If someone had told him this before, he would have laughed.
Yet the truth lay right before his eyes, cold, cruel, and utterly impossible, defying everything he had believed throughout his endless existence.
And it made no sense at all.
Ank was surprised.
He could not understand what he was seeing.
This book was one of the most terrifying artifacts in existence.
A primordial weapon capable of driving even gods into madness with a single page.
Countless beings had sought it and died for it.
This artifact alone possessed enough power to restore him to his former glory.
To return the First Waestor to the peak he once stood upon..
And that was precisely why the words before him made no sense.
He had already planned to use this artifact if anything went wrong with his plan.
He knew the chances of defeating his friends were almost nonexistent if they fought together.
But even then, with all the artifacts he possessed, he still had a chance.
He had also made a backup plan in case he failed.
Ank rapidly turned one page after another, desperately searching for a clue that could deny the truth before his eyes, convince him it was a mistake, or prove that this was nothing more than a cruel joke.
Even one hint was enough to bring hope into Ank’s eyes.
But all attempts had similar results.
At last, he reached the final page and still could not find anything.
Multiple emotions came to his mind.
Stress.
Anxiety.
Frustration.
Anger.
It was the first time for first Waestor of the Universe to feel so many emotions in such a short period of time.
Since he became Waestor , he had forgotten most emotions.
But now they were coming back.
Stress and anxiety could be seen in his eyes.
Frustration at how someone could do this to him.
In anger, he closed the book.
Not wanting to look at the book anymore.
He had had enough of this torment.
How had a universe destroying weapon been reduced to this?
Ank asked himself.
But suddenly, he saw something on the back cover of the book.
Anger rose in his head.
But he somehow controlled it.
He read it once again, thinking he had made a mistake while reading.
But the truth did not change.
He threw the book in anger.
The book hit the wall, making a loud sound.
And it also created a hole in the wall.
Ank did not care about the wall or even the book.
But something else had now caught his attention.
Only then did Ank begin to observe his surroundings more carefully.
His gaze slowly swept across the room, taking in the wooden walls, the simple ceiling, and the bed beneath him.
It was clearly a house, yet it was one he had never seen before.
“Where am I…?” He frowned slightly as fragments of memory surfaced in his mind.
An old man taking care of him.
An old man who had taken him away from the meteor.
Ank suddenly raised his hand.
Instinctively, he tried to summon his armor.
He wanted to leave this place.
But nothing happened.
He waited for two minutes.
Nothing happened.
He tried again and again, but nothing happened.
Ank looked in the direction where he had thrown the book, hoping the book was wrong.
But…
Ank’s worry became true.
Suddenly, the book started glowing.
Confirming that what he had read in the book was true.
Ank’s frustration deepened as he attempted to summon the weapons he rarely relied upon, from swords and bows to spears, axes, and even chains.
And every weapon he had gathered throughout his entire existence.
But still…
Nothing happened.
Each weapon was enough to make any mortal equal to a god.
Even gods were greedy for these weapons.
They had once destroyed an entire galaxy to obtain one of them.
But for Ank, these weapons were useless.
He collected these weapons for display.
And to provoke the gods by showing them that they were no more equal to him than ants.
Because for Ank, his fists were enough to solve all of his problems.
But now he needed these weapons if what he had read in the book was correct.
He was doomed.
But still nothing happened.
Even the weakest weapon he tried to summon did not appear.
He even tried to summon a normal iron sword.
But nothing appeared.
Once, a single thought from him could shake entire universes.
Now, he could not even summon a simple iron sword.
“What?” Ank shouted.
“At least give me something.” He tried to summon other powerful artifacts that he had collected.
Nothing appeared again.
Only the book’s glow increased.
In anger, he kicked the bed.
But this action made Ank curse his past self for making a decision like this.
Pain spread through his leg.
“What?” He now believed that the book was right.
And the future waiting for him was darker than death itself.
For the first time in his entire existence, Ank experienced an emotion he had never allowed himself to feel.
It was helplessness.
He had conquered countless universes.
Yet at this moment, he could not even control his own fate.
In the end, the greatest enemy he had ever faced was not his friends.
It was the consequence of his own decisions.
Every loss, every wound, and every piece of suffering had begun with a single choice he had made himself.
He now understood the true cost of his greed.
And the price was far greater than he had imagined.
Now this was a past that he could not change.
So he sat on the bed.
Thinking about how to solve this issue.
While Ank was thinking about this… Far away from Duskwild, somewhere in the universe, A figure stood alone in the endless darkness.
No stars shone around him.
No light reached him.
Only darkness.
Then…
A laugh echoed through the void.
“Hahahaha…” The figure watched Ank from an unimaginable distance.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“Ank…” His voice carried amusement.
“You have only seen the beginning.” He stop after saying.
As if he were remembering something.
Or waiting for something.
“The countdown has already started.” His smile widened.
“When it reaches its end…” He paused.
“No.” “That would ruin the surprise.” The darkness around him began to move.
“No one will be able to save you.” “Not this time.” His eyes seemed to look beyond Ank.
Toward someone else.
Someone far away.
“Still…” “I am surprised.” “So much time has passed.” “And yet she has done nothing.” First time, confusion appeared in his voice.
Then he laughed again.
A cold and cruel laugh.
“Seeing you like this…” “I wonder how she will react .” The darkness began to consume his body.
Slowly piece by piece.
Until only his smile remained.
“How interesting.” And then even that vanished.
As though he had never existed at all.