When the plot-skips players into the game world

Although this incident reflects in the game, it is merely a background... Appearing briefly at most as a foreshadowing of the "Path of Nihility". At first, Aiwass didn't even realize what this Void meant, thinking it referred to his mental state.

...But if this thing appeared in reality, one can only say "it's jaw-dropping".

Nihility Origin River—Aiwass already knows what this is now.

When the Holy Number of the Path sums to "ten", it also means "reset to zero". That is precisely the self-destructive road leading everything to "meaninglessness".

The Swan King, using the Path of Beauty as a foundation, practiced the transcendental ritual of "rebellion", unknowingly aligning with the principles of the Path of Nihility. Although he could ascend to the Dream Realm, becoming a Celestial Marshal of the Path of Beauty or even transcendence, he also fulfilled the true activation conditions of the "Box of Emptiness".

While Aiwass's memory isn't particularly good, he still remembers the Serpent Celestial Marshal telling him about the nonexistent Tenth Source River, the Source River of [Void], which he called the presence of "Void Whisper", was the culprit of the apocalypse.

He once preserved the future timeline as "Amber" using the power of Dusk to prevent the entire world from falling into the void. The Nine Pillar Gods could do nothing about the approaching "Void Whisper" but revert to the past, waiting for the "Wisdom of the descendants".

The former Reincarnation Celestial Marshal Ai Shiping probably lost his mind because he saw that the number of retries was about to run out.

Aiwass wasn't incapable of understanding the sins his "past self" had created.

When he played a single-player RPG and had to restart the game after a save file was lost, it was enough to blow his mind. If after eight reincarnations he still found no clues, unable to find hope, he might as well give up.

The Serpent Celestial Marshal's current reincarnation plan was to run away—he even intended to take all the power of the Source Rivers with him, which might be a "Wandering Source River" plan. If he indeed could take all these Source Rivers away, he might be able to "plant" them in a new world, making them part of another world's power system. If he could take away all Nine Source Rivers, he might even recreate "another old world" in a different world.

The only problem is...

It's like trying to save the world by "creating a mirror image dungeon" and going back to the past: it still doesn't help a world already destroyed.

It's just self-deception.

——And Aiwass thought, it was a form of selfishness.

No one understands himself better than Aiwass. If thinking from Aiwass's gaming mindset, if the Serpent Celestial Marshal lost his reason, he probably just thought about "cutting his losses"—cutting his losses.

After all, in the first playthrough, he dedicated all his strength to create "Amber", the strongest Pillar God, with the sole purpose to save this world… So if this goal proved unattainable, of course, he would want to reclaim the power he once dedicated to this world, to "cut his losses".

But the Serpent Celestial Marshal probably forgot about the small side quest of the Box of Emptiness.

Perhaps because, in past reincarnations, it never posed a problem, or perhaps because, in every past reincarnation, "Aiwass" resolved this event... In any case, if the Box of Emptiness event is not properly resolved, the apocalypse might be accelerated.

Although the original timeline suggests opening the Box of Emptiness would occur at least by next year, and the Swan King should be able to hold on for another year… countless experiences of past events have told Aiwass not to over-rely on the "original storyline" as absolute.

The butterfly effect exists, and any changes that have occurred might lead to a chain reaction, causing the plot to deviate from its original direction. More so now that the variables he introduced have prevented Professor James and the Serpent Celestial Marshal from accurately predicting the future.

——Aiwass dared not gamble that the Box of Emptiness could last until next year.

As long as the Swan King cannot hold on and becomes void ahead of time, everyone will face ruin together—after all, the number of retries has been exhausted, and this world no longer possesses the Reincarnation Celestial Marshal.

…However, this is the most extreme scenario.

The good news is, Aiwass learned about this incident before things worsened.

The "Forty-four Days of Nightmare" event related to Iris Flower never happened. This means that the Count of Moon's Son, when using the Box of Emptiness, is still being secretive, afraid to gather too much Mana at once.

Therefore, the Swan King is likely still asleep. Although his powers have been used several times to alter reality, he hasn't clearly realized his situation.

——Once the Swan King realizes his situation, he will confront the Count of Moon's Son. And it is at this point that the Count will realize that nowadays the Swan King indeed has no means against him—thus he will become bolder, wantonly draining Mana and making large-scale reality modifications.

Now, the Tail-Biting Ring Ceremony has just begun, and he still holds great reverence for this "unfinished Celestial Marshal".

——However, it cannot be delayed.

Aiwass clearly realized the urgency of the problem.

The Son of the Moon plans to rebel now, wishing to extensively use the Swan King as a "reality modifier". The Count of Moon's Son might any moment realize the Swan King isn't as dangerous and aware as he thought.

Placing a red reset button into the hands of someone completely unaware of the gravity of the situation... is like placing the nuclear launch button in the hands of a child.

Fortunately, the Ice Heart Duke is still sufficiently reliable.

Even though he is unaware of the secrets of the "Nihility Pillar God", he can still sense that allowing the opponent to rewrite reality is surely a troublesome matter.

Originally, the Transcendent of the Path of Beauty, of the "screenwriter" type, relies on intelligence and information gap. And the Swan King is stuck just before deification... Although he was only Fourth Level in life, now he may exert more than the strength of the Sixth Power Level. Even if that Count of Moon's Son cannot directly manipulate the future, but only indirectly change reality through slumber potions and suggestive hypnosis, he is a dangerous enemy enough.

High-energy level Transcendents can secretly distort others' destinies, potentially without them even realizing they have been influenced. If you allow them to gather information, enemies become increasingly difficult to deal with. Instead, unexpected, irrational actions are more confusing to them.

Thus the Ice Heart Duke is exceptionally decisive.

Perhaps it's because his frost ailment was cured by Aiwass, he becomes unusually resolved now.

"Let's go."

The old man stood up from the couch and said without a second thought: "Let's go immediately."

"…Wait, do you know where the Count of Moon's Son is?"

Arsene was shocked into silence.

Regardless of how this "Count of Moon's Son" was deduced by Aiwass—could Ice Heart Duke pinpoint the location just from the information of a "Count of Moon's Son"?

——There are quite a few Moon's Sons holding the title of Iris Earl!

Just the ones Arsene can think of are more than three.

"Without a doubt, it can only be the Halic family."

Ice Heart Duke said resolutely and decisively.

With no reason, yet irrefutable.