It was clear: this arrogant man had been testing me all along.
If I had died along the way, he wouldn’t have batted an eye.
‘Even if Pria had died, he wouldn’t have cared.’
Who knows? After witnessing this 17 times, I couldn’t even begin to guess what went through his mind.
“So.”
I broke the silence.
“What are the odds?”
“The odds?”
“The odds of defeating them if I stay here.”
“...”
“I don’t take bets I can’t win. Just because I have some so-called ‘golden bloodline’ doesn’t mean I can wipe out every fragment.”
“That’s true. Dimensional power isn’t invincible. As you’ve seen, it has its limits. That power... is nothing more than an incomplete, immature remnant of a higher dimension.”
Crossing my arms, I pondered.
If I truly held the blood of an emperor, awakened that power, and ascended to the seventh star to fight them...
‘Could I beat that bastard?’
No matter how I considered it, it seemed impossible.
It defied logic. Even after running countless simulations, no clear solution emerged.
At least, not yet.
“Israthio, the golden bloodline is just one small piece of your potential.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Do you know why the Seven-Star Project failed?”
“...”
“No hero, no matter how exceptional, could fully embody the existence of a Master. Not even the one known as the Conqueror. That master’s body was shattered crossing dimensions, forcing their essence to inhabit another hero’s body. But even that was imperfect, and as they reached the limits of the seventh star, they began to break down.”
The Conqueror.
He was talking about El Cid, ranked number one.
I recalled the contents of the Book of Reversal. When he was first summoned, El Cid had inhabited the body of a mere one-star hero.
‘I see.’
If lower-dimensional beings couldn’t ascend to higher dimensions, then the reverse was likely true.
Even if they crossed over, they couldn’t last long or fully wield their power—like the Sub-Master of the Union Council who had fought Niflheimr.
“Then how did Tel manage to create the game?”
“She’s merely manipulating a fragment of Earth clumsily. Even that is godlike in its ingenuity, but the density is fundamentally different from someone directly connected—like you.”
Phryos smiled, his expression tinged with a peculiar depth.
“Israthio, you are neither of Earth nor of Möbius.”
“Then what am I?”
“I know of one man who resembles you.”
“...”
“The Emperor.”
I scowled.
Of course, it always came back to that name.
“Long ago, the ancient beings who swore their pacts to the Emperor had another name for him.”
Phryos continued.
“The Vessel of Infinity.”
“...”
“The origin of the golden bloodline that Pria and I carry.”
“So, does that mean I get some ultimate ability out of it?”
“You can synthesize endlessly.”
I let out a short laugh.
For once, his explanation was clear.
‘Endless synthesis.’
I recalled the characteristics of the Seven-Stars.
They could surpass the hero level cap of 99, freely expand and restructure their skills and engravings, and even synthesize nearby heroes, NPCs, and monsters to gain interference power on the spot.
‘But even that had its limits.’
Level 999.
While it transcended a hero’s limits, it couldn’t break free of the system itself.
‘And as synthesis continues, the data becomes scrambled.’
Eventually, information from the original starts to fade.
That leads to collapse...
‘And the vessel shatters.’
Just as El Cid had deteriorated.
But if that penalty didn’t exist...
“This could... work.”
I muttered quietly.
“Do you really think so?”
“...”
“That’s merely one possibility. Do you think such power alone can overturn the fate of the universe?”
Phryos took a step closer.
His golden eyes gleamed with a chilling light.
“You saw it with your own eyes, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
Twice, in fact.
The first time, an endless sea of fragments.
The second, an overwhelming being beyond comprehension.
And those were merely glimpses—trivial in comparison to the whole.
The fragments wouldn’t stop until Möbius was destroyed.
‘Because that’s the way it’s meant to be.’
Everything dies when its time is up.
It’s an undeniable truth, a law of nature.
From insects and plants to humans, stars, suns, solar systems, and galaxies...
This principle governs the entire universe.
‘But...’
I’d already decided what to say to the one who made that rule.
‘Screw you.’
“So, the odds of winning are about one percent?”
“You’re overly optimistic.”
“Let’s round up and call it one percent, then. That’s enough. I’ll get out of here, keep synthesizing, and grow stronger.”
“And then?”
“I’ll kill them all.”
“The reapers, you mean? The countless fragments, numbering in the billions, trillions, even quadrillions? Do you plan to destroy them all? Don’t be ridiculous. Even if that were possible, what comes after...?”
“I’ll find the bastards who sent the fragments and crush them too.”
“...Heh.”
I turned my head away.
Phryos was clutching his face.
“You... you’re insane.”
“Think what [N O V E L I G H T] you want.”
“Heh... heheh...”
Phryos’s shoulders shook.
Before I could say another word, he suddenly burst into maniacal laughter, clutching his stomach as if he’d heard the funniest joke in the world.
“Hahaha! Ahahahaha! Ahahahahahaha!”
“...”
“A human—no, less than a speck in the vastness of the cosmos—dares to utter such arrogant words! Hahaha! Are you trying to kill me with laughter, Israthio?”
“I wasn’t joking.”
“Seriously... Oh, you’re serious.”
Phryos wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, then turned to gaze behind the cabin.
「You heard that, didn’t you?」
I narrowed my eyes.
From behind the house, four figures cloaked in tattered robes emerged.
Their faces were shrouded in shadow beneath their hoods, obscured from view.
「This fragile human declares he will defy the entire universe. In that case... what will you do? I, Phryos al Ragnar, invoke the pact of the golden bloodline and command you.」
「...」
「Fulfill the ancient covenant.」
Whoooom.
Golden energy surged from Phryos’s feet.
The light climbed his body, erasing his simple linen clothes and replacing them with an ornately decorated robe.
A magnificent cape unfurled behind him, and a crown adorned with gold rested upon his head.
「I said it before.」
Phryos extended his right hand.
The radiance emanating from him began to erase the wheat field.
「If this cannot end here, then it must begin here.」