Afterword—The Fool's Journey
"One day, I will surely break free from the shackles of silver and tin.
"I will rise like smoke, free as the wind.
"One day, I will shine—brilliant as the stars, radiant as moonlight..."
A little girl with white hair and emerald eyes was solemnly reciting from a book with her mother.
She seemed unable to hold back. After reading only two lines, she raised her head and gazed longingly at the procession outside the window.
Isabel helplessly set down the poetry collection. "Alai, if you really can't keep reading, then forget it... Let's go watch the ceremony."
"Really, Mom?"
Aleister's eyes lit up, and she leaped from her chair.
With a whoosh, she darted out through the doorway, only to emerge from the full-length mirror in the room a moment later.
She saw that she had rushed out the door but had somehow run back, and was momentarily bewildered.
Isabel lightly rapped her on the head in exasperation. "Your Aunt Yulia is here. Go see her first."
August 8, 1910.
The long-awaited ceremony for the Pillar God's ascension would be held today.
Through everyone's combined efforts, the Material Realm had entered an unprecedented "Sacred Decade."
Everything was flourishing, and everyone's lives were filled with hope and possibility.
The epic of the heroes had been properly passed down rather than buried beneath the dust. Now, everyone knew the story of the Ouroboros Ring, who had endured ten tribulations for the sake of the world's survival.
The unknown Hermit and the nameless hero had ultimately become known to all.
The Ouroboros Ring, the demigod of the Savior—the Pillar God of the Path of Miracles—would ascend to the Eighth Path today and become a new Pillar God under everyone's watchful eyes. He would also bring along his lover... the