radiance Mantra and research ways to observe the past more closely, in search of power that transcends time.

'Even if we go to the past, if we can't escape the Head Realm, it's meaningless. We must be able to leave the Head Realm.'

Through Immortal Arts, through mantras, through martial arts, I seek every method to minimize the resistance imposed by the power of the past within this space.

And, within that time...

The existence that can be called the essence of Seo Hweol gradually gains more spiritual energy and expands the root of its existence...

Eventually, for the first time, it comes to possess what is called 'an ego'.

Then, at last, I am able to see the faces of Seo Hweol's [parents].

"Father, Mother. Must I also marry for the purpose of intercourse with a female or male?"

Within Agate's virtual world, Seo Hweol, having obtained an ego for the first time, asks his parents.

Oh Hye-seo tilts her head, unable to recognize the [parents].

Perhaps, for someone like Oh Hye-seo, they are beings of far too high a rank to perceive.

And...

As I perceive Seo Hweol's [parents], I barely endure the pain that feels as if my eyes are about to burst.

Hong Fan taps my shoulder and speaks with concern.

"Master, please do not overdo it. They seem to be existences beyond rank. You could be harmed if you push too hard."

"..."

I glance at Hong Fan, who has at some point succeeding in transforming the Swallowing Heaven Supreme Deity into an Immortal Treasure and bestowing the Supreme Deity's power to the other Immortal Treasures, and has come as one of the five Immortal Treasures, and speak.

'How strange.'

Even if the power of the Swallowing Heaven Supreme Deity was distributed among the Immortal Treasures so that each reaches the level of a Great Net Immortal and, together, they reach the level of a Supreme Deity...

Their own realm, excluding the power granted, is at best that of Vestige Liberation Immortal.

And yet, despite being such beings, though he accelerated for a shorter duration than Hyeon Mu, Hong Fan still managed to follow me with the speed of Undying and clung to me up to here.

The issue is, I have no way of knowing 'how he managed to do that'.

Even when I read the history, the result is the same.

He 'simply' followed along.

At this bizarre situation where there is no process, only the result, I feel a chill wash over me.

'It's as if... as long as we are inside Mount Sumeru, there's some kind of law that dictates Hong Fan to be by my side, regardless of causality.'

Just what exactly is Hong Fan?

Is he simply the first Radiance Supreme Deity, or...

Is there another secret hidden beyond that?

"... It's fine. You just go over there and eat boiled potatoes or something."

Seeing Hong Fan's expression that seems to worry for me, I let out a faint chuckle and turn my head away.

"If it's the current me... even if I look directly, it's not enough to make me return to thee."

And so, turning away from the worried-looking Hong Fan, I begin to perceive [Seo Hweol's parents].

:: Everything under Heaven and Earth follows the principle of Taiji, pairing as it should.:: Tingle, tingle...

'I see...'

That is something someone like Oh Hye-seo cannot possibly perceive.

Because that being is a monstrosity that transcends all simply through its very existence, one of the fundamental laws that exist in this world.

That being is the one who bears the name Fate.

Kiiiiiiiiing!

Immortal Beast True Blood bursts out from my eyes.

But I look at the phenomenon clearly.

Within Seo Hweol's memories, only that one line is heard, but I am able to hear the other words spoken by that being.

:: Guide. Draw forth hatred. And so... through death, complete the new Agate...:: Kugugugugugu!

I momentarily hide Hong Fan within my body, guard Oh Hye-seo from any potential attack, and simultaneously fix my glare on [that] inside the dark-red virtual world and on [that] which reveals itself from deep inside the Head Realm.

The one within the virtual world that is Seo Hweol's homeland, is merely a black surface (面/face).

The black wall-like thing emerging with the dark-red mist faces Seo Hweol.

And...

That is only a part of it.

I see a massive [black hand] revealed behind the dark-red mist.

That hand is pitch black, and part of its palm protrudes into the dark-red world, appearing as a black wall.

I focus all my senses on that [hand].

Yet the owner of the [hand] seems utterly uninterested in someone like me and instead exerts attraction force upon Seo Hweol.

Wo-woong!

Then, on the surface that reveals itself before Seo Hweol, colors begin to appear.

The colors intertwine and tangle together to form a [scene].

—Say! That you love me!!!

It is...

A scene where 'something' painted in dark-red embraces Seo Hweol's bones and weeps uncontrollably.

As I watch the scene, I grind my teeth.

:: Your existence... shall be for the sole purpose of realizing this future...:: Tststststststss!

Soon, the black wall that appeared before Seo Hweol and showed him the future scene begins to dissolve and absorb into him.

Ptstststststst— At the same time, the [hand] vanishes in the blink of an eye... and Seo Hweol regains his senses.

Immediately after...

I can tell that Seo Hweol, who was once nothing more than a small spirit fragment containing Purple Soul Filling the Heavens, now truly possesses fate.

He now has both soul and fate.

All that remains is Qi to form the physical body.

However...

Even with just that, the existence of the innate Sacred Vessel Seo Hweol is now more than halfway complete.

From that point on, Seo Hweol, now fully possessing fate, begins to walk the path of fate as I know it.

'Is that... the process of a [Guide] being born...?'

Beings born to awaken the fate of Agate, who must internalize everything about Agate's fate through their very flesh.

In order to teach hatred, those who must inscribe hated into their bodies deeper than anyone else.

That is precisely...

Those chosen to become the Guides of Agate.

Oh Hye-seo continues to observe such a Seo Hweol and trembles.

"Seo Eun-hyun... please... I beg you... save Seo Hweol... With your Wheel... rewrite the past..."

She begins to cry as she watches Seo Hweol in his pain.

"If it's you... you can do it, right...? I can't... I can't watch him... tear his own heart apart like that anymore..."

"..."

"Please! Seo Eun-hyun! I'll beg like this! I'll devote my body and heart to you from now on! I will never betray you again. I'll educate Seo Hweol myself. If you tell me to lick your feet, I'll do it. If you tell me to shove my head into the toilet, I will. Even if you cut my throat and sip and eat my skull, I'll smile and accept it! Please... please save Seo Hweol!!"

I look at Oh Hye-seo like that, then look at the Seo Hweol suffering in the past.

Seo Hweol is seizing the legacy of Agate in this time point and is completing Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens.

What would happen if I intervene at this moment?

If the past is rewritten...

Will the Seo Hweol who had toyed with us until now disappear?

What if...

Seo Hweol could have been a true friend instead of an enemy?

Woo-woooong!

Hong Fan, who has entered my body, shouts.

—Do not over do it, Master. That one was an enemy until very recently. Just because she became an ally, there is no need to go that far. More than anything... to rewrite the past is to shatter the causality of the present story...

As his explanation continues, my hesitation deepens.

—If you help the Seo Hweol of the past, what becomes of us of the present? If he is rewritten, won't our very existence cease to exist?

"..."

I bite my lip at Hong Fan's completely reasonable words.

—For the sake of someone who was our enemy, do not throw away our present, our connections! Master!

"..."

I grit my teeth.

Not a single part of Hong Fan's argument is wrong.

There is no reason for me to sacrifice myself for someone like Seo Hweol.

Therefore, I ask Oh Hye-seo.

"Cut the emotional act. Explain it to me."

I explain to her the fundamental contradiction that Hong Fan has pointed out and ask her.

"What reason do we have to help the Seo Hweol of the past... even at the cost of our present?"

"... That's..."

"You're mad, but you've always been calculative. There's no way someone like you would make such an emotional plea without a reason. The one who possesses the legacy of the previous Agate is the current you. So in the most logical way possible... convince me, Oh Hye-seo."

"..."

If it had been someone other than Seo Hweol, I might've at least tried to play along with her emotional act.

But the one I am being asked to help... is Seo Hweol.

Before being my fellow Daoist, the one who was my enemy.

"Why should I make a choice that endangers the me of the present for the sake of an ill-connection?"

Upon hearing my question, Oh Hye-seo bites her lip for a moment.

But soon, a firm resolve rises on her face.

"My authority blurs the boundary between the 'truth' present in this place and the 'thoughts' I have. But...'truth' does not change. My uncle, and Seo Hweol taught me that. That's right... history can never be changed. If you try to change something unchangeable, just like you said, we might all end up in danger. But... you know it too..."

"..."

"The past... cannot be changed... because it is time that has already passed... No matter how much you try to rewrite it, it won't change."

"..."

"The moment I saw your Wheel, I knew. The power of your rewriting is probably almost the same as my authority."

Only after reaching this realm and perceiving the Radiance Mantra did I understand how the Wheel rewrites the past.

If I compare it to the form of the [infant] I saw...

The Radiance Mantra is the principle of returning to the ends of the blood vessels and forming new ones, While the rewriting of the Wheel creates a new, smaller blood vessel next to the existing one.

In other words, the ability of rewriting is a kind of parallel dimension creation.

It does not change the actual past, but instead transfers the beings that existed in that past into a parallel dimension that possesses the same reality as the original past, and lets them live there.

In that sense, the Wheel and the Radiance Mantra are equivalent in that they [possess an ability to form the infant's body].

That is to say, when I dealt with the children of In and Yeon during my battle with Seo Hweol, I did not truly rewrite the past.

I merely sent their spirits into a parallel dimension and allowed them to live out their lives once more within it.

For the time that has passed [absolutely] does not disappear.

"But... even if the past never disappears, within that past... I want to insert even a little bit of happiness between those moments. For Seo Hweol... I want him to have not just a history of pure hatred, but also a trace of happy history. So please... please, Seo Eun-hyun. Lend me your Wheel. If your power and my authority combine... we can give Seo Hweol even a sliver of happiness..."

"..."

"History... is [absolutely] unchangeable anyway... So what you're afraid of, the danger to our present caused by changing the past, will never happen. So..."

—Absolutely not, Master. What this woman says only applies to a typical case... But now that we've reached the real past through the Akashic Records, this is no longer an ordinary case and could very well lead to the actual rewriting of the past! Therefore...

"Just once... give us a chance...!!"

—If the predetermined fate is twisted, everyone may be destroyed!

"..."

I rise from my seat and gently close my eyes.

And then, I realize something.

No, more precisely, it would be accurate to say that the 'enlightenment came to me' through Oh Hye-seo's desperate 'wish.'

[If you were to realize that you've already died in the future, and that your current self is nothing but a reenactment of the past, what would you do?]

"... Are you asking what I'd do if I'm just a memory or a lingering thought?"

I hear Oh Hye-seo's shout, and I turn to look at the person in white who has come to me.

Come to think of it, this person, too, has experienced the exact same thing through me in the past.

"You accepted it with such calm composure. How were you able to do that, exactly?"

[I was the one who asked first. You dare turn it around with a question of your own, you brat? Do you want to taste the club?]

"Kugh..."

If I am nothing more than a remnant of the past, and all I'm doing is repeating my history, and if my end is a pitiful defeat, making everything I do from now on meaningless—then what would I do?

"If that's the case... then I must struggle harder."

Though I ponder the question for a moment, the answer is simple.

From the very beginning...

It is something I've embodied again and again with my own flesh and body after all.

If I were to regress multiple times and face enemies I cannot resist, making everything meaningless—then what would I do?

Struggle harder.

That is the only answer I can give.

"Even if the future is meaningless... as long as the me who struggles exists, my 'present' is still alive."

If I were to die tomorrow, and if that can never be changed—then what would I do?

Struggle.

Keep struggling.

Struggle like mad.

That is all there is to it.

Because even if I were to die tomorrow, if I struggle more, then that struggle will be remembered by someone.

"If this moment is nothing more than a reenactment of the past, and my ending is already determined... then isn't that all the more to live like mad? Only then, will those who one day read my past be able to gain something from me."

As I answer my own questions while looking at the presence before me, I find the answer to the question I asked the Salt Sea Supreme Deity.

Just why and how did the lingering thought of the Salt Sea Supreme Deity so calmly accept that it is a being of the past and that its end is only defeat?

It is simple.

Even if the future is set, the past, in itself, conveys the heart to those who will exist in that future.

As long as those of the future fumble through and try to read the past...

No matter how fixed the future may be, the things we do are not meaningless.

The heart never disappears.

Even if I die, someday those who follow after me...

They will surely receive that heart, and understand it.

That is enough.

"... Take your stance, Oh Hye-seo."

—M-Master?

I stand beside Oh Hye-seo and take the stance of the Sword God Dance.

"I absolutely don't expect you to follow along. Just try to clumsily mimic the movements. You're insane... but since you're a genius too, you should at least be able to imitate the form, right?"

Perhaps sensing some kind of will in my words, Oh Hye-seo follows my stance.

"Activate your authority at full power."

—Master!!!

"Originally, it's a dance meant to 'borrow'... but this time, I'm going to activate it as one that 'lends.' I will lend you everything of mine, and everything of the Wheel... so try mixing it with your authority, and rewrite with your own hands."

—You mustn't!!! The Wheel will be harmed!!

Hong Fan begins to panic.

It might seem suspicious at a glance, but Hong Fan's heart is filled with genuine concern for me, so I accept his shouting and nod.

"Do not worry."

This is a story of the past.

Therefore, if the fate of the past is twisted, the fate of the present may also be twisted and affect us all.

If so, then why am I trying to influence a story of the past?

"Fate cannot be changed anyway."

I, who had set my goal on shattering fate, now paradoxically acknowledge it.

The Absolute of Fate cannot be overturned.

Because this is a story that has already passed.

Because we cannot rewrite a story that has already passed.

"However... I can assign a different meaning to it."

What I can do is simply try to give a different meaning to the past.

Even if I try editing the past as Oh Hye-seo says, the past itself never changes.

And fate twisting and bringing harm to us of the present, like Hong Fan fears, will not happen.

Because no matter how much the past is rewritten, no matter how many parallel worlds are created... what originally existed will never disappear.

If the Radiance Mantra creates an additional 'crosswalk,' Then the rewriting the Wheel is like creating a 'skywalk' or 'underground passage' above or below that crosswalk.

No matter how large the temporarily-created underground path becomes, the original crosswalk never vanishes.

But... to those who had always used that road, a different possibility may arise.

What Hong Fan fears is that the side road created by the Wheel will erase the original path, and a completely different path will extend from that side road.

But as I come to understand the power and meaning of the Immortal Beast King...

I realize that such a thing can never happen.

"Even if a new past is created and rewritten... fate cannot be changed. Only now do I understand that."

Woo-woooong!

Mimicking the form of my Sword God Dance, Oh Hye-seo becomes connected to me.

And to her, my power is lent.

At the same time, the Wheel shifts momentarily—not behind me, but behind her.

"Keheok!"

Oh Hye-seo vomits a mouthful of blood under the pressure and weight of the wheel.

She doesn't even draw power from it properly. Merely having the Wheel placed upon her back, which I am turning for her, causes her to suffer a fatal wound.

She likely won't recover anytime soon.

But she, as if it doesn't matter, fuses the Wheel with the authority of Truth Manipulation and creates a new side road— A new 'blood vessel.'

A small-scale parallel dimension is created.

And then...

Oh Hye-seo descends into the world of Agate that exists within it, and approaches the newly born Seo Hweol there.

She crushes all of Agate's rules, and becomes one of Seo Hweol's connections of that time.

She becomes Seo Hweol's wife.

As Seo Hweol's life continues and he dies, she even becomes Seo Hweol's husband.

At times, she becomes the madam of the brothel where Seo Hweol lives, or becomes Seo Hweol's disciple.

Sometimes she becomes Seo Hweol's friend, and even Seo Hweol's superior.

But in all those lives, she becomes someone who understands Seo Hweol.

Dudududududuk!

Is it because she is touching the past of an Ender's Guide?

Is it because she is directly rewriting the Akashic Records of the Head Realm?

I can feel an overwhelming burden being pressed upon the Wheel.

However, it does not collapse.

Even as she shares a portion of the Wheel's burden, Oh Hye-seo never gives up.

She helps Seo Hweol's past, aiding the young Seo Hweol to acquire an Immortal Art similar to Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens with his own strength, and take control of the world of Agate.

Kugugugugung!

And within the collapsing world...

Seo Hweol, having at last fully realized his identity as an innate Sacred Vessel, recognizes Oh Hye-seo's identity.

And perhaps it is because they are inside the Akashic Records.

He receives his 'circumstance' from the Akashic Records and speaks to her.

[Who are you?] Dudududu!

The Wheel overheats.

[Only now do I remember...] Seo Hweol gives a bitter smile.

[I had... another reality. In that reality, I repeated a painful life according to the calculations of 'Agate', completely fragmented myself to complete Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens, and seized Agate. And when I came to my senses... I had repeated a happy life with you once more. Who are you, to give me this kind of happiness?] This is the true nature of the power that rewrites the past.

Not actually editing the past, but creating a small-scale parallel dimension and throwing the target one wishes to edit into it, gifting them another life.

Rather than history rewrite, it's more accurate to say it provides 'a chance to live one more life in a parallel world'.

The Underworld likely amplified this ability to the peak and developed it into the power of 'reincarnation'.

And Seo Hweol, in the process of having transformed himself into an Immortal Art, awakened the past of the being called [Seo Hweol of the original history], who was also his past life.

[Who are you to have gifted me this life?] Dudududuk!

Beneath the overburdened Wheel, Oh Hye-seo hears Seo Hweol's question and smiles sadly.

"... The one who will," Kwadududududuk!!!!

The Wheel undergoes insane pressure.

"Continue to love you."

Jjeojeojeojeok!

And finally, cracks begin to form in the world.

"I will not forget you."

C-C-C-Crack!

At the same time, the parallel dimension that Oh Hye-seo and I created begins to collapse.

The correct flow of fate extracts the world that was falsely rewritten.

The history rewrite for In and Yeon, the parallel dimension created for them, was not a large rewrite and it was carried out in the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain.

But this time, the history rewrite involves the Guide of an Ender and takes place inside the Head Realm.

Perhaps that is why history is being [extracted].

"So..."

As I witness the process, a question embedded deep in my mind becomes resolved.

Kududududuk!

The parallel world Oh Hye-seo and I created for Seo Hweol.

That side path gets extracted and shattered, turning into fragments of ancient force.

"You too... don't forget me."

The fabricated world of history vanishes, and the original history of Seo Hweol is revealed.

Suffering for lifetimes within the calculation device of Agate, devouring Agate through Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens...

The history of Seo Hweol's spirit collapsing after perceiving the Akashic Records of the Head Realm and meeting the [being bearing the Wheel on their back] unfolds before us.

All of Oh Hye-seo's history that until just moments ago gave Seo Hweol happiness vanishes, and every word and heart she had conveyed to him turns into chunks of ancient force and disappears.

The current Seo Hweol is simply the Seo Hweol meeting [Oh Hye-seo bearing the Wheel on her back] for the first time.

"Seo Hweol (瑞鷸)."

Seo Hweol simply stares blankly at her, as he is dragged by the flow of fate into the body of a Sea Dragon in the Head Realm.

Originally, that is as far as the fate I remember goes.

However, for some reason, I give the Wheel one more push of power.

—Seo Eun-hyun!!!

Hong Fan cries out madly within heartache and anguish.

By my strength and the pressure of the past...

C-C-C-C-Crack!

A crack forms on the Wheel.

But because of that single decision, Oh Hye-seo gains just a fleeting moment more to say her final farewell to Seo Hweol.

She approaches Seo Hweol's spirit and quietly presses her forehead to his.

That brief warmth passes onto Seo Hweol.

Paaaatt!

That is the end.

Oh Hye-seo and I are ejected from this reality.

The Wheel no longer bears any pressure, and Oh Hye-seo, with a wistful expression, reaches out toward the time Seo Hweol existed in.

Whether the warmth Oh Hye-seo passed in that final moment is part of the original flow of fate or not, I do not know.

Perhaps even that final warmth may be 'extracted'.

But even if history is plucked out by fate...

Even if that 'truth' becomes ancient force!

It will never disappear!

Pasasasasasa!

The time of Oh Hye-seo and Seo Hweol becomes ancient force and flies toward Oh Hye-seo.

"Thank you... thank you..."

Oh Hye-seo sobs, accepting the shards of ancient force flying into her.

Those fragments of ancient force are absorbed into her, beginning to merge with Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens.

Her Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens, once black, begins to turn white as it accepts the power of the pure white ancient force.

"Thank you... Seo Hweol... Thank you...! Seo Eun-hyun...! Thank you... Truly, thank you...!"

The moment I realized that we were 'intervening' in Seo Hweol's past, I understood that fate does not necessarily flow from past to future—its reverse can also hold true.

That is why I deeply felt the power of the Future King.

And that is why I acknowledged that fate is absolute.

And...

Precisely because I know it is absolute, I acknowledged it and granted Oh Hye-seo's plea.

For no matter how fixed fate may be, That desperate struggle to seek even a sliver of happiness within it...

I simply cannot ignore it.

In that process, I also came to understand one of the ways in which fate asserts its absoluteness.

'When a timeline of the future interferes with the past... and if the past is rewritten by the future that interferes with time, then the history that hinders the narrative of fate is [extracted].'

It is extracted, and becomes ancient force.

Seo Hweol, through this history extraction, will remember only the 'original history' that exists in my memories.

And...

If one day, we return to the present time and Oh Hye-seo gets Seo Hweol's reincarnation to remember his past life and returns the extracted crystallized lump of ancient force...

Seo Hweol will be able to remember even the history that was extracted.

In other words—

'My 16th cycle... was [extracted] by the flow of absoluteness due to a [being of the future] interfering with the past. And the history that was extracted in such a way...'

Somewhere in this world— Exists in the form of ancient force.

In other words, if I can find that ancient force, I can reclaim the memories of my 16th cycle.

"From now on... I am your follower."

As I organize this truth, Oh Hye-seo bows before me.

Leaving Seo Hweol's time point and returning to the present, to the time we were originally in, I flinch as I see Oh Hye-seo bowing to me.

Her Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens, which was once in the form of a [shadow with Seo Hweol's horns], now shines pure white.

And...

I vividly feel her heart, which I hadn't been able to before.

Among the Enders, beings that originally have no soul and thus no true heart, Oh Hye-seo and I have found ours.

However, Oh Hye-seo's soul was so faint that I never felt a real 'heart' from her.

But at this very moment, her soul grows wildly, and her 'heart' can be properly felt.

The ripple of that heart is one I know all too well.

"From now on, use me as your tool. In return... if one day you find Seo Hweol's reincarnation, let this heart be conveyed to him. If you promise this... I will obey your command... and entrust everything to you. Without any resistance, my body and heart... all of it... I will give to you. So please... promise me. That you will deliver this past and this heart... to him...!"

'... Because it is the heart of one who never had a heart, is that why it feels so new...?'

I nod.

At the same time, I realize why the Great Mountain Supreme Deity spoke such hollow words to me.

The Great Mountain Supreme Deity must have known that everything is within the ring of fate, and in order to desecrate fate, declared himself as the owner of it.

The moment I nod, Oh Hye-seo's white Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens begins to connect with my Flower Soul Filling the Heavens.

She splits her spirit in half and breathes the divided Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens into my Flower Soul Filling the Heavens.

Purple Soul Filling the Heavens is inherited as a heart is passed down to another heart.

That is the nature of both Flower Soul Filling the Heavens and Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens.

And...

As the gratitude within Oh Hye-seo's Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens is passed down to me, a change occurs in my Flower Soul Filling the Heavens.

Upon the head of the [White Deer Without Antlers], the whitened [Horns of Seo Hweol] sprout, illuminating the cradle of history.

The horns of the Sea Dragon King magnificently adorn the head of the Flower Soul Filling the Heavens, transforming the Flower Soul Filling the Heavens into an entirely different power and reshaping its form.

At last...

My Flower Soul Filling the Heavens becomes the [White Deer With Antlers], and begins dashing through the Akashic Records once more.

On the verge of being ejected into the original time point, I gradually realize that the new Flower Soul Filling the Heavens is rolling its hooves.

The [White Deer] stamps its hooves and pierces through the force trying to eject us with its antlers, beginning to go against time again.

Oh Hye-seo, seemingly lacking the power to follow the reversal, gradually begins to be pushed out into reality. But even as she returns to the original timeline outside the Head Realm, she does not rise from her bowed posture before me.

"... Your heart."

Feeling the half of Oh Hye-seo's spirit contained within the new Flower Soul Filling the Heavens, I nod.

"I have received it, without a doubt."

—This grace... I shall never forget it... I will honor you not as the yoke of hatred, but as the yoke of gratitude...

To the new Flower Soul Filling the Heavens, To the one that has now inherited the power of Tainted Soul Filling the Heavens, I give a new name.

"Run forth, Gracious Soul Filling the Heavens."

Gracious Soul Filling the Heavens, carrying the heart of grace Oh Hye-seo has given, leads me into a new domain...

And so, we are taken far into the past, into a deep, ancient time no one knows.

The Interdimensional Void.

Now a deep darkness where a few paper flowers drift, and faint golden energy shimmers.

There, a girl dressed in black martial attire smiles bitterly as she gazes toward somewhere.

"Because he acknowledged the absoluteness of fate... he managed to seize the starting point to defeating it... It's as if I am seeing Salt Sea... haha. Gwak Am may insist without doubt that denying fate is the condition for victory... but what now? It is rather Seo Eun-hyun who has discovered the dagger that can defeat fate."

The girl in black martial attire who endlessly sheds black tears, Hyeon Mu, lets out a pained laugh.

"If the unchangeable fate and heavens are [absolute]... then the traces of struggling that never vanish, and the will to struggle, are also [absolute]... Haha, Hong Fan... Even if you convulse in disgust without understanding anything... with your memories sealed, there is nothing you can do... Either retrieve your memories and ruin this round, or suffer in disgust with your memories sealed..."

Still gazing off somewhere, Hyeon Mu strangles herself again, cackling as she kills herself.

"Until the Enders you've cherished so much... grow to the point they can completely overcome that disgust... until they reach the level where they can sink their teeth into fate..."

Wududuk.

Hyeon Mu strangles and breaks her own neck in suicide, closing her eyes with a face mixed in pain and madness.

"Grow well... Seo Eun-hyun... and I pray... that you may reach the point where you can read the greatest ancient force... Push aside Sal Tree, who awakened to his essence while unable to endure suffering... and go forth..."

Pustststss— The dying Hyeon Mu dissolves into the Interdimensional Void and disappears.

At the same moment, in the Inner Sea of Mount Sumeru.

There, White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus, who had been knocking on the dimensional gate to enter the Eastern Heaven Flower Field, finally succeeds in shattering the gate.

[Old Man!!!] Kugugugugu!

Flapping their wings, White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus charges into the Eastern Heaven Flower Field.

Then their eyes widen.

[O-Old Man...?] Hwioooooooo— [What is this...? Old Man...?] In the space White-Winged Heavenly Pegasus reaches, there is no Eastern Heaven Flower Field—only a vast emptiness remains.

The Eastern Heaven Flower Field, which should have existed beyond the dimensional gate, has vanished somewhere.

The Sal Tree Heavenly Venerable, with their Gandhara...

Has gone off somewhere.

[Did it... sink into the ground or something...?]