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“Why did the title of the Grimoire Dead Sea Scrolls change to Heavenly Secret?”

Feeling perplexed, I turned to Solomon.

“Can you see it too? The Dead Sea Scrolls have turned into the Heavenly Secret…”

[…! What?!]

From Solomon’s flustered voice, I realized one thing.

“Looks like you can’t.”

[I’m not sharing your vision and senses right now. I’m just listening to your words and will from this dark room.]

“What? Aida and Cheon Woo-jin immediately knew what I was seeing and hearing as soon as they became terminals…”

[They became terminals by inheritance, not by agreement with you. However, you and I are the first case of becoming terminals through a posteriori contractual relationship. That’s probably the difference. Basically, if you don’t approve, I’m restricted in the information I can access.]

“Hmm…”

For some reason, compared to the last two terminals, Solomon felt more like a subordinate who definitely obeyed my orders. Perhaps I would have to approve various permissions for him to reach the capabilities of the previous terminals.

[Anyway, listening to your words, it seems serious. Who would have thought the Dead Sea Scrolls would become the current Demiurge’s book?]

“Why did this happen?”

In response to my question, Solomon said.

[Well, I have no idea. Could you allow me to share your vision?]

“Why?”

[I need to compare the content of the Dead Sea Scrolls I know with the current Heavenly Secret.]

“Got it. I’m allowing vision sharing to terminal Solomon.”

Uwooong

Suddenly, the vision of Solomon flashed in my mind. Just as he mentioned, it was like a large illuminated screen observing Solomon, who existed alone in a dark room.

So, this is how I could gradually grant authority to the terminal?

[Now, start reading the book. Just turn the page every ten seconds.]

“Understood.”

As I flipped through the pages of the Heavenly Secret with interest, Solomon suddenly sighed.

[I can’t believe it… it seems like the contents of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Heavenly Secret are mixed!]

“Huh…? Is that true?”

[To be exact, half of the content I can decipher is from the Dead Sea Scrolls, while the other half is from the original Heavenly Secret.]

“…!”

[You may say it’s undecipherable, but it isn’t even at that level. It looks like nothing but an alien language to me.]

“You’re experiencing that too…?”

I felt the same. While the content of the Dead Sea Scrolls was sophisticated and challenging, I could at least read it. The others looked like an alien language. If Solomon and I had nearly identical reactions to reading, then there was no longer any doubt. I closed the book and told Solomon.

“If it’s mixed, we need to find out why. Why did the Dead Sea Scrolls turn into the Heavenly Secret?”

[…]

Solomon seemed to ponder for a moment. Then, he suddenly spoke up.

[Did you say the Sealed One, Demiurge Sophia, had the Dead Sea Scrolls?]

“That was the case, but is it important?”

[It’s merely speculation, but… perhaps the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Heavenly Secret might be of the same kind of Grimoire.]

“…?! What?!”

Huh?! What are you talking about?!

Seeing me get startled, Solomon added.

[I obtained the Dead Sea Scrolls while tracking down the place where Joshua, the successor of Moses, allegedly disappeared. Joshua was the ancient king of our clan, who resisted the tyranny of another kingdom and fled with our clan. Then suddenly, he was reported missing during wartime. I found Joshua’s disappearance site, which turned out to be a cave in another dimension.]

“The Dead Sea Scrolls were in another dimension?”

[Indeed. It was strange that a human king would end his life in another dimension, but what was even stranger was that Joshua’s fresh corpse was embracing the Dead Sea Scrolls. His body was warm as if he had just died.]

“……”

[I took the Dead Sea Scrolls from his arms, and at that moment, Joshua turned to sand and vanished. Afterward, I found out through Sophia’s crown that the time within Joshua was condensed for unimaginable… billions of years, and the moment the Dead Sea Scrolls left his embrace, that time flowed all at once. As if it had been waiting for me to arrive…]

“That’s terrifying. So, the Dead Sea Scrolls have such a horrific backstory?”

As I shivered at the thought, Solomon continued softly.

[What’s important isn’t that. Given that billions of years of time was condensed, the Dead Sea Scrolls possessed one of the strongest magical powers among Grimoires when I got my hands on them. The source of that magic was overwhelming time, and the reason this time accumulated was, no matter how I think about it, only one.]

“What is it?”

[It’s that the corpse of Joshua accumulated that billions of years of time.]

“…?! Oh no…”

[You know what is written on the first page of the Dead Sea Scrolls. ‘He who reads this is one who lives a different history from mine’… and if you think that the original owner of the Dead Sea Scrolls was the reborn Demiurge Sophia…]

I was shocked by Solomon’s words but carefully considered what they implied.

Then, I cautiously voiced my speculation.

“Are you saying Sophia intentionally threw the Dead Sea Scrolls into this world, and the Joshua who read them… was reborn?”

[Exactly.]

“……”

Because Solomon’s prediction startled me more than anticipated, I couldn’t help but be flustered.

According to Solomon, Demiurge Sophia deliberately threw the Dead Sea Scrolls into another world, and the Joshua who read them became a reborn person and had activities spanning billions of years. However, as a result, he could not achieve his goals and ended up as a corpse, and the time Joshua accumulated in his past life was added to the Dead Sea Scrolls, building immense magical power.

And because of the fact that formed the basis of that speculation, I found it even harder to believe and let out a soft sound.

“If what you say is true… does that mean the Dead Sea Scrolls are a Grimoire with rebirth abilities, just like the Heavenly Secret?”

[You understood my words well.]

“That’s absurd! If the Dead Sea Scrolls have existed in this world all this time, their owner could still be alive until my time. But there has never been a case of two reborn individuals in one era.”

[No. Regardless of what happened to the true Dead Sea Scrolls, I recovered them from Joshua billions of years ago and brought them back to the past of the Great Cycle. This means that the true Dead Sea Scrolls do not exist in the cycle where you are present, hence there’s no contradiction.]

“……!”

[Even if… they exist, perhaps only one might be recognized by both as a reborn.]

“This is insane…”

To think there’s another one like the Heavenly Secret and that it’s the Dead Sea Scrolls!

As I staggered from feeling dizzy, Solomon said.

[If it was Demiurge Sophia, being a reborn person, it would’ve been possible for her to transfer the Grimoire of her former life to someone else. Right now, this is the most plausible theory.]

“…That’s fine, but how does that relate to why the Dead Sea Scrolls became the Heavenly Secret?”

[A Grimoire with the same rebirth abilities… and if what you said is true, the Heavenly Secret is a Grimoire that has its own will. Then, possibly, the Heavenly Secret could travel through time and space and overwrite the Dead Sea Scrolls back to you. Since they are the same kind of Grimoire, it could be easy.]

“…?!”

[I mentioned before that the Heavenly Secret has the law of cause and effect returning to you. If that law exists, it might be able to transcend the Great Cycle.]

“This… is crazy…”

I was dumbfounded. Could that really be possible!

No… putting everything else aside… does that mean I will never escape the grasp of the Heavenly Secret?!

If it could chase back to the past of the Great Cycle, then there would be no way out!

While I was lost in thought, Solomon said.

[Anyway, it isn’t the time to despair in fear of the Heavenly Secret. Instead, this can be seen as an opportunity.]

“Opportunity?”

[Because the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Heavenly Secret mixed, there’s a bit more interpretative content from the original Heavenly Secret. There aren’t even twenty lines, but…]

“Hmm! Really?”

[It seems that some names within the illustrations have been unlocked too. We’ll find out the details later.]

“Got it.”

I stole a glance at the illustrations revealed in the newfound content of the Heavenly Secret.

It was a monster with ten horns and seven heads.

And each head had a crown atop it; it was a red dragon.

Underneath the monster, it read Satanael.

“No wonder the name is similar to Saitan…”

Could there be some connection…?

As I tilted my head in confusion, Solomon continued speaking.

[Well then, let’s go. To Earth…]

“Alright. I’m off!”

Pa-at

I leaped toward the Door of the Demon Gods. Then a tremendous space unfolded, and I felt all sorts of distorted dimensional forms inside the Door.

“Ugh!”

Uwooong

I had to endure a significant amount of time with the long and twisting turbulence.

Enduring for what felt like countless decades, I gritted my teeth.

Solomon had mentioned that the distance from Belial, the essence of the underworld, to Earth surpassed 1550 trillion light-years. It was indeed far! Even with the Door of the Demon Gods, which could leap about one billion light-years in the blink of an eye, it took an astonishing amount of time, making me aware of how isolated I was in the universe. It felt like traversing from one end of the universe to the other.

How much time has passed? I finally felt the atmosphere around me shift, and the distortion slowly disappeared. The Solomon within me said.

[We’re almost there. It’s been a while since I’ve traveled this far through the Door of the Demon Gods.]

“By the way, where are we headed?”

[In searching for the place where the aura of the God is the weakest, the southern end seemed better.]

“Huh…?”

Could it be…?

Thwump!

In the next moment, I felt something bouncing off and found myself flung into some unknown space. Suddenly, I realized that six powerful forces appeared around me.

Kuquackwa!

Incredible magical power!

I recognized that the owners of that magic were the Old Rulers. Then, I heard an angry voice nearby.

[Who could possibly break through the seal of the Six Realms and enter so easily…? Who are you?!]

Following that voice, another divine voice rang out.

[Ah… this is… the Door of the Demon Gods! Is that you, Solomon, the Mage of the Underworld?]

[Solomon is here? But he must have been sealed already…]

[But who else would dare use the Door of the Demon Gods but Solomon?]

Uwooong

The divine voices buzzed incessantly. I realized there were at least five or more Old Rulers speaking, sending my mind spinning.

Is this really a spot where even in the Takrok Era you’d find so many Old Rulers gathering in one place?

Moreover, considering this was Antarctica, could it be…?

I looked around.

And from the memory of Cheon Woo-jin, I could see the Old Ruler, resembling a snail, gazing sharply.

[I am ‘The One Who Ascends with Sorrow’! Who are you to have entered this absolute taboo realm of the Six Realms?]

“……”

I realized the situation I was in and clasped my head.

“Solomon, you idiot… Breaking through the barrier of the Three Sovereigns is fine, but you’ve breached way too many barriers…”

[What’s going on? Did I make a mistake?]

“Yeah… right now, we… ”

I felt despair and gritted my teeth.

“I think we’re at the Aiternum Mundi, where the Law of Non-Birth Mother exists…!”

Indeed.

This was Antarctica’s deepest seal, the Aiternum Mundi –

A place guarded by a whopping six Old Rulers and their laws.

Then, ‘The One Who Ascends with Sorrow’ gasped in surprise.

[What… you knew this was the planned location of the Great Seal, as foreseen by the Void Record?]

“What?”

[There hasn’t been an object to seal yet. But if you knew and came here….]

Uwooong

A powerful divine force surged from all directions.

The voice of ‘The One Who Ascends with Sorrow’ growled.

[I can’t let this go.]

 

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