Chapter 609 - Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint

**"The Heavenly Counterforce,"** as it's called, was crafted to oppose the heavens. Talent is something innate. You are emotional, simple, and hasty. Someone like you, lacking talent, should never have learned martial arts. The essence of martial arts is distinguishing between the world and oneself, and imprinting one's will upon the body. It's a garb that doesn't suit you. While others may take ten steps, you'll barely manage one, and when others sprint ahead, you'll crawl like a baby, pushing along your belly. Yet, this is where the Heavenly Counterforce remains impartial, even to someone like you, without talent. It is honest to all. Regardless of the celestial talents bestowed upon you, as long as you possess a human body, you can achieve greatness through inscribing that body with experience and effort. With pure experience and sensation, devoid of will. Your unconscious will govern and move your body. Should you master the Heavenly Counterforce, you'll become a renowned figure in the world. However... to grasp the principles of martial arts devoid of will means that a clumsy individual, who chose the second best, must exert exponentially greater effort—tenfold, hundredfold, perhaps even thousandfold more than others—to reach the pinnacle. An immeasurable amount of experience and effort that cannot be contained within a single human lifetime. But for you, who returns with each death, perhaps... you might reach such a state. I hope, Shei, that you never reach that state. That countless marks won't be inscribed upon your fragile body and mind. Before the eternal cycle crushes you, may you save the world first. ...I can only hope. --- Despite having killed Shei, Nevida did not feel much emotion. Shei was rather sharp and impressive, yet to Nevida, she was merely one of the many powerful foes she had faced in her lifetime. She wasn't particularly extraordinary. There was, however, one thing that lingered. "Wasn’t she a Saint?" It was the feeling that fighting Shei was akin to confronting a Saint. Occasionally, Saints specialized in combat, resembling the Maid of Steel, might appear, but fundamentally, Saints are not combatants. The power of a Saint is to foresee the future and alter its flow. Through politics, strategy, schemes, and serendipity; to snatch 'victory' through any means is the essence of a Saint. Thus, when a Saint appears, victory is already assured. Any struggle thereafter bears no relation to the state of the war. Ironically, because of this, the way to confront a Saint is to oppose them without concern for such things. "..." After a brief contemplation, Nevida decided to confirm Shei's death instead of returning to the commanding plane. This choice was due to the greater threat posed by a Saint than any other. It was easy to find traces. The ground where Shei's body flew left a path as if a bulldozer had shoved aside dozens of trees. Nevida landed lightly upon it. At the end of her gaze, a bloodied hand dangled lifelessly. It was Shei's hand. The rest of her was obscured beneath rocks and logs, the blood oozing from below illustrating a grim conclusion. She was undoubtedly dead. Even if the King of the Underworld arrived, he would have judged as much. Nevida also thought so. Now, all that remained was to grind the disrespectful druids who dared impede a resurrection into fertilizer. "From nature to its bosom again." Offering a druid's obligatory farewell, Nevida turned to leave. But as she moved, a small moan reached her ears. "Ah." The sound was far too clear and pure to be a death rattle. Turned around instinctively to the unfamiliar voice, Nevida saw— Shei. A presence resembling Shei, appearing at a distance where no one other than Shei should have been. Understandably, Nevida thus comprehended this presence as Shei. "So here it is. The bookmark I placed." In other words, this presence was too unlike Shei. There is a toy called the thaumatrope. By drawing different images on both sides of paper and rotating them quickly with strings or sticks, the afterimages merge into one. Shei’s figure appeared like those images. Her hair, bleached white, glistened like light. It was impossible to gauge its length—whether it was very long or incredibly short. Her face, serene and detached from life, sparkled with overflowing vitality. Shei was certainly there—fleeting and ephemeral as though she might vanish at any moment. The points where the two afterimages overlapped were limited to Shei's gaze. With iridescent eyes, she stared at the top of the world tree. "Is Hughes still up there? Awakening the King of Humans? It will take some time, right? It's alright if I watch, isn't it...?" Her voice, excited yet heartwrenching, conveyed clear emotions. Though she made no sound nor presence felt, Nevida turned her eyes to the rock that had buried Shei not long ago. The rock remained as a natural object should. Only Shei had vanished from within its confines. "Hiding her power, was she?" Still gazing upward, Shei replied. "No. It was my memories I hid." "...Memories?" "Yes. If martial arts can control the body, and memories are signals etched into the brain, martial arts can block and conceal part of the memories. The Heavenly Counterforce governs the unconscious, so as long as it operates, it blocks out unconscious recall." Nevida couldn't comprehend it, but it was the insight of a lightning thief. The realization of a demon who presented himself willingly to the Holy Order, fearing the misuse of his discovered truth—was used by Shei as if it were nothing. "If the Heavenly Counterforce is broken by impact strong enough to be lethal, it resurfaces like flashbacks." When the consciousness trapped within the Heavenly Counterforce breaks free as the shell shatters from an impact strong enough to kill. Nevida observed the transformed Shei and asked— "Why did you do such a thing?" For memories are accumulated experiences. Why block that? Nevida questioned as if she couldn't comprehend it. Although Shei wasn't obliged to answer, she smiled as if she'd been waiting for that very question. "Because Hughes can read thoughts." She said this as if it were nothing, yet smiled as if pleased by the notion. "...What?" "Do you know? Hughes always assists me. No matter when, where, or how we meet. Although entering the Abyss is the quickest way to meet him, even without that, Hughes inevitably ends up helping me. Without my needing to say anything, without wanting anything, he reads my desires!" To Shei, Nevida's reaction seemed insignificant. Like a girl in love, her voice dripped with dreamy joy, but suddenly, her expression darkened, and she muttered, "But only if... I know about his mind-reading." This was new information, catching Nevida by surprise. She asked, "Is Hughes able to discern human thoughts?" "Yes. Hughes reads desires and then asks if those desires are worth sacrificing your life and the lives of everyone around you. Hughes dislikes desires that disregard life, yet he respects them. So, he offers a chance to fulfill those desires until the very end, and if one insists on giving up their life, he completes that desire. Conversely, a wish that aims to save others is acknowledged as it is." Even when shrouded by lies and deception, swept away by endless monologues, only the cold outcome devoid of emotions reveals the direction of one's desires. Through countless cycles of regression, Shei abruptly realized: "It isn't barbaric. Hughes is merciful. Offering everyone a chance to fulfill their desires—whether they're good or evil. It could be that such impartial mercy isn't closely aligned with good. Not to the extent of preventing the world's destruction." Whether too slow or too well-hidden, it might be that mercy for all does not closely align with goodness. Not enough to prevent the world's demise. Shei, having expressed the emotions hidden within her shell, exhaled a small sigh and spoke, "Is that why? When I know he can read my thoughts and leave my desires to him... Hughes always ends up leaving me. I had to hide my memories. Otherwise, he'd eventually leave." To Nevida, who lacked any context, these words were hard to sympathize with. However, Nevida understood one clear truth in this situation. "You truly are a Saint." Speaking incomprehensible riddles with prescient glimpses is something only a Saint would do. And a Saint was Nevida's adversary. The ancient druid, who had lived from time immemorial, knew that simplicity was often the wisest approach. Watching Nevida preparing for battle, Shei spoke softly, "Maybe so. But I don't think that's important. What matters is Hughes. Even memories that are repetitive, built upon effort, and ephemeral—when with him, they eventually connect. Memories that pile up unilaterally inside me also stack up inside him through my heart." Nevida, who had wandered for millennia after losing her king, was likely in a similar predicament to Shei, perhaps even worse. Nevida's king couldn't laugh or converse like Shei's could. Shei faintly understood Nevida. And she was confident Nevida understood her, too. "I will reclaim him. The one person who can journey with me." Shei reached out her hand. In an instant, her hand was already inside the small world tree. It reached through lush leaves and dense branches, seizing the entity trapped within—Jizan. 'Pass through?' Even the term "pass through" didn't do it justice. In Nevida's senses, Shei's hand seemed to skip the process of reaching Jizan, simply appearing there. Reacting, Nevida swung the small world tree. Within a fraction of a second, the overgrown bramble, nourished by the energy it consumed, erupted toward Shei like an explosion. "Ouch." Pushed back by the green blast, Shei stumbled, struggling to regain her balance. Yet Shei had already achieved her goal. The entity sealed in the roots of the small world tree, Jizan, was now securely in her grasp. It was an unsettling power, likely related to the blurry, flickering aura Shei's entire body emitted. Nevida, observing Shei closely, remarked, "A power to pass through objects, is it?" "A little... different. It's like stepping on stairways. Limiting the world's unit movements, moving between them like climbing steps." "What?" "The world isn't a slope but rather a series of steps. If you can take one step, you can take half a step, a quarter step, an eighth step... infinitely subdivided steps. It's said to be possible in thought, but it's not true in reality." Shei's movements were interrupted and resumed multiple times, each as if climbing stairs, her steps jerky as though caught on uneven surfaces. "Actually, the world is made up of countless steps. From the eyes of a giant, looking down at billions of steps, it seems like a slope. But we're living across these steps. I've simply leaped across a few of those steps." "It’s an overly complex power." "It's okay. I didn’t truly understand it either. A genius who was born miraculously discovered this within countless reincarnations. It doesn't exist at this current point, and there's no guarantee I'll find it again." What she referred to as "the demon" was a concept that only a miraculous genius, met with an opportunity bordering on madness, could uncover—a principle of the world. Even through countless regressions and futures, Shei had only discovered a few such demons. However, she didn't feel lacking. After all, such demons, being so few, are monumentally challenging to handle. "I’ve only ingrained it into this body." No matter how much she trained and studied, Shei couldn't replicate the demon. The throne of demons was strict and wouldn't allow someone as untalented as Shei to take its place. Nonetheless, do you ponder levers while cutting with scissors? Do you consider pulleys while hoisting a bucket? When using a tool, understanding the principle isn’t always necessary. And through sheer sensation, engraving countless marks upon her body, Shei mastered the demons. The principle was simple, inept, and naive as it may be. Yet, it was an unassuming, blank, principle—one that touched upon the truth after countless regressions. The Infinite One. The other extreme reached through the Heavenly Counterforce via regression. A principle where the demons are engraved not in the mind but the flesh. Realizing she couldn't capture Shei, Nevida altered her plan. "Then, I'll crush it entirely." Even the ability to pass through matter must have its limits. Nevida extended roots beneath her feet to link with the World Tree. Roots intertwined, intersected, and enveloped each other, making Nevida one with the World Tree. It's a risky and generally futile act to use an immobile and senseless plant as a familiar. However, Nevida was a demon, and the World Tree held the life force of the World Tree in it. The World Tree, able to transform its branches and leaves into any existing plant species, knows no bounds. The earth rose up. The roots, vast as seas hidden beneath the ground, surfaced into the world. They sprouted as legs to trample upon the earth, and branches became arms to clench powerful fists. The World Tree rose like a giant from Genesis. "The Primordial Colossus." Whether "colossus" refers to a beast or a tree is uncertain. No longer a mere tree, the World Tree roared, raising its branches high. Just its movement stirred storms, sweeping away surrounding trees in an instant. It was like witnessing a giant from creation stomp its foot. This was no longer something that could be called an attack. It was power comparable to a cataclysm. Drawing back its might, the World Tree gathered all its weight and launched it down upon Shei. A branch of overwhelming mass descended. The displaced air exerted immense pressure. Feeling the pressure that crushed the very space around her, Shei smiled as if reminiscing. "...It's been a while since I felt this." Murmuring, Shei recalled the principle inscribed in her body. A future now vanished—a demon who, while swimming through the distant void beyond the sky, unearthed this principle. Something so simple yet formidable; a miracle and disaster that can only be indirectly reproduced by clashing the relics of the sky and earth together. The flickering intensified. The Heavenly Counterforce reproduced the principle recorded in Shei's body. Grasping both Heavenly Orb and Jizan, she merged them as one. Jizan, condensed mass. Heavenly Orb, compressed space. Two relics symbolizing earth and sky. Shei always cloaked Jizan with the Heavenly Orb. Only when the earth envelops the sky does the horizon turn blue, and only when the sky cradles the earth does the ground remain serene. Such was their bond, morphing into wondrous phenomena across this life-filled planet. Yet, for the purpose of defeating someone, the opposite method was better. Even among the countless stars adrift in the cosmos, an end comes. A star that has lived its life swells in one final, grand exhalation before retracting and fading away in death. Condense. Compress. Contract. Shrinking ever inward, delving in, transcending even the elemental structure itself. The Earth God's relic mirrored the demise of a star. The Dark Enigma Blade. A black blade so minuscule and slender, it was little more than a wisp. An apocalypse within a world unfolded in Shei's hand. The collapsed Jizan was neither sword nor cudgel. It transcended to a one-dimensional line, barely deserving to be called a skewer or needle, reaching the extreme of collapse. Winds swirled around, drawn by its gravitational pull as air particles clashed and sparked within its orbit. The ionized air birthed an electromagnetic storm that illuminated the surroundings. Even amidst the dazzling light and noise, the eye of the storm remained dark and calm. "It's a blade I can't use for long. It's dangerous for planets. Let's end this quickly, once and for all." Nevida wielded the Primordial Colossus. The immense strike cleaved the air and warped the earth, plunging downward. It was a mythic blow as if creation's giant had voiced its wrath upon the Earth God. Despite the colossal force apparent from across the continent, its counterpart to this immense force was hardly visible—a thin line near invisible even up close, hard to perceive as a match against the World Tree. If size and weight were all that mattered, why then would it be called a principle? Shei stepped her right foot forward, raising her trailing foot. The sheer weight threatened the ground, compacting it until it melted away beneath her. On solid rock turned molten beneath her, Shei firmly anchored herself and wielded the Dark Enigma Blade. A star nears its end, releasing its final breath as a blinding white flame. Seizing that force, Shei swung. Heaven, Earth, Universe. Nova. A tidal wave of coronas, which should only appear on a star's surface, swept across the earth.