Chapter 497

Fwoosh!

The arrow blazed across the cosmos like a comet, trailing starlight that streaked past its side. Staring blankly at the unimaginable scene of outer space, Se-Hoon wore a stunned expression.

Wait... she actually meant outer space?

He was utterly dumbfounded. What he had thought was some kind of metaphor or an example was actually said literally? Even now, he still couldn’t understand at all how “space” had suddenly come into the picture.

Judging from the look of it, that arrow must be the medium...

Just what kind of arrow could possibly drag Baek-Yeon’s vision—once bound in the Abyss of Demons—straight into the depths of space? Wanting to find out, Se-Hoon closely examined the arrow before his eyes and quickly figured it out.

“That arrow... it’s the Arrow of Vowed Fate I shot before.”

It was the Final Revelation that Baek-Yeon had prepared. The arrow, which had pierced through the Observer’s Cursed Eye and soared beyond the universe, had not vanished—it had been streaking across the cosmos the entire time.

I did think that it was strange the arrow still had power left even after destroying that Cursed Eye... but I didn’t expect it to be used like this.

Breaking free from the Abyss of Demons was not something that could be done by any normal force. If it were the Final Revelation unleashed at full strength by a Perfect One, though, then even that wasn’t impossible.

Having been abruptly yanked into a cosmic tour from the depths of a swamp, Se-Hoon looked around with a bewildered expression.

Still... was this really necessary?

If the goal had simply been to escape the Abyss of Demons, wouldn’t the arrow going just outside Earth’s atmosphere have sufficed? Why had Baek-Yeon gone as far as preparing it for traveling so deep into space?

“I did this because there are things I wanted to show you.” Reading Se-Hoon’s thoughts, Baek-Yeon calmly began explaining while watching the arrow continue to fly forward. “I figured you’ll only be able to understand why I had no choice but to make such decisions after you see what I’ve seen.”

Realizing long ago that she couldn’t fulfill her wish with herself, she went with raising a successor as the second-best option. And now, she was simply going to explain why she had needed to choose that path.

“We’re almost there. Look over there.”

Tensing up, Se-Hoon looked toward where Baek-Yeon pointed: a planet gradually growing closer beyond the arrow’s path. It was massive, swirling endlessly with tiered bands of color that were like layers of mixed paints.

And it was familiar. Se-Hoon narrowed his eyes.

“That’s... Jupiter.”

The form of the largest planet in the solar system, which was even more vivid than in any photo or video, made Se-Hoon marvel in awe. However, something strange caught his eye not long later.

From Jupiter’s storms, long and slender white shapes began emerging. Enormous in scale—large enough to be observed from beyond the planet—they drifted and soared within the turbulent winds, their movements so distinct that they were clearly visible even from space.

“...”

Taken aback by the unexpected sight, Se-Hoon was speechless. Baek-Yeon, on the other hand, was completely calm.

“Those are life forms born on Jupiter. They appeared about twenty years ago.”

“Twenty years ago...?”

“There wasn’t a specific event. They simply came into being when Jupiter’s environment and mana just so happened to align perfectly.”

A change born purely of natural conditions and mana, without interference. Processing that information, Se-Hoon’s eyes slowly widened upon realizing what Baek-Yeon wanted to show him.

So that’s it.... I think I’m starting to get it.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

“Okay. We’ve seen enough. Let’s move on.”

Fwoosh!

The arrow flashed brightly, and in the blink of an eye, the scenery changed again. Again, a planet, but an unfamiliar one. It was a pale white planet engulfed in flames, blazing like a miniature sun.

Just at a glance, no life seemed like it could exist in such a place. But on‌ closer look...

Whoosh!

Creatures that resembled turtles could be seen swimming leisurely through the flames. Their entire bodies seemed composed of elemental mana, rendering them unaffected by the raging inferno over the planet’s surface. And there were quite a few of them.

Fwoosh!

Another planet. Like that, Baek-Yeon continued to show him planet after planet. On each one, life flourished with creatures as diverse as the monsters that had appeared on Earth. Yet, so many were from planets with extreme environments where no life should’ve existed. But with the miracle of mana, life had found a way: there were entire ecosystems that had taken root.

“This is... incredible.”

Se-Hoon had long-since suspected that mana wasn’t limited to Earth. However, never had he imagined that life itself was appearing across the universe because of it. It was a secret that would shake academia to its core the moment it was revealed.

Taking it all in, Se-Hoon remained silent for a long while until he finally asked, “When... did this all begin?”

“I first witnessed it after I became a Perfect One. In terms of timeline, it probably started about fifty-five years ago: right after the Towers of Heroes and the Abyss of Demons appeared.”

Hearing that, Se-Hoon looked at the new planet before them.

“You kept this from everyone because you thought revealing it would cause massive problems?”

“Well, something like that.”

Looking down at a planet filled with vast plains and oceans—a potential new

home

for humanity—Baek-Yeon let out a bitter smile.

“If people knew there was somewhere to escape to, someone would definitely try to go there.”

In the past, it had taken all of humanity to just barely hold their ground during the war against the Demon Force. But... what if there was an option to flee instead of fight? Just having that alone could have fractured humanity internally and drastically increased their odds of losing.

Knowing that, Baek-Yeon had kept the changes she discovered in space a secret.

“

Hmm...

then are there powerful beings out there too? Like other Perfect Ones or Harbingers of Destruction?”

There was a hint of concern in Se-Hoon’s voice. After all, given the sheer size of the universe, wasn’t it possible that beings like powerful aliens or evil deities from fiction could exist?

Yet, despite the genuine concern, Baek-Yeon just chuckled softly.

“They

do

exist... but there’s no need to worry. Most of them don’t live too long.”

“They die?”

“Think about it. Creatures with powers similar to ours acting purely on instinct—what do you think happens to the planet they live on?”

“Ah...”

Unlike Earth, which had its planetary systems and the efforts of heroes, the planets of those newly born lifeforms—primitive and feral—had no such protection. So, whenever a creature with innate transcendent power was born, it would inevitably destroy the planet and thus exterminate its own kind to extinction.

“That’s... kind of depressing.”

“It can’t be helped. Variables usually work like that.”

A variable only had meaning when its surroundings could accommodate it. If they couldn’t? Then the variable simply vanished as though it had never existed.

Catching a brief glimpse of a planet’s future of destruction, Baek-Yeon turned her head to look away in spirit.

“I think you’ve gotten used to it by now... so let’s move on to the main point.”

Fwoosh!

The arrow shot off again toward an unknown direction, but unlike before, the view was changing at a speed far beyond anything before. They were now moving via a form of transcendent travel—observing a destination and instantly relocating there—that allowed them to traverse the vastness of space in basically the blink of an eye.

In the meantime, though, Baek-Yeon calmly continued her explanation.

“Se-Hoon, have you ever wondered where the Golden Ring might be in this world?”

“The Golden Ring... actually exists?”

Se-Hoon stared at her in disbelief. Until now, he had always thought of the Golden Ring as a

conceptual

metaphor representing the world. He had never once considered it to be a

physical

phenomenon.

“Of course it does. Why else would it appear in that form on the top floor?”

The Golden Ring only took the form of a ring precisely because it physically existed like that somewhere in reality.... Upon hearing that explanation, Se-Hoon furrowed his brow.

Where could a ring like that possibly be...?

It wouldn’t make sense for it to just be floating somewhere in space—that didn’t align with the symbolic weight of the “world.” Then, if the Golden Ring truly existed and matched the concept of “world” by creating some kind of observable phenomenon, it would be...

“...The edge of the universe?”

“Correct.”

Boom-!

The arrow, which had flown on without pause, came to an abrupt stop after colliding with something. However, the blockade—a golden wall radiating brilliance—wasn’t just blocking the arrow, but rather,

everything

visible.

“...”

Se-Hoon silently stared up at the massive golden wall that stretched endlessly before them.

This... is the Golden Ring.

The mysterious force that created the Towers of Heroes and the Abyss of Demons, the origin that had reshaped the entire world—it existed at the edge of the universe, encompassing all of creation.

“How is this even...”

How could such a thing actually... exist? Flabbergasted, Se-Hoon could do nothing but stare in disbelief.

“The Golden Ring is this world—or more precisely, it’s the world’s infinite expansion. It’s what continuously pushes the world forward, preventing stagnation and driving it toward the future,” Baek-Yeon explained in an even voice.

“Expansion...”

Turning his head, Se-Hoon finally noticed the changes occurring around what he had assumed was merely a wall: countless possibilities were swirling around birthing new futures.

Swish-

Galaxies, stars, continents, nations, cities, villages, lifeforms—futures that would unfold across an unimaginable time scale brushed past Se-Hoon’s eyes like fleeting dreams. The sheer scale of the possibilities created in every passing instant was beyond imaginable, beyond overwhelming.

“This story really ran away with itself...”

It was already exhausting just fighting the Demon Force on Earth.... Now it was all happening on a cosmic scale, too? Baffled by how suddenly the scope had exploded, Se-Hoon just stood there in stunned silence.

“Well, there’s no need to overthink it. The futures you just saw won’t happen for at least tens of thousands of years,” Baek-Yeon casually reassured, waving her hand.

“...When you put it that way, I suppose that makes sense.”

No one knew how long heroes lived‌, but there was no need to worry about such a distant future right now.

Relaxing a bit at that thought, Se-Hoon began to feel a bit more at ease. Just then, however, a bitter smile appeared on Baek-Yeon’s face.

“I don’t have that luxury, though.”

“...Sorry?”

Baek-Yeon reached toward the possibilities extending from the Golden Ring.

“What I wished for... was a peace that would never change, no matter the variables—something

eternal

. But once you’ve seen tens or even hundreds of millions of years into the future... you can’t help but take it all into account.”

“...I see.”

Although it wasn’t wrong that the Abyss of Demons was the reason Baek-Yeon failed to achieve her wish, that wasn’t the complete story.

Baek-Yeon wanted a perfect, immutable peace by observing and accounting for all change. Alas, the Golden Ring, which endlessly expanded the world, infinitely produced new changes.

From the very start, her wish had been a contradiction.

The swamp is one thing, but this... this is closer to torture.

She couldn’t observe the Abyss at all, so she had no choice but to ignore it. In contrast, the changes wrought by the Golden Ring were visible, meaning the rules forced her to observe them continually.

From the very start, ever since becoming a Perfect One, Baek-Yeon had been peering endlessly into the farthest futures imaginable—trying to calculate every possibility.

And to do that without going insane... no wonder she became a Perfect One.

One individual’s wish—for her own happiness and for humanity’s peace—had become a cruel fate that wouldn’t even allow her to lose her mind. Forever bound to watch the future unfold, Baek-Yeon could do nothing against her tragedy born of the transcendent power that had no concept of good or evil.

Se-Hoon let out a quiet sigh, having come to an understanding—if only slightly—of the kind of life Baek-Yeon had led.

“So then... what exactly are you trying to do?”

Baek-Yeon had previously said that, since she couldn’t fulfill her wish herself, she would create an opportunity for someone else to do so. In other words, she would reshape the world’s possibilities so that Se-Hoon could bring peace to humanity.

To Se-Hoon, though, that kind of future was nothing more than an illusion.

Something that far off... how could I possibly...

He’d battled Harbingers of Destruction and suppressed Perfect Ones before and after his regression, so he had some confidence in that realm. But on the cosmic scale? There was no way he could speak with any certainty whatsoever.

What had Baek-Yeon seen in him? What plan had she crafted that convinced her such a future was even possible?

Unable to know, Se-Hoon could only listen as Baek-Yeon calmly answered his unspoken question.

“To realize an immutable future, I needed to achieve two conditions: overcome the Golden Ring and observe the Abyss of Demons.”

Both were nearly impossible—though arguably, the first was harder.

“You can get away with just

seeing

the Abyss. But the Golden Ring is different. Even the smallest disruption would unleash a massive disaster upon the world.”

Forcefully halting the Golden Ring? That would just stop change entirely and freeze the world. Then destroying it? That would collapse the world—just like what the Harbingers of Destruction had done.

That meant the only way forward was to overcome the infinite changes the Golden Ring produced—but without disrupting its current state.

...Is that even possible?

Se-Hoon frowned. No matter how he thought about it, no method came to mind. As he stood there troubled, Baek-Yeon turned her head.

“That’s why we only have one place to care about.”

“And where is that...?”

“Outside the Golden Ring.”

Baek-Yeon pointed toward the Golden Ring, eyes gleaming.

“We pierce through the world and create a flow of the future that races ahead of the Golden Ring itself. That’s my plan.”