The misty white forest of the Lost Woods.

A behemoth charged towards me, its maw crackling with lightning. Furred limbs rippling with muscles stomped on the ground, breaking into the earth to anchor it.

I ran forward, a blade of darkness in my right hand.

Lightning sprayed from the monster’s mouth, aimed at me.

“You will not touch him.” A cold and stern voice. Saphira’s. With it, the lightning bent, flying off to the side. In exchange, a blast of white lightning struck the behemoth, singeing its fur.

It roared in pain and then ripped its front paws out from the ground, swinging one at me.

“Mister Nowun! Jump!”

I did, and then a gust of wind gathered at my feet, launching me up.

The behemoth turned its head, glaring at me with golden eyes. It opened its maw to bite me. But-

“It’s a mistake to ignore me!”

From the side, a woman with honey-colored hair and a sword that looked similar to my own, black with crimson lines, charged and pierced into the behemoth’s side.

It roared, thrashing to try and shake Titania off. But then it froze, its golden eyes locking back on me.

I swung my blade.

A thin line, tracing along the monster’s entire body.

I landed, lightly touching down on the monster’s head.

It stared at me, its golden eyes wide in disbelief.

And then, it crumbled, dissolving into misty smoke.

I jumped backwards, landing on the ground. The moment I did, the surroundings changed. At the same time, I got a headache, a fragment of a memory.

A dark cavern, displayed within a bright screen. A young woman, muttering to herself as she tapped on a tablet at her side.

I winced, clutching my head.

Aria walked over to me and said, “Mister Nowun? Are you alright?”

I lowered my hand and nodded. “I’m fine.”

The surroundings returned to being the Lost Woods, that scene erased like a forgotten memory.

I walked forward, following the path that would ordinarily lead out if this was the ordinary Lost Woods.

Saphira quickly moved to my side. “Are you certain that you are well, Master?”

I nodded. “Like I said, I’m fine. It’s just…” I frowned. “It seems like I’ve forgotten a lot of things.”

Saphira looked concerned and said, “Be wary. This place will do that to you if you stay too long. Even I…” She trailed off, not wanting to say it.

Titania sheathed her sword and walked over. “Just what kind of mess did you land us in this time, Nowun? You explained a bit about that goddess, but this place… where are we exactly? And why am I here?”

“If I knew, I would tell you. But I don’t, so there you have it.”

Titania sighed. “Hah… I still cannot see how women put up with you.”

“And I can see why you are still unmarried.”

“You-!”

Aria jumped between me and Titania, holding up her hands. “Please! Not now, Tani! Mister Nowun!”

Titania looked at Aria and then shook her head.

I sighed and did the same. “Sorry. Just…” I frowned and said, “Something about this place gets on my nerves.”

Titania frowned. “I can at least agree with you on that.” She looked around and said, “This place… even for the Lost Woods, it seems… different. Not to mention all of these monsters… What was that? The third one that appeared out of thin air?”

“Let’s keep going.” I walked forward and said, “Saphira, Titania. Stay close to Aria. I’ll lead.”

“As you wish, Master.”

“Of course.”

There was no point in sticking around, and so there wasn’t any disagreements with my decision. Well, Aria seemed a bit upset by the arrangement, but went along with it.

We slowly advanced, carefully keeping an eye out.

To be sure, I even used spiritual sense… but as before, it seemed muffled. Not only that, but it hadn’t worked in time to catch the other monsters ambushing us, so-

Suddenly, the forest shifted. The misty woods vanished, replaced by a long corridor lined with obsidian bricks.

“Nowun?” Titania’s questioning voice echoed.

I narrowed my eyes and materialized the memory of my Faithful Companion. Glancing back, I muttered, “Be on your guard. And Aria, stay close to the others.”

She nodded.

Seeing that, I turned my gaze back forward.

As we advanced, torches lit up along the walls. Gray flames with azure flickering within them.

I frowned, carefully drawing on my cultivation base and my mana pool, preparing to use everything at once in the worst case scenario.

It was ominous. The setup was like the prelude to a final boss- No, a hidden boss. The superboss that was at least a magnitude stronger than the final boss.

Except that this was reality.

The end of the corridor was wreathed in darkness, one so thorough that even I couldn’t perceive what lay within.

…No. That wasn’t quite true. The reason was because the ‘rules’ that made up that darkness didn’t abide by the normal laws. Rather than the absence of light that darkness should be, it was something that devoured light, a radiation in itself rather than the absence of that radiation.

Even so, as we advanced, the torches on the walls lit up, illuminating that darkness little by little.

Saphira muttered, “Master. This place…”

“It’s dangerous. I know.”

I could sense it now.

We walked over half of the corridor. And when we crossed that threshold, a ‘presence’ emerged despite being hidden by the shadow.

And then we arrived. A step before the end of the hallway.

From it, I could see the figure of someone seated upon a dark throne. And on the sides, encircling the room, I could see unlit torches.

It was clear that they would light up the moment we crossed the boundary. At the same time, whatever figure waited there in the darkness would emerge.

At the moment, the figure was at rest. Whether because it was sleeping, frozen in time, or whatever, I wasn’t sure. But the moment that the torches lit up, it would act.

But, the only way out was a corridor off to the left.

I hesitated.

That figure was strong. Stronger than Serena and in turn myself. More than that… the nature of that power was different. Something that gave only despair, that grew stronger the more hopeless a situation became…

“M-Mister Nowun?”

Did Aria sense my concern? She looked at the figure and then at me and said, “What do we do?”

Titania placed a hand on her sword and said, “Do we fight?”

Sweat formed on Saphira’s brow as she stared at the figure. “Master… I… do not believe we can win against that.”

“I know.”

The worst match up. Since we were in an unknown territory and that figure’s power grew with despair and hopelessness…

“So we won’t fight it.” I glanced at the open corridor and gauged the distance.

It wasn’t far. About the size of an average room. But to a being that was on the level of Serena and myself, perhaps beyond, that might as well have been the edge of the universe.

Still…

“Saphira. Did you notice any other paths on the way forward?”

“None, Master. And the entrance we walked through vanished as well.”

“I thought so.”

Like she said, this was a place lost to time and space. A realm similar to the boundary of life and death.

And from what we had gone through so far, also a place where countless worlds intersected, housing only beings that could persist in such a timeless space.

“…We’re going. But the moment we cross…” I glanced back and said, “Saphira, take Aria and run to the exit. Titania, use wind magic to speed yourselves up… You do the same, Aria.”

Aria’s eyes widened. “But Mister Nowun, what about-“

“I’ll be fine.” I carefully gauged the figure and what I could glean from the power he emanated. “I’m pretty sure that guy can’t bend space… Well, at least 75% sure. When you guys cross the threshold, I’ll jump after you.”

Aria looked doubtful.

Saphira did as well.

As for Titania…

“Alright. But you had better come after us. If we die, I am absolutely going to return as a vengeful spirit to haunt you, even if it takes until the end of time.”

I smile. “It won’t reach that point. But if that happens, feel free. Now…” I put on a stern face. “We go on three. Remember, don’t bother trying to block, fight, or defend yourselves. Just run. I’ll handle the rest.”

Saphira picked up Aria.

Titania moved to the edge, lowering her body.

“Three.”

Wind stirred around Titania and Saphira.

“Two.”

Saphira let out a long breath and lowered her body as well to pounce.

“One.”

A frosty wind joined the gale surrounding Titania and Saphira.

“Go!”

We charged forward.

Saphira and Titania instantly charged left while I dashed at the figure.

Torches blazed to life, illuminating the chamber. And like that, I could see what was seated upon the throne.

It was a young man, at most twenty years old. He looked Western, with blond hair and blue eyes. But those blue eyes were cold, desolate. No, lifeless. Weary, as if waiting for time itself to come to an end. But, the moment he locked eye contact with me, life blazed into his eyes. Fury, a frosty wrath.

He stood up, holding his hand out to the side. At once, a rusted sword emerged. Black armor, tattered and torn, emerged upon his body. At the same time, his lifeless blue eyes were stained crimson, his iris suddenly laced with red lines, shimmering an odd hue like a mix of ruby and sapphire.

I instinctively froze when I saw that.

A piercing gaze, as if seeing through everything that made me up. Eyes that peered into the abyss of death itself and thus actualizing it into reality.

-The end.

An intuitive understanding.

Even if I had an Absolute Memory, what that man possessed was the power to end even that. To close the book on the story of one’s life, no matter what sort of being stood before him.

“Nowun!” Titania shouted.

How much time had passed?

I didn’t know how long I had been frozen, staring at the man, but it seemed to be long enough for the girls to cross over.

The man’s gaze flicked to the side and he reached for his sword.

Seeing that, I quickly lashed out.

Darkness, the divine lightning I took from the White Tiger back in the Xia Dynasty, mana, spiritual energy… I quickly threw everything, trying to buy a bit of time.

But it didn’t do anything.

The moment that it reached the man, my attacks crumbled, reduced to nothing. Not nullified or erased, but as if they were completed without touching him.

Still, it seemed to make the man hesitate since he didn’t grab his sword.

And seeing that he hesitated, I didn’t. In that brief moment, I quickly tore through space to reunite with the girls, not once looking back. At the same time, I made sure to block his vision with my body so that any attack would hit me first.

But… none came.

Glancing back as I ran into the hallway, I saw the man standing there, staring at me with a wry smile.

But I didn’t stop to ponder it.

I ran towards the three women and then grabbed them.

“M-Master?!”

“Mister Nowun!”

“The hell are you doing, Bastard?!”

Surprised exclamations sounded out in protest, but I didn’t care.

Wrapping them all close, I quickly kicked off, bending space to put as much distance between us and that man.

And then the corridor vanished, revealing only an empty void.

But that was bad.

I could sense it. There was actually nothing here. A pure void in every sense of the word.

At the same time, I felt the girls gasping for air, or trying to.

There wasn’t time.

So I didn’t stop to think.

While it was a void, there were still strands of karma scattered around. Connections to me that existed even when nothing did.

Most were splintered, frayed, or faded. But there was a single string, as thin as a spider’s thread that I could trace.

Without hesitation, I bent time and space, moving through the void with that single thread as my guide.

As I moved through that void, I caught glimpses of other places. Parallel worlds.

One was with a young boy that looked similar to Wang Tian, a sword forgotten at his side while he chatted with a beautiful young girl.

Another had a young man with spiky black hair, desperately running away from a pink-haired goddess.

Another had a solemn man with light blue hair, carefully making his way through a dark labyrinth with a woman that had silver hair tinged gold.

Countless others emerged before my eyes. But then, the changing scenery stopped, revealing a familiar location.

I stepped onto the ground, collapsing to my knees. Even so, I had the sense of mind to twist and make sure I didn’t land on anyone, sending them up to land safely.

Gasps for air. Coughing.

And far above, a towering tree with emerald leaves, obscuring a brilliant blue sky.