Chapter 190: Those Falling Have Wings (3)

“Keter,” murmured Alkione, the Godfather of Liqueur. He was in the darkness, but not entirely. Specks of light dotted the void around him, as though he were one with the universe.

“Keter...” he said again, almost affectionately.

Of course, Keter wasn’t standing in front of him. Keter was currently in a carriage heading toward Sefira, but Alkione spoke as if he were right there, continuing the conversation alone.

“Anyone can experience coincidence, but if a coincidence happens twice, it’s inevitable. If it’s three times, it’s destiny.”

Alkione pressed his hands together. Between them, a miniature world bloomed, and within it, a carriage ran down a road—the Sefira carriage.

“Keter, you’ve now changed the future three times. That proves you are the pioneer I’ve been searching for.”

“A pioneer will be born in Liqueur.”

That was the prophecy handed down from Alkione’s ancestors. The pioneer was the one who was going to change the world—the one who was going to lead the Ragnarok.

However, prophecies were incomplete; they showed the outcome, not the process. No one—not even the prophet—knew when the pioneer would be born. All they could do was wait an indefinite amount of time. Still, the former Godfather and Alkione had waited, even if it was for eternity; that was how valuable the pioneer was.

The pioneer is the incarnation of Ragnarok: the one who changes the world.

In every great war, such as the great war of gods and dragons, or the great war of humans and gods, there had been a pioneer who led it. With each war, the world changed.

After the Great Dragon-God War, the defeated dragons were sealed away by the gods, and from their lands humans were born. After the Great Demon-God War, the gods were defeated by humans, who were finally freed from divine control.

And now, thousands of years after the end of the Great Demon-God War, Alkione had finally witnessed the birth of a new pioneer, and he was overwhelmed with joy.

“At last... my family’s wish is coming true.”

Alkione was the last living member of the Brigid family, the family of prophets. He wanted to cry, but he could not. His pact with an Outer God, made to enhance his foresight, forbade it.

He had the appearance of a man, but he was no longer human. He possessed the heart of a man, but could not live as one. He had knowledge and power great enough to take over the world, but none of it could be used for personal gain. This was the curse and limitation imposed upon the bloodline of prophecy. But soon it would all end.

“Keter... I sensed it the first time I saw you. That perhaps... you might be the pioneer.”

Keter hadn’t been the pioneer from the start. He had always stood out in Liqueur—someone who couldn’t really be labeled a mere genius or a lunatic. Yet, from Alkione’s perspective, he was no different from the rest. After all, he could see the future. Keter was just like any other person following a visible path; he was just a speck among billions.

And so, Alkione was never impressed by anyone, not even the greatest of humans. Their destinies were his to see and to change. Even so, he could not escape despair—the endless waiting. Like his forebears who had grown old and died in Liqueur, he feared he too would die without ever finding the pioneer.

But one day, hope appeared: a human broke free of fate, and that was Keter. His soul changed so suddenly, it might as well have been replaced. His future, once predictable, shifted dramatically.

The greater a person’s causality, the harder it was to foresee their path. Keter’s was unusually strong, but still readable. But from one point—when the knight from Sefira came to visit Keter—it became difficult to read his fate.

Alkione didn’t think much of it at first. Such anomalies did happen now and then. Even for a prophet who saw the world like the palm of his hand, it was natural to miss one or two fates among billions. So he waited and observed Keter’s actions.

“This is...!”

Sefira was meant to fall, and Keter was supposed to accelerate its demise. But instead, fate had gone awry. No—the fate had been reversed. Sefira flourished, and Keter was at the center of it. The prophecy had failed entirely. The moment Keter won the Sword of the South Tournament, a massive divergence was born.

“You mean... I, I, cannot see the future... of a mortal?”

Alkione could peer into the futures of kings and lords. But not Keter’s—his future was invisible. There could only be one reason.

“Keter is the pioneer!”

It wasn’t just that prophecy didn’t work on Keter; it was that he had defied fate itself. That was what all the pioneers had been like: they flipped the predetermined destiny and reshaped the world. Their futures could not be seen because they were the chosen ones, and even the future of the world became blurred. Pioneers rendered all prophecies meaningless.

Not even Hokhmah, called the Father of the Gods, could interfere with a pioneer. However, Alkione could see a pioneer’s future because he had formed a pact with an Outer God as powerful as Hokhmah. His purpose was to find the contract-bearer who would spark Ragnarok, just as the Outer Gods desired. In return, the Brigid family would gain eternal freedom from its long-standing curse.

“To escape this endlessly looping world...”

Alkione closed his eyes and shivered in pleasure. This was the greatest euphoria of his life.

“Show me your fate, Keter. Show me how you will bring about Ragnarok.”

Shh...

He extended his hand. It was a hand of the universe, and within it lay cosmic power. The laws of the world tried to resist, trying to say it was forbidden and not allowed.

“Out of my way.”

With a lazy flick of his wrist, Alkione silenced even the universe’s protests. His hand was covered in countless eyes, as the hand itself was made of eyes. These billions of eyes all turned to one man: Keter.

However...

“What... is this... this can’t be...”

The hand trembled in bewilderment. Even the Outer God’s power, capable of seeing divine destinies, was shocked.

“You mean... I can’t see...?”

Keter’s future—the pioneer’s future—was invisible. This was impossible. Gods could not lie; the future of the pioneer had to be visible.

So why is it hidden?!

In denial, Alkione tried looking at other humans, and that was when he realized the truth. It wasn’t just Keter.

“I can’t see any of them...?!”

Even the old farmer from the countryside, the confident knight, or a newborn baby—none of their futures could be seen. All of their futures had become unclear. Alkione could not foresee even a single moment ahead in the world’s future.

“T-this is impossible!”

Alkione had power nearing omniscience, and he knew the reason the world’s future was obscured.

“There’s not just one pioneer... but two? “But how? How can there be two pioneers in the same era?!”

There had never been such a thing in history. One pioneer alone was enough to rewrite the world, but two..

Gulp.

Even Alkione, with the power of the universe in his hands, swallowed nervously.

“What is happening to this world?”

There was nothing Alkione didn’t know; he was the world’s most powerful prophet. And yet now, his foresight had vanished. The fear of ignorance, a feeling he had never experienced before, crawled through his body. From the moment he assumed there would be only one pioneer, he had already lost the game. Still, there was one small comfort, which was the fact that he hadn’t been completely caught off guard.

“The other pioneer... is in the empire.”

He didn’t know who it was, but they were in the Samael Empire. With two pioneers in the world, the future was no longer readable. No prophet or god could see what lay ahead. It was an unprecedented world, unknown even to the gods.

“Haha... life really never goes according to plan.”

Just when he thought he had secured the pioneer and won, everything unraveled. Still, Alkione wasn’t ready to give up. All he lost was his prophetic ability; he was still the ruler of Liqueur.

When Liqueur learns what is happening, they’ll surely loosen some of my constraints.

“Looks like I might have to start running around again. Hahaha...”

The future was unknown, but strangely, Alkione didn’t entirely hate the feeling. It made him feel almost... human.

“I should start by identifying the other pioneer.”

Keter, the known pioneer, was in Sefira. That meant there was no need to chase him now.

“You seem to have taken quite a liking to Sefira.”

Keter wasn’t an urgent concern. If Alkione wanted him, he could find him at any time. To Alkione, Sefira was no more than a speck—a meaningless, feeble speck that he could take Keter from. And so, Alkione decided not to interfere for now. Perhaps it was his most human decision yet.

* * *

“

Achoo!

Ahem...”

Keter’s sudden cough startled Katherine, the only one still awake among the group.

“Are you catching a cold? Should I close the window, my lord?”

“It’s not a cold. Someone must be talking behind my back,” Keter replied, scratching his ear and shaking off the tingling sensation.

What was that? I thought I saw something for a second when I coughed.

When people coughed, they reflexively closed their eyes, and Keter was no exception. But in that brief instant, he caught a glimpse of something in the darkness.

A woman? I’ve never seen her before.

The person was shrouded in darkness and blurry, but he was sure they were someone he had never seen before. From the little he could tell, they appeared to be a young woman around his age. He closed his eyes again, wondering if he would be able to see her again, but of course, there was only darkness.

“This is bothering me.”

He turned toward Didos, who was riding alongside the carriage, and shouted, “Didos! How much farther?”

“We’re almost there, my lord.”

“Give me a number! How many minutes?”

“Hmm... We’ll reach Sefira’s checkpoint in about seven minutes. After passing it, it’ll be another five minutes to the main mansion.”

“See? That’s what I wanted to hear.”

It was exactly the kind of answer he had been hoping for, but strangely, it didn’t put him at ease.

“Hm... What is this?”

It wasn’t like he was overdressed; it was cool autumn weather, bordering on winter. Besides, trained warriors like him were highly attuned to changes in temperature, but this wasn’t about feeling hot or cold.

It felt like something was watching me.

He waved his hand lazily toward the ceiling, as if brushing something away.

Huh? That actually feels a bit better.

Katherine watched him flail around with a frown on his face. She looked puzzled, not understanding what he was doing.

“Whoa, easy.”

The carriage began to slow. They had finally reached the checkpoint marking the entrance to the Sefira estate.

As if sensing this, Myle awoke on his own, without anyone nudging him.

“Mmm... Are we here?”

Stretching with a yawn, Myle stepped out of the carriage. The guards at the checkpoint promptly stood at attention and saluted.

“Welcome, Lord Myle.”

News of Keter’s tournament victory had likely reached Sefira already. Under normal circumstances, a welcoming party would have been expected. Yet only the usual checkpoint guards were present. That didn’t mean the news hadn’t arrived.

“Congratulations on your victory, my lord.”

“Congratulations, my lord!”

The guards clearly knew the outcome and offered their sincere congratulations. Myle accepted them with composure.

“Thank you. May we pass?”

“Yes, sir. Lord Hissop asked that we inform you he’s waiting in the study.”

“I see. So Father hasn’t come out to greet us,” Myle murmured to himself and climbed back into the carriage.

Anis and Taragon had also just woken up and were stretching.

“We’re heading out.”

The carriage resumed its journey.

Keter gazed out at the familiar yet subtly changed landscape. The road he took when he first arrived in Sefira hadn’t looked like this. Back then, it had been lush and green, still summertime turning to autumn. Now, it was late autumn turning to winter. The once-green leaves had turned brown, and the once-thick trees now stood bare.

“So, winter has come.”

It was Sefira’s winter, but not the same one he had known in his past life.