Chapter 47: Orion Question

Chapter 47

"Welcome, next wielder of the Origin..."

The being spoke, and Orion’s gaze brightened as the words reached his ears.

A strange feeling, one he couldn’t quite put his finger on, spread throughout his body. It was the kind of sensation one experienced after accomplishing something unprecedented in the universe, after achieving something that only a handful of beings throughout the passage of ages and countless flows of time had ever managed to accomplish.

He had earned the right to become the wielder of the Origin.

Orion took a deep breath, allowing the realization to settle within him. The trial, it seemed, was finally over. After enduring countless challenges and overcoming trials that had pushed him to the very limits of his existence, he had finally reached the end of his journey.

And now, he could finally speak his mind.

His gaze settled on the being who remained seated upon the throne, studying the figure before him with a composure he hadn’t possessed when they first met.

Unlike before, his gaze was calm and warm, a complete contrast to the way he had felt upon entering the white palace and coming face-to-face with this being for the first time.

Back then, when he had knelt before him, the only thing Orion had felt was a deep, primal fear that had taken hold of his entire being.

An unbearable terror had gripped his heart, so powerful that every fiber of his being had trembled beneath its weight. It was the kind of fear that left no room for defiance or questions, much less any thought of resisting the being responsible for it.

Yet now, everything was different.

Orion felt free, as though the invisible shackles that had once bound his very existence had finally been removed. More strangely, he felt safe.

It was an almost incomprehensible sensation. He stood before someone whose existence he couldn’t even begin to understand, someone whose mere presence should have been enough to leave him trembling in fear. Yet instead of feeling threatened, Orion felt as though he were standing before his own strong, caring father, someone he could trust without needing to understand why.

The thought made him shake his head vigorously, forcing the strange feeling out of his mind.

What was he even thinking?

His gaze gradually sharpened as he looked at the being seated upon the throne, and the warmth he had felt moments earlier began to give way to something far more familiar.

This was undoubtedly the one responsible for the thousand trials that had claimed countless lives, allowing people to challenge them only to be erased from existence when they failed.

And among those who had lost their lives was someone who mattered a great deal to Orion.

Dwaine...

Orion’s hand instinctively moved toward his dagger, his fingers closing around its hilt as the memories he had tried so hard to suppress came rushing back.

The rage he had buried deep within himself throughout the endless trials and unimaginable pain surged to the surface once more. Everything he had endured, every sacrifice he had witnessed, and every life that had been lost along the way seemed to converge upon the being sitting before him.

His grey eyes reflected the hatred burning within his heart as he raised his dagger and pointed its blade directly at the figure upon the throne.

"You’d better have an explanation for everything that has happened so far..."

His voice was low, but the anger behind his words was unmistakable. He wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip away without getting the answers he had been searching for, not when the person responsible for Dwaine’s death was sitting right in front of him.

"If you can’t give me an explanation that satisfies me... I promise you, I will tear this entire place down. I will make you regret everything!"

His threat echoed throughout the white palace, the words carrying all the fury and frustration he had accumulated since entering Dungeon X.

Under normal circumstances, the being seated upon the throne ought to have been angered by such blatant disrespect.

In fact, if it had been the being with scarlet eyes whom Orion had dared to threaten in this manner, he would have been wiped out immediately, without even a speck of his existence being left behind.

Yet here he was, threatening an existence far, far greater than that being, and somehow, Orion remained perfectly fine.

There were several reasons for this.

One of them was that Orion was now only one step away from combining with the Origin and becoming its wielder. Having reached this point, he could no longer be erased as easily as before because the Origin itself was protecting him.

That protection, however, didn’t mean the being seated upon the throne was incapable of killing him. If he wished to do so, he could still wipe Orion out of existence without much difficulty.

He simply wouldn’t.

The reason was rather simple.

He didn’t see an ant threatening him, an ant before whom even gods would bow their heads in submission. Such a threat would have been laughable, hardly worthy of his attention.

No, that wasn’t what he saw when he looked at Orion.

What stood before him was a young human grieving the loss of his closest friend, a child who had endured more than most could ever imagine and had finally reached the end only to discover that the person he had wanted to save was no longer there.

How did he know?

It wasn’t that he had always known everything about Orion or had spent the entire trial watching his every move. Rather, the moment he looked at the human child standing before him, it took less than a microsecond for him to understand everything.

Who Orion was, his background, his future, his past... everything about the boy’s very existence was laid bare before the being’s eyes.

And with that knowledge came an understanding of just how devastated Orion truly was.

The trials were cruel, unbearably so. Calling Orion’s success a miracle would almost be an understatement, because it wasn’t merely a miracle that he had survived and reached the end.

His achievement was a testament to the extraordinary person he was, to the strength of his character, the determination that had refused to break, and the sheer willpower that had carried him through every unimaginable hardship.

To think that a human child could endure so much and still make it all the way here was truly remarkable.

"Tell me..."

Orion’s voice broke through the silence, drawing the being’s attention back to the young human standing before him.

"Why must so many people die?"

His grey eyes burned with anger as he struggled to contain the emotions threatening to spill out of him.

"It’s supposed to be a trial, but this is more like an execution! So many people have died, leaving their families and loved ones behind to grieve for them!"

His fingers tightened around the dagger’s hilt, the pressure reflecting the frustration he could no longer keep buried.

"Why?"

The question came out sharper this time, carrying the weight of all the pain and helplessness he had been holding inside throughout his journey.

"Why do you do this?"

The being upon the throne continued looking at him without interrupting. There was no anger on his face, nor was there any trace of displeasure at the accusations being thrown his way. If anything, he simply smiled, as though Orion’s outburst had done nothing to offend him.

Then, he spoke.

Or rather, the world itself seemed to speak on his behalf, his words carrying a strange quality that made it difficult to distinguish the voice of the being from the very space surrounding them.

"I do not set the trials. The Origin itself does."

His voice remained calm, carrying no hint of hostility despite the dagger pointed in his direction.

"And as for those who lost their lives... that is simply one of the rules of the trial. Many knew about it before stepping into the white palace."

He paused briefly, allowing his words to settle before continuing.

"In your case, it is rather unfortunate that you had no idea what you were getting yourself into and stepped right into it anyway."

Orion’s gaze dimmed slightly as he listened to the explanation.

Did he know whether the being was telling the truth?

Yes, he certainly did.

Somehow, despite everything that had happened, Orion could tell that the being wasn’t lying to him. There was no deception in his words, and whatever else he might be, he wasn’t trying to mislead Orion about this particular matter.

But was Orion willing to accept that explanation and simply move on to the next step?

No.

Absolutely not.

"So you’re saying that those who died only died because of their own mistakes?"

His voice trembled slightly, though the anger beneath his words remained unmistakable.

"Is that what you’re telling me? That their deaths are meaningless simply because they stepped into a place they knew nothing about?"

He took a breath, but the frustration in his chest only continued to grow as more questions came pouring out.

"And what about those who made it far into the trials but couldn’t continue because of circumstances beyond their control? They were wiped out too!"

Orion couldn’t understand it. Even if some people had knowingly accepted the risks before entering the white palace, what about those who had struggled, fought, and sacrificed everything they had, only to lose their lives because of something they couldn’t control?

Were their efforts worth nothing?

"Is that what you’re telling me? That everything happened exactly as it should have? That this was simply their fate?"

His grey eyes burned with fury, and the words that followed erupted from his throat before he could hold them back.

"How is that supposed to be fair?!"

His shout reverberated throughout the white palace, carrying the anger of someone who had witnessed far too much suffering to accept such an explanation without question.

For a brief moment, the image of Dwaine’s small, pained smile surfaced in his mind, bringing back memories Orion would never be able to forget.

He remembered that expression clearly, the way Dwaine had looked at him and the way his teeth had gritted together as he struggled to endure the pain. Even when his body could barely withstand what was happening to him, Dwaine had continued moving forward, refusing to give up until he could no longer take another step.

Orion had made it to the end, just as he had promised.

He had done what he said he would do, pushing through every obstacle and enduring every hardship until he finally reached the destination he had been striving toward.

And yet, fulfilling that promise hadn’t changed how he felt about Dwaine’s death.

If anything, standing at the end of the trial only made the loss more painful, because Orion had finally reached the place he had fought so hard to reach, yet the person he had wanted to share that moment with was no longer there.

Nor could he forget the countless others who had lost their lives simply by stepping into Dungeon X, people who had their own reasons for coming here, their own dreams to pursue, and loved ones waiting for them to return.

What was the point of making it this far if those he had met along the way could never experience the same ending?

What was the point of surviving if so many others had to disappear forever?

The questions weighed heavily on Orion’s heart, leaving him with a sense of helplessness he couldn’t shake no matter how hard he tried.

Eventually, the dagger slipped from his hand and fell to the ground, its impact barely noticeable against the silence that followed.

Orion lowered his head, his shoulders growing heavy as the emotions he had been struggling to contain finally began to overwhelm him.

Deep within him, something seemed to cry out, a profound sorrow accompanied by a suffocating sense of guilt that pressed down upon his heart.

He had survived.

He had overcome the trials.

He had reached the end.

But Dwaine hadn’t.

And no matter how hard Orion tried to convince himself otherwise, no matter how much he reminded himself that he had fulfilled his promise, the pain remained.

The being seated upon the throne watched the human child standing before him, taking in the grief that had replaced the anger in Orion’s heart.

A small smile appeared on his face, one that seemed to encompass countless emotions as he regarded the boy with quiet interest.

To think that beings like him still existed...

It was truly something worth witnessing.

Without any visible movement, the being vanished from his white throne and reappeared directly before Orion, closing the distance between them in an instant.

He looked down at the young human, his expression remaining gentle as Orion stood with his head lowered, still struggling to come to terms with everything that had happened.

"None of what happened was anyone’s fault."

He paused for a moment, giving Orion time to absorb his words before continuing.

"And as for the fairness you speak of... deep down, you already know that there is no such thing."

His voice remained calm, neither dismissive nor condescending, as though he were simply stating a truth that Orion had yet to fully accept.

"The world itself is not fair by nature. The Origin’s trials, which determine the next wielder, follow that same principle."

He regarded Orion for a moment before delivering his final words.

"It follows the way of life itself."