Chapter 2258: Youth

Leonel froze, a discomfort coming from his chest. For some reason, he felt both a lot lighter, a slight hint annoyed, and a huge amount confused. When he checked his surroundings, his pupils constricted and his breath caught in his throat.

What just happened?

At the speed the Segmented Cube was moving, they would reach Earth in less than an hour. Anastasia could push it even faster, but that would require personal energy use that extended beyond the Force she was pulling from the surroundings, so it wasn't a worthwhile expense. But that wasn't really the point.

Because they were moving at such speed, even the slightest deviation could throw them way off course in just a few split moments. He could have allowed Anastasia to pilot things herself, but because he wanted to take his mind off of something, he chose to control the Segmented Cube himself.

'3.29 seconds.'

There was a gap in his memory of exactly that long, as though he had been reset and rebooted, and no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't understand what had happened. He had only experienced this two other times, three if he counted his first interaction with Dream Force, while the other two times were the only times he had entered that enlightened state.

But he was certain that it wasn't that this time, unless that demoness could...

If she could remotely stop him from transforming, could she force him to transform? But for what purpose, he was still in perfect control of himself in both states, there was no purpose other than to spite him.

His jaw set. That wasn't beyond that woman in the slightest. Slighting him out of pure spite? It seemed that she might gain a great amount of satisfaction out of doing that.

Leonel took a breath and calmed himself. Surprisingly, it happened much faster this time than it had before, he felt more in control of his state of mind, he felt a lot more like himself all of a sudden. He felt that he could shut off the valve of that emotion again, just like he had when Aina left him. It was so easy suddenly.

Instead of doing so, though, he stopped, falling into a deep silence.

He never acknowledged it because he didn't want to. That future version of himself, he chose to see it as just one possibility of many, a possibility that he would surpass. But now feeling the difference in his control over himself, he felt that he had disappeared.

It seemed that he had falsely accused the demoness. Was that why he had lost those few seconds? He had heard of the future affecting the past, but was it supposed to be so exaggerated? He had even thought once that this was simply a quirk, or rather a flaw, of Incomplete Worlds like this one. He didn't think it would be such a prominent thing in the real world.

Leonel sat in silence, closing his eyes after a while and allowing the Segmented Cube to drift.

There was too much he didn't understand. Why did his future self's influence suddenly disappear? And did it actually disappear? Or was it just that deep well of despair that had? He had a feeling that it was just the latter.

But that only made it more odd. Why had the despair vanished?

Leonel wanted to believe that it was because his future self had finally succeeded, but he felt like that wasn't the answer either.

What was there to despair about if you had already given up everything? There was no despair because there was only apathy left. No... something deeper than apathy...

Nothingness.

Leonel opened his eyes, a blazing light within.

His future self had failed? He didn't care. As far as he was concerned, that wasn't him at all.

Leonel's fists gripped the controls before him tightly, suddenly flooring the Segmented Cube and zipping through the skies. The smoldering smoke coming from his eyes and the bottoms of his feet ebbed again and again until they vanished entirely, a wild grin spreading across his face.

He was eager to get home. He would have Anastasia check one more time, and if there were no Innate Nodes, then he would break free of this simulation. There was no doubt that he would find someone with the Innate Node he needed in wider Existence.

Once he saved Aina, he could turn his attention to his father again. A Timeless Event was all he needed, just one Timeless Event.

Leonel's eyes carried the brightness of youth, a brightness that wasn't worn and torn by the vicissitudes of life. He had the fire and drive of a young man, he felt that everything could be in the palm of his hands so long as he worked hard enough.

He would see his Queen again. He would see his father again. He would see his family whole again.

He raised his head to the skies and roared, having the joy ride of his life.

...

An unknown number of years later, a certain Ethereal Glabella finally crashed and landed into a barren planet. It was so small that one might assume that it was a moon instead, but it had enough... just enough Force for the dim Ethereal Glabella to finally flash.

Very quickly, all the Force of this small planet surged toward this small crystal.

It was said that all God Childes had their own trials to face in order to successfully awaken. Regardless of what it was, death would always be observed in some form. For Wise Star Order, his fate was to drift through the endless depths of space, weathering countless years of torment.

The first time he experienced this, it had nearly broken him. But now, he found it to be an interesting journey. It was as though he had lived hundreds of lives, each one just slightly different from the last.

At first, he blamed that disciple of his. Due to the nature of his power, he had grown too enlightened to not experience others toying with his timeline. So, every time Leonel tried a new method to save his father, he had to experience this death again....