This was the end of the story of Lord Gaiseric and the Void.
Hearing this, Nidhogg was still deeply moved. He also clearly pondered some questions that had previously been unresolved—at least the motive of the archangel Void was now clear.
He did not judge the skeleton knight's past. Not to mention that the past was irreversible. What mattered was the present and the future. The current skeleton knight had long been transformed by thousands of years of wind and frost. That was enough.
Never mind his frightening appearance, his mercilessness toward Apostles and monsters, and the unknown amount of Apostle and monster blood stained on his sword and shield. Now, he was definitely a good person with good intentions.
His willingness to save Guts, Casca, Rickert, and the prostitute Luca near the Tower of Conviction was enough to prove that he was no longer the arbitrary sovereign who only cared about himself.
Since he had asked this question, Nidhogg simply added another: "How did they make the law of causality work? Was it simply fate?"
The skeleton knight had long since emerged from his deep memories. He rode forward on his dark horse. After listening to Nidhogg's question, he thought for a moment and replied, "The law of causality is like our path up this mountain."
"Let me tell you, the road up from the east has collapsed. The south and north sides are sheer cliffs. Only this western path can reach the mountain's summit."
"When you truly climb this path, you will quickly discover that this road is on the edge of a cliff. You cannot turn back now. It's too late to retreat. You can only go to the end of the road."
Nidhogg thought for a moment and quickly concluded, "These are thoughts, hints, dreams, ideas—anything that can change people's minds."
"Correct," the skeleton knight said. "Flora and I conducted much research on the Abyss, the God Hand, and the Apostles afterward. We discovered that there are many records of God Hand Eclipses in the world before Void."
"But Void was also the most intelligent of them, so he became the leader of the angels."
"He perfected the connection between elements such as the law of causality, the Eclipse, the demon-subduing ritual, the Beherit, religion and faith, believers and dreams, and so on."
"Relying on the catastrophe that destroyed the imperial capital, he became a saint in one fell swoop. Especially since everyone was in a dream, they learned that he had summoned the angels, destroyed the imperial capital, and saved the world."
"Two years after the destruction of the imperial capital, Void was reincarnated in the Tower of Conviction, admired by all. He obtained a human body, came back into the world from the abyss of the astral world, and performed miracles to save all people."
"The Great Sage resurrected after two years and walked the world as a believer in God, bringing salvation to the world. This soon spread across the entire continent, and also spread the teachings of the Holy See."
"Thus, on this continent, there is no other religious faith that can compete with it."
"From then until now, the teachings of the Holy See have completely monopolized the beliefs of this continent, forming the religious circle of the Holy See and accumulating countless believers. The Book of Revelation, which he left behind, is revered and worshiped."
"Subsequent Eclipses occurred each time confirming the Book of Revelation. The believers became increasingly convinced and steadfast in this faith."
"At critical moments, some believers could predict the future in their dreams. Hints would appear in their hearts. Their thoughts would concentrate and explode. This is the 'wind of time' that drives the development of everything."
"It is so difficult to change one person's mind, let alone the thoughts of the people of an entire era. They are blindly foolish, fall into the trap of the cycle, and become food for the brand again and again, yet they do not realize it."
"Of course, I have no right to blame them. Even though I do not believe in the teachings of the Holy See, I am still struggling against the current of the law of causality."
"The law of causality cannot control all my thoughts. But how can I be sure that my current thoughts are not the result of the influence of the law of causality? The world is so complex."
Nidhogg followed him, was silent for a moment, and asked, "Do you think we are hopeless?"
"If there were no hope, I would not struggle," the skeleton knight said. "Even they are not omnipotent. Otherwise, there would be no need to devise such a cumbersome ritual."
"All I need is to find a path to a moment outside the Eclipse, and a weapon capable of killing them. That is enough."
"Nidhogg, you also need to think about how your power should work. Our war with the Abyss and the God Hand is long. There is no end in sight. Perhaps it will continue into the next millennium."
The skeleton knight's words plunged Nidhogg into deep thought. He certainly wanted to do something. The question was no longer whether he wanted to or not. He was already caught in the whirlpool.
Suddenly, the skeleton knight took his reins and stopped his dark horse.
Nidhogg also stopped. Then he looked past the skeleton knight and saw that the path along the cliff began to descend. At the end of the descent stood a giant tree.
The giant tree's branches and leaves had withered. Its limbs were bare. But its roots were surprisingly strong, stretched out like thick blood vessels, protruding from the ground or hiding in the soil.
And beneath the giant tree, a deep cave appeared.
A group of small, ugly creatures carried something, burrowed into the cave, and quickly disappeared.
"Beastly spirits," the skeleton knight recognized them at a glance. "Their disgusting and ugly nature is far worse than the River Horses, vengeful spirits, and ghosts I've encountered before. Perhaps only Apostles are worse."
Nidhogg also recognized the large-nosed creatures. He had secretly decided to kill all such monsters if he had the chance. He hadn't expected to encounter them here.
So he suggested, "Since we've met them, why don't we exterminate the beastly spirits in this cave?"
The skeleton knight thought for a moment and said, "Alright. Their main advantage is acting in groups, but they will be no match for us. Let's go. The inside of the cave is complex. Don't get lost."
They descended the slope and soon reached the cave beneath the giant tree. They immediately smelled a fishy stench emanating from the cave. At the same time, a silvery liquid flowed across the ground.
The skeleton knight shone his crystal light, discerned the silvery liquid, and frowned:
"This is unicorn blood. This group of beastly spirits must have gone to the surface of the astral world to hunt... These truly are evil monsters, wanting to defile that sacred creature."
The two of them drove their horses into the cave. They pushed aside thorns, vines, and stone cones protruding from the walls, gradually going deeper into the cave. The deeper they went, the stronger the fishy stench became, and the more corpses they encountered along the way.
When they entered a huge cavern chamber, they saw a large stone platform protruding from the stone wall. Below the cliff was a sticky, bubbling lake.
A group of beastly spirits and the unicorns they carried writhed in the darkness within the cave, hollowed out by the stone platform.