Chapter 515. Big Vessel and Small Vessel (2)
From the center of the vertical line between Chi-Woo and Flora, a circle that encompa.s.sed the two points was continuously drawn. The universe was limitless, yet the circles that Chi-Woo was drawing were also limitless. Like what the Sernitas had learned while trying to make a vessel more perfect than anyone else, a finite vessel couldn’t contain something infinite. To contain infinity, the vessel must also be infinite. In this sense, Chi-Woo’s vessel used to be finite.
Yet by linking it with Flora and forming a new vessel, the possibilities he opened up were endless. Even when a vessel was finite, if there were an infinite number of them, the collection of vessels would be able to accept whatever flowed inside it no matter how much there was. Soon, they reached a result. With the circles being drawn, the light that had indiscriminately spread across the entire Liber began to flow in one direction. It noticeably settled, and beams extended out of the whirling feast of light.
Rays of light pierced through the air and penetrated Chi-Woo and Flora. Then, they drew their own curves and eventually rose. Then, after drawing symmetrical parabolas, the rays of light fell again. The number of beams was immeasurable, and their sizes differed. There were circles the size of soccer b.a.l.l.s and circles the size of basketb.a.l.l.s. Others were big as boulders or houses, and there were even some infinite circles that one couldn’t see the ends of. The more circles formed, the more light wavered all over Liber. And as these beams of light stabilized, the scenery that formed next caught everyone’s attention, including even the Sernitas who were running berserk.
It was inevitable. From the center of an enormous pillar of light, a countless number of circles wavered and were still being drawn. Eventually, these circles began to decrease in number. Beginning from the largest circle, they moved inward and overlapped with one another, becoming smaller bit by bit. As a circle that stretched to infinity overlapped with the others and shrunk, the formidable pillar of light gradually lost its intensity. As a result, the pillar of light that pierced the sky gradually disappeared, and in the fading light, two people came into view. The shrinking light was endlessly compressed and condensed until it became just a point. Then, it disappeared inside Chi-Woo as if it was absorbed by him.
Witnessing this, Byeok’s jaw dropped. The pipe she was holding in her hand fell and rolled on the ground. After becoming a giant of light, Chi-Woo returned to normal, but he wasn’t the same. The s.p.a.ce in which Chi-Woo stood fluctuated like flowing ocean waves as if he alone was in another dimension. Furthermore, his presence remained the same as when he was a light giant, and his area of reach was still expanding endlessly and expanding in size. It was the same for the infinite array of circles. Though they had disappeared from view, they still existed.
Chi-Woo felt it so clearly; there was an infinite number of loops rotating inside him, which couldn’t be described by any other word but ‘infinite’. They were endless, eternal, and had no beginning or end. Seeing this sight, tears trickled down Byeok’s dazed eyes. She wasn’t crying because she was happy, and of course, it wasn’t because she was unhappy. How would a person feel when witnessing the big bang that was said to have given birth to the universe? They would probably become speechless from the sheer shock of seeing something that surpa.s.sed their imaginations and cry involuntarily—be it out of pure emotions or fear. That was how Byeok felt. She was witnessing the birth of a new era that would establish new law and order in the universe.
Nothing came to her mind seeing something that far surpa.s.sed what she could fathom, and she continuously shed tears with a blank mind. Only a moment ago, she had thought it was impossible to change the situation, and that everything was over. But right at the end, everything flipped. That was how it had always happened until now… Yes, this was the Heavenly King that the universe’s will had tried so desperately to hold back; it was what all the Choi Chi-Woos and Choi Yoo-Joos had tried to gain control over but failed to. Chi-Woo finally succeeded in awakening as Heavenly King Chi-Woo.
Chi-Woo opened his tightly clenched eyes and looked down at his body. He saw Flora hugging his side tightly, and he could clearly sense the circles that were continuously expanding and shrinking inside him. The strength and power he felt surging from this infinite circulation were immeasurable. It was the sort of absolute causality that would allow him to obtain whatever he yearned for and whatever cause and result he wanted. Chi-Woo looked at his widely stretched hands and raised his head.
During his temporary awakening while battling the Abyss King, Chi-Woo felt that he had clutched onto the strand of his fate—not all of it, but about one tenth of it. Now that he had fully awakened, however, he realized it had been laughable for him to even think that. In the first place, it was absurd to compare something finite with infinity. The current Chi-Woo could make the whole universe quiver, and now, it no longer mattered to him what methods and means he used. The most important thing was his own will. He could make anything happen as long as he set his mind to. That was what the king of the sky, the universe, and infinity were capable of.
He finally reached the future that so many tried to prevent him from reaching, but surprisingly, he didn’t feel anything. He thought he would rejoice in happiness or feel deeply moved. But like a great sage who had transcended earthly realms after a long period of hards.h.i.+ps, or a snow-covered mountain cabin that no one visited on a winter night, he was solemn and quiet. Since his view had changed, his feelings and thoughts had also changed. If he had awakened into a G.o.d of destruction, he would’ve brought down his fist immediately in pure rage and desire for revenge. Yet Chi-Woo didn’t do that. He slowly glanced at the Sernitas surrounding him from corner to corner. Then, he spoke in a low voice.
—You all said you wanted to be complete.
A calm, solemn voice rang out as if Chi-Woo was speaking from heaven to earth.
—Why don’t you try it? It’s as you wish.
The next moment, the Sernitas felt a vast amount of information that completely blanketed all the individual consciousnesses that were running berserk. No, they didn’t know whether they should even call this information. It was a new form of energy that they had never felt while wandering the entire universe. It was so ma.s.sive and mystical that even those who accepted and studied all sorts of information from other dimensions didn’t dare to interpret it.
—Ah…!
It was then, one of the many consciousnesses yelled. They had a guess as to what was currently happening. This was what the Sernitas had been yearning for: the future where they absorbed Chi-Hyun and completed their vessel to accept Chi-Woo inside them. It was the future they had planned with the universe’s will backing them up, and it was currently progressing.
—But why?
The Sernitas were befuddled. They thought everything was over, but now their opponent was suddenly fulfilling their ultimate wish? They cheered despite not knowing the reason. They had wandered across the universe to fulfill this one wish. Even if it was momentary, they would have no regret as long as they could fulfill their wish. Thinking this, the Sernitas dwelled on and savored the energy soaring inside them. Yet that happiness didn’t last, and an explosion sounded all of a sudden.
The wars.h.i.+ps that filled up the sky began to crumble down after huge explosions. Besides them, the crazed King of Spirits, giant golems that had even battled G.o.ds, the horse-riding king leading an army, the trumpet-blowing angel, and technologies with advanced artificial intelligence—all things that made up the Sernitas exploded helplessly.
Bababababam! Soon, the cheering stopped. Their hearts were filled with nothing but shock and disbelief, and they looked around in silence. Their deal with the universe’s will—or in other words, the law of causality—had been to bring about a possible future where they could absorb Chi-Hyun and create a perfect vessel. It was up to the Sernitas to decide what they would do with the vessel after that and to bear the result of their decisions. This was the result that was coming to play now.
Even if Chi-Hyun had used the 39th turn’s Second Coming, and the Sernitas had created a vessel out of him before absorbing Chi-Woo, they would’ve still met the same fate: death by self-destruction. In the end, they would’ve failed to digest Chi-Woo and destroyed themselves. Though the universe’s will didn’t lie and kept its end of the promise, it had been brewing a different plot in secret; it was a scary plot to get rid of the troublesome Chi-Woo and the Sernitas, who would eventually become troublesome, in one go. But of course, because Chi-Hyun destroyed the Sernitas’ vessel and Chi-Woo successfully awakened, the law of causality’s schemes all turned to nothing.
With Chi-Woo’s mercy, the Sernitas were able to reach the future they missed out on. But it was a wonder if one could truly call this mercy. The Sernitas had been confident in their plan and thought that there was no other way around it, yet Chi-Woo’s action made them realize the harsh reality. It made them learn their place and realize that it had been impossible for them to achieve what they wished from the very beginning. Since they were born, they were destined to be stuck in imperfection.
The Sernitas gave up the utopian world they had created with great effort and restlessly traveled across the universe for thousands and thousands of years to achieve one goal…but to think it was something that could’ve never been fulfilled…
—Then, why did we…
—For what, did we…?
After devoting all they had, the Sernitas finally realized the truth in the end. The words ‘regretful’ or ‘empty’ weren’t enough to describe what they felt. In some ways, this was the most cruel and painful way for them to meet their end. If they had disappeared without knowing the truth, perhaps they wouldn’t have felt so miserable. Learning the reality plunged them into a despair they couldn’t escape out of. Like a human having their hair turn white overnight, the Sernitas lost all strength and will to continue living. They couldn’t even scream.
A person who lost all will to live accepted death or chose death because they couldn’t bear to face the truth in front of them. Thus, the mighty Sernitas seemed to wither and shrink like a balloon with a hole in it. Chi-Woo’s action made the majority of the Sernitas fall into a bottomless despair that drove them to suicide. But as the Sernitas disappeared one by one, something suddenly halted the development. Then, what had disappeared began to come back again, as if something was forcing them to revive even when the Sernitas were unwilling.
When Chi-Woo sensed that another will was intervening in the flow that he had started, his eyes narrowed. Then, he opened his eyes wide, and the flow that stopped momentarily began to rush fiercely again, allowing the forcefully revived Sernitas to continue to their end. The other will kept trying to block the flow, but it was meaningless. It failed to counter Chi-Woo’s will, which poured out like a river rus.h.i.+ng through a broken dam. With this, it was decided which will was stronger. And Chi-Woo clearly felt the universe’s will quickly move away from the Sernitas as if it was running away. Of course, he would not let it be.
—Where do you think you are going?
He immediately reached beyond the clouds toward the universe.