Chapter 80: Second Question

The Eternal Serpent explained calmly, "The tomb lies somewhere within the Infinite Peaks. I can provide the general region, but the tomb itself is ever-changing. It does not remain in a fixed location, wandering through the mountain range as though it possesses a will of its own."

​"Many have searched for it. Most failed, some vanished completely, and a very small few found traces left behind by the Limit Breaker. If you wish to find it, first reach the Infinite Peaks. Then seek the Kingdom of Arcania, the birthplace of Primus Vangelion."

"The kingdom still exists, though time has reduced it from the center of civilization into little more than a relic. Within Arcania lie clues: fragments, records, ruins, and echoes of the man who changed the Lord’s Domain forever. Gather enough of those clues, and you may eventually discover the path toward his tomb."

​Cassian silently committed every single word to memory.

​The Infinite Peaks. Arcania. Primus Vangelion.

​Those names alone were likely worth more than entire star systems.

​"However, understand this," the serpent continued. "These are merely the means to move beyond Transcendence. They are not the means to become a Cosmic Pillar."

​Cassian was not surprised.

The Eternal Serpent had already explained that Cosmic Pillars were not beings who simply cultivated to a higher realm, they were the foundational pillars of existence itself.

If surpassing Transcendence were enough, there would be far more than twelve Pillars.

​"Once you have crossed beyond Transcendence, you will be presented with two paths." The serpent paused, its voice echoing through the stars. "The first is the easier path: killing a Cosmic Pillar."

​Cassian blinked.

​The Eternal Serpent spoke the words so casually that they almost sounded reasonable. Almost.

​"You would need to locate an existing Pillar, destroy it, assimilate its Concept, and claim its position. The moment you attempt such a thing, the Concept itself will resist you. The Lord’s Domain will resist you. And the remaining Cosmic Pillars will become immediately aware of your existence."

​Cassian’s expression stiffened. That sounded less like a viable path and more like a path to suicide.

​The serpent seemed immensely amused.

"This method inevitably results in war, a war on a scale far beyond mortal comprehension. Only beings whose power vastly exceeds their realm possess any chance of succeeding. Even then, success is by no means guaranteed."

​Cassian stared at the entity before asking, "And that is the easy option?"

​"It is," the Eternal Serpent nodded.

​Cassian stood speechless for several seconds, wondering what kind of absolute lunatic would hear that explanation and conclude it was the easier route.

​The serpent’s amusement deepened. "As expected. You finally understand the difficulty."

​Cassian rubbed his forehead. "If murdering one of the twelve Cosmic Pillars is the easy path... then what in existence is the difficult one?"

​"Creating a new Concept," the Eternal Serpent answered instantly.

​"Every Cosmic Pillar embodies one of the twelve fundamental Concepts that uphold the Lord’s Domain," the serpent continued. "Order, Chaos, Life, Death, Time, Space, and the others. Those Concepts have existed from the very moment the Lord’s Domain was born."

"If you wish to avoid taking the place of an existing Pillar, then you must accomplish something that has never occurred since the dawn of creation: you must create a Concept that does not currently exist."

​The words struck harder than any physical attack.

​"A new law. A new truth. A new aspect of existence, something so fundamental that reality itself acknowledges it, and something capable of supporting creation alongside the original twelve."

​The serpent’s voice carried an ancient gravity. "Only then can you become the First Pillar of that new Concept."

​Cassian remained dead silent because, compared to hunting a Cosmic Pillar, this somehow sounded even more impossible.

​The Eternal Serpent chuckled, a sound vast enough to shake the surrounding star clusters. "Now you understand why surpassing a Cosmic Pillar borders on absolute impossibility. One path requires slaying a being that upholds reality, while the other requires creating something worthy of standing beside reality."

​Having finished its explanation, the entity expected to see overwhelming despair across the human’s face.

​Instead, the Eternal Serpent was taken aback.

​Cassian smiled.

​Where most mortals would have abandoned the ambition entirely, the regressor standing before it looked deeply intrigued.

​The Eternal Serpent’s golden eyes gleamed brighter in the dark.

​’As I thought... this mortal is genuinely interesting.’

....

The Eternal Serpent stared at Cassian for several moments before speaking again.

​"Your first question has been answered."

​Its colossal form shifted slightly through the endless void. "What is your second question?"

​Cassian fell silent.

​Countless possibilities flashed through his mind: questions regarding the Cosmic Pillars, questions regarding the Endless Blackness, questions regarding the future timeline, and questions regarding his divine blessings.

​Yet after everything he had witnessed today, only one question surfaced above the rest.

​Cassian raised his head, his sky-blue eyes locking onto the ancient entity. "Should I fear the Endless Blackness?"

​The Eternal Serpent paused.

​Its golden eyes narrowed into thin, blazing slits as the distant stars dimmed, and even the endless void seemed to grow deathly quiet.

​"The Endless Blackness..." The serpent’s voice carried a heavy, primordial weight unlike before. "It existed before existence. It has no beginning, it has no creator, and it has simply always been."

​Cassian listened carefully, committing every word to memory.

​"The Eternal Will, the Lord’s Domain, the Cosmic Pillars, the countless civilizations, the endless cosmoses... all of them appeared after the Endless Blackness."

"If age alone were used as a measure... then even the Eternal Will would be little more than a newborn child before it."

​Cassian’s pupils contracted.

​That statement alone was enough to send a bone-chilling shudder through his soul.

​The Eternal Will, the supreme existence governing the entirety of the Lord’s Domain, was little more than a newborn child compared to the age of the Endless Blackness?

​The serpent continued softly, "In fact... the Eternal Will itself was born from the Endless Blackness."

​Cassian’s heart skipped a beat as the revelation struck him harder than anything he had heard so far.

​The Eternal Will was born from it?

​Then what, exactly, was the Endless Blackness? A place? A force? A being? A concept?

​The serpent seemed to notice his existential confusion, yet it did not elaborate. Some truths appeared too vast for simple explanation.

​Cassian eventually found his voice and spoke: "That still doesn’t answer my question."

​The serpent nodded. "No. It does not."

​Its golden eyes fixed upon him, stripped of all previous amusement. There was no superiority and no ancient wisdom, only absolute, chilling solemnity.

​"As for whether you should fear the Endless Blackness..." The serpent paused.

​"My answer is this:"

​Cassian felt his entire body tense under the sudden, suffocating atmosphere.

​The serpent’s voice echoed throughout the void like a cosmic warning:

​"You should do far more than fear it."

​"You should dread it. You should respect it. You should remain vigilant of it."

​"And above all else..."

​"You should never underestimate it."