Chapter 1101
The Beloved of the Ring Heavenly Envoy
“The Golden Sword…”
Eivass muttered, his mind racing.
Gold—that was the metal symbolizing the Hourglass. And a sword represented conquest and authority. Coincidentally, the Hrasal Empire also revered the Path of Balance and was willing to embrace various Paths, establishing a human nation.
At the same time, before the Path of Authority emerged, the Path of Devotion, symbolizing civilization, and the Path of Balance, symbolizing order, were both closely tied to humans gathering into kingdoms.
And before Hermes was “demoted to mortal,” he was an Apostle of the Hourglass. Even as a mortal, he still possessed immense power. Such a punishment was less a punishment and more an opportunity for a disciple to experience the world. He only needed to live one lifetime to ascend to godhood again.
However, Hermes saw too much of the world—he was captivated by The Fool’s charm, willing to forgo the easily attainable position of a subordinate god.
Combining this with the fact that “Hercules possessed astonishing strength in his childhood, and the more they learned, the weaker this strength became”—Eivass had personally witnessed Yulia’s monstrous strength in the orphanage—this was very likely a form of ‘protective mechanism’ akin to an Apostle’s reincarnation.
“…He bestowed the Hourglass Apostle’s power upon Hercules?!”
Eivass blurted out.
No wonder the Hourglass wanted Yulia to be its Apostle… It fits, everything fits!
With this thought, Eivass suddenly turned to look at Sherlock.
Concurrently, Sherlock also looked over.
Through this, they both realized more—
Eivass recalled the saying he’d heard before—Fate had weight. With each reset, the mass entwined around him grew larger, like placing many stones on a spread-out cloth; the heavier ones would cause the other stones to tilt towards them. This was why Eivass encountered so many coincidences.
At that time, Eivass thought it was because the Ring Heavenly Envoy had reset history too many times. But it still didn’t explain why his friends would always follow him.
And now, he finally understood… He wasn’t the only special one.
Lily was the reincarnation vessel of the Grey Heavenly Envoy and also inherited Hengwo’s legacy to become a Moon Witch; Sherlock was this generation’s Hermes, inheriting The Fool’s Eulogy Grimoire; and Yulia happened to be this generation’s Hercules.
Just like the relationship between Eivass and Sherlock, it was like the relationship between Ai Shiping and Lucifer.
There was no such thing as “past lives” in this World. Because all souls would either ascend to godhood or shatter into dust.
But from another perspective, “past lives” did exist—because what had already happened would always happen again. This was a form of “gravitational pull of fate.”
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again…”
Eivass murmured the sentence that inexplicably surfaced in his heart.
He didn’t remember this sentence, yet it spilled out of his mouth… This must be an important clue that the Ring Heavenly Envoy had deleted or hidden. He could only recall it now thanks to Haibasha’s hint.
He looked at Isabel.
…If that’s the case, then where did his and Isabel’s “past life connection” lie?
Both he and Isabel were unrelated to The Fool event. Their shadows could not be seen within it. On the other hand, The Fool’s soul had simultaneously received invitations from the Song Heavenly Envoy and the Ring Heavenly Envoy… Although Isabel had already embarked on the Path of the Heavenly Envoy, both the Heavenly Envoy and the Song Heavenly Envoy resided in the Mirror Hall, perhaps there was some connection.
However, this degree of connection still didn’t make sense…
In that instant, a thought suddenly struck Eivass:
Since he had fallen in love with Isabel, and the Ring Heavenly Envoy was essentially the same person as him, there was no reason he wouldn’t fall in love with someone similar.
The biggest difference between him and the Ring Heavenly Envoy was that… when he “transmigrated,” or rather, “awakened his past life memories,” it was already the year 1898 on the calendar. But the Ring Heavenly Envoy had existed at least before the Amber Era began—wasn’t the world-resetting power of Amber a gift from him?
Before reincarnation began, Ai Shiping could become the “God of Peak Attainment” and “God of Perfect Eternity” by granting power to Amber, proving that Ai Shiping at that time was already the genuine world’s number one. This was also consistent with a transmigrator’s strength.
And at that time, let alone humans… Elves had probably only recently been born.
The Hourglass had not yet severed its connection to the divine, nor had the Second Sun been shattered into countless stars by Supreme Heaven.
Ai Shiping, who survived that era, should not have completely shed his mortal nature. He wouldn’t need to repeatedly cut off his snake tail to maintain his humanity… Would he, as the Samsara Heavenly Envoy at that time, also have someone he loved?
—If I were him then, who would I fall in love with?
For the first time, Eivass actively switched perspectives to think—placing himself in the shoes of his archenemy, the Ring Heavenly Envoy, to ponder such questions as “If I were him, what would I do?”
As he faced this question squarely, the answer became so clear.
—Amber.
The nine cycles of reincarnation were most agonizing not just for the Samsara Heavenly Envoy seeking a method to save the world, but also for Amber, who was responsible for pressing the reset button at the final moment, rendering everything futile and starting anew. If Amber wavered, everything would be lost. Moreover, Amber herself was a Pillar God bordering the Void Path, the most susceptible to corruption.
Her duty was infinitely important; one could say the survival of the world depended on Amber’s single thought.
If Eivass were Ai Shiping, he would only entrust his authority of reincarnation to the person he trusted most.
In the present, that would be Isabel.
But back then…
—It would be Amber.
“So that’s how it is…”
Eivass murmured softly.
In that instant, he suddenly understood… why the Ring Heavenly Envoy had become so insane and stubborn.
If one day, he had to eternally seal Isabel… forcing her to experience the reset of everything every ten thousand years, in such a cycle for ninety thousand years… perhaps he too would go mad.
It was precisely due to absolute trust that the Ring Heavenly Envoy had chosen to bestow power and responsibility upon Amber and sought a way out for himself; and it was precisely because he couldn’t find a way out that he felt such despair towards his past self, leading him to become so extreme now that Amber could no longer hold on.
Everything was meaningless.
All sacrifices were meaningless; all continuations were meaningless; all life and death were meaningless;
And… all love was meaningless.
As the Ring Heavenly Envoy denied himself, he had already fallen into the trap of “Void”; and as the Ring Heavenly Envoy was destined to step into the realm of Void, it was decided that he could not escape this painful reincarnation.
The nine cycles of reincarnation were nearing their end, and on the last day of 1999, Amber would be torn to pieces.
It was like a couple climbing a mountain, only to encounter a disaster. The girl gave all their resources and tools to the boy, asking him to find help, to go out and find someone to rescue her. But after nine days, not only did he not find any rescue… he couldn’t even find his own way out.
He knew the girl was doomed. To make her death meaningful— precisely to seek “meaning”—he had to escape at all costs. For this, he would rather drain the Origin River and destroy the possibilities of this World.
And this “seeking meaning” was because he had fallen into twilight without realizing it.
He detested the Void, and to avoid falling into the Void himself, he still desperately resisted the “meaninglessness” of the nine cycles of reincarnation.
But the more he did so, the more his actions became meaningless.
Overwhelming despair.
“Void seeking meaning… So that’s how it is.”
Eivass finally understood the mechanism of the “curtain of fate.”
—Fate is the manifestation of Void Power!
Finally, the last piece of the puzzle was in place.
If Eivass was the past Ai Shiping, Sherlock was the past Lucifer, then Isabel was the past Amber… it all fit.
Eivass could finally understand what the Ring Heavenly Envoy was doing.
Why so indifferent, why so mad, why so selfish… why, when there was a possibility of transcending the binds of the Void, he refused to accept it.
Was he really Eivass?
Now, Eivass could be sure—he truly was himself.
Everyone was trapped in the cyclical maze of eternal reincarnation. Simply seeking meaning to counter the Void would lead to “meaninglessness.” This was the world-ending demon who, “the more one knows, the less one can resist,” just like the Grey Heavenly Envoy’s lies.
The endless cycle of fate caused the meaning of the entire world to be chewed and worn away by invisible Void monsters.
If this Twilight Demon God had a divine authority belonging to this world, it could only be “Fate” itself.
And the most fitting divine name for Him…
—It was Ouroboros Ring!
The name of the Pillar God the Ring Heavenly Envoy would become in the future!
(End of Chapter)
