Book 2 Chapter 617
They walked aimlessly through the pure white space.
Residue was starting to get confused about whether this place was another world, the interior of the tree, or inside the mind of Destruction.
“Hoo.”
Symetra let out a sigh with a tired expression.
“It’s endless. How long have we been walking?”
“How would I count that?”
“…It seems like we’ve been walking for a full hour.”
“Hmm.”
“You don’t think we’re already trapped, do you?”
She cautiously voiced her opinion.
It would have been fine if she had stopped there, but she then shot Residue a glare as if blaming him, which was rather insolent.
Without a word, he snapped his fingers.
Crackle-
“Kyahhh!”
A sharp scream rang out.
Residue nodded in satisfaction, using it as background music.
“It seems we’re trapped after all.”
“Huu… What?”
“This is a place that’s difficult to escape from by ourselves. I don’t know exactly how such a space exists inside Destruction’s body, but either way, it must belong to a realm that cannot be understood through the common sense and knowledge of our world.” R̃ᴀΝȰᛒЕs
“What do you mean…?”
“It’s simple. Understand what you can, and don’t bother trying to understand what you can’t.”
That suited him just fine.
Residue had no desire to seek the source of knowledge or an obsessive need to uncover every unknown mystery. He lacked the tenacity and perseverance for such things, nor did he want to have them.
When he snapped his fingers again, crackling lightning streaked outward in all directions.
“Kyah…”
Symetra, who had instinctively opened her mouth to scream, quickly shut it. She realized that the electricity wasn’t directed at her.
Residue cast her a cold look.
“Did you, by any chance, learn how to fake pain?”
“N-no, I did not.”
"Not true my foot. I just saw it with my own two eyes."
“…It was just a reflex.”
“……”
A reflex, my ass. He hadn’t even done it that many times.
Ignoring Symetra’s flustered excuse, Residue turned his gaze to the direction the lightning had flowed. He closed his eyes and listened carefully, even placing his hand on the ground or whatever it should be called.
Then, he nodded.
“As I thought. This space has no end.”
“What do you mean?”
“The lightning I sent to map the terrain hasn’t returned. In fact, it has even gone beyond my sensing range. Hmm. Perhaps…”
Residue muttered in a low voice.
“We might have entered that infamous ‘Outside’.”
*
They continued walking for an entire day.
It was more than enough time for Symetra’s heart to grow unbearably heavy. Could they really afford to waste time like this? It wasn’t as if they were unaware of what was happening outside.
Unable to suppress her frustration, she voiced her thoughts, to which Residue grinned and said,
“You’re wrong.”
“…What?”
“From an objective perspective, this place is actually the ‘Outside’, and the place we came from is the ‘Inside’. That is, of course, assuming this really is Destruction’s homeland. Hahaha.”
Residue corrected such an ultimately trivial fact and laughed cheerfully.
“This isn’t the time for nonsense like that.”
“You seem impatient.”
“The situation calls for it.”
“There’s no need. Based on my analysis, time must flow differently in this place as well.”
“…Are you saying that a day or even a year here could be just a fleeting moment outside…?”
“Or it could be the opposite. Kukukuk.”
Then when they get out, everything will already be over!
Symetra wanted to grab Residue by the collar and shout that, but she held back. Unfortunately, the man before her was the type who would punish such rudeness with a beaming smile.
Unlike her, whose insides were boiling with frustration, Residue remained relaxed.
In a way, he almost seemed enlightened.
One day, two days, four days…
By the time about a week had passed, even Symetra had adopted a similar attitude to Residue though not by choice.
And then, after another three days had passed…
“Are we really just going to be okay like this?”
Symetra’s voice had taken on a deeply serious tone.
Residue still wasn’t impatient, but his expression no longer showed any composure.
“It seems I was mistaken. We’re doomed. We’ll be trapped here for the rest of our lives, wandering endlessly until we’re eventually absorbed by Destruction. It was a life full of regrets. Hoo…”
As Symetra’s expression hardened, Residue casually added,
“I was joking.”
“…This isn’t the time for that.”
“True enough.”
Nodding, he suddenly plopped down on the spot.
Then, he crossed his legs into a meditation posture and even closed his eyes.
“……”
There was an oddly sacred aura in his sudden meditative stance, making him look entirely different from when he was just teasing moments ago.
However, Symetra did not find the sight moving in the least.
“What are you doing?”
“I still haven’t fully mastered my own power. And now, we’ve arrived in a space where time flows independently. I see this as an opportunity.”
“You’re not seriously planning to train here, are you?”
“I am.”
It was such nonsense that not even a sigh could escape.
Symetra looked at Residue in disbelief.
“But you said there’s no guarantee that time flows slower here than outside. In fact, it could be the opposite…”
“That’s right.”
“Then how can you afford to act so relaxed?”
Residue opened one eye and spoke in an annoyed tone.
“You still think like a lowly fool. The title ‘Lord of the Hunt’ would be crying. If time really flows faster here, then from the moment we entered, it was already too late. There’s no point in rushing or anything else.”
“There are other possibilities, aren’t there? Like, what if time flows the same here as it does outside?”
“…Hmm.”
Residue fell silent for a moment before standing up.
“I didn’t think of that. Quite sharp.”
“……”
“I suppose we should hurry a bit.”
“…Hoo.”
This time, Symetra couldn’t hold back a sigh.
*
But even if they hurried, nothing changed.
Residue and Symetra continued walking through the white space.
That was all they did, just walked. They couldn’t even say they were wandering or searching. No matter where they went, the scenery remained the same.
“……”
“……”
Gradually, their conversations grew less frequent. Now, neither Symetra nor even Residue spoke first.
The silence was so heavy and suffocating that it almost felt like they could hear ringing in their ears.
It was around that time that Symetra began acting strangely.
“…What if we’re wrong about all of this?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if this place isn’t connected to Destruction? What if there’s no path or clue leading to it, and this is just a trap? While we waste time here, what if everything outside has already been turned to ruins… or.”
“……”
“What if we didn’t enter Destruction but were instead absorbed into it? What if we’ve already begun the process of becoming one with Destruction, and this is just its way of digesting us, erasing our individuality and consciousness…?”
At some point, Symetra’s words had turned into murmurs to herself. Staggering as she walked, she continued muttering ominously.
Residue watched her blankly for a moment before turning his gaze away.
Time passed.
Residue continued walking in silence. The first to break the quiet again was Symetra.
“…It feels like it’s been about a month.”
“Has it been that long already?”
“Yes. And we still haven’t found a single clue.”
“……”
“Do you think there’s anything to gain from staying here? Shouldn’t we be trying to leave as soon as possible…?”
“Do you have a way out?”
“…That necklace.”
Symetra pointed at the necklace around Residue’s neck.
“That item can detect Destruction, can’t it? If we use it well, maybe we can find a way out…”
“Hmm. That’s possible.”
“Right?”
“But I’m not planning to leave yet.”
Symetra closed her mouth.
Then, she gave him a slightly irritated glare.
“…So you intend to keep wandering here?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“……”
Residue paused briefly before answering.
“Until I’m satisfied.”
-Time passed once again.
Another month might have gone by.
However, just as Symetra had predicted, they gained nothing. No matter how desperately they struggled, there was no progress. Nothing changed.
And such an extreme state of stagnation inevitably gave rise to madness.
Even an Absolute was no exception.
Around that time, they began to feel an illusion that the white space was shifting in color.
Black, blue, yellow, or red.
Was this the process of going insane?
“…Isn’t this enough?”
Symetra spoke once more.
Her voice was cracked and rough, like an old, withered tree.
“Months… perhaps even longer have passed. And yet, nothing has changed since we first arrived here.”
“……”
“You said you wanted to converse with Destruction. You must be well aware of how reckless that is. Yet even after all this time, after wandering so long, you haven’t even found a way to stand at the starting point.”
Residue stopped walking.
Symetra spoke in a tired voice.
“It was an impossible plan from the beginning. The only reason Father and the Black Witch accepted it was because they bore no risk themselves.”
“……”
“If you give up now, sure, you might feel ashamed. But that’s all. No one will blame you.”
That was undoubtedly true.
From the start, no one had expected Residue to stop Destruction alone.
“This level of Destruction was never something we could handle in the first place.”
So please,
Just give up already.
“……”
Residue remained silent. He was silent for quite a long time.
Then, slowly, he lifted his head.
As if admiring the stars in the night sky, he gazed upward.
He stared at the empty white space for a long time.
“Then who will stop it?”
Residue finally spoke, posing a question in return.
Though it was his first time speaking in a long while, his voice was not even slightly cracked. Instead, it was crystal clear.
“…If we wait for the Half King-”
“That one will not come.”
“…It’s not just the Half King. Do you really think there aren’t others stronger than you right now? The Thunderous Lightning God and the other Rulers, the Four Knights, the Twelve Void Lords who might still be hiding their strength, and possibly other powerful beings we haven’t yet identified, they could all be waiting for their chance.”
“……”
“Or are you worried about the casualties that will occur until then? Considering who you are now, that’s understandable. But even if Destruction expands its domain to the scale of an entire planet, the damage can be minimized. The Black Witch is here. Who knows? If she uses her power fully and we support her, perhaps no one will die.”
“No. People will die. Someone will definitely die.”
“And who exactly would that be?”
“You.”
Symetra froze.
“You will die.”
“……”
“Do you understand? I am not the same as I was ‘back then’. My perspective has changed, my view of the world has shifted. My body feels lighter than ever, my mind is clearer than it has ever been. Every moment, I feel truly free… Yes.”
Residue, who had been looking at her, suddenly smiled faintly.
“It ‘feels like’ I’m free. But deep inside, there is still something that weighs on me.”
“……”
“I no longer run away. I do not avoid things anymore. Even if you ask ten times, test me a hundred times, tempt me a thousand times, or if I have to wander this place for a time longer than all of those combined, I will not leave first.”
“…Why?”
“Because back then, I made a promise.”
Residue’s gaze was calm.
“That no matter what, I would grant one single request.”
Not to Symetra.
“To you, at the moment you need it the most, I will grant the thing you desire the most.”
For all this time, perhaps ever since they had entered this white world.
Residue had been looking at something that had only been imitating her.
Crack-
Cracks began to spread across the white world.
This place was not the "Outside", nor was it Destruction's homeland.
It was merely an illusionary world, nearly indistinguishable from reality, designed to appear that way.
"So tell me."
Crack-!
The fissures accelerated, quickly turning into complete collapse. Shards, like fragments of glass, began falling like scattered gold dust.
Residue stood calmly within the fractured world, watching.
At the end of the First Destruction,
And at the girl who had once borne the name Luca.
“The words you couldn’t say back then.”
Shatter!
And with that, the white world shattered completely.
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