Chapter 430: More secrets (4)
Accepting my ignorance, the Engineer resumed his initial explanation, ignoring Dawn’s mystery entirely.
There was no point in forcing the issue. No matter how much I tried, I wouldn’t uncover that identity.
This was the law of Nothingness.
"Among these powerful abilities, some follow the law of Chaos. These are powers centered on destruction and close combat... like your Shadow Adaptation, or your father’s Absolute Manipulator."
"My father?"
Ignoring everything else he had said, my mind zeroed in on those final words.
He mentioned my father out of nowhere.
"He had a power like that too?!"
I asked, and the Engineer nodded.
"Abraham Starlight was special in his own way. He far exceeded my expectations time and time again. Using the system that served him, along with his own strength, he forged a brand-new path of power that belonged solely to him."
"He created the Absolute Manipulator—an ability that destroyed every aura pathway and core within his body, transforming his entire being into a chaotic sea of aura. He embodied the law of Chaos completely, pushing his body beyond its limits in both speed and strength, wielding an aura manipulation I had never witnessed before, even in all my long years."
The Engineer spoke at length.
In fact, far too much .. so much so that it almost felt unreal.
And yet, I found myself drawn in.
"My father... created something like that..."
"Abraham was destined for greatness. No human ever possessed the traits that he did. He was the pinnacle of your wretched species, without a doubt. His ability died with him. What he achieved can never be replicated. But his fate... was a dark one."
In that moment, something resurfaced in my mind.
"Wesker..."
The Fourth-ranked demon.
I still remembered how the Engineer had panicked back then, the moment that demon appeared...
"But that doesn’t make sense. Didn’t you say the future you see is absolute and inevitable? What happened that day, then?"
The Engineer simply shook his head.
"That’s what happens when two law-breaking abilities collide."
In that moment, a wave of understanding struck my mind out of nowhere.
And suddenly, I grasped something incredibly important.
"The King’s Eye..."
That was Wesker’s ability, granted to him by Agaroth.
An ability that sees fate itself .. no different from what the Engineer possessed, perhaps even surpassing it.
Both of them fell under the concept of inevitability.
"So, you finally understand," The Engineer said calmly.
"When two law-breaking abilities clash, irregularities occur, and the future we see becomes uncertain. This is the first way to counter these kinds of powers."
Listening to him, my heart pounded relentlessly in my chest.
I couldn’t believe what he was giving me.
The way out of that destiny.
He was handing it to me himself, leaving me completely bewildered.
But he continued speaking anyway.
"The first way to fight against a world-breaking ability... is with another ability of the same level. That’s what happened between me and that Fourth-Rank Demon."
"And the second way is to become a being who breaks the world’s laws yourself .. to reach a level of power so great that those laws no longer apply to you. Such beings are rare; very few have ever reached that height of greatness."
Gazing up at the sky, the Engineer spoke with quiet melancholy.
"The most notable example of that... is the Demon King himself."
Then his gaze returned to me, sharp and serious.
"That’s why I can’t allow you to leave this place and head into the unknown. You’re far too weak. Out there, beyond this world, is a realm teeming with beings who wield such powers."
The Engineer turned and began to walk away, but I immediately followed after him.
"So that’s it, huh? You just don’t want me to go and die up there because you cannot guarantee the future you see when there are beings with abilities similar to yours .. like Wesker"
"That’s right. I can handle things here... or in Londor. But the rest of the world? That’s another story."
He stared at his single hand .. the one ravaged by cracks and weakened by time.
The Engineer’s blue eyes... they were so ancient.
And countless questions began swirling in my mind about the purpose he had lived for all this time.
If what I saw through the Nameless Mask was true, then the Engineer was one of the people the Nameless once saved—so powerful that he became his right hand.
And after the Nameless’ death, He had lived on, striving to accomplish something.
Wandering for thousands of years, never resting, never faltering... in a vessel that slowly deteriorated over time, continuing to pursue whatever mission he lived for.
For the first time since our twisted relationship began, I felt something other than hatred and contempt toward the Engineer..
Curiosity.
Curiosity about the iron will that had driven him to continue this long.
But I knew he wouldn’t speak about himself, so I asked something else instead.
"By what you just said, I’m supposed to die if I go up there, right? But I find that hard to believe..."
After all, there was a being who could reach me no matter where I was.
"Agaroth has already reached me twice. If he wanted me dead, it wouldn’t matter if I was above ground or beneath it—I’d be dead for sure. So what’s the point of keeping me here?"
I laid it out plainly.
Agaroth was a being who broke the world’s laws himself.
Those cursed laws meant nothing to him.
The King’s Eye, which had shaken even the Engineer, was only one of dozens of abilities the Demon King possessed.
So what was the point of all this?
And in that moment, the Engineer spoke words that sent an even sharper pain through my head.
"What are you talking about?" he said.
"...What?"
"Agaroth won’t kill you. He needs you alive just as much as I do. Perhaps even more."
"Your survival is necessary to the Demon King. Like you said yourself—if he wanted you dead, you’d already be dead. Haven’t you wondered about that?"
He was right.
This was Agaroth we were talking about.
A monstrous power that constantly haunted my mind. I was naive to think the Engineer had done something to keep him away.
The Engineer couldn’t even approach him, let alone oppose him.
But still...
"Why? What does he want from me? What the hell am I to all of you?!"
Why would the Demon King himself care this much about me?
The Engineer returned to his usual cryptic self, leaving me in darkness once again.
"I won’t answer."
He said it flatly, walking away from the subject and returning to where this entire conversation had begun.
"Your Shadow Adaptation is one of those law-breaking abilities we spoke of. It lets you adapt to all phenomena and powers of every kind. It has made your mind strong enough to withstand the mask now. So go... and try to save your friend."
"But remember this—"
His voice grew colder.
"The future is dark, Frey Starlight.
Know that I didn’t give you this power without reason. That is my warning to you."
Unlike all the random people he used to visit before...
This time, he came to me.
He had just given me the way to escape my fate... and yet, I still couldn’t grasp what he truly wanted from me.
Most likely, he would continue manipulating me, just as he always had.
The feeling of helplessness in the face of such overwhelming powers remained the same.
All of these mighty beings... each harbored some vague, incomprehensible desire for me.
And I had no choice but to walk along the current of fate.
But at the very least ..
Now I knew how to break it.
Determined to find the answers to all these unknowns, I felt the will to fight burning within me once again.
Placing the Nameless Mask over my face,
I resolved to stand against this current of destiny once more. And it all began with saving Danzo, whose life now rested in my hands.
In that moment, beneath the Shadow Sect—now vast enough to resemble the capital of a mighty nation ..
I continued forward, ready to face whatever the future still concealed from me.