In one of the corridors of a palace steeped in history, a young man strolled with steady, confident steps.
His tailored, light blue suit featured elegant embellishments, and a gold watch with several engravings tucked into a top pocket. A sword was securely fastened to his waist.
He exuded an imposing aura of power, composure, and wisdom, for he had been one of the world's great powers in the pre-Second Era.
He paused, his gaze fixed on a window overlooking a highly developed city.
"It seems the city is in an amazing state, and the people are happy after the war. The paths of peace always return to illuminate the world."
A deep sigh, filled with sorrow and grief, escaped his lips as he raised his hand to his face. Although it was soft and beautiful,
it was stained with the blood of his enemies, spilled over trillions of years of battles, wars, and grueling training.
Despite emerging victorious from the war, his heart was heavy with worry. A more dangerous enemy had appeared out of nowhere.
He would face a coming war not against entities of this world, but against an enemy from beyond, an enemy he knew nothing about.
Furthermore, they were exhausted, trying to recover what they had lost and replenish the strength they had expended during the war.
War is merciless; the strong and the weak, the victor and the vanquished, all would emerge from it weakened and easy prey for other entities.
"It seems an enemy is coming. The pre-Beginning Era 3 is about to begin, and a coming war will destroy our world."
That person looked at the city for several seconds before continuing on his way without saying anything.
That person was talking to himself, trying to salvage the situation. There was a lot of work and documents he needed to review.
The internal affairs of the Existential Path, which was under their control, were in chaos, and several rebellions were occurring throughout the Existential Trees 12.
The protectors were doing their utmost. To heal the trees, the sacred existence damaged by a previous war.
After several minutes, that person arrived at his office, a masterpiece no human would dare enter.
That person sat in an office chair, looking at documents that stood several meters high on either side.
For a few seconds, he leaned back in his chair, raising his head to gaze at a chandelier made of the finest and rarest materials. He wiped his face with both hands, trying to clear his mind.
"What should I do now? I really don't know."
"The rest of my comrades are scattered throughout my existence, trying to stop the rebellions that have emerged these days."
"And I have to take care of political matters? Are you kidding me? I'm good at fighting, not politics."
That person slapped his face to stop his nonsense. After all, he was a holistic being, knowledgeable and all-knowing. How could a collection of documents tire him?
After studying the documents in front of him, under heavy guard, he found it wasn't a particularly difficult task. It wasn't easy, though. He was reviewing everything happening on the entire Existential Path and trying to resolve numerous problems.
Fighting an omniscient being against an ordinary human would be easy for an omniscient being, while fighting an omniscient being of the same level would be difficult. But fighting more than one is practically impossible, to the point that beings of this type, if they aren't inclined towards politics, become mere useless trash.
And this was someone of this type: omniscient and all-knowing, but inclined towards fighting, not politics.
Therefore, he wouldn't find it difficult to handle political matters of this kind. Being an omniscient and all-knowing person meant he would be more distinguished among his peers.
After several hours, he had completed all the documents and resolved many of the problems currently present.
He drank a glass of water that was beside him, not out of exhaustion, but because he saw it as the best way to treat his unstable mental state caused by the actions of mortal beings or other mortal entities—a refreshing glass of water.
"Being mortal isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes I am one of the Path Rulers." "I'm jealous of the simplicity of a mortal's life, hahaha."
"It's truly pathetic, though. To work, to sleep, to eat, to feel hunger and fatigue—these are beautiful and strange feelings I used to experience when I was incarnated in human bodies."
"Being born as an absolute being means you don't need any of this. Yet, it has its drawbacks. Knowledge and omniscience are sometimes more of a curse than a blessing," he said with a hint of sarcasm, grumbling about the events happening so quickly.
The person closed his eyes after finishing his lament about his long life, filled with endless conflicts and wars.
Knock... Knock... Knock
He opened his blue eyes and looked towards the door, speaking in a calm tone as he wiped his face and adjusted his posture to suit someone like him.
"You may come in," his voice was calm yet full of strength.
A fraction of a second later, someone entered—a woman who appeared to be in her twenties.
His face held a hint of mockery as he looked at the man.
She moved to a chair beside the desk and placed her hand on her chin as soon as she sat down, looking at him.
"What happened to Lord <>? Did mere documents tire you out? How could a lord, a ruler known as <>, be so weak?" she spoke in a slightly mocking tone.
The man looked at him, his expression irritated, and snapped his fingers, revealing two cups of hot, high-quality black tea.
"We're not children anymore, <>. You know what I mean. We're in trouble because of a previous war. And by the way, have you quelled those rebellions in the Sacred Tree of Existence No. 7?" His words were calm, trying to hide his unease and annoyance at her previous remarks.
He sipped his black tea with the refined manner of an aristocrat.
She rolled her eyes after hearing his words, still annoyed by those rebels, whom she considered nothing more than filthy dogs.
She took advantage of the fact that the empire A weak ruler's path to rebellion at a time when the country desperately needs help is unthinkable.
"I killed them all and made sure they suffer so much in hell that they'll wish they'd never been born."
"And on the other hand, there's another war 3,000 years away. What will you do? That's too short a time, and we're still at the beginning of a suffocating crisis." The woman spoke with a mixture of anger and calm as she sipped her black tea and watched his every move.
He left.A deep sigh escaped his lips after hearing her words, a faint smile appearing on his face that made him somewhat surprised.
"In truth, after resolving the crises that will last 600 or 800 years, I will continue my journey on the path of a ruler and live my life as a mere mortal from time to time, as I did before, until the next war arrives."
"After all, a thousand years is both long and short at the same time."
A beautiful smile appeared on her face as she listened to his words. The upcoming war was very near; a thousand years, for them, was so short that they wouldn't even notice it passing. As Absolute Beings whose work spanned trillions of years, a thousand years was nothing.
And because he was tired of the monotonous cycle of life he was living, he decided to experience human life. The ignorance of not knowing what the future held, the sadness, regret, hatred, and other emotions that mortal Beings experience for reasons or without logical cause, made him feel content that he was truly alive.
However, this doesn't mean that Absolute Beings don't possess emotions like mortal Beings, but they become dormant due to their long lifespans. And under control.
For the ruler of the world rarely loses his imagination and control over his emotions, allowing them to control him.
Unlike Fanin, he was turbulent and unpredictable, and this made him want to experience the kind of things he had missed during his long years.
The woman took a sip of hot tea while looking at him, a warm smile spreading across her face as she handed him a palm-sized gift, saying, "Perhaps you need a great deal of rest after completing your work organizing matters within the empire, so take this and remember my words: a beautiful sunset is the beginning of a carpet of stars and a jewel moon illuminating the world."
He took the gift, looking at it with surprise, as if he couldn't believe these words were coming from her mouth, while listening to her words. A smile filled with sarcasm appeared on her face. "Although I didn't understand your words and they seemed clichéd, I am happy with the gift. Thank you, sir. I will never forget this."
He placed the gift in his desk drawer with a slight smile on his face, unlike the girl who felt slightly annoyed.
However, the annoyance didn't last long. They were used to their arguments and teasing each other, so she didn't pay much attention to his words.
The girl turned her gaze to a picture near him, framed in an elegant design. It contained several people, including her and the young man beside her.
A smile appeared on her face, a hint of nostalgia for the past, before they began to unite in their lives. Their lives had been beautiful and relatively easy. But what's past is past, and the past will never return. Memories, beautiful or sad, remain etched in hearts, like a long film recounting the days. They laugh and cry when they remember them, especially when they feel the world is against them. Their loneliness and longing for a beautiful past that is gone are comforted by this.
They wish it would return, but deep down, they know it won't. Their desires are just fleeting dreams destined to vanish. Like any human being, no matter how long they live, their fate is death, turning into a pile of dirty bones.
Life is a long river; the living swim against it, and the dead swim with it, always moving forward. Looking back will only add to the burden on our shoulders and make the easy impossible.
"Who would believe that more than 56 trillion years have passed since we first met in Ji Yao Li's private palace in Farkalsen?" His voice was filled with nostalgia.
Those were beautiful days. A group of young people, no older than 15, trained and grew together to fulfill a prophecy that someone would unite the entire Path of a Ruler.
And they would complete the mission and survive the Second Path War, following the Path War that occurred in the previous era, between the beginning and end of the timeline before the beginning of the first.
"Yes, I remember that day very well. We had such a fight that Ji Yao Li had to intervene to calm things down! Hahaha!" He laughed loudly as he looked at her, who was laughing along with him.
They used to fight so much that both Ji Yao Li and Zihua Minghua got annoyed and hit them several times. Severe
Their behavior remained unchanged, not due to immaturity, but because they wanted to hold onto something of a childhood that was gone and would never return.
A girl placed her cup of black tea on a desk, exhaling slowly, releasing steam from her mouth.
Her gaze fell upon a window overlooking a training ground where some soldiers were rigorously training while others rested.
Those training were new recruits, while those resting were veterans who had participated in a previous war.
"Hmm, how about we take a walk around? I've finished the documents you had to study."
A young man looked at her for a few seconds as he sipped his black tea before placing it on his desk.
He continued to look at her as if trying to decipher her intentions, but decided to ignore her.
"Well, no problem. My office is incredibly boring."
They both got up and headed out of the office, a faint smile appearing on his face as they walked towards the door. "I heard that <> is going to visit the Lady of the Sacred Tree of Existence No. 3 after finishing. It seems our friend has fallen in love. Don't you think?"
A young man looked at her for a few seconds before opening the door without saying anything.
"You probably know he's a nice, caring person, but I didn't know he'd fallen in love with the Lady of the Sacred Tree of Existence No. 3."
"But it'll be fun to see his reaction after teasing him a little. He gets funny when he's embarrassed or nervous, hahahaha."
"You're right, he's a very fun person and a rather amusing companion."
They continued on their way, chatting amongst themselves from time to time.
......
Meanwhile, Grey opened his eyes with difficulty to find Lucy, Beatrice, and Roicci looking at him. A sudden headache struck him.
It was a sharp pain that made it difficult to keep his eyes open for long. Several minutes passed before He opened his eyes and stood up.
"Those dreams again. It's been two years since I last dreamt of that person and saw the course of their life," Gray thought to himself as he looked at his hands, which were covered in a mixture of sweat and blood.
He raised his head to face his companions, his gaze filled with bewilderment. She had reached the rank of Novice Ruler, and the development of her Mana Heart, Mind Core, Primal Sea, Datien Roots, and Gates Within had all occurred so suddenly.
Gray remained silent for several seconds.Trying to understand what was happening, the Scorpion Organization's followers were defeated, and his rapid development was terrifying. He was supposed to break through to the Novice Ruler rank after a few days, and even if he developed his Mana Heart, Mind Core, Primal Sea, Datean Roots, and Gates,
no breakthrough would occur. The time for a breakthrough was fixed and unchanging unless some kind of intervention occurred that transcended the world's authority.
"What happened? How did you defeat the Scorpion Organization's followers? And why do I feel my archaeological remains in my body? I don't understand anything at all. Someone please explain what's going on here!"
Ruichi, Lucy, and Beatrice looked at each other for several seconds, realizing that they themselves didn't know what had happened. Grei had used etheric energy to develop his body, bringing them back from outside the ordinary world with complete ease.
He had easily killed all of the Scorpion Organization's followers and survived death and a coma even before Lucy intervened.
Their expressions were filled with bewilderment. It was a strange phenomenon. With his injuries, he should have stayed in... He was unconscious for several days and then swam, unable to use his powers for several more.
But he appeared healthy and able to use his energy whenever he wanted.
The world isn't kind, and a talented person wouldn't do something like this. This made them realize that something was wrong.
Grey's behavior and presence before he fainted were completely different. Even his way of thinking and his use of ether to develop his body were something that didn't exist in this world.
But he used it, and this made them connect his actions to the dreams they had. They had witnessed numerous and terrifying techniques and skills that their world had never seen.
They memorized them at first glance, yet they were like unattainable treasures. These were abilities too powerful for their bodies to bear.
That's why they memorized them until the right time came to use them. Gree's injury and the fact that he was brought to the brink of death by the simplest technique—developing his body through ether—was the greatest proof of its danger.
"Come on, get up, you!" "Lazy, reckless! You almost died! Didn't we tell you not to use any skill or technique you see in those dreams? Strange!" Ruichi's tone held a hint of annoyance as he landed a punch on Grie's face.
It sent him sprawling to the ground again, and a sigh escaped each of them as they looked at Grie, who was grumbling about being treated unfairly and asking where the rights of the injured were.
After several minutes, each of them had taken a break before continuing on their way.
In a designated section, they fought their enemies, who were waiting for a moment of weakness, a moment of distraction, a moment of relaxed defenses. Fear and anxiety, even for a second, would be enough for them.
When your enemy is human, you can escape, but when your enemy is the Earth you live on, the equation becomes more dangerous and complex.