However, what no one else beside him and The Records knew, were the special circumstances that allowed such a miracle to occur.
His Epoch Star… did not orbit Yarian’s World Star.
The three orbits were called such, due to the special relationship each star had with the one above it. Epoch stars of a certain planet will orbit that planet’s World Star. And all World Stars of a certain Plane of Existence orbit that realm’s Celestial Star.
Because of this relationship, the tides of fate that affect a World Star impact all the Epoch Stars that orbit it. When Yarian reaches its end, all its inhabitants will also inevitably be consumed by the rift.
Soren understood this concept perfectly when Sienna showcased the Ruination to him… Aside from his own existence, every other being on the planet of Yarian was crumbling to pieces, just as the world itself was slowly fracturing with every new crevice that was slowly replacing the fabric of reality.
It was only after he understood this concept that he began forming his plan.
Since his existence wasn’t tied directly to Yarian’s fate, all his actions on the orbits would be cast from outside the purview of this world… In essence, it would be akin to gravity existing within a solar system, without the planet casting that gravity being there…
A logical fallacy. Also known as a paradox.
That was Soren’s wretched existence.
It was this advantage that differentiated his results from the previous Foolish Ones of History. Their endeavors at trying to twist fate only ended up worsening the situation for themselves, since their own fates were tied to this world.
Soren had coined a phrase for this phenomenon—Fate’s Inertia:
A Fate Star in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by an external force.
And Soren… He was that external force.
However, there was a problem with his plan. His own Fate Star’s external force was still too inconsequential in the grand scheme of things… And, it was also in stasis—meaning that it could not directly interact with the orbits.
The solution therefore was simple: he required a larger attraction force to twist the orbits in his stead… One that could act on his behalf.
That was Tazzith’s role. By tying their fates to one another through the contract, Soren was granted access to the Epoch Star of a Sovereign, a being with more influence over the world. In exchange, Tazzith also obtained something from this contract aside from the promise of freedom and access to unobtained knowledge.
The ability to exist beyond the fate of Yarian, just like Soren was.
Now, even if Silmar ends up destroying the world, both he and Tazzith alone would be free from annihilation.
It was this bargain that enticed Tazzith to side with him, rather than Silmar.
“You know,” a shrewd yet innocently childish voice echoed in his ear. “When you accepted the message request from me, I was pleasantly surprised… That offer I made initially was nothing more than a cruel joke I wanted to play—to see how long you’d resist the temptations of power. A fairy of dubious nature like you is hard to come by, after all…”
Soren sat plainly behind the marble table. Before him was an archaic stack of papers as well as a few books that were manifested with [Fictionalization]. He wrote a few equations casually as his eyes drooped with boredom.
“Well, you’ve been outdone by Silmar then. That bastard understood your twisted nature perfectly when he decided to set up that ‘trial.’ He sent me directly to you in order to take advantage of that twisted nature of yours.”
“Indeed,” he heard Him sigh. “What an insidious fellow! Poor me fell for his tricks!
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“But then again, he himself also fell for his own trick! Who would have expected the tool he was trying to marionette cutting its own strings and pointing its sword at him? His ploy only ended up aiding you in the end—I am not sure if I should be horrified by your performance or impressed.
“By the way, should I call you The Wandering Fairy, or Mr. Traveler? Both seem appealing to me… Decisions, decisions…”
Soren clicked his tongue. “Can you shut the hell up already? I’m trying to study here. Just call me whatever you want—it's not like I can stop you anyway.”
“Oh?” Tazzith smirked. “How about Little Spirit? Cute right?”
“I’ll kill you.”
Tazzith flinched as he glanced up at the flickering flame. “Hey, is your master always this rude?”
“Indeed,” the figment of his imagination replied. “He’s also extremely brash—he acts as if he’s some calculating game master, but I can see through his tricks. Inside, he’s nothing more than a lonely soul in demand for thrills beyond his means—how useless.”
Soren frowned. “You as well, shut the hell up. Really now, how did I end up with you two buffoons… I should have summoned Julie instead. ”
He glanced down one last time at the scripted runic equations and sighed.
“And Tazzith, when will you get back to our original topic? You still haven’t provided everything you know about Gunther. You haven’t named a price either. Hurry the hell up so I can cancel this summon—I'm sick of hearing your voice.”
“Okay, okay! I get it!~”
Silence once more loomed over the desolate and ancient space. Soren glanced up from his workstation and frowned.
“What are you thinking so deeply about?”
Tazzith didn’t reply until a minute later. His hollow eyes seemed to have lost their luster—as if He was hesitating about something.
“Soren, do you know how this world was said to have been created?”
The question surprised him. He shook his head and frowned. “No, I’ve been neglecting all my other studies and focusing solely on magecraft.”
Hearing this, Tazzith leaned back as He sat atop His shadow sword. A cold sigh rolled out from where His mouth should be.
“The story is fairly well known—also called the Night of Reforgence. Back in ancient times, before even the first age of Fantasia, a devastating cataclysm occurred. One that sundered the heavens and the earth.”
Soren’s eyes widened. This was the first time he had heard this story—mentions of things before the first age of fantasia were rare, even amongst the countless roaming scholars of the library. But Soren knew he could trust it. After all, the one standing before him was a Demon of Knowledge that had lived for ten thousand years.
He crossed his arms, “And why did this cataclysm occur?”
“The One Above All,” the words reverberated across the hall. “The All Knowing and All Powerful. The Beholder of Creation and Destruction. His existence was an absolute monolith upon this world. It is said that from His spirit, He breathed life upon the lands.”
Soren stayed silent as Tazzith continued.
“From what’s believed, During that fateful cataclysm, The One Above All was the one that brought about its end. And with His own flesh and bones, He reforged the fractured world in His image. It was through this sacrifice that the gods were said to have been born.”
Hearing this, Soren couldn’t help but frown. “Is there any verification of this? Did you see it happening yourself?”
Tazzith chuckled, “I was only born during the second age of fantasia. How would I know whether this story is true or not?”
“The second?!” It was hard to believe, but Tazzith’s entire life till now has only covered a portion of Yarian’s history… He had assumed 10,000 years was a lot, but now, he had to reevaluate his concept of time when it came to this world…
Tazzith nodded. “Indeed, and it was only during the third age that my consciousness began to grow. I was nothing more than a lowly imp back then…” His childish voice seemed to carry levels of indignation.
Soren decided to change the subject.
“All of this makes sense, but what does this have to do with Gunther?”
“The Nameless Mist,” He replied. “Its existence can be traced back to that dreadful cataclysm.”
“What?” The words shocked him.
Tazzith looked at Soren strangely and chuckled. “In fact, all Forgotten Runes trace their origins to that disaster… Including this enigmatic space you now own.”
The hidden meaning behind His words wasn’t lost on Soren. He was hinting that The Nameless Mist itself was born from a Forgotten Rune…
That’s the third one so far…
Aside from his own fragment and this recent discovery, Soren was also aware that the Spirit Blossom Willow hid a similar secret…
In hindsight, it should have been obvious. What besides a Forgotten Rune could possess power that’s enough to suppress the Beyond itself? Each rune seemed to possess extraordinary might beyond the realm of mere Mysteries or Magecraft.
Or could the Forgotten Runes be the origin of Mysteries as a whole? He doubted even Tazzith could answer this question.