Chapter 504. Can’t Cry (2)

After the original Sernitas’ main body disappeared as if it was absorbed by the ground, the earth had become muddier than ever; it was to the extent that both of Chi-Woo’s feet sunk deep into the ground. Actually, it felt more like stepping on a soft chunk of flesh than mud. At that moment, Chi-Woo clearly saw a long, straight crevice split the ground as if it had been axed. The gap deepened and lengthened at such a fast pace that it seemed like it would cut the continent in half. Then, as if it had found a prey so delicious that it couldn’t suppress its appetite, the gap widened on both sides and opened outwards.

Soon, the whole area protruded in two halves. It looked as if the entire Liber continent, contaminated by the Sernitas, was trying to eat Chi-Woo with its mouth open. Everyone was shocked by the sudden transformation, and their eyes snapped to Chi-Woo since the enemies they’d been intensely fighting had suddenly disappeared in an instant as if sucked into the ground. Their enemies seemed to have toyed with them enough and no longer had any business with them. This all happened in a matter of seconds.

The protruding earth opened wide to swallow Chi-Woo before closing its mouth. Chi-Woo kicked the ground as hard as he could and soared through the air, but it was useless as the range of the rising land was so great that even the frontline units that had failed to catch up to Chi-Woo were within its range.

“No!” Alice screamed. Her trauma from the great war flared up, and she reflexively extended her hand toward Chi-Woo. She tried to rescue him the same as before, but—

“Aghhhhhhhh!” A violent electric discharge attacked both of her arms, and she let out a piercing scream. A mysterious energy suddenly soared from the ground and had interrupted her power as if it was telling her, ‘Not you. I’m not interested in you, so don’t interfere.’

It was the same for Chi-Hyun. He had attacked with all his might as soon as he saw the land rise on a large scale, but it did nothing. To be exact, he did manage to damage the Sernitas, but it was only a scratch. The Sernitas didn’t budge at all as if it had become one with the planet Liber. Chi-Hyun even tried to move the entire space around Chi-Woo, but he was met with a tremendous resistance like Alice. The Sernitas did not allow the slightest interference, as if they were really going all out this time, as if they would never let go of their prey so easily.

Chi-Hyun rushed through the air, but there was no way he would reach Chi-Woo in time… No, even if he reached Chi-Woo, he couldn’t think of any particular solution right now. They would just be swallowed up together. Chi-Hyun stopped flying as soon as he realized what he should do. Then he took a deep breath and turned around, flying at full speed in the opposite direction while not taking his eyes off Chi-Woo.

The mouth, which seemed like it would swallow Chi-Woo at any moment, closed little by little, as if it was provoking him to come and fight. It was then that Chi-Hyun got out of the Sernitas’ range of influence, and at that moment, a possibility crossed his mind—that this whole situation itself could be a trap. However, the realization didn’t change anything because Chi-Hyun couldn’t turn a blind eye to the Sernitas’ bait. Thus, Chi-Hyun had no choice but to reach out his hand and raise his mana. He was going to use teleportation—or to be more precise, he planned to swap places with Chi-Woo.

The next moment, Chi-Hyun realized that his prediction was correct as he didn’t feel any interference or resistance this time. Rather, the opponent’s territory greedily accepted Chi-Hyun’s mana as if it had been waiting all along. The next moment, Chi-Hyun’s and Chi-Woo’s views flipped. Chi-Woo, who had been soaring through the air with frantic energy, soon came to a sudden halt. He quickly looked back after realizing his surroundings had changed. What Chi-Woo saw next was the ground swallowing his brother and immediately plunging back down.

* * *

Chi-Hyun opened his eyes and realized that he was standing in a space he had never seen before. No, maybe it was not for the first time in his life. Almost everything remained the same. The battlefield, which had been ravaged in battle a moment ago, was visible as it was, as well as Chi-Woo from afar and the expeditionary forces of Shalyh scattered everywhere. However, the important part was that they were all standing still, frozen in time, and another part that changed was…the location.

He was no longer on the plain. He felt as if he had been sucked into the ground, but it didn’t feel humid or damp as he would feel if he was underground. It was also dark. Like a dark room illuminated by flickering fluorescent light that was about to go out. Chi-Hyun calmly looked around, and his gaze lingered in one place. He saw the nest that was now reduced to the size of a coffin. As Chi-Woo had seen, the nest looked semi-transparent. In a world where everything was frozen, only the nest was alive and breathing. Chi-Hyun unconsciously tried to raise his mana, but somehow, his powers didn’t listen to him. Rather than not being able to control his mana, it felt as if his mana was completely gone. When he frowned, wondering what happened, he suddenly heard a voice coming from next to him.

—As expected, you were human too. I had no idea you had such a weakness.

It was a familiar voice. Chi-Hyun swung his arm at the same time he turned around. Although it wasn’t infused with mana, he immediately split his opponent with physical power alone. However, he didn’t feel any sense of contact and only saw white smoke flying around.

—It was my first time seeing this side of you. It was quite refreshing.

The voice continued without paying heed to Chi-Hyun’s attack. Then, the scattered smoke slowly returned to its original form as if time was rewinding.

—What a sight to see someone as cold as you act so desperate without caring about the consequences.

The figure who was soon revealed was none other than Bael. Chi-Hyun’s expression was indifferent as he stared at her. He had known it was her from the moment he heard her voice.

—I guess you really care about your brother.

Chi-Hyun swung his arm again as soon as he saw Bael speaking with a smile. However, she scattered like smoke once more.

—Stop.

It appeared that she hadn’t taken any damage.

—You know it’s pointless. You know what happened to me.

The last part of her words were coming from not just next to him, but also from all directions. Bael now appeared all around Chi-Hyun as she talked to him. Chi-Hyun let out a hollow laugh as he saw Bael shoot up from the ground.

In the end, he lowered his arm and said, “What are you scheming?”

—Scheming? Hmm, I don’t know if we’re even scheming something in the first place.

Bael shrugged.

—It’s not like you don’t know…what our goal is.

“So,” Chi-Hyun continued while staring at Bael, “Why did you come after me and not my brother?” The Sernitas’ ultimate goal was Chi-Woo; that was an absolutely immutable fact. Thus, Chi-Hyun had been certain that the plan the Sernitas had been hiding so intently must be directed at Chi-Woo. However, that hadn’t been the case. At the last moment, the Sernitas went after Chi-Hyun rather than Chi-Woo, and Chi-Hyun had realized this right before he was swallowed.

—No, it’s not.

“It’s not?”

—Our ultimate goal is your brother, but there is a necessary process we have to go through before reaching him.

“What are you talking about?”

Bael said nothing for a moment. She stared at Chi-Hyun and then asked suddenly.

—Do you know where this is, what point of time you’re in?

The ‘point of time’ part bothered him, but Chi-Hyun growled, “Stop spouting nonsense and answer my question.”

—I’m answering your question.

She was answering his question? Chi-Hyun frowned. She had asked him about the point of time rather than the place or location. It referred to a specific moment in the passage of time.

—It’s a worldline.

Chi-Hyun doubted his ears. A worldline. Physical events usually took place at a specific place in time. In a four-dimensional space that integrated time and space, it became a point. This was called the world point. If events were displayed in a four-dimensional space in such a way that they occurred in different spaces one after another in time, several world points could be drawn. A worldline was the line that connected the world points.

Therefore, a world point could be seen as the existence of an event, and in a worldline in which such events continued, the result of these events would be marked at the end of the worldline. In that case, the world point, which corresponded to an event itself, could be considered a cause that led to the result at the end of the worldline. In short, Bael was saying that Chi-Hyun was currently standing in the middle of causality.

—To be more precise, where you are now would be the world point. The first starting point that would bring about the results we want.

By starting point, Bael meant that an event would happen from now on, and at the end of this series of events, the result that the Sernitas wanted would be waiting for them, which was no other than—

—That’s it.

Bael raised her index finger and pointed to one side. Chi-Hyun looked over and saw the coffin-shaped nest that he had seen earlier.

—Frankly, when you were at war with the Abyss, we thought about intervening, and we were on the verge of doing so. The prevailing opinion was that we wouldn’t be able to beat you unless we acted immediately. However, at that moment, an unexpected existence reached out to us. A great power that maintained the order of the universe, dealing with the law of causality.

—The will of the universe.

Bael continued slowly.

—The will of the universe set one condition, and we accepted. In return, we were promised a future.

“Future?” Chi-Hyun, who had been listening quietly, asked, “Are you saying that the coffin-looking nest is the future you all want?”

—I think you’re misunderstanding a bit.

Bael shook her head.

—Our aim is to infinitely become more and more complete, and by doing so, become the greatest in the whole universe. The problem is the means to achieve it.

The Sernitas saw absorbing Chi-Woo as the final way to achieve their ultimate wish. However, the problem with this method was that it could never be achieved given the state the Sernitas were in at the time.

—We admit it. Your brother is…special. We didn’t know when we were fighting him, but now we know for sure.

Chi-Woo had been growing at a speed that far exceeded Sernitas' prediction. They had no choice but to admit it when they saw him fighting the Abyss King. Fully absorbing Chi-Woo was beyond their capacity to the point that not even their all-out effort would be enough. Considering the pace of his growth, this difference would only widen in the future. When they were going to run away since they saw no solution no matter how they looked at it, the universe’s will offered them a deal, which opened up a possibility for the Sernitas.

—That nest is a vessel.

“Vessel?”

—Yeah, a vessel to completely contain your brother.

Chi-Hyun’s face hardened at Bael’s words.

—The will of the universe promised a result where we can create a vessel for us to accept your brother.

He hadn’t wanted to believe it, but the result of the interference of the universe’s will was the ‘result’ that Bael spoke of just now. Chi-Hyun wanted to yell at her for spouting nonsense, but he couldn’t say anything. A result produced by the law of causality could not be dismissed as simple nonsense.

—Of course, the result depends on how we act.

Bael went on calmly.

—It was originally an event that was impossible to achieve no matter what we did. Now, depending on how we act, it’s a future we can bring about.

This was also true. Results existed in the future. Even if it was a definite future, there was no guarantee that things would unfold in that direction unconditionally. For example, if one wanted to achieve the result of ‘moving left from their current position,’ they had to move to the left first. They couldn’t get the desired result by moving to the right. In other words, even if the future that the Sernitas wanted had opened, they must act accordingly to achieve the result they wanted. Only then did Chi-Hyun realize why Bael was talking about world points and worldlines.

—We pondered and pondered. What kind of incident should we initiate to head toward the future that finally opened for us? What would be the most likely cause to lead towards our goal? There…

Bael trailed off and shifted her gaze from the nest to Chi-Hyun. Staring intently at him, she continued.

— The information that I knew told us the most likely direction.