Stellaron Train, Observation Car
This was not Kevin's first time aboard the Stellaron Train.
By now, the Observation Car had even begun to feel strangely familiar.
Even so, he remained tense.
The last time he had come here, he had not known—or at least had not fully confirmed—that Caelus and Ling Ke were one and the same.
Now that the truth was out in the open, his state of mind was naturally different.
Kevin, MEI, and Sim Su sat together on one of the circular sofas. Sim Su's hair had already returned to its usual gradient gray, a sign that she had gained at least a preliminary grasp of the Path of Nihility.
At the very least, she no longer looked like some white-haired Lady of the Lake.
Across from them, Ling Ke sat alone on another sofa.
He had one leg crossed over the other, his fingers loosely interlaced over his knee. His posture was relaxed, almost casual, and there was no obvious hostility in his expression.
His words, however, were another matter.
"You do realize that the three of you are uninvited guests, don't you?"
"My sincerest apologies, Mr. Ling Ke."
Sim Su lowered her head slightly.
"We have reached a dead end, and—"
"So you came to me because you ran out of options?"
Ling Ke interrupted her without hesitation.
"Should I feel honored?"
"Please don't misunderstand."
MEI hurriedly spoke before the situation worsened.
"That was not our intention—"
"You simply believe that I, a 'God,' am difficult to negotiate with."
Ling Ke calmly voiced the words she had not dared to say.
"But the survival of human civilization has left you with no better choice, so you decided to come here and try your luck."
The Observation Car fell silent.
Kevin, MEI, and Sim Su exchanged no words.
None of them knew how to respond.
Ling Ke had stripped away every polite excuse before they could even present one.
Before they could gather their thoughts, he continued.
"There are three of you."
"Therefore, the incubation of the Nihility embryo will be accelerated threefold."
"In other words, it will hatch in one-third of the original time."
He gave them no opportunity to explain themselves.
Not even two full breaths had passed before Ling Ke pronounced the verdict in the same calm tone one might use to comment on the weather.
Yet to the three seated before him, it was nothing less than a divine sentence.
Their expressions changed instantly.
Shock.
Disbelief.
And then horror.
Before any of them could react—
Snap.
Ling Ke raised his hand and casually snapped his fingers.
The three figures vanished from the Observation Car.
A moment later, they reappeared high above the crater of Masaya Volcano.
Then they began to fall.
Far below them, molten lava churned within the volcanic vent.
As for what happened afterward, Ling Ke had no interest in watching.
The entire meeting had lasted only a few moments.
It was almost as if he had allowed them into the Observation Car for one reason alone: to make them sit down and hear their punishment.
Now that the verdict had been delivered, there was no reason to keep them aboard.
The Observation Car fell silent once more.
After a moment, Ling Ke narrowed his eyes and looked toward the empty space before him.
"Ascendant Su."
"You seem to have misunderstood something important."
He spoke as though someone invisible were standing directly in front of him.
"The reason I did not object when you transmitted those 'non-existent memories' before was because I found them valuable."
"More precisely, I wanted to see them as well."
"That is why I allowed it."
His expression gradually cooled.
"But permission is not the same as indulgence."
"And it certainly does not give you the right to interfere with my affairs again and again."
"You were never part of my Script."
"Yet you still dared to alter its difficulty without my consent."
Ling Ke paused briefly.
"I know that you witnessed a future you considered a 'happy ending.'"
"But surely you do not believe that you are the only one capable of seeing the future."
"Nor could you possibly believe that I am incapable of overturning it."
No answer came.
It was not because the listener refused to respond.
An Ascendant could no longer interfere directly with the Proper World.
Even so, Ling Ke could sense the regret and helplessness coming from the other side.
Su had ascended, yet he still had not seen far enough.
Ling Ke had never permitted anyone to peer freely into his future.
Everything connected to his personal timeline had been deliberately obscured. To anyone attempting to observe it, the future appeared as nothing more than indistinct shapes buried beneath layers of mist.
That was why the Ascendant Su had failed to understand one crucial fact.
Whenever someone attempted to interfere with Ling Ke's Script, Ling Ke would deliberately overturn the result they sought.
If someone attempted to force the story toward a happy ending, he would drag it into an even deeper abyss.
It was not because such an outcome benefited him.
He simply refused to let anyone else decide how his game should unfold.
Ling Ke had known from the beginning that Kevin and the others would eventually come to him.
He had also known why they would come.
Yet he would never tolerate anyone acting behind his back and presenting him with a future they had already chosen.
Therefore, Ling Ke exercised the highest authority available to him within the domain of the Imaginary Tree and forcibly shortened the incubation period of the Nihility embryo.
That was the punishment reserved for the "believers."
As for the "messenger" responsible for guiding them here…
"You have said far too much."
Ling Ke's gaze turned utterly cold.
"I am tired of hearing a mosquito buzz around my ears."
"It is time for you to remain silent forever."
He raised his right hand and closed his fingers around the empty air, as though seizing something that could not be seen.
Crack—
Something shattered.
It was not matter.
It was not space.
It was something far more fundamental.
From that moment onward, the Ascendant Su ceased to exist.
Elsewhere…
"Cough… cough…"
Covered in ash and grime, MEI was finally pulled to safety by Kevin and Sim Su.
She understood perfectly well why the three of them were still alive.
It was not because they had escaped Ling Ke's punishment.
It was because he had allowed them to survive.
Nothing more.
Had Kevin, MEI, and Sim Su not remained necessary pieces within his Script, he would have erased them without hesitation.
Just as he had erased the Ascendant Su.
Effortlessly.
Without the slightest pause.
"This is bad…"
Standing near Masaya Volcano, in one of the few remaining places on Earth that could still be considered warm, Sim Su looked out over the surrounding snow-covered landscape and sighed.
"We acted too hastily today."
Kevin remained silent for a moment.
"We have always known what kind of person Ling Ke is."
His voice was quiet.
"We were simply clinging to one last trace of hope."
The hope he spoke of was not the arrogant belief that Ling Ke might still be someone they could rely upon.
Kevin no longer dared to entertain such a thought.
What he regretted was their own naivety.
Their own self-righteousness.
Some possibilities should never be tested.
Because there were people in this world who would not merely reject an attempt.
They would punish everyone involved for daring to make it.
Today, the three of them had tasted the bitter consequences of their decision.
Yet because those consequences had been delivered by a being of pure malice, they would not be the only ones forced to bear them.
Everyone on Earth would suffer for what had happened.
Ling Ke did not care about innocent casualties.
From the moment he chose to become the "Grand Player of Doomsday," he had never once regarded the people of this world as his own kind.