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Chapter 793 - Deus Ex Machina (4)
Flap! Cha Jeong-woo shut the diary.
“...” Jeong-woo closed his eyes, deep in thought, then opened them again. “Cha Yeon-woo. My twin brother… The Black King. Bad-tempered. Soldier. Hoarder. Shadow King, Death King, and king of gods. Giant Demonic Divine Dragon… Looks like my memory’s still intact.”
Jeong-woo knew it was thanks to the wisdom he stacked up over the years. He had come close to losing his memory several times as well. He could remember the existence of the Black King, but he forgot Yeon-woo’s name as if it was clouded by something—just like how Yeon-woo’s name was marked as ### in the Tower.
Jeong-woo put himself through quite a lot of trouble trying to get rid of what was hiding Yeon-woo’s name. The events were still fresh in his mind… And just now, it had been dangerous too. The moment the last page fell, it was as if something had also fallen from a corner of his mind. If the falling piece wasn’t so big, he never would’ve noticed it. Fortunately, Jeong-woo had already learned a way to recover what he was missing if something like this happened. He would dig through all his legends and find what he was missing, then recover his memory according to the clues in the context.
[Your missing piece is returned!]
[Your perception of the Black King has become stronger.]
However, Cha Jeong-woo knew this was only a temporary fix. This risk would occur again since the shelves that symbolized Yeon-woo were completely empty. No, the shelves themselves were disappearing too.
Just as Jeong-woo couldn’t find any information regarding the Heavenly Demon in the Changgong Library, there was no longer any information about the Black King. Now, he was the only person who remembered him. He had to hold onto these memories somehow. If he was counting the world below him, there was Edora too, but…he didn't know how long she’d be able to keep her memories since she was a mortal.
“Looks like the only thing I can do is wait now.” Cha Jeong-woo brooded over his overwhelming emotions.
* * *
After the last page fell, time continued to flow. The fates of the executor and opponent were still in progress, but the end didn’t come. To be exact, it had moved past them.
Cha Jeong-woo realized that Yeon-woo had completely taken over the Black King. “He’s become the only ego. Dang. How did he think of swallowing all that? I wonder if his stomach exploded.”
Although Yeon-woo had become the complete Black King, it was probably taking him a while to transcend. In the first place, Yeon-woo’s plan had been to transcend so he could escape the limits of the Black King. The problem was that there wasn’t anything Jeong-woo could do for him.
“Can I…help him transcend?”
Yeon-woo had told Jeong-woo not to forget him, so Jeong-woo remembered him. However, at some point, it began to occur to Jeong-woo that he could help his brother in other ways.
From then, Cha Jeong-woo put his all into researching the Black King. He looked into the dreams and wheel induced again and again by the Heavenly Demon and the Black King, as well as records of Mount Meru that had existed since the creation of the universe. Fortunately, it wasn’t too difficult to investigate because he was in the Akashic Records, a place where all records were collected. Rather, it took quite a lot of time to sort through the information because there was too much of it.
However, Jeong-woo had all the time in the world, and he was familiar with these tasks because he had been a librarian for so long.
[You are examining the forgotten truths of the past.]
[You have uncovered the secret of the creation of the heavens and earth. 56, 57… 61%.]
[You have uncovered the mysteries of the creation of the universe. 72, 73… 80%.]
…
[The sun of ‘Day (Eros)’ shines upon all universes more brilliantly than ever!]
[You are gaining a new divinity.]
…
Then, Jeong-woo finally found the clue he had been searching for. “Egg.” Because he’d been thinking of the Black King as a being that was similar to the Heavenly Demon all this time, he was beyond shocked. “The Black King was an egg.”
Jeong-woo wondered why he hadn’t thought of it sooner. Since the Black King was a conceptual being, he could be categorized as an object. The Black King, egos, father of the otherworld gods, and all those words made Jeong-woo confuse the Black King for what he really was. This was why stereotypes were dangerous. But Jeong-woo was able to come to a simple conclusion as a result.
The Black King was a bird that hadn’t hatched yet. The egg was so large and firm that no one perceived it, but perhaps it had been waiting to be cracked open before the universe was even created. The bird just wasn’t able to break out of its shell because it was too thick. ‘All the egos within it were able to become the bird.’
Why had the executors who led worlds to their end remained as Demonisms? Could it be the universe wanted their resentment to be used as a limitless energy source? Jeong-woo could be wrong, but he decided to accept it as such. If he could understand it like this, there could be something he could help Yeon-woo with from out here.
Of course, Jeong-woo couldn’t break the shell for Yeon-woo from outside. No matter how much wisdom Jeong-woo had obtained, even if they were both emperors, the Heavenly Demon and the Black King were on an entirely different level.
‘But it should be possible for me to weaken the shell so he can break it.’ If so, the method was simple. Jeong-woo would leave behind many records and achievements for the world to perceive his brother. When they were erased, he’d rewrite them, and if they were changed, he’d developed them further. The closer he became to dreams and the wheel, the thinner the shell surrounding the Black King would become. ‘Then, he’ll find a way to make a hole in the shell… But if I can find that hole quickly…’
Jeong-woo knew he had to roam outside the Changgong Library for that, since restoring Yeon-woo's lost records wasn’t an easy task. But the problem was, he wasn’t able to resign his position as librarian. He was fearful of how much work would be waiting for him when he returned.
“Eh, I’ll just make Hyung do it with me.” With that, Jeong-woo spread his Sky Wings for the first time in a long while and opened the door to the outside world.
[The librarian is attempting to leave!]
[The sun of ‘Day (Eros)’ rises again!]
[His will to change the world is powerful.]
[The separation of the heavens and earth is ignored.]
[Laws of causality are ignored.]
…
[Error! The laws of nature are critically damaged.]
[Warning! An interference of the truth is attempted.]
…
[The suppressor, the Heavenly Demon, ignores all errors.]
…
[The laws of nature and the truth of the universe began to spin mechanically.]
[A new divinity has been added.]
[Divine Title: Deus Ex Machina.]
* * *
“You’re still looking up at the sky?”
“….”
Phante scratched the back of his head as he looked at Edora, who was standing on the highest cliff of their village as she looked up at the night sky again. He didn’t know how to feel about his sister’s strange actions.
At first, Phante thought it was just a phase. Just like all siblings in the world, he had no idea how his younger sister felt. However, from some point, Edora began to speak less and stare up at the sky for hours with her Insight, so he became concerned. She could probably take care of herself, but as her brother, it was only natural he worried about her.
Edora just smiled at Phante. But her smile looked so sad that Phante’s heart felt heavier.
“What’s up there for you to be looking so intently?” Phante knew Edora wouldn’t answer him; she never did. No matter how much he asked, she wouldn’t respond. He thought it would be the same this time as well.
But today, something must’ve been different, because Edora gave a reply, albeit short. “My husband.”
“What? You had a boyfriend? You’ve never dated in your entire…!”
Pow! Phante’s cheek met Edora’s fist mid-sentence.
Edora brushed off her hands and replied, “In my imagination.”
“…” Phante wanted to say many things because he felt wronged, but he couldn’t bring himself to because Edora seemed disconcerted. He continued to grumble inwardly. “Fine. Do whatever you want. You might have neck pain if you continue to look up like that so take care.”
Knowing that staying on this subject would only lead to a headache for him, Phante patted Edora on the shoulder twice.
‘Hm?’ It suddenly occurred to Phante that this action was familiar, and he tilted his head. Someone had done this to him in the past…but he didn’t remember who. ‘It’s not Dad.’
The former king only teased him and made him suffer. He wasn’t one to comfort him like this. It felt like someone more closer and special than him had done this. Then was it his mother? But their mother was always busy as well, so she wasn’t exactly an affectionate parent. He wondered who it could be, then.
‘Eh, it’s probably not that important.’ Phante didn’t contemplate on the subject for too long. He disliked thinking about anything too deeply, anyway. If it was really important, it’d occur to him again later. Like that, Phante headed down the cliff.
Edora watched Phante leave and sighed. “His brain must all be muscle too. That’s why he always forgets. I’m sure it was a special memory to him too.” Of course, it wasn’t a matter that could be fixed with some nagging, so she didn’t bother speaking about it. This was the reason why Edora spoke less and less recently.
Edora had done everything she could to make Phante remember. She told him repeatedly there was someone who looked over them, and that the Martial King had a third disciple. However, Phante forgot every time. He seemed to remember at first, but it didn’t last too long. He probably didn’t want to forget either. It was just that the world made him forget, as if it was only natural.
Absolute death. Edora thought this might be the divination her mother, the Psychic Medium, had shown her to be Yeon-woo’s fate a long while ago. If all traces of him were erased and he was forgotten by those special to him…that was a true absolute death. However, Edora tried to remember him even if the world didn’t. And she waited.
[Message: I’ll pay a visit soon. Sorry.]
Edora still kept the message Yeon-woo had sent her in one side of her vision. She had waited ten years, so what was another few more?
‘Just you wait. When you return, I’m going to make you regret it.’ Time continued to flow after that. The stars in the night sky rotated, spring came, summer came, fall left, and winter faded away. Then, spring returned. The seasons changed countless times, but Edora always returned to the cliff at night and looked up at the changing night sky.
Edora’s immature brother, Phante, had children, and those children had their own children. Edora’s sparkling eyes were now filled with wisdom, and the back of her hand showed her the traces of time. The night sky that she watched every night was now accompanied by a rocking chair Phante’s great grandson had bought for her.
Phante’s great grandson, who had the same name as him, looked at Edora and thought she still looked beautiful. “Grandma, grandma!”
“Yes, my little puppy. What are you so curious about?”
“I’m not a puppy!”
“All right, puppy. So what is it?”
“Hey!”
‘I’m already ten!’ The young boy pouted with frustration, but he soon clutched his great grandmother and asked a question. “What are you looking at, Grandma? There’s nothing in the sky except stars.”
“I’m not looking at the stars.”
“Then?”
“Old memories.”
“…?”
“Should I tell you about what I did when I was young?”
“Yes! I want to know!”
The wrinkles around Edora’s eyes crinkled, and as she continued to spin her tales, her young great grandson’s eyes sparkled.