CHAPTER 139: THE CRADLE OF CREATION

"What are you doing here, #######?"

"Really? What am I doing before the cradle of creation...?"

"Well, at first when you went missing, I thought for sure... you had abandoned everyone. I never thought you would be here, that you would find ’it’..."

"It’s... no use deluding myself that ’that’ future can be stopped if everyone could just get stronger."

"I know how you feel, but..."

"No, you don’t. You don’t understand the gravity of what I have to remember. I alone carry countless memories of the future, which ended with the deaths of every single person I care about... And in all those memories, at that last moment when I stand amid chaos... I alone am left to face ’him’."

"You have given up...?"

"No. Did I even have that choice to begin with?"

"Sighs So you want to become a primordial?"

"It is the only way."

"You will be trapped in an eternity of rebirths. Do you know what it means to fall into the cradle of creation?"

"I do. But it doesn’t matter... You probably only remember a fraction of ’those’ countless futures, where ’he’ wins, but I... I remember everything, from the very start of all this nightmare. I remember every single lifetime I have been forced to regress, fighting a battle that cannot be won, a future that no matter what I do, will turn out the same... I want it to end."

"An end cannot be given to that which does not have an end."

"THEN WHAT DO I DO?! WHY WAS I CURSED WITH THIS... FATE?! WHY MUST I ALONE CONTINUE TO FIGHT A BATTLE THAT WAS LOST FROM THE VERY BEGINNING?!"

"Fate can no longer create heroes as the ’future’ itself has already happened. Only you can change that future, only you can alter what will be... the future where ’he’ takes the records. There is no future. If you do not kill Hezekiel before that cursed future where he gets hold of the Akashic records... then... it truly is over."

"Sighs Then ascension is the only way."

"For one to ascend through the cradle of creation is practically impossible."

"I KNOW."

"You don’t understand. The conditions of the cradle are impossible. Not only will you be stripped of your memories, you will journey endlessly within countless worlds of the cradle, to comprehend a ’concept’... As though that alone isn’t impossible, you must remember who you are!"

"I have to try."

"You might never wake up again, #######. You might end up forever trapped within the cradle of creation, trying to remember for all eternity."

"You cannot change my mind, Seraphina. The gods have abandoned us. Those imbeciles have fled in fear of a being they created themselves!"

"Hezekiel holds the concept of the ’END’. Gods or not, the ’END’ brings true ’END’ to all."

"Then I would rather be trapped in endless TORMENT than continue this futile journey. That monster has long transcended mortality—he is a God. Mortals don’t kill gods. This is not some fairytale. Only a god can slay a god, and I intend to transcend mere godhood. This... is the only way."

"So be it. But always remember, #######... forever will you remain within the past if you do not end the future."

"HAAAH!" I gasped, sitting up.

I looked around. I was still in Helen’s room.

"Haah... haa... haaa... hhaaa," I panted, realizing my whole body was drenched. I looked back at the bed—it was completely soaked.

What the hell was that dream?

"Se... ra... phina," I said between breaths.

I couldn’t see anything, just darkness and voices.

It sounded familiar though.

Just what the hell is this feeling?

"Hezekiel," I said, and then I felt my heart beating so fast I felt like I would collapse at any moment. "What the heck is wrong with me? Am I having a freaking panic attack?" I gritted my teeth, clenched my fists, and after a while, it started to fade.

"Sighs," I sighed.

"Hezekiel," I said again. This time I only felt panic, but that was it.

Why does it feel like I know that person?

But throughout all my memories, I have never encountered someone with that name.

"But there are still those memories Owen sealed... I still can’t remember those." I held my chin and took a deep breath.

Those memories were supposed to help me remember my time with that goddess... Elena.

Creak.

I looked to the door and saw a girl walk in.

"Helen," I said.

She frowned, taking in my appearance.

"What happened?" Her eyes searched my body in surprise. I was probably giving out more emotion than she had ever seen from me. But I can’t help it—that memory seemed to have altered whatever was happening to me from that bind.

"When are we leaving?" I asked as I stood up, ignoring her question.

"Two days from now."

"Make it one," I said, my eyes closed, my hands on my face, sliding down. I don’t know why I am feeling this way, but I have this strange feeling that getting to the academy will help me understand this dream.

Cradle of creation.

That voice said something about falling into the cradle of creation.

Why do I have a bad feeling about that?

"But—"

"No buts. Make it happen." This time there was no amusement in my voice.

And that was because I was scared.

Genuinely terrified.

I had to know what that dream meant.

"Okay," she said, startled by my change.

Click.

The door clicked shut, but I didn’t even look back.

"Just what the hell is really happening...?" I asked, gazing at the blue sky as birds hovered about the vast expanse.

’Remember who you are.’

Sighs.

It seems this has something to do with me.

Am I the one to remember?

Fuck.

So many mysteries and no one to answer them.

Sighs.

"Well, first things first," I said, looking down at my palms.

I have to find and end the activities of the ’darkness’ in the world. That’s why I was brought here in the first place.

[Author’s Note: Just to be clear and not confuse anyone, the conversation from that dream is a memory... a memory of the ’one’, so yeah... It’s a hint of ’its’ motive.]