A hundred…years? Yeon-woo’s eyes widened, wondering if he’d heard right. The Heavenly Demon grinned even more widely, as though he were enjoying this. “What, you think I’m joking?”
“If not?”
“Don’t get so scared, kiddo. Of course, I’m joking. How could a hundred years have passed by?”
Yeon-woo sighed in relief. He prided himself on his cold rationality in every situation, but somehow, the Heavenly Demon always made him feel uncertain of things.
“It’s been longer than that—to be exact, 193 years. Whew, your focus is amazing. I don’t even think I could do that, dang.”
Yeon-woo stiffened at the Heavenly Demon’s words. It had to be another joke.
“Why are you so surprised? Isn’t it obvious? You’ve been looking at the revelations for such a long time. Didn’t you think time would go by? You’re funny.”
Of course, Yeon-woo did feel that a lot of time had passed, but he never thought it would be something like that. Thoughts filled his head. Even though 200 years passed quickly for transcendents like the Heavenly Demon, it wasn’t the same for mortals. It was longer than an average human’s life, and it could determine the success or failure of a group. Only one name filled his head: Arthia.
What had happened to his comrades? Phante, Edora, Kahn, Doyle…they were strong, but they likely had waited for him to return, not knowing whether he was dead or alive. They probably had to handle many battles pressuring Arthia. White Dragon might have moved against them, the Devil Army might have reappeared, or the hidden Daud Brethren might have shown themselves. All of his plans had been foiled, and he felt sweat drip down his back.
“If we factor in the time you gained with your skill, it’s easily been over a thousand years.”
Yeon-woo pressed his lips together. The Heavenly Demon was most likely speaking about Time Difference. A thousand years. It was such a long time that he couldn’t imagine it. It was already hard to conceive of 200 years, but 1,000 was just incomprehensible.
However, as the Heavenly Demon said, it made sense that that much time had passed when he considered the growth he’d undergone. Although he’d stopped right before exuviating because of Allforone, he still managed to completely assimilate the power of the Throne of Death.
With his abilities now, he had nothing to be scared of, and he had grown even more confident after fighting Allforone and the Demonism. He even believed he could hold his ground against the Martial King, as well.
‘So this is why my connection with Shanon and Hanryeong grew weaker.’ His familiars lived in the same timeframe as he did. If they had waited for a thousand years, it was normal for them to fall into a deep sleep.
Thankfully, when he looked inside, he found them all hibernating after achieving a level that didn’t fall behind his. When he realized this, he felt at ease. At first, he had been at a loss about what to do after learning that a hundred years had passed, but after confirming that he and his familiars had all grown, he thought they’d be able to make a comeback.
He’d have to go find his comrades, apologize, and start from the beginning. However, he didn’t think it would take that long for him to come up with a new plan. ‘I’ll focus on dealing with the forces in the Tower and searching for the Crawling Chaos for now.’ Yeon-woo was sure that the Crawling Chaos was still hovering around the Tower trying to find a way in, and he planned on not only looking for him but also the rest of the otherworld gods.
After reading the beginning of the revelations, he had grown sure that the path to darkness was related to the otherworld gods. It seemed the End the Crawling Chaos had spoken of was related to the time his father opened his eyes, as well as the Black King’s darkness. Yeon-woo guessed that darkness was another term for the End.
Of course, contacting the otherworld gods immediately was like suicide, since he hadn’t achieved exuviation or transcended yet. He needed to avoid them for now. Fortunately, he had a shortcut in mind. ‘Valdebich. I need to find him.’ Valdebich was bound to know the great secret about the darkness and the otherworld gods. It couldn’t be a coincidence that the Crawling Chaos had sent Jeong-woo back to Earth.
‘And Boo also needs to find all his lost memories. His level needs to be restored.’ When all the puzzle pieces were put in order, Yeon-woo could finally complete his unit of elite soldiers. He’d find Boo’s memories of Faust, raise the Vampiric Lord, and convince the Summer Queen to hunt Allforone.
Only then could he finish the basic requirements—exuviation and transcendence—to reach darkness. After that, he’d be able to reach the top. He had a lot of things to do, but at least the Changgong Library had cleared up a lot of his questions and helped him organize his priorities. All he had to do was move forward. He could crush anything that got in his way.
The Heavenly Demon grinned as though he were reading Yeon-woo’s thoughts. “I thought you’d be flustered for a while, but you regained your cool pretty fast. Seems like you’ve awakened your Ataraxia. I thought you’d only grown stronger, but you’ve also grown mentally. Guess it was worth it to be nice to you.” The Heavenly Demon smirked, as though he decided it had been a wise choice to interfere with the system and allow Yeon-woo to stay longer inside the Changgong Library. “Good. I have another present for you. Gifts galore!”
Yeon-woo flinched, wondering what the Heavenly Demon was going to do this time. He felt paranoid each time the Heavenly Demon announced that he was going to do something.
The Heavenly Demon suddenly clapped his hands, and the Changgong Library began to shake as though cogs in a machine were turning. Urrrng. The Heavenly Demon grinned, as if telling Yeon-woo to watch and wait.
Yeon-woo felt as though his soul were suddenly being turned around, as though he’d been in a speeding car that suddenly crashed and was rolling on the ground. He could sense it because he had peeked at the truth of the universe through the revelations and was close to becoming a divine being.
Everything in the world was splitting apart: his soul, space and time, the laws of physics, and even the absolute truths of the beyond—Ideas. Then everything was reassembled and changed. The past, which even the progenitor gods, superior gods, and otherworld gods couldn’t affect, was being forced around. Yeon-woo could feel his entire soul shaking at the center of the change, and he never wanted to experience this pain again.
The Heavenly Demon grinned nonchalantly. Boom! Only after a while did the quakes stop.
“Haa…” Yeon-woo pitched over, panting. Sweat dripped down his forehead as chills ran down his spine. A sense of danger he hadn’t even felt during the battle with Allforone and the Demonism dominated his entire body. “What…?” Yeon-woo forced himself to ask once he’d calmed down.
The Heavenly Demon’s smile was still mischievous. “I turned back time.”
“Hm…?”
“Isn’t that better for you? Turning the wheel isn’t easy for me either.”
The wheel was the timeline or the worldline. The Heavenly Demon had rewound the axis of time. Yeon-woo was speechless. Controlling the flow of time was impossible, and even divine beings couldn’t escape time. As long as they lived, they could never transcend time. At most, slowing it down was the best they could do. Rewinding it was on another level.
Yeon-woo had the skill Precognition, but that was only a simulation of the future based on Dragon’s Knowledge and the different possibilities that could happen. It was far from an ability to interfere in the future.
Allforone was the one who was closest to interfering with time since one of his signature skills was Clairvoyance, but even that wasn’t perfect. If it were, he’d be all-knowing and omniscient, but he hadn’t been able to prevent Yeon-woo from exuviating in the Changgong Library.
However, even though he’d done the impossible, the Heavenly Demon spoke of it as though it meant nothing. “I’ve turned back time to around ten days after you entered this library, so you don’t have to worry about the Tower.”
Just how mighty was the Heavenly Demon? Yeon-woo thought he might be the only being who could transcend time and see the absolute truth. Another thought occurred to him. ‘If it’s possible to turn back time, just maybe…!’
“No.” But before Yeon-woo could say anything, the Heavenly Demon interrupted his thoughts with a grave face.
Yeon-woo felt a burst of anger. Just ten years. Why couldn’t he turn time back ten years, or even five, in addition to the two hundred years? “Why not?!”
“Because you’re an irregularity.”
“What…!”
“You became an irregularity as soon as you stepped inside the Tower. So, no.”
Yeon-woo was dumbfounded.
“And I’ve already done so much, so there’s no need for me to do any more, is there?”
Yeon-woo clenched his fists. Becoming an irregularity meant he could interfere in the history of the universe. Because of this, the Heavenly Demon probably couldn’t do any more. It was certain that he had already dealt with its cost. What was more, he was right. He had already been generous enough. He had no reason or responsibility to help Yeon-woo further.
‘Even so…if only he could turn back time a few more years… if only!’ Just as he was thinking that, a message popped up in his vision.
[Your viewing time has ended.]
“Peeking at the revelations of time and space should have been a great help, so good luck with what you plan on doing.”
Whoosh! A red portal opened below Yeon-woo’s feet. It meant it was time for him to leave the library. As he looked at it, he choked down the last of his lingering attachments. The Heavenly Demon was right. Just getting to this place had helped him immensely, and he needed to create the path for his future himself. The Heavenly Demon had shown him goodwill without any particular reason. It was the second time Yeon-woo had experienced this after Henova.
“Thank you for everything.” Yeon-woo bowed.
The Heavenly Demon’s face relaxed, and he grinned. “Nah. It was nice talking to a young one from home. If you have time, come visit again.” The Heavenly Demon waved his hand like the situation was too awkward. “Then goodbye.”
Light blinded Yeon-woo’s eyes, and he felt as though he were falling through a black hole.
“Oh, right. If you see my son again, tell him I’m sorry.” The Heavenly Demon’s voice faded away.
[Would you like to move to the 52nd floor?]