“See… that’s not supposed to happen, Aether,” the Mother Goddess said, her voice laced with sadness, though a glimmer of anger simmered beneath. She paused, her gaze fixed on the thick, solitary line, “And it only happened because of your existence, Aether. Your presence alone altered the very fabric of Time!” Her tone hardened, a deep resentment creeping in, “Your singular existence has altered the entire fate of the worlds!!”
Aether’s frown deepened, irritation flickering in his eye, “How am I responsible for that? It’s not like I asked for this, right? I never wanted any of this.”
The Mother Goddess took a slow, measured breath, her gaze softening momentarily as if pitying him, “You’re right, in a way. You weren’t directly responsible for this mess… You didn’t ask for this. No one does. You were just another being trying to survive in a world of chaos, to live”
Aether’s frustration turned to confusion, “Then who’s responsible? Who’s behind all this?”
She paused before her voice dropped to a whisper, “You are.”
“…?” Aether’s expression froze in disbelief. Inwardly, he screamed, ‘What the fuck is this bitch talking about?!’
She continued, unbothered by his reaction,
“Even though you’re not directly at fault, your very will—your relentless determination, your refusal to give in—is what made this all possible—is what makes you responsible!” her tone darkening with every word.
“My will?” Aether narrowed his eyes, “What the heck do you mean by that?”
“Your will, Aether. Your soul’s unyielding nature.
The essence of your soul… It’s unlike any other. It’s not just resilient—it’s aware. It acts as if it has its own consciousness, a force that fights, survives, and refuses to yield… that is not supposed to happen to a soul!!
In your terms, It’s like a bug in the system, something no one accounted for.
That caught the attention eye of the ######”
Aether’s heart raced slightly.
“When Mortimer took your future, your soul should’ve been trapped in the cycle of Samsara.
But it didn’t happen, did it? No… because of that will inside you.
It resisted.
It defied fate itself.”
Aether felt a strange pressure inside him, “I still don’t get it,” he muttered, unease flickering in his eyes.
“Hahaha….” For the first time, she laughed—a soft, knowing laugh, “That’s the mystery, isn’t it?
Even we—even the ######—couldn’t figure it out.
That’s why they intervened.
They saw your soul… so unique, so unpredictable, and decided to run their little experiment on you.” Her gaze sharpened, “They fractured your soul, sent it off to be reincarnated… but even then, something miraculous happened.
The fragments of your soul are pulled back together, reforged by the Laws of the Eternal Slave Contract.
It was supposed to be impossible.
Yet here you are!!
You’re beyond miraculous now, Aether!”
!~Ding~!
“Get away, Aether!”
“Get away, Aether!”
Suddenly, voices boomed inside Aether’s mind, his body flickering like a fading illusion. His vision blurred as his form began to shimmer, his existence slipping between realms.
But then—
“This is my domain!” the Mother Goddess thundered, stomping her foot. The entire space quaked violently, and Aether’s shimmering stopped.
His form solidified once more.
She smirked, satisfied with her control, “See? They don’t want you to know the truth, Aether. They can’t let their prized test subject gain full awareness. You’re too important to their grand scheme.
You need to understand…. everything happening to you, everything you’ve ever done, has been meticulously calculated by them.
You think you’re free, but you’re not.
You’re a puppet, dancing to their every whim.”
Aether stared at the thick, solitary line of timeline, his gaze darkening as her words sank in, “I see… so I’m just a puppet to them?” he whispered, his voice heavy with a strange mix of sorrow and bitterness.
The Mother Goddess’s tone softened as she saw his resolve begin to falter., “That’s why I’m here. I’m offering you something different. You don’t have to remain their plaything, Aether. Come to me. you can finally res—”
“If everything’s so carefully calculated, then they must’ve known you’d contact me like this, right?” Aether cut in, “If they’re as powerful as you say, they would’ve foreseen this too, right?”
Suddenly a deep silence descended!
Aether’s eyes narrowed, a grin tugging at the corner of his lips, “I see… So they either predicted this… or you’re lying to me. Nice try, though Shitty Goddess~” His voice was laced with sarcasm.
“Watch your tone, Aether,” she hissed, barely containing her fury, “You can mock me all you want, but the truth remains: your existence is unravelling the fabric of reality itself. The worlds are falling into chaos because of you! I promise in the name of my name!!”
The entire atmosphere trembled with her words.
Aether crossed his arms, his expression unreadable, “So what now? You want me dead?”
She shook her head, her expression intense, yet strangely calm, “No. I don’t want you dead. I want you to accept your fate. The fate that was always meant for you.”
Aether let out a slow, deliberate sigh, as if he were finally surrendering, “If I’m fated to die, then I guess it won’t hurt to know what I’m really capable of.
What is this Ether bloodline? What powers do I actually have?”
“A dead man doesn’t need to know such things,” she replied coldly.
“Well, that’s too bad. Guess you’ll just have to suck it up, bitch~” Aether’s grin returned, sharper than ever.
The Mother Goddess stood abruptly, fury flooding off her like waves. Her eyes glowed with divine rage, her voice shaking the very air.
“AETHEERRRRRR!!!”
Aether’s body began to dissolve once more, his form breaking apart into shimmering particles as he vanished, but not before casting her one final mocking smile, “It’s me, bitch~” And with that, he was gone.
As soon as Aether disappeared, the Mother Goddess’s expression shifted.
A sinister smirk curled her lips, “I’ve planted enough doubt in his mind… he’ll start questioning everything now. Arcane… ######… soon, he’ll trust no one.” She waved her hand dismissively, and the space around her reverted to the gloomy underground cave.
Back in the black void where the game had once played, Aether reappeared, the oppressive silence now weighing heavy.
The darkness was thicker than before!
“Hello?” he called out, his voice echoing in the emptiness. No words appeared to greet him, no system updates flashed before his eyes.
Only silence!
Aether then muttered, “Activate system code: 232476.”
Suddenly, the white words appeared in the void.
[… Activating]
“Bypass the system,”
