...
Sunless entered his home as the door to the quiet café closed shut behind him.
He heard some noise—one undoubtedly Orphne's giggle, and the other obviously Nephis—and smiled.
He walked deeper inside as he rubbed his eye. There was no sign of blood now, as the irritation had calmed down on the way back.
"You think Papa will like it?" Nephis asked.
"He'll love it!" Orphne said cheerfully.
With a smile, Sunless leaned over and looked around the corner, where he saw a dinner spread across the table, with Nephis and Orphne nearby.
His heart skipped a beat when he saw Nephis in an apron.
Despite the fact that it was one of his, entirely ordinary, with no patterns or designs, Sunless couldn't help but mutter,
"Beautiful..."
Nephis was over by the counter as Orphne stayed close to her legs.
Neither noticed properly when soft feet approached, and a small smile came to Sunless's face as he stood right beside Nephis, on her left.
"Doing something?" he asked softly.
Nephis looked over quickly.
Naturally, she wasn't surprised or startled, but undoubtedly delighted as a small smile crept onto her face.
"Sunless," she called as she turned off the faucet and faced him.
"Papa!" Orphne shouted as she ran around and hugged Sunless's legs.
Meanwhile, Sunless picked up a dish and inspected it, his eyes never leaving Nephis.
He put the dish back and patted Orphne's head as he looked Nephis up and down.
Nephis pressed her lips together at the attention, holding back a smile as her cheeks tinged red.
"This is lethal, you know," he said in a low tone as a smile spread across his face.
Nephis smiled back, but was actually confused.
Dinner, or had he seen something?
"What is?" she asked.
Sunless smiled more.
"You in my apron. That's a Divine Titan-level attack if I've ever seen one."
"...H-Huh?"
Nephis's face warmed as she looked away with a smile.
"I made dinner today. I hope you like it," she said with a smile as she leaned down and picked up Orphne.
"I love it."
Nephis let out a slight chuckle.
"You haven't even tried it yet."
The girl came up easily as Nephis carried her toward her seat.
"Yay!" Orphne cheered as she settled before the food.
Sunless watched the two as a small smile came to his lips.
"Yeah... I'll tell that later," he murmured lowly.
"Come on, Birdy, let's get to—"
Nephis couldn't finish that as Sunless caught her wrist and spun her around again.
His hand slipped past her and wrapped over Orphne's eyes.
"H-Huh?! Papa?!" Orphne complained.
Sunless was too busy.
His other arm wrapped around Nephis's waist and pulled her into a surprise kiss.
Nephis initially tried to stop because Orphne was there, but stopped when she felt something about Sunless's emotions.
Something had happened, and he was trying to deal with it.
She relaxed in his hold and kissed Sunless back as her hand rested on his shoulder.
For a moment, only Orphne's childish protests could be heard as Sunless and Nephis kissed each other.
When they pulled back, Sunless rested his forehead against hers and sighed.
"Want to talk?" she asked.
"After dinner," he said.
Neither pushed as they smiled and stepped back, and Orphne was allowed to see again.
...
In the dark hall, with the seven and the skull...
The skull, Eurys, looked at the man facing the darkness—or rather, a great tree.
The tree was vast and immense.
It confirmed what Eurys already knew.
'What the hell is this place?'
He thought carefully.
The Keeper of Fate turned around and smiled.
Eurys simply looked at him.
"Hey, Daemon bastard brat," he called.
The Keeper of Fate didn't seem offended in the least and looked at him questioningly.
"You are saying... this being you call the Greatest of Abominations—"
He cut himself off and looked up.
His sockets remained fixed on the endless height.
"...The Greatest of Abominations..."
He tested the words.
When nothing happened, he spoke again.
"This thing created you? For the specific purpose of carrying out their will?" he asked carefully.
The Keeper of Fate looked back.
Eurys regarded him, then looked at everyone else as well.
"So what? Each of you embodies one of this thing's powers as well? I doubt it, or your powers wouldn't have to revolve around weapons and such. Sunless, you can remain Transcendent without having an Aspect."
In the old times, when the Nightmare Spell did not exist, there were those who learned to move essence around their bodies and create Soul Cores.
But even Awakened without an Aspect were limited to the Rank of Ascended for life, for they did not have a source element through their Aspect.
In today's time, such a problem did not exist because all people Awakened through the Nightmare Spell and were hence granted an Aspect.
Or rather...
The Nightmare Spell only infected those who could have an Aspect?
However, for one to become a Transcendent, they needed to have an Aspect.
So these people had to have one as well...
The Daemons had their shared authority to work as their Aspects.
The Lord of Shadows had Shadow...
And that was the problem.
Because the Lord of Shadows's power was something under the authority of a Great God.
The Daemons' powers came from the Unknown.
So how could a being created by this Greatest of Abominations give him Shadow powers unless this being was the Shadow God all along?
No...
That wouldn't fit.
The Shadow God was dead, and these people had specifically said that they had arranged for the deaths of the Great Gods.
They had also said that the Greatest of Abominations stood above the Great Gods and Daemons.
That it defied Fate itself.
The Shadow God could not do that.
Eurys's eyes narrowed.
'...This keeps becoming a bigger mess the more these bastards speak...'
Then—
The Lord of Shadows let out an exhale of amusement once again, dangerously close to a chuckle.
"Part of an authority? No... not at all," he said.
Eurys looked at him.
"I'll answer your question with one of my own, Eurys," the Keeper of Fate said.
Eurys looked at him.
His voice sharpened.
"What exactly makes you think... that we were not using our Aspects in the Golden Age or the Doom War?"
Eurys felt a chill as the entire atmosphere of the great hall dropped.
"What... are you..."
He didn't have to finish.
His eyes widened at the sight.
For shadows swirled around the Lord of Shadows.
And the Keeper of Fate.
As well as the other five thrones.
"We don't have Aspects...?" the Cursed of Truth remarked.
"No... quite the opposite, in fact..." the Child of Erasure spoke.
"We have the same Aspect..." the Harbinger of Ruin said calmly.
"All of us..." the Seer of Paths leaned to his side.
"The one and the same," the Crown of Grace said.
The Lord of Shadows appeared before the Keeper of Fate.
"For we are the creations of the Greatest of Abominations. Our mind, soul, bone, blood, flesh, essence, and shadow—all are made one and the same, down to our aspects, flaws, and attributes as well."
The Keeper of Fate turned toward Eurys.
"For we are not different from the Greatest of Abominations, but a part of its very existence itself, made from the Greatest of Abominations' own existence."
His voice remained calm.
"That is why we are free from the binds of Fate. For he is above Fate, and our existence was made from his."
The Lord of Shadows and the Keeper of Fate's gaze remained on Eurys.
"Not some small part like the Daemons.
"But all parts."
Both spoke.
"One and the same."
...
'All... the same?... Impossible. Even the Unknown couldn't do that... because creating copies of yourself at a lower Rank with all the same powers and letting them ascend in Rank... If any God could do that, there would be countless running around...'
Eurys could hardly believe what he was seeing.
He couldn't help but mutter as he looked at these beings.
"What kind of abomination could even do that?"
...
Then—
The Lord of Shadows chuckled faintly as he looked at him.
!!!
Eurys felt all the gazes turn toward him.
"The Greatest of Abominations."
...
"...One and the same..." Eurys eventually said.
"What does all of this even mean? The Greatest of Abominations, Paradox—no, Third Paradox? Defy Fate? How is anything even working? Fate is the power that governs all of existence. How could anything be beyond it—no, how could anything even come into existence before it?"
He didn't bother waiting for a response.
"I don't care anymore. I was one of the Nine and played my part in orchestrating the Gods' demise, and I have been suffering for it since, pinned to a tree. I already want to die. If all of you are uncorrupted, the best that can happen is my desire is fulfilled, and the worst that can happen is I'm corrupted, in which case, what the hell..."
He paused as his eyes narrowed.
"I want to know... what the hell did this Greatest of Abominations do...? Because from what I know, the end of existence was only a matter of time. Even Weaver's little Spell could not prolong it for too long, but now you're saying there's some kind of way...?"
He trailed off.
"..."
The seven became eerily quiet.
Then—
"Maybe we should throw this bastard into the Void, huh? Let his existence be erased," the Seer of Paths said calmly.
Too calmly.
Eurys's eyes widened.
"Keep your plans to yourself."
The Lord of Shadows shut him down instantly.
There was a steely edge to his tone.
The Keeper of Fate's presence had sharpened too.
Almost hostile.
As if even the respectful man was holding back some crude words.
The man turned around again and faced the darkness.
Something moved.
Formed.
The shadows themselves did, working like a projection...
Of memories?
Or their imagination?
Either way, it was being used for a presentation of sorts.
The Keeper of Fate spoke as Eurys listened with rapt attention.
"Tell me... do you know why there are seven Daemons, seven Classes, seven Ranks and Tiers... seven pillars of existence that define a being?"
He turned around.
The shadows moved to show a projection.
A ruined carving of sorts.
Six figures were pointing toward something above as something warped around the seventh.
"Then why are there six Great Gods?"
Eurys froze.
He knew where this was going.
He looked around as if waiting for Corruption to descend, but it didn't.
The Keeper of Fate continued.
The words that came next brought about such great pressure, as if existence itself was reacting, that every soul in the hall shook.
Even the seven upon their thrones, as well as Eurys, a Sovereign, felt the weight of that pressure.
"The Unknown, the progenitor of the seven Daemons... the Forgotten God..."
His eyes narrowed.
The pressure intensified with the next words.
"The seventh of the Great Gods and one of the pillars of existence itself. The Dream God who fell to Corruption."
"..."
The Keeper of Fate turned to him.
"But you already know about this, don't you?"
Eurys would have shifted if he could.
Yet the Keeper of Fate stepped forward.
Step.
"Tell me, why do you think Fate used you of the Nine to orchestrate the Gods' demise?"
Step.
"Nine mortals were fated to orchestrate the Gods' demise."
Step.
"Alaithea the Scholar unearthed the Truth buried by the Daemon of Dread and was thus Defiled."
Step.
"From that Truth, Aletheia the Sculptor fashioned a trap for the Divine."
Step.
"Eurys the Prince was condemned to the most harrowing Fate of all—to become a slave."
Step.
"The Slayer, who was tasked to kill Weaver, the Daemon of Fate."
Step.
"And Auro the Hero, who was given the most painful task of all."
Step.
Stop.
The Keeper of Fate stopped.
It was as if the entire place had shifted.
The Keeper of Fate's entire atmosphere changed.
"You know what I hate about you of the Nine?"
Eurys didn't speak.
"When the War Empire came to take over your kingdom, some... three oracles? Told you your kingdom could not be saved, for it was fated to be destroyed."
He turned around.
His face was covered.
So were his eyes.
Yet—
The gaze was deathly cold.
"You all simply accepted it and decided to fulfill Fate's wishes. Submit to that wretched thing and decide that if Fate wanted the world gone, then let's send the world to a faster end instead of a slow death of existence."
It felt as if even he was holding himself back from spitting the words out.
"You cowards didn't have the guts to fight the War Empire, all because three blind oracles said Fate wanted your kingdom destroyed. So instead of saving your people, you decided to obey Fate, let your kingdom fall, took Fate's wishes as some sacred duty you had to fulfill, and slaved away your lives out of vengeance to kill Gods."
He snapped his head toward Eurys sharply as Transcendent pressure descended upon the hall.
"Tell me, oh great fated slave."
He stepped closer.
"Did you ever care for the men that would die?"
Step.
"The women that would die?"
Step.
"The children that would die?"
Step.
"The elderly?"
Step.
"The young ones?"
Step.
"The innocent mortals?"
Step.
"The innocent realms?"
Step.
"The helpless civilizations?"
Step.
"All of existence that had nothing to do with you cowards, unable to fight for your own peace because Fate said it was useless?"
He stood several steps away from his own throne.
"The Keeper of Fate? Me?"
He looked at the stone throne.
Golden strings appeared around the skull and lifted him from the armrest to the throne itself.
Eurys did not speak.
He did not question.
He stared back with rising intensity.
For deep down, the ancient Supreme knew.
The wretched Truth of his own existence.
The Keeper of Fate was right.
He had spoken a Truth of existence only someone like him knew.
"The Keeper of Fate? Someone like me could never... Such a title fits you better."
The Keeper of Fate barely stopped himself from raising his voice.
An exhale passed through his teeth.
"You were condemned to the most horrifying Fate of all, to become a slave?"
His eyes narrowed.
"No."
"!!!"
Eurys shifted as he looked at the man. Despite not having visible eyes, he was clearly glaring back with a murderous gaze.
"You all were slaves to Fate, not just you."
A light, amused scoff escaped the Keeper of Fate as he took a step forward and leaned down.
"Want me to tell you your Fate? Want to know if you get to die?"
Eurys's head snapped up.
The Keeper of Fate stepped back.
"Speak, Eurys of the Nine. Do you not want to know what Fate has in store for you?"
He raised his arms.
"What the master has planned for the filthy slave—"
"Calm down."
The soft voice of the Lord of Shadows came as his hand appeared on the Keeper of Fate's shoulder.
The Keeper froze.
Then his shoulders relaxed as he turned away from Eurys.
"Apologies," he said calmly.
"It appears today is not good for my composure."
He referred to his earlier clash with the Lord of Shadows.
He turned around and gave a light, apologetic bow.
Eurys calmed down as well as he looked the Keeper of Fate up and down before dismissing the whole situation.
For deep down, he had only heard the Keeper of Fate say what he had come to believe long ago.
He was simply too cowardly to say it out loud.
Just like he was too...
'Cowardly to fight for my people.'
The Sovereign thought as his jaw clenched.
He looked up as the Lord of Shadows's hand stayed on the Keeper of Fate's shoulder.
Still...
"Bah!"
The skull spoke loudly as all but the Keeper of Fate and the Lord of Shadows glanced at him.
"Easy for you to say!" he said.
"Of course you bastards defied Fate! You and the Greatest of Abominations weren't bound by Fate!"
He continued.
"Tell me, do you know the misery of knowing that you are bound to an existence that dictates all your life? That no matter the path you take, you will fail?! That the people you care for—the people you care for will die no matter how hard you try! Do you understand that feeling—"
"Eurys."
The Lord of Shadows's voice came.
It was neither chilling nor loud.
Not even authoritative.
"It seems there is a misunderstanding here," he said.
His calm eyes behind his mask fell upon the Supreme.
"We were free from Fate?"
He remarked.
"If that were the case, why would we go through so much trouble? We could have simply killed the Scholar and made sure she never gave the Truth to the Sculptor, who used it to convince the Daemons to fight the Doom War. Had it been that easy, there would have been no Doom War."
He spoke calmly.
"So, of course not. We too were bound by the strings of Fate."
For once again, the great Lord of Shadows was about to correct Eurys's understanding of existence itself.
"And so was the Greatest of Abominations."
...
"Huh?"
Eurys let out.
There was no humor in it.
Only confusion and bewilderment.
"But you said the Greatest of Abominations was above Fate?" he said.
The Lord of Shadows turned away as the Keeper of Fate finally relaxed.
Golden threads rose from his hand to the armrest again as the Keeper of Fate sat with a polite, apologetic nod.
"The Greatest of Abominations, which predates time, is above Fate. That is true," the Lord of Shadows said.
"However, Fate is above time as well and predates it, much like the Great Gods and the Unknown, who created the Concepts of time and space to put a shield between existence and the Primordial Void," the Keeper of Fate answered.
"That does not mean the Greatest of Abominations came into being above Fate," the Child of Erasure entered.
"Quite the opposite. The Greatest of Abominations was the one thing that succeeded in fighting Fate despite being in its strings."
"..."
Eurys's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"What?" he asked calmly.
...
"What?" Eurys asked calmly.
The Keeper of Fate looked at him for a few moments.
"You misunderstand what it means for the Greatest of Abominations to stand above Fate."
The golden threads around his fingers shifted faintly.
"They did not begin there."
Eurys's sockets narrowed.
"They were born beneath the Tapestry, like everything else. Lived beneath it, fought beneath it, and for most of his existence every path he walked remained a path Fate could perceive."
The Lord of Shadows leaned back against his throne.
"Being able to resist your chains doesn't mean you were never chained."
Eurys stared at him.
"Then how did they escape?"
The Keeper of Fate's gaze moved away from him.
"To answer that, you need to understand what Fate was trying to accomplish."
A faint golden image formed in the darkness.
Seven vast figures.
Eurys became still.
"The Great Gods."
"Seven," the Keeper of Fate said.
Six of the figures moved.
The seventh remained behind.
Eurys's gaze sharpened.
"The one who was forgotten."
The Keeper of Fate nodded slightly.
"He did not remain behind willingly."
The seventh figure stayed alone as the others disappeared deeper into existence.
"He was left behind."
Eurys was silent for a second.
"By the others?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
The Keeper of Fate answered without hesitation.
"Because Fate demanded it."
...
Eurys gave a short, humorless laugh.
"So Fate itself arranged for one of the Gods to be abandoned in the Primordial Void."
The Lord of Shadows's voice came quietly.
"Now you understand why none of us speak fondly of it."
The image distorted.
Darkness surrounded the seventh figure.
"The six entered existence. The seventh remained where the Void could reach him, and eventually Corruption did."
The projection twisted slowly.
Not enough to obscure what the figure had once been.
Enough to make what remained feel wrong.
"The one who should have helped preserve existence became the thing that wanted it ended."
Eurys watched without speaking.
The Keeper of Fate continued.
"By the time the six understood what had happened, he was already lost. Even asleep, the intention left within him was simple."
The blackness around the figure spread.
"Open the way."
The Crown of Grace's voice followed softly.
"Let the Void in."
The Child of Erasure finished.
"And erase everything."
Eurys's jaw tightened.
"So the six hid him."
"They hid the Truth of him," the Keeper of Fate corrected.
The seventh figure disappeared from the projection.
"His place among them. His name. His existence. Everything they could erase."
Eurys understood immediately.
"So the Daemons wouldn't know of him."
"Exactly."
Seven smaller figures formed in the darkness.
"They were born from him. If they discovered what happened to their progenitor, they would rebel, and if the mortals, prayed to the Daemons, the Unknown would wake up in the void; their presence could stir him from that sleep."
The Lord of Shadows looked toward the projection.
"And if he woke in the Void, he wouldn't be alone."
Shapes moved behind the sleeping figure.
Too many to count.
Eurys's sockets narrowed.
"Cursed."
"Unholy," the Harbinger of Ruin added.
The Seer of Paths tilted his head.
"And things for which those words are inadequate."
The projection faded.
For a moment, the hall became quiet again.
"More gods to kill." The Lord of Shadows said.
The other gave him a look.
"...what."
"..."
Then another image formed.
The seven Daemons.
"The corrupted seventh was still bound by one thing born from his own existence."
The Keeper of Fate raised a hand.
"The Law of Imperfection."
Eurys looked at him.
"Once the unknown was corrupted, a pillar of existence was as well. Hence, a law formed: the Law of Imperfection. Everything must carry a Flaw."
One of the seven Daemons became distinct.
Golden threads surrounded him.
"The seventh was no exception."
Eurys stared at the figure.
"The Daemon of Fate."
The Keeper of Fate inclined his head.
"His Flaw."
The Lord of Shadows let out a faint exhale of amusement.
"The thing that ruined everything."
"For him," the Cursed of Truth added cheerfully.
The Keeper of Fate ignored them.
"Time passed. The Gods ruled. Heroes rose. Kingdoms grew. Then came the Golden Age."
The projection changed with his words.
Civilizations rose across entire realms.
Golden threads stretched through all of them.
"And through every age, Fate continued moving toward the same conclusion."
Nine figures appeared.
Eurys's jaw tightened.
The Keeper of Fate looked at him directly.
"You."
The Nine stood beneath the threads.
"Not Divine beings. Mortals."
The Harbinger of Ruin crossed his arms.
"Small enough to overlook."
The Child of Erasure added quietly,
"Easy enough to shape."
The Keeper of Fate continued.
"Kingdoms were allowed to fall. Families were broken. Hatred was given time to grow. You were shown enough of Fate to believe resistance was meaningless, then given enough pain to make obedience feel like purpose."
Eurys's sockets hardened.
His fallen kingdom appeared behind the Nine.
"You accepted what Fate told you."
The Keeper of Fate's voice became colder.
"That your kingdom would fall. That your people would die. That struggling against it would change nothing."
Eurys said nothing.
"And when the time came, the Nine carried exactly what Fate needed carried."
The projection changed.
The Daemons turned toward the Gods.
"Truth."
"Hatred."
"Purpose."
The Lord of Shadows spoke.
"Enough to begin a war."
The image erupted.
The Doom War.
Eurys watched as one shape fell.
Then another.
"The six Daemons were never merely opponents of the six Great Gods."
The Keeper of Fate's voice remained calm.
"They were weapons capable of killing them."
Another Divine figure fell.
"And the Gods were weapons capable of killing the Daemons."
Eurys looked at him.
"So neither side was meant to win."
"No." The Keeper of Fate's gaze stayed on the war.
"The board was meant to empty itself."
The projection slowly became still.
Almost everyone was gone.
Then one mortal figure appeared.
Walking toward something vast.
A gate.
Eurys froze.
"The Void Gate."
"One of the Nine had one final task."
The figure approached.
"At the end of the war, after the Gods and the Daemons had fallen, the gate was to be opened."
The doors began to separate.
Darkness appeared between them.
Not ordinary darkness.
Something deeper.
Something alive.
"The sleeping one would wake."
The Crown of Grace spoke softly.
"And everything beside him would enter."
Countless shapes moved beyond the gate.
Eurys stared.
The Keeper of Fate looked at him.
"That was Fate's intended ending."
The image began to disappear.
"The Great Gods dead. The Daemons dead. The Nine finished. The Void opened."
The last thing remaining was the darkness behind the gate.
"And existence ended."
...
For several moments, Eurys said nothing.
Then his sockets narrowed.
"But it didn't."
"No."
"Why?"
The Lord of Shadows answered.
"Because his own Flaw had been preparing for a very long time."
Eurys looked toward him.
"The Nightmare Spell."
The Keeper of Fate nodded.
"The Daemon of Fate could see where the Tapestry was leading. But Fate could not simply be rewritten. Every attempt to forcefully change its path became another part of that path."
Golden threads formed again.
This time, another structure appeared between them.
A web.
"A direct victory was impossible."
The Keeper of Fate raised his hand.
"So he prepared a delay."
Fragments appeared around the web.
Remnants of fallen Divine beings.
Eurys eyes widened. "The Divine soul shards."
"The Spell used what remained after the Gods and Daemons fell."
The web expanded.
"It became a net over the open void gate."
Eurys stared.
The enormous sleeping shape remained still.
"A lullaby," the Keeper of Fate said.
The word made Eurys look at him.
"Crude, but accurate."
The Cursed of Truth smiled.
"The sleeping one remained asleep."
The projection changed again.
Seeds.
Nightmares.
Fragments pushing through.
"But not silent," the Keeper of Fate continued.
"His dreams still seeped into existence. The Nightmare Seeds were pieces of those dreams. Corruption continued leaking inward, and the Tapestry itself remained pointed toward the same end."
Eurys's expression darkened.
"So the Spell only delayed it."
"Yes."
The Lord of Shadows spoke.
"But without that delay, you would not be standing here asking questions."
Eurys ignored the remark.
"And eventually?"
The Keeper of Fate looked toward the threads.
"Eventually, Fate wins."
The words settled heavily.
"The sleeper wakes. Corruption spreads. The Tapestry reaches the ending it has always been moving toward."
Eurys stared at him.
"Then what was the point?"
The Keeper of Fate's gaze shifted upward.
"Time."
Eurys said nothing.
"Enough time for something Fate could not properly account for to rise."
The Lord of Shadows tilted his head slightly.
"The problem was that we were not that thing yet."
Eurys looked at him.
The Keeper of Fate continued.
"During the Golden Age, during the Doom War, even the Greatest of Abominations still existed within the Tapestry. We could see parts of Fate's design. We could interfere with it. But if we tried to simply walk against the path it had written, the world itself would close around us."
Eurys's sockets narrowed.
"How?"
"A creature appeared where one should not have been. A battle happened too early. A person survived. Another died. An opportunity disappeared."
The Lord of Shadows spoke as if discussing weather.
"Once, an Unholy creature appeared where there had been no reason for one to exist."
Eurys looked at him.
"We were not ready for it."
A pause.
The images of the Lord of Shadows, with his odachi in hand, and behind him, the Keeper of Fate with golden threads surrounding him, appeared.
"So we learned."
The Keeper of Fate raised his hand and formed two thin golden paths.
"We didn't try to run directly against the current."
The paths drew closer together.
"We removed what pieces we could. Prepared what could be prepared. Narrowed the possible paths."
The two threads nearly touched.
"Until there were but a few million routes left."
Eurys watched, "a few million?"
"The route Fate itself wanted."
"Almost."
The Lord of Shadows's faint smile returned.
Eurys's jaw tightened.
"You let it happen."
The Keeper of Fate looked at him.
"Enough of it."
"The Doom War."
"Yes."
"The Gods died."
"Yes."
"The Daemons."
"Yes."
Eurys's expression hardened further.
The Cursed of Truth looked at him.
"There was no other way... If we went against the flow Fate wanted, drastic measures would be taken. The Lord of Shadows is a prime example."
Eurys looked at him.
"You think abominations of the Primordial Void happened to land his way? Fate was sending them before he was the metaphysical heavy hitter. There is a reason he killed so many abominations of the Void. Fate itself was hunting him actively."
Eurys looked at the man.
His bigger desire was to know how he had killed abominations of the Void, but the knowledge he was receiving from the Keeper of Fate was more important.
"And the end?"
The hall became quieter.
The Keeper of Fate's voice lowered.
"At the end, Fate had almost everything it wanted."
The golden threads converged.
"The board was empty. The last pieces were moving. The sleeping one remained asleep."
He paused.
"And the Greatest of Abominations stood at the end of that path."
Eurys stared.
"They fought Fate while still inside its own design."
The Lord of Shadows rested his fingers against the throne.
"And then the final battle failed."
Eurys's sockets narrowed.
"Failed?"
The Seer of Paths answered.
"Not entirely."
The Cursed of Truth smiled.
"Enough."
The Keeper of Fate ignored both of them.
"The conclusion was not the one we wanted. The sleeper remained. The Tapestry remained. Existence survived, but the true problem was not solved."
Then he opened his hand.
The golden threads vanished.
Eurys froze.
"But something changed."
The Keeper of Fate looked at him.
"Fate lost us."
...
Eurys stared.
"All of you?"
"All of us."
"And the Greatest of Abominations?"
The Child of Erasure spoke.
"Especially him."
The Keeper of Fate leaned back.
"Until then, we had always been pieces on the board."
The Lord of Shadows finished the thought.
"Now we are the blind spot."
Eurys remained quiet.
The meaning settled slowly.
"The Tapestry can't see you."
"It cannot see our paths," the Keeper of Fate said. "It cannot see what choices we will make or prepare its pieces around them, much less control us."
The Lord of Shadows's voice became faintly amused.
"For the first time, we can actually fight without Fate putting a wall in front of us every time we take a step."
Eurys stared at the seven.
Then something changed in his expression.
"Wait."
The Keeper of Fate looked at him.
Eurys leaned forward as much as a skull could.
"If Fate wanted the seventh corrupted, wanted the Doom War, wanted the Gods and Daemons dead, wanted the Void opened, and wanted existence destroyed..."
His voice slowed.
"...then why did Fate create the Greatest of Abominations?"
The hall became still.
Eurys continued.
"Why would Fate allow the existence of something capable of fighting it? Something capable of eventually escaping the Tapestry?"
His gaze moved across the seven.
"And if you were all created from that thing..."
His sockets narrowed.
"Why would Fate create the being capable of creating you?"
No one answered.
Eurys stared at them.
"That doesn't make sense."
The Lord of Shadows said nothing.
The Keeper of Fate said nothing.
Eurys's voice lowered.
"That's a contradiction."
The seven regarded him for a moment.
"Now we get to the main part," the Lord of Shadows said.
"The part where the show gets real, huh?" the Seer of Paths said as he leaned back.
Eurys narrowed his eyes.
"Come on, don't be shy now," he said.
The Child of Erasure looked at him.
"Unfortunately, what's left to explain is the biggest reason we can't tell you much without permission."
Eurys clicked his teeth.
"Nothing? I sat through a whole lecture!"
The Crown of Grace smiled, trying to ease the situation.
"Well, you did learn a lot about existence, right? Most beings would never know a fragment of this," he reasoned.
Eurys snapped toward him.
"I was just told the whole story, and you're leaving the ending out?" he asked.
"Skull."
The Lord of Shadows's heavy voice came.
Eurys looked at him, his edge leaving.
"You're a guest. Act like one," he said.
Eurys regarded him, then scoffed.
"You got knighted, did you?"
"All the more reason for you to keep your bones shut, boy."
"Who are you calling a boy? Brat! I—"
"If you want to know more," the Keeper of Fate began.
Eurys turned to him.
The Keeper of Fate smiled gently behind his mask.
"I can try and see if I'm allowed to tell you about it. That's the least I can do for my earlier rudeness."
The Lord of Shadows turned to him.
"You want to take such risks for him?" he asked.
Eurys stiffened.
Risk?
These people?
No doubt this permission had to come from...
"Well, I was rude. I must earn my forgiveness, should I not?" the Keeper of Fate said.
He turned to Eurys.
"For now, I can tell you this much."
His voice sharpened but remained calm and gentle.
"This contradiction, as you called it, connects to a phenomenon called the Laws of Paradox."
Eurys looked at him, registering the words.
"Plural... so more than one?"
He turned toward the grand throne.
"Third, was it? So there are two more Paradoxes—"
...
However, before he could speak further, something happened.
The seven moved.
Their heads turned almost simultaneously as the shadowy walls of the hall stirred.
Ripples spread through the darkness.
Then came a distant sound.
Heavy.
Slow.
As though something colossal, impossibly far away and yet surrounding them from every direction, had taken a step.
Eurys's gaze moved sharply from one throne to another.
Something was happening.
Then—
The shadows above moved.
...
Eurys looked around and then up.
"What the hell is happening? And will I get my answer?"
...
"...Well, this is interesting," the Lord of Shadows said.
"Indeed," the Keeper of Fate replied, his gaze fixed upon the soaring height.
"Something must have happened," the Harbinger of Ruin said.
"Bones," the Seer of Paths remarked, looking upward as well. "Congratulations."
"You'll get your answer," the Cursed of Truth said.
"Just not from us," the Crown of Grace added.
The Cursed of Truth turned his head. "Did the plan change?"
Eurys looked between them.
Then upward again.
Something moved.
No—
The darkness itself moved.
The seemingly endless wall of shadows trembled before beginning to descend.
Like an enormous curtain being drawn away.
"You wanted to know what this place was?" the Lord of Shadows asked without taking his eyes away from the endless height.
More darkness fell.
Eurys's sockets narrowed.
'This place...'
A vast, dark sky was unveiled above them.
There was no light.
No stars.
Nothing but pitch-black space stretching farther than Eurys could perceive.
Except—
There was something within it.
Seven things.
Eurys's jaw clenched.
"You asked about our Class, right?" the Seer of Paths said.
"As beings bound to the Greatest of Abominations, we are the same Class," the Harbinger of Ruin said calmly.
Eurys stared upward.
Seven enormous pitch-black orbs hung within the dark sky.
Like seven black suns.
His voice came out lower than before.
"Transcendent Titans..."
His gaze slowly descended toward the seven beings surrounding him.
Then the curtain continued to fall.
And the horizon appeared.
Eurys froze.
"W-Wha—"
"You wanted to know what the Greatest of Abominations was capable of?" the Keeper of Fate asked.
The darkness vanished completely.
All that remained was a vast world.
A world with no seeming end.
The great hall that had surrounded them moments ago suddenly seemed insignificant, more like an altar standing within the center of something immeasurably larger.
Above were the seven dark Titan cores.
Below—
Dark water rippled beneath the thrones.
Then continued outward.
And outward.
And outward.
Eurys stared.
"T-This is endless!"
The water did not simply surround them.
It came from every direction.
The horizon stretched farther than his senses could follow.
The sheer density of essence within those dark waters was horrifying by itself.
But—
Eurys's gaze shifted.
That wasn't what had made the word leave his mouth.
"H-How?!"
His voice nearly became a shout.
Across the endless dark sea...
There were shadows.
Thousands.
Millions.
No—
He could not count them.
Great silhouettes towered in the distance.
Others crawled upon countless limbs.
Some possessed shapes that his mind struggled to understand.
Some were small.
Others were so vast that their shadows seemed like mountains rising from the dark waters.
All of them stood motionless.
Like lifeless dolls.
But Eurys knew better.
His jaw slowly tightened.
These were the shadows of dead beings.
No.
His gaze fixed upon one of the distant forms.
Then another.
And another.
Dead Gods.
Not Great Gods.
But Gods nonetheless.
Beings that had not originated within the realms.
Shapes born beyond existence itself.
Abominations of the Primordial Void.
Eurys's gaze moved faster.
There were Cursed beings.
Unholy beings.
And among them—
Divine.
His jaw clenched.
He had seen the Divine clash in the Nightmare Desert.
He knew what beings of that level could do.
And some of the things standing silently within this sea were creatures even the Great Gods could not have guaranteed victory against.
Yet there were countless shadows.
Standing silently.
Dead.
Collected here.
Eurys felt something he had not expected to feel.
Fear.
"J-Just who the hell...?"
His sockets widened as another colossal silhouette became visible beyond the first.
Then another.
Then dozens more behind it.
"Who killed all of these?!"
No one answered him.
The Seven simply watched.
Eurys stared at the dark sea.
At the shadows.
At the seven black suns above.
Whoever had done this had entered the Primordial Void.
Not merely looked through its gate.
Entered it.
Survived.
And returned again and again with the shadows of what had died there.
His jaw tightened.
There was no longer any ambiguity in his mind.
This was the doing of the Greatest of Abominations.
...
The seven turned their heads.
Together.
Toward the grand throne.
Eurys followed their gazes.
For the first time since entering this strange place, the ancient Supreme felt reluctant to know what came next.
The Lord of Shadows spoke.
"Eurys of the Nine."
The Cursed of Truth smiled faintly.
"Be honored."
"Your question will be answered," the Child of Erasure said.
The Keeper of Fate remained facing the throne.
Then, calmly, he declared:
"The Greatest of Abominations will hold court."