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“I was so glad to see the Sea God.”

In this desolate world, almost like a desert where few familiar faces remain, even if this guy is a villain, how can I not feel happy to see a familiar face?

But despite my excitement, the Sea God looked utterly furious, mouth wide open.

‘What the…’

Boom!

In the next moment, a massive beam of light shot out from the Sea God’s mouth, drying up not only the island I stood on but also the nearby sea, revealing the ocean floor. I dodged it lightly, yet it was undeniably powerful.

I had seen this before, but as a mortal, the power was nearly impossible to contend with, and I was left speechless inside.

‘Isn’t this power just like the one in my world? The people in this world have no way to fight back against the Sea God…’

It seemed highly likely that the Sea God’s strength remained as I remembered. Just thinking of this made me chuckle, but taking advantage of the moment after dodging the attack, I decided to cast the Trimurti spell.

‘If I use the Hidden Weapon or the Soul of the Evil God, physically killing him is easy. But right now, I have something to ask this guy… Shall I bind him first?’

I wondered if it was possible to create shackles to seal my opponent using Trimurti.

While pondering this, I thought of a combination suitable for creating the shackles and lined it up.

The Wheel King’s [Death], Vishnu’s [Maintenance], and the power manipulating [Small Cycle]!

As soon as I finished arranging it, I murmured a quiet incantation.

“Shackles of Death, bind the Sea God through time and space!”

Cling!

With a sound as if glass was vibrating, translucent shackles appeared suddenly on the Sea God’s limbs. As he suddenly got bound, he flailed his limbs violently, causing huge waves to crash across the vast sea.

[Graaaaaah!]

Crash!

But the Sea God’s struggle didn’t last long. The more he flailed, the tighter the shackles seemed to grip him, just like imprisoning a sinner, further restraining his movements. Watching this, I couldn’t help but smile.

‘I just thought of this on a whim, but it’s actually working well.’

The shackles I created were infused with the divine energies of the Wheel King and Vishnu! By manipulating [Small Cycle], I took charge of time and space and gave the task of firmly fixing it down to Vishnu’s [Maintenance]. And every time the Sea God tried to break the shackles, the divine power of the Wheel King’s [Death] would sap his strength—resulting in the perfect shackles that drained him further.

I couldn’t help but marvel at the Trimurti’s ingenuity, how such spur-of-the-moment combinations would always show their worth.

‘Brahma really taught me some incredible techniques…’

When the Sea God began to realize that further resistance was futile, his movements started to slow.

He glared at me with his brilliant gaze from the massive face looming above the clouds.

[Who are you… a renowned deity?…]

“……”

[You attacked knowing I guard the Gate of Le Rue and serve the Great Being… ?]

“Hmm, as expected, he doesn’t recognize me.”

I felt a twinge of disappointment that the Sea God didn’t recognize me at all. Of course, this world isn’t my original world, and this is not even my body. So it’s only natural he wouldn’t recognize me, but somehow, it felt a bit disheartening.

‘After all we’ve been through, you don’t know me? That’s just…’

In that instant—

Grrrrooooor!

A sudden mysterious wave rippled above our heads as letters appeared above mine and the Sea God’s heads.

“…? What’s this?”

In a twist of fate, both the Sea God and I seemed taken aback by the unexpected occurrence.

When I looked above, I found the name [Baek Woong] hovering there. Meanwhile, the Sea God had a bizarre, incoherent string of characters floating above its head, but somehow, I could understand that gibberish and even knew how to read it.

After a moment, the Sea God seemed to realize something and spoke.

[The Law of Cause and Effect of the Duel…! I know nothing about this!]

“……?! What?!”

[Are you the one named Baek Woong?]

What the?! Could this be… the Cause and Effect of the duel that the Sea God once challenged me to in my 29th life transferring over?!

I was astonished by the unexpected turn of events.

With a rapid swish, the gigantic Sea God, unexpectedly, launched a remarkably swift attack that seemed impossible for that massive frame. The speed was such that if any mortal were hit by this attack, they would undoubtedly perish immediately. However, I didn’t even need to dodge; the sudden attack abruptly froze mid-air.

[Grrr… Ugh…]

Clearly, the Sea God had struck while I was unaware, but it seemed my shackles were controlling him much more effectively than I’d anticipated. As he flailed against his restraints once again, there was still no sign of breaking free. Realizing I had him firmly in check, I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“I can’t say for sure, but if this is a duel, I’ve already won, haven’t I?”

[… I cannot accept that…!]

“Think hard about it.”

Swoosh!

I concentrated some divine energy into my eyebrows, transforming my will into physical force, then forcefully shoved his arm down. At this point, as long as I could use my divine power, the Sea God’s flimsy physical edge was negligible. I gently lowered the Sea God’s arm and fixed him with a cold stare as I continued.

“I gave you a pretty generous version of the shackles, you know. It could end nicely, but remember, I don’t particularly dislike using violence.”

[……]

The Sea God fell silent, as if calculating something deep within. Then he spoke.

[What is it that you desire?]

Perhaps because he seemed so menacing yet cunning, he might have sensed my desire for conversation and was trying to adapt to the situation. I smiled slyly.

“If you’re guarding Le Rue, does that mean its owner, the vile god, also sleeps in this world? Until the day the stars’ movements revert?”

[… If the entity you refer to as the vile god is indeed the owner of Le Rue… then yes…]

“Hmm…”

Another thought materialized in my mind on how to unearth this truth.

‘I’ll just ask the vile god.’

Because even in this unknown world, it was quite likely the vile god had retained the legacy of memories and knowledge.

From what I’d experienced during the Takrok Era, that held true.

…

But for some reason, I felt a significant reluctance about that idea. An ominous intuition persistently warned me. Only valid while I remained me—the choice I absolutely should not make in this situation.

‘Ah, why does it feel like… if I do, it’d be worse than just dying…’

I hadn’t had particularly favorable outcomes from recklessly approaching the vile god. When I encountered him during the Takrok Era, I had nearly been killed, and while attacking Le Rue, my companions were wiped out in an instant, leading to the world’s collapse.

There was no guarantee an even worse scenario wouldn’t arise.

In the end, I resolved to postpone asking the vile god and spoke instead.

“Now, how much time is left until Le Rue ascends to the [End]? Give it to me in human-time standards.”

[… About forty years.]

“Hmm!”

Just forty years until the End? Is it that imminent?

For regular humans, forty years might seem long, but based on what I’d felt throughout my previous lives, forty years was practically nothing. Although I had virtually received five hundred years of time, it was still grossly insufficient for preparing against the End.

Realizing the situation was tougher than I’d thought, I said,

“Alright, then do you know who I am?”

[The one called Master by humans… the king of insignificant beings, right…?]

“Do you know my real name?”

[… It says Baek Woong…]

“No, that’s not it…”

I was baffled. It seemed the Sea God could only comprehend the surface-level identity of this body, but not the true name. I smacked my lips, thinking it over before saying.

“Fine. Then let’s form a contract where you yield to me and become my subordinate.”

[What…! Do you think I’d agree to that crap?!]

I glared at the protesting Sea God coldly.

“You must know what the Law of Cause and Effect of the Duel entails.”

“In a duel, the victor can demand anything from the defeated, correct? Instead of postponing the results of this duel, let’s just sign a light contract of servitude.”

[……!]

“Or I could keep fighting you. I don’t have any good feelings about you, so I won’t make it easy on you. Now, three… two… one…”

As I slowly counted down, the Sea God hurriedly interjected.

[Aah… I see! I will accept that subordinate contract! Just promise to postpone the results of this duel until the end of your life!]

“Alright. Then, it is agreed that you will be summoned whenever I desire and must obey my orders unconditionally.”

[Agh… understood.]

Through gritted teeth, the Sea God agreed, and shortly after, a peculiar magical seal emerged above our foreheads indicating that the magical contract had been formed. As long as this seal existed, the Sea God could never refuse my commands.

Oh!

‘Nice one.’

While it would have been easier to just defeat the Sea God and claim victory in the duel, going through this tedious process was worthwhile—because defeating him in a duel carried the benefit of gaining everything.

This trait would undoubtedly prove much more useful in my genuine next life.

‘In this life, I’ll get the Sea God’s subservience… and next, I’ll be sure to properly use him.’

There’s no way I could let this slide!

I had a sinister smile on my face as I chuckled and then asked the Sea God.

“By the way, do you happen to know how I can contact a prophet or a Great Race? If you do, I hope you’ll avoid any hasty summons for the time being.”

[Wait… the Great Race… hold on a moment.]

Gloop!

The Sea God appeared to swim back into the depths of the ocean in a hurry. After some time, he resurfaced, holding a huge grimoire above his vast arm.

[In the past… I formed a non-aggression pact with them… The details of that contract are in this grimoire!]

“…And? Just the non-aggression pact alone isn’t enough to summon them.”

[If I break that contract, won’t they react… ?]

[…….]

However, there’s a high possibility they won’t…

I didn’t really trust the Sea God, but it was worth a shot, given that I had nothing to lose at this point. I nodded.

“Go ahead.”

[I hereby break the non-aggression pact!]

The Sea God exclaimed the divine words. Yet, nothing happened. After waiting for a long while, no sign of the prophet’s race appeared.

“……”

I had suspected as much.

No matter how weak the Sea God was compared to the [Old Ruler], he was still a deity. The prophetic race wouldn’t casually appear and confront him either. Sure, they weren’t nice, and they’d likely harbor grudges against him, but they wouldn’t engage in direct confrontation.

[Hmm… No more options left!]

“I figured as much, you rascal!”

I rolled my eyes and turned away sharply.

“I might consider coming back if this doesn’t work out!”

Wham!

Leaving the stunned Sea God behind, I immediately teleported back to the Round Table, the main base of the Zodiac members. I surveyed the gathered Zodiac members as I thought.

‘Is there no method apart from searching some more? No… let’s find a few more clues!’

If I didn’t have any clues from my original world, my only option left would be to extract more information from the Zodiac members that originally existed in this world!

I thought so and then asked them,

“Have I really never revealed my true name to any of you guys?”

The greatest alchemist, Kaliostro, awkwardly replied,

“Even if you say that… Well, honestly, you haven’t spoken much to us directly today. In the world’s terms, you were the very embodiment of a mysterious figure.”

“Hmm… A mysterious figure.”

Given the abilities held by the owner of this body, I suppose they regarded the Zodiac members as mere baggage. Against lower-tier demon beasts, they might contribute, but against anything related to demon kings, they were practically insignificant. Thus, they never intended to share their secrets.

‘But even if they’re seen as baggage, merely sitting at the upper table still involves sharing connections. They shouldn’t have no clues to offer…’

Just then, as I was mulling that over, I noticed something strange while looking around at the Zodiac members.

‘…Huh? Wait a minute?’

It suddenly dawned on me.

“Hey! Where did Berus go?”

He was the strongest being with the power of the Jesuit Order and among the Zodiac members—capable of even reverting the [Small Cycle]. The Three Sovereigns wouldn’t look down on him either.

Merlin appeared puzzled.

“Berus? Who’s that?”

“No… That guy among you who was the strongest! I thought the Zodiac were supposed to be weak, but who’s occupying Berus’s position now…?”

As I was baffled, I turned to a new face among the Zodiac members and stated,

“Ro… Roland?”

Roland confidently nodded.

“That’s right, I’m Roland!”

“……”

Now I understood the reason for the discomfort I felt earlier. Both Berus, the strongest of the Jesuit Order, and Roland, the most powerful knight of the West, were familiar faces. Roland had taken Berus’s place, a face I already knew, so it hadn’t struck me as odd at first. I couldn’t believe how ridiculous the scenario was.

‘If Roland has taken Berus’s place in the Zodiac… Does it mean Berus doesn’t exist in this world? Could it really be that Berus cannot exist if he’s not in a universe with the Three Sovereigns and the Celestial Realm?’

There was something ominous about this situation, but it seemed he had his own secrets.

However, I felt that his connection might lie elsewhere rather than with the Three Sovereigns and the Celestial Realm, and soon realized what that was.

‘…The Guardian of the Western Regions! Could it be that guy granted power directly to Berus?’

For reasons unknown, the Guardian hadn’t appeared in this world. Thus, Berus would not exist either.

With this theory forming in my head, I suddenly grasped what the actual problem was.

‘The deities and beings of great power are strangely quiet even with the [Revelation] right around the corner…? And they haven’t meddled throughout history since the ancient times, just like the world I lived in? Could there be a reason for that?’

…If there is a compelling reason,……

I dwelled on this thought and eventually said,

“I need to contact Kalbiog, the leader of the Galactic Tribe Alliance. Please connect me.”

I felt that I had gathered all the information I could glean on Earth.

So now, I had to rely on the aliens for help!

“Understood.”

Merlin shortly used magic to connect the call to Kalbiog. Just as I had seen earlier, a figure appeared on the screen—the leader of the Galactic Tribe Alliance, Kalbiog.

Kalbiog laughed heartily.

[Hahaha… What a quick return call! Are you hoping for support in planetary migration? If you pay a price, the Galactic Tribe Alliance can lend you a migration fleet anytime, Master.]

I ignored Kalbiog’s words and immediately asked,

“Kalbiog. Why are all the gods and aliens barely appearing on Earth when the [Revelation] is right around the corner?”

Even after taking down that [Old Ruler] in China earlier, I knew that if the revelation were imminent, there’s no way only that puny guy would show up. In my previous life, the Three Sovereigns had come in droves, as did the Memphis and ancient gods. Hearing my question, Kalbiog seemed puzzled.

[Huh? You’re asking that?]

“Just answer me!”

What followed from Kalbiog shocked me beyond belief.

[[Revelation] and [End] are separate matters. The [Revelation] concluded a long time ago, and what remains is only the end of the universe. Of course, we’ve found a way to delay the end by a substantial margin as we planned last time, so we decided to hold a ceremony to postpone it for a thousand years!]

“……!”

[You are not having a change of heart, are you? You were the one who proposed the plan to delay the end for a thousand years, and it can’t be changed now!]

Seeing Kalbiog worry, I was utterly dumbfounded.

‘The revelation and the end are separate? And the owner of this body devised a plan to delay the end?!’

What on earth is going on?

Weren’t the end and the revelation supposed to be a package deal?

One thing was for sure.

‘Since there’s no [Revelation] left, and only the [End] remains, there’s no reason for gods and aliens to show up on Earth! Unless the King of the Great Omniscient Deity personally descends, there’s no reason for them to flock to this little planet!’

In that sense, things might actually be better than how they were in my world?

While the [Old Ruler] would appear due to the impending end, powerful beings deliberately targeting the revelation wouldn’t swarm in!

Carefully, I addressed Kalbiog.

“Just to confirm, what was our plan to delay the end?”

[It was to offer sacrifices to the owners of the Twelve Zodiac signs. The material used was the power that you’d draw from your own strength at the moment the [End] begins, replacing it as a sacrifice. This way the End could be delayed while keeping Le Rue at bay as well!]

“……!”

[Honestly… why do you keep testing me? If you don’t share your actual purpose soon, I’m a busy body, and I’ll hang up!]

Kalbiog had a disgruntled expression. It made sense, as it was somewhat irritating to him that I kept repeating to confirm something as if I’d lost my memory. Realizing this, I quickly clarified.

“Apologies. The reason I’m confirming all these details is to ensure you’re prepared before I negotiate with the Great Race of the Prophets.”

[…?!]

Kalbiog gasped in surprise.

[W-why suddenly approach the vile god’s race? No way would you require their assistance for the plan to delay the end!]

Thanks for jumping to conclusions for me!

I concocted a rough story in my head and boldly responded,

“Exactly! My powers alone might not cut it, but if I want perfection, I absolutely need the help of the Great Race of the Prophets.”

[……]

“But that race doesn’t exist on our planet, so I have no choice but to ask you, the leader of the Galactic Tribe Alliance, to arrange contact with them.”

Kalbiog responded with a hesitant voice.

[I-I can’t do that.]

“Are you afraid of the Prophets?”

[Which being in the universe isn’t afraid of that race? They are one of the most powerful higher races in the universe! If I hastily make contact, the entire alliance could collapse!]

I sensed from Kalbiog’s reaction that he likely knew a way to connect with the Prophets. His reluctance to say ‘I don’t know’ and only expressing fear indicated this. I pushed him harder.

“Isn’t it going to be the end if it keeps going like this? I’ll take full responsibility, so just trust me and reach out!”

[Ugh… If it’s someone like you, you might indeed be able to negotiate with them…]

Kalbiog grumbled before reluctantly nodding in resignation.

[Very well. If things go awry during the negotiations, you must take full responsibility for that as well.]

“Whew, how ungrateful…”

[If you can’t promise that, I can’t connect you.]

“Fine! I promise.”

Since this isn’t even my world, I have no qualms about making promises!

After I made the promise, Kalbiog hastily said,

[I’ve obtained the coordinates for the magic circle to connect with that being. I will send the specifics, and from there, you will handle it yourself.]

Wooosh!

Moments later, an ominous magic circle began to form in the center of the Round Table, slowly summoning something. There was an immense presence combined with a crimson magical aura emanating from the magic circle, causing panic among the Zodiac members as they cried out.

“Ugh!”

“Is an [Old Ruler]-level being being summoned?! “

“W-we’re in danger…!”

More than half were already trembling from fear as they were overwhelmed by the cosmic energy seeping from the magic circle.

In contrast, I could only respond with indifference.

“Sigh.”

…It was powerful, but it didn’t seem like it held any intentions of threatening me, merely a flow of magical energy, and I thought it was rather amusing how they panicked.

Or could it be that I’ve grown too strong compared to humans?

I realized that the Zodiac members offered no help in this scenario and clicked my tongue.

“I will handle this, so you all should leave and take shelter outside.”

“Wishing you good fortune!”

As the Zodiac members evacuated, I sat alone at the Round Table and faced the magic circle.

Moments later, something gradually emerged from the magic circle, and that being spoke in a voice full of authority.

[Are you the audacious master of that insignificant Earth called by the leader?]

“……”

[Your reason for summoning the Tao King must be well justified…!]

A surge of powerful divine energy erupted alongside the hints of anger.

I recognized that energy was definitely on par with any typical [Old Ruler]. I jumped slightly, muttering.

“As expected of a Prophet. I wonder why someone with that kind of power just sits around thinking all the time.”

[… Do you happen to know me?]

“Of course I do. Don’t you know me?”

[… Wait a minute… wait a moment… ?]

In an instant, the Prophet summoned something that looked like a book and eagerly started reading it. Moments later, he appeared to have realized something, his eyes went wide, and he looked shocked.

[No way! Were you in a cycle of rebirth?!]

I could hardly believe what I was hearing.

“What? Do you mean looking at that book gives you knowledge from other cycles?”

[……]

“Regardless, it’s fine. I think you already know who I am, so let’s just ask one question. What’s the true name of the body I’m currently possessing?”

As a Prophet, it should be something he definitely knows.

I had a quiet smile, expecting that ending my cycle of rebirth would be incredibly easy.

However, the Prophet insisted firmly.

[I can’t say!]

“What? You should know because you can look at the Akashic records!”

[I said, I CAN’T!]

The Prophet responded with a forbidding expression.

[You can’t just recklessly interfere with a trial being conducted directly by our god and expect to find the answers!]

“…?! “

[And now… Al Karda has granted me permission to escape this cycle!]

What?!

[Don’t be a nuisance, you!]

The Prophet’s shrill voice resonated.

Boom!

At that moment, the Prophet’s body exploded.

He was dead.

“……”

What the hell!?

 

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