Chapter 657 Web Of Intricacy
'S-she's impossible!'
That was Rey's initial thought when he saw her Status Window. This was the second time in his life that he would see an SS-Tier entity, and the last time that happened… things didn't end so well for him.
'All her Skills are in the SS-Tier, and her Exclusive Skill is just like mine. It's SSS–Tier!' His eyes nearly widened as soon as he realized he couldn't see through its details.
No matter how perfect his Perfect Divine Appraisal was, there was a certain limit to it. It couldn't appraise anything within the SSS-Tier, which meant any Skill or Class that Rey couldn't properly examine was in that realm.
'[Clairvoyance], huh? What does that mean, really?' Could she see everything going on in H'Trae anytime she wanted? Or did it have to do with an ability to see through the past, present, and future? Rey wanted to know so badly—at least, that was until The Oracle told him "No."
After hearing that, he could no longer hold his thoughts back.
"You have so much power… so much authority… and yet you allow all of this to happen? You won't heal my friend even though you can! You won't protect the Elves even though you can! You… I don't understand!"
Rey remembered the sleeping body of Alicia that he left behind in the Capital, just as he remembered the several Elves who suffered before his very eyes due to the raging war.
'I don't get it! Even if you look down on other Races, why would you allow the Elves to go through that?!' It made no sense to Rey.
"You are too small and inexperienced to understand these things." The Oracle told him in a monotone, completely unfazed by his shouts and screams.
Within a second, Rey's anger vanished and his emotions returned to perfect serenity.
"I understand that if you have the power to do something for the ones you have a duty to, then you should!"
With The Oracle's power, she would easily be able to snap her fingers and all the Dragons on the Eastern Continent would meet their end. Yet… she did nothing.
"Perhaps. But… that would ultimately solve nothing."
"What?"
"The will of the world must prevail. The flow must be followed, and its rightful end must be reached. One way… or the other."
"What are you saying?" Rey's gritted teeth were exposed at this point, but The Oracle ignored them.
"The mere fact that I possess this power does not provide me the obligation to use it as I see fit. It ultimately solves nothing."
"How? I think it solves plenty!"
"Do you want this world to be destroyed, Rey Skylar?" As soon as The Oracle said those words, Rey shivered slightly.
'She knows my name. Did she check my Status? Appraisal wasn't part of her Skill-set, but maybe it's a function of [Clairvoyance].'
It was also possible that she heard someone call him that in the Land of The Elves, since she could apparently see everything happening in it.
Or maybe…
"No. I don't want this world to be destroyed." Rey responded.
"Then pay rapt attention. If I interfere, then The Dragon Emperor will interfere, and that will ultimately lead to the destruction of this world as you know it."
"What are you talking abou—?!"
"Reset. Whatever I can see and respond to, he can always reset. Just as I am fated to protect this world, he is fated to destroy it. It is an endless dance that we have both decided to sit out and let our pieces play."
"Reset? Your… pieces? I don't under—"
"You are one of my pieces, Rey Skylar. You will fight for the salvation of this world, and you will ultimately fail."
"What?!"
"The Hero is the one who was meant to come here. But you are not The Hero, and this isn't yet the right time."
"Ado—?"
"This dance is forever. It keeps going on and on. A never-ending spiral, a web of intricacy. I can do as much to stop it as you can. Do you understand?"
"That's what I've been trying to answer! I don't understand!" Rey responded with sheer frustration. All of those emotions simmered down quickly too.
"You will ultimately fail, Rey Skylar. You won't be able to save this world, just as you won't be able to save your friend."
"No… no, what the hell are you saying? Did you see the future or something? Tell me if you have then! Tell me what you see!"
"There is no 'future' to see. There is only this moment, and what it will lead to. Time isn't the way you think. There really is no past or present or future. There is only what is and what isn't." "...?!"
"What will happen has already happened, but you are yet to see it."
Just as dead stars still shone radiant in the night sky, their demise unable to be noticed by those who cast their gaze upon them until the fullness of 'time', so was the future already a certainty… waiting to happen.
But Rey could not understand any of these things. Or… perhaps he didn't want to.
Did the words of The Oracle frighten him so much that he turned off his imagination, blocking it from fully internalizing all that he was being told.
"If what will happen has already happened, then doesn't that mean all action is meaningless? I don't understand! Are you saying all our actions have already been decided? If so, then what is the point of doing anything?!"
The Oracle, for the first time since the start of their conversation, leaked a small smile and let out a small giggle.
"What is the point indeed…"
Her laughter seemed genuine, but terribly sad. Her gleaming blue eyes looked at Rey with a particular form of melancholy.
—One he could not yet comprehend.
"Fine. I believe you…" Rey whispered, inhaling deeply as he looked at The Oracle in the eyes.
"Then you—"
"If it's all meaningless anyway, then just cure my friend and let me be on my way! Nothing matters, right? Then anything goes, doesn't it?"
"...."
"Oracle, I ask you again…" Rey took a step forward, this time not bowing or displaying any kind of subservience to the one before him.
It was just pure determination fueled by stubborness.
"... Save my friend!"