2272 – The Deadly Wait
Middle Sector 750—One of the Submerged Planets
"……"
Sevar was in his hidden cave as usual, far from the sunlight, with barely any light around him.
But this time, he wasn't leaning lazily on his right hand, nor did he wear his usual cold, drowsy expression.
He sat upright, his back straight, both hands resting on the armrests of his stone seat, in a rigid, tense posture.
His expression was no better—his black eyes were wide open, his teeth clenched tightly, and a mix of anger and confusion defined his features.
Before him now… was a bizarre scene.
It was a massive serpent.
Though he was inside the cave, Sevar could see the serpent stretching toward the horizon, its body's diameter nearly the size of an entire planet, its color a deep red like blood.
The serpent's head stared directly at his face, its three golden eyes fixed coldly on him—the gaze of a predator eyeing its prey, a serpent watching a newborn mouse.
The three-eyed serpent flickered.
Its body flickered with a ruby-red glow, vivid and menacing, its radiance brighter than the sun, its heat more intense.
Its body flickered… appearing for a moment, then fading into The Void until it nearly vanished completely, only to reappear with suffocating density and reality.
That serpent was not real, of course—no serpent in existence could make the Archon feel threatened.
But the threat was real.
“…” Sevar reached out his hand toward the serpent’s head until he touched the horn between its nostrils, then yanked it toward him with force. “Get out of my face!”
*Whoosh*
The serpent did not resist; instead, it surged in that direction with immense power and speed—a speed that surpassed light by many times over. Its colossal body could be felt teleporting instantaneously from one moment to the next, yet it kept charging fiercely beside Sevar for several hours. Its length seemed to stretch between suns, and its belly appeared to be the dwelling place of millions of species.
But everything has an end. The serpent’s enormous body began to shrink little by little, and it was clear that the tail had finally arrived.
This continued until its speed gradually slowed.
Then something appeared.
It was a person.
A human with a light beard and short hair, his hands confidently clasped behind his back, his entire body flickering with a crimson glow more powerful and menacing than the serpent’s…
At that moment, he was staring into Sevar’s eyes.
Staring with realism and murderous intent… then vanishing from existence… then reappearing and staring at him again.
“Robin Burton…” Sevar muttered in a low voice, hostility clear in his tone and gaze.
How many years had it been?
How many years had it been since a small Red Thread appeared before him—a laughably insignificant thread, unconnected because its owner had no weight or influence yet, a thread so trivial it was only noticed due to its hostile color?
One of the biggest reasons he formed the Hand of Concealment Syndicate, specializing in information and major interests, was to keep his followers aware of every being of great or small significance in the universe, and even any minor merchant they had a relationship with, whether positive or negative.
This made it easy for him to connect any thread he wished, easy for him to see everything, and easy for him to control everything.
It made it easy for him to orchestrate the causality of the universe.
What did it mean that there was a thread unconnected to him?
It meant a person as worthless as the dust of the earth, so insignificant that even the lowest-ranking soldiers of the Syndicate had never seen him before.
That was why, when he first saw the Red Thread, he laughed at its absurdity, and laughed at the idea that such a person would think of harming him—a person who wasn't even on the scene to begin with.
How long had it been since that thread appeared?
A hundred years? A thousand? Ten thousand?!
Why…
Why had that trivial thread transformed into a serpent swallowing the sky, the symbol of the greatest threat?!
"That flash..." Sevar muttered in a low voice.
He wasn't talking about that deadly red flash, which, if seen by a Martial Emperor, would have destroyed their soul.
No... He was talking about the appearance and disappearance of Robin's Manifestation, and then its reappearance.
There are two people in the universe whose fate's manifestation and threads he cannot see: Athena and Zolan.
These two had already reached the pinnacle of power before Sevar appeared, so he was accustomed to seeing nothing about them.
And there are other people who have a fate's manifestation and chains, each link the size of mountains—people he cannot easily mess with, but he can see them.
This was the first time in his life he saw a person shift from visible to invisible before his eyes.
The flickering appearance and disappearance mostly meant he was on the edge, he hadn't taken that final step to vanish completely yet, but not much remained.
Of course...
A lot.
For a step like this, it was supposed to take millions of years.
But for the person who jumped from an unconnected thread to a serpent swallowing the sky within a few centuries...
No.
This had become very imminent. Very strange!
"The All-Knowing God, oh, the All-Knowing God..." Sevar muttered, "Did I disturb you that much? What did you entrust to your final candidate to bring him to this power so easily? ...Or did you manifest yourself in the end after all your attempts failed?"
Then he stood up.
"Expectations and questions are useless now, not at this point."
Then he stepped forward toward his hostile spirit manifestation.
"I ordered a siege on you to prevent your authority and forces from spreading further, but you responded by increasing your individual strength?"
Sevar raised his head slightly.
"Perhaps I was mistaken."
Then he continued, staring into Robin's eyes.
"At first, I didn't know your location, so I ignored you. When I learned where you were, I also learned of your close relationship with the Spirit Society, so again the order came to ignore you, and I did. After that, you grew stronger, your name spread, and your connection to Zolan became known, so I was content to move my forces to besiege you out of respect for Zolan and that person from the Spirit Society..."
Then his black eyes gleamed.
"But not anymore."
The black threads on his eyes began to move like snakes.
"I was planning to avoid major confrontations before That Event, so I could see those people for myself, and so I could see the difference between us... but if I let you live any longer, I won't survive to see that day."
Then he calmly raised his hand, shaping it into a sword.
*Whoosh*
A golden color began to move around his arm until it covered it, and the golden hue at the edges transformed into a sharp blade.
"Farewell... Robin Burton. You can be proud that you will put me into a total slumber until that day—a slumber that will change the face of the universe for the remaining two million years."
Then—
Sevar brought the golden blade down upon Robin's Manifestation.