Clark clenched his teeth, and before he could even think to move, a sword shot out of nowhere toward him at tremendous speed.
He had no time to retreat, not even a single moment to think.
He squeezed his eyes shut and instinctively raised his arm in front of his face.
And in a fraction of a second…
Part of his arm changed.
His hand transformed into a transparent blue substance resembling water, threaded with fine white lines that moved beneath its surface like currents of light.
Then the sword veered.
It did not touch him.
Its trajectory suddenly shifted, as though an invisible force had pushed it aside, before it slammed violently into the ground.
Clark slowly opened his eyes.
His gaze moved between the sword embedded in the ground and his hand, which was gradually returning to normal.
He remained silent for several seconds.
Then his voice came out in a whisper, colored by astonishment:
“What did I just do?”
A calm smile appeared on the woman’s face, and then the sword vanished beside Clark as though it had never existed.
She said:
“Don’t worry.
It was just a quick test.”
She fixed her eyes on him with interest, then continued:
“I perform this test on every Chosen One who arrives here.
But it seems you’re the first one to actually stop the sword.”
Clark stared at her in bewilderment, and she said:
“The sword was never going to kill you in the first place.
It was only meant to approach you, forcing you to unleash your potential instinctively.”
She paused for a moment, then glanced at his hand, which had returned to normal.
“But what you did…
is interesting.”
Her smile widened slightly.
“You’re still in the Awakening Stage, the lowest stage of the souls…
and yet you managed to stop it on your own.”
She continued staring at Clark for several seconds, as though her gaze were trying to pass beyond his body and reach something deeper.
Then she said:
“The soul you carry…
is strange.”
She paused again.
“And completely unknown to me.”
Clark remained silent, staring at his hand as though waiting for it to explain what had happened moments ago, but he found nothing.
Then he whispered:
“Was that…
spatial manipulation?”
He looked back at his hand, then continued:
“It felt like a surface that was unbelievably smooth and soft…
and there were strange blue and white things moving inside it.”
He raised his eyes toward the woman.
“Who are you?”
A small smile appeared on her face.
“I’m merely a resident of this universe…
and I know everything about it.”
Clark frowned.
“Can you show me the way out of here?”
The woman smiled.
“And what will I get in return?”
Clark sighed.
“Fine…
what do you want?”
She answered calmly:
“Kill the Winged Horse of Chaos and bring me its horns.”
Clark fell silent for a few moments.
“And in return?”
“I’ll show you the way to the exit.”
He studied her for a moment, then asked:
“And where is that creature?
What does it look like?”
The woman shook her head.
“It doesn’t matter.
It’s the only monster in this world.”
Then she added:
“Find it, kill it, and bring me its horns.
After that, I’ll tell you where the exit is.”
Clark thought for a moment, then glanced at his torn clothes.
“All right…
but my clothes are in terrible shape.
Do you have anything that would suit someone like me?”
A sly smile appeared on the woman’s face.
“Of course.
Don’t worry.”
She gestured toward the inside of the house.
“Come.”
Clark entered with her, and she brought him a white shirt, a classic necktie, and suspenders.
The woman remained seated, watching him as Clark took the clothes and stared at them in confusion.
“All right…
you, lady whose name I don’t even know, would you mind if I changed my clothes?”
She smiled.
“Of course.
No problem.”
She rose and headed toward the door, then added in a mocking tone:
“I wouldn’t stare at a mortal, after all.”
She stepped outside and closed the door behind her.
Clark stared at the door for a few moments, then muttered:
“The first person I meet in this strange world is an entity acting like she’s greater than me…
and calling me a mortal.”
He picked up the tie and examined it with confusion.
“Cartoons…”
Suddenly, a voice came from behind him.
He turned slowly and saw a deer head mounted on the wall.
Its mouth moved, and it said calmly:
“It is a little strange, admittedly…
but it’s for your own benefit.”
Clark stared at it for a few moments, then it continued:
“You weren’t the first to face the Winged Horse of Chaos.
It is a trial that all Transcenders must undergo.”
Clark sighed, then muttered:
“Nothing is normal in this world…
that fact alone prevents me from being impressed.”
Then he raised his voice and looked at the deer head:
“I know Chaos isn’t exactly a beautiful place, and that it lies within the darkness…
but since it’s stronger than me, why doesn’t it just go and take the creature’s horns itself?”
Silence fell for a moment.
Then the deer answered:
“Because it cannot stray too far.”
Clark furrowed his brows.
“Why?”
It said:
“There is a curse placed upon it by one of the entities.”
Clark’s eyes widened slightly.
“So that’s why…”
He fell silent for a moment, then a faint smile appeared on his lips.
“All right, no problem.
I’ll help her.”
Clark finished getting dressed, then stood before the mirror.
He stared at his reflection for a long while.
His body had indeed changed, but he did not feel that the change had touched anything within him.
He raised his hand before his face, then whispered:
“Essence was never taken from the outward form…
the form changes, but I do not.”
He continued staring at his reflection for a few moments, then reached out and took the book of ancient history.
He turned, walked toward the door, and left the house.
Clark found the woman standing before him, holding a long sword, while her expression remained strangely calm.
He looked at her for a few moments, then said:
“All right…
so you can’t go very far, can you?”
The woman answered without hesitation:
“That’s what the head told you, isn’t it?”
Clark nodded in confirmation.
“Yes.”
She smiled faintly.
“That is indeed true…
but it wasn’t always like this.”
She fell silent for a moment, then added:
“It’s the result of a curse.”
Suddenly…
Clark clutched his head with both hands.
His body bent forward, then he collapsed to his knees as a sharp pain tore through his mind, nearly shredding his consciousness.
“Ah…!”
His vision blurred, and strange images began flooding before his eyes without any connection between them.
The woman slowly approached him, then leaned down slightly and said:
“You seem incredibly weak compared to what you carry inside you.”
Clark raised his head with difficulty, while she continued:
“You must adapt first.”
She looked at him calmly.
“You’re still in the Awakening Stage, yet you carry a soul whose nature I cannot understand.”
She fell silent for a few moments, then said:
“And worse than that, you don’t even know what abilities you possess.”
Clark trembled slightly.
“That alone is enough to put you in danger.”
Then she moved closer and lowered her voice:
“There is a void in your consciousness…
and as long as you don’t know what you carry within you, your soul will continue to suffer this disturbance on its own.”
Clark remained silent, trying to comprehend her words despite the pain still raging through his head.
The woman closed her eyes for a moment, then used Soul Sight.
Clark’s aura appeared clearly before her, flowing around his body in a remarkably stable state that did not correspond with what she had witnessed moments earlier.
Her eyes widened in surprise.
“How strange…”
She stared at his aura for several more seconds, then said:
“Your aura is already stable.
That means you should have passed beyond the stage of instability.”
She fell silent for a while, as though searching for an explanation.
“It seems there is something else…
that hasn’t activated yet.”
Clark did not answer her.
He slowly stood, then wiped the traces of pain from his face before asking:
“Which direction do I go to find the Horse of Chaos?”
She pointed in that direction.
“That way.”
Clark nodded, then began moving in that direction without saying a word.
Before he could get very far, the woman called out to him:
“Clark.”
He stopped for a moment without turning around.
She said seriously:
“Be careful.
The Horse of Chaos is equal in power to an entity in the Upper Awakening Stage.”
Clark did not answer.
He simply continued walking in silence, gradually disappearing among the fields.
Meanwhile, on the other side, in the giant tree house, everyone had fallen asleep.
Except the Lost One.
He sat outside the house in silence, facing a massive wall covered in countless lines, some of them nearby, while others stretched into the distance until they disappeared beyond the horizon.
The Lost One held a small tool, then drew a new line across the wall.
At that moment, Nerv emerged from the house.
She had been unable to sleep, and stopped when she saw him sitting there.
The Lost One raised his head toward her and said:
“You haven’t been able to sleep for a while, have you?
Do you want me to help you?”
Nerv was startled and asked:
“How?
What do you mean?”
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“With my magic, I can make you feel sleepy, if you want.”
Nerv did not answer him.
Instead, her gaze shifted toward the wall.
There were more lines than her eyes could possibly comprehend, stretching in every direction as though they had no end.
She asked curiously:
“What are you doing?”
The Lost One stopped drawing.
His green eyes glowed softly, strange symbols moving within them that Nerv could not understand.
“This?”
Then he looked at the wall.
“It’s my prison.”
Nerv frowned.
“Your prison?”
The Lost One nodded.
“When a cycle ends and a universe disappears into the darkness and disintegrates, then another universe emerges beyond it…”
He raised his hand and drew another line.
“I place one line.”
Nerv stared at the wall, and her eyes gradually widened.
“Are all these lines…”
She could not finish the question.
The Lost One smiled sadly.
“Yes.”
Nerv hesitated for a moment before asking:
“Are you…
really that old?”
The Lost One remained silent for a few moments.
Then he said:
“Am I immortal?”
He paused for a moment, then continued:
“I wish I could die.”
Nerv looked at him in silence.
The Lost One continued:
“I’m a little different.
And I’m not immortal in the way you’re trying to understand…
it’s more complicated than that.”
He ran his hand over one of the old lines.
“Every line here represents the lifespan of a universe.”
Then he looked at Nerv and said:
“A universe disappears into the darkness and disintegrates…
then another universe is born beyond the darkness.”
Nerv continued staring at the wall, unable to comprehend the sheer number of lines stretching before her.
As for the Lost One, he returned to drawing another line.
The Lost One sighed, then looked at the line he had just drawn and said:
“And once again, tens of billions of years have passed…”
He fell silent for a moment, then added:
“Without any new result, except for power increasing without limit.”
Nerv sat beside him on one of the branches of the tree the Lost One had carved with his own hands, remaining silent for a few moments as she gazed at the lines stretching across the wall.
Then she turned to him and said quietly:
“You seem sad.”
The Lost One looked at her without answering.
She continued:
“You may think I’m just a weak human compared to you…
but I have consciousness, and I can hear you perfectly.”
The Lost One raised his gaze toward the sky.
Calmly, all of his tendrils disappeared from around his body, as though he no longer needed them.
He said:
“I was alone.”
He fell silent for a moment.
“No one with me…
no soul…
nothing.”
His voice grew even quieter.
“Countless years.”
He looked at the lines stretching before him.
“Endless cycles of creating and destroying universes…
I watch them all, and then another cycle begins.”
He smiled, but there was no joy in it.
“In silence…
sitting alone, watching the chaos.”
He remained silent for a few moments.
“That is the meaninglessness of this absurd existence.”
Nerv’s eyes widened slightly.
Then she said:
“Absurd?”
She looked at him in confusion.
“Don’t you believe that everything has a purpose?
That God is the one who ordained everything that happens?”
The Lost One let out a short laugh.
“God?…”
The instant he spoke the word, the world around Nerv began to change.
There was no explosion, nor any sound.
Things around her simply began to lose their shape, little by little.
The branches, the sky, the wall, even space itself…
as though reality were nothing more than an idea that could be rewritten.
Nerv raised her eyes toward him, unable to speak.
As for the Lost One, he remained seated calmly.
Then he turned toward her.
And said:
“I am a god indeed.”