A pall of silence and finality seemed to hang in the air. The birds stopped singing. The winds stopped blowing. Even the sun"s morning light lost some of its glow. The Heart of the World was dead—stilled by the Edict of Annihilation. [The End of All Things] was the superior of all things—the ultimate destination of even time and things that should by all rights be eternal. Even axioms and Principles cannot resist the end. Aeon said so himself—even the infinite universe is finite at the moment of its end.Somnus was surprised it even worked. Even now, he didn"t know what the Heart of the World was, the Will or the Wheel. He only had an idea of them, and empirical evidence that only served to reinforce the theory of their existence. The thought that he could destroy something, without even knowing what it was, by simply willing it so was absurd. It felt like a betrayal of his own principles. This was not how he wanted to do things. The Will—the Heart of the World by extension—manipulated him and Humanity, toyed with him, unjustly took Aurora from him, all for reasons Somnus did not even understand.
What was the point of all this?
That question echoed in Somnus"s mind, over and over again, as he stepped into the wasteland remains of the Empire Capital. Where once stood a majority of a proud city was now nothing but molten slag. Not a trace of it remained, only scorched earth.
Then again, this wasn"t all that different from what Somnus was used to—or at least what Abaddon was used to. How many celestial bodies had he turned to gla.s.s and slag? How many billions of lives did he extinguish? There was no point in any of that either—not a coherent one at least.
In fact, this is what Somnus wanted. The method was not the best, but the outcome was desirable. With the Heart of the World dead, there was no more magic. Without magic, the Wheel would be broken, and there would be no more rebirths—no more destiny or "fate". Without fate, there would be no Will of the World.
This world was absurd. Because the Heart of the World exists, there is mana. Because there is mana, mortals can go against the Will of the World by using magic and skills. Because mortals can usurp the Will of the World, the Silence keeps trying to devour it.
Yet, without the Heart of the World, the world would return to the nothingness. There never was a favorable solution or even a compromise.
What was the point of all this? This time, the question had a different meaning.
Ever since he caught the first glimpse of this world, Somnus was set on a path that led somewhere. Was this the destination? Unknowingly, Somnus played his part, only catching a glimpse of the plot near the very end. Did he play his part to the end, or did he stray from the script?
Across the plains of desolation, Somnus could see the Gram army, still deployed in formation. He could not hear them, but he clearly saw their acts of jubilation. The soldiers threw their helmets into the air, celebrating the end of their impossible war. Celebrating Humanity"s victory and impending extinction—the latter they celebrated unknowingly.
What protected them throughout the entire battle was a barrier the likes of which Somnus had not seen before. As he followed the source of divine magic—the only one that could still exist in this world—he saw a female figure. It was Emily.
Somnus looked away. In a way, he kept his promise to Aurora. Emily was Aurora"s sister—or clone—in the previous world. Aurora"s dying wish was for Emily to not suffer the same fate as Aurora. Even though Emily became a va.s.sal of the Will—becoming the Sword of Twilight—she would not be forced to go against her own principles and forget her memories as a mortal.
There had to be a point to all this.
Not even Abaddon enjoyed destruction for destruction"s sake. Abaddon was destroying Humanity in order to punish their hubris and reinforce his own. For all his sapient intelligence, Abaddon was a hypocrite. At least Abaddon believed he was doing Humanity a favor—helping them evolve and surpa.s.s him. Preparing them for the uncaring cosmos. He believed he was maturing humanity.
There was a point to all this. Somnus just didn"t see it yet.
He turned towards the palace, which remained standing. The palace stood next to a temple dedicated to the Human Pantheon, and Somnus could not tell which one was more vain.
[Flicker]
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Somnus"s view s.h.i.+fted again. Merely a thought, and his body obeyed. He was surprised he could even still use [Flicker]. Were skills not affected? Now that he thought about it, what would happen to him? His body was composed of mana. Would he disappear?
He stood within the main hall of the Palace. Around him, he saw dozens of well-dressed mortals, and at the end of the great hall was a raised dais with a throne upon which sat a blonde-haired girl. She was beautiful by mortal standards and her youth concealed the fact that she was an Empress. Were she not sitting on the throne, Somnus would never have guessed her ident.i.ty. Somnus thought the Empress would be older, not in her early twenties or late teens.
"A puppet?" Somnus asked out loud. That was the only thing that made sense. Why would n.o.bility ever obey a young Empress?
Fear turned to fury in an instant, and the Empress rose from her throne. "How dare you?"
Another woman stepped in front of the Empress, and slightly to the side, calling out to Somnus, "Halt!"
Somnus could sense power within her, despite the death of the Heart of the World. Its source must"ve been Divine Magic.
"The Sword of the Divine?" Somnus asked. It was the only reasonable explanation Somnus could come up with, considering the information he had.
She, too, was young. About the same age as the Empress. In fact, now that he thought about it, the two reminded him of the Empress and the Shogun of his own world. Although, one of them was immortal, and the other was a clone that would never show signs of aging until death.
Somnus stepped forward, marching towards the throne.
"Don"t take another step, cur!" the black-haired Sword of the Divine shouted, drawing her sword and pointing it at Somnus. "If it is our surrender you desire, you have it! There is no reason for your presence here! Leave!"
"I have no business with you. Where is Seraph?" Somnus asked.
"Aristeia... it is fine… step aside," the Empress spoke.
"Empress?" Aristeia asked, glancing to the blonde. "As you wish."
The Empress looked up at Somnus"s halo and then his eyes. "You must be Somnus. I have heard a lot about you. Somnus, the Blazing One. Somnus, the King of Gram. Somnus, the silver mask."
"Somnus, the Blazing One?" Somnus asked.
The Empress nodded. "Mm, at one point, you looked exactly like Seraph."
Somnus blinked. "At one point? I no longer do?"
The Empress cracked a smile. "Unless I am blind, and you are as big as this palace, I"d say yes, you no longer look like Seraph."
Somnus blinked again.
"Are you surprised I knew?" The Empress asked. "If it wasn"t for Aristeia, we never would have made the connection."
"Seraph is an Autonomous Machine a.r.s.enal…" Somnus said, to no one in particular.
Aeon never specified which Somnus went back into the past. Somnus never even considered the possibility that Seraph could be an Autonomous Machine a.r.s.enal.
"I… didn"t know that is what you called it," the Empress said with a tone of apology.
"Where is Seraph?" Somnus asked.
For a moment, the disguise of a foolish, naive girl faltered, and Somnus saw a pair of blue eyes staring at him, glimmering with cunning intelligence and profound wisdom. It was so brief, that Somnus would"ve wondered if he truly even saw such a thing were it not for the Empress"s next words.
"I can take you to it." That measuring look earlier betrayed her curiosity, and the fact that she didn"t even ask why Somnus wanted to talk to Seraph only confirmed the suspicion. This Empress earned her throne and the loyalty of her subjects.
"My Liege!" Somnus heard Peron"s voice shout from the entrance to the palace. "You are alive!"
Aristeia positioned her body protectively in front of the Empress, but still, the blonde leaned to peek at the hallway and smiled. "Duke Peron, what a pleasure it is to have a strategist of your calibre grace my halls! Who... are your friends?"
The friends the Empress spoke of were specifically Lod and Det, even though the entire entourage consisted of Emily, Arcadia, Gemma, Lod and Det. s.h.i.+non and Kaiza were, understandably, missing.
"Empress, you honor me. These are my lieutenants, Det and Lod. These three are… companions of Somnus. This is Emily, Sword of Twilight, Arcadia, Priestess of Het, and Gemma," Peron introduced them, pausing awkwardly when he tried to introduce the other three. Surprisingly, the old Duke did not find any trouble at all calling a couple of goblins his lieutenants. Then again, the only thing more absurd than having monsters as lieutenants was mere goblins that were more powerful than Heroes of the world; And Reclaimers, no less.
The Empress flashed a slightly distorted smile, unable to hide the sliver of displeasure at the appearance of Duke Peron and his entourage.
"We were just about to go see Seraph, Duke Peron. Do you care to accompany us?" The Empress asked, the question likely the true source of her displeasure. Did she want to be alone with Somnus and Seraph?
"Empress, you can"t! It is dangerous!" Aristeia said.
"It is fine, Aristeia. If Somnus wanted us dead, we wouldn"t be standing here. We"d be well on our way to the Wheel," the Empress said.
The corner of Somnus"s mouth twitched at those words, and when he glanced back at the Empress he noticed that she was studying his expression. She truly was cunning. She confirmed her own suspicions about what Somnus had done with that phrase.
"Well, I don"t know, Your Imperial Majesty, it would be an honor, but I uhh," Peron began speaking, clearing his throat, "I have a feeling my presence... would be unwelcome."
"Master Somnus not married yet! Good catch! Strong. Handsome. Fit!" Lod shouted. "Robust character."
"Det no like be fifth wheel. Also, Det single. Ladies, no need to form line. There enough Det for everyone," Det said. "But Det no marry. Det not do det debt like stupid Lod. Det almost marry once. Almost."
"Call Lod stupid again, and there will be enough Det for everyone in the world. Pieces of Det, that is," Lod remarked coldly.
The Empress chuckled at Lod"s and Det"s words, seemingly more accepting of their presence now. She smiled and reached for Somnus"s sleeve, nodding towards a door off to the side in such a manner that it reinforced Peron"s suspicion that she wanted to be alone with Somnus.
Peron cleared his throat, understanding the meaning of the Empress"s behavior and walked off to the side, quietly making conversation with the first n.o.ble he happened upon.
Aristeia scoffed at the goblins and wordlessly stepped to the Empress"s side, following her whether the Empress wanted it or not.