Chapter 570: Do You Ever Wonder

BOOOOOM

The force slammed into Damian’s body, invisible pressure launching him backward through the air.

His vision went white, brilliant radiance swallowing everything, making sight impossible.

But his mind still worked, still processed what he’d witnessed in that final instant before the light consumed his perception.

’The Sage was holding... God Slayer?’

The image burned behind his eyelids with perfect clarity.

’Those marks spreading across his skin... they were exactly like my Blood Sovereign state.’

His thoughts raced despite the chaos surrounding him.

’And he used... Heaven Splitter? Grandpa’s art?’

Before the implications could settle, his vision cleared fractionally, finding the dreamscape spreading before him.

Everything was destroyed.

The rooftop and the buildings now lay in complete ruin, stone shattered and scattered across impossible distances.

Cracks spread through the dreamscape itself, reality fractured by forces it struggled to contain.

And in the center of all that devastation, one figure stood.

The Sage remained upright, but his body was now covered completely in dark veins that pulsed with fading energy.

’He–’

"G-Grand Sage."

The voice emerged weak and trembling, cutting through Damian’s scattered thoughts.

His head turned, finding the source.

The old woman stood beside him, but her entire form had become translucent, wavering like smoke struggling to maintain cohesion.

Her body flickered, becoming more see-through with each passing moment.

"You were never obligated to sacrifice your life for our Master."

Her voice came out strained, each word taking visible effort.

"But... you did it anyway."

She paused, her form dimming further.

"T-thank you."

’Sacrifice?’

Damian’s mind stuttered over the word.

’Sage... is he–’

Before the thought could finish forming, the woman turned toward him.

"Master."

The word landed with weight carrying something complex.

"I know you have many questions right now, so many things you want to understand."

Her body flickered more violently, reality struggling to hold her form together.

"But sadly, I don’t have much time left to answer them."

She took a breath that shouldn’t have been possible given her state.

"All you need to know is this. Just like the Beggar was your first piece in this game..."

Her hand rose, pointing toward where other translucent forms were fading across the ruined rooftop.

"The Cult of True Demon was your second."

The declaration hung in the cold air between them.

"And we didn’t fail you."

Her finger shifted, pointing upward toward the sky.

Damian’s gaze tracked the movement, finding the star that had been forming throughout the battle.

The seal hung complete and perfect, symbols rotating across its surface, each one carrying authority that made reality bend just from existing.

"With these two moves completed, from now on, no Fate player can harm you directly."

Her voice was becoming harder to hear, fading like an echo growing distant.

"No curse can touch you, no manipulation of destiny can alter your path, no cosmic force aligned with Fate can interfere with your choices."

Her form flickered violently, becoming barely visible.

"But still... be careful, okay?"

The plea came out softer than before, almost maternal despite everything.

"Although they can’t do anything to you now, they might have already made moves before this seal was completed."

Her body was nearly transparent now, the dreamscape visible through her wavering outline.

"You–"

Damian’s voice came out rough, confused and complex.

"Why did you all do this? You don’t even know me."

His hands spread slightly, the gesture almost helpless.

"And I–"

"Ara Ara~"

The old woman’s interruption carried playfulness that somehow cut through the moment’s weight.

"Who said we don’t know you?"

Her smile widened, gentle and grandmotherly.

"There are people who spend entire lifetimes standing side by side, sharing every moment, living through decades together..."

Her form dimmed further, voice becoming quieter.

"And yet they remain complete strangers to each other, never truly understanding what matters most."

She paused, her translucent hand reaching out as if to touch his face but stopping just short.

"But sometimes, it takes only a single moment, one glimpse into someone’s soul..."

Her fingers curled back toward her palm.

"To know everything that actually matters."

The words settled between them with terrible finality.

Damian stood there, his mind blank, unable to process what he was hearing.

"Your name."

The words came out before he could stop them, direct and demanding.

"What is your name?"

The woman’s smile widened fractionally, her form beginning to dissolve completely now.

Her whisper reached him just before she disappeared entirely, soft but carrying clearly across the ruined rooftop.

"Zelda... Crimson."

And then she was gone, vanished like smoke dispersed by wind, leaving only silence.

Before Damian could react, before he could even begin processing what had just happened, another voice emerged.

"The... game... between the... Beggar and... Fate... has... ended?"

The words came broken and strained, each one separated by pauses that suggested terrible pain.

Damian’s head snapped toward the sound, his crimson eyes finding movement in the distance.

The Hooded One was rising from the rubble, his shrouded form pulling itself upright with movements that looked wrong.

His body had been split nearly in half, a massive wound running from shoulder to hip that pulsed with purple lightning.

The void beneath his fallen hood found Damian across the ruined dreamscape.

"You... fool."

The doubled voice came out quiet but carrying clearly.

"Their game never ended at all."

One hand rose, pointing a trembling finger toward where Damian stood.

"Your weapon, the axe that just nearly killed me..."

A pause, weighted with terrible certainty.

"It belongs to the Beggar."

The finger shifted, gesture encompassing everything.

"Your pieces, the Cult that just sacrificed themselves for your protection..."

Another pause, heavier than before.

"They were all placed by the Beggar, positioned across worlds and generations."

The shrouded form shifted, that split body struggling to maintain cohesion.

"Everything you are, everything you’ve become, everything you will ever accomplish..."

The voice dropped to barely above a whisper.

"Is due to him."

Silence crashed down across the dreamscape, suffocating in its weight.

The Hooded One’s shrouded head tilted back slightly, as if looking at stars.

"I... I think I finally found the answers I was looking for."

Then the void turned, that absence of features finding the Sage’s still form.

"I survived the fall of the God’s Era."

The words came out measured, each one carrying conviction.

"I survived every battle against the First Oracle across countless timelines and infinite possibilities."

His hand pressed against the wound splitting his torso.

"I survived everything this universe threw at me, every force that tried to end my existence..."

A pause, weighted with something approaching disbelief.

"And yet... I was never this close to death."

The shrouded form shifted, the movement suggesting something like respect bleeding through contempt.

"If I wasn’t Immortal, if my nature didn’t transcend the limitations mortality imposes..."

His voice dropped to barely above a whisper.

"Your move would have slain me today."

Another pause, heavier than before.

"But for you to sacrifice everything like this, to throw away your life and future and the game itself..."

The void somehow conveyed focus despite showing nothing.

"You already know as well, don’t you?"

The question sat between them like a blade waiting to fall.

"I truly don’t understand you at all, Mur–"

CRACK

The sound cut across the dreamscape like breaking glass, sharp and sudden.

The seal in the sky pulsed once, symbols blazing brighter.

Then it descended.

The star compressed instantly, shrinking from its massive size to something small enough to fit in a palm.

And it shot downward like a meteor, crossing the distance in less than a heartbeat.

SLAM

It hit the Hooded One directly in where his face should be, the impact making reality itself crack.

The shrouded figure’s head snapped backward, his body stumbling.

"I never needed anyone to understand."

The Sage’s voice carried across the ruins, quiet but absolute, each word falling with finality that refused to bend.

The seal blazed brighter, multicolored light wrapping around the Hooded One’s entire form.

The figure’s body began dissolving, fading like smoke in wind, reality itself erasing his presence.

But his voice rang out anyway, building despite the sealing stealing him away.

"Do you truly believe sealing me away would keep him safe?!"

The shout carried rage wrapped in certainty that refused to die.

"Foolish mortal! I already made my moves long before any of this began! Years ago, decades ago, setting pieces in motion that you cannot stop!"

His form became more transparent, the seal consuming him inch by inch.

"And there are many waiting for you to die! Beings far more patient than I, far more cruel, far more inevitable!"

Laughter erupted from the dissolving figure, dark and terrible, echoing across the dreamscape with force that made reality crack.

"The Federation is doomed! Your world stands on the edge of oblivion! And without you to hold back the tide..."

The laughter built higher, becoming something inhuman.

"EVERYTHING YOU FOUGHT FOR WILL BURN! EVERYONE YOU TRIED TO SAVE WILL SCREAM! AND THE BOY YOU DIED PROTECTING WILL WATCH IT ALL CRUMBLE KNOWING HIS EXISTENCE MADE IT INEVITABLE!"

The seal blazed brighter, symbols spinning faster, pulling the figure deeper into geometric prison.

"HE WILL SUFFER FATES WORSE THAN DEATH! HE WILL BEG FOR ENDINGS THAT REFUSE TO COME! HE WILL LOSE EVERYTHING AGAIN AND AGAIN UNTIL NOTHING REMAINS BUT–"

His form had become almost invisible now, barely an outline wavering in air.

But the void turned one final time, finding Damian’s frozen form through the destruction.

And the whisper reached him anyway, soft and carrying poison.

"Pitiful child..."

The words slithered across the distance like living things.

"The ones you love, the people you would die to protect, the faces you see when closing your eyes..."

A pause that felt like eternity compressed into heartbeats.

"Are you certain they were ever truly your loved ones to begin with?"

The question hung in the frozen air, carrying implications.

"Or were they simply pieces positioned around you by players who knew exactly which strings to pull?"

The whisper became quieter, more insidious.

"When you look at them, when you trust them, when you bare your throat and believe they won’t cut..."

Another pause, heavier than before.

"Do you ever wonder whose hands really move them?"

And the Hooded One vanished completely.

The seal compressed to nothing, taking his presence with it, leaving only cold air and terrible questions behind.

Silence crashed down across the ruins like the world itself had stopped breathing.