"Earn my trust?"

She reversed time itself just to gain his trust?

As flattered as White felt, there was also confusion and disbelief.

Since when did his trust deserve so much?

"And for what reason would you need my trust?" 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

He asked the more important question.

"Every chaos that exists in the universe is never simply coincidental."

She began her explanation.

"And one such chaos is the invasion of the Supernatural Realm, as you know it, into your world, Earth."

White’s brow creased before he replied.

"The Supernaturals’ descent onto Earth was simply due to the phenomenon of the Apexial Doom Rift."

It was what they had been taught in Xtremecyber.

A red portal opened in the sky, and in came the Supernaturals.

"And you think such an event was just a coincidence?"

She asked, turning to him.

"Has it ever crossed your mind that the Apexial Doom Rift’s existence could have been made to occur by the conscious decision of a being?"

She asked, and a ripple surged through White.

"Are you saying there’s someone responsible for letting the Supernaturals into Earth?"

He asked.

"As all beings cultivate toward the ultimate aim of perfection, we eventually come to realize that simply absorbing base energy, such as essence energy, is never enough."

"To further our power, we begin to harness laws, rules, and eventually concepts. This creates beings who live and feed on concepts, and one such concept is Death and Destruction."

"So the Apexial Doom Rift..."

White asked.

"Yes."

She spoke.

"It was nothing but a tool for one being to further his cultivation."

She completed, and disbelief filled him.

"And... the billions of humans that died?"

He asked.

"They were all nothing but a minor consequence of power."

She replied.

It felt shocking, almost beyond comprehension.

The Supernaturals’ descent had been caused by one person in order to cultivate more power?

How?

What madness was that?

Billions died on humanity’s side. Millions died on the Supernaturals’ side. And all of this was nothing but a means of furthering the cultivation of a single being?

"Wait, so the Supernaturals—"

White asked.

"They never invaded of their own will and choice."

"I don’t believe you..."

White said outright, and he could almost hear a faint giggle echo through the void.

"And that is exactly why I needed your trust."

She replied.

"The soul that I showed you... your Original Soul."

"That can’t be my soul."

White said.

"Whether or not it is yours is of minor consequence for now. But I think you would agree that such a soul is far from normal, wouldn’t you?"

She asked, and White nodded.

"It’s almost..."

"God-like."

She completed exactly what he had been about to say.

"Such a soul, being birthed by beings of such low life-wave hierarchy, humans, should never have been possible at all."

"And I knew it was only a matter of time before other beings like that began to notice and try to use it to further their own power."

She continued.

"So, I made a choice and performed a soul swap, transferring the child’s soul into a depreciating one, and infusing it with a power that would only activate upon conditions."

She explained, and White immediately understood.

When he had died in the hands of Commander Lorianette, there had been that message,

---

[FINAL REQUIREMENTS FOR SYSTEM FUSION: BETRAYAL]

[STATUS: COMPLETED!]

[AWAKENING SYSTEM...]

[...] [...] [...]

[SYSTEM AWAKENING COMPLETE.]

---

[A/N: This was at the end of Chapter 1 of the book.]

---

"But why?"

White asked.

"Why such a condition? Why did I need to die by betrayal before the system awakened?"

"I wanted to show you two things."

She replied,

"That death itself is not final."

"I thought if I showed you that, even if you died, there is a power out there that could still bring you back to life."

"Perhaps then, if I told you that such a level of power was responsible for the creation of the Apexial Doom Rift, you wouldn’t find it so hard to believe anymore."

White would be lying if he said he didn’t understand her.

If he had died and been brought back to life through time reversal by one being, then how difficult would it be for another to open a rift that dragged the Supernaturals into Earth?

That seemed like basic spatial manipulation, but it had been hard to believe because of its planetary scale and the destruction that followed such a seemingly simple action.

But now,

Even if he found it hard to believe, if this being was telling the truth, and it seemed to be, based on its absolute knowledge of him and the system, then it was entirely possible that the Apexial Doom Rift wasn’t a natural phenomenon at all.

"And the second reason?"

White asked.

She had said two reasons.

What was the second?

"Your race cannot be given absolute trust."

She said.

"Humans are simply incapable of it. Every one of them has a limit to which they can be bought, a point at which they can be made to betray."

"I wanted to make sure you realized that before giving you such a powerful tool as the Endio Supernatural System."

She said, and White’s brows creased before he muttered,

"And when I realize that no human is deserving of my trust, then..."

"I will be the only one worthy of your trust."

She completed for him.

"You know, if you wanted a human to never trust you, one of the ways to achieve that is by predetermining his actions, making him realize the world will never accept him, and that only you are worthy of his trust."

"That’s not how trust is earned. There’s a word for that, it’s called manipulation."

White stated plainly.

A deep hum reverberated from her form.

"A flaw in my judgment, then. But even so, I’m sure you see what I truly wanted from you."

She said, and White had no response.

"What will you do, White Sinclaw, with this realization?"

She suddenly asked.

"With what realization?"

"That the affliction you’ve suffered, and are suffering, is from an almighty power far above you."

She said.

White froze.

"That’s not how the question was structured..."

He replied.

"The question was...

"What makes a man prevail?"

"An understanding that his affliction is borne from some almighty power above him, one he is helpless to go against?"

"Or an understanding that his affliction is only a recurring phenomenon, something that has happened before, and something his ancestors have prevailed against?"

[A/N: This appeared at the end of Chapter 28.]

White spoke, continuing,

"I believed that notion, in a way. I thought the Supernaturals’ descent might have been a repeat of the past."

"It wasn’t."

She replied.

"In fact, it’s the opposite. It was born from the hands of a being far above your life hierarchy."

"And I am helpless against him?"

White finished.

"That is the tricky part..."

She began.

"No human has enough potential to go against him... no human, except one chosen by another who exists on the same life hierarchy as him."

She explained, and it only took a moment for realization to strike.

"No one but me."

"You’re the only one chosen, White, and the only one who can go against him."

"No!"

White said, pausing.

"You said you chose me to stop him, and it’s clear that’s what you want. But aren’t you forgetting something?"

"You just said you’re on the same life hierarchy as him, and you know he’s wreaking destruction and carnage, something you also know is wrong."

"So why not stop him yourself, if he can indeed be stopped?"

"Why give me your power instead?"

He asked.

"We are Concepts, White Sinclaw."

She began.

"We do not fight directly against one another, for we are necessary for the continuation of the universe. Death and Destruction must exist, but they must not go too far."

"Such concepts are usually balanced by others. The Concept of Fate. The Concept of Karma."

"But Destruction is a force that can spiral out of control too easily."

"It should not be possible for the inhabitants of a world to be displaced against their will into another, simply to bring about destruction."

"But Destruction has grown to an abnormal level."

"He needs to be stopped!"

"And how am I supposed to stop a Concept?"

White asked.

"By destroying what it stands for."

She replied.

"We cannot directly influence the world without facing severe consequences."

"I cannot force time to reverse on myself; the backlash would be too great. But I can force time to reverse on a being like you."

"Do you know what that means for the Concept of Destruction?"

She asked.

White only needed a moment.

"Destruction itself cannot directly destroy humans or Supernaturals. What it can do is use another being to create destruction."

"But wait... are you saying,"

"Yes."

She said.

"Destruction has already chosen its own. By our words, we call the chosen, Emissary."

"And his emissary is the one who created the Apexial Doom Rift."

She said as White eyes creased in thoughts, but then, she dropped the words that made his heart almost freeze in its beat.

"And his emissary is..."