"It seems you thought this prophecy would be something grand. My apologies for not giving you the answer you wanted.”

Heavenly Balance let out a mocking chuckle as she said that.

"Great Void created me for one reason only. To gain certainty. When I was first made, there was only one thing I did. I simply nodded.”

"...And what does that mean?”

"—I agreed that this world is nothing more than a vast livestock pen.”

Her tone suddenly turned cold as she declared it.

"Those who follow Great Void, and those who don’t. You, me, everyone. We are no different from cattle being raised inside that pen. That is the truth you wanted, and the only prophecy that sustains this world.”

"..."

"Once Great Void gained certainty, he simply continued doing what he had to do. He wants you to struggle. And you’ve been fulfilling that role quite well.”

In other words…

This war never had a purpose to begin with.

If it did, there was only one. To keep the war going.

In the process, they corner wizards alongside the Fallen and increase their numbers. Then they harvest the worlds that had just increased. That was what Great Void had been doing all along.

Because if he destroyed the world immediately, all that would remain would be a ruined Heavenly Realm.

'So he plans to devour all the Fallen worlds and recreate the primordial world...'

That motive made sense to me.

But there was still one thing that didn’t—

"Then why am I still alive?”

That was the real question.

From what Heavenly Balance said, I could understand why Great Void had been drowning people and searching for the Abyssal Sea. It was the most crucial piece needed to construct the primordial world alongside him. Of course, he’d try to claim it at any cost.

But I had resisted all of those attempts. And in the end, I even absorbed Decay’s world.

From Great Void’s perspective, that should have been a massive headache. A lump of gold he had searched for his entire life was now clutched tightly by some brat who refused to let go.

Shouldn’t he be trying to kill me at all costs? As I frowned at that thought, Heavenly Balance made a subtle expression.

"You probably already know it yourself. You are quite the anomaly.”

"...In what way?”

"Originally, what Great Void sought was the Grand Sea. The plan was to use his power in that world to descend further and eventually devour the Abyssal Sea as well…”

Her gaze swept around me, her expression tightening.

"But you were the Abyssal Sea from the very beginning. At the same time, you wield that power freely, and you’ve shown abilities rivaling Scarlet Abyss itself. From our perspective, you’re not such a bad existence to have around.”

"...Me?”

"Yes. Great Void is nearly invincible, but that doesn’t mean he can face something like Decay at his stage without taking any damage. If he throws Upper Tiers against you and you die, so be it. If you survive, then he can store other worlds without having to expend his own strength.”

"..."

To Great Void, I was basically a piggy bank.

If he had succeeded in bringing me to his side, he would’ve had me hunt down other Fallen.

"That is why you’re still alive. Because you’re useful. That’s all.”

Heavenly Balance finished calmly, giving a small shrug.

"If you truly want to stop Great Void, then you’ll have to kill every wizard with your own hands. But if you do that, you’ll have to kill your master as well. Do you think you can do that?”

"Like hell I would. Even if I tried, I wouldn’t succeed.”

I fell into thought for a moment.

Too many parts lined up with what Agnes had said to just be empty bluffing.

Even the reason Great Void, who had already won long ago, wasn’t moving made sense if his goal wasn’t victory but something beyond it.

Heavenly Balance watched me quietly, then let out a small laugh.

"So you still can’t believe it.”

"You’re a piece of shit, but I’ve heard things too. Honestly, it does sound true.”

"What?"

Heavenly Balance frowned as if she’d just heard something offensive.

"If you believe everything I’ve said, then what is there left to think about?”

"Obviously there is. I’m thinking of how to deal with you.”

"Pathetic. The only conclusion you’ll reach is crawling to Great Void, begging him to spare your life in exchange for cooperation.”

"Is that the conclusion you’ve reached?”

I circled the garden, then shot back at her, who looked slightly taken aback.

“This world. The more I look at it, the stranger it gets. No matter how I see it, it doesn’t feel like a world owned by an individual. I can’t even tell what kind of burdens it has—It doesn’t seem to be dominated by you either. You probably got this world as payment for cooperating with Great Void, didn’t you?”

"And what makes you think that?”

"Nothing really. Just a gut feeling.”

Heavenly Balance was undeniably evil.

Just being part of Scarlet Abyss, giving orders, and coordinating things proved that. Even if she didn’t act directly, issuing commands was enough.

However, at the same time, she had a weak side. From the short time we spent together, that was abundantly clear. She was someone who could casually order deaths yet still grew attached to children. A truly contradictory person.

Whether that came from the original Sharmia or not.

"At first, I thought this messed-up place was another experiment, or somewhere that even robbed the Fallen of rest after death, but now I get it. It’s an ark.”

"An ark…?”

"A place that will remain even after Great Void destroys the world. A sanctuary to preserve life.”

-Fwhoosh!

Flames flickered to life on my fingertip again.

Seeing that, Heavenly Balance slowly clenched her teeth and muttered,

"It’s meaningless."

"Then why not just accept it?”

"..."

Instead of answering, Heavenly Balance let her arm hang limp.

At the same time, vines burst forth, growing at an incredible speed and swallowing her right arm whole.

Even as they twisted and coiled around her, enough to throw anyone into a panic, she remained calm and tried to negotiate.

"You’re right. This world is a small sanctuary. Not all, but those who died because of us…we bury them in this garden. They lose their memories and are reborn as flowers.”

"That’s not living. That’s you desecrating corpses out of guilt.”

"You’re right. This cannot be called life.”

Heavenly Balance admitted it surprisingly calmly. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"But if we don’t do even this, then what is left?”

"What?”

"In the end, even their traces will disappear."

The vines continued to grow, wrapping around her completely.

As her arms, torso, and even her face were swallowed, Heavenly Balance kept trying to persuade me.

"Even for the death of a mere human, a gravestone is left behind. How could we leave nothing behind for the death of a world? This is the reason I was born into this world. This is what I chose.”

"There’s no need for that. Go come up with a different reason.”

I took a breath and clenched my fist.

In the end, it was just the same thing repeating itself.

"I’ll stop it.”

"..."

What I gained from Heavenly Balance’s words wasn’t just despair or confirmation of defeat.

If anything, it was almost laughably good news.

"...How naive."

If Great Void was certain of his victory—

Then that meant he was careless.

*t*t*

The moment Heavenly Balance decided to throw me out, the vines began tightening around her.

I watched for a moment, then frowned and tossed the flame onto the ground.

"Wait, why the hell would I just stand here and watch that?”

I wasn’t kind enough to wait for someone’s transformation to finish.

The flame immediately began to burn the ground, then suddenly stopped.

"?"

When I looked down, the flowers were sinking into the ground one by one.

It was as if they were being dragged underground, no, as if something was desperately trying to keep them from burning.

So she had prepared something. As the world rapidly turned into a barren wasteland, I sharpened my Tide Sense, and then the vines suddenly shrank.

It was to a density that would’ve turned any human inside into pulp instantly.

Seeing something that looked no different from suicide, I cautiously stepped back.

Heavenly Balance was still an Upper Tier of Scarlet Abyss. In other words, not someone to be taken lightly.

-Crack.

"...What is this?”

It turned out that my caution wasn’t misplaced.

The vines that crushed Heavenly Balance began to replicate, swelling in an instant to the size of a house.

It wasn’t just larger. It had something that clearly resembled eyes, a nose, and a mouth. It was a giant made entirely of plants.

[Uh, ah…]

It let out a strange, distorted sound as though it didn’t seem to be Heavenly Balance herself anymore.

I watched it with fascination for a moment, then titled my head.

"If that’s all, it’s not going to work.”

If that was everything it had, then it was just stupid.

In the Abyssal Sea, size was nothing but a disadvantage.

[Huh...?]

-Crunch!

In an instant, the giant’s arm was compressed to something smaller than a fist.

Even plants were not spared from pressure. Its legs, head, and torso followed, collapsing inward, until the entire thing was crushed and slammed into the ground in a pitiful heap.

Plant sap spilled out, soaking the ground. I watched for a moment, then frowned.

"...Damn."

From the ground soaked with sap, vines began sprouting again, one after the other.

The plant giant split into four. As they shrieked again and turned toward me, I crushed two of them this time.

The same thing happened. Now there were six. Watching the multiplying plant giants, I scratched my head.

"So what exactly is this supposed to do?”

Even if their numbers increased, Heavenly Balance would know it was meaningless.

Was this some sort of last desperate struggle? Thinking maybe something would change if I didn’t destroy them, I left them alone.

And then—

[Uh...]

One of the giants opened its mouth and sneezed.

It wasn’t even in my direction. For a moment I thought, ‘Huh, looks like it has some manners,’ then frowned as the others began sneezing all at once.

"Right."

Mixed within the sneezes were black seeds that scattered everywhere.

I hurriedly tried to block them using the currents, but it was too late.

The seeds created vines. The vines formed giants, and then they would sneeze.

Within the range of my Tide Sense, the number of plant giants increased exponentially. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands… Only when they reached an uncountable number did I realize what Heavenly Balance was aiming for and let out a sigh.

"Well, it’s not a bad approach…"

Overwhelming numbers.

If you couldn’t fight your opponent directly, you should create an endless number of opponents to wear them down.

Even I would probably use that method to counter a world like the Abyssal Sea.

But there was one problem with this strategy.

"It’s a little too late.”

As I said that, I pulled on the threads stored within the ring around my finger.