Book 2: Chapter 556
After a short silence, Residue spoke.
[What on earth are you talking about?]
Despite the abrupt declaration, Residue did not shout or panic.
He simply asked where the absurd fact that Lukas had mentioned had originated from.
[You're one of the Apocalypses? How is that related to the time you wanted to see the Void King and ended up seeing a scene resembling the Apocalypse?]
“…That.”
It was something Lukas had not fully considered. His head throbbed and he felt disoriented. His nose began to sting again. Lukas wiped it off, and stayed silent upon realizing that his own blood was no longer red.
Creak, squeak.
A dissonance sounded in his head. It was more unpleasant and creepy than any sound he had heard before.
[Lukas.]
“……”
[Does this mean you're going to become one of the Apocalypses? Or does it mean you've always been one of the Apocalypses from the beginning?]
“Those are……”
Lukas shook his head as he spoke.
“They existed outside of all concepts.”
Time was no exception.
As Lukas awakened to the power of Omniscience, he realized that time was merely a coordinate. Based on this realization, he could know events that had occurred, were occurring, and would occur in a specific space.
But they were……
[What happened?]
The cold voice made his head feel a bit cooler.
…What if Residue hadn't been there? Just now, perhaps Lukas wouldn’t have been able to return to this place. His very existence might have been devoured and erased.
The experience he just had was the same. He couldn't talk about it to anyone. He didn't want to.
He didn't think they would understand, nor did he want to show his vulnerable side.
But Residue was different. He was the exception.
This once Ruler knew all of Lukas' secrets in detail and possessed the capacity to remain calm in any astonishing and outrageous situation.
“I am……”
So Lukas spoke.
He explained what he had experienced, as precisely as possible.
After a brief yet lengthy explanation, Residue spoke.
[Isn't that a misconception?]
Although it might seem like a dismissive remark, anyone who listened to Lukas' story from an objective point of view would say the same.
[When you merge with a vast entity and see the world from its perspective, feeling a sense of unity isn't rare. If it intensifies, it can even lead to confusion about one’s own identity.]
Residue spoke from cases he had seen and experienced, but Lukas shook his head and denied it.
“Do you think I would have such a misconception?”
This was a matter before arrogance.
Lukas' ego was extremely solid and clear, allowing him to maintain his sanity even when eroded by any entity.
Residue knew this as well.
[It’s possible.]
However, Residue thought more twistedly.
[The Apocalypse is a vast entity unlike any you've encountered before. You can’t interpret it based on the concepts you've always held.]
“…You, that means.”
[Exactly.]
Residue readily agreed.
[The ‘Apocalypse' would surely be an entity greater than a Ruler.]
“……”
[It wouldn't be unreasonable for your ego to be swept away by such an entity. That you alone didn’t feel what I felt also makes sense.]
Unable to think of a rebuttal, he shut his mouth, but he was not convinced.
And Lukas was appalled that he couldn't describe the feelings he had experienced just now with any of the many words he knew.
But could Residue's words explain everything?
“…There are two things that can’t be explained by that.”
[What are they?]
“Firstly, I've now become capable of handling the Apocalypse.”
I have become capable of it.
In fact, there might be a flaw in that statement. Lukas still hadn't clearly grasped what this was, nor did he understand the principle that allowed it to be controlled.
If anything, it was instinct, and some kind of sense.
Two words that Lukas disliked were now the driving force that allowed him to handle the Apocalypse.
Crack-
He clenched his fist. The pitch-black waterfall seemed to stop its flow as if time itself had halted.
[It might be a byproduct of becoming one with the Apocalypse.]
“…It's highly improbable, but let’s assume that's true. However, the other thing doesn’t make sense.”
When he unclenched his fist, the waterfall flowed again.
Lukas took in the sight.
…The fear had mostly disappeared.
The Waterfall of Apocalypse.
He now felt a strange sense of kinship with this unidentifiable mass, beyond mere familiarity, and it disgusted him like a foreign body stuck in his mind.
“You and I, who share all senses, saw a different scene when I touched this.”
[I've already told you about that. The opponent is an entity beyond a Ruler. Separating and controlling our senses as well…]
“I'm not talking about just now. I mean at the Spring of Wisdom.”
[……]
Residue fell silent.
“Back then, I heard the cry of a baby, but you didn't hear it. Don’t you find that strange? At that time, I hadn't even come into contact with the Apocalypse yet.”
[Because you were the Apocalypse from the beginning? So you have a sense that only you possess?]
“I can't be certain of anything. That's why we need to find out.”
[How.]
“There’s a way right in front of us.”
As Lukas looked at the waterfall, Residue finally spoke with a mixed tone.
[Ha. You mean to repeat that insane act? You may not realize, but I used every possible means to awaken you when you lost consciousness. Most were useless, and ‘Thunder,' the last method I used, barely worked.]
“……”
[Don’t you see the point? You were able to wake up just now purely by luck. If the same thing happens again, you might not come back this time.]
“That’s a valid point. You're not wrong.”
Lukas readily nodded, and Residue cursed softly.
[Damn it. You crazy son of a bitch. But you're still going to do it.]
“Yes.”
Lukas smiled faintly.
“It’s the only way.”
And thank you, Residue.
Lukas swallowed his words and looked at the waterfall again.
Of course, using ‘Thunder' indefinitely was not possible.
This power was among the scarcest and rarest of resources Lukas had, with no means to replenish it. What was left now were just remnants brought by Residue’s residual thoughts, and even Residue didn’t know how many more times he could wake Lukas.
There should be at least one more time.
Lukas felt somewhat relieved.
Creak, creak─
A terrible noise sounded in his head again.
Just shut up a bit longer.
Lukas murmured lowly, then dipped his hand into the waterfall again. Becoming able to handle it didn't mean he was immune to the Apocalypse itself.
As evidence, the onslaught of pain returned, and his vision blacked out once again.
* * *
──Slurp.
What’s that sound?
“Hmm.”
Along with a comfortable sigh, slurp. The sound occurred once again.
Then he realized what it was.
…The sound of drinking tea.
This was a different space from the one he first saw.
A small round table was set in the pitch-black space. There were no chairs. However, on the table were two teacups with steam rising from them.
One of the cups was floating in mid-air, as if an invisible person was elegantly sipping from it.
“What the……”
Lucas said that, and was surprised that he could speak.
It wasn't just that which was strange. He didn't feel the ‘sense of being unified with a vast entity' that he had experienced before.
Lukas stood still for a moment before walking towards the table. It didn't feel like walking but rather sliding smoothly. His whole body felt like it was made of mist.
When he stood in front of the table, he saw something other than what he had previously confirmed.
Floating above the tea was a mask.
A familiar mask, the mask of an old man.
…The mask of The Beginning Wizard.
“You're earlier than expected.”
A solemn voice, why hadn’t he realized?
This too was the voice of The Beginning Wizard.
“Why are you here?”
Lucas stopped his voice from flowing out.
And he voiced the question he had earlier.
“Are you the Apocalypse?”
“Hmm.”
The Beginning Wizard, the being Lukas presumed, chuckled.
“It seems you've experienced some interesting things. Have your questions been answered? To what extent have you seen and felt?”
“…I.”
The teacup clinked as it was placed on the saucer.
That sound echoed in the space for a long time, and when it finally stopped, another voice followed.
“The Waterfall of Apocalypse. That's an interesting name. I called it the ‘Overflowing Apocalypse’… Heh. It's a matter of perspective. You saw it as falling from above, while I understood it as something that couldn't be fully controlled and overflowed.”
“Overflowed…?”
Lukas muttered and then asked.
“Is the Apocalypse sealed in a room one floor higher than the 77th?”
The Beginning Wizard gently burst into laughter.
It was as if he had heard an interpretation of an incident from a completely new perspective.
“What you encountered was not the Apocalypse, nor even a part of it.”
“What?”
“That was just a precursor, or the remnants left behind, and the impending disaster will be incomparable to the likes of a waterfall.”
“Then, the ‘Deepest Darkness' witnessed by the wizards of the Magic Tower is…”
“If we must say, that darkness could indeed be considered a small part of the Apocalypse.”
Lukas was at a loss for words.
It hadn't even started. Just a precursor?
…I knew the waterfall wasn't the Apocalypse.
It was merely the aftermath of something indescribable that existed above.
And the few drops of liquid that Lukas failed to block, split from the waterfall, were once again part of that aftermath.
But now The Beginning Wizard said.
The source of the waterfall above is not the Apocalypse.
…Lukas was.
Overwhelmed by just a part, of a part, of a part of the Apocalypse.
“The Magic Tower is a breakwater. I designed it myself to prevent the Apocalypse from expanding its territory. You probably noticed, but the system to cultivate wizards was established after that.”
“……”
“After stacking 77 worlds, I designed sturdy and unbreakable inner walls. The downside was that I focused too much on the inside, which made the exterior durability terribly weak. When you said you were going to destroy it, I was taken aback, you know?”
“…What are you trying to say?”
“I’m admitting I’m the Apocalypse. And you, you need to learn about this mask going forward.”
The Beginning Wizard muttered.
“It’s a ridiculous device, but the Apocalypse has an order, and it can be distinguished in this material world in the form of masks. You must have heard the baby's cry at the Spring of Wisdom? That was the First Apocalypse.”
Suddenly, behind The Beginning Wizard, the mask of a crying baby appeared. Following it, the smiling mask of a young man and the expressionless mask of a middle-aged man appeared.
They lined up on The Beginning Wizard’s left side.
The masks floating vaguely in the pitch-black darkness sent a clear chill through the air.
From birth, through life, to old age.
The life of someone, or everyone, was there.
“Four masks…”
Lukas noted the number of masks.
“Then, the remaining one is……”
Then, The Beginning Wizard's mask tilted slightly, as if cocking its head.
“Are you really asking because you don't know? Weren't you aware of all this when you came here?”
At that moment, Lukas looked down at his teacup, and for the first time, he could see his reflection in the tea.
───It was a gaunt skeleton.
A mask made so intricately that it could be mistaken as such was floating in the air, just like the Beginning Wizard's mask.
It was Lukas.
Kkirk, kuk──!
The noise in his head amplified tens of times. His head hurt. Is that really possible? Can it be?
Because, I don't have a body, do I?
Lukas faltered, feeling an unknown fear.
“The Fifth Apocalypse, Lukas Trowman.”
The Beginning Wizard said in a solemn voice.
“Let's talk about the old days.”
*****